Beside him, a county magistrate stood by helplessly.

Seeing Zhu Yunwen approach, Zhu Yunwen gave a cold smile and said:

"Third brother, you're a bit slow. How can you get anything done if you're so slow in dealing with the disaster?"

The magistrate quickly stood up and bowed to Zhu Yunwen:

"So it's Your Highness the Third Prince. I'm so sorry for not greeting you sooner."

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand, looked at the food on the table. The food was rather ordinary, without any fancy dishes.

It seems that Hukou County was indeed severely affected by the disaster, as even the food served to the imperial grandson in the county government office was so simple.

After Zhu Yunwen sat down, he slowly and deliberately said:

"You're the first one to come here, what have you been up to?"

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yunwen immediately snorted:

"I just arrived too. I just talked to the county magistrate about the disaster situation, and he's about to issue an order to provide a solution. It's better than you, arriving so late."

Hearing their conversation, Zhao Qingzhu said indignantly:

"Second Prince, you are mistaken. Although the Third Prince was slightly delayed, he took swift and decisive action when he passed through two counties where a large number of disaster victims were staying, and ordered the local county governments to provide relief to the victims."

At least something was accomplished; it's much better than the Second Prince running away quickly but achieving nothing, isn't it?

Upon hearing Zhao Qingzhu's words, Zhu Yunwen paused, frowned, and said:

"Who are you? How dare you lecture me, Your Highness, here? Are you tired of living?"

Zhao Qingzhu's face was grim. Zhu Yunwen spoke calmly:

"She's my fiancée. What's wrong with me giving you a few words of advice? You're not happy about it? You'd better keep it to yourself!"

Zhu Yunwen glared at Zhu Yunwen and said:

"I'm your older brother, how can you talk to me like this?"

"Stop being so hypocritical in front of me. You don't treat me like your brother!" After saying that, Zhu Yunwen didn't want to give Zhu Yunwen any more chances to argue with him.

He wasn't in the mood to argue with Zhu Yunwen, so he looked directly at the magistrate and said:

"What is the current situation of the disaster victims in the city?"

The magistrate had already heard that Zhu Yunwen had passed through two counties along the way and had used swift and decisive measures to force the county government to provide relief to a large number of disaster victims.

Therefore, he showed Zhu Yunwen the utmost respect and quickly bowed, saying:

"Your Highness, the number of disaster victims in the city has now reached approximately 100,000. In addition, nearly 100,000 more disaster victims have spread to several surrounding counties."

"In the month since the disaster began, tens of thousands of people have starved to death, and in the past month, our county government's food supplies have been almost completely exhausted."

Zhu Yunwen quickly spoke up at this moment:

"Magistrate Li, convey His Highness's order to the government offices of other surrounding counties, instructing them to fully assist Hukou County in disaster relief."

They were also told that officials who actively assisted in disaster relief in Hukou County would receive a significant bonus in the Ministry of Personnel's assessment.

Those who are unwilling to actively assist will be penalized, significantly impacting their future promotions. They must be made to give their all and not jeopardize their prospects.

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Magistrate Li showed a look of surprise and said:

"This method is excellent. Assisting will help with future promotions, while not assisting will not only be unhelpful but will also have negative consequences."

This approach will inevitably force officials in other county governments to do everything in their power to assist us in providing relief to the disaster victims.

Zhu Yunwen smiled and proactively brought up the method that Zhu Yunwen had thought of.

If this were to be successfully implemented, the officials in these areas would only believe that it was Zhu Yunwen who came up with the idea, and they would be extremely grateful to Zhu Yunwen.

He got a free lunch.

But before Zhu Yunwen could feel smug, Zhu Yunwen sneered and said:

"You can even make a mistake when trying to get a bargain. I'm speechless. If this method had been used before, it would have been understandable, but now that you're bringing it up again, it's useless."

Zhu Yunwen was immediately enraged:

"You said this method was excellent to Grandfather, but now that we're here and I've ordered it to be done, you're saying it won't work? What exactly are you trying to do?"

Zhu Yunwen said slowly and deliberately:

"Don't forget, I proposed this method on the premise that the officials of the surrounding county governments had not made any mistakes."

But now, I've visited two counties. The officials in these two counties are not only unwilling to provide relief to the disaster victims, but their actions are infuriating.

There have been instances of officials deceiving their superiors and concealing the truth, not only failing to provide disaster relief but also exploiting the people. There's no need to incentivize these county officials to provide disaster relief; they should be completely removed!

I've already killed two county magistrates on my way here. Do you think I should give them the opportunity to provide disaster relief and be promoted?

It would be better to take swift and decisive action and execute these inactive officials. The remaining officials would then naturally cooperate fully with Hukou County in providing disaster relief to the victims.

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yunwen was stunned and pondered the reasoning behind them carefully.

Magistrate Li then understood and said to Zhu Yunwen with great admiration:

"What the Third Prince said is true. Some officials are not qualified to have a system of clear rewards and punishments. For their hateful behavior, they can only be punished and not rewarded."

Your suggestion that those who are willing to do their utmost to relieve disaster victims can receive bonus points in the Ministry of Personnel's assessment can only be applied to officials who have not committed any wrongdoing.

Otherwise, it would only constitute leniency towards these officials who have committed serious offenses.

Magistrate Li's words made Zhu Yunwen understand the reasoning behind them, and his expression turned very unpleasant.

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