Shenxi said to Song Zhen again, "In the official document to Wu Aimin, please include a sentence: locust plague is about to break out and epidemics will run rampant. I hope the prefect can submit these words to the emperor."

Qi Xiuwen shook his head: "I'm afraid the commander's good intentions will be wasted."

"Given Wu Aimin's personality, not only will he not submit it, but he probably won't even read the document himself. His advisor will also adhere to the principle of 'better to avoid trouble,' and as long as he doesn't ask for money, he won't say anything."

Chenxi sighed softly. The world was already in chaos. The upper class was still fighting for power, while middle-level officials were either incompetent or involved in the power struggle.

"Whether you look at it or not, you have to present it." The mediocre and incompetent Wu Aimin is naturally her stepping stone. She needs this guy to sit in the position of prefect for the time being, so she has to show the proper attitude.

"Yes," Song Zhen replied earnestly.

At this moment, a messenger brought in two people, who were the spies that Shenxi had previously sent to Bian'ai County.

The two men bowed and said, "Commander, we are guilty and have failed in our mission to deliver the message back!"

Seeing that the two men were travel-worn and their eyes were bloodshot, Shenxi naturally knew the torment they had endured these past two days. However, since they had acted as spies and failed to complete their mission, they certainly could not go unpunished: "Since they know they are guilty, they will certainly receive five strokes of the cane."

Both pleaded guilty and accepted punishment.

"Report the details and then go to receive your punishment!"

"Thank you for your leniency, Commander." The two knelt down immediately: "Commander, there were more than a dozen of us, and now only the two of us are left."

Chen Xi frowned: "Where are the others?"

The two men kowtowed: "We jumped in from the foot of the city wall during the chaos. Who knew the city was in such a mess? We ran into Wang Datong's men. Without thinking twice, they chased us. We two managed to escape and hide, which is how we survived. The rest of our brothers all perished here."

Shenxi frowned and gestured for the two to go down and be punished.

After the two left, Shenxi asked Qi Xiuwen, "Xiuwen, do you know anyone who can train spies?"

A spy must be agile, quick-witted, and able to make his own judgments when faced with a situation.

Previously, Shenxi had wanted to train spies and have his own intelligence agency, because sometimes wars are intelligence wars.

Before Qi Xiuwen could answer, Qi Xiuwu said, "One of the people who followed me has this ability, but he is arrogant and does not easily pledge allegiance to others."

"Who is it?" No matter how proud and arrogant he is, Chen Xi wants to acquire any talented person.

Talent is scarce; how can we get things done without talent?

Qi Xiuwu said, "When I was escaping from Nanning Prefecture, I rescued a man on the road. He was being chased by several people. I led my men to fight them off. He was covered in wounds, and I had someone bandage and treat him to save his life. He claimed to be from the capital and had escaped because of suffering."

"Later I met my elder brother, who knew him. This man was named Tang Junyao, a spy for the Third Prince Yelü Jingrui. He had once visited Marquis Xie in Nanning Prefecture."

Shen Xi glanced at Qi Xiuwen, who then continued, "Lord Xie doesn't shy away from discussing his advisors. That's how I learned about Tang Junyao's identity. At the time, Tang Junyao was very unhappy that Lord Xie introduced him to us, but there was nothing he could do about it."

Having come from a secret service background, one must have undergone various forms of training, and should be adept at training spies.

How did this person fall into misfortune?

"According to him, he was disliked by the Third Prince for not doing his job well and the prince wanted to kill him. He realized this in advance and ran away."

"Is this person suitable for employment?" This mainly depends on their character and loyalty.

Qi Xiuwu hurriedly assured him, "He can be used, he can be used. I see that although he is proud and arrogant, he is very sincere to people and is not sinister."

Qi Xiuwen glared at him, but did not refute his words: "This person is indeed a talent, skilled in both literature and martial arts. He is not an ordinary spy, but should be the leader of the spy team."

“Although he followed us, when we expressed our willingness to follow the leader, he did not express his opinion. We did not want to coerce him with our gratitude.”

Shenxi nodded. If they could not be truly loyal, there would inevitably be conflicts and estrangement in the future, and they might even be in Cao Cao's camp but their hearts were with Han, which would be terrible.

Chenxi said, "Since you recommend this person, I will go and see how arrogant he is."

When it's uncertain who will get the talent, she'll definitely fight for it.

Qi Xiuwu and Qi Xiuwen were naturally pleased. If Tang Junyao was used by the leader, it would be another source of strength.

Shenxi, Qi Xiuwen, and Song Zhen then discussed the construction of the county town and the resettlement of the remaining people in various villages and towns within the county.

Shenxi asked Song Zhen, "How many people are left in the villages under your jurisdiction?"

"Before the conflict, many people from the villages had gathered in the county town, and those who hadn't come had fled elsewhere, leaving the villages almost deserted."

Song Zhen continued, "After the conflict, only a portion of the people remained here; the rest fled."

Shenxi nodded. Of the entire county, only the county seat had this many people left; the rest had basically all fled.

"A notice has been posted to reassure the people: there is no need to flee anymore. Those who have fled can come back. The county government has set up a job placement office to specifically settle the destitute refugees. They will be assigned jobs according to their abilities, such as digging wells, clearing mountains, turning over land, repairing city walls, cleaning up garbage, and so on. Each person will receive ten copper coins per day, which will include a full meal."

"Work relief should be provided instead of direct food distribution."

Labor is the most glorious thing; if you want food, you have to work.

Qi Xiuwen nodded in approval: "What a brilliant work-for-relief program! Commander, you are wise!"

Shen Xi blushed slightly. This was Ouyang Xiu's idea, and she had merely borrowed it.

Of the thirteen wealthy households affected by the influx of refugees, eight were completely wiped out, and the remaining households suffered heavy casualties, with few managing to escape.

Their food and money can be used as the main force for disaster relief.

After giving the orders, Shen Xi suddenly remembered something and asked Song Zhen, "How many wells in the county town still have water?"

Song Zhen's eyes dimmed: "There's only one well left for drinking, but it probably won't last much longer. If it weren't for the refugee uprising, these wealthy families would have wanted to move their entire families away anyway."

The drought is severe; the main rivers are dry, the tributaries are parched, and even wells are drying up in various places.

"How deep are the wells in the county town?" According to the original owner's memory, the deepest well he had ever seen was only a little over ten meters.

"That well that's still bubbling water is the deepest one, it's twelve meters deep."

No matter how deep the well is, it won't yield anything.

Shenxi then understood that in this era where everything relied on human labor, wells deeper than ten meters were too thin to be used by humans due to the lack of oxygen.

"Alright, I'll personally investigate the water veins later and dig a few more wells."

Qi Xiuwen and the others were taken aback. The commander could read water veins? That was a highly specialized skill!

Despite the skeptical looks from the others, Chen Xi remained calm and composed: "I am a celestial being descended to earth to undergo tribulation, so naturally I know everything!"