At first, he thought it was just an escort mission. How much ability could a princess have? So he didn't think the princess could ask him to do anything big.
"Alright, I'm satisfied with what you said. Take all the useless men under you with you tomorrow and come with me to find a water source."
Lin Yuxin had a better understanding of the situation. Originally, she wanted to bring her own people with her when searching for water, but since the Emperor had sent his own people, she couldn't refuse to let them participate, otherwise she wouldn't be able to explain it when she returned.
After much deliberation, I decided to entrust the task of finding a water source to the Emperor's men.
"Looking for a water source?"
Dan Dao was taken aback. In this weather, where would they find water? Even the river was almost dry. Where could they possibly find water? Was the princess going crazy?
"Yes! I've already sent out two of my men. The prince has taken his men to check on the situation in the surrounding villages and towns. Until he returns, you'll be working for me for the next few days!"
Lin Yuxin kept it a secret and didn't elaborate.
"yes!"
Suppressing his doubts, Dan Dao bowed his head and agreed.
Lin Yuxin tidied herself up, without even taking a break, and asked Zhao Er to fetch the prefectural magistrate.
After a while, Zhao Er finally came over, but he looked troubled.
Lin Yuxin frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Looking at him like that, I'm confused:"
"What? You couldn't find them?"
"Found him. He's been locked up by Zhong Zu'an and has been without food and water for five days. When I found him, he had been unconscious for a long time. I had the team's doctor examine him myself, and he said he was starving and needed to rest for a few days. I've already arranged for someone to take care of him."
Zhao Er lowered his head and said, his tone tinged with indignation, "That Zhong Zu'an is a complete scoundrel."
"Okay, so he's been detained. What exactly is the reason?"
Lin Yuxin asked again.
“I asked the officials who were imprisoned, and they said it was because Magistrate Xu wanted to distribute grain, but Zhong Zu’an objected, and the two had a big argument. After that, Zhong Zu’an imprisoned him.”
Zhao Er said with a heavy heart, "There are all kinds of people in this world."
“Alright, take good care of him. Once he’s better, let him come to me and talk to me. Go and bring all the household registration books from the North City so we can distribute the grain.”
Lin Yuxin nodded to indicate that she understood, and then said.
"yes!"
Zhao Er turned and left.
Lin Yuxin didn't have to wait long before she led Zhao Er, who had prepared the food, and a group of people out of the government office, where they set up a small shed next to the government office.
Once the table was set up and the rice was placed on it, people gradually stopped in their tracks as they watched this scene unfold. They couldn't move their feet when they saw that the bags contained rice, grain.
At this moment, Lin Yuxin came out, stood in front of the tent, and shouted loudly to the sparse crowd of people standing opposite:
"Fellow citizens, I am Princess Pingning, personally appointed by the Emperor. I have come to Jibei City on His Majesty's orders to resolve the issue of the lack of rain for several months. However, I have come to find corrupt officials in power, and the people suffering from hunger and water."
"I, the Princess, have decided that, starting today, every resident of Jibei City will receive two catties of rice per day upon presentation of their household registration certificate. As for the water issue, we will gradually resolve it as well, so please rest assured, everyone!"
No sooner had Lin Yuxin finished speaking than a member of the public asked incredulously:
"Princess? Is that rice really being given away for free? It can't be a scam, right?"
"Exactly, you're a princess, how can you be so kind?"
"Princess? Is it true? We haven't had any food to cook for days. Please let us have some food!"
The surrounding people started talking about it, but no one stepped forward to collect the rice.
Lin Yuxin stepped aside, making room for the table, and said with a smile:
"Every word I have said is true. If anyone does not believe me, please bring your household registration documents to collect them."
The people around looked at each other, and some, unable to resist the temptation of the rice, walked to the table, ready to give it a try.
"Where is your household registration certificate? You need a household registration certificate to receive the grain."
Standing in front of the table, Zhao Er looked at a commoner opposite him with a serious expression and said.
"I...I'm at home."
The commoner shrank back, frightened by Zhao Er's stern face, and answered cautiously.
"I...I brought it, I have it here!"
At this moment, an old man standing nearby spoke up.
He originally intended to bring his family to the city to stay with relatives, but they were all in dire straits. Left with no other choice, he had to leave the northern part of the city with his family, so he kept his household registration certificate on him.
As he spoke, he stepped forward, took out his household registration certificate, and showed it to Zhao Er.
Zhao Er took it, and his subordinate began to check the names on the household registration book.
“Wang Tou Tie, from Zi Tou Village in Beicheng, are you the only one here? If everyone on the household registration is here, you can have them all come and collect it together.”
After Zhao Er finished checking, he said to the old man.
The old man was delighted to hear this and nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, we are all here."
As he spoke, he turned and waved to his wife, children, and grandchildren who were standing far away.
His family saw that the person who had arrived home was waving to them, and they all walked over shakily and stood uneasily to the side.
"Sir, my family is all here."
When Wang Tietou saw that his family had all come over, he cautiously spoke to Zhao Er.
"Okay, I'll check the number of people and names. If there are no problems, you can collect your food."
Zhao Er continued speaking with a blank expression.
Soon, Zhao Er verified the information of Wang Tietou's family and began distributing grain to them.
Since they were about to leave home, they were carrying bundles on their backs. When they saw that they needed to fill the bundles with grain, they immediately took out a cloth bag from their bundles and waited for Zhao Er to fill it with grain.
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