After returning to his residence, Yinzhen immediately began to work on disaster relief. Although he had no experience in this matter, he had seen it in his dream, so he handled the problem in an orderly manner.
Furthermore, An Linyu's men have already infiltrated the disaster victims' ranks, making it easier for him to communicate with them.
Seeing that he was so busy he was practically living outside, Tong Cheng'er couldn't remain indifferent. After thinking for a moment, she decided to do something within her power, so she mobilized all the maids and servants in the mansion who knew needlework to participate.
"Madam, everyone is sewing cotton-padded clothes now, but even so, it's still not enough!"
Upon hearing this, Tong Cheng'er thought it made sense, as the snow hadn't stopped yet.
"Go and take some cotton cloth and cotton to the shelter. There should be some nimble women and girls there. Let them do the work. They'll be paid ten coins per piece of clothing. I think some people will be willing to do it."
Tong Cheng'er didn't give much, but the shelter had plenty of food, and ten coins for a piece of clothing was already quite a lot.
After all, for most people, even if nothing happens, they have no source of income throughout the winter.
In addition to looking for people in shelters, Tong Cheng'er also had people look for young women and women in the capital who were willing to do work, and many of them were willing to take on such jobs.
With many hands making many hands, a skilled woman could make one or two cotton-padded coats a day, even if they weren't particularly exquisite. In three days, Tong Cheng'er had acquired nearly five thousand cotton-padded coats.
Although there are many disaster victims, not every one of them is without any clothes to wear; these cotton-padded coats are enough for emergency use.
Tong Cheng'er did this without keeping it a secret from others. After the Third and Fifth Prince Consorts found out about it, they also had some things done.
When news of what these people had done reached Emperor Kangxi's ears, he couldn't help but feel gratified. It proved that, apart from being deceived by her when choosing the Crown Princess, his judgment was usually quite good.
Look at his daughters-in-law, especially Tong Cheng'er who is leading the way; she has won Kangxi's heart!
Since it was truly to his liking, and Kangxi was not a stingy person, he waved his hand and sent a considerable reward to Tong Cheng'er's courtyard.
The Third and Fifth Prince's wives were not neglected either. Although the quality of the gifts was not as good as those sent to Tong Cheng'er, the gifts were still quite good. The key was that Kangxi's attitude made them stand even straighter.
His words carried more weight in the household, especially from the Fifth Prince's wife. Her family background was not prominent, and the couple's relationship was strained, so she was inevitably a bit hesitant in her actions.
With Emperor Kangxi's reward, the Fifth Prince treated her much better than usual.
With the three of them doing this, the First Princess Consort, being the only one left out, was furious, but she had no way to reason with them and could only sulk in silence. Then she also had someone prepare cotton-padded clothes for her.
However, she did it late, so the effect was not as obvious as that of Tong Cheng'er and the others, and Kangxi did not reward her.
Tong Cheng'er took the lead in doing this, and everyone else followed suit. There was no shortage of cotton-padded clothes, but there were always other things that were lacking.
As a result, the shelter would receive rice, flour, oil, and charcoal every day from the wives or ladies of high-ranking officials.
There's so much stuff, enough for these disaster victims to get through the winter.
When the snowstorm hit, merchants outside raised prices. The things these people brought were the most sought-after and useful items. Yinzhen was pleased to see this, mainly because it saved him a lot of trouble and money.
Six shelters are clearly not enough, but we have plenty of money and food, so we can just keep building.
At the same time, he also ordered the reconstruction of the houses that had collapsed under the weight of the snow to begin.
The heavy snow fell for nine days before stopping. As soon as the snow stopped, Yinzhen ordered construction to begin, and most of the workers were disaster victims.
Strong men built houses and did the heavy lifting, while women and girls took care of the logistics; everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
The disaster victims also wanted to rebuild their homes as soon as possible, so they worked even harder than the craftsmen who would have to spend money.
Supplies were donated, and the shelters had enough. In the end, the biggest expenses were cement and some wood and bricks.
To reduce costs, and given the large amount of materials needed for reconstruction, Yinzhen directly ordered the construction of a brick kiln, causing merchants who were hoping to make a fortune to nearly collapse in tears at the sight of the piled-up bricks and tiles.
An Linyu is also good at inspiring people, and she gives them a pep talk every now and then.
Tell the disaster victims about the wonderful life after their homes are rebuilt, and tell the craftsmen who are paid money about righteousness.
The results were excellent, and everyone was full of energy. Half a month after the snow stopped, the task of rebuilding the disaster area was almost complete.
When Kangxi learned of this news from his secret guards, he was incredulous. The speed was too fast, and more importantly, the reaction of the disaster victims was one of deep gratitude towards the court.
This is exactly the result Kangxi wanted!
He wanted to be a great emperor, comparable to Emperor Taizong of Tang. The people's attitude was very important; otherwise, he wouldn't have reduced taxes from time to time, all for the sake of a good reputation.
Otherwise, would he complain that there's too much silver in the national treasury?
Kangxi was now very satisfied with Yinzhen. The speed and results were very gratifying. Most importantly, the people's admiration for him as emperor and for the court made Kangxi extremely pleased.
At this time, Kangxi only knew that Yinzhen had done a good job, but he did not know that he had spent very little.
After thinking about it, he decided to take this opportunity to visit the shelter.
So he summoned Yinzhen.
After hearing his idea, Yinzhen suppressed the urge to complain and could only respectfully say, "Your subject will go and prepare it now."
In fact, as far as Yinzhen was concerned, this was really unnecessary. The emperor's travels were already in the process of rebuilding, and it was already too much trouble!
Yinzhen felt it was a waste.
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