While Yin and Qingyan were conducting disaster relief in the suburbs, the snow on the ground was getting heavier and heavier, showing no signs of stopping.
At dawn, Yin stood by the tent window, watching the heavy snow falling in the wind, and his anxiety grew.
Qingyan's idea inspired the people to work hard and build shelters for themselves. Yin's tent was made of cowhide, and inside the huge tent were charcoal braziers with silver wire charcoal.
After Qingyan got up, she put on thick clothes, had a quick breakfast, and then came out with Yin. She had been helping out in the kitchen for the past few days, directing the village women to get busy.
Due to the snow disaster, all the pickled vegetables that everyone had prepared for the winter were buried in the snow. Some village women spontaneously returned to their homes and dug out the prepared pickled vegetables, which are now neatly stacked outside.
"My lord, the Ministry of Revenue has already delivered the grain. There's very little wheat flour and rice, but plenty of sorghum." Su Lan was somewhat troubled; how could she possibly provide the sorghum for her masters?
The village women listened intently, very satisfied with the current disaster relief efforts. Even when they were at home, they couldn't get enough to eat during the winter.
When the snow disaster struck, they not only dug out most of their own grain to store, but also received additional compensation.
The village women had always taken care of their families and were very frugal with their food. They were very satisfied with the benefits that the royal family brought them. In addition, the men had been working hard, and Yin and Qingyan ensured that everyone ate and drank well, and even that every meal included meat.
They were all happy with the food compared to what they had at home; the food was much more refined than what they had at home.
"Quickly have someone put the things in the warehouse. With such heavy snow, we mustn't let the grain get crushed." Qingyan directed the village women to cut mutton. Yin used the disaster relief funds to buy a lot of meat to ensure that the able-bodied men had meat in every meal, so that they could eat their fill and have more strength to work.
Emperor Kangxi would check on the progress of Yinzhi's disaster relief efforts every day and discovered that Yinzhi not only directly mobilized the enthusiasm of the people, but also built disaster relief tents faster and with better quality than if others were hired.
While having lunch with Qingyan, Yin received an imperial edict praising him, and for the first time since the disaster relief efforts, a smile appeared on his face.
"Good girl, we did a good job. You've worked hard these past few days." Yin knew that Qingyan was doing work that the other women wouldn't do.
If it were a woman from another household, they wouldn't make the arrangements themselves, as it might cause other trouble.
"Master, I only did what I could." Qingyan dared not take credit. If it were any other woman, she would have done much more.
At the very least, her reputation cannot be better than that of the Crown Princess; otherwise, Yin will definitely be in a difficult position.
Yin nodded in satisfaction after hearing Qingyan's explanation; she understood perfectly well.
"My dear, I'm so sorry to have put you through this!" Yin said with emotion.
Based on Qingyan's performance here, he could tell that she was very organized and efficient, much better than the Crown Princess. At the very least, the Crown Princess definitely didn't have her kind of decisiveness.
She didn't do everything herself, but formally set many rules to preemptively address all the difficulties.
"Did you personally make those rules?" Yin also glanced at the rules Qingyan had set, which included taking into account the greedy nature of those village women.
She made them monitor each other, and if anyone embezzled, someone else would inform on them in order to get the money for monitoring.
The village women who work in the kitchen are all from the same village. If someone is dishonest, the villagers will gossip and make the family look bad.
Initially, two village women did indeed break the law and were despised by the entire village. The grain in the warehouse was disaster relief grain. If anyone stole it, it would be driving the entire village to their deaths.
The rules of the Qingyan banquet, which involve public oversight and ensure transparency, reassured the people.
"Master, look at these rules, the people will surely unite against the enemy!" Qingyan had his own plan.
Yin nodded: "That's right. Now, those people working outside are full of energy. They are very hardworking for ten copper coins."
By using the method of holding a banquet, Yin sent Erlu and the village chief to record the list of workers, so that everyone would know who was responsible and understand that the royal family would not embezzle that small amount of money.
Of course, if anyone slacks off, they will be penalized. Although it may only be two copper coins, in the eyes of the villagers, this is considered being lazy and good-for-nothing.
"Master, can we go back before the New Year?" Qingyan asked.
If Qingyan needs to spend the New Year here, she will definitely have to make more preparations. If she can go back to her residence for the New Year, Qingyan will have a much easier time.
"Yes, we should be able to go back before the twelfth lunar month!" Yin said directly.
Qingyan calculated the time and went back before the twelfth lunar month. He figured he could still prepare everything for the New Year. Rice and flour were already prepared, which was more than enough for the people to celebrate the New Year.
"The contents of the warehouse are more than enough for them to have a prosperous New Year," Yin remarked.
After listening to Yin's arrangements, Qingyan not only built sheds but also specially ordered people to prepare a lot of firewood to ensure that everyone would not freeze during the winter.
"I heard from the village women that most of their grain has been dug up, and even most of their pickled vegetables for winter have been dug up. In addition, before we leave, we will distribute the grain equally among the families," Qingyan said, sharing the information she had received.
Yin's lips curled up slightly. The village chief and others were still crying poverty in front of him, saying that none of the winter supplies they had stored up had been dug up.
"Honey, are you sure?" Yin still wanted to confirm.
Qingyan nodded: "Absolutely believable. It's not just one person; some village women are even bragging about how they dug up even more!"
After he finished speaking, Yin's face turned ugly. The villagers might be greedy to some extent, but these were just peasant thoughts. Even after he pressed them repeatedly, they still insisted that they hadn't dug it up.
"Alright, be good, don't say that to anyone else!" Yin instructed, frowning.
Accompanying Yinzhi were Kangxi's spies; if he had lashed out at the disaster victims beforehand, the censors would certainly have been in trouble.
"Master, this is clearly deception, why can't we expose it?" Qingyan asked, puzzled.
"Even if we do, we have no evidence. Although those villagers put the pickled vegetables outside, they might have moved the contents of the empty jars. There's nothing you can do about it!" Yin Tai understands them well, so he won't make a fuss over such a small thing and give the censors something to hold against him. All his hard work would be for nothing.
Qingyan felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this, realizing that Yin's disaster relief efforts were clearly a thankless and arduous undertaking.
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