After Jin Ke left satisfied, Wu Chengen came in and threw an account book in front of him.

"The inventory is complete."

"So fast?" Zhao Hao was slightly surprised.

According to custom, after a new official takes office, he must perform other dignified ceremonies, such as parading through the streets in a sedan chair, going to the court to receive the seal, and burning incense and worshiping in the temple.

Of course, there was also substantive work to be done, such as clearing out warehouses and inventorying inventory, cleaning out prisons, summoning students for examinations, posting notices, patrolling the city and the countryside, and checking the roll calls.

Mr. Zhao was responsible for the last two items this morning, while the first two really important items were undertaken by his two assistants.

It would normally take several days to clear out the warehouse and inventory, but unexpectedly Wu Cheng'en came back so early.

"It's that fast." Wu Cheng'en sat next to Zhao Hao and opened the account book to show him: "There are less than 2,000 dan of grain and 400 taels of silver in the warehouse. How much more trouble is there?"

"Just that?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh.

No wonder County Magistrate Feng was hesitant and unwilling to tell the truth during the handover last night, it turns out he is extremely poor.

It’s not that he and his father were soft-hearted or that they were deceived by County Magistrate Feng.

But the rules in officialdom have always been like this. The water dripping from the eaves is passed down from generation to generation, and the new official will not count the accounts of the old official.

As long as the hole left by the predecessor is not too big, the successor has to cover it for him.

After all, your successor will also leave office in the future. If you don't want to be held accountable by your successor's successor, you have to follow the rules.

Anyway, it's the Ming Dynasty's money that's lost, and I don't have to pay for it myself...

"How big is the hole?" Zhao Hao asked.

"About four thousand taels." Wu Chengen smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, County Magistrate Feng is quite kind."

"Yes." Zhao Hao nodded in agreement. In such a poor Kunshan County, the hole was less than 5,000 taels, so he should be content.

"There are one hundred thousand mouths waiting to be fed. How are we going to feed them?" Wu Cheng'en worried again.

"How long can two thousand stones last?" Zhao Hao asked.

"Be economical, three days." Wu Chengen said with a frown, "But if we use work-for-relief, the cost will be even greater."

In fact, the practice of using work as a substitute for relief has existed since the Tang and Song dynasties. However, once people engage in physical labor, their appetite will be much greater than if they were lying still.

To feed the same number of people, the amount of food needed would double.

If hundreds of thousands of disaster victims eat as much as they want, the food mountains will be eaten up in a few days!

So it’s not that those superiors are too stupid to think of it, but that they really don’t have the ability to use work-for-relief.

It would be better to cook the porridge a little thinner, add some bran, weeds and sand, let the people eat only three-quarters full and then lie down to get through the day.

~~

But on the way to Kunshan, Mr. Zhao had already rejected all objections and decided to implement work-for-relief in Kunshan!

This method is very suitable for Kunshan. In this era, building a dike is just about piling up people, and the more people there are, the better the effect.

Moreover, the people have work to do and food to eat, and social order will be stable.

In addition, at the end of the year, it can be written into Mr. Zhao’s summary report as a dazzling political achievement, and his name will be recorded in history in the future.

After all, "work-for-relief" has always been associated with famous officials of all dynasties...

This move has many advantages, but without enough food, it would be just playing with fire and getting burned.

"What if we run out of food in a few days?" Wu Chengen asked with a bitter face, "It will cause a big mess."

"Today or tomorrow at the latest, Wu Ji's fleet will deliver 3,000 dan of stored grain." Zhao Hao gave him a small reassurance and said, "Then there will be about 10,000 dan in succession. It should be delivered within half a month."

"That's only half a month's supply." Wu Chengen looked at Zhao Hao helplessly. "Now you know how terrible work-for-relief is, right? It's a bottomless pit."

"Mr. Lin will arrive in Suzhou in the next few days." Zhao Hao thought for a moment and scratched his head, saying, "He should ask the government to transfer another batch."

"That's fine." Wu Chengen said with a sigh of relief, "With the personal notification from the governor, even if the prefectural government delays, they will be able to deliver food in ten days or half a month, which will be just the right time to catch up."

"You can't count on that." Unexpectedly, Zhao Hao shook his head and said, "The governor can only order the prefect, he can't do it himself. There are ways to delay it for a month or two."

"Why is Governor Cai delaying us?" Wu Cheng'en asked in confusion, "Isn't Kunshan County under his jurisdiction?"

"Prefect Cai is a student of Mr. Gao..." Zhao Hao pursed his lips and said, "I heard that last year it was Gao Suqing who personally asked for his promotion from the Ministry of Revenue Langzhong to the Prefect of Suzhou."

"Gao Gong?" Wu Cheng'en was stunned and asked, "So what? Did you and your father offend not only Lord Xu, but also Lord Gao?"

"This has nothing to do with my father and me." Zhao Hao couldn't help but say, "It's my old man. It's said that he has a mortal feud with Gao Gong."

"Uh, okay." Wu Cheng'en twitched the corners of his mouth, thinking that now it's good, he is fighting alone.

~~

If Lord Xu was still in power, Cai Guoxi would have to keep a low profile and everyone would have to live in peace.

Now everyone knows that Gao Gong's comeback is a matter of time, and Cai Guoxi will definitely perform well in front of his teacher.

What, Li Chunfang? Everyone knows that it is just a decoration during the transition period.

Not everyone can hold the position of the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty securely, not even an insignificant state official like Gancao can hold the position securely.

"Since Suzhou is so unfriendly, why did we choose it in the first place?" Wu Cheng'en was puzzled.

"Because it's Suzhou." Zhao Hao smiled without explaining.

In order to ignite the fire of commercial revolution, he would be happy to go to Wuxian, not to mention that there would be a buffer if he were to move to Kunshan.

But it’s hard for Mr. Zhao.

Thinking of this, Zhao Hao felt even more duty-bound, so he encouraged Wu Chengen in a deep voice:

"Just put the food there, and I'll take care of the rest."

"How to solve it?" Wu Chengen frowned and said, "There is one thing I haven't told you yet. The clerk who accompanied me to check the warehouse today said that all the grain merchants who went to Suzhou to buy grain this morning returned empty-handed. It is said that the inventory is tight, so we can only give priority to the city."

As he spoke, he sighed and said, "Sir, there are some things in this world that cannot be solved with money."

"I admit this." Zhao Hao nodded, but then changed the subject and said with a smile: "But most of the time, it's just that the money I give you is not enough."

"Sir, are you planning to pay more for grain?" Wu Chengen frowned even more. "Raising grain prices is a big taboo."

Among the disaster relief orders that Zhao Shouzheng verbally issued, there was a clause that said "raising grain prices is strictly prohibited."

By the same token, the prefectural government and the counties would not sit idly by and watch Kunshan County buy grain at a high price, as that would disrupt grain prices throughout the prefecture.

This was a disastrous situation for a region with a population of eight million, which relied on purchasing more than half of its food from Huguang.

"It's easy to avoid it. Just use over-the-counter transactions." Young Master Zhao smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll go out for a walk tomorrow and make sure I can get enough food for you."

"Oh, okay." Wu Cheng'en was a worrisome person, and it was his first time working with Zhao Hao, so naturally he was a hundred percent worried.

But Zhao Hao was the one who actually had the final say in the county government, and even the county magistrate had to listen to him. Wu Chengen could only suppress his worries and wait for good news.

"There is one more thing I need to ask you, sir. How should these grains be accounted for? Is it considered that the county bought it from you, borrowed it, or donated it? There must be a clear rule."

ps. Third update, keep going. Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~~