The next day was the day Zhao Shouzheng and the eldest princess had agreed to meet.

He originally wanted to use his son as a shield.

Unfortunately, Zhao Hao had just started practicing martial arts these past two days, and Brother Gao had him clenched and pulled his tendons, so that he was no longer human. After practicing every day, his whole body was sore that it was difficult to even cross the threshold, so how could he have the strength to go out?

Zhao Shouzheng had no choice but to go alone.

When he came back, it was already dark and Zhao Hao had almost recovered.

While enjoying the massage from his apprentice, he heard his father spitting and saying:

"Your Highness came to the palace yesterday and said that the two ladies were indeed compassionate. The Queen gave one thousand taels and the Imperial Concubine gave eight hundred taels, and they entrusted the Princess to set up a porridge factory outside the city to distribute porridge."

Zhao Shouzheng said, picked up the teacup and drank it all, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve excitedly and said, "Guess where the princess is going to set up the porridge factory?"

"Could it be Baiyun Temple as well?" Zhao Hao raised his eyelids.

"You guessed it right." Zhao Shouzheng laughed and clapped his hands, "Before I even opened my mouth, His Highness said, I think we should set up a porridge factory outside Baiyun Temple. The place is big enough, and there are ready-made stalls, which is enough to provide porridge to the refugees."

Zhao Hao glanced at Zhao Shouzheng when he heard this, thinking that the two of you are really a perfect match. You even have the same thoughts...

Could it be that there is some special meaning to you?

"That's great." He encouraged, "Now Dad can go and raise funds without any worries. No one will say you are trying to show off."

"Yes, the three Bodhisattvas are here to protect us. Who can steal the limelight? Who dares to make sarcastic remarks?"

Zhao Shouzheng said, and suddenly he became a little unconfident: "But His Highness insisted that I be the director of the porridge factory, and I am afraid I can't do it."

"Father, just rest assured." Zhao Hao had already figured out the princess's thoughts, so he smiled and assisted, "Your Highness has plenty of people to do the work. Just ask her for instructions and report to her more often, and I guarantee that nothing will go wrong."

"Oh..." Zhao Shouzheng felt relieved after hearing this, and started humming a little tune as he got ready.

He had never done anything serious in his life, and at this moment he was completely overwhelmed by the sudden sense of responsibility. He didn't realize that this was just a trick used by the Princess to lure him in.

~~

So in the following days, Zhao Shouzheng went out early and came back late every day, and was busy managing the affairs of the porridge factory with Tang Hezheng, Shi Jinchen and other classmates.

In fact, the candidates in Nanzhili were indeed rich. More than 300 people contributed more than 16,000 taels, and Zhao Shouzheng, the person in charge, directly raised 20,000 taels. Together with the 20,000 taels contributed by the eldest princess and the two ladies, it was enough to keep the victims from starving during the first month of the year.

Moreover, these bastards deliberately squeezed the Zhejiang candidates. Huang Jieyuan and his gang were already competing with them, so how could they let the candidates from Nanzhili stand out? So they also donated money, trying to surpass those unsophisticated people from Nanzhili.

Once the candidates from Jiangsu and Zhejiang started to take action, it was difficult for candidates from other provinces to remain indifferent. Although they were not as rich as them, it was still no problem for them to collect a few thousand taels to show their gratitude.

And the wives of the nobles and officials. The two ladies and the eldest princess had already paid, so who would dare to pretend not to see it? So they had no choice but to pay more or less.

Together with donations from businessmen, citizens and all walks of life, the subscribed amount has reached nearly 100,000 taels in just a few days.

As long as supervision is strong and enforcement is proper, the refugees should not starve to death during this long winter.

Zhao Hao felt that this was a good opportunity to let the disciples who came from wealthy families understand the sufferings of the common people, so he let the five Yangs take turns to stay with their master and help him with the work.

The princess was also very concerned about this matter. Not only did she assign capable personnel to Zhao Shouzheng, she also sent a team of Jinyiwei to help maintain order. She also repeatedly emphasized to Zhao Shouzheng that he must report at least once every other day. She also told him not to slack off and report on time, otherwise she would be very angry...

Zhao Shouzheng had no choice but to cheer up and report to the Princess's Mansion the next day. As for whether they talked about anything else besides relief matters, Zhao Hao had no way of knowing.

The days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye it was the end of the year.

After the Little New Year, the New Year atmosphere in Beijing became stronger and stronger.

Although Zhao Hao's family lives in a foreign land, with the increasing number of people in the family, the family is bustling all day long, and the New Year atmosphere is even more intense than that of ordinary families.

On the night of the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Shouzheng brought his son, apprentices and nephews to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. They first sealed the Kitchen God's mouth with a piece of sugar melon and then posted a pair of couplets on both sides of the blackened statue of the old man. The top couplet read 'speak good things to the heaven' and the bottom couplet read 'keep the world safe', begging the old man not to tell tales after he goes to heaven.

Zhao Shouzheng also specially prepared two bottles of the best "Yao Zi Xue Qu" for the Kitchen God to thank him for protecting him during the most difficult times for the father and son.

I just don’t know whether the Kitchen God in the Zhao Mansion in Beijing is the same one as the one in the courtyard in Caijia Lane in Nanjing.

"Come to think of it, when we were demolishing the house that day, I don't remember whether we invited him out first..."

Zhao Shouzheng, who was toasting to the Kitchen God, suddenly thought of the day he passed the imperial examination. He shuddered and quickly poured the whole bottle of wine in front of the stove.

"Let's just assume it's the same person."

~~

The next day, the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, is the day to clean the house.

On this day, the house needs to be thoroughly cleaned inside and out, in every corner. Such an arduous task cannot be left to the long-legged brothers alone.

In addition to Wuyang, even Zhao Shizhen and Zhao Shixi were drafted into the army.

Therefore, there were as many as six people standing in front of the eldest brother, wearing hoods on their heads, sleeves on their arms, holding brooms, mops, buckets, dustpans and other combat weapons.

"What is our mission?" The eldest brother held up a feather duster and made a passionate pre-war mobilization.

"Sweep away the dust and dirt!" the six people shouted together.

"What's our slogan?"

“There are no blind spots!”

“What’s our motivation?”

"If you can't even clean your own house, how can you clean the world?"

The eldest brother nodded with satisfaction, and then, in a scientific and rigorous manner, divided the cleaning into several internal and external areas, and set separate hygiene requirements and scoring standards for each area.

"Inside the house, dust should be cleaned up in corners, under beds, on pillars and beams with a broom; metal handles on cabinets should also be wiped clean..."

"Hurry up and work, it's almost noon!"

It was not until his master kicked him in the butt that he dejectedly took the six people and started to busy himself inside and outside the house.

There was too much dust from working in the house, so Zhao Hao had to hide in the yard. Fortunately, it was a rare sunny and windless day today, and the warm sun felt very comfortable on his body.

He asked Gao Wu to move a lounge chair and place it against the south wall, and then covered himself with a thin blanket. Then he basked in the sun while looking through the Wuji express delivery he had just received.

This was sent from Jinling.

Open the sturdy wooden box, and you will find it filled with gifts from my relatives back home.

ps. The fourth update, 6600 votes plus more, asking for monthly votes and recommendation votes~~