A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Father, why are we donating 30% of our funds to disaster relief? Even 30% is not a small amount!"

Cui Huan said with some reluctance.

"Huan'er, remember this: of these 30%, not even 10% can be touched."

Cui Rong said solemnly, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Thirty percent—this figure comes at the cost of numerous bloody lessons."

"If the number of victims falls below 30%, it will cause a large number of people to starve to death, forcing them to launch riots and rebellions."

"The imperial court will certainly quell the rebellion, but it will also investigate why the disaster victims rebelled."

"More than one prominent family has fallen victim to this, resulting in the destruction of their family and the loss of their lives."

"Having learned from the lessons of the destruction of many families, many powerful families have jointly calculated that the figure of 30% is a way to maximize our profits while ensuring that the number of disaster victims does not starve to death in large numbers."

Cui Huan nodded and said to Cui Rong, "I understand, it will definitely not exceed this limit."

"You must be careful. Many powerful families know that they cannot drive disaster victims to their deaths, but there are always some short-sighted petty officials and some poor peasants who do not understand this principle."

"You must prevent them from excessively exploiting the disaster victims, which could incite a popular uprising."

"This has happened before in history. The officials in charge of disaster relief had already kept 30% of the money and grain, but because of those short-sighted petty officials who were still plundering the disaster victims who had nothing to gain, a popular uprising broke out."

"The lessons of the past should guide the future; we must learn from them."

Cui Rong carefully instructed his son, saying that these were the experiences accumulated by their family over many years, one of the foundations of their family, to be passed down from generation to generation.

"I understand."

Cui Huan nodded in realization, inwardly amused by his own shallowness.

He was still thinking of plundering the disaster victims, but he forgot that if a large number of the disaster victims rebelled, the court would definitely investigate thoroughly, and no one could protect him.

This method of exploiting natural disasters to plunder money and land is knowledge that those from poor families could never learn in their entire lives.

This is the difference between aristocratic families and those from humble backgrounds!

Cui Huan thought to himself smugly.

After receiving the documents from the Ministry of Revenue, Yuan Jie couldn't wait to head to Yangzhou, the area most severely affected by the disaster.

Upon receiving the news, Cui Huan sneered and continued drinking and making merry in the capital, chatting and laughing with some family members who wanted to get a share of the disaster.

When Yuan Jie arrived in Yangzhou, weary from his journey, he was met with a scene of devastation.

At the entrance of every county town, there was a place where the imperial court distributed porridge.

A long line formed outside the soup kitchen, filled with ragged refugees, their faces pale with hunger, skin and bones. Some had children with them, some were crying, some were making a fuss, and some were shouting that they were hungry.

However, in one place, a large group of people who were dressed slightly better stood idly, looking at the long dragon with a mocking gaze.

Yuan Jie's eyes reddened, and tears almost streamed down her face.

He strode forward, and wherever he went, the disaster victims quickly moved away.

Although Yuan Jie did not wear official robes in order to make his journey easier.

After disembarking, in order to obtain the true extent of the disaster, Yuan Jie still did not change into his official robes, nor did he notify local governments. Instead, he went to the disaster area alone.

Yuan Jie couldn't care less about these things now; he personally went to the area around the soup kitchen.

Thick white porridge was boiling in the pot, and its aroma was irresistible. The disaster victims had already formed a long line, but the porridge was nowhere to be seen.

"Fellow disaster victims, the imperial court has decreed that the porridge cooked by the government must be so thick that if chopsticks float to the surface, a person's head will fall to the ground."

A man dressed in the robes of a county magistrate, holding a pair of chopsticks, stood beside several large pots of boiling water.

"Everyone, open your eyes wide and see clearly. I will absolutely obey the imperial court's orders and will definitely provide disaster relief in an impartial manner."

"I don't ask for much. If, after the disaster, everyone can hold up a blood-stained umbrella for the people, I will be eternally grateful."

As he spoke, the county magistrate bowed to the many disaster victims.

Many disaster victims immediately knelt down before the county magistrate, shouting "Your Honor, the Upright Magistrate!"

The magistrate nodded in satisfaction, loosened his chopsticks, and dropped them directly into the porridge.

"As everyone can see, the porridge cooked by the government officials is so good that the chopsticks can stand upright, which perfectly meets the standards of the imperial court."

After the magistrate finished speaking, he gave a wink to the few bailiffs beside him, who then quickly carried the pots of thick porridge to another location.

This place is right next to those better-dressed people.

Seeing these pots of thick porridge, the group of people seemed to have expected it. They quickly formed a queue, took large bowls, and began to wait for the imperial court to distribute the porridge.

The bailiffs scooped up the thick white porridge with spoons and poured it into the large bowls in the hands of these people.

When the disaster victims saw this, they thought it was a place where porridge was being cooked and that was the place where disaster relief was being provided, so they all rushed over there and formed another long queue.

Yuan Jie frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

He noticed that no new pots were being brought out for cooking porridge.

Moreover, the pot used for cooking porridge is not large. It is naturally larger than the pot used by ordinary households, but much smaller than the pot needed for disaster relief.

Those few pots of porridge were hardly enough to satisfy the needs of the entire county's population.

It's probably only enough to feed those people at the front.

!!!

Yuan Jie's heart tightened, and he focused his gaze on the group of people distributing porridge.

One bowl, two bowls, three bowls...

Soon, the entire pot of porridge was finished.

The group that was standing there at the beginning seems to have decreased by only a quarter.

At this rate, by the time these people finish distributing the porridge and the disaster victims are exhausted, there probably won't be much porridge left.

Just as Yuan Jie had predicted, when it was the turn of the ragged disaster victims to fill their bowls with porridge, only the last pot of thick white porridge remained out of the five pots.

He looked at the yamen runners who were cleaning up the stove and walked over to stop one of them.

Seeing that Yuan Jie's clothes were clearly expensive, the constable didn't dare to offend him and asked with a forced smile, "Young master, is there anything I can help you with?"

Yuan Jie pointed to the pot and stove where the porridge was being cooked and asked.

"Aren't you going to continue cooking? It's obvious there aren't enough disaster victims over there; there's a huge shortage!"

"We're not cooking anymore; today's porridge distribution is over."

The constable looked at Yuan Jie with suspicion, but still answered honestly.

"it's over?"

"What about the remaining disaster victims?"

Yuan Jie frowned, his tone becoming somewhat unfriendly.

These lowly clerks were naturally quite adept at reading people's minds, and they could sense the ill intent in Yuan Jie's tone.

"The fact that they are at the back of the line indicates that they are not very hungry, or that they still have food stored at home, which is why they are not very enthusiastic."

"The government's distribution of porridge naturally prioritizes those disaster victims who have no food reserves and are on the verge of starvation."

"After all, the county government's grain reserves are limited, and we don't know when the imperial court's supplies will arrive, so we can't afford to waste them."

The constable explained, noticing Yuan Jie's expression, and then asked, "May I ask which family this young master belongs to?"

"What is the point of asking these questions?"

"Should I inform the county magistrate?"