The most dissolute couple in the capital

In Li Chengjing's imagination, the disaster camp would inevitably be a scene of utter desolation and chaos, with the starving dead and the living rolling together in heaps, and local officials running around like headless flies. There might even be a melodramatic scene of officials forcing the people to rebel. He had even rehearsed in his mind eight hundred times how to use his status to oppress people and how to hurl insults.

However, when he actually stepped into the vast camp, he found the scenery to be even better than he had imagined.

The tens of thousands of disaster victims did not wander around like lost souls. The entire camp was forcibly divided into dozens of square formations by thick wooden stakes and ropes. At the entrance of each square formation stood a rough wooden sign with the words "Zhangjia Village, Qingyuan County" and "Lijia Gou, Jiangyuan County" written in thick ink.

"Your Highness, your compassion for the people is like that for your own children. We officials have been working tirelessly day and night for days, all in accordance with the laws of our ancestors..."

A fawning male voice, trembling with sobs, came from a makeshift tent made of tattered oilcloth in front of them.

Li Chengjing strode over and yanked open the oilcloth curtain.

There was no brazier or hot tea inside the tent. Several wooden tables pieced together were piled high with account books. The magistrate of Jiangyuan County, accompanied by several registrars, stood before the tables with a pained expression, sweat mixed with mud dripping from his forehead.

The person sitting behind the desk was dressed in an extremely sleek black outfit, his long hair tied up with only a wooden hairpin, his brows and eyes carrying a sharp and ruthless air that dared not be looked at directly. It was none other than Prince Yan, Li Zhao, who had arrived in the disaster area earlier to take charge of disaster relief.

"Don't try to fool me with Mencius. I don't trust your mouths." Li Zhao slammed an account book down at the feet of the Jiangyuan County Magistrate, coldly rebuking him, "I ordered you to register the disaster victims in the three severely affected counties separately according to their place of origin, distribute grain according to the number of households, and keep separate registers for the able-bodied, the elderly, the weak, and the injured. Look at the garbage you've submitted! Yesterday, the Jiazi Camp in the west of the city received grain from 1,200 households, and today suddenly 1,500 households have appeared. Did those extra 300 households sprout up overnight?!"

The magistrate of Jiangyuan County knelt on the ground with a thud, trembling all over: "Your Highness, please understand! The disaster victims are constantly moving around, coming today and leaving tomorrow, making it extremely difficult to verify the exact number!"

"If you can't verify it, then count it on the spot! I don't care what method you use, the household registration records of Battalion A must match the grain distribution registers before dark!" Li Zhao's gaze swept over the local officials like a knife. "Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish, but dealing with a major disaster requires like taking stock of your own resources. Make sure you understand the numbers first. If you don't know how many mouths to feed, you won't know how much grain you need to allocate. If you can't even calculate the numbers, you might as well take off your official hats and use them as chamber pots for me!"

The local officials were so frightened by the barbed reprimand that they turned pale and scrambled out with their account books in their hands, complaining incessantly.

Li Chengjing stood at the tent entrance, watching this scene, and couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

Li Zhao had been a low-key and unassuming man in the capital for the past few years, but now that he was in the south, he was surprisingly swift and decisive.

This made him look at them with new respect and admiration.

"My dear niece, how impressive!" Li Chengjing patted the mud off his clothes and strode into the tent. "I think the magistrate of Jiangyuan County is about to be driven to the brink of suicide by the forms in your hands."

Li Zhao looked up at the sound and saw Li Chengjing's disheveled appearance, which was not much better than that of a refugee. A look of extremely sincere astonishment flashed in his eyes.

"Royal Uncle?" Li Zhao immediately stood up and hurried to greet him. "Why did you come in looking like that? Where is General Xiao? Didn't Father Emperor send an edict to escort you with three hundred elite troops?"

"Just outside, Xiao Jue ran into a colleague. They were short-handed, so I asked him to go help out." Li Chengjing walked to the table without any ceremony, poured himself a bowl of ice-cold tea, and gulped it down. "You've cleaned up this mess quite well."

Li Zhao sighed softly, a hint of fatigue showing on his face.

"Uncle, please don't tease me. I was just keeping the people under control and making sure they didn't riot when I was arranging the electricity. It's just a rough job." Li Zhao turned around and walked to the pile of account books. He pulled out a small booklet that was heavily marked with cinnabar and handed it to Li Jing, his brows furrowing tightly again.

"The real danger lies here."

Li Chengjing put down his teacup, took the booklet, and opened it.

The above is not a record of food expenditures, but rather a daily record of the number of sick people in each camp.

"What is this?"

"Every day, we need to report not only the consumption of provisions, but also the number of new cases of fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and external injuries." Li Zhao pressed his temples. "Uncle, please take a look."

Li Chengjing looked down and flipped through the booklet.

Each page was clearly marked with different grids: the number of disaster victims, the number of deaths, the number of missing persons, the amount of food distributed, and the number of sick people. The information was well-organized and easy to understand.

However, as time went on, the number of people getting sick was clearly increasing.

"Your Highness, after such a great disaster, the people were displaced, caught a cold, and were also suffering from shock and acclimatization issues. It's only natural that they would fall ill." A clerk next to him wiped his sweat and quietly tried to make the figure seem more reasonable.

Li Chengjing looked at him without any politeness: "Common sense my foot! One hundred and fifty people simultaneously suffering from acclimatization problems? Did you have a brain just to show off your height?"

The registrar kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to utter another word.

Li Zhao sighed deeply, walked behind the table and sat down, his expression cold and stern yet tinged with helplessness: "Following the method taught by my mother, I reorganized these tens of thousands of refugees according to their original places of residence, separating the young and strong, the old and weak, and the wounded and sick. The local doctors prescribed a remedy for colds, which we boiled in large pots and distributed, but we still couldn't contain it."

Li Chengjing was relatively optimistic. He originally thought that when he arrived here, he would be facing a chaotic mess of demons.

He was even prepared to fight with local powerful families for grain and medicine, but he never expected Li Zhao to be even more capable than he had imagined.

In his political career over the past few years, Li Zhao has grown rapidly and demonstrated strong political skills, quickly bringing the dangerous situation under control.

However, Li Zhao was not skilled in medicine, and the local doctors had limited expertise, so they were somewhat at a loss in the face of the epidemic.

"Don't worry, my dear niece. You've done a great job." Li Chengjing suddenly closed the booklet and weighed it in his hand. "However, everyone has their own expertise. I've brought the most knowledgeable imperial physician in the palace about epidemics, and we also have the experienced Elder Qi overseeing things, plus a rising star in medicine like myself. We're sure we can help you solve your problem."