Spiritual energy resurgence? My former empress wife has also revived!

In the year 476 of the Jingyuan era, Qin Zijun was 30 years old. Jiangbei Circuit suffered a severe drought, followed by a locust plague, with the circuit and prefectures being the hardest-hit areas.

The drought led to a complete crop failure, and the locust plague devoured the remaining crops, causing grain prices to skyrocket.

Hungry people poured into the prefecture from surrounding counties and prefectures, and the scene of starving corpses everywhere seemed to be emerging.

Qian Qian, an official under the Dao Prefecture, approached Qin Zijun, the highest-ranking official in the prefecture, and suggested, "Lord Qin, in this year of great disaster, the people are starving everywhere. I urge you to open the granaries wide and provide relief to the victims!"

Qin Zijun met with Qian Qian.

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Is Jiangbei Road prosperous?"

"Jiangbei and Jiangnan are the most prosperous places in the world."

Qian Qian was puzzled, wondering why Lord Qin asked this question, and he answered cautiously.

Qin Zijun then asked, "Is the prefecture wealthy?"

"Daofu is the most important city in Jiangbei Dao, and naturally the most prosperous place in the entire Jiangbei Dao."

"Does the prefecture have many granaries?"

"There are quite a few granaries."

"Is Daofu the area most severely affected by the disaster in Jiangbei Dao?"

"yes!"

"Has this major disaster affected the cities surrounding the prefecture?"

"right."

Qian Qian's forehead was covered in sweat, as if he had guessed what Qin Zijun was going to say.

Qin Zijun chuckled: "Qian Qian, you are a capable person. You have been doing practical work in the Dao Mansion and are very knowledgeable about many aspects of the Dao Mansion."

"I'll ask you one last question: even if I opened all the granaries in the prefecture, do you think we could weather this crisis?"

Qian Qian pondered the situation, growing more and more desperate. He lowered his head and said, "Sir, you are right. Even if we open all the official grain reserves, it will only solve the immediate problem. We won't be able to survive this winter with just this grain."

He had something else he didn't say.

That means if there isn't enough food, countless people in Jiangbei will die.

Jiangbei Road is one of the most prosperous regions in the State of Chu. If something happens, Lord Qin will surely be impeached.

This is a natural disaster, not a man-made one. Faced with this great calamity, Lord Qin is only a mortal, and can only cry out in vain.

Qin Zijun had shown Qian Qian great kindness and support, so he was naturally worried that Lord Qin might be implicated.

But then Qian Qian thought about it again and realized he was worrying unnecessarily.

Lord Qin, as long as you do what you're supposed to do and don't make any mistakes, what does it matter if many people die or get injured?

At most, Lord Qin will be temporarily dismissed from his post; his life will not be in danger.

Given Qin's youth and the king's high regard for him, he might be reinstated after a few years of silence.

Even the high-ranking officials in the central government could only impeach Qin Daofu at most; they couldn't possibly punish him.

It's a very simple principle. If the Qin Dao Prefecture fails to handle the disaster properly, it will be punished. Those high-ranking officials in the central government also have relatives, friends, teachers, and students.

They themselves might be demoted to local officials one day, and if they are unlucky and encounter a year of disaster, wouldn't they lose their lives if they don't govern well?

Perhaps some people disliked Qin Daofu and became his political enemies.

But since everyone involved is an official, they tend to protect each other.

These are all unspoken rules of politics. Every official will leave a way out for themselves and others; it's impossible to completely block the way.

What does it matter to these high-ranking officials how many ordinary people starve to death?

Qian Qian felt relieved knowing that Qin Daofu would be alright.

But when he thought of the starving, emaciated disaster victims who might starve to death, he couldn't bear it.

At this moment, Qin Zijun asked, "Has the Jiangnan region suffered any disaster?"

"In reply to your question, sir, Jiangnan Circuit was not affected by the disaster."

At this point, Qian Qian paused, then exclaimed with delight, "That's right, sir! There's a large amount of grain stored up in Jiangnan!"

"If you, sir, petition His Majesty to issue an edict ordering the Jiangnan Circuit to send its stored grain for disaster relief, the calamity in Jiangbei can be averted!"

Qin Zijun shook her head and said, "You are still too young."

Qian Qian's lips twitched. "I'm older than you, sir."

Qin Zijun said, "The prefect of Jiangnan Circuit is also an important official of the court, and there is a high probability that he will enter the central government in the future."

"I am still young among the court officials, and I have unintentionally offended quite a few people."

"I am from Jiangbei Prefecture, and I am a rival to Jiangnan Prefecture."

"Now that I'm in trouble as a competitor, would he come to my aid? I'd be lucky if he didn't kick me when I'm down."

"Even if there is a decree from the king, he can use all sorts of excuses to refuse. Even if he really can't resist, he will at most send some grain as a token gesture."

"If I fail to provide adequate disaster relief, I will find a pretext to use against him and have him punished."

"Look, even with all the help from the Jiangnan Prefecture, I still haven't done a good job. Doesn't that make me look even more incompetent?"

Qian Qian gaped, realizing he had been too straightforward in the past, and that the imperial court was far too complicated.

"Then, what should we do, Lord Qin?"

"Open the warehouse first, so that the disaster victims can have food. I have my own methods."

"Yes, sir."

Qian Qian took his leave.

"Young master, what should we do now?"

Wang Shu saw Qin Zijun, who had returned from outside the mansion to inspect the disaster situation and looked exhausted.

She pressed Qin Zijun down into a chair, rubbing his shoulders and back, her voice filled with worry.

Wang Shu didn't care how many people died.

Although she has now gained humanity and understands human feelings, Wang Shu is still that ancient god after all, and in her eyes, humans are still just that.

Wang Shu was only worried about Qin Zijun.

"If you really can't continue in this official position, then resign and go back to your hometown."

Wang Shu offered her own advice.

In her heart, as long as she was by Qin Zijun's side, she didn't care what Qin Zijun did.

Whether he became a high-ranking official or just an ordinary scholar, Wang Shu didn't care.

She wasn't an ordinary woman who insisted on having a high-ranking official and great wealth as her husband.

All she wanted was Qin Zijun himself.

Disciples Zilu and Zimo also came to pay their respects: "Master, what are your instructions? Please allow us to carry them out!"

Qin Zijun looked at the two children, both under ten years old, and laughed, scolding, "What help can you two weaklings possibly give me?"

"Alright, go down now. The fact that you can study hard is a huge help to me."

Zilu and Zimo had no choice but to take their leave.

They complained that they were still children and just wanted to grow up quickly so they could help their teachers.

A few days later, Qian Qian came to report again: "Sir, local grain merchants are hoarding grain, and grain prices in the prefecture and county are rising steadily."

"We implore Your Excellency to order the stabilization of grain prices!"

He didn't dare suggest making an example of a grain merchant, nor did he dare suggest robbing them.

These grain merchants are all backed by powerful and influential families. At least they still have grain, but the price is high.

But if you anger these grain merchants, they might dump all the grain, and then even if you have money, you won't be able to buy grain.

These grain merchants wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to negotiate with the government and make as much money as possible.

In the past, this was how the government always did things during times of disaster: while stabilizing grain prices, they would negotiate with these grain merchants and offer them some benefits.

Unexpectedly, Qin Zijun did the opposite, saying, "There's no need to stabilize grain prices. You should have the granaries and grain merchants raise grain prices to the same level as those in the surrounding prefectures."

"Write down the names of those who dare to raise grain prices."

Qian Qian was puzzled, but he obeyed the order nonetheless.

Qin Zijun called out to him again: "By the way, call out to me several major grain merchants and wealthy merchants from the prefecture. Tell them I want to hold a grand banquet."

Qian Qian thought Qin Zijun had gathered these merchants together in hopes of getting them to donate money and goods, so he did as she said.

Jiangbei Road is a prosperous place in the world, and the wealthy merchants in the area are all extremely rich.

Upon receiving the invitation from the Dao Prefecture, they had prepared some supplies that could be donated.

However, if the prefecture asks them to donate more, they should plead poverty.

Unexpectedly, Qin Zijun gathered them together to ask them to donate things, but she didn't ask them to donate too much; instead, she focused on food and drink.

After several days of lavish banquets, Qin Zijun suggested that the Jiangbei Prefecture had too little entertainment and was quite boring.

He plans to establish a "Moon-Gazing Festival" to worship the moon goddess.

At the same time, he wanted to establish various entertainment venues in the Daofu under the guise of sacrificial rites, so that all the people of the Daofu could participate.

Qin Zijun also offered various ingenious ideas for entertainment activities.

In ancient times, entertainment was scarce, and for most people, entertainment consisted of sexual relations between men and women before lights out at night.

The wealthy would listen to music in brothels.

Qin Zijun wants to mobilize all the people in the city to participate in entertainment activities.

This is perfect for wealthy businessmen who have nothing better to do.

Qin Zijun had these wealthy merchants form Cuju (ancient Chinese football) teams, imitating modern rules so that they could compete against each other and determine who would win.

They also acquired land for horse racing, allowing these wealthy businessmen to gamble on horse races.

In some smaller places, they form basketball teams and hire people to play basketball.

At the same time, Qin Zijun personally organized a large-scale song and dance performance for the government, including singing, dancing, and basketball.

In her spare time, Qin Zijun even went to temples where people practiced cultivation and sects of Taoist practitioners in the vicinity, persuading them that now was a year of famine, a good time to repair temples, and that the wages for the disaster victims were very cheap.

Cultivators also need food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, especially those cultivators at lower levels within sects.

However, these Taoist practitioners could not build the houses themselves. Following Qin Zijun's suggestion, these temples and sects hired disaster victims to repair them with very little money.

This year was actually the happiest year Qin Zijun had in Jiangbei Prefecture.

Every day, he would lead wealthy merchants to worship the moon goddess, and then indulge in pleasure, while the entire Dao Mansion underwent a massive construction project.

Those wealthy merchants didn't care what kind of moon goddess they were worshipping; they all knew that this was just an excuse for the Daoist official to have fun with them.

These habits formed at the top are most likely to influence those at the bottom.

The entire Daofu suddenly adopted the habit of worshipping the moon goddess, and over time it will surely become a custom.

As the capital of Jiangbei Circuit, Daofu would inevitably be followed by other prefectures and counties in the future.

While Qin Zijun was enjoying herself at the Dao Mansion, the capital of Chu was in an uproar.

High-ranking officials in the imperial court submitted memorials impeaching him.

The censors, in particular, launched a scathing attack, portraying Qin Zijun as a major corrupt official.

His words were fierce and thought-provoking, seemingly intended to ensure that Qin Zijun would be remembered in history.

The impeachment remarks mainly consist of four parts:

Firstly, during years of famine and devastation, the prefectural governor, instead of showing compassion for the people, indulged in daily banquets and pleasures, which had a detrimental effect.

Secondly, during a year of disaster, people should rest and recuperate, but instead you are undertaking large-scale repairs of temples, warehouses, and government buildings, mobilizing a huge amount of manpower and resources. This does not allow the people to rest at all.

Thirdly, during droughts and locust plagues, instead of curbing grain prices, you ordered an increase in purchase prices, which condones unscrupulous merchants and harms the people.

Fourthly, this is the most infuriating. According to the censor, at this time, the Jiangbei Prefecture was filled with starving corpses outside the city, while inside the city, there was singing and dancing. Qin Zijun had gone mad!

With the censor leading the charge, other officials either joined in the fun or just watched.

As for Qin Zijun's fate, it depends on the ruler of Chu, since this is a dynasty in the hands of fate.

But to everyone's surprise, some officials were so audacious that they began to pressure the king to dismiss Qin Zijun from his post.

This has never happened before.

The ruler of a dynasty possesses true power and might, all concentrated in one person.

Chu Jingshan's face was grim. This meant that the three major sects had begun to extend their reach to the imperial court, intending to make him lose face and relinquish his imperial power!

But what can Chu Jingshan do?

He had no choice but to suppress the impeachments and continue to trust Qin Zijun.

Apart from Qin Zijun, he could find no other way to save the State of Chu.

In contrast to the commotion in the central government, the Jiangbei prefecture was still filled with singing and dancing.

Initially, Qian Qian also thought Qin Zijun had gone mad, and humbly begged Lord Qin to retract his order.

But Qin Zijun ignored her and continued to order Qian Qian to do as she was told.

Qian Qian had no choice but to comply.

But as time went on, Qian Qian discovered that nothing major seemed to have happened in the prefecture. Not only were there very few people starving to death, but the prefecture was also thriving.

Getting through this disastrous year doesn't seem to be a problem.

He couldn't guess the reason, but his admiration for Qin Zijun grew stronger.

On this day,

Qin Zijun held another grand banquet for her guests, while Wang Shu found a new form of entertainment, taking on the role of general director to train the singers and dancers and rehearse a large-scale dance drama.

Since arriving in Jiangbei Prefecture, Qin Zijun has found a famous local teacher to teach her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

To be honest, although Wang Shu, the Moon Goddess, wasn't very good at cultivation, she relied entirely on Qin Zijun to attract believers and expand her territory while she lay low in the back.

But in miscellaneous things like cooking, playing musical instruments, and painting, Wang Shu was a genius among geniuses.

Now, her dancing, singing, painting, and piano skills have all reached the level of the most outstanding masters that Qin Zijun has seen in her thousands of lifetimes.

In particular, Wang Shu is able to apply what she has learned to other situations, creating her own dances and songs. Now she can even direct and rehearse large-scale musicals!

This reminded Qin Zijun of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, who should have been an artist instead of an emperor.

The same applies to Wang Shu; she shouldn't be the moon goddess, she should be an artist.

Qian Qian came to find Qin Zijun and whispered to him, "My lord, as you requested, I have written down the names of those grain merchants who raised prices, as well as the officials in Jiangbei Prefecture and County who followed your example of indulging in pleasure."

"Among them, there is one family that is rather special."

Qin Zijun replied nonchalantly, "Oh? How so? Are you related to royalty?"

Qian Qian said, "No, that's not it. It's Lu Xingchang, the prefect of Tongzhou, and his family, the Lu family. His daughter, Lu Qing, married the eldest son of a very wealthy merchant."

"Lu Xingchang and you have a teacher-student relationship, which is why I came to ask you about it."

Qin Zijun raised her wine glass and chuckled to herself.

Did Qian Qian believe that Lu Xingchang truly had a teacher-student relationship with him?

He calmly ordered, "Record everything the Lu family has done, and record it in great detail."

Qian Qian immediately understood Lord Qin's meaning and bowed to take his leave.

The Lu family is probably doomed!

A year later, the disaster was over, and it was another year of great prosperity.

When court officials came down to inspect, they were astonished to find that Jiangbei Prefecture, which was supposed to be the hardest hit by the disaster, had suffered the least damage and had very few deaths from starvation.

In his memorial to the throne, he wrote: "The Jiangbei Circuit is peaceful and the people are not displaced!"

For a time, the imperial court was in uproar, and the state of Chu was in uproar.

The name of Qin Zijun, the prefect of Jiangbei Prefecture, spread far and wide. People all over the world praised his wisdom, and the people of Jiangbei Prefecture even called him a "sacred name"!