Zhulan had just visited the kitchen. There was only firewood, a jar, and other cooking utensils. Wuchun hadn’t prepared any food, as he knew they would be bringing provisions.

Zhulan said, “Go see if your sister-in-law has finished counting the food. If she has, have her move the meat and vegetables she brought from the capital to the kitchen. It’s getting late, so prepare the meal first.”

Zhulan calculated the number of people eating. With the Zhou and Yang families, plus the soldiers Wuchun brought to help with the food, five tables could be enough for all.

Fortunately, she knew Lizhou City was in short supply, so she had made ample preparations.

She had bought a lot of sausages in the capital, and with the bacon Li Shi had learned to make during the winter, she had brought a lot of meat.

Yes, there were also hens and roosters. She had also bought a lot of hens in Chuanzhou, specifically for eggs. After several days of traveling, they had thirty hens. Eight of them had died and had already been eaten, leaving twenty-two. The remaining hens were wilted and would need a few days to recover.

Arriving at the new house was a real hassle. Zhulan put her and Zhou Shuren’s belongings in order, locking up what needed to be locked. Once everything was packed, she went to the west wing of the courtyard, which she had reserved as a storehouse. It contained gifts from the capital, silver and copper coins exchanged, and other family assets.

She counted everything once more to make sure everything was correct, then locked the door to the wing. There was nothing else to do in the main courtyard, so she went to the kitchen to look for Li Shi. The kitchen was in the back room of this house. Before she even got close, she heard Li Shi’s voice ordering Xinghua around. Her voice truly had the air of a first wife.

When Li Shi saw her mother-in-law come in, she hurried forward to greet her. “Mother, have you unpacked everything?”

“Well, have you considered everything for dinner?”

Li Shi counted on her plump fingers as she said: ‘The staple is cornmeal steamed buns, six dishes in total—five dishes and one soup: sausage, cured meat stir-fried with bracken, cabbage stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms, potatoes stewed with meat, spicy cabbage stir-fried with pork, and lastly, a cabbage soup.”

She wanted to make something good, but the food at home was really limited. The meat was the wild boar meat she bought from a fellow villager yesterday, and there were only about six or seven pounds left.

Zhulan felt that the food was already quite good. Lizhou City was not the capital, where anything one wanted to eat could be bought. At this time, Lizhou City was short of grain, so wanting to eat meat was out of the question.

Zhulan said to Li Shi, “The courtyard across from the main courtyard is for the eldest room. Move all your belongings there later!”

Li Shi was delighted. She had just finished counting the grain and was strolling around. The courtyards across from the main courtyard were the best. “Thank you, Mother.”

Zhulan saw her daughter looking at her. “Do you want your own courtyard, too?”

Xuehan wanted to live in a courtyard of her own, but she was afraid—especially in a strange household. Even with Jingzhe accompanying her, she was still frightened.

Zhulan saw what was on Xuehan’s mind and said with a smile, “After a few days, when Mother buys some servants back, I’ll assign you a few maids, and then you won’t be afraid.”

Xuehan curled her eyes. With more people around, she felt less afraid. “Thank you, mother.”

Zhulan stood for a moment. Her two sǎozi came with their daughters-in-law to help with the cooking. This time, Zhulan didn’t refuse.

It was already dark when Wuchun returned, and Zhou Shuren returned even later, by then it was already dark.

Everyone in the Yang family, except for the male children of the Wu generation, ate first, washed up, and rested. The soldiers and generals Wu Chun brought, also ate first. Zhulan asked Li Shi to take the children and Xuehan to eat first.

Zhulan and Wu Chun waited for Zhou Shuren to come back and eat together.

Zhou Shuren came back exhausted, washed up, and sat down. “I drank a lot of water all afternoon, and my stomach is rumbling. Don’t look at me, Wuchun, you all sit down.”

Wu Chun sat down. “Gufu, have you completed the handover? Will the grain be distributed tomorrow?”

Zhou Shuren ate a few mouthfuls of food before saying, “It has been completed. Tomorrow, officials will be sent to each county to notify them to collect the grain. By the way, each county will re-register the population and change the new household registration, and record the situation of each household. Then I can know the situation of the entire Lizhou more clearly.”

Wu Chun was also very hungry. He had been craving meat for a long time. The sausage tasted so good. He took a sip of wine and said, “Gufu, the grain you brought today looks like a lot, but it won’t be much if it is distributed to each county.”

Zhou Shuren also knew, “Two grain teams haven’t arrived yet. They will be distributed tomorrow to ease the situation. I have my own plans for the rest.”

Wu Chun didn’t ask any more questions, but smiled and said, “Gufu, you have worked hard on the way. I offer you a drink.”

Zhou Shuren felt relieved when he arrived in Lizhou City. “Thank you.”

In the capital, the Emperor flipped through the letter in his hand and then gave it to the Tàizǐ, “Take a look!”

The Tàizǐ browsed quickly and chuckled, “No wonder Lord Zhou had asked Royal Father for the authority to allocate silver. Lord Zhou was quick-witted—fifty thousand taels of silver could accomplish more than what fifty thousand taels alone were worth.”

The Emperor was in good spirits. He had not misjudged the man, and what pleased him even more was not only that Zhou Shuren could stretch every coin to its fullest, but also that Zhou Shuren was truly devoted to the people. “I am very much looking forward to seeing what Lizhou will look like in the future under the governance of this Lord Zhou.”

The Tàizǐ thought to himself, and he was also looking forward to it, and then thought: “Royal Father, when sending ministers to provide disaster relief in the future, we can follow the method of Lord Zhou.”

The Emperor nodded. In the past, directly sending silver had indeed been foolish—by the time it reached the officials, it was docked layer after layer, and in the end, not much was actually used on the disaster victims. However, precautions still had to be taken against falsified accounts or the forced sale of grain from farmers. In the end, it still depended on the officials handling affairs to truly act for the people. “Organize this and write me a memorial.”

Tàizǐ, “Yes.”

“Go down. “

After the Tàizǐ took a break, he was still holding a letter in his hand, and his steps became much lighter. He was really looking forward to what surprises Lord Zhou would have!

Lizhou, after dinner, Zhou Shuren and Zhulan washed up and lay on the kang. Although they were both very tired, they couldn’t sleep.

Zhulan asked quietly, “What rules do you have in mind?”

Zhou Shuren said, “There are quite a few rules, but we have to do them one by one. The first batch of food distribution is for emergency use. When the second and third batches of food arrive, I won’t let the people receive them for free.”

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had been calculating how to get more food and how to maximize the use of silver. Today was the first time Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren about his rules. After listening to what Zhou Shuren meant, Zhulan pondered for a while and said, “Are you going to build something?”

Zhou Shuren smiled, “My wife is the one who understands me.”

Zhulan snorted inwardly. This was easy to guess, okay? “Don’t be so rude. What are you going to build?”

Zhou Shuren saw that Zhulan couldn’t sleep either, so he sat up, lit a candle, took the things he brought back, pulled over the kang table, took out a map, and said, “This is a detailed map of Lizhou City. Take a look and guess what I’m going to do?”

(End of this chapter)

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