The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

"By imperial decree: 1. Establish the 'Imperial Relief Headquarters' with this location as the center."

Second, upon receiving this palace's token, you shall immediately take over all official granaries and charitable granaries in Yuanling Prefecture, inventory the stored grain, and seal it all, regardless of whether it is new or old. Without this palace's token, not a single grain of rice shall be moved!

Third, the Prefect of Yuanling is hereby ordered to report within one hour all the silver currently in his prefectural treasury, as well as the amount and location of all grain stored by grain merchants in the city! Anyone who delays will be executed!

Fourth, summon all physicians, craftsmen, and literate individuals in the city to report to the General Headquarters. I will employ them with compensation!

The orders were issued one after another, swift and decisive, leaving no room for doubt.

The guards responded with a resounding roar and went their separate ways.

Yun Jin then addressed the disaster victims: "I need manpower to help set up soup kitchens, maintain order, and clean up the camp. Anyone willing to contribute will receive ten coins a day in addition to two meals of thick porridge, to be paid on the spot! The elderly, the infirm, women, children, and infants will be given priority for porridge!"

These words immediately caused an uproar among the disaster victims!

Food and wages? And paid on the spot? This is like a windfall!

"I do!"

"Your Highness, I'm very strong!"

"I can build sheds!"

Instantly, hundreds of young and middle-aged disaster victims rushed forward to sign up, their eyes regaining their vitality.

Under the organization of Yun Jin's accompanying guards, they quickly divided into several teams, received tools, and began to enthusiastically clean the site, set up spacious soup kitchens and temporary latrines.

Yun Jin personally oversaw the operation, while Qing Dai led several literate disaster victims to register names and distribute number plates.

The first batch of grain arranged by Pang Xiaopan arrived in the evening, escorted by "Huitong" employees disguised as merchants.

White rice and golden millet were poured into a newly built large pot, the firewood roared, and the aroma of rice gradually filled the air.

When the first bowl of thick, hot porridge, so thick it could hold chopsticks upright, was respectfully presented to Yun Jin for her "inspection," Yun Jin handed the bowl to a thin, hungry child beside her, who was practically swallowing his saliva. She then told the "waiter" in charge of the ladle, "Start with this child. In order of their numbers, one full spoonful for each child, no skimping allowed! I'll be watching!"

"yes!"

With each scoop of porridge, thick rice porridge fell into the strangely shaped, broken bowls of the disaster victims.

Many disaster victims held the scalding hot porridge bowls, not caring that it was too hot for their mouths, and wolfed it down. As they ate, tears streamed down their faces and fell into the bowls.

That was more than just food; it was the hope of survival.

"Your Highness...you are a living Bodhisattva..." An old man knelt down and kowtowed, trembling.

Soon, more and more people followed suit and knelt down, their sobs and cries of gratitude filling the air.

The numb and despairing atmosphere of death was quietly dispelled by the bowl of hot porridge and the princess's hands-on presence.

Meanwhile, the Yuanling prefect and other officials stood at a distance, watching the orderly and unprecedented relief scene, and seeing the renewed hope and heartfelt love for the princess in the eyes of the disaster victims. Their faces turned extremely ugly.

They knew that this princess had brought not only food, but also a highly efficient operating system that was completely unfamiliar to them and extremely difficult for them to intervene in, as well as a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads that was truly capable of killing.

What alarmed them even more was that the princess seemed to disregard the "rules" of officialdom and did not accept any of their "tribute" or "suggestions." All expenses and manpower seemed to have their own independent sources and channels.

The grain-caravans, the guards who maintained order, and the clerks who kept records all exuded an elusive sense of competence and professionalism.

The news spread like wildfire to other disaster areas.

"Princess Jingguo personally distributes porridge," "Her Highness keeps her word," "The Imperial Envoy's Office recruits and pays wages"...

Countless desperate refugees began to flock to Yuanling Prefecture with their families.

Yun Jin welcomed all who came, organized the disaster victims into work-for-relief programs, dredged the silted-up river channels, reinforced the remaining dikes, cleared the ruins of towns, and built temporary shelters and medical tents.

Pang Xiaopan's business network was operating at full capacity, mobilizing food, medicine, cloth, and tools from all over the country and "selling" them to the Relief Administration at prices slightly higher than the market price but not outrageous. In reality, most of the profits flowed back through complicated channels to support disaster relief.

Su Che, stationed in Lin Yuan, remotely directed operations through "Di Ting" to clear obstacles along the way, crack down on unscrupulous merchants hoarding goods, and secretly send a steady stream of evidence of corruption in the southern officialdom to Yun Jin.

A month later, the disaster situation in Yuanling Prefecture and its surrounding areas was basically stable, no epidemic broke out, and order was restored.

With irrefutable evidence, Yun Jin swiftly investigated and punished seven officials, including the prefect of Yuanling, for embezzling relief funds and neglecting their duties. Their property was confiscated, and three of them were beheaded on the spot as a warning to others.

Bloody human heads were hung on the city walls, shocking the entire southern officialdom!

She then moved to Gangneung Province and did the same thing.

While providing efficient relief, they also wielded their authority to combat deep-seated problems and corrupt officials.

Wherever she went, people offered her food and drink, burned incense and prayed, calling her "Yun Qingtian" and "Female Bodhisattva." New "umbrellas for the people" and "merit monuments" kept appearing, and some even began to build shrines in her honor.

The funds and provisions allocated by the imperial court had already been exhausted in the early stages.

The enormous costs of subsequent disaster relief efforts were almost entirely supported by the mysterious and vast financial resources behind Yun Jin.

The emperor received a series of reports of victory and an ever-growing number of "umbrellas for the people" in the capital, leaving him with extremely mixed feelings.

He was pleased that the disaster situation had stabilized and the people's hearts had turned to him, but he also felt a slight unease about the energy and independence that Yun Jin had shown, which far exceeded his expectations.

What made some people even more uneasy was that through this disaster relief effort, Yun Jin not only gained a tsunami of public support, but also openly deployed an efficient, loyal grassroots management team and guard force that obeyed only her orders to several southern states under the names of "disaster relief volunteers" and "imperial envoy guards," establishing direct contact with countless disaster victims.

Her decrees can be delivered directly to villages and households through this system, which to some extent bypasses the corrupt local bureaucratic system.

While the war in the northern city of Shuofeng remained fierce and the imperial court was worried sick about food and supplies, the disaster-stricken areas in the south presented a completely different and vibrant scene of reconstruction.

The hearts of the people, like a trickle, eventually converged into a river, rushing towards the Princess Jingguo, dressed in plain clothes, personally holding the porridge ladle, and beheading the corrupt official with her sword.

In the small room of "Hidden Abode" in Lin Yuan City, Su Che looked at the latest report that the southern relief points had expanded to more than 300, more than 2,000 "volunteers" had been directly recruited and managed, and nearly 1.5 million disaster victims had been benefited. A satisfied, cold smile finally appeared on his lips.

On the chessboard, their pieces are no longer confined to the imperial court, but have taken deep root in the vast folk soil of this land.

The roots have been planted deep.

We await the day when it reaches the heavens.