Hot flashes

Wu Huai-ren's convoy arrived in Jiangning Prefecture one afternoon.

Prefect Zhou Min of Jiangning personally led his officials out of the city to welcome them, setting up an incense table and preparing a feast at the city gate, making a grand display.

Wu Huai-ren, riding his tall horse, looked at the officials kneeling on the ground with a smile on his lips. He dismounted slowly, as if enjoying the feeling of all eyes being on him.

Zhou Min came forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and smiled broadly, saying things like "Lord Wu, you must have had a long journey" and "Lord Wu, you have come from afar," his voice loud and clear, as if he wanted all the people standing on the city wall to hear him.

Wu Huai-ren smiled and responded a few words. His gaze passed over Zhou Min's shoulder, swept over the subordinates kneeling behind him who didn't even dare to raise their heads, then swept over the sparse crowd of people standing at the city gate watching the excitement, and finally landed on the several tables of neatly arranged banquet.

The banquet was prepared by the best chef in Jiangning Prefecture, with chicken, duck, fish and meat laid out in abundance. Just by looking at the colors, you could tell how much effort had been put into it.

Wu Huai-ren's gaze lingered for a moment on the tables of food and drink, then shifted away, the smile on his face fading slightly. He didn't say anything, only gave a soft "hmm," and then strode off.

They entered the city. Zhou Min froze on the spot, her smile freezing for a moment before she quickly followed.

The accompanying officials looked at each other, none of them daring to say a word, and followed silently.

The imperial envoy's residence was set up in a courtyard behind the Jiangning Prefectural Government Office. It was originally used by the prefect to entertain his superiors. The courtyard, with its three entrances and exits, was kept very clean.

Wu Huai-ren went inside and looked around, examining the bedroom, the study, and the flower hall. Finally, he stopped in the courtyard, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the neatly trimmed bonsai. Suddenly, he said, "This courtyard is too small."

Zhou Min stood behind him, her smile almost faltering. This courtyard was the best in Jiangning Prefecture. It had taken three days to tidy up, and the bonsai trees alone were brought from a flower nursery outside the city, each costing more than ten taels of silver.

But if Wu Huai-ren said it was too small, then it was too small. Zhou Min nodded quickly and said, "What you say is true, sir. I was careless. I will arrange for you to have a larger place to stay."

Wu Huai-ren waved his hand and said there was no need to change, just make do with this place. After saying that, he went into the study and closed the door.

Zhou Min stood in the courtyard, looking at the closed door, her smile gradually fading.

He glanced back at his subordinates, whose expressions were also rather grim. No one spoke; they silently withdrew.

On Wu Huai-ren's first day of arrival, the Jiangning Prefecture sent him one thousand taels of silver, euphemistically called a "settlement fee." Wu Huai-ren neither accepted nor refused it, only saying, "Keep it for now."

The next day, Jiangning Prefecture sent another two thousand taels. Wu Huai-ren repeated his previous statement.

On the third day, the Suzhou government sent someone with a jade Buddha statue, about the size of a palm, entirely emerald green, clearly not an ordinary item.

Wu Huai-ren picked it up, examined it, said "Good stuff," and put it back in the box. The people from Suzhou Prefecture returned and reported to the prefect that Lord Wu had accepted it. The prefect breathed a sigh of relief.

After the news spread, various prefectures in Jiangnan, as if by prior arrangement, sent people to deliver the gifts.

Gifts came in all shapes and sizes: silver, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, silk, local specialties—everything imaginable. Wu Huai-ren accepted them all without exception.

When the cabinets in the study were full, they were moved to the bedroom. When the bedroom was also full, an empty room was cleared out specifically for storing them.

The accompanying officials observed this; some frowned, some shook their heads, but none dared to say anything. Wu Huai-ren was an imperial envoy, personally appointed by His Majesty; they were merely attendants and had no right to speak.

But Wu Huai-ren wasn't just a collector; he was also a doer. On his fifth day in office, he led a team to assess the disaster situation. He visited all the counties under the jurisdiction of Jiangning Prefecture: Jiangning County, Shangyuan County, and Lishui County.

Wherever he went, he would personally go down to the dike to inspect it, walk around the places where disaster victims gathered, and ask local officials about the progress of disaster relief, where the money went, and the distribution of food.

They asked very detailed questions, even specifying how many bushels of rice were distributed and how many kilograms each household received.

Seeing his demeanor, the accompanying officials felt somewhat reassured—perhaps this Lord Wu, though somewhat corrupt, still had some ability and could get things done.

Wu Huai-ren did indeed accomplish a few impressive things. He ordered the Jiangning Prefecture to open the city's granaries and sell grain to the disaster victims at a price twenty coins lower than the market price per dou (a unit of dry measure).

Several soup kitchens were set up outside the city, and soup was served every morning and evening. Although the soup was so thin you could see your reflection in it, it was better than nothing. A batch of medicinal herbs was also allocated to various counties to prevent the spread of plague after the disaster.

Although the people were still starving, these actions gave them a glimmer of hope—the imperial envoy had come to do something, after all.

What the common people didn't know was that half of the grain sold at the fair price was disaster relief grain allocated by the imperial court, and the other half was old grain taken out of the granaries by aristocratic families.

The imperial grain was new, while the grain from aristocratic families was old. They were mixed together and sold to the common people, making it impossible for them to tell the difference. However, it looked very good on the books—not a single grain of the imperial grain was missing, while the grain from aristocratic families was converted into silver, with Wu Huai-ren taking a 10% cut.

The porridge in the soup kitchen was thin because Wu Huai-ren had people add more water and less rice. He then sold the saved rice to grain merchants, who in turn sold it to the people, making several times the profit in one transaction.

The same goes for the medicinal herbs. The herbs that Wu Huai-ren had brought from the capital were divided into two portions when they arrived in Jiangning Prefecture. One portion was sent to various counties, and the other portion was sold to pharmacies in the city.

He took the lion's share of the profits, while the officials who handled the transaction took a smaller share; everyone got what they wanted.

Wu Huai-ren did these things without any secrecy; in fact, it could be said that he did them openly and blatantly.

He wasn't worried about being discovered at all, because from the prefect to the county magistrate, from the clerks to the runners, everyone had taken money and benefited, so no one would report it.

As for the common people, all they knew was that after the imperial envoy arrived, the soup kitchens opened and the price of grain dropped. Although the soup was a bit thinner and the grain was a bit less, it was still better than before.

They were even grateful to Wu Huai-ren in their hearts, feeling that this important person from the capital was genuinely doing things for them.

This is where Wu Huai-ren's brilliance lies.

He wasn't the kind of fool who would pocket all the money. He knew he had to share the profits, that he had to ensure his subordinates benefited, and that he had to do a few nice things to silence the people.