The Inspection Concludes

Investigation Concluded

Lin Wen looked up and saw that Director Huang Mingxiao's aura was blue-white, like drifting clouds veiling the sun, or a tower of clouds descending to earth—except fine cracks spread across its body.

Overall, it seemed to indicate that his character was trustworthy and his abilities could be relied upon. But there were too many finer details Lin Wen could not make out; their combinations could mean endlessly changing things, leaving him with a headache.

Forget it. As long as he knew the man's character and ability were both sound, that was enough.

Lin Wen watched for less than five seconds before shutting off the spell.

There were less than fifty minutes left on [Aura Reading], so he had to use it sparingly.

If Huang Mingxiao could be trusted, then this plan could be trusted too. There was no need for him to spend Primordial Spirit on [Immortal's Guide].

With that in mind, Lin Wen said, "Study it carefully. Make sure every detail is considered and make it as perfect as possible. Then send the list to the Finance Department."

"Yes, Commandery Chief!" Huang Mingxiao answered loudly.

Lin Wen said, "And what is the second problem?"

The director and deputy director exchanged a glance, then spoke in unison. "Lack of manpower!"

Deputy Director Zhang Qiaohe explained, "From top to bottom, including all staff and the able-bodied men we drafted on the spot, we have only a little over five hundred people in total. On average, each person has to look after six hundred disaster victims. The workload is extremely heavy, and many plans cannot be carried out."

Lin Wen nodded. "Don't worry. I've already formed a work team. I'll bring people over tomorrow. The manpower problem should be resolved."

Huang Mingxiao's face lit up with joy. Since taking over the disaster relief work, he had not been this happy in a long time.

He felt this new Commandery Chief was practically a savior sent from heaven to rescue them, so he poured out every remaining problem in one breath.

The vast majority concerned managing the disaster victims. For instance, there were clearly several better resettlement sites, but because they lay in low-lying areas, the victims refused to go there and insisted on staying on higher ground. In the end, they had no choice but to alter the plans, needlessly stretching out the temporary resettlement zone. This made unified arrangements even more difficult and greatly increased the workload.

There was also the dike. It was clearly dangerous up there, with strong winds and heavy dampness; sleeping there could easily make people sick. Yet every day, countless people wanted to climb onto it.

And so on and so forth. Lin Wen's head was about to explode just listening.

These were nightmare-level administrative matters that even seasoned civil affairs officials could not handle, much less a shut-in like him. His only advantage was that he had authority Huang Mingxiao did not. If authority could not solve the problem, then Lin Wen had no solution.

Unless he was willing to force his way through.

Based on past experience, if he used [Immortal's Guide] to brute-force so many problems, the cost would most likely be astronomical.

Still, Lin Wen gave it a try.

"What is the simplest and most economical way to solve these problems?"

Cost: 10% Primordial Spirit.

Huh?

Lin Wen was startled. Something like this was possible?

Whenever he had asked questions this way before, the number had always been so huge it could blind him.

Could solving these problems actually be very simple for me?

The cost was so low that, even out of sheer curiosity, Lin Wen directly chose to spend his Primordial Spirit and cast the spell.

After seeing the answer, Lin Wen fell silent for several seconds. Then, beneath everyone's expectant gazes, he said—

"Make several thousand copies of the front-page headline from Issue 81 of the Imperial Daily. Hand them out to the disaster victims, and send people to explain and read it aloud."

"Add this information to the copies: Imperial hero Lin Wen has been crowned Commandery Chief of Long Mountain Commandery and will soon arrive in his faithful Paris—no, at God-Blessed Dike—to pray for the disaster victims."

After hearing him, everyone was utterly baffled. Deputy Director Zhang Qiaohe asked, "Commandery Chief Lin, what use is that? Did the front-page headline of Issue 81 say something?"

Huang Mingxiao tried to persuade him. "What we say is already useless. They'll trust what the newspaper says even less. Hardly anyone here reads the Imperial Daily, and not many of the disaster victims can read."

Lin Wen calmly quoted a famous saying. "It's part of the plan."

"You just need to do it. All right, you've finished explaining your problems. Now let's discuss the most crucial issue."

"How do we build the new homeland?"

Huang Mingxiao immediately returned to work mode and gave Lin Wen a detailed explanation of the original reconstruction plan.

Because the waters of the Heaven River carried enormous amounts of silt, it would be extremely difficult to restore the areas that had been washed away and flooded.

They had decided to open up new land and rebuild villages and towns in seven newly designated areas, turning them into new homes.

Huang Mingxiao had personally chosen the sites and drawn up the plans. He explained them with exceptional care, laying out every thought and every consideration that had gone into their formulation.

The entire plan was divided into three phases.

The first phase would ensure everyone had tiles over their heads. The second would ensure everyone had a harbor to shelter from the wind. The third would ensure everyone had a home to strive for.

The Seventh Construction Corps had provided an estimate: 270 million for the first phase, 1.9 billion for the second, and approximately 3.5 billion for the third.

Clearly, that dead fat man's money would not even be enough to fill a tooth gap.

Lin Wen realized he had been too naive.

He needed another money-making plan.

But the problem was that his bidding scheme had essentially been a scam, merely exploiting an information gap. Now that news of the Imperial Main Trunk Plan's updates had already spread far and wide, it would be difficult for him to trick anyone again.

Thinking of this, Lin Wen felt a trace of regret, but what was done was done. There was nothing to regret now.

"Take me to inspect the sites in person."

Lin Wen told Huang Mingxiao that he had decided to first work out the full plan. Maybe the money problem would solve itself then.

"Include every alternative area. We'll inspect them all."

Huang Mingxiao readily agreed. After assigning everyone else their next tasks, he headed out with Lin Wen.

As they were leaving, Lin Wen said to the still-stunned Little Li, "Little Li, you're the mayor of Changle Town now. Work hard and do your best to cooperate with them."

Only then did Little Li seem to wake from a dream. With a wail, he burst into tears. "Really? You really became the county chief!" He grabbed Lin Wen and wiped all his snot and tears onto Lin Wen's clothes. "You have to help us from now on! You have to help us! Changle Town has suffered too much!"

Huang Mingxiao even put in a word for him. "This young man is very capable. He's helped us a great deal these past few days."

Lin Wen forcefully broke free from Little Li's snot attack and got into Huang Mingxiao's off-road vehicle. What lay ahead was all wild mountains and untamed country; his official car would have had a hard time getting through.

Led by Huang Mingxiao, Lin Wen spent six hours inspecting every planned area, while also taking a look at the temporary resettlement sites.

The refugees' plight was far worse than he had imagined. They slept in enormous communal tents, sallow and emaciated, utterly lifeless. Their eyes held nothing but grief and numbness.

Because food was scarce, they could do little more than lie still most of the time. They had not changed clothes since the night of the flood, every one of them caked with muddy water and dust, like insects in a dried-up swamp.

Whenever they passed through the resettlement sites, they could always hear crying—adults, children, but most often women.

At three in the afternoon, the inspection ended.

Lin Wen was in a poor mood. After saying goodbye to Huang Mingxiao, he took his official car back to Huai Town.