The Beginning

Having dealt with another trivial matter, Lin Wen felt deeply exhausted.

Though he wanted to keep working, he could no longer hold on mentally, and his Primordial Spirit was down to just 3%.

He had to rest.

Otherwise, his Primordial Spirit would not recover. He really could not bear to keep consuming good karma just to cast spells.

With that thought, Lin Wen turned and lay down in the large chair, falling asleep in the blink of an eye.

Resting on time was also a form of cultivation.

The next day.

Lin Wen opened his eyes. Warm sunlight streamed through the window onto his face, like Xihe's gentle caress.

Primordial Spirit: 14%.

Not bad.

Lin Wen hastily took care of his personal needs and immediately began work.

First, he called the Materials Management Office of the Commandery Administration Hall and instructed them to prepare the construction supplies currently in storage and transport them to Changle Town.

He then found garrison commander Fang Dashan and ordered him to immediately assemble every soldier within Long Mountain Commandery, ready to depart for Changle Town to assist with reconstruction.

Fang Dashan was badly startled when he received the news.

In all his thinking, the notion of soldiers helping refugees rebuild their homes had never existed. If Imperial troops were mobilized to assist reconstruction, it could only be to maintain order.

And that was generally the responsibility of the Public Security Division. Only when large-scale unrest broke out and the Public Security Division was unable to handle it would troops be deployed for suppression.

Thus, Fang Dashan's first thought upon hearing the order was that a riot had broken out and Imperial soldiers were being sent to suppress it.

This was the last thing Fang Dashan wanted to see. Suppressing a refugee riot brought little merit, yet if anything went wrong, the blame would be enormous. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he would end up carrying the black pot.

But refusing was not an option either. That would mean openly defying orders. It might have been one thing with an ordinary commandery governor, but this governor held military command authority.

Unlike inland officials, Fang Dashan was an Imperial officer who had fought on the border. He understood military command authority very clearly. Those powerful regional officials who held it were ruthless—they could replace someone whenever they pleased or convict someone whenever they pleased. This was no joke. They would not reason with you in the slightest.

That was also why Fang Dashan had immediately thrown his lot in with the commandery governor the moment he saw the document granting military command authority.

Of course, that was not Lin Wen's true intention, nor could Fang Dashan possibly grasp what Lin Wen really meant. After all, by Imperial convention, even emergency disaster relief and rescue work was handled by Imperial engineering troops. Regular Imperial soldiers were at most responsible for maintaining order.

As for reconstruction, it had even less to do with the military. That was the work of specialized construction crews, not Imperial soldiers.

This also accorded with the fact that the military was, by its nature, an organ of violence. After all, looking across the entire world and counting three thousand years of history, there was only this one exception—no second branch.

Thus, believing the situation to be extraordinarily dire, Fang Dashan immediately returned to the Imperial garrison in Long Mountain Commandery and sounded the emergency assembly call.

It had to be said that Fang Dashan was highly capable at his job. In less than fifteen minutes, a force of nearly three thousand men had assembled.

Fang Dashan then called the commandery governor's office with trepidation and requested instructions.

Lin Wen replied with only four words.

"Depart immediately."

Fang Dashan had no choice but to bite the bullet and order the troops to fully arm themselves, board the troop trucks, and set out for Changle Town.

At the same time, through the temporary worker Li Xiaoli, Lin Wen transferred another hundred staff members from various departments of the Commandery Administration Hall to Changle Town to assist with the work.

Since Lin Wen had only just established his authority, with soldiers in one hand and military command authority in the other, no one yet dared voice any grievances.

After arranging the work, Lin Wen boarded his official car and traveled light, arriving in Changle Town ahead of the rest.

He then found Huang Mingxiao in the courtyard of the temporary command post, buried in a mountain of paper documents.

"Governor Lin..."

Huang Mingxiao had two enormous dark circles beneath his eyes and looked as though he had not slept all night. He seemed to have a bellyful of words to say, but Lin Wen spoke first.

"Time is limited. I'll explain as quickly as I can. Take careful notes."

Lin Wen spread out a map and began explaining the immortals' plan.

"All the old site selections are to be scrapped. I will build a new town as the disaster victims' new home."

"The center point is here."

Lin Wen jabbed a finger onto the map, drawing Huang Mingxiao's gaze to it like a magnet.

He forgot everything he had wanted to say and focused solely on what Governor Lin would say next.

The staff who had worked with Director Huang for a long time all knew that whenever reconstruction was discussed, their director became like this. Even if the sky fell, everything else had to be set aside for the moment.

"Connect upward to here, then connect to here."

Lin Wen moved his finger to a hill between East Passage and Ox Horn Village, then shifted it to the Changpai Village embankment.

"This will form a triangular zone, with Changle Town as the base point. One town and eleven villages in total will all be merged to establish a new town."

"The new town will be divided into three districts: Changle District, Ox Horn District, and Changpai District, expanded respectively from Changle Town, Ox Horn Village, and Changpai Village."

"The new plan is as follows."

Lin Wen began explaining the specific details in depth: the construction sequence and plans, the materials to be used, the difficulties they might encounter, and how to overcome them.

Huang Mingxiao was first bewildered and confused, then suddenly enlightened, amazed, and shocked—only to be swallowed by endless new confusion. The new plan was so detailed that it was as though County Chief Lin had truly witnessed its entire journey from nothing to something, taken part in it himself, designed it himself, commanded it himself.

But that was impossible. In this flourishing, orderly new town, only mud and dust actually existed.

Lin Wen spoke for a full twenty minutes before he finished reading. His mouth was parched, and he picked up a cup of water and drained it in one gulp.

Only while Lin Wen was drinking did Huang Mingxiao finally find a chance to interject.

"County Chief Lin, th-this design plan is far too detailed. Where did you get it?"

Lin Wen answered without missing a beat, "From a classmate of mine who wishes to remain anonymous—Zhang Jinglai. After graduating, he went to work at the Risalokarlos Lusaka Asli Design Institute. I asked him to make it."

Huang Mingxiao looked stunned. "Your classmate is incredible. That Risa—uh, design institute is truly professional. No wonder it's a world-renowned top-tier design institute. This plan is so exquisite, with details handled to this extent... I never would have dared imagine it before."

Only those who had actually handled such work knew how many details a massive project involving three hundred thousand people contained, from design to implementation, and how many revisions it would undergo along the way.

It was a field beyond the reach of ordinary people. Huang Mingxiao's previous reconstruction plan had been quite self-aware: theirs had only been broad and rough. Pick a place, build houses on it, and as long as they sheltered people from wind and rain and guaranteed their basic needs, that was enough.

Even so, from site selection to planning, that proposal had cost them who knew how many heads of hair and burned through who knew how many brain cells.

"Then this plan must have been expensive, right? I've heard that things from top design institutes never come cheap."

"Oh, my classmate and I are tight. I didn't pay anything," Lin Wen said casually.

"Ah?"

Huang Mingxiao's eyes nearly popped out. "Free? The design fee alone should start at a million at the very least. Your classmate, he, he, he... could he be..." He had wanted to ask whether the man was the director, but seeing County Chief Lin's age, he swallowed the words.

"Enough." Lin Wen said impatiently. "There's no time to talk about anything else. Hurry up and arrange for someone to calculate the costs."

The immortals' plan could be called exhaustive down to the smallest detail—except it did not list how much anything cost.

After all, it was already the "least."

Lin Wen urgently needed to know its exact budget so he could prepare for what came next.

"Wait, wait, wait."

Huang Mingxiao immediately cut off the county chief.

"I still don't understand this plan. Here, here, and here—why does it need to be built this way? What does this passageway mean? And this, and..."

Lin Wen was speechless, because he did not know either.

"Just do as it says. As for the intent, take your time and figure it out yourself later when you have the time."

"Wait, wait, County Chief Lin. Shouldn't something this important be discussed more? Deciding so quickly—isn't that a little, uh, hasty?"

"Of course, I'm not questioning a top design institute's standards. It's just that they may not understand our specific circumstances. We should hold a few more meetings, discuss it more, and see where it can still be changed..."

Lin Wen had already run out of patience. "When I tell you to do something, do it. You don't trust an immortal's plan? If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility." He slapped the document bag containing the plan onto the table, picked up a pen, and wrote across its front:

Lin Wen orders that this plan shall be the sole plan for post-disaster reconstruction. It may not be altered.

Seeing that Huang Mingxiao still wanted to speak, Lin Wen snapped, "Stop giving me that fucking nonsense! If we hold more meetings and waste more time discussing it, how many days will pass? Time waits for no one! We're sitting in offices, drinking tea, reading newspapers, and shooting the breeze, while the disaster victims are out in the wilderness, exposed to sun and rain! Where's your conscience? Do you want me to cut you open with a knife and take a look?"

In the span of a single sentence, Huang Mingxiao's entire state of mind changed.

"Fine! With those words from County Chief Lin, even if I die here and have to bear the blame afterward, I will have no complaints!"

Only then did Lin Wen nod in satisfaction.

"Good. Hurry and gather the staff to make the budget. Also, didn't I send a work group over yesterday? You've arranged them already, right? Bring Lei Tiantong from that group here. From now on, he'll handle all the financial work of the temporary command headquarters."

"And there's a big fat guy, Yuan Zhimen. Have him handle all your miscellaneous affairs from now on."

Lin Wen made arrangements for several people in one breath.

Huang Mingxiao hesitated before saying, "County Chief Lin, are you planning to place the work group above the temporary command headquarters? I trust Old Lei's ability and character, and although Yuan Zhimen is unreliable, he's good at handling these sorts of execution tasks. But the others..."

Lin Wen gave a cold laugh. "No. We'll operate in parallel. You're also the work group's deputy leader. Other than me, no one may interfere with you. Understand?"

The clouds on Huang Mingxiao's face immediately gave way to sunshine. He answered loudly, "Yes, County Chief Lin!"

"Also, many more people will soon be arriving to join the reconstruction work. The first batch of one hundred staff members will be here shortly. Remember to arrange accommodation and assigned duties for every one of them."

This time, Huang Mingxiao truly felt hope in a tangible way.

Unlike the previous county chief, the new county chief might be domineering, but he genuinely valued post-disaster reconstruction. He had allocated funds and sent people, one after another.

Moreover, he made decisions on the spot and acted as soon as he spoke. He had only mentioned sending personnel to help yesterday morning, yet three batches had arrived in succession that afternoon, and more people were coming today.

The shortage of manpower would soon be solved.

Had it been the old county chief, he probably would have sent a few people next month and called that fulfilling his promise.

County Chief Lin truly regarded these disaster victims as his own people, rather than livestock that could talk, walk, and pay taxes.

And Huang Mingxiao had also begun to understand County Chief Lin's high-handedness. With the situation so urgent, they truly needed someone who could make decisions and dared to take responsibility—not bureaucrats who passed the buck and kicked the ball around, dragging things out until all the disaster victims had died while they remained happily at leisure.

That would be the real tragedy.

A new county chief had arrived, yet Huang Mingxiao's habitual way of thinking had not changed. He was still trapped in the patterns of the Zhao Pingan era, even somewhat fearful of the new county chief's storm-like new style.

That would not do.

It was time to break free!

Filled with boundless excitement and anticipation, Huang Mingxiao declared loudly, "Yes, County Chief Lin! Changle Town has plenty of empty houses. No matter how many people come, I'll be able to accommodate them all."