Disaster relief was a complicated and huge project. The reconstruction after the disaster relief was even more difficult, not to mention the tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers that needed to be buried. Their families also needed to be compensated.
For a moment, every family in Taiyang City was in mourning. The sound of mourning filled the entire city.
With the arrival of Ning Tongyi, the Crown Prince's bodyguards and the other officials who accompanied him also arrived one after another. In a short period of time, three second-rank officials, five second-rank officials, and ten third-rank officials had gathered in the small Taiyang City. Almost all the deputies of three provinces and six ministries had gathered here. It could be called a small imperial court.
The officials of Taiyang City were scared out of their wits. They were located in a remote corner of the city. Normally, when they saw a fifth-grade official from the capital, they would feel as if they were seeing an angel. But now, almost all the pillars of the Crown Prince's faction had gathered here. They were so scared that they kept quiet out of fear. They didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
They were afraid that they would anger the Crown Prince, so he ordered them to be removed from their positions and replaced.
Because of this, with the Crown Prince in charge, other places did not dare to be perfunctory. Resources from various places were sent to Taiyang as if they did not cost money. Those officials who were afraid of losing their job also worked around the clock regardless of fatigue. In just two days and two nights, the funeral of tens of thousands of people was settled.
However, with the death of Jue Wuji, the ferocious disease became milder. It was no longer a horrible disease that would kill people within a day. The period of the disease's outbreak was greatly extended. Even so, no one dared to be careless.
This was especially true when Jue Wu Ji's zombie horde attack had completely destroyed the quarantine zone. The infected and the uninfected had mixed together, causing the entire Taiyang City's citizens to be investigated and quarantined. The entire city had become a quarantine zone.
The Crown Prince, Zhao Hanqing, did not sleep for two days and two nights. He went to visit a large number of families of the victims. He comforted these people who had lost their loved ones.
The Crown Prince's figure greatly encouraged these people. It also strengthened their belief that saving the Crown Prince was saving themselves. Helping the Crown Prince was helping themselves.
However, what shocked them was that the Governor Li Tian was released. Moreover, he was reinstated!
The Crown Prince's way of saying this was to make Li Tian face the consequences of all this and make him bear the crime of providing disaster relief. Once everything was settled, he would settle the score with him.
The Crown Prince's prestige was unparalleled. Although the commoners were dissatisfied, they suppressed it. They all stared at Governor Li Tian with resentment and suspicion, accepting the Crown Prince's words.
But only those who truly understood understood what the Crown Prince meant by doing this.
"He actually released the prefect?"
When Li Chengfeng saw Prefecture Chief Li Tian come out again to provide disaster relief, he could not believe his own eyes.
After the battle at Taiyang City, Li Chengfeng had completely acknowledged Zhao Hanqing's character. He admired him from the bottom of his heart for thinking about his people. However, he did not expect the Crown Prince to reinstate Governor Li Tianguan!
This kind of operation was simply unimaginable!
However, Zhao Feiyue's heart was as clear as a mirror. She followed Li Chengfeng closely, watching from a corner of the square as the Prefecture Chief Li Tianzheng smiled at each and every citizen, distributing food and medicine.
Although some commoners who had received medicine spat at Governor Li Tian when they passed by him, Li Tian didn't dare to wipe them off. He dried his face with his own saliva, and his face was full of smiles.
Zhao Feiyue felt that the Governor's eyes were filled with hatred but she could not persuade him otherwise.
"Because Fourth Brother is currently challenging Prefecture Chief Li Tian because of the Taiyang incident. He's trying to overthrow him!" explained Zhao Feiyue softly.
Li Chengfeng was even more confused. "Isn't that even better? Let the Fourth Prince take him down and punish this crazy bastard!"
Zhao Feiyue smiled bitterly. "No, there are no small matters in politics!
Since Third Brother is protecting him, he must be one of Third Brother's men.
If he could topple him, then he would be able to follow the vines to find Governor Li Tian's backer, and then all the way to Third Brother!
Third Brother will definitely be implicated because of this, and will suffer further attacks and even deeper effects. "
Li Chengfeng immediately understood what Zhao Feiyue said and glared at Li Tian. "Are we just going to let this bastard get away with it?"
Zhao Feiyue shook her head. "Third Brother hates evil so he will definitely not let this bastard go. However, we must protect him now because protecting him means protecting ourselves!"
Li Chengfeng heaved a long sigh. "In order to protect a righteous Crown Prince, I have no choice but to protect a crazy bastard!
How ironic this is! "
Zhao Feiyue was silent for a while. "There is no good or evil in the court!
Only the one who survives has the right to write victory. "
Li Chengfeng remained silent and sighed.
Just as Zhao Feiyue had said, in the faraway Divine Capital, an intense political battle was taking place in the court.
On the second day after the Battle of Taiyang broke out, the Fourth Prince's party was the first to launch an attack. The censor, Gao Tai, fired the first shot at the minor court meeting. The muzzle was aimed directly at the governor, Li Tian. He accused Li Tian of neglecting his duties, being deranged, and harming the people, causing the destruction of Taiyang.
Immediately after, the Directorate of Imperial Examinations' Registrar Yuan Lang stepped forward to accuse Li Tian of neglecting his duties and wanted to investigate the official who recommended him to be the governor.
At this time, the Fourth Prince's party's intentions were clear. They were targeting the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Pei Yuangui.
Everyone in the court knew that the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Pei Yuangui, was one of the Crown Prince's five men party.
Although Pei Yuangui was only the Left Assistant Minister, he had a lot of power. He could intervene in the promotion and transfer of all the officials in the country. He even had the support of the Crown Prince. Even if it was the Minister of Personnel who had been appointed, he could forcefully refuse and drag it out for half a year until the matter became a mess.
Therefore, as long as Pei Yuangui was killed, the Crown Prince's hand in the Ministry of Personnel would be cut off.
To a Crown Prince, the army was not the most important thing. That was because the Crown Prince could not touch it. If he did, there was a high chance that something big would happen. Once the Emperor, Zhao Bairen, became suspicious, something 'unspeakable' would happen.
Therefore, to the Crown Prince, the most important thing was the 'power of the purse' and the 'power of the position'.
The purse was in the Ministry of Revenue's hands. The Minister of Revenue and the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel were both the Crown Prince's people. The Minister of Personnel was a neutral party and had not shown any bias. Therefore, he had always turned a blind eye to the Left Assistant Minister Pei Yuangui's domineering behavior. It could be said that the Ministry of Personnel was also in the Crown Prince's hands.
Once Pei Yuangui was killed because of Governor Li Tian, the Ministry of Personnel would lose control. The Crown Prince would lose one of his two major powers, and he would become a cripple!
Once the Ministry of Personnel was lost, the Crown Prince would no longer be able to control all the officials and maintain his authority over them.
This was because the Ministry of Personnel was in charge of the promotion of all the officials and their futures. Therefore, once the Crown Prince lost his position, with his strong and cold attitude, it would be questionable whether the officials would still support him.