Volume One: The Young Monk Returns to Secular Life Chapter Sixty-One: The Booklet

The font on the cover was simply atrocious; surely any literate person could produce something better than this? “Disaster Relief Strategies?” Perhaps he should return home and practice his handwriting first...

“Well... haha... I’ll look at it later,” Qin Shirong smiled and replied politely to Elder Huiren.

After all, this booklet truly felt like nothing more than a child’s prank. He couldn’t fathom why Master Huiren would bring such an item as if it were important—if everyone acted like this, he, as the Minister of Revenue, would be overwhelmed...

The current disaster was severe; he needed to personally oversee and coordinate affairs, and had no time for childish mischief...

“Lord Qin, you are busy with official duties, I understand,” said Elder Huiren, bowing slightly. “I’ll take my leave now. I’ll be staying here for a few days to assist; if you ever need my help, just send word and I will come at once.”

Elder Huiren had already prepared himself for this response regarding the booklet. He had expected as much and did not insist that Qin Shirong read it.

“You are too kind, Elder Huiren. I am deeply grateful! I will visit your monastery another day to thank you, your abbot... and Xiao Yan as well...” Qin Shirong replied courteously, clasping his hands in a gesture of respect.

Elder Huiren returned the gesture and turned to leave.

“Eh?” At that moment, a surprised cry rang out, somewhat out of place.

It was Qin Xuanxuan, who had picked up the booklet Huiren had just handed over. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her beautiful eyes blinking rapidly as if she had discovered something unbelievable.

“Xuanxuan...” Qin Shirong frowned slightly, speaking in a low voice.

He shook his head; his daughter was usually well-mannered and rarely behaved so impolitely. What had gotten into her today?

“Father, look at this…” Qin Xuanxuan handed the booklet to him, her voice tinged with excitement as she pointed to the table of contents.

Though slightly displeased, he followed her gaze.

The table of contents did list quite a few topics. The titles at the beginning were familiar—subjects that had already been systematically organized by others.

But upon closer inspection, the latter sections were unfamiliar.

Epidemic hygiene and disinfection? Management methods for responsible officials? Disaster area publicity and education? Handling corrupt officials?

…What were these things?

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A jumble of nonsense...

Qin Shirong’s frown deepened. To reach the position of Minister of Revenue, he had reviewed countless strategies for dealing with famine. There were the accumulated experiences of predecessors, systematically organized, and outstanding officials who would summarize and refine approaches after each disaster—he had read at least a hundred such documents.

Most strategies were similar, either focusing on government suppression or issues of food distribution and management.

But he had never seen such strange strategies.

Surely, this was just random scribbling?

“What are ‘hygiene’ and ‘disinfection’?” Qin Shirong stared at these unfamiliar terms, his expression odd.

In this era, such words were not yet in use, and Qin Shirong struggled to grasp their meaning.

“A bit reckless,” he said, shaking his head and tossing the booklet aside with a laugh.

“Father... please look further...” Qin Xuanxuan, dissatisfied, retrieved the booklet and placed it back in front of him.

“Don’t be troublesome! I brought you here to learn proper conduct, not to interfere with your father!” Qin Shirong said sternly.

“Just look. If you still think it’s nonsense, you can ignore it, alright?” Xuanxuan pleaded, relentless.

“My dear Xuanxuan, what’s gotten into you today? Fine, I’ll take a look,” he relented, somewhat irritated by the many affairs awaiting his attention and unwilling to waste time on this.

“Good.” Xuanxuan, satisfied, opened the page she had prepared and placed it before him.

Elder Huiren, who had nearly left the hall, paused and listened intently.

Qin Shirong frowned, but continued reading, forcing himself to be patient.

He meant to glance briefly and be done with it, but as his eyes swept over the page, his brows began to knit, his expression grew grave, and his hand slowed as he turned the pages.

“Epidemics often spread from unsanitary conditions, so the first priority is to address these issues… next comes the management of officials…” Qin Shirong murmured, repeating the booklet’s words as he sought to comprehend them.

“Currently, there are too few officials to properly manage the entire disaster area, and relying solely on top-down authority creates delays. The best approach is to select grassroots managers from among the local victims in each region, ensuring better execution…”

Qin Shirong had begun flipping through the booklet himself. The further he read, the more complicated his feelings became; upon reflection, it seemed remarkably sensible.

“What do you think? Isn’t this booklet quite special?” Xuanxuan finally spoke, unable to conceal her excitement.

Qin Shirong merely grunted and continued reading.

“Establish unified latrines… places where people gather must be disinfected with lime powder… dead rats, cockroaches, fish and shrimp must be promptly burned and buried to prevent the spread of disease…”

“Any sick victims—those with headaches and fever, persistent cough—must be isolated according to their symptoms… to prevent the disease from spreading…”

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“Create a special publicity team to strongly advocate that no matter how hungry one is, dead rats must not be eaten; ensure everyone has at least a bowl of thin porridge a day… so they won’t resort to eating dead rats…”

The booklet contained numerous points about hygiene. Though Qin Shirong had no concept of hygiene, his experiences with similar situations allowed him to grasp some key points.

However, some suggestions seemed excessive, wasting resources for uncertain results.

It was understandable that he thought so; people of this era had no understanding of bacteria or similar issues. Their idea of cleanliness was merely to rinse hands in clean water.

Nevertheless, the booklet’s points were concise and easy to understand; after all, everything was written in plain language, with punctuation used throughout, making it unnecessary to pause for breaks and not particularly time-consuming.

In about half an hour, Qin Shirong finished reading the entire booklet.

His feelings were indescribable.

The handwriting was admittedly ugly, and some methods were rather overblown, yet most were quite useful—more refined than existing disaster relief strategies, and many ideas provided inspiration.

Regardless of whether the booklet’s contents were truly effective, its concise and direct expression made it easy to comprehend.

Such straightforward language would be vulgar for poetry or essays, and would be criticized by great scholars, but for a disaster relief booklet, it was perfectly suited.

The average victim had little education, few could read, making publicity a significant challenge.

Thus, plain language became a necessity.

“Father, what do you think of the booklet?” Xuanxuan, who had studied poetry from a young age and often visited her father’s study, understood much from reading similar books.

That was why she was so insistent that he finish reading the booklet.

“This booklet is truly excellent,” Qin Shirong said, nodding in praise.

Xuanxuan smiled joyfully upon hearing this; being able to help her father made her happy.

What surprised Qin Shirong most was that the booklet considered every aspect.

Each chapter and method were interconnected—even the section about latrines addressed matters of public sentiment, management, and discipline...

Though, the emphasis on hygiene was somewhat excessive…

“Father, do you think this booklet is feasible?”

“Nonsense. The methods are good, but much of it is theoretical, untested, and cannot be acted upon rashly… if handled carelessly, it would affect countless lives… especially the hygiene section—it’s far too elaborate…” Qin Shirong sighed and shook his head.

“What should we do then?” Xuanxuan asked, unwilling to give up.

“Set it aside for now.” Qin Shirong tossed the booklet aside and moved on to other matters.

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