Harem Daily Life

Chapter 716: Close Monitoring Team

It’s no wonder that Censor Zhang felt uneasy; the emperor’s tone was indeed very cold.

"The construction of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is a joint decision between me and the various ministries. It will benefit the present and future generations, and it's not something that can be stopped simply by a few impeachments from you, Censor Zhang. However, since you've raised these issues, I can't help but take them seriously. How about this: From today on, three people from the Censorate will form a Censor Inspection Team, with you, Minister Zhang, as the leader. You will monitor everything the Ministry of Works does. When they go to the site, you should go too. Only by getting to know the real situation can you see more clearly and truly play a supervisory role."

Censor Zhang was shocked. Does this mean he should stop doing other work and just follow the Minister of Works closely?

The other imperial censors were all panicking. The emperor's words meant that they would have to send two more people to follow the Ministry of Works to supervise the construction. This was not an easy job!

Previously, they impeached Empress Tao and were sent by His Majesty to various places to understand government affairs, which caused them to suffer a lot. Today, because Lord Zhang impeached Lord Tao, they have to take on an additional task of close surveillance. They really have no place to complain.

Tao Qian looked indifferent, but he was amused in his heart. He had already thought of thousands of ways to torture these censors. He was determined to make them suffer, to make them impeach this and that all day long, to criticize others as soon as they opened their mouths, and not to take the fruits of others' labor seriously.

"I must be frank. When you are overseeing the Ministry of Works, you must not give up halfway. Until the South-to-North Water Diversion Project is completed, you must submit a report to me. I want to hear your thoughts in detail. Do you understand?"

Sweat broke out on Censor Zhang's forehead. He felt that he was really shooting himself in the foot today and was asking for trouble.

However, he became excited at the thought of having the opportunity to find faults in Lord Tao. He did not believe that under his strict supervision, Lord Tao would be innocent and there would be no mistakes found.

And once he gets hold of evidence, the position of Minister of Works, Lord Tao, will have to be replaced.

Censor Zhang's eyes darkened. The eldest prince had tried every means to win him over, and he had used Tao Qian as a token of his allegiance. Everyone had defected to Empress Tao, but he was the only one who supported the eldest prince. If the eldest prince won in the future, he would have a bright future.

After the court session, He Linzhang called Tao Qian to the imperial study and comforted him in a gentle voice.

"Don't blame me for sending three imperial censors to watch you do your work. They watch their work, and you do your work. You can even use them and assign them to do some work."

Tao Qian naturally understood what He Linzhang had suggested and quickly said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I also think this method is very good. With someone supervising me, I can move forward with the project without worrying about my subordinates messing around when I'm not looking. I can also learn from you all while interacting with them, which is a great thing."

He Linzhang nodded and said, "Okay, if you have any difficulties, please report to me and I will make adjustments."

Tao Qian agreed and respectfully left the imperial study.

Speaking of the Censorate, except for Lord Zhang, no one else wanted to do this thankless job and they all avoided it.

"Master Zhang, I went out last year and got a headache. It's really hard for me to go out on field work again. I hope you can forgive me."

"Master Zhang, I have a lot of unfinished business and I really can't spare the time. You should seek help from someone else."

"Master Zhang, if you insist on forcing me to join this supervisory team, then I can only apply to be transferred to another department. Whoever wants to do it can do it. Anyway, I won't do it."

……

In the end, Censor Zhang selected two people who had the worst impeachment performance and were the least willing to resist to follow him to supervise the Ministry of Works.

But what surprised them was that the Ministry of Works started work earlier than chickens and finished work later than dogs. After only one day of supervision, the three of them almost died of exhaustion on the road.

"They don't do this every day, do they? If so, then they can be a bit greedy. They're already giving their lives to the court, so shouldn't they be able to make a little extra money?"

"If I were in the Ministry of Industry, I wouldn't be able to work like this all day. It's too tiring."

Censor Zhang also collapsed in the carriage due to exhaustion. He had followed the people from the Ministry of Works to inspect the projects along the way today. Due to the shortage of manpower, he was dragged to move several bags of stones several times. They were all civil servants with honors. He felt inexplicably humiliated when he rolled up his sleeves and held the bags of stones.

But Lord Tao was also moving, and it seemed like he was moving smoothly, which showed that it was not his first time.

Censor Zhang's hands were now covered in blisters, burning with pain. Who could have imagined that such hands were the ones capable of writing with such force and power?

After the three of them returned home, they fell asleep immediately. Unexpectedly, before dawn the next day, Tao Qian sent someone to invite them.

They were woken up in a daze, got on the carriage in a daze, and were taken to a place dozens of miles outside the city in a daze. Looking at the people who had already started working, the three of them shivered in the cold wind.

"Master Zhang, come and see. This is the excavation we're going to start today. The shovels are ready for you. Pick a shovel that's comfortable for you and get started. Once you're done with this section, compare the progress of the workers and you'll know if the wages we've divided into different levels are reasonable."

Tao Qian didn't give Zhang and the others time to think. He handed each of them a shovel and said, "Hurry up and get to work. It's getting late. The sooner you finish digging, the sooner you can go back."

The three of them looked at the dark sky - how could it be called late? It was clearly still dark!

Woo woo woo, when will these hard days end!

After working for more than ten days, the three censors were almost exhausted, but Tao Qian still did not let them go. He sent people to pick them up to the construction site every day without hesitation. He also said that starting from next month, they would be moved to other places and would not be able to return to Beijing every day. They would have to stay at the construction site for at least a few days before returning to Beijing. He asked them to arrange the things at hand and not delay the original work of the Censorate.

One of them, Mr. Zhao, couldn't stand it anymore, so he pretended to be sick and refused to go to work. He also thoughtfully prepared a prescription written by the doctor and refused to follow the people from the Ministry of Works to the scene.

But Tao Qian wasn't so easy to deal with. How could the inspection team be without one member? He went straight to the palace and complained to the emperor. He Linzhang then issued an order that the three-member inspection team must be complete. Since someone had reported illness, a replacement would be found from the Censorate. He Linzhang simply nominated someone to replace Lord Zhao, and that person was inexplicably conscripted.

The conscripted officer, Lord Li, looked hopeless and muttered to Lord Zhang, venting his frustrations: "Lord Zhang, why don't you just bow your head and go shake hands with Lord Tao and make peace? You impeached him, and he's giving you trouble. You two don't act like Imperial Censors anymore; you're just like hard laborers!"

Zhang Yushi thought to himself: I am worse than a worker. After work, the worker goes home to wash up and go to bed, but I have to go home and write an impeachment memorial with my calloused hands. Impeachment is my job, and I can't miss this monthly task...

Chang Tailai reported the matter of Zhang Yushi. Tao Yanyan was just a little amused. She felt that Zhang Yushi needed to be taught more, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the big and small Wang.