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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 78 (Part 1)

Wei Chen, the chief eunuch, arrived very suddenly, and no one had the time to report the news to the large group of people. As a result, the officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs were unprepared and had to watch helplessly as Wei Chen took away all the boxes of official documents that had been piled up for a long time. Although Wei Chen already knew where Magistrate Xiao Zhao lived, he still pretended to ask someone.

According to the rules, all officials who come to the capital to report on their duties must leave their contact addresses in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in case they are assigned the tasks but the person can’t be found. 

These officials, who used to be arrogant and proud, were nothing in front of Wei Chen, nodding and bowing to flatter him with a lot of good words. Only then did they hand over the address and stuffed a heavy purse in his hands to inquire about what happened in the court.

Wei Chen took the address and left without even looking at the purse, with a cold look on his face. After leaving the office, he didn’t go to the address provided by those people. Instead, he went directly to Zhao Youcai’s house, as if he already knew the current whereabouts of County Magistrate Xiao Zhao.

At this moment, Zhao Youcai was speaking harshly, and his every word was extremely cruel, “Zhao Youshu, don’t think that winning the top spot in the exam will lead you to heaven. Believe it or not, I can crush you whenever I want. You are nothing but a seventh-grade sesame official, and you still dare to go against me.”

He continued, “I am the Heavenly Official who controls the future of all the officials in the Dayong Kingdom. If you don’t follow my wishes, it won’t be as simple as just detaining the work report. Once I take it seriously, I will assign you the lowest rank, sending you to Lingnan, Shuzhou, Xiangxi, or some other places. Let’s see how long you can survive then.”

The several prefectures he mentioned are the places of exile for the criminals in the Dayong Kingdom, with harsh environments, difficult folk customs, along with difficult and dangerous roads. Not to mention securing official positions, it is unknown whether they would be able to take the office alive. The officials sent to these places either have no money and power, or have offended some powerful person. They go there for a lifetime, and only a few of them can return to the capital alive.

You Shu was well aware of the situation, but he wasn’t afraid at all. His best friend (of course, it was unilaterally decided by himself) is Lord Yama who is the King of the underworld, so he is not even afraid of death. 

Putting down the already cold tea, he was about to refuse when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside. Then the steward of the Zhao Mansion ran in and said in a trembling voice, “Master, Madam, Young Master, there is someone outside, saying that he came to summon Magistrate Zhao to the palace for an audience according to the emperor’s will.”

“What did you say?” Zhao Youcai’s sinister and proud expression turned into disbelief. How could a seventh-grade sesame official be summoned by the emperor himself? What’s going on?

You Shu was also surprised. Upon walking down the corridor, he saw a eunuch with a white face, soft appearance, and an extraordinary demeanour hurriedly approaching, saying in a loud voice, “Is this the magistrate of Suichang County, Zhao Youshu?”

“That’s right.” You Shu walked down the steps and arched his hand.

“Wei Chen, incharge of the imperial household affairs, has met Lord Zhao. The emperor has an order to summon Lord Zhao into the palace urgently. Please come with me.” Wei Chen immediately returned the courtesy with a very respectful attitude. 

He was in charge of the internal affairs of the palace. Although he was only a fourth-rank official, his status was no worse than that of a first-rank official because he was highly valued by the emperor. When the six ministers saw him, they had to bow down and flatter him constantly. When he came to Magistrate Xiao Zhao, he kept his posture very low and was very careful about every word and action.

You Shu didn’t realise it at all, but Zhao Youcai was a careful person and he quickly realised that something was wrong. Zhao Youshu’s entry into the palace this time was probably not a bad thing, but he probably gained the emperor’s favour. If the emperor valued him, the work report held in the Ministry of Civil Affairs would be of no use, and his own threat will become a complete joke. So, what should he do about the lives of his entire family? Does he really have to return all the property back to Zhao Youshu?

When Zhao Youcai was extremely unwilling to give up and was burning from the inside and outside, You Shu had already left with Wei Chen. The second master and second wife were so anxious that they were sweating profusely, constantly complaining that their son was not straightforward in doing things.  

Unable to do anything, they could only wait for Zhao Youshu to return from the palace. If he is favoured by the emperor, it will be even more difficult to solve the matter of the family property. If he is reprimanded, there may still be a chance to turn the matter around.

Before Wei Chen personally went to invite Magistrate Xiao Zhao, he entrusted several boxes of official documents to his disciple and asked him to take them to the Jinluan Hall. 

At this time, several strong eunuchs carrying the boxes entered the hall, and after saluting, they placed them neatly in the centre of the hall so that all the officials and the emperor could see them clearly.

Upon a closer look, the Minister of Civil Affairs suddenly started sweating like a waterfall. He saw several boxes with seals and notes on them. One of the notes read: The silver has been settled and can be sent to Lord Liu for approval; another one reads: More than half of the silver has been paid, so it needs to be reviewed again; the last one was highlighted with a bold red: Refuse to pay the silver, indefinite delay!

All the ministers had previously done work reports and grade assessments in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Seeing this scene, they naturally understood what was going on. Not only did the Ministry of Civil Affairs follow this rule, but other Ministries also do. Giving silver is a good way to handle matters, but not giving silver means only one word–- consumption. Let’s see who gets consumed first.

However, this kind of thing is contrary to the rules and is not tolerated by the national law. It is enough for everyone to understand it in their hearts, but they must never say it out loud. Otherwise, it will be equivalent to corruption, perverting the law, harming the country, and you will be charged with a serious crime. 

They originally thought that the officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs had their own ways to deal with the inspections from above. Didn’t anything similar happen there during the reign of the former emperor? 

Unexpectedly, as soon as Wei Chen went there, he dug out the ironclad evidence, and then put it in the centre of the Jinluan Gall. He deserves to be incharge of Imperial Household Affairs, as well as the most trusted confidant of the emperor. Sure enough, he really has two brushes(a person with great abilities)!

If they knew that Wei Chen was not an ordinary person and had used a blind trick to enter the Ministry of Civil Affairs, catching all the subordinate officials by surprise, they would not be so surprised.

The new emperor left the throne and walked down slowly. He walked around the boxes twice before standing in front of the last box. His already cold face became even more unpredictable. He gently removed the seal and said firmly, “Indefinite delay. It seems that Magistrate Zhao’s work report is included in it, right?”

Don’t open it, don’t open it! The Minister of Civil Affairs covered his face with his hands and shouted in his heart. The seal is nothing, it can be dealt with a few words, but the bad thing is that there is also a ledger in each box, which records in detail the silver and treasures paid by the officials who came to report on their duties. It also includes the information about backgrounds of the officials who refused to pay the silver, so that the minister can understand it at a glance, and then approve the grade and arrange posts according to the weight of the silver.  

According to reports, those who refused to pay the silver had to wait for a year and a half; if they still didn’t pay, those officials with no background would be sent to places with harsh environments to suffer, just like criminals.

It was precisely because they controlled the promotion of officials from various places that the officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs were given the majestic nickname— Tianguan.(Officials in the heaven who bestows happiness)

The thoughts of the Minister of Civil Affairs obviously could not stop the new emperor. He had already opened the lid of the box and took out an account book to look through it. His face was expressionless and his eyes were dark and unpredictable.  

All the officials lowered their heads one after another and thought in a panic: Even the account books were placed inside, did you think that you wouldn’t die quickly enough? What did Lord Liu’s subordinates do for food? How could Wei Chen find such a deadly thing?

It’s still the same sentence: People can’t fight a ghost to the bone. Although the so-called ghost is afraid of evil people, you also have to look at the level of the ghost.

Amidst a series of heavy breathing sounds, the new emperor flipped through the account book and whispered, “Interesting. I never expected that the official rating approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs was based on the amount of silver and the level of background. If you have more money, you will be given the first grade. If you have little money, you will be given the lowest grade. If you don’t have any money, you will be detained in the capital and wait for retribution. What do you think of local officials from all over the country? A fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered? What do you think of me? A fool who can be deceived at will. Those who are capable are persecuted by you to death, but the incompetent ones are promoted by you. That’s why the civil and military officials are all greedy and arrogant everywhere, looking like monkeys dressed in human clothing. If things go on like this, how can our common people not rebel? How can our Dayong not be destroyed?”

The more he spoke, the more furious he became. He lifted his hand and smashed the account book into the face of the Minister of Civil Affairs. Only a crisp sound of “Pa” was heard, and a red mark added to the forehead of the Minister of Personnel, as well as a nosebleed winding down, indicating how much strength the new emperor had used. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed to apologize, trembling and sweating profusely, looking extremely embarrassed.

A eunuch quickly picked up the account book, patted it clean, and at the emperor’s signal, he handed it to the officials for inspection.

The new emperor didn’t need help from others. He bent down and rummaged through it carefully, finally finding the work report of Magistrate Zhao at the bottom of the box and opened it to read.

“Lord Liu, do you remember what you said before?” After a moment, he spoke slowly.

“Dare, dare I ask which sentence is Your Majesty referring to?” The Minister of Civil Affairs was almost paralyzed with fear. As soon as the new emperor ascended to the throne, he beheaded hundreds of officials. Apart from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs, both inside and outside the court were thoroughly purged, earning him the title of the Living King of Hell. His cold face and furrowed brows were already scary enough, but now with a slight smile on his lips, why is it even more terrifying?

“Why did you withhold Magistrate Zhao’s work report?”

“This minister, this minister said that Magistrate Zhao’s work report does not comply with the regulations and needs to be rewritten.” The Minister of Civil Affairs wiped the cold sweat on his forehead as he spoke, feeling even more uneasy.  

Today’s incident was all caused by Magistrate Zhao’s work report. If I had known this, I would have just given him a top grade and approved it immediately. Why withhold it? In the end, that fool Zhao Youcai has to be blamed! Why don’t they just settle their family grievances by themselves? Why use others as guns?

Thinking of this, the Minister of Civil Affairs hated Zhao Youcai to the bone, but it was already too late to repent. He could only pray that Zhao Youshu’s work report didn’t comply with the regulations, so that his guilt could be reduced by one.

However, contrary to expectations, the emperor showed appreciation despite his anger. The ministers had already guessed that Magistrate Zhao’s work report not only complied with the regulations, but must also be splendid enough. Sure enough, after reading it, the new emperor handed a thick stack of files to all the officials to review, and then walked back to the throne without saying a word.

The officials who were still dubious at first fell silent after reading the report, with a faint look of amazement in their eyes. Worthy of being a genius who won the top spot in the exam at the age of 18, this Magistrate Zhao’s literary talent is outstanding and his words are very eloquent. 

He elaborated on his political achievements in various aspects such as people’s livelihood, commerce, agriculture, public security, and water conservancy. He also summarized his strengths and weaknesses. His words are rigorous and logical, and his narration is objective yet graceful. He can even be regarded as a role model in writing work reports.

Even if you find the most skilled petty officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, they won’t be able to write a more comprehensive, standardized, and excellent report. And Lord Liu said that his report “does not comply with regulations”, which now sounds like a big joke. Why plant and frame up people and ruin their careers without receiving any money?

The eunuch took back the report and intended to hand it to the emperor, but he saw the other party wave his sleeves, saying solemnly, “Let Lord Liu take a look at it. Let him see what does his so-called ‘does not comply with regulations’ report look like?”

The Minister of Civil Affairs took the report and looked at it carefully, trying his best to find an error or omission, but it was all in vain. He knew in his heart that he was finished, and he really had no excuse at all.

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