Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1476 Shangshu's Life

Yijing, early morning

In a carriage escorted by a team of guards, Daqian Minister of Personnel Gu Sansi was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest. Since Gu Sansi gave the order last time, the Manufacturing Bureau immediately arranged craftsmen to modify Gu Sansi's carriage.

After this modification, the air leaks in the carriage were basically blocked, which made Gu Sansi, who rode the carriage to and from get off work every day, much more comfortable.

Although the carriage was not leaking and the cabin was not cold, Gu Sansi, who was resting with his eyes closed, looked a little tired, as if he had not slept well last night.

At this time, the Minister of Personnel of Daqian was also a little regretful. He didn't sleep well last night because of the loud noise and his head still hurts a little now.

Although he and Chen Wanting have a good relationship, their married life has always been relatively conventional without too many tricks!
Moreover, as he got older, Gu Sansi, as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was busy with official duties. He went out early and came back late every day. He went to work at the yamen before dawn and left work at night. So after a tiring day, Gu Sansi basically just ate and slept after returning home, and did not think much about that matter!
Originally, this was nothing, but after Chen Wanting gave birth to his son Gu Yuanqing, Gu Sansi found that things were different. Chen Wanting, who used to be very shy about that kind of thing, is now getting bolder and bolder, and even starts to take the initiative to propose when the two are alone at night!

At the beginning, Gu Sansi had a good experience, and even fought with Chen Wanting three times in one day. However, this Minister of Personnel of Daqian was a man in his forties after all, so Gu Sansi’s body soon couldn’t take it, and he began to have backaches...
So when faced with Chen Wanting's challenge again, the powerless Gu Sansi avoided the fight on the grounds that he was tired!

It was okay once or twice, but as Gu Sansi avoided fighting more and more times, Chen Wanting became suspicious. At first, she tested Gu Sansi intentionally or unintentionally to see if he had a new love. She even took the initiative to tell Gu Sansi that it was okay to have a new love and that he could bring her home and they could live together!
Gu Sansi gave a bitter smile to Chen Wanting's statement. He couldn't even handle you now, so how could he have the mind and ability to find one? However, for the sake of his male dignity and face, he naturally couldn't tell the truth. He just comforted Chen Wanting not to think too much!
After confirming that Gu Sansi did not have an affair, Chen Wanting also suspected that Gu Sansi might have some health problems, so she also wanted to find an imperial physician to check on Gu Sansi!
Seeing that Chen Wanting was so persistent, Gu Sansi was a little annoyed. He had a quarrel with Chen Wanting last night. Gu Sansi told Chen Wanting to be more restrained and not to be like a hungry DF, thinking about that thing all day long!

Facing Gu Sansi's accusations, Chen Wanting also acted very aggrieved. Not only did she completely deny Gu Sansi's accusations, she also said that Gu Sansi was hiding his illness and was afraid of seeing a doctor, and she was doing it for Gu Sansi's health.

Although Gu Sansi also felt that there might be something wrong with his body, this matter involved his dignity as a man, so when Chen Wanting brought up this matter, Gu Sansi also directly stated that there was nothing wrong with his body and there was no need to see a doctor...

Because of this incident, Gu Sansi moved to the side room to sleep last night. Although he moved to the side room, this incident still made Gu Sansi upset, and he did not fall asleep until the second half of the night.

Finally, before he had slept for two hours, the Minister of Personnel of Daqian had to get up, wash, dress and get ready to start work.

After a cup of tea, under the escort of the guards, the carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate of the Ministry of Personnel. Gu Sansi also walked into his classroom amid the greetings of the officials of the Ministry of Personnel.

As usual, after Gu Sansi sat down, his full-time clerk Feng Wei brought him a pot of Longjing tea. Gu Sansi took a sip from the teacup and then instructed Feng Wei:
"Xiao Feng, make me a pot of strong tea!"

Feng Wei was a little surprised to hear Gu Sansi's request. He had been working as a clerk for Gu Sansi for two or three years. In his impression, Gu Sansi did not like to drink tea that was too strong. When he first started making tea for Gu Sansi as a clerk, he made it a little too thick and was reminded by Gu Sansi!

At this time, Feng Wei hesitated for a moment, still feeling that he might not be able to grasp the amount, so he said:
"How strong would you like your drink, my Lord?"

Gu Sansi glanced at the teapot and said:
“It’s twice as thick as this. Also, go to the cafeteria and see if there’s anything to eat in the morning. Steamed buns, porridge, fried dough sticks, tofu brain, noodles are all fine. I didn’t eat breakfast, so just give me some…”

"Understood! I'll arrange it right away!"

After giving instructions to Feng Wei, Gu Sansi started today's work. It was already the end of the year, and in a few days it would be the second year of the Daqian Construction Wu period.

This means that the date for layoffs requested by Ye Mingsheng is very close, so Gu Sansi is now collecting and collating the number of people laid off by provincial governments, prefectures and counties, and summarizing these figures one by one, and then forming a report to be submitted to Ye Mingsheng!
In the past few days, reports from Guanzhong, Yongliang, Sichuan, Jingchu, Liaoyang, Hebei and Henan have arrived one after another. According to the summary results, these six major regions have laid off 6,300 people, of which 800 were G members and the remaining 5,500 were servants!
These people who were laid off basically saved at least 200,000 taels of silver in salary for the court every year!
Gu Sansi was very pleased with this situation. With these 6,300 people, plus the 700 people laid off in Hebei and Henan, and the 600 people laid off in various central government offices, the total number of layoffs has reached 7,600. The annual salary savings exceed 300,000 taels of silver!
There are still five places, Qilu, Yunbing, Jiangnan, Huainan, and Anqing, which have not sent in reports. However, Gu Sansi feels that the number of officials and corvées cut in these five places combined will definitely exceed two thousand five hundred!
This also means that as the Minister of Personnel, he can complete the order issued by His Majesty to lay off 10,000 employees!

It's not just a matter of getting the job done. Gu Sansi estimates that at least three thousand people can be laid off in these five places, and five thousand is possible. If so, he will have exceeded the task...
Thinking of this, a relieved smile appeared on Gu Sansi's face. When he just received this order from Ye Mingsheng a few months ago, he felt that this matter was very tricky and difficult to handle!

To put it bluntly, layoffs are like destroying people's jobs and cutting off their financial resources. This can be said to be on par with the hatred of having one's father killed or one's wife stolen. Especially in the G field, many places are complicated and intertwined, with relationships between classmates, family members, and teachers and students.

If the order is to be implemented, it will definitely encounter great resistance and even cause certain turmoil. This will be a huge test for Daqian, which has just been born!

Therefore, Gu Sansi did not agree with Ye Mingsheng's layoff order. He believed that it should be done step by step, laying off 500 people this year, 800 people next year, 1,000 people the year after, and so on. But it was obvious that Ye Mingsheng did not have such patience. Even though the central government and local governments complained about this, Ye Mingsheng insisted on his own opinion and demanded that these 10,000 people must be laid off before the end of the year!
And things developed just as Gu Sansi had expected. Those who had their jobs smashed and lost their power by Ye Mingsheng were not willing to become the ruled. This has also led to some unrest in some local areas of Daqian!
Honestly speaking, given the current situation, if possible, Gu Sansi really wants to ask Ye Mingsheng, is it really worth paying such a price to lay off 10,000 employees?
Although he had such doubts in his heart, Gu Sansi could only think about it in his heart and did not dare to really ask Ye Mingsheng this soul-searching question...

As Gu Sansi's full-time clerk, Feng Wei had very good execution ability. In just a cup of tea, he quickly brewed a pot of strong tea for Gu Sansi, and brought him a bowl of millet porridge, a tea egg, and three meat buns!

Gu Sansi, who had not had breakfast yet, was also very satisfied with this. In the past, Chen Wanting always prepared breakfast for him, but after a big fight last night, it was not known whether Chen Wanting was angry or not, but she did not prepare breakfast for Gu Sansi, and the housekeeper's temporary preparation was a little too late.

So in order to get to work on time and not be late, Gu Sansi had to get on the carriage with an empty stomach. Fortunately, each government office in the central government had a special canteen, which normally provided breakfast and lunch every day. When the government office needed to work overtime at night, they would also prepare dinner for him.
Although it is just a canteen in name, these masters will not treat themselves badly. The chefs in the canteen are all poached from big hotels and restaurants, and their cooking skills are absolutely first-class! In addition to the excellent chefs, the ingredients in the canteen are also very good every day. Vegetables are provided by special plantations, and meat dishes are provided by special pig farms, chicken farms, fish soup, etc. Every day before dawn, these ingredients will be transported into the city in special carriages to ensure that every master can eat delicious meals when he goes to work!
Good ingredients and a good chef together equal good food, so faced with the temptation of delicious food, the hungry Gu Sansi also ate with relish. Perhaps it was because he was hungry after not eating at home in the morning, Gu Sansi felt that today’s steamed buns, porridge, and tea eggs were particularly delicious·················

Seeing that Gu Sansi seemed to be still unsatisfied, Feng Wei brought him another tea egg and two meat buns without Gu Sansi's instructions. Gu Sansi didn't say anything, but just gave Feng Wei an appreciative look!

The reason why he chose Feng Wei to be his full-time clerk from among seven or eight young men was largely because Feng Wei was not only meticulous and seldom made mistakes, but was also very perceptive. There were some things that Feng Wei could handle for him without him having to say much!
After eating and drinking, Gu Sansi rinsed his mouth with tea. Just as he was about to continue working, Feng Wei came over with a memorial and said:

"Sir, the layoff report from the Qilu Provincial Government has arrived!"

Hearing this, Gu Sansi also became excited. Qi and Lu were the hardest hit areas by redundant staff. The situation of redundant staff was even more serious than that in Yunbing, Youyan, Ji and Yu. Therefore, Gu Sansi also attached great importance to the situation in Qi and Lu!

A moment later, when he saw the layoff figures written by his good friend Ma Runchuan, Gu Sansi, the Minister of Personnel of Daqian, couldn't help but frown slightly!

According to previous population statistics, the population of Qi and Lu is 1.05 million households, or about 3.5 million people. According to previous statistics from the Qi and Lu Provincial Government, there are nearly 30,000 officials and servants in Qi and Lu. So Gu Sansi expected that his good senior brother Ma Runchuan would have to cut at least 1,000 people to get the job done!

But now the layoff report given by Ma Runchuan shows that he only laid off about 700 people...

Moreover, even these seven hundred people may not be fake. If you count carefully, there may be only five hundred of them!

Gu Sansi really didn't know what his good senior brother was thinking. Why was he still clinging to illusions and unable to recognize the situation at this point?

Your Majesty’s attitude is very clear. If you don’t destroy other people’s jobs, then Your Majesty will destroy yours!

Just when Gu Sansi was worried, his door was knocked again, and Feng Wei came in again and reported to Gu Sansi:

"Sir, the attendant Zhang Yufeng just came and said that His Majesty wants to see you this afternoon!"

As soon as these words came out, Gu Sansi's heart immediately trembled, and he asked without thinking:

"Where is Zhang Yufeng?"

"Zhang Yufeng seemed to have something else to do. After telling me the order, he left in a hurry!"

"Then did you ask him what His Majesty wanted to see me about?"

"Your Excellency, I just asked indirectly, but Zhang Yufeng was very tight-lipped, so I didn't get anything out of him!"

Gu Sansi pondered for a moment after hearing this, then nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
"I know what happened! Xiao Feng, go and get busy!"

"Yes!"

As Feng Wei left, Gu Sansi looked at the uncle outside the window, and his brows couldn't help but frowned.

Although Zhang Yufeng did not reveal why His Majesty wanted to see him, Gu Sansi himself had some guesses. It was most likely that Ye Mingsheng wanted to see him at this time to listen to the report on layoffs!

If he had not received this report from Ma Runchuan, Gu Sansi would have been very happy to report the current situation to Ye Mingsheng!

But now after seeing Ma Runchuan's report, Gu Sansi couldn't help but feel a little worried. If he reported the actual situation, His Majesty would be furious and would probably use his good senior brother as an example to scare others!

Thinking of this, Gu Sansi also felt very difficult. He really couldn't understand why his senior brother Ma, who was usually so smart, was so confused at this critical moment...