Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1686 Changes in ZZ's Route!
Yijing, Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office
In the prison cell, Chu Zhiyi, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, was looking intently at the documents in his hands.

At this time, more than a year had passed since Chu Zhiyi was demoted from the position of Left Censor-in-Chief to the position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan.

To be honest, although the Inspector General of Youyan was considered a high-ranking official in the Great Qian Dynasty, and was seen as unattainable by outsiders, his fall from such a high-ranking official as the Left Censor-in-Chief, a first-rank official and Grand Secretary, a core position of power in the Great Qian Dynasty, was undoubtedly a major blow to his career, and he felt a strong sense of defeat.

If it were anyone else, they might have given up and become just another nobody, but Chu Zhiyi has maintained such a positive attitude!
Because he had previously been promoted from the position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Yunbing to Left Censor-in-Chief, Chu Zhiyi was already very familiar with the work of the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner. Therefore, after arriving at the Youyan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, Chu Zhiyi immediately devoted himself to the work without any buffer period.

The former Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan, Zhuang Shanhe, was demoted by Ye Mingsheng because he was involved in a case with Li Jian. Therefore, before Chu Zhiyi took over the Provincial Surveillance Commission, the work of the entire Commission was at a standstill to some extent due to the absence of a Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, and a lot of cases accumulated. So, as soon as Chu Zhiyi took office, he resolved these accumulated cases!
Through solving these cases, Chu Zhiyi gradually learned about some aspects of Youyan.

Zhuang Shanhe, the former Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan, was thirty-eight years old at the time, relatively young in the Daqian government. Furthermore, with Li Jian, then Minister of Justice, as his patron, Zhuang Shanhe harbored lofty ambitions, dreaming of one day entering the Grand Secretariat and becoming a prime minister…

Because he had ambitions in his official career, Zhuang Shanhe, although not the kind of clean-living official, was generally quite principled, taking little money and not much personal gain.

Historically, the Central Plains gambling industry has mostly followed the principle of "what goes up must come down." If those above are greedy and take more, those below will follow suit and take even more. However, if those above restrain themselves, those below will not be too unrestrained.

Zhuang Shanhe was the more restrained type, so the other officials in the Provincial Surveillance Commission did not dare to act recklessly, and therefore the problems in the Provincial Surveillance Commission were not very serious.

Chu Zhiyi made an example of several people within the Provincial Surveillance Commission, serving as a warning to others and establishing his authority within the Commission.

After setting off the first fire, Chu Zhiyi set his sights on two issues: layoffs and reducing torture.

Previously, when Zhuang Shanhe served as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan, in order to maintain social order, he tended to use severe punishments and harsh laws to instill fear in the people and prevent them from having any other thoughts.

However, after Ye Mingsheng declared himself emperor, his political thinking changed from that of when he was a regional military governor!
Before declaring himself emperor, Ye Mingsheng, in order to seize power and defeat powerful enemies such as the Luo'an court and the Zhennan Army, intentionally used various means to transform the Fengwu Army into a highly efficient war machine.

However, after unifying the world and establishing the Great Qian Dynasty, in order to promote progress and development, Ye Mingsheng also carried out in-depth reforms, dismantling the once efficient but ruthless war machine, and attempting to create a more relaxed and progressive atmosphere among the people and in the imperial court...
To this end, Ye Mingsheng also proposed a series of policies such as encouraging overseas development and abolishing torture!
However, Ye Mingsheng's change in political thinking caused Zhuang Shanhe some confusion at the time.

According to Zhuang Shanhe's idea, in order to maintain the stability and continuation of the imperial court's rule, more constables and officials should be recruited to maintain high pressure, ensure that the harsh laws and punishments are implemented, and make the people have enough awe for the imperial court.

Therefore, in his heart, Zhuang Shanhe not only did not favor layoffs and the abolition of torture, he even believed that Ye Mingsheng's idea would lead to a deficiency in the court's rule and cause the people to no longer have absolute respect for the court.

Although Zhuang Shanhe had such thoughts and intended to advise Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng's signals to the outside world were quite firm!

Therefore, Zhuang Shanhe was somewhat hesitant and worried about what would happen if his advice angered Ye Mingsheng!
It was under such a hesitant and uncertain mindset that Zhuang Shanhe chose a roundabout way to achieve his goal!

Zhuang Shanhe's indirect approach to saving the country involved influencing Li Jian, the Minister of Justice, who shared similar ideas, and then getting Li Jian to present his ideas to Ye Mingsheng.

However, as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The fact that Zhuang Shanhe and Li Jian were able to get together not only shows that they share the same political ideology, but also that they are quite similar in personality. This also led to Li Jian being somewhat hesitant and reluctant to directly tell Ye Mingsheng his thoughts.

Li Jian could only offer indirect suggestions to Ye Mingsheng, and after realizing Ye Mingsheng's resolute attitude, Li Jian gave up on changing Ye Mingsheng's mind...
Thus, although Li Jian and Zhuang Shanhe were unwilling, they had no choice but to start pushing for reforms within the Ministry of Justice and the Provincial Surveillance Commission in order to please their superiors.

However, they ultimately did not approve of Ye Mingsheng's lenient ideas, so they did not go all out in terms of reform efforts!
After learning about the Youyan Provincial Surveillance Commission, Chu Zhiyi also realized this situation, so he wanted to continue to promote reform.

Chu Zhiyi thought that the Provincial Surveillance Commission had nearly two hundred official officials, a constable team of three hundred men, and a bailiff team of one thousand men, which was far too many.

Including salaries, bonuses, and benefits, the annual expenditure of the Provincial Surveillance Commission for these 1,500 people is at least 60,000 taels of silver. And this is just for the Provincial Surveillance Commission. If we include the prefectural offices in various parts of Youyan, the entire system would need at least 130,000 taels of silver to maintain normal operation every year!
Therefore, Chu Zhiyi began to carry out a self-examination campaign. Through the comprehensive assessment of the government, Chu Zhiyi boldly promoted those with strong abilities and high moral standards within the government, allowing them to assume greater responsibilities and be in charge of more important tasks.

As for those G-officials who were incompetent, morally deficient, and lazy, Chu Zhiyi didn't care who their fathers, uncles, or teachers were, or what kind of backers they had; he simply removed them all from the Provincial Surveillance Commission.

During this period, the number of constables in the Provincial Surveillance Commission has been reduced by nearly one-third. While Chu Zhiyi increased bonuses for the constables, their salaries have also fallen below 50,000 taels of silver. The overall efficiency of the commissioner's operations has improved, and the people's experience has become much better.

In addition to layoffs, Chu Zhiyi also fully implemented Ye Mingsheng's spirit of respecting human rights in abolishing torture, completely abolishing tortures such as being torn apart by a thousand cuts, being dismembered by five horses, cutting off noses, gouging out eyes, cutting off fingers, skinning and stuffing with straw.

For death row inmates, the execution is swift and decisive, with a single beheading. For those whose crimes do not warrant death and who have room for redemption, Chu Zhiyi, in addition to having them perform labor, also has artisans teach them skills such as carpentry, bricklaying, and blacksmithing to ensure they have a skill to make a living after their release.

Furthermore, Chu Zhiyi boldly provided each prisoner with a tael of silver as living expenses, ensuring they wouldn't be penniless upon release and risk relapse into crime. However, this act led to Chu Zhiyi, the former Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, being reported by his former colleagues.

Although Chu Zhiyi belonged to the "pure stream" faction in terms of political ideology, he strongly supported Ye Mingsheng's reforms. However, in the Daqian court, the "pure stream" faction was considered conservative. Therefore, the two sides, whose political ideologies differed, looked down on each other.

Furthermore, the fact that Chu Zhiyi was directly transferred from his position as Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Yunbing to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief by Ye Mingsheng also caused dissatisfaction among some people within the Censorate.

Although the decision was made by Ye Mingsheng and Chu Zhiyi was merely following orders, loyalty to the emperor was their political creed and the foundation of their position in the court for these upright officials. Therefore, they did not criticize Ye Mingsheng, but instead pointed the finger at Chu Zhiyi, believing that Chu Zhiyi had misled Ye Mingsheng.

Therefore, it was precisely because of this idea that the two sides developed a grudge. If Chu Zhiyi hadn't always maintained a clean reputation and hadn't made any mistakes, the upright officials would have impeached him long ago...

So when they discovered that Chu Zhiyi had given each of the released prisoners a living allowance of one tael of silver, these upright officials were overjoyed and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to completely eliminate this thorn in their side. Impeachment petitions flew like snowflakes to Ye Mingsheng's study.

However, Ye Mingsheng ultimately withstood the pressure and did not punish Chu Zhiyi. But because of Chu Zhiyi's previous actions, Ye Mingsheng also did not praise Chu Zhiyi.

In conclusion, Chu Zhiyi performed admirably as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Youyan, earning a good reputation among the people. However, in the eyes of his colleagues, Chu Zhiyi was an absolute oddball, a stubborn and stinking rock in a latrine.

However, Chu Zhiyi himself did not seem to care much about this and continued to do things his own way, putting his own ideas into practice.

Just as Chu Zhiyi was focused on his work in the cell, his clerk, Sun Hao, entered the room and reported to Chu Zhiyi:

"My lord, someone from the Provincial Administration Office just came and said that Governor Zhang wants to discuss the Hu family case in Yuyang with you, so he requests that you come to the Provincial Administration Office!"

Chu Zhiyi, who was reading a document, put it down and frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Some time ago, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner discovered a case of stolen horses in Yuyang, and the family involved was the powerful local Hu family.

After learning about the case, Chu Zhiyi didn't immediately make a fuss. His experience told him that powerful local families like the Hu family were likely involved in more than just one case involving corrupt officials...
Therefore, Chu Zhiyi also arranged for people to thoroughly investigate the Hu family's past. According to the in-depth investigation, the Hu family's activities were not limited to smuggling, but also included running underground gambling dens, operating illegal gambling dens, bullying men and women, and seizing land.

After discovering the countless misdeeds committed by the Hu family, Chu Zhiyi felt somewhat troubled. After all, based on his experience, the fact that the Hu family had committed so many bad things in the area without being brought to justice meant that they had powerful connections and were being protected by someone.

Based on some investigations, Chu Zhiyi's suspicions were focused on Zhao Jian, the prefect of Yuyang!

In order to conduct a more in-depth investigation, and also out of respect for Zhang Zhiwen, the provincial governor, Chu Zhiyi also consulted with Zhang Zhiwen, who was the provincial governor.

Zhang Zhiwen had previously attached great importance to Chu Zhiyi's briefing and, after careful consideration, agreed to Chu Zhiyi's request to investigate Zhao Jian.

Although Zhao Jian, the prefect of Yuyang, was subordinate to Zhang Zhiwen, the provincial governor of Youyan, he was promoted by Liu Zhengyue, the former provincial governor of Youyan. He was a veteran in the Daqian dynasty, having followed Ye Mingsheng since his time in Fengzhou. Furthermore, Zhao Jian leveraged his seniority to successfully arrange for his son, Zhao Fei, to marry the granddaughter of Ye Guoxiang, a patriarch of the Ye clan, thus gaining entry into the ranks of imperial relatives…
Therefore, with the protection of his seniority and imperial relatives, Zhao Jian did not show much respect to Zhang Zhiwen, the young provincial governor.

Zhao Jian even believed that he was more qualified to serve as the Governor of Youyuan Province than Zhang Zhiwen.

Therefore, Zhang Zhiwen had long wanted to take down Zhao Jian, but he was hesitant to act rashly because of Zhao Jian's seniority and status as a member of the imperial family.

So when Zhang Zhiwen saw Chu Zhiyi about to clash with Zhao Jian, he was very happy to see it happen. He was really looking forward to Chu Zhiyi killing that old bastard Zhao Jian, and then Chu Zhiyi himself being backfired by the political effects of killing Zhao Jian, thus leaving the Youyan Provincial Surveillance Commission.

In this way, Zhang Zhiwen was able to sit back and watch the tigers fight, and while the snipe and the clam fought, the fisherman reaped the benefits. By using Chu Zhiyi's hand, he eliminated one of his biggest worries.

Chu Zhiyi, who held a high position at a young age, was no fool. He knew exactly what Zhang Zhiwen, the governor of Youyan, was planning.

However, Chu Zhiyi held Zhang Zhiwen's ideas in utter contempt. He felt that Zhang Zhiwen, as the Provincial Governor, was not focusing all his attention on development, but instead was keen on political speculation and infighting. This was dereliction of duty and a disgrace to His Majesty's trust in him!
Moreover, even from the perspective of his career, Zhang Zhiwen's hesitant and fearful behavior really has no future. He can't even handle Zhao Jian, so how can he be of any use?

Chu Zhiyi intends to use Zhao Jian's head to issue the strongest political declaration to the Great Qian court!

With this in mind, Chu Zhiyi planned to conduct a more in-depth investigation into Zhao Jian in the next few days. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhiwen seemed to have some regrets, which made Chu Zhiyi feel that Zhang Zhiwen was extremely incompetent and a mere figurehead!
(I saw a reader asking why there are so many letters, and all I want to say is, everyone, stop pretending to be foreigners; even this gets blocked by the censors!!!)
(End of this chapter)