Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1687 See you soon!

Although he was somewhat unsure of Zhang Zhiwen's true intentions, this was an official matter, and Zhang Zhiwen had invited him to the Provincial Administration Commission for talks. From both a moral and logical standpoint, Chu Zhiyi had no reason to refuse!

After a moment's hesitation, Chu Zhiyi instructed his secretary, Sun Hao:

"Prepare a copy of the materials for the Hu family case for me, and I will take it to the Provincial Administration Commission!"

"Yes!"

After a cup of tea, Chu Zhiyi left the Provincial Surveillance Office and headed towards the Provincial Administration Office two streets away.

Originally, the clerk Sun Hao was going to arrange a carriage for Chu Zhiyi, but Chu Zhiyi felt that the Provincial Surveillance Office and the Provincial Administration Office were only two streets apart and not far, so he could just take a walk.

Moreover, due to his reductions, the Provincial Judicial Office now only has five official carriages, which are in short supply, so they should be reserved for those who need them more!
Despite being a high-ranking second-rank provincial inspector of Youyan, Chu Zhiyi arrived at the provincial administration office on foot without any attendants.

It was lunchtime, and Zhang Zhiwen, Zhang Yilin, and others were having lunch in the small canteen of the Provincial Administration Office. When they saw Chu Zhiyi arrive, Zhang Yilin politely invited Chu Zhiyi to have lunch with them.

However, Chu Zhiyi, after glancing at the braised pork, sea cucumber, crab, and various stir-fried side dishes at the Provincial Administration Office, also said after looking at Zhang Zhiwen:
"I'd long heard that the food at the Provincial Administration Office was excellent, and seeing it today, it certainly lives up to its reputation..."

Although Chu Zhiyi spoke in a calm tone and there was nothing strange about it, Zhang Zhiwen and Zhang Yilin felt uneasy about it, especially since it came from Chu Zhiyi's mouth!

Zhang Zhiwen's face immediately hardened, while Zhang Yilin said:

"Lord Chu, the meals provided by our Provincial Administration Office are entirely within the standards set by the imperial court, without any deviation!"

Upon hearing Zhang Yilin's words, Chu Zhiyi glanced at the sea cucumber and crab on the plate, his expression becoming ambiguous. As the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, Chu Zhiyi was well aware of the intricacies involved.

The Daqian court implemented a policy of high salaries to encourage integrity, which, while demanding higher moral standards from officials, also openly provided them with more pay and better treatment.

The daily food allowance for ordinary GLs (provincial administration commissioners and provincial judicial commissioners) is one tael of silver for every thirty people. The daily food allowance for high-ranking GLs (provincial administration commissioners and provincial judicial commissioners) is also one tael of silver. Such treatment is enough to ensure that everyone has meat at every meal and eats well and drinks well.

However, seafood like crabs and sea cucumbers is a bit excessive. Moreover, Chu Zhiyi had heard that the meals at the Provincial Administration Office were like this not just for a day or two, but every single day!

Most importantly, these seafoods are all fresh and live. Just like His Majesty's specially transported prawns, these seafoods were caught from Tianjin and Shandong. After being caught, they were chilled with ice and then transported back by fast horse!

Such fresh seafood incurs very high fishing and transportation costs, but when sold to the Provincial Treasurer, it was falsely claimed to be stale, allowing it to be sold at a low price so that Zhang Zhiwen, Zhang Yilin, and others could feast on it...

Seeing Zhang Zhiwen's stern face and Zhang Yilin's embarrassed expression, Chu Zhiyi understood that the two did not like him. He then left the canteen and returned to the reception room of the Provincial Administration Office.

As Chu Zhiyi left, Zhang Zhiwen couldn't help but curse:

"What a shameless bastard! Tell him to go back and eat shit!"

Hearing Zhang Zhiwen's curses, Zhang Yilin also felt a little embarrassed. Chu Zhiyi had long served as Gu Sansi's subordinate and was someone Gu Sansi had promoted. He, on the other hand, had taken Gu Sansi's lead to become the Deputy Governor of Youyan and entered the ranks of the elite in Daqian!

Gu Sansi, under Ye Mingsheng's impetus, became a banner of reform in the Great Qian Dynasty and was regarded as the leader of the reform faction in the court.

Therefore, against this backdrop, Zhang Yilin, who followed in the footsteps of Gu Sansi, was naturally labeled as a reformist, whether he liked it or not.

So even though Zhang Yilin didn't like Chu Zhiyi very much either, from the perspective of political faction, he and Chu Zhiyi were both former subordinates of Gu Sansi and belonged to the reformist faction. So when faced with Zhang Zhiwen's angry outburst at Chu Zhiyi, he was somewhat at a loss for what to do!

However, Zhang Zhiwen didn't seem to care much after his outburst. Although he and Zhang Yilin hadn't been partners for long, they were of similar age and shared the same surname, and their political ideologies were largely aligned, so their collaboration was quite good.

So at this moment, Zhang Zhiwen didn't pay too much attention to Chu Zhiyi and invited Zhang Yilin to have dinner together.

Zhang Zhiwen enjoyed drinking, so now that there was fish and meat, he was in high spirits and gave his orders:

"Bring me a pot of wine! Brother Yilin and I will have a few drinks!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yilin frowned slightly. Although the imperial court had clear regulations prohibiting drinking during working hours, this was within the Provincial Administration Commission's own territory. Normally, he would just have a couple of drinks with Zhang Zhiwen, but today was different; Chu Zhiyi was waiting there…

Thinking of this, Zhang Yilin also reminded him:

"Sir, we still have work to do later!"

Zhang Zhiwen waved his hand and said:
"A few drinks won't cause any problems!"

Just then, the constable brought over the wine jug, but Zhang Yilin felt something was amiss and quickly said:
"My lord, Chu Zhiyi is quite the scoundrel. In my opinion, it would be better to drink tonight instead. I will definitely accompany you to drink until you are completely drunk!"

Faced with Zhang Yilin's repeated obstruction, Zhang Zhiwen was somewhat displeased, but seeing Zhang Yilin's earnest expression, Zhang Zhiwen gradually regained his composure and, after a moment's thought, said:
"Alright! Let's drink until we drop tonight!"

After this little incident, Zhang Zhiwen and Zhang Yilin quickly finished their meal and went to the reception room of the Provincial Administration Office to begin their discussions with Chu Zhiyi.

If it were any other high-ranking official who came to the Provincial Administration Office, Zhang Zhiwen would exchange a few pleasantries and have some tea to show his hospitality. However, when it came to Chu Zhiyi, Zhang Zhiwen really didn't want to waste a single word on him and immediately got down to business.

Because Chu Zhiyi was summoned under the pretext of dealing with the Hu family of Yuyang, Zhang Zhiwen and Zhang Yilin feigned concern and inquired about the latest developments in the Hu family case. Chu Zhiyi, unaware of Zhang Zhiwen and Zhang Yilin's true intentions, formally briefed the Youyan Provincial Governor and Deputy Provincial Governor on the latest developments in the Hu family case. After this preamble, Zhang Yilin began to speak:

"Lord Chu, I've heard that besides investigating the case in Yuyang, your Provincial Surveillance Commission is also taking action in Zhuo County..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Zhiyi seemed to realize something and calmly asked:
"Do you two have any advice for me?"

Zhang Zhiwen and Zhang Yilin exchanged a glance, and Zhang Yilin continued speaking;

"Lord Chu, I dare not accept such 'instruction,' but as colleagues, we should be of one mind and stand together through thick and thin, especially at this critical time. What do you say?"

After speaking, Zhang Yilin gave Chu Zhiyi a meaningful look.

Hearing Zhang Yilin's words, Chu Zhiyi replied calmly:

"All I know is to act in accordance with the law!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwen couldn't help but speak up:

"Chu Zhiyi, you are the Inspector General of Youyan. If you target me at this time, do you think you can escape when things don't go well for me?"

Upon hearing Zhang Zhiwen's words, Chu Zhiyi understood everything. The two Zhangs had called him over to ask about the Hu family's case under false pretenses; in reality, they were concerned about the situation in Zhuo County!

While this was somewhat unexpected, upon closer examination, it seems to make perfect sense!

The Hu family's case is likely backed by Zhao Jian. Zhang Zhiwen has been at odds with him for a long time. If Zhao Jian hadn't been a veteran and had connections with the Ye family, he probably would have been taken down by Zhang Zhiwen long ago!

So now that he wants to take action against Zhao Jian, Zhang Zhiwen is definitely overjoyed!
But the situation in Zhuoxian County is different!

Yijing was originally the capital of Youyan, but now that Yijing has been established as the capital, it no longer has a subordinate relationship with Youyan; they are now parallel entities.
As the Provincial Governor of Youyan, Zhang Zhiwen's duty was to lead Youyan in seeking development and construction!
However, Yijing has been the center of Youyan since ancient times. Now that Yijing is the capital, it will be very difficult for the remaining towns of Youyan to develop, especially since Youyan is a border region and is greatly affected by the northern nomadic peoples.

Therefore, in order to enable the development of other towns in Youyan, Zhang Zhiwen also had a plan, which was to relocate some of Yijing's factories to other towns in Youyan. In this way, with these factories, other towns could also develop, and he could also give Ye Mingsheng an excellent report card!
Most importantly, this plan wasn't just something Zhang Zhiwen was interested in; the factory owners had the same idea!
Although Yijing is the second largest city in the Great Qian Dynasty, and wealthy people from all over the north are willing to come here because of its large number of wealthy people and high consumption levels, as a capital city, Yijing also has strict regulations, especially the Work Law, and has relatively high requirements for preventing pollution from factories.

Therefore, some factory owners also had the idea of ​​moving their factories out of Yijing, and Zhang Zhiwen's idea was in line with theirs!
Although both parties are interested in each other, the question remains: where to relocate these factories? After all, these factories require supporting facilities, sufficient human resources, and security guarantees.

Although Youyan still had a large city called Yuyang, Yuyang was located on the northern border and had historically been the front line of northern warfare...
Therefore, although the northern border of Daqian is relatively safe and has not been threatened, the owners of these factories are unwilling to put their property in such a risky place due to some historical circumstances!

Zhang Zhiwen could understand the ideas of these factory owners. After communication and negotiation, everyone finally felt that Zhuoxian was a good place with convenient transportation, a large population, and a safe location in the south of Yijing.

The only drawback is that the supporting facilities in Zhuoxian County may be a bit lacking, but Zhang Zhiwen, as the provincial governor, has promised to properly improve the infrastructure of Zhuoxian County.

In this way, Zhuoxian also took over a number of factories from Yijing. In order to ensure that his ideas could be implemented without any discounts, Zhang Zhiwen also arranged for his confidant Wang Chong to be the magistrate of Zhuoxian. Over the years, under Zhang Zhiwen's careful management, Zhuoxian has made great progress and development.

Therefore, Zhang Zhiwen also intended to use Zhuoxian as his ZJ project, using such a place to prove his ability to Ye Mingsheng!

Zhang Zhiwen had previously reported on the development of Zhuoxian County to Ye Mingsheng. In addition, Zhuoxian County is a transportation hub connecting Hebei and Henan provinces, so Zhang Zhiwen had no doubt that Ye Mingsheng would go to Zhuoxian County for inspection.

Zhang Zhiwen had been preparing in Zhuo County for some time. His plan was to have Wang Chong showcase Zhuo County's development achievements to Ye Mingsheng, then use this opportunity to propose elevating Zhuo County to the status of Zhuozhou, and promoting his trusted confidant Wang Chong from county magistrate to prefect. Zhang Zhiwen's plan was meticulously crafted, but he never expected Chu Zhiyi to suddenly appear...
Facing Zhang Zhiwen's furious glare, Chu Zhiyi sighed and said:
"Lord Zhang, I admit you have a knack for developing the economy. Zhuoxian County has made great progress in recent times!"

Chu Zhiyi paused for a moment, then looked at Zhang Zhiwen and said solemnly:
"But aren't you going to extreme lengths to achieve growth?"

Hearing Chu Zhiyi say this, Zhang Zhiwen snorted disdainfully:

"What do you know? All you do is nitpick!"

Faced with Zhang Zhiwen's disdain, Chu Zhiyi didn't pay much attention, but instead asked in a deep voice:
"Lord Zhang, do you know what Wang Chong did in Zhuo County?"

For Zhang Zhiwen, the answer to this question is naturally yes, otherwise he wouldn't be in such a hurry now.

Without the approval and support of the provincial governor, Wang Chong wouldn't dare to do such a thing, no matter how bold he was. Although that was the situation, Zhang Zhiwen naturally pretended to know nothing about Chu Zhiyi at this moment and immediately said:

"What did Magistrate Wang do?"

After finishing speaking, Zhang Zhiwen continued without waiting for Chu Zhiyi to reply:
“Magistrate Wang is a good Party member who is wholeheartedly committed to development. We must care for and cherish such a person. We cannot doubt this or that because of some rumors. If this gets out, wouldn’t it be disheartening? At the same time, it would seriously dampen the enthusiasm of other Party members, and no one would dare to work wholeheartedly!”

Although Zhang Zhiwen did not give a clear answer to his question.

But upon hearing Zhang Zhiwen say this, Chu Zhiyi immediately understood that Zhang Zhiwen knew everything, and he was extremely disappointed.

Although he had suspected beforehand that Wang Chong must have someone backing him up to do such a thing, Zhang Zhiwen still didn't want to think so badly of his colleague...

(End of this chapter)