bayedsolid Chapter 487 Establishment of the Censorate!
Chapter 487 Establishment of the Censorate!
After the Lantern Festival, Duanmu Chuze was even busier than before the New Year. He would often disappear before dawn and not return until Mu Xinnuan was almost asleep at night.
Before we knew it, it was the end of January.
Mu Xin Nuan leaned against the soft couch, covered with a soft blanket. There were several lamp holders on both sides, but no candlelight flickered inside.
It turned out that Duanmu Chuze was worried that she would hurt her eyes by always reading at night, so he had someone take out the candles and slightly modify the lamp base, placing a large luminous pearl inside.
On the roof of the dormitory, a row of slightly smaller luminous pearls hung side by side, like a beautiful beaded curtain, all of uniform size, hanging down side by side.
When it's time to go to bed at night, all you need to do is draw the curtains, and the room will be plunged into darkness, just right for sleeping.
"Why aren't you asleep yet? Didn't I tell you not to wait for me if it's too late? Go to sleep first. If you keep doing this, you'll ruin your eyes."
As soon as Duanmu Chuze entered, he immediately snatched the medical book from her hands, then took off his cloak, undressed himself, and watched as Mu Xin Nuan leaned against the soft couch in a sullen mood.
"What's wrong? You seem unhappy. Is something the matter?"
Mu Xin Nuan shook her head. "I'm fine. But you, always leaving early and coming home late, is it because you have too much official business? Don't you have enough people around you?"
"It won't always be this busy. It's just that it's only the beginning of spring, and many new decrees always need my approval before they can be promulgated. Moreover, Prefect He is a member of the imperial court. There are some things that he can only listen to and look at, but he may not necessarily put in the effort to do them. Therefore, I always have to find suitable people to carry them out."
Mu Xin Nuan roughly understood that this decision should naturally be made by him, the prince, but in practice, it would be somewhat difficult.
"Aze, is it common for subordinates to outwardly comply but inwardly defy you?"
"It cannot be completely denied. However, it is always more appropriate to have corresponding oversight."
"Supervision?"
"Yes, I have already ordered the establishment of a special government office in Yanzhou, called the Inspectorate. It will be responsible for handling personnel or cases reported by the people and officials in various places. It will be in charge of investigating and prosecuting officials for corruption and bribery."
"You mean, it's equivalent to re-establishing a government office specifically to supervise local officials?"
"Yes, that's roughly the idea. However, the new government office still needs to go through a lot of reviews and be gradually established. The birth of something new is never easy. Moreover, the establishment of this Inspectorate is like putting an invisible shackle on all the officials in Yan. It would be strange if they fully supported it."
Mu Xin Nuan nodded. "So you've been busy with this lately? Once this decree is issued, most people will applaud it, but I'm afraid these officials will try to obstruct it at every turn."
Duanmu Chuze sighed softly, picked her up horizontally, and walked towards the large bed in the inner room.
"Fortunately, I have military power in my hands; otherwise, if they were to cause trouble, it would be really difficult to handle."
Mu Xin Nuan pulled the quilt up a little higher. "Your main concern is that the officials below will neglect their duties, or even mobilize their servants to cause trouble everywhere?"
“That’s right! So, before that, I’ll just implement it in Yanzhou first. We can hold off on the other counties for now. However, since you’ve been to Huayang County before, what I’m thinking now is to implement it in both Yanzhou and Huayang County. The magistrate of Huayang County is a good man, at least he’s relatively upright. I will set up a temporary office of the Censorate in Huayang County. In the future, once this law is implemented, there won’t be a Censorate in every county, because that would be too wasteful of manpower.”
Mu Xin Nuan didn't understand his intention for a moment. Huayang County was just a poor little county that had just suffered a great disaster. What was the point of promoting the Censorate there now?
"Aze, is this Censorate the same as the Imperial Censorate in the capital?"
"There are some similarities, but they are not exactly the same. The Censorate has the ability to handle cases independently. In other words, the Censorate has more soldiers and yamen runners than the Censorate. Although it cannot be above all officials, it has the right to supervise and evaluate all officials."
"But is such a government office, set up in Huayang County, really useful?"
Mu Xin Nuan frowned slightly. "Huayang County has just suffered a great disaster and has only just stabilized. At this time, setting up such an office will make the people think that you have too much money and nowhere to spend it?"
Duanmu Chuze smiled and shook his head, but the heaviness in his eyes was clearly visible to her.
“Anuan, you don’t understand. The more severe the disaster, the more unimaginable and intolerable the corruption and embezzlement become! Think about it, so much silver and supplies are transported there. If we’re not careful, someone might take advantage of the situation.”
"Taking supplies from disaster victims is tantamount to taking their lives!" Mu Xin Nuan finally understood that Duanmu Chu Ze meant to clean up these parasites. Otherwise, the poorer the area, the more miserable the lives of the people would become.
It has to be said that Mu Xin Nuan has always prided herself on being thoughtful, but compared to Duanmu Chu Ze, she is still far behind!
"Anuan, once I've finished dealing with everything I have to do, I'll take you around our Yan region. Now that we're the masters here, we should at least do some sightseeing, right?"
Mu Xin Nuan chuckled, "A Ze, but according to the rules, shouldn't it be enough for you, the Prince of Chang Le, to go on the inspection? Why are you dragging me, the Princess Consort, into this too?"
“My princess and I are one. Naturally, wherever I go, you must go too. Although the population of Yan is not large, the area is quite vast. Inspections involve frequent stops and starts, and each time it takes three to five months to return. I don’t want to be separated from my wife for so long!”
Mu Xin Nuan was amused by his somewhat roguish appearance. "You don't look like the slightest bit like the master of Yan at all."
"In front of Anuan, all I need to do is be a good husband. Everything else is unimportant and doesn't matter!"
“Aze, you’ve been working so hard lately. Tomorrow, I’ll make some medicinal food to nourish you. You’re young now, but once the Inspectorate’s system is established, there will likely be all sorts of troubles. I don’t want you to be too tired and get sick. In the end, I’ll be the one taking care of you.”