Amid everyone's confused gazes, Lu Chen reached into his arms and slowly took out a palm-sized jade slip that continuously exuded white mist-like aura and was only qualified to be owned by officials of the third rank or above.
In the center of the jade slip, the square and square word "work" is extremely conspicuous.
"I am the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, Lu Chen."
A simple self-introduction instantly made most of the officials who gathered around slightly startled.
The right minister of the Ministry of Industry? So young? !
A third-grade official! And he was also a court official in charge of fortifications!
Why is this man doing his business here if he can't just have tea and work in the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry?
Immediately afterwards, before everyone could react, Lu Chen looked around. After seeing that almost all of these people were dressed as officials and there were no formal officials, he looked at the place in the distance where the chief officer was supposed to be on duty. They went to the tent, but saw that although the tent was wide open, there was no one inside.
Looking at the empty main seat inside, Lu Chen suddenly squinted his eyes, a dangerous cold light flashing in his eyes.
Then he turned around, looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, and said calmly: "I remember that the people responsible for the renovation of Wuji Palace and the decoration of the Xinyuan Grand Ceremony Hall were Xu Sanping, the head of the Construction Department, Li Quan, and Cui Hao. Right? Where are they?"
"Master Xu and the others..."
Seeing that Lu Chen looked like he was coming with bad intentions and was ready to find trouble, the clerk suddenly hesitated.
"explain!"
Lu Chen shouted coldly.
While speaking, a fierce pressure surged out of him, and everyone instantly felt their bodies sink slightly.
Two of the young scribes looked at each other and winked at each other. Then one of them secretly stepped back and disappeared quietly from everyone's sight.
The little official couldn't hold back Lu Chen's official authority, and immediately hesitantly said: "Master Xu, there is something going on at home..."
"Ah…"
Lu Chen smiled coldly.
"Something happened? What a coincidence? All three of us have something going on at home?"
The clerk wiped the sweat from his face and said softly: "Yes...yes."
Lu Chen shouted: "Then why didn't I see their false submission?"
Seeing Lu Chen's anger, the clerk's neck suddenly shrank slightly.
"This... this... I don't know about this little one..."
How could they, little bastards, know about big shots?
And logically speaking, shouldn't this kind of third-grade official be chatting and laughing with bigger officials every day and discussing national affairs? Since when did you start caring about whether low-level officials are performing their duties? Chief Xu and the others are just sixth-rank officials. Why do you, a third-rank official, care about such inconspicuous matters when you are full and have nothing to do?
Lu Chen was too lazy to look at him anymore. He raised his head directly and looked at the officials in front of him who were looking at him with furrowed brows. He said expressionlessly: "As the chief officer in charge of a local project, he was missing when he was on duty." There is no trace, not even a false submission. How is such dereliction of duty different from dereliction of duty?"
After a pause, he suddenly turned his eyes and glanced at the empty chief seat in the tent where the warm spring technique was arranged not far away. He said coldly: "If they think that seat is burning their buttocks, I will do the same." If we don’t force things on others, they won’t have to sit there in the future.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions immediately changed, and cold sweat suddenly broke out.
The first level of officialdom is overwhelming. Faced with the official power of a third-level boss, most of the officials with no background naturally dare not say anything, let alone respond to Lu Chen.
"Listen to me!"
Lu Chen glanced at them, and while taking the jade slip back into his arms, he said coldly: "I don't care what method or method you use, I will find Xu Sanping and the others immediately. Within a quarter of an hour, if I can’t see their figures yet…”
Having said this, his eyes suddenly condensed:
"Dismissal and questioning!"
Click…
Two tall but very timid officials accidentally stumbled and fell to the ground. After the others reacted, several petty officials immediately stood up and said they would go find Xu Sanping and others immediately. An officer in charge.
"And you!"
After giving the death order, Lu Chen glanced at all the officials one by one with cold eyes, and finally settled on the little official at the beginning.
"The imperial court collects labor to let them come and work, not to be used as a punching bag for you! Moreover, the imperial court does not pay them but allows them to work for the imperial court. It owes them a lot. They are kind to the imperial court, but you dare to treat them Being so harsh and harsh doesn’t make the court feel unkind and unjust?”
As he spoke, he suddenly raised his hand, pointed at their heads one after another, and said angrily:
"Although you are not official officials of the imperial court, you still serve the imperial court and in a sense represent the imperial court. What is the difference between you and those corrupt officials who prey on the common people?!"
"The people are the foundation of the country. If you mistreat the people, you are shaking the foundation of the country. The traitors who are disrupting the country will be punished by everyone! Believe it or not, I will punish you traitors who are trying to overthrow our Great Xia Dynasty on the spot. kill?!"
As soon as these words came out, many officials immediately turned pale, with a look of fear on their faces. Their fat bodies kept trembling, and a cold chill kept rising from the soles of their feet wrapped in cotton boots, straight to the sky.
Don't look at them being arrogant and domineering in front of the working people. When they are in a bad mood, no matter whether they have made mistakes or not, just whip them over to make them feel better or get some benefits.
But when faced with real court officials, they were nothing.
"Sir, please spare my life. I just want them to do their best work. I have no intention of rebelliousness!"
"That's right, we are waiting to complete the work as soon as possible and for the sake of the court, but our methods are a little more radical. Your Majesty, you can take this for granted!"
"..."
The officials begged for mercy again and again. In their opinion, Lu Chen was just making excuses. He must have used excuses to embarrass Mr. Xu because they didn't like them. And they were just fish in the pond that were affected by the big shots. How could they be innocent?
After all, labor has been like this for thousands of years. These ordinary people are working for the imperial court without any benefit. They are already dissatisfied and are definitely not willing to work hard. If they are not strictly disciplined and use some drastic measures to establish their authority, how can they be allowed to do so? Be obedient?
Lu Chen, the Minister of Works, must also know this and know that they are absolutely right. Therefore, there is no doubt that Lu Chen is deliberately making things difficult for them.
At the same time, the laborers who were temporarily out of supervision not far away saw this scene and saw that the officials who usually domineering on the construction site, beating and scolding them at every turn, and not treating them as human beings were treated as such by the young man in purple robe. The grandson scolded him as well, and his heart suddenly felt happy.
He even looked at Lu Chen, curious and full of goodwill at the same time.
Their idea is very simple, whoever can teach evil officials who do not treat them as human beings a good official.
(End of chapter)
