Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 440 Exploiting the State

At noon, under Yuan Yanchong's arrangement, the Imperial Censorate's kitchen prepared a sumptuous lunch, and even provided some wine, supposedly to welcome the newcomers such as Zhang Dai. However, Yang Wang did not receive this treatment when he came to report for duty a few days ago.

But this was still a perk for everyone, so no one said much. Some of the censors who hadn't seen him before took the opportunity during lunch to exchange a few words with Zhang Dai.

Zhang Dai also stared wide-eyed as he searched among the crowd, but he couldn't find the censor who had been watching him impeach earlier.

The Censorate had two main characteristics: rapid staff turnover, with a new batch of censors often being replaced with each new administration or head, and their terms of office being much shorter than those of other officials. Supervising censors served only twenty-five months, while attending censors served only thirteen months. With such short terms, staff turnover was naturally much faster than in other departments.

However, the Censorate also had a certain degree of adherence to tradition and closed nature. That is, once someone had served as a censor, the chances of them serving as a censor at different levels in the future would greatly increase.

Some people even rose through the ranks within the Censorate system. For example, Yuwen Rong served as a Supervising Censor from the ninth year of the Kaiyuan era, then as a Palace Attendant Censor, Attendant Censor, and finally as the Vice Censor-in-Chief in the thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan era. The following year, he directly brought down the prime minister Zhang Yue.

There's also Zhang Yi, who became famous for his son's cheating. He also rose through the ranks from censor to become the Grand Censor, the highest-ranking official in the Censorate.

During a dinner with his colleagues, Zhang Dai also noticed that most of the officials serving as censors were between forty and fifty years old, and those in their thirties were considered quite rare and promising.

As for himself, a young man not yet twenty, he was the only one. The second youngest was Pei Kuan's younger brother, Pei Xin, who also served as an inspector and was already twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

During their conversation, the group also discussed the ages at which they had served as censors over the years, and it was generally agreed that Zhang Dai was the youngest to enter the Censorate since the Kaiyuan era. As for the periods before the Kaiyuan era, during the reigns of Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong, due to the turbulent political situation and the existence of numerous officials appointed through irregular means, there is no value in discussing or comparing them.

Zhang Dai never expected that he would unintentionally set a new record, and he was naturally quite pleased with himself. Based on this alone, even if he had accomplished nothing during his time in the Censorate, he would likely have been recorded by busybodies.

After the dinner party ended, there was still a lot of food left. Zhang Dai couldn't help but sigh that the food at the Censorate was really good. It was far superior to that of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and even the Secretariat was far inferior!
After everyone finished eating, they did not leave. Instead, they each took out their food boxes and began to sort and tidy up the food on the table.

Zhang Dai had witnessed this kind of takeaway behavior more than once. Low-ranking officials in the capital received meager salaries, and in recent years, their pay had even been frequently delayed. The cost of living in Chang'an was also very high, so some officials relied entirely on taking leftovers from the official kitchens to fill their stomachs. However, the quality of food provided by the official kitchens in some government offices was declining, and very few could maintain the quality and quantity like the Censorate.

"If there are any special or delicious dishes during the meal that suit your taste, you can instruct the kitchen to prepare them the next day. Our Censorate is different from other departments; we have a treasury that can be used to supplement the food budget of the government offices, so the food is more abundant than that of other departments."

Yuan Yanchong stepped forward again, smiling as he said to Zhang Dai, "Some censors who are not in charge of their duties will also be tempted by the food from the public kitchen and return to their offices every day."

Hearing Yuan Yanchong's words, Zhang Dai couldn't help but chuckle again. Indeed, of all things under heaven, food is paramount; even these upright and incorruptible censors would blatantly exploit the state for the sake of delicious canteen food!

Zhang Dai didn't find anything wrong with giving preferential treatment to the Censorate. The use of this treasury was probably similar to the anti-corruption allowance in later times, which ensured that the censors' treatment was higher than that of ordinary officials, so that they would not break the law or engage in favoritism and corruption due to lack of food and clothing or difficult survival.

Moreover, in order to ensure that the slush fund has enough money, they will be even stricter with others. In their eyes, all the civil and military officials are nothing more than big, pleated buns. You have to take a bite to know how much filling they have. It's really a brilliant strategy of using one tiger to devour another!

He was having a good time when he suddenly remembered that his grandfather had been killed in the same way, and his laughter immediately died down. He then returned to the Censorate with his colleagues Zhang Yi, Yang Wang, and others.

In the afternoon, he didn't have anything important to do, so he strolled around the Censorate to familiarize himself with the work environment and also to choose and arrange his office.

Each censor and local official in the Censorate has their own private office space, with spacious rooms that offer excellent privacy. This is because the nature of the work of a censor requires a certain degree of independence and secrecy; if someone is plotting to impeach a colleague, then naturally, the relevant information must be kept hidden.

Zhang Dai had no intention of moving to the Censorate. The atmosphere there was too eerie; even in broad daylight, a gust of wind could send chills down one's spine, and the slightest sound at night was even more unsettling. It was far less comfortable than working the night shift at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, where, when the mood struck, one could invite musicians into the room to sing a tune or perform a lively dance.

When Zhang Yi asked if he wanted to be assigned a few clerks, Zhang Dai shook his head and refused without hesitation. He had quite a few people under his command and was just worried about where to put them. He could just summon them to serve as clerks.

After all, it's more reliable to use one's own people. Moreover, if the clerk does his job diligently, he can also enter the official ranks and obtain a formal official status. This is a way for those who cannot become officials through family connections or the imperial examinations, which is a rare opportunity.

In just this short afternoon, Zhang Dai witnessed firsthand what the supposedly hectic work of the Censorate truly meant. In a single afternoon, the Office of Censors received three lawsuits, various departments submitted documents requiring oversight and review, and he also had to travel to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to collect funds. Even Zhang Dai, a newly appointed official who wasn't originally scheduled for the day, was temporarily assigned to deliver case files to the Court of Judicial Review due to a lack of available staff. The workload far surpassed that of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Even the Secretariat, despite being the central authority, couldn't match the Censorate in terms of the sheer volume of its affairs.

On his way to the Dali Temple, Zhang Dai was also thinking to himself that, given the intensity of the work at the Censorate, if he wanted to be competent here and get good evaluations, the kind of work style he used to have at the Taichang Temple, where he worked sporadically, would be far from enough.

Moreover, everyone here is striving for their own performance, and there's no helpful colleague like Ma Xielu from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to assist him. Therefore, to be competent in the position of Censor, it's best to work full-time. The previous work model of working part-time in various places makes it difficult to handle the high-intensity work of the Censorate.

After the case file was delivered to the Court of Judicial Review, it was already late. Zhang Dai did not return to the Censorate but left the capital city to go home.

"Zhang Xielu, Zhang Xielu, help me! Please, Zhang Xielu, lend a helping hand..."

He had just returned to his residence when a hunched figure suddenly rushed out from beside the door, looked up at Zhang Dai, and shouted loudly.

Zhang Dai instinctively reined in his horse and stopped. He looked closely and realized that the person who had just arrived was none other than his good colleague Ma Lizheng, whom he had just lamented was a rare find. He immediately asked in surprise, "What do you mean by that, Ma Xielu? Have you encountered any difficulties?"

As he spoke, he dismounted and gestured for Ma Lizheng to come home with him to discuss the matter further. Ma Lizheng looked up at the Zhang family's grand and imposing gate and asked hesitantly, "I came in haste and haven't had time to pay my respects to Lord Yan. Would it be too much of an inconvenience to come here so abruptly? Perhaps we could just stay at the gate..."

Only after hearing this did Zhang Dai understand why Ma Lizheng was waiting outside his house. It turned out that he was worried about being disliked by his grandfather for coming empty-handed and without a gift, so he dared not go forward.

He was momentarily at a loss for words, and then said, "My grandfather usually stays in the back hall and rarely receives guests in the front hall. If you and I are discussing matters in the front hall, it won't disturb him. My dear father wants to rest and recuperate in peace, and this is not meant to be arrogant. Please forgive me, Ma Xielu."

"How could this be? How could I dare!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Lizheng's expression relaxed slightly. It wasn't that he was stingy and unwilling to give gifts or ask for favors, but rather that his salary was meager, and after deducting living expenses, there was practically nothing left. He even had to ask Zhang Dai to help him with his clothes, so he really didn't have any extra money to buy gifts.

As soon as the two arrived at the front door, a loud commotion of howling and wailing came from inside the house. This made Zhang Dai, who had just said that his elders preferred peace and quiet, blush. Judging from the sound, it seemed that Zhang Yang, who had been suppressing his feelings for a long time, was having a gathering with his group of cronies at home.

Zhang Dai ignored this and invited Ma Li to sit down in the hall before asking, "What is it that you, Ma Xielu, are so distressed about and even cried for help?"

“Zhang Xielu should know that I have completed my term of office this year and am now awaiting my replacement. Once the replacement takes office, I will leave to continue my duties. Recently, Vice Minister Xue has been frequently sending me out on assignments. Although I have tried my best, I still cannot satisfy him. I was slightly indignant, but to my surprise, Vice Minister Xue seized the examination book and wrote his own judgment, saying that I was arrogant and disrespectful…”

At this point, Ma Lizheng's body trembled with emotion again. He said with a face full of grief and indignation, "I have worked with Zhang Xielu for two years. Zhang Xielu should know my character and how I conduct myself in office. If this performance record is presented to the selection department, I fear I will find it difficult to be nominated for further selection..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai frowned immediately. He knew exactly what kind of person Ma Xielu was—a kind-hearted man who only knew how to bury himself in his work and greeted everyone with a smile.

Even Zhang Dai was moved by his hard work and dedication, and specially asked his grandfather to change his assessment this year from a mid-to-high level to a mid-to-high level, hoping to shorten the selection period and enable him to be selected for a better official position next year.

It's truly ridiculous that such a kind-hearted person was judged as arrogant and rude by his superior.

However, Zhang Dai was unaware of the details of the matter and did not rashly express his opinion. Instead, he asked, "What did Xue Shaoqing instruct you to do the other day? And why did you dislike Ma Xielu?"

"It concerns the Crown Prince's affairs..."

Upon hearing the question, Ma Lizheng immediately looked aggrieved and replied.

(End of this chapter)