Qing Yao

Chapter 269: Suspended from work, under investigation!
This is a true story.

Zhao An admitted that he was acting, but at the same time he could also say with certainty that he had indeed done a lot of practical and good things for the people.

For example, the old woman in front of him was not an actress from the theater troupe he hired, but a real person from the community.

During his visit, Zhao An learned that the old woman's son had been accidentally killed by a bag of grain while unloading it at the grain depot. Neither of the two successive depot ambassadors had taken any action or offered any compensation, and no higher-level officials had inquired about the matter. As a result, the old woman's son's body remained in a coffin to this day, unable to be buried because they could not afford a burial plot.

In fact, Zhao An could have completely ignored this matter. The Qing Dynasty law did not have any provisions for work-related injury compensation. It only stated that if an injury or death occurred in a government-run project, the supervising official would be subject to flogging and demotion; if a privately hired worker was injured or killed, the employer would bear the corresponding civil compensation.

The old woman's son died from injuries sustained while moving grain at a granary. The employer was a government-run granary, which did not meet the conditions for compensation for injuries or deaths of civilian workers. Furthermore, the government was not responsible for compensation for injuries or deaths occurring in government-run projects; it only punished the responsible officials.

In other words, even if Zhao An acts in accordance with the law, the old woman will not receive compensation, and he can only punish the relevant personnel of Jiangning Reservoir with flogging or demotion.

However, this obviously could not solve the problem. During the visit, it was also learned that the old woman had reported the situation to other government offices in Jiangning, but was dismissed by each one because they had no jurisdiction.

You can't blame these government departments; Jiangsu officials really can't handle things in Anhui.

The Daotai Reception Day was specially set up by Zhao An to solve many problems within the grain system, not just for show for the people. So since this matter has been brought to his attention, he must find a way to resolve it satisfactorily.

If he doesn't resolve this, it's hard to say whether the old woman will go to a higher-level government agency to report the problem.

For example, in the administrative system, the Anhui Provincial Governor's Office was the leader; in the operational system, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner's Office was the leader.

Even if the matter was handled by the predecessor and there is no legal provision, if the old woman were to report it to those two government offices, it would still have some impact on him as the current official.

In particular, Zhu Gui, the governor of Anhui, was Jiaqing's homeroom teacher. Not long ago, he had just applied eye drops to Zhao An at the old man's place. If Zhu Gui knew about this, it was hard to say that Teacher Zhu would not use the opportunity to label Zhao An as incompetent.

Moreover, last month, under pressure, he sent documents to grain depots in various parts of Huaibei under the guise of supervising grain transport, demanding that they open their warehouses and release grain.

The person in charge of this matter was Zheng Fuyang, the prefectural magistrate who was inspecting the Huaibei region. It was also Zheng Fuyang who quickly sent back to Jiangning the relevant reports on the severity of the disaster in Huaibei.

Zheng Fuyang's report stated that in some severely affected areas, "not a blade of grass grows, and the landscape is desolate," and that "starving people sell a child every ten days and a woman every five days." It was these chilling words that compelled Zhao An to immediately order the distribution of grain.

Institutionally, the Grain Commissioner had no authority to order the opening of granaries and the release of grain. The granaries under the Grain Commissioner's jurisdiction were not only an important link in regulating grain prices throughout the province, but also the reserve grain for disaster relief in various provinces, which needed to be uniformly dispatched by the provincial government.

If grain were to be distributed, the procedure would be for local officials to first report to the prefecture, then the prefecture to report to the province, the province to study it and then report to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Revenue to request the emperor's approval and then issue a document to the province, which would then require the grain commissioner and local authorities to implement it.

The entire process will take at least 25 days, and it will probably be a month before the disaster victims receive the food.

The level of transportation and communication, as well as the efficiency of bureaucratic execution, are what they are.

In fact, Zhao An could have completely ignored the disaster in Anhui, after all, he was only the head of the grain department, not the governor of Anhui.

If a large number of disaster victims starve to death and a popular uprising breaks out, Zhu Gui, the governor of Anhui, will be the first to bear the brunt. If Zhu Gui, the head of the grain department, does some underhanded tactics to delay the situation, he might just be forced to step down.

However, Zhao An did not do so, nor was he ashamed to do so.

How is this any different from the Donglin Party of the Ming Dynasty?

To disregard the interests of the nation and its people for one's own selfish gain is something Zhao An utterly despises.

As he wrote in his letter to Prefect Zheng Fuyang, "No matter how heavy the grain in the granary is, it is not as important as the lives of the people." If the sky were to fall, he, as the Circuit Intendant, would bear the burden alone.

Therefore, without the approval of the provincial government, Zhao An ordered 13 large and small grain depots in Huaibei and Huainan to distribute grain to the people.

This measure effectively mitigated the disaster and saved countless lives.

However, the consequence was a large-scale shortage of grain reserves. Internal statistics from the grain transport office showed a deficit of at least 70 shi (a unit of dry measure), while Anhui was only supposed to supply 142 million shi of grain to the capital throughout the year.

This means that Zhao An distributed half of the grain that was supposed to be sent to the capital in May to the disaster victims on the spot.

The consequences of unauthorized opening of granaries were clearly stated in the Qing law: "Loss of official position and forced to pay for the grain himself."

Even if he didn't lose his official position, he still had to make up for the shortfall himself, so Zhao An personally had to come up with several hundred thousand taels of silver to fill the deficit afterwards.

If you can't fill the blank, it's not just a matter of losing your official position, it's a matter of being beheaded.

Therefore, when Zhao An decided to open the granary without asking for permission, some heads of departments within the government advised him to be extremely cautious, even if it meant waiting a few more days.

"What kind of time is this? Are we still clinging to the old ways? Open the granary immediately! If the court holds us accountable, my family will sell our property to pay for it!"

Knowing full well that the difference between releasing grain a day earlier or a day later was a matter of countless lives, Zhao An, despite the pressure of losing his official position, ignored the advice of his subordinates and his father-in-law Ding Tai, and forcibly ordered the granaries to be opened.

Frustrated, the father-in-law, Mr. Ding, advised his son-in-law to have the disaster victims write IOUs when they received the grain, and then have them repay the debts in the fall, so that the deficit could be reduced.

"If we suffer disaster in the spring, how will we get grain to repay it in the fall? And if we do repay the grain, what will we eat in the winter? Are we just going to make the disaster victims suffer again next year?"

Zhao An was well aware that his father-in-law meant well, but when it came to the lives of ordinary people, he could not tolerate the slightest bit of bureaucratic style.

He was prepared to fill the deficit himself and believed that even if Zhu Gui disliked him, he would not use the matter of him opening the granary to distribute grain to attack him.

Zhu Gui was also an honest official.

Does an honest official not love the people?
On the positive side, after learning that the grain transport authorities had opened the granaries and released grain without authorization, Anqing authorities did not issue a statement condemning them. Instead, they ordered various regions to actively provide disaster relief. It seems that this Mr. Zhu is not so muddle-headed.

Zhao An, on the other hand, was busy dealing with the two-person inspection team after receiving the notification from the capital.

As an official, problem-solving is a basic professional skill.

Problems must be solved, and even if no problems exist, problems must be created and solved; otherwise, how can officials demonstrate their professional competence and level?

Zhao An handled the old woman's problem quickly. That same day, he ordered the staff of Jiangning Grain Depot to deliver 120 taels of silver as compensation for the death of her son to the old woman. He also arranged for the old woman to cook in the grain depot's canteen to help alleviate her long-term financial difficulties.

The old woman was quite satisfied with the outcome, because she had heard of other cases of death at work where the compensation was mostly only about ten taels of silver for funeral expenses, with a few extra taels for living allowance if the person had a conscience.

At most, around fifteen taels.

The newly arrived Daotai (local official) gave her 120 taels of silver as compensation. It must be said that this Daotai, whom the people all praise, is indeed a very good person.

After dealing with the old woman's matter, Zhao An retrieved the relevant files and discovered that since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there had been hundreds of cases of work-related injuries and deaths in the entire Anhui grain system, but none of them had received formal compensation.

The only case that could be considered compensation occurred in the 46th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. A coachman broke his leg and became permanently disabled when his horse was startled while delivering grain. The then Jiang'an Grain Commissioner made an exception and gave the coachman a bag of white flour and a bowl of bird's nest porridge.

This isn't compensation, it's a favor; it shows they have a conscience.

The entire Anhui grain system has approximately 5,000 staff members, both on and off the payroll, while the actual number of laborers working for various Anhui grain agencies is in the tens of thousands.

Every year during the grain transport season, tens of thousands of people would work around the clock to ensure that Anhui could complete the tasks of collecting, storing, and transporting grain assigned by the imperial court.

In other words, if Zhao An, the head of the grain bureau, were to mobilize the entire system, he could mobilize tens of thousands of laborers. However, these tens of thousands of laborers would have no guarantee whatsoever the opportunity to work for him, the head of the grain bureau.

Although no one at all levels had any objections, even the laborers were unaware that they would receive compensation.

However, Zhao An still decided to introduce the first work injury handling regulations in Anhui's grain system, stipulating that all grain depot staff who are injured or die on duty, including temporary workers, have the right to receive compensation from the grain authorities.

Disability compensation is paid according to the degree of disability.

The death compensation is calculated as the average annual income per person multiplied by 15 years.

The per capita annual income of people in Jiangning and Anhui differs greatly. If a person in Jiangning earns 15 taels a year, the person in Anhui earns at most 3 taels.

If compensation is based on regional differences, the laborers and coolies in Anhui will obviously suffer a great loss.

Human life cannot be measured in money, but there seems to be no other way to measure it besides money.

What Zhao An could do was to treat everyone equally, regardless of whether they were from Jiangning or Anhui. Therefore, he directly issued an official document to his subordinate agencies in various regions as the director, stipulating that the death compensation should be uniformly 120 taels, regardless of the region.

The compensation was also directly allocated by the grain transport office, bypassing local authorities to prevent local officials from embezzling it.

In addition, to prevent lower-level officials from concealing injuries and deaths in their jurisdictions for fear of being punished for reporting them, thus rendering workers' compensation a mere formality, Zhao An also notified all subordinate agencies that officials in charge would not be held accountable if there were five or fewer injuries or deaths.

We must do our utmost to ensure that this first-ever workers' compensation ordinance plays a positive role and provides tangible protection for the grassroots workers in the food system.

This matter is underway, and the results are not yet apparent.

Today, the old woman specially brought a basket of eggs from her home to express her gratitude. Zhao An had no idea beforehand. When he found out, he quickly came out of his office to meet the old woman in person, but he refused to accept the basket of eggs no matter what.

What a joke! Would he take anything from the common people?

How can this basket of eggs compare to a single hair of the old man?

Having been an official for a year, Zhao An can honestly say that he has never taken anything from the people!
Are you saying I'm a corrupt official?
Who's worthy? Who dares?
Unexpectedly, this scene was witnessed by the two-person inspection team, and Zhao An also felt embarrassed, as if he had deliberately staged this scene.

Although he had deliberately arranged for his mother-in-law, Li, to go out and pick up vegetable scraps in order to enhance his reputation as an honest official.

However, this was learned from a certain official in my previous life.

As luck would have it, the undercover reporter's camera captured the scene of the county official's mother picking up trash on the street at just the right moment.

Isn't that amazing?
Isn't that touching!
The mother of a high-ranking county official was picking up trash on the street, and everyone in the small town knew it. What an honest official he was!

Because of this incident, the official was awarded the title of outstanding county official.

When the truth came out, the world realized it was all a charade.

Compared to this one, Zhao An is much more genuine.

You know, the vegetable scraps his mother-in-law picked up were actually cooked into soup with tofu every day by him, and not a single bit was wasted.

"Lord Zhao, you're such a good official, what's wrong with you taking two of my eggs?"

The old woman was so moved that she burst into tears: "Such a good official is truly hard to find even with a lantern."

"Old man,"

In front of the two inspectors, Zhao An was about to use his emotional appeal to further highlight his importance in the eyes of the people when, unexpectedly, accompanied by the rapid sound of hooves, dozens of Green Standard Army soldiers reined in their horses in front of the yamen, then dismounted with a clatter. Leading them was a Green Standard Army captain, who, holding official documents, was about to question the gatekeeper when he saw Zhao An, dressed in the robes of a fourth-rank official, supporting an old woman. He immediately stepped forward and said:
"By order of the Governor, Zhao Youlu, the Grain Commissioner of Jiang'an, is stripped of his official rank and is confined to his office pending trial!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than several soldiers rushed forward aggressively, pinned down the bewildered Zhao An, and snatched his official hat without a word. The old woman was so frightened that she dropped her bamboo basket, scattering eggs all over the ground.

"Protect your lord!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Baili Yunlong and his guards rushed over, several of them already drawing their swords.

Cao Zhenyong and Moergenge were also stunned by this scene, not knowing what was happening.

"stop!"

It was Zhao An who spoke. After ordering Baili Yunlong and the others not to make a move, his eagle-like eyes swept over the Green Standard Army captain and he said coldly, "I am a fourth-rank grain transport commissioner. The governor has no right to investigate me."

Cao Zhenyong thought to himself that this was indeed the case; the governor did not have the power to directly investigate the circuit intendant, but could only submit a memorial to the court to impeach him.

The Green Standard Army captain said, "Lord Zhao, it was not my intention to do so. It is only because the governor has already submitted a memorial to the court impeaching you. I was just acting in accordance with the rules."

Zhao An frowned slightly and snorted: "Even if the Governor impeaches me, according to regulations, I will continue to perform my duties normally until the court has investigated and clarified the matter. How dare you remove my official hat!"

The captain nodded and said, "Lord Zhao, you may not know this, but the governor is the one who is impeaching you."

"Ginseng harvesting?"

Cao Zhenyong and Moergenge were both surprised, because the Qing Dynasty had five levels of impeachment: direct impeachment, investigation impeachment, investigation impeachment, special impeachment, and excerpt impeachment.

The most lenient forms of impeachment are the "referral" and "inspection," which usually impeach administrative errors or minor mistakes. The punishments are mostly salary reductions or demotions while retaining the position, and do not affect the exercise of official duties.

The terms "investigation" and "special investigation" constitute medium-level impeachment, involving negligence or incompetence in the performance of duties. Officials will be formally investigated, but will retain their positions and continue working until the investigation results are released and the allegations are verified.

The most severe form of impeachment is the removal of official hats, which is only for serious crimes. The official in question must be immediately removed from office and suspended pending trial, during which time he must not interfere with any official business.

That is, to detain them on the spot.

The outcomes were mostly death penalty or exile to the frontier.

When it comes to extracting ginseng, it's usually a matter of life and death.

Either the person who is stripped of their credentials steps down, or the person who initiates the stripping process steps down.

Zhao An hadn't expected Zhu Gui to resort to such a drastic measure as picking ginseng, which would result in heavy casualties on both sides. He was both angry and curious, and asked the captain, "What have I done wrong that the governor wants to pick ginseng from me?"

The answer they received was that Zhao Youlu was using the pretext of opening granaries to distribute grain to relieve the people to conceal the fact that the funds were embezzled.

In other words, because the deficit was too large, you, Zhao Youlu, opened a position without permission.

Zhu Gui must have had evidence to dare to pick ginseng; otherwise, he wouldn't have done so.

(End of this chapter)