Chapter 120 Royal Tour

'Your Highness, yesterday the Censorate submitted another memorial, impeaching Young Master Ye for arbitrarily changing the military system and spreading heterodox theories.' In the princess's manor, Zeng Man was giving his bi-monthly report. Ever since Tan Weixin became unwilling to deal with extraneous matters after her currency reform proposal was rejected, the content of his reports had gradually become singular. The main content was the progress of various businesses of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and all kinds of matters related to Ye Tao.

'Arbitrarily changing the military system? Isn't that something the Xueqi Army came up with?' Tan Weixin asked.

The so-called military system change mainly referred to the new military rank system being implemented in the Xueqi Army. The non-commissioned officers were divided into two ranks: Zhongshi and Junshichang. The middle-level officers were divided into four ranks: Shaowei, Duwei, Yingxiao, and Shangxiao. The high-level officers were divided into two ranks: Dujun and High-level Dujun. Although Ye Tao deserves credit for suggesting this system, it was mainly because the Xueqi Army wanted to completely establish an internal officer system that appeared somewhat chaotic due to the lack of formal court ranks. The original eleven-rank system in the Xueqi Army, divided into the Mengxue Army and Huoqilin Army, was too informal and too hasty for the Xueqi Army, which was now recognized as an important army in Dongping. This military rank system, with only eight ranks in total, was much simpler than the military rank system in Ye Tao and Tan Weixin's memory, but in this era, command was not as detailed as in later generations, and such a military rank system was sufficient. The system implemented in the Xueqi Army was unexpectedly recognized by the Ministry of War, and Ye Tao was allowed to try it out in the three thousand imperial guards under his governor-general's office. Unexpectedly, some censors, who had long disliked Ye Tao, began to make an issue of it again.

As for spreading heterodox theories, it was because Ye Tao, in order to smoothly carry out the work of the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office, and in order to enable the officials at all levels under the Governor-General's Office to better organize the construction management and laborer management of various work sections, conducted several targeted 'group study' lectures. Basically, it was the content of 'group psychology' and 'management psychology' that Ye Tao had previously lectured on, plus some basic content of 'human resource management,' 'management,' and 'sociology.' Because some of this content was about how to motivate the enthusiasm of the laborers, and some of it was inflammatory, it became the target of the censors' attacks.

Zeng Man explained and then handed over all the notes of Ye Tao's lectures recorded by his subordinates.

Tan Weixin was also familiar with this content. She roughly flipped through it, smiled, and said, 'Don't worry about those censors. Except for a few guys who are really worried about the so-called power of the maternal relatives, most people still regard impeaching officials as a way to get promoted... Such a situation may only change when the Censorate system undergoes major changes... These inflammatory skills and propaganda skills are really a bit interesting.'

Although Tan Weixin was not so proactive in intervening in state affairs, her view of the situation was still very sharp. The change of the Censorate system was imperative. The monarch and the crown prince had been discussing this matter with several core officials for a long time. However, changes in the official system are very sensitive, and everyone is waiting for a good time to carry out such reforms.

'Does Ye Tao know that someone is impeaching him?... Forget it, I asked for nothing. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care. It would be good enough if he didn't intensify his efforts to provide the censors with new cannon fodder.' Tan Weixin said lightly, 'He can't wait to be dismissed. However, this Grand Canal Governor-General position is really tasteless. It's all trivial matters. Although Father wanted to take advantage of Ye Tao's insights on engineering and architecture, he didn't expect that the Grand Canal would not encounter much skill. Now it seems that even putting Shi Xiu in the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office is a bit of a waste.'

Zeng Man said helplessly, 'At least the three armies under the Grand Canal Governor-General's Office, whose abilities vary, will make considerable progress in a year, so it can't be considered a waste of the young master's talent, right?'

'Mm.' Tan Weixin said with some emotion. She smiled and said, 'Probably no one expected that General Zhang would be able to get the imperial guards to wash their original ragtag army's socks in the second month. Why didn't anyone discover that General Zhang was such a decisive figure before? It's really not easy to train the city defense army to that level.'

Zeng Man said calmly, 'Zhang Xunyong has never led an army alone before. After all, being a deputy and being the chief official are different.'

Tan Weixin nodded and suddenly asked, 'What about Ye Tao? He shouldn't be busy these days. Help me send a letter to ask him. If he has nothing to do, let him return to Danyang once. It's been a long time since I saw him.'

Zeng Man reported, 'Young Master Ye is not in Su Feng Town now. He set off the day before yesterday, traveling west along the Luo River to inspect the progress of the entire river project.'

Tan Weixin was quiet for a while and said, 'I really hope my body can get better. I need the weather to get warmer before I have the energy to go out for a walk.'

Zeng Man was silent for a while and said, 'Feng He, Nian Feng Lao already knows that Feng Zi is working for Young Master Ye. Old Feng will come to Danyang next month. How about letting Old Feng come to diagnose the princess again then?'

'Mm... okay.' Tan Weixin said self-deprecatingly, 'Anyway, over the years, I don't know how many famous doctors have come to diagnose me. Except for the medicine getting more and more expensive, it's always those few words. Hope and disappointment... I'm used to it anyway.'

Tan Weixin's reaction was not too unexpected for Zeng Man. He had always clearly understood the princess's somewhat bleak attitude of open-mindedness towards her physical condition. Although it was a chronic illness that was difficult to cure, he had never given up the effort to find better doctors and better medicines. This was the task given to him by the monarch Tan Xiaopei, and it was also a mission that he consciously and willingly followed.

'Your Highness, if there are no other instructions, this humble servant will take my leave.' Zeng Man requested.

'Mm.' Tan Weixin responded, 'Oh, right, don't send the messenger to Ye Tao yet. Wait for me for an hour and help me bring a letter. I'll have Sisi send the letter to you later.'

'As you command.' Zeng Man respectfully bowed and retreated.

Going out to inspect when all matters were proceeding in an orderly manner was nothing less than a good opportunity for a publicly funded trip. Ye Tao didn't want the large, bustling crowd to spoil his mood, so under the relentless insistence of the head guard, Bi Xiaoqing, he reluctantly agreed to bring twelve guards.