After arranging the four talents summoned by the random summon card, Chu Chen had lunch and then went to the Ministry of Governance to deal with a pile of troublesome matters.
Of course, he didn't forget to send the simplified Beast Taming Technique to the Empress in the palace.
As soon as he entered, he saw Yan Fa, the Director of the Five City Patrol and Guard, sitting at the lower seat, eating pastries and drinking tea, waiting for Chu Chen.
"Lord Yan, are you looking for this Prime Minister for something?" Chu Chen asked as he entered.
"Yes, yes, Prime Minister Chu, you're finally here." Yan Fa quickly put down his teacup when he saw Chu Chen, his face full of joy.
Then, with a bitter expression, he said, "Prime Minister Chu, His Majesty has ordered me to seal the three walls and nine gates and strictly investigate livestock, and dispatch personnel to patrol the main streets. My department's troops are already few, and this will make it impossible to bear the responsibility. Please advise me!"
Chu Chen was a little surprised upon hearing this. He sat in the main seat and asked, "Your Five City Patrol and Guard also has the responsibility of guarding the city walls. How can you be short of personnel?"
"Prime Minister Chu, you jest. Since the rebel Chen Yuanliang's rebellion, the vacancies in my Patrol and Guard have not been filled. The authorized strength of 80,000 is now less than 30,000, which is truly difficult!" Yan Fa complained continuously, his old face teary-eyed as he pleaded for help.
He was truly at his wit's end and had no choice but to come to Chu Chen. Otherwise, if he couldn't handle it properly, he would be blamed by His Majesty, who wouldn't understand the issue of insufficient personnel, only that he was incompetent.
"This..." Chu Chen was speechless. If you're short of personnel, why don't you recruit more to fill the gaps? The Five City Patrol and Guard doesn't need to be elite. Just gather some able-bodied men, train them for half a month, and they'll be useful!
Sighing, Chu Chen asked, "Since your department is short of personnel, why didn't you report the situation to His Majesty at the court meeting?"
"When I took office, I wrote a memorial to His Majesty. However, His Majesty's endorsement instructed me to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money and supplies. I went to Qian Jieren, but not only did I not get a single penny or supply, but I was also harshly ridiculed and cursed."
"Afterwards, I submitted another memorial stating this matter, but His Majesty actually endorsed it saying that it would be discussed next year when the Ministry of Revenue has money. However, the world is undergoing tremendous changes now, and it is a time when people are needed, yet there is no one to be found. I had no choice but to seek advice from Prime Minister Chu. Please save me!" Yan Fa begged, bowing and kowtowing.
Chu Chen was shocked. Were officials being passed around like a hot potato by the court officials? And one of them was even the current Emperor?
"You are asking me for help, but I can't conjure tens of thousands of people to fill the deficit for you." Chu Chen suddenly felt a bit troubled and pondered with a frown.
"I know it's difficult, but Your Majesty still has 30,000 Imperial Guards. I was thinking, rather than letting them be idle, why doesn't Prime Minister Chu persuade His Majesty to temporarily dispatch them for use?" Yan Fa said cautiously, feeling a little apprehensive.
Chu Chen's mouth twitched. Transferring Imperial Guards? Who do you think you are? This is impossible!
However, this matter must be resolved, otherwise the safety of Shuangyue City would be difficult to guarantee.
He waved his hand and said, "This is absolutely impossible. Please be quiet, and let me think about it."
"Yes." Yan Fa slumped back into his seat, his head bowed, lost in thought.
After thinking for a while, Chu Chen remembered that he still had a summon card for three thousand light infantry. He immediately had an idea.
He then said, "I just remembered something."
Yan Fa looked up at him, but said nothing.
Chu Chen continued, "The Embroidered Uniform Guard is also short of personnel, just like you. But I recruited three thousand people in the counties around the capital last month. These people have not yet undergone training within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so they are newcomers."
"However, although they are newcomers, their physique and abilities meet the standards of soldiers who have served for three months. If they are used by your Five City Patrol and Guard to patrol the streets and monitor the possibility of poultry demonizing and causing trouble, they should be adequate."
"What do you think?"
"I am willing, but three thousand people are still not enough!" Yan Fa was happy at first, then worried.
"It's fine. The personnel recruited by the Embroidered Uniform Guard are all sensitive to events and are good at rushing and suppressing. With their physique, they are several times better than the old and weak in your Five City Patrol and Guard. One can be used as three. This way, it will be barely enough."
"At the court meeting, I will explain the difficulties to His Majesty for you and ask for permission to recruit the missing personnel." Chu Chen said dismissively, not worried at all.
It's a joke. These three thousand people come from the system and are at least regular soldiers. Their execution ability is much better than your remaining lazy and deceitful soldiers. It's fine to use them temporarily.
At this point, Yan Fa sighed. He had no choice but to pray in his heart that these three thousand people would be truly useful.
He stood up and bowed, thanking him, "Your subordinate thanks Prime Minister Chu for his help. If there is any need in the future, please let me know, and I will surely repay you handsomely!"
Chu Chen nodded, not taking it too much to heart.
Although the Five City Patrol and Guard was responsible for the defense of Shuangyue City, Shuangyue City had been the capital for many years without experiencing war. This led to the combat effectiveness of its soldiers being truly worrying.
Rather than soldiers, they were more like city guards or security guards responsible for guarding the city walls, and there was no hope for them.
Of course, helping the Five City Patrol and Guard was also building a good relationship with them. Perhaps it could be useful in the future?
After sending Yan Fa away, Chu Chen finally had time to deal with all the memorials.
Except for secret memorials that went directly to the Empress's imperial study, all memorials submitted by other ministers had to go through the Ministry of Governance to be processed and annotated before important parts were selected and submitted to the Empress for handling.
Before Chu Chen became the Second Prime Minister and Chen Yuanliang of Yunyue Kingdom fell, and there was no Prime Minister, the Empress could only handle matters at the court meeting, which resulted in court meetings lasting for several hours for all sorts of matters.
Opening the topmost memorial, the first one was from Qian Jieren, the Minister of Revenue. What he said was nothing more than that the situation was tense, and it was feared that the flow of goods and information would be affected, leading to the court's tax revenue not arriving on time, or even being insufficient.
Finally, he warned that it needed to be resolved or dealt with as soon as possible.
Chu Chen read it and felt it made sense. He thought for a moment, called a subordinate, ground ink, and wrote his handling opinion with blue ink, then placed it on the left.
The positions here were all for the Empress to handle and review with red ink, while the ones written with blue ink on the right could be directly returned for execution.
Under normal circumstances, all memorials actually required the Empress's red endorsement. However, the Empress clearly trusted Chu Chen and delegated smaller governmental matters that he could handle himself.
These included applications from various prefectures and counties for funds and supplies for water conservancy projects, reports on local troop recruitment, salaries, and taxes, and other miscellaneous matters.
After the Empress initially reviewed these, she directly delegated the authority to Chu Chen to handle them himself. After a blue endorsement, they did not need to be submitted to the imperial study again.
On the desk, the memorials from all over the country piled up like a mountain. Although this Prime Minister held great power and wielded significant influence in the court, he still had to work hard in the office.
"Drunkenly lying on the knees of beauties, and awake, holding the power of the world" was ultimately just a saying.