The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 409

If it weren't for the imperial decree, Xu Tian would probably have left this place long ago.

What an ungrateful bunch!

Qin Xian muttered a few complaints to himself.

......

In the morning, the Minister of Works invited Xu Tian to inspect the construction site. As it happened, Xu Tian was also interested, and the two arrived at their destination after having breakfast.

"Recently, there have been quite a few people taking sick leave among the workers." Walking down the street, the Minister of Works sighed heavily, and the anxiety in his eyes didn't seem fake.

"What do you mean?" Xu Tian turned his head and asked suspiciously.

"Some time ago, we hired a large number of workers to help us, but who knew that in just a few days, a large number of people would start asking for leave every day for various reasons," the Minister of Works replied, turning his pleading gaze to Xu Tian.

You see, he was in charge of recruiting workers, and if things continued like this, there would come a day when the truth would come out.

Given this situation, the Minister of Works felt it was better to strike first.

As expected, just as the Minister of Works had guessed, Xu Tian showed a surprised expression.

“The workers are hired by you at high salaries, and now they are faking illness and going on strike. This is really illogical.”

Xu Tian believed in the Minister of Works' abilities, but he didn't understand the workers' actions.

If problems arise at the higher levels, he, as the person in charge of this work, will be the first to step up.

"I know." The Minister of Works nodded, offering no further explanation, his tone sounding rather helpless. "It all happened so suddenly, I didn't even have time to react."

He hates dealing with sick leave the most, especially with experienced workers. If someone is really unwell and he forces them to work, he'll not only be seen as cold-blooded and ruthless, but he'll also be the target of gossip and backbiting from a bunch of people.

He didn't want to see that scene.

“Okay, I’ll go with you to take a look,” Xu Tian suggested.

As a high-level leader, he happened to have some knowledge of medicine. Although he couldn't cure diseases and save lives, he could still distinguish whether someone was healthy or not.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the construction site. Just as the Minister of Works had said, although there seemed to be many workers coming and going, only a few were actually doing the work, and they were quite lazy, seemingly without any discipline or goals.

"Why are there only a few of you working?" Xu Tian asked in a low voice as he approached the nearest worker, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding construction site.

"Who are you?" The worker was probably seeing Xu Tian for the first time and was very puzzled by his question. When he turned around and saw the Minister of Works behind him, his attitude changed completely and he said very flatteringly, "A few new people came a few days ago, and in the last two days, many seniors and juniors have been bedridden, their faces are pale, and they look like they have had a serious illness."

"A serious illness?" Xu Tian raised an eyebrow and continued to ask, "Aren't they locals?"

“No, that’s not it.” The worker shook his head, somewhat surprised by Xu Tian’e’s words. He said, “Didn’t the Minister tell you that these workers are all locals? There are no workers more famous than our locals within a radius of three kilometers and a hundred miles from our town. The bookstore is in such a hurry, how could they possibly find workers from so far away?”

Hearing this, Xu Tian understood what the other person meant.