The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1339: Chapter 185: Hestingov’s Way of Governance (Part 3)

The officials were initially hesitant, but upon hearing this, even the densest person would understand the Colonel’s meaning.

The mayor couldn’t help but smile, knowing well that the Colonel was merely play-acting back in the tavern.

As for the inspection, it’s the same old story. As long as the issue of the Charity Hospital chapel not yet being constructed doesn’t get out, everything else is minor; at most, they’ll be criticized and educated.

Aiyah!

From my perspective, the underground in St. Petersburg is no cleaner than the streets of Druiysk!

The judge who was transferred to Druiysk three years ago chimed in.

”You know, don’t you! When I was previously posted in Slonin, I encountered such a person. One time, he came to Slonin to inspect the work of the city council and summoned all the prominent figures from various industries for a meeting where he scolded everyone for a long time, claiming that everything here was utterly terrible, utterly vile! He wanted to check the commerce, so he toured all the shops, even thoroughly examining the street vendors, saying everything was wrong.

That day, he went to the market, pointing and instructing; saying this one should sell sundries, that one should sell perfume, arbitrarily assigning trades to everyone. He even visited various factories, inspecting the number of workers, and counted the dye barrels. Everywhere he went, he nitpicked and berated people thoroughly. He singled out a factory owner and said: ’You are a citizen, so you should reduce the number of workers.’ The person patiently advised him: ’Perhaps it should be this way, but with reduced workers, we can’t operate!’

But he couldn’t care less about that. He would stubbornly argue without any basis, then put on an unfriendly face, muttering that it has nothing to do with him, and if dissatisfied, complain to His Majesty the Tsar. With such behavior, naturally, people would gossip behind his back. Yet I’ve also seen good inspectors, those truly wise ones like you, who upon seeing local businesses facing difficulties, find loopholes in the regulations, allowing everything to proceed as usual.

But that one, whether blind or deaf, couldn’t see what was right in front of him nor listen to obvious reasoning! Moreover, such people are all of one kind. They command and dictate, either ordering you to go here or there, or else, opening their mouths with: nonsense, don’t go, sit down. Otherwise, it’s: nonsense, stand up, no sitting. A few words and they throw us into complete confusion.

Slonin originally had several excellent pastures, but with his command, they were taken back and made public. If you say you want them, fine, place a bid to buy them. And the pastures assigned to the lower people for grazing were turned into scorched wastelands, bare like a bald man’s head, leaving everyone’s livestock with nothing to eat. Clearly, there was a small grove, yet he forbade entry to chop wood, not even allowing a small piece to be picked up. To showcase his achievements to his superiors, he even asked if it’s possible to charge for water! This kind of conduct, how is it serving the public? It’s just begging God for forgiveness, a complete mess!”

At this point, the judge spat, evidently having disliked such situations for a long time.

After speaking, the judge realized that saying things like this might risk overstepping, and quickly corrected: ”Of course, I’m just saying casually, if St. Petersburg officially orders to charge for water, then upon your command, we will absolutely enforce it strictly.”

However, to the judge’s surprise, Arthur not only did not reprimand him but instead listened with keen interest to his complaints and even asked particularly: ”What’s your name?”