Submitted by: Pan'er, Registry Director Subject: Post-New Year staffing shortfalls across the Six Offices Aft…
Submitted by: Pan'er, Registry Director
Subject: Post-New Year staffing shortfalls across the Six Offices
After the New Year, many palace attendants are expected to be released from service, while newly recruited attendants are not yet fully trained. All Offices are short-handed. I respectfully request Your Ladyship's instructions.
I. Registry Office
Current situation: Despite coordinating the Six Offices, the Registry Office is struggling to keep up. Paperwork is severely backlogged.
Staffing:
- Herald Chief: Previously staffed by 1; that person has left the palace. Only 1 female clerk remains. She carries edicts between the Secretariat and the inner palace 12 times a day, and her feet are badly swollen, making it difficult to walk. Request: assign 2 nimble new attendants to assist.
- Records Chief: During the release period, the Records Chief must verify the departure rolls day and night to avoid errors or omissions. She has gone three days without proper sleep, and files are piling up.
II. Etiquette Office
Current situation: Ritual and music duties are heavy but still manageable. The main shortfall is general support.
Staffing:
- Rites Chief (Shuyu): Overextended. She must oversee court-assembly protocols and teach 3 new attendants to read musical notation. Rehearsals for next month's new piece have not yet begun.
- Archives Chief (Du Ruo): With clear weather, book airing was scheduled to finish in 3 days. With no laborers available to move the books, Du Ruo must move several hundred volumes alone. Completion may be delayed to 10 days.
III. Wardrobe Office
Current situation: Seasonal garment-making and ornament production overlap. Manpower is insufficient.
Staffing:
- Robes Chief: Winter garments must be rushed. Skilled embroiderers have resigned and returned home. The supervisor is cutting patterns herself, while new attendants are assigned to sewing. Their stitching is rough and may not meet standards.
- Adornment Chief: At Mao hour, 6 staff must be assigned to Baoci Palace to assist with dressing and hair, leaving the gold-and-jade workshop unmanned. Orders from the various palaces cannot be delivered on time. Request: an extension.
IV. Culinary Office
Current situation: Meals are critical. Staff loss is the most severe here, creating significant risks.
Staffing:
- Provisions Chief: The head cooks remain, but most workers for washing vegetables and tending fires have left. All staff have had rest days suspended and must begin ingredient prep at Yin hour daily. Without new staff, discontent is likely.
- Wine Chief: Due to shortages, 1 female clerk must watch over 3 cellars, with no night relief. Continued operation poses a theft risk.
V. Bedchamber Office
Current situation: Night duty is the most exhausting. Fatigue is widespread, and breakage has increased.
Staffing:
- Lamp Chief: Night-watch attendants have dropped sharply. Remaining staff must take consecutive night shifts and sleep only about 6 hours by day. She is already impaired by fatigue and has broken 1 glass lamp.
- Furnishings Chief: Thanks to frugality measures across the palaces, replacement frequency for bed hangings and carpets has decreased. Senior attendants can manage for now.
VI. Crafts Office
Current situation: Repairs are numerous and varied. Only the most urgent work can be handled first.
Staffing:
- Tailoring Chief: Several of His Majesty's old garments require delicate mending, which is time-consuming. All other clothing sent from the various palaces will be postponed until next month.
- Gardens Chief: Expansion areas are unattended and overgrown. With no dedicated staff available, Bedchamber Office cleaning attendants have been temporarily assigned pruning and watering duties as well.