 The Hongwu Emperor sent his heir apparent to Shaanxi in 1391 to " tour and soothe " ( <unk> ) the region ; in 1421 the Yongle Emperor commissioned 26 officials to travel the empire and uphold similar investigatory and patrimonial duties . By 1430 these <unk> assignments became institutionalized as " grand coordinators " . Hence , the Censorate was reinstalled and first staffed with investigating censors , later with censors @-@ in @-@ chief . By 1453 , the grand coordinators were granted the title vice censor @-@ in @-@ chief or assistant censor @-@ in @-@ chief and were allowed direct access to the emperor . As in prior dynasties , the provincial administrations were monitored by a travelling inspector from the Censorate . Censors had the power to impeach officials on an irregular basis , unlike the senior officials who were to do so only in triennial evaluations of junior officials . 
