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Four years later, in [[1793]], Yoshiki was offered an official appointment again, this time as magistrate in charge of overseeing the domain's ports. According to his office diary, the job involved very little work. He spent five or six days a month at the central government offices, approving requests and reports from his subordinates, and for the remainder of the month was simply "on call." This was a high enough post that much of the actual work was handled by his subordinates, and at the same time a low-ranking enough post that big decisions were made chiefly by his superiors.
Four years later, in [[1793]], Yoshiki was offered an official appointment again, this time as magistrate in charge of overseeing the domain's ports. According to his office diary, the job involved very little work. He spent five or six days a month at the central government offices, approving requests and reports from his subordinates, and for the remainder of the month was simply "on call." This was a high enough post that much of the actual work was handled by his subordinates, and at the same time a low-ranking enough post that big decisions were made chiefly by his superiors.
Following a [[1797]] incident in which a domainal retainer killed a [[goshi|rural samurai]], and in which Yoshiki played a prominent part in bureaucratic aspects of the investigation, he was elevated in 1797/10 to the post of grand inspector (''[[metsuke|ô-metsuke]]''). He was one of three men in this post, rotating with the others such that each served as the sole chief inspector for one month out of every three. As inspector, Yoshiki sat in on discussions of policy with senior and junior domain administrators, and played a role in investigating and approving all appointments, as well as many cases of inheritance. He also investigated peasant disputes, uprisings, and the like, and oversaw a staff of lower-ranking inspectors, including ''kachi metsuke'', inspectors of commoner/peasant matters.
After only a few months in that position, in [[1798]]/1, Yoshiki was elevated to junior administrator, the highest post someone of his birth could achieve. He was now a member of the top policy-making organs of the domainal government, below only the senior administrators and the lord himself. As with his position as inspector, he spent only one month out of every three on duty, rotating with two other officials.
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