I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 150 General Qi, this gift should be given in this way (-word chapter)
The old Lin family residence in Gouqionghu Hutong.

A treasurer named Zhang from the Imperial Household Department was settling this month's ice supply bill with Lin Youniu.

Ambassador Zhang smiled and said, "Mr. Lin, your company has provided the palace with two thousand square meters of Xia Bing this month. According to the previously agreed market price, five taels of silver per square meter. This is ten thousand taels, please keep it!"

Lin Youniu rubbed his hands happily: "For such a small matter, why bother Eunuch Zhang to come to the brothel in person?"

Ambassador Zhang said, "Old man, the Thirteenth Master is the nephew of our Eunuch Lu, and he is also a favorite of the Emperor. We dare not interfere with his family's business."

Lin Youniu had already figured out the shady rules and regulations for purchasing in the palace. He first took the stack of banknotes handed over by Ambassador Zhang.

There were a total of twenty silver notes in this stack, all of which were Shanxi Merchants' Money House notes worth five hundred taels.

Lin Youniu counted out four bills, totaling two thousand taels, and handed them to Ambassador Zhang: "This is a gift to the eunuchs in the Internal Affairs Bureau. Ambassador Zhang, please take it back and distribute it to the eunuchs."

Ambassador Zhang naturally put the banknote into his sleeve and said, "Then I would like to thank Mr. Lin on behalf of all the superiors."

Lin Youniu took out a twenty-liang gold ingot from the drawer of the table and said, "This is specially for you, Eunuch Zhang. It's really hard for you to go to the small account to pay the bill in this hot weather."

Ambassador Zhang said, "How can I feel embarrassed?" But his hands were honest as he took the gold ingot and held it in his hand.

Lin Youniu asked, "Why don't you stay here for lunch and have a drink?"

Ambassador Zhang said, "It's not that I don't give face to Mr. Lin. I'm just too busy at the palace to spare the time. Let's do it another day."

As he was talking, Lin Shisan entered the yard of the old house.

Ambassador Zhang quickly saluted Lin Shisan: "Master Thirteen."

Lin Shisan said with a smile: "Zhang Lengyan. Come over to pay the bill?"

Ambassador Zhang nodded hurriedly: "Yes. I dare not delay the ice money from the Thirteenth Master's family."

Lin Shisan said, "Go back and give a greeting to Xu Jiancheng of your Internal Affairs Bureau. Last time I helped him treat that foul-mouthed lark, he treated me to a meal and a drink. I've been busy lately, so I didn't invite him back."

Now, Lin Shisan is in close contact with the heads of the twelve prisons, four departments and eight bureaus of the inner palace.

The censors cursed him privately: Lin Ning is both a member of the eunuch party and the Yan party, a bastard among bastards.

After Ambassador Zhang left, Lin Shisan asked, "Dad, have you given them the profit according to the rules?"

Lin Youniu smiled and said, "Of course. For a business of ten thousand taels, the profit of four thousand taels goes to me half, and the other eunuchs who handled the business go to me the other half."

Lin Shisan sat down at the stone table and said, "Dad, the palace has assigned me another mission. This time I have to go to Fujian."

Lin Youniu took a deep breath and said, "Go to Fujian. The southeast is not peaceful. The last time you went south on business, you fought two battles with Japanese pirates and almost lost your life."

Lin Shisan comforted his father: "Dad, don't worry. The southeast is no longer the same as before. Hu Zongxian destroyed Xu Hai and made temporary peace with Wang Zhi."

"There aren't as many Japanese pirates blocking the way south as last year. It's a good job for me to go to Fujian."

Lin Youniu said: "You have to be careful anyway."

Lin Shisan picked three people to travel with him on this trip south.

One is Zhang Bo, who is knowledgeable and can give Lin Shisan advice when encountering problems.

One is Sun Yue. Although this fat fellow is greedy and lustful, and has no real ability, he is loyal to Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan sometimes thought: When Sun Yue and I were on a mission together, we were extremely lucky and always had success. Who knows, maybe it was this fat guy who brought me good luck?
The last one is Li Gao.

Li Gao is the younger brother of Concubine Li and a member of Prince Yu's Mansion. This trip to Fujian is a good job to make merit without doing anything.

It would be better to take this opportunity to do a favor to Prince Yu's Mansion and let Li Gao share some of the credit.

Also accompanying him were the 35 men who had shared life and death with Lin Shisan.

In the past year, Lin Shisan spent a total of 8,000 taels of silver on winning over his subordinates. On average, each of his subordinates received 200 to 300 taels of silver from Lin Baihu.

Since ancient times, money can gather soldiers without money, but money can gather people's hearts. This group of people are completely loyal to Lin Shisan.

On the day of leaving Beijing, his sworn brother Yan Shifan brought the core members of the Yan Party to personally see Lin Shisan off. Needless to say, they were reluctant to part.

Lin Shisan boarded the official ship at Tongzhou Wharf and sailed south along the canal. This trip south was unusually smooth.

They traveled along the way, stopped at places where they could go, collected travel ceremonies, accepted banquets from local officials, and slept with women offered by local officials.

The 18-day journey from Tongzhou to Hangzhou actually took a month.

On the eighth day of the seventh month in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing, Lin Shisan and his party arrived in Hangzhou and planned to rest in Hangzhou for five days before setting off for Fujian.

When arriving at Hu Zongxian's territory, it was natural to pay a visit to the Governor's Mansion.

Lin Shisan entered the study of the Governor's Mansion and was greatly surprised to see Hu Zongxian. It had only been a year since they last met, but Hu Zongxian seemed to have aged ten years.

Hu Zongxian was only 45 years old, but half of his hair had turned white. He had high cheekbones and was so thin that he looked unrecognizable.

Lin Shisan was surprised and said, "My dear Hu Butang, how did you become like this? You have lost more than a circle of weight!"

Hu Zongxian smiled bitterly: "The military, civil affairs, and personnel affairs of the southeast are all on my shoulders. How can I not lose weight with such a heavy burden?"

"The censors in the court always say that the governor of Zhejiang is the most lucrative position in the world. But in fact, it is the most difficult position to fill."

Xu Wei, an aide to the Governor-General's Office, said, "In order to fight against the Japanese pirates, Hu Bu Tang sleeps no more than two and a half hours a day. He only eats half a bowl of rice for each meal. It's strange that he doesn't age or lose weight."

Lin Shisan said sincerely: "My dear Hu, you must take care of yourself! There is a saying in the capital now that the court cannot live without the southeast for a day. The southeast cannot live without Hu Zongxian for a day."

"If you get sick from working yourself into trouble, what will happen to the Southeast?"

Hu Zongxian turned around and told Xu Wei: "You go down first."

Xu Wei left.

Hu Zongxian said: "Brother Lin"

Lin Shisan said quickly, "Privately, you should call me your grandson! Let's follow the Jinyiwei seniority."

Hu Zongxian said, "You recognized the young cabinet minister as your elder brother. I call you my grandson? If the young cabinet minister knew about this, wouldn't he write a letter to scold me?"

"Brother Lin, I need your help with two things."

Lin Shisan said, "Grandfather, oh no, if Big Brother Hu has anything to say, just tell Shisan."

Hu Zongxian got straight to the point: "First of all, the elder has sent me a letter. I know that your trip south this time is a cover to recruit a son-in-law for the imperial cat."

"Fujian Governor Ruan E can no longer be saved. The day you return to Beijing will be the day when Ruan E loses power."

"I'll tell you tomorrow. I want to recommend Tan Lun, the deputy envoy of Zhejiang Sea Road, to be the governor of Fujian. He has prepared a male cat with green fur and white eyebrows. Please take it back to Beijing."

"You just need to tell the emperor that this cat-son-in-law is presented to the palace by Tan Lun as a gift. I will take care of the rest."

Lin Shisan was surprised: "Tan Lun is Prince Yu's man. You want Prince Yu's men to replace the Yan family's people, the cabinet elders and the junior cabinet elders."

Hu Zongxian asked in return: "Do you know why so few of the governors-general of Zhejiang and Zhili had a good ending?"

Lin Shisan bowed and said, "Brother Hu, please give me some advice."

Hu Zongxian said: "Because the previous governors always considered who was whose when hiring people. They would not hire people who were not from their own party, and would suppress people from the enemy party."

"If you only think about party disputes, how can you do a good job in defeating the Japanese? It would be strange if you don't suffer defeat." "When I hire people, I don't look at who they are. I only look at whether they have real ability and whether they can be useful to the great cause of fighting against the Japanese."

"Tan Lun has the talent of a frontier official. He understands both civil affairs and military affairs. His future achievements will not be inferior to those of Xiaguan Yang Bo."

"If he becomes the governor of Fujian, it won't be long before the Japanese invasion of Fujian is wiped out. I will definitely recommend such a person to the emperor."

Lin Shisan said: "Brother Hu recommends people regardless of their relatives and enemies. He really has the legacy of Gu Dechen."

Hu Zongxian frowned: "You have been in that insect fighting pot in the capital for too long, and all you can see is party struggles. What grudge do I have against Tan Lun?"

"Tan Lun and I are of one mind. We have devoted all our energy and efforts to the great cause of resisting the Japanese invaders. He is not my enemy, but my best friend!"

Lin Shisan agreed again and again: "Brother Hu is right. It was Shisan who was short-sighted."

Hu Zongxian then asked, "The second thing. I heard that you have a close relationship with Li Gao, the younger brother of Princess Li of Prince Yu's Mansion?"

Lin Shisan nodded: "Yes. We are like half-brothers. I even accepted him as my apprentice."

Hu Zongxian said, "Qi Jiguang wants to make friends with Li Gao. Please introduce him to him."

Hu Zongxian had previously advised Qi Jiguang to find a way to make friends with Zhang Juzheng, the director of the Imperial College, a popular figure in Prince Yu's mansion.

However, Zhang Juzheng was very careful about his reputation, so Qi Jiguang sent someone to Beijing to give Zhang Juzheng a gift, but the gift was rejected.

Hu Zongxian knew very well that Zhang Juzheng did not refuse to accept gifts, but he did not accept gifts from strangers.

Li Gao is Prince Yu's brother-in-law. If Qi Jiguang asked Li Gao to act as a matchmaker, he would definitely be able to get in touch with Zhang Juzheng.

While Hu Zongxian vigorously promoted Tan Lun, a disciple of Prince Yu, and at the same time let his favorite generals make friends with Zhang Juzheng, a disciple of Prince Yu. In fact, he had a selfish motive - to find a way out for himself.

Lin Shisan said, "This is easy to do. Please invite Master Ling to hold a banquet tonight. We can drink and chat together and naturally become friends."

Hu Zongxian nodded: "Okay. I still have some documents to review. Go find Boqi first."

At this moment, Li Shizhen walked in angrily: "Hu Ruzhen! Are you crazy? You haven't slept for another day and night."

"Even a man of steel can't stand your suffering! You asked me to treat you, but you didn't listen to me. It doesn't matter if you die of your illness, but don't let me be labeled a quack!"

That night, on the banks of the West Lake, the courtesan Yu Niang's flower boat was brightly lit.

Hu Zongxian's third son Hu Boqi hosted a banquet to entertain Lin Shisan, Li Gao, Zhang Bo, and Sun Yue, with Qi Jiguang accompanying them.

Only those who can bend and stretch can be called real men.

Qi Jiguang, a famous general from the southeast, was busy pouring wine and serving food to several close ministers from the capital, just like a waiter.

In order to realize his ideals, Qi Jiguang could bow to anyone.

His ideal is very simple - I don't want to be a noble, but I hope the sea will be peaceful.

Lin Shisan was a little embarrassed: "General Qi, please sit down. You are a great hero who is famous throughout the southeast. Together with Marshal Yu, you are known as Yu Long and Qi Hu. You pour us wine and serve us food. Do we dare to eat at this banquet?"

After saying this, Lin Shisan gave a wink to his old lover, the courtesan Yu Niang.

Yu Niang quickly took the wine pot from Qi Jiguang: "General Qi, let me do it."

Li Gao's eyes were fixed on Yu Niang, and he was almost drooling.

Sun Yue laughed and scolded, "Master Li, this Miss Yu Niang is our master's lover, so she is half of our master's wife. Don't you want to sleep with our master's wife?"

Yu Niang was quite bold: "What master's wife? Captain Lin and I are just a casual love affair, we are not husband and wife."

"Today, General Qi bought all my hanging lanterns. He asked me to serve General Li alone tonight."

Yu Niang was born in a wealthy family, but she fell into the secular world because her whole family was killed by Japanese pirates. She usually respects the heroes who fought against the Japanese pirates the most.

Qi Jiguang had found her before and asked her to accompany Li Gao tonight and to speak well of him. Yu Niang agreed immediately.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Right, right. A couple who are only together for a short time are not considered a couple. Yu Niang will sleep with Li Gao tonight, so Li Gao is not considered to be betraying his teacher and ancestors."

"Li Gao, why don't you thank General Qi for his kindness?"

Li Gao was delighted to hear this: "Ah! Thank you General Qi for your help!"

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, everyone was already a little tipsy.

Qi Jiguang asked indirectly, "Mr. Li is the brother-in-law of Prince Yu. Do you know what Zhang Juzheng, a disciple of Prince Yu, likes?"

Li Gao laughed out loud: "You are talking about Zhang Juzheng. Like us stinky men, he also likes beautiful women. They all say he is a literati, and he is a great writer, so naturally he is flirty."

Lin Shisan said from the side: "General Qi wants to make friends with Zhang Juzheng. Can you help him connect with him?"

Li Gao patted his chest and said, "It's a small matter. Zhang Juzheng is a noble man, but he won't give face to others, but he will give face to my sister."

Qi Jiguang bowed and said, "Thank you, Master Li."

Yu Niang said, "It's almost time. We have to split up the boats. There are only four people hanging lanterns on my boat, and I can't serve so many people."

Lin Shisan said, "Mr. Hu, Mr. Li, Fatty Sun, and Mr. Zhang, please stay on your flower boat. General Qi and I will go to the flower boat next to it."

That night, Yu Niang catered to Li Gao in every possible way on the boat couch. After serving Li Gao comfortably, she said a lot of good things about Qi Jiguang.

Let’s talk about another flower boat.

After Lin Shisan had a passionate time with the boat girl, he went to the deck to get some fresh air.

He saw Qi Jiguang standing on the deck, looking up at the starry sky.

Lin Shisan was surprised: "General Qi has not entered the cabin yet?"

Qi Jiguang smiled awkwardly: "I dare not. I have a tigress at home. If she knew that I slept with the boat girl on West Lake, she would chop me with a knife."

Madam Qi was a well-known tigress in Zhejiang and she was very strict with Qi Jiguang.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I see. General Qi, don't worry, Li Gao is a very simple person. After receiving your favor tonight, he will definitely help you."

Qi Jiguang nodded: "Thank you very much."

Lin Shisan suddenly felt sad: "What kind of world is this? A great hero like you is forced to make friends with trash like us from the capital."

Qi Jiguang said, "Lin Chuanfeng, please don't say that. The last time I was able to escape punishment and get my job back, it was all thanks to you finding the white deer."

Lin Shisan said, "That's my job. General Qi, let me tell you something shameless and vulgar. I'm quite familiar with the messy things in the officialdom of the capital."

"It is too common for local officials to send beautiful women to Beijing officials. If you really want Zhang Siye to look at you with a higher regard, you have to find another way."

Qi Jiguang asked: "Oh? May I ask how to find a new way?"

Lin Shisan said, "Think about it. If he sends a beautiful woman to Zhang Siye, he will have to exert a lot of energy every night, which will hurt his body, right? He is a scholar and cannot stand the hardship."

"I heard that the Zhejiang coast produces excellent sea lion whips that are good for strengthening the body. Why don't you give him some more sea lion whips?"

Qi Jiguang exclaimed: "Giving beautiful women and then sea dog whips? What a great idea! When it comes to interpersonal relationships, gift giving and bribery, Lin Chuanfeng is the best."

Lin Shisan laughed bitterly: "You are not praising me, you are scolding me!"

(End of this chapter)