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

Chapter 177 A Nest of Snakes and Rats

Lin Shisan and Sun Yue left the capital on February 16 and arrived at Liaoyang City, the seat of the Liaodong Governor, on February 25.

The governor of Liaodong was named Hu Zongming. He was from the Hu family of Longchuan, Jixi, and was a cousin of Hu Zongxian.

Unlike Hu Zongxian who was attached to Yan Song, Hu Zongming's backer in the court was Yang Bo.

Hu Zongming's personality was also different from Hu Zongxian's. He was not good at socializing and had a hot temper. When he got ruthless, even he himself was afraid of it. In Liaodong, he was nicknamed "Hu Yanwang".

Only a figure like the King of Hell can control Liaodong.

Hu Zongming led his officials to welcome Imperial Commissioner Lin Shisan at the Governor's Office.

Hu Yanwang is Yang Bo's man. Yang Bo has already informed him and asked him to assist Lin Shisan in finding out the situation of embezzlement of military rations in Liaodong.

Because Lin Shisan was the "imperial envoy looking for the bear", Hu Zongming first kowtowed to Lin Shisan and asked about his health.

After the state ceremony, Lin Shisan said with a smile, "Hu Chenyuan, you are polite."

The governors of the Ming Dynasty were divided into "big governors" and "small governors". The governors of the two capitals and thirteen provinces were big governors.

The governors of Liaodong, Gannan, Yansui and other places were considered "small governors".

All minor governors held the title of Censor-in-Chief, so Lin Shisan called Hu Zongming "Hu Censor-in-Chief".

Hu Zongming said: "The governor's office has set up a welcoming banquet for the imperial envoy."

As soon as he finished speaking, an official stepped forward and said, "Lin Chuanfeng, our Councillor's Office has arranged a welcoming banquet for you. Here is the invitation. Councillor Liang Wude and the Minister of Revenue, Lü Xing, are waiting for you in the office."

In terms of civil affairs, Liaodong was under the jurisdiction of Shandong Provincial Administration.

The Shandong Provincial Governor has a councilor stationed in Liaodong to manage the civil affairs of Liaodong. The current Shandong councilor in Liaodong, Liang Wude, is a member of the Yan Party.

This Liang Canzheng was not a member of the core circle of the Yan Party, but just a small follower of the Yan Party.

The grain manager of the Ministry of Revenue stationed in Liao was also a member of the Yan Party.

The governor held a banquet to welcome the imperial envoy, and the councillor also held a banquet to welcome the imperial envoy. The two sides were obviously competing against each other.

Lin Shisan winked at Hu Zongming, then deliberately said loudly: "I heard that the food in the Liaodong Governor's Office has always been shabby, with clear soup and water. I'm afraid you won't be able to get used to it."

"I'd better go to the Council of State for dinner!"

Hu Zongming and Lin Shisan played a double act, pretending to be angry: "Oh, Lin Chuanfeng is looking down on our governor's office! Fine, goodbye."

Lin Shisan left the governor's office and went to the councilor's office.

When Liang Canzheng saw Lin Shisan, he bowed and said, "Grandfather! I have been looking forward to seeing you come to Liaodong!"

"Before you were in the capital, it was inconvenient for your grandson to honor you. Now that you are in Liaodong, your grandson will serve you wholeheartedly."

Lin Shisan stood there in a daze: When will I have a grandson who is over 600 months old?
Lin Shisan asked: "Liang Canzheng, how do you judge your generation?"

Liang Canzheng explained: "Yan Maoqing Yan Zongyan is my father's adoptive father. You are of the same generation as Xiao Ge Lao and Yan Zongyan. Naturally, I should call you grandfather."

Lin Shisan thought to himself: Your shameless look is quite similar to how I was before I became famous!

Lin Shisan felt really embarrassed to be called grandfather by a fifty-something old official.

He said, "Liang Shenzheng, I think we should just address each other as brothers. Liaodong is your territory, and when we are in your territory, we don't need to address each other according to the seniority in the capital."

Liang Canzheng looked flattered: "How can this be possible? The seniority cannot be messed up."

Lin Shisan said, "Just call me brother. If you don't change your words, I won't eat your welcoming banquet. I will turn around and leave, and go back to the governor's office to eat Hu Yanwang's pig food."

Liang Canzheng said, "I will just address you by your given name, Lin Chuanfeng. This is Lü Xing, the grain officer of the Ministry of Revenue stationed in Liao."

The Ministry of Revenue stationed grain-management officials in border areas, who were responsible for allocating military rations from the capital and transporting them to the army.

Gao Yao, the Minister of Finance, was a core member of the Yan Party and was known for his greed. This Doctor Lu was also a member of the Yan Party.

Doctor Lu had a mean appearance and rat-like whiskers. He smiled ingratiatingly, "Lin Chuanfeng, the welcoming banquet is ready. Please enter the dining room."

Lin Shisan followed the two into the dining room. The table was filled with Liaodong delicacies.

Lin Shisan said, "I love food. Whenever I go to a place, I have to taste the local delicacies. What's the story behind these foods?"

Liang Canzheng quickly introduced: "This is steamed deer fetus. It is made from a one-month-old deer fetus that is taken alive and cooked using eighteen steps."

"This is the oil-saturated forest frog."

"This is stewed flying dragon. As the saying goes, there is dragon meat in the sky and donkey meat underground. The donkey meat underground refers to Baoding donkey meat. The dragon meat in the sky refers to Liaodong flying dragon meat."

"This is good, this is good, this is the most famous dish in Liaodong, braised bear paw in red sauce."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Oh, Brother Liang, you are so kind to me. I am very grateful to you for your hospitality."

Liang Canzheng said, "What are you talking about, Lin Chuanfeng? You are the sworn brother of the young minister. How dare I neglect you when you come to our land?"

Lin Shisan snorted coldly: "Own territory? Not necessarily! You have the governor Hu Zongming above you, while he has the Ministry of War as his backer."

"Damn it, just now I told you that you were hosting a welcoming banquet, and Hu Zongming glared at me. If someone didn't know, they would think I owed him thirty cents!"

Liang Canzheng hurriedly said, "Lin Chuanfeng, don't bother with him. He is a coward, a bastard, and the stones in the toilet are smelly and hard!"

"Besides, he doesn't have the final say in Liaodong."

Lin Shisan winked at Sun Yue.

Sun Yue pretended to be stupid and said, "I don't understand this. The governor is the highest official in Liaodong. How can you say that Liaodong is not under his control?"

Liang, the Minister of State, laughed and said, "He is only in charge of fighting. The war is fought for money and food supplies. The Liaodong military pay is allocated by my office. The military rations are allocated by Brother Lu, the grain doctor."

"We have strangled Governor Hu by the throat. If he ever angers us, we will cut off his money and food!"

"Without money and food, the soldiers will mutiny. If a mutiny breaks out in the army under the governor's jurisdiction, Hu Zongming will be the first to lose his head!"

Lin Shisan interrupted: "I heard that Hu Zongming is Hu Zongxian's cousin. They are both from the Jixi Longchuan Hu family, why is there such a big difference?"

"Hu Zongxian is the favorite disciple of Lord Yan and the pillar of the southeast. But Hu Zongming is a stone in the toilet."

Liang, the Minister of State, sighed, "I have been very puzzled in the past few years. Hu Zongming always picks on me and Brother Lu. Picking on us is like picking on Elder Yan."

"Can't he learn from Hu Zongxian?"

Lin Shisan began to ask questions: "How dare you hold back the salaries and rations of the border troops and embarrass Hu Zongming?"

Liang Canzheng said with a smile: "Whether it's military pay or military rations, we can't not pay them, but we can't pay them all either."

"When I was working at the Ministry of Rites, I dealt with Japanese envoys. There is a theory in Japan that samurai cannot be rich. Poor samurai are good samurai who are reliable and loyal."

"It's the same with our Liaodong border troops. We must never let those soldiers get rich. If they have money, they won't dare to fight desperately."

Lin Shisan asked: "Then how much will you pay and how much will you deduct?"

Liang Canzheng smiled slyly: "Chickens don't pee, each has its own way. As for the specific numbers, don't ask."

Lin Shisan said with a smile: "Liang Canzheng is full of rhymes, worthy of being a person who passed the imperial examination twice."

Liang, the councillor, said, "I have never passed the imperial examinations, or even the imperial examinations. I was born as a donated student." Lin Shisan was stunned, "A third-rank councillor was born as a donated student? My God, Brother Liang, you are really wild!"

Liang Canzheng said with a smile: "Old Lord Yan and Little Lord Yan are very powerful now. If you follow their path, you will naturally be able to rise to the top."

"Doctor Luo of the Supervision Bureau was originally a businessman. How could he become a big shot in the Ministry of Justice?"

"You are only 24 years old, and you have already recognized the young elder as your sworn brother. Your future is simply inlaid with gold. No, your future is like a ladder made of pure gold."

"Let's drink to your future."

Everyone raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Lin Shisan showed a worried look on his face: "You guys are blocking the border troops' money and food. Could it be that they are really going to cause a mutiny?"

"I'm going to the dangerous mountains to look for black bears. If the border troops in the dangerous mountains mutiniate, I will be in danger."

Doctor Lu quickly comforted Lin Shisan: "Lin Chuanfeng, don't worry. I have allocated 30% of the military rations to them. They won't starve to death."

"Looking through history books, the Chinese people, whether they are common people or soldiers, will not rebel or mutine until they are starving to death."

When Doctor Lu said the number "30%", Minister Liang coughed alertly, reminding him to be careful with his words.

Doctor Lu said, "Brother Liang, you are too cautious, aren't you? Lin Chuanfeng is the younger brother of the young minister. We are all family members."

Lin Shisan said, "Yes, yes, yes. I will keep what you said to me today in my stomach."

"To be honest, I have also been doing business with the border troops recently. The 10,000 sets of cotton armor that the nine borders added this year were handled by my father."

Liang Canzheng was surprised: "The Ministry of Industry's cotton armor business is lucrative. Did the young cabinet minister give it to Lin Chuanfeng?"

Doctor Lu laughed and said, "Or maybe the young minister treats Lin Chuanfeng as his half-brother!"

When Lin Shisan talked about the cotton armor business, he immediately got closer to Liang and Lu.

We are all corrupt officials, all talk about loyalty and are only concerned about business. Then it will be easy to get along.

Lin Shisan said, "You are delaying the payment of military pay and rations. Aren't you afraid that the court will investigate the accounts?"

Liang Canzheng said, "Lin Chuanfeng is worrying for no reason. Investigate? Minister Gao of the Ministry of Revenue and we are all members of the Yan family. How can we investigate our own family?"

The Minister of Revenue Gao Yao was also a notorious member of the Yan Party and a corrupt official.

This person did two things that are quite famous.

The first thing is that Emperor Jiajing liked ambergris. A fire broke out in the palace and the spice storehouse was burned down, which made Emperor Jiajing very distressed.

When Gao Yao heard about it, he presented eight taels of ambergris as a gift. The Jiajing Emperor was very pleased and rewarded him with seven hundred and sixty taels of silver and also conferred him the title of Prince Taibao.

However, the fire in the palace did not actually destroy the spices. Instead, the spices were stolen by the eunuchs.

The person who sold the stolen goods for the eunuchs was Gao Yao!

This is equivalent to Gao Yao taking Emperor Jiajing's things and doing Emperor Jiajing a favor.

The second thing. Emperor Jiajing ordered the Ministry of Revenue to purchase treasures for the palace. Gao Yao asked his family to pretend to be jewelers. The purchase price of the Ministry of Revenue was often several times or even ten times the actual value of the goods.

With such a person as the Minister of Revenue, it would be strange if the court’s finances were not in trouble.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Yes, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and the Minister of Finance are our backers. Even if we trick those soldiers and roughnecks, what can we do?"

"I have a friend, I won't tell you who he is. He just became the grain and fodder officer of a certain border town."

"I'll tell you the truth. He bought his position. He bought the position to make money."

"But he is still a rookie in the officialdom. He has no idea how to make money from military rations."

"If we are greedy a little, we may not be able to make enough money. If we are greedy a lot, we may cause trouble. I wonder if you two have any good ideas?"

Doctor Lu smiled and said, "This is very simple. The saints said it well, we should get the middle ground when dealing with things. If we get the middle ground, we will succeed, but if we lose the middle ground, we will be easily destroyed."

"Everyone loves money. There's nothing shameful about making money. But you have to know the limit."

"Blatant embezzlement of military rations is definitely not acceptable."

"The key to getting rich is to delay. From December to May, grain prices are high, so you can delay 60% to 70% of the military rations. Then resell them at a high price."

"After June, grain prices will be low. We can buy grain at a lower price and make up for the loss to the soldiers."

"All the grain and fodder officials in the nine border areas did the same thing. No one got into trouble."

Lin Shisan said: "There must be a reason for delaying, right? What reason?"

Doctor Lu laughed and said, "People have two tongues, and they can do anything. Is it hard to find a reason? The military supplies encountered Japanese pirates when they went through the canal, and encountered Tatars when they went by land."

"Or maybe there was a fire in the grain warehouse. You can make up any excuse."

"But we must make up the difference to the soldiers in June to prevent them from making trouble."

"What we are greedy for is not the military rations themselves, but the price difference of the rations."

Lin Shisan gave a thumbs up and said, "What a good trick! If you want to know how to make money, you should learn from experienced officials like you two."

Liang Canzheng laughed and said, "We are incompetent people. We can only make money using incompetent methods."

"You are a capable person. Just talk and money will come rolling in."

Doctor Lu echoed, "That's right. Many people in the court are eyeing the cotton armor business. With just one word from the young cabinet minister, this piece of fat meat is in Lin Chuanfeng's mouth."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I heard that the Liaodong border troops' military supplies, such as gunpowder, arrowheads, etc., are also supplied by the Council of Political Affairs. There should be a lot of money involved, right?"

Liang Canzheng chuckled and said, "It's just a small profit."

After the banquet, Lin Shisan, Liang Canzheng and Lu Langzhong became completely familiar with each other.

During the dinner, he inquired about many ways that Yan party parasites used to commit corruption at the border.

But these are just hearsay, there is no actual evidence.

After the banquet, Lin Shisan stretched himself lazily. "Well, the imperial court has a rule that when an imperial envoy arrives at a place, if there is a governor, he will stay at the governor's office, and if there is a governor, he will stay at the governor's office."

"I want to live in the Council of State Affairs Office and talk with Brother Liang and Brother Lu all night. But the system is there, and I still have to go back to the Governor's Office to see Hu Zongming's ugly face."

Liang, the Minister of State, advised Lin Shisan: "Lin Chuanfeng, this is how the officialdom is. They smile on the surface but stab you in the back. You and Hu Zongming don't get along, so you can't tear your face apart on the surface."

Sun Yue picked his teeth and said, "It's not necessary for Liang Canzheng to remind me. My master went from being a captain without a quota to a popular figure around the emperor in four years. He is definitely not a pushover.

"He is very familiar with all the twists and turns in the officialdom."

Liang Canzheng nodded: "That's right, that's right. I said too much, slap me."

Lin Shisan left the Council of State Affairs and returned to the Governor's Office.

At night, he had a secret meeting with Hu Zongming in his study.

(End of this chapter)