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

Chapter 179 I also want to do fur business
It was late at night and the fierce battle was over. Liang Wood's twelfth concubine Chao Yuyang slept on Lin Shisan's couch.

Lin Shisan tilted his head and glanced at her, thinking to himself: It’s really white!
He got out of bed and slurped down a bowl of sour plum soup at the eight-immortals table in the bedroom.

Lu Xing, the adopted son, is worthy of his surname. The deer penis soaked in deer blood wine he gave was indeed overbearing. Lin Shisan had taken it for two hours, and he was still thirsty.

After drinking the sour plum soup, Lin Shisan sat on the chair and thought about business.

With his current relationship with Liang Wude and Lu Xing, it is not difficult to get the details of the Liaodong grain and salary scandal.

The difficulty was that they couldn't let the two of them realize that it was Lin Shisan who had uncovered the scandal and reported it. Otherwise, they would have offended the Yan Party.

From next door came Sun Yue's pig-slaughtering howl: "Ah! Good girl!"

The next morning, Lin Shisan and Sun Yue went to Liang Wood's pet garden.

The Liaodong Councillor's Office was small, but it had everything it needed. There was a pet garden in the back of the office, which housed many rare birds and animals from Liaodong.

Liang Wude knew that Lin Shisan liked animals, so he invited him to visit the pet garden before noon.

As soon as he entered the pet garden, Liang Wude and Lu Xing came up to him and said, "Foster father, you are an expert in raising pets. What rare animals and birds have you not seen in the West Garden?"

"We invite you to come here to play, it's really a bit of an overkill."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "No, no, no? Oh? You raise red-crowned cranes here? I almost forgot that the red-crowned cranes in the Hundred Birds Room in the palace were all tributes from Liaodong."

Cranes are Taoist immortals. When Emperor Jiajing was practicing Taoism, Lü Fang often placed red-crowned cranes in the main hall of Yongshou Palace to create an immortal atmosphere.

Liang Wude smiled and said, "Foster father, how about these three red-crowned cranes? I will send someone to deliver them to the capital in a few days to present them to the emperor."

Usually tributes to the emperor were in even numbers. Only the Taoists considered three auspicious. One gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things.

Lin Shisan praised: "It's still Liang Canzheng who is thinking about the emperor!"

Lu Xing continued, "That's right. Look at the man in the governor's office. He just writes memorials to the emperor asking for food, money and military equipment. When has he ever thought of offering some Liaodong specialties as tribute to the emperor?"

After walking a few steps forward, Lin Shisan saw an even rarer crane. This crane was completely white, different from the red-crowned crane with a red crown, black neck and feet, and a white body.

Lin Shisan was surprised and asked, "This is the Far Eastern White Crane?"

The Far Eastern White Crane is more in line with the image of the crane in Taoist murals.

Liang Wude praised: "Ah! My godfather is indeed a court official, and he is very knowledgeable! This crane is the Far Eastern White Crane."

"The Far East White Crane lives in a very cold place where their urine turns into icicles and their shit turns into icicles. If we Han people go there, we will probably freeze to death even if we are wearing fur coats."

"Not to mention us Han people. Even the Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens can't stand the extreme cold in the Far East."

"Only the wild Jurchens can survive there. I spent one thousand taels of silver to let them catch this Far Eastern White Crane. They froze about seven or eight hunters to death."

Lin Shisan said, "Great! Great! I've seen the inventory of the Hundred Birds Room. The last time Liaodong offered Far Eastern white cranes to the palace was in the 20th year of Jiajing."

"Hu Zongxian presented a white deer to the emperor two years ago, and was promoted from the governor of Zhejiang to the governor-general of Zhejiang."

"If you present a white crane to the emperor, you can at least be promoted from a councilor to a governor. You may even be promoted as an exception and become a provincial governor!"

Liang Wude was delighted when he heard this: "Ah, if this is true, my son's ancestral grave will be filled with smoke!"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Don't worry. We are now father and son. Your ancestral tomb is my ancestral tomb. We will repair it if it smokes out."

He thought to himself: Liang Wude, Liang Wude, you think too much. The emperor is wise!
The emperor promoted Hu Zongxian out of turn because he was a capable minister with good plans and strategies.

As for the white deer, it was just a reason for the emperor to promote him.

A corrupt official like you, what else can you do besides making money? Forget about giving the emperor a white crane. Even if you gave him a white turtle, a white bat, or a white toad, he wouldn't even look at you.

Liang Wude also took Lin Shisan to see the Liaodong tiger, musk deer, moose and other exotic animals.

Lin Shisan patted the original musk deer on the back and said meaningfully: "The musk of the original musk deer in Liaodong is a good thing. The beauties in the four alleys, sixteen floors and thirty-two halls in the capital all use the musk of Liaodong."

Liang Wude understood: "Ah. My son's concubines have also been using Liaodong musk these days."

Musk can be applied to a woman's navel to prevent pregnancy, and it is called "Laodutie".

In order to investigate the case, Lin Shisan accepted the concubines offered by Liang Wude at the cost of his life. But he was worried that if the concubines got pregnant, would the children belong to the adoptive father or the adopted son?

It seems that Liang Wude had already thought of this and had his concubines use musk as a contraceptive in advance.

Everyone was admiring the animals in the pet garden when suddenly a dozen soldiers in armor rushed in.

The officers of the Council of State Affairs wanted to stop them, but how could they stop these armored men?
More than a dozen people rushed to Lin Shisan and others.

The leading man glared angrily: "Liang Canzheng, Lu Langzhong. Where are the food and money?"

Liang Wude said to Lin Shisan, "Foster father, warriors are rude and don't know the rules. You must not argue with him."

Lin Shisan asked: "Who is this?"

Liang Wude replied: "This man is the commander of the Ding Liao Right Guard, Fu Yanzong. Fu Yanzong, this is the imperial envoy Lin Shisan, Lin Chuanfeng. Why don't you quickly pay your respects?"

Commander Fu said angrily: "Why should I care whether he is an imperial envoy or not? I just want to ask you, how are you going to arrange the food and wages for the Liaoyou Guard?"

Liang Wood stroked his beard and said, "Food and wages? Didn't they just get paid?"

Commander Fu said angrily: "The military pay your government issued was from October to December last year. But this year from January to March, we haven't received a penny!"

"Brothers all have families to support. After three months of delay in paying the military salaries, are we going to let the families of the soldiers starve?"

"And there are military rations. The Ministry of War has set a quota of 60 kilograms of fine grain per person per month for the Liaodong guards. But my brothers in the guard have been receiving 30 kilograms of rice per month for six months in a row!"

"The rice was all inferior, infested with worms, bran, sand and even stones!"

"Before the fireman cooks, he has to use a sieve to sift out the debris!"

Liang Wude sneered: "You want food and money? Kneel down first and kowtow to me and Lin Chuanfeng according to etiquette!"

Commander Fu glared at Liang Wude. When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

He traveled hundreds of miles to Liaoyang to get food and money from Liang Wude. More than 5,000 brothers in Weili were looking forward to food and money like people in a drought looking forward to rain.

Commander Fu was helpless and almost squeezed out a few words from his teeth: "Left and right, kneel down with me and salute Liang the Minister and the Imperial Envoy."

More than a dozen border soldiers knelt down and kowtowed.

Liang Wude smiled and said, "That's right. Etiquette cannot be abolished. As for food and wages, the court is also in a difficult situation. The southeast wants to fight against the Japanese pirates, and the military funds are all given to Zhejiang."

"Paying military pay to Liaodong is like squeezing a child's urine. My office of the Council of State has scraped together the money to pay you the military pay from October to December last year."

Lu Xing chimed in: "That's right. The Japanese pirates have been harassing Jiangnan constantly, and last year the Grand Canal was blocked, so the transportation of grain from the south to the north was blocked. The Liaodong army's grain is all southern grain, so it would be strange if there is no shortage."

"Oh, I have to maneuver and maneuver, and I have to work very hard to ensure that you can get 30 kilograms of rice every month."

Commander Fu gritted his teeth and begged humbly: "My two superiors. More than 5,000 brothers are looking forward to my return with food and money. Please be kind and give me some more or less." Liang Wude said: "Well, I have to think about it, plan and make arrangements. You should go back to Dingliao Youwei and wait for the news."

Lin Shisan was watching from the side and felt quite sad. He asked Commander Fu: "Your last name is Fu, but is it the Fu of Yingdi?"

Commander Fu replied: "Yes. My ancestor is Fu Youde."

Duke Ying Fu Youde was sentenced to death by his brother Hongwu, but his eldest son Fu Zhong married Princess Shouchun, and his grandson survived.

During the Yongle reign, although Emperor Chengzu did not overturn Fu Youde's verdict, he was very sympathetic to this founding hero and allowed his descendants to serve in the army.

Over the past hundred years, the Fu family has flourished, and many of them have held important positions in the Ming army in various places.

Lin Shisan felt very sympathetic towards Commander Fu: he was a descendant of a founding hero and a fierce general of the border army, but he had to bow down to a corrupt official for food and money. How pitiful.

Thinking of this, Lin Shisan said to Liang Wude, "Since he has come all the way here, we can't let him go back empty-handed."

Lin Shisan still has more face.

Liang Wude said: "Fu Yanzong, although my government office is short of money, the imperial envoy has spoken, so I will think of a way."

"How about this, I'll give you five thousand taels of military pay. Doctor Lu, you also give him one thousand dan of grain."

Commander Fu frowned and said, "Just one month's salary and one month's rations?"

Liang Wude said angrily: "If you think it's too little, you don't have to give it up. Just go back empty-handed."

Commander Fu said, "Without food and money, when the Eastern Mongolian tribes invade, how can the morale of our Ding Liao You Wei be maintained? There will be chaos by then."

Liang Wude said coldly: "That has nothing to do with me. The Dingliao Right Guard was defeated, and it was you, the commander, who got your head chopped off, not mine."

Commander Fu pounded his chest hard with his hand and said, "Forget it. Can you deliver five thousand taels of silver and one thousand dan of rice immediately?"

Liang Wude called a clerk and ordered him, "Take Fu Yanzong to hand over the grain and wages."

Commander Fu left angrily.

Liang Wude said, "Foster father, excuse me. These border soldiers are just a bunch of fools. You must not bother with them."

Lu Xing said, "That's right. They are a bunch of reckless people. What else do they know except asking us for food and money? They don't know the rules of officialdom at all."

"Just like Fu Yanzong just now. If he had sent us some ice and charcoal in winter and summer, we wouldn't have strangled him so badly."

Lin Shisan hated Liang Wude and Lu Xing to the core: the soldiers of the border army defended the country and fought the Tatars to their death, but these two bastards delayed the payment of military pay and rations.

Everyone knows that the delayed military pay was embezzled by them to lend money at interest, and the military rations were sold by them to make a profit.

No wonder Shen Liangong was determined to overthrow Yan at the risk of his life.

At noon, the three of them went to the dining hall to eat. This meal would probably cost several hundred soldiers a month's wages.

Lin Shisan felt a little ashamed and said, "Don't serve bear paws, deer fetuses, and the like for meals in the future. I'm tired of eating these delicacies at the Grand Councilor's Mansion."

"Isn't the silly roe deer a specialty of Liaodong? I like eating roe deer meat. I'll grill some roe deer meat and some Liaohe fish for dinner in the future."

At this moment, a servant came into the dining room and said, "Sir, Manager Hu from Xingde Commercial Bank is here to hand in this month's accounts."

Liang Wude said, "Tell him to wait in my study. I will go over after I have dinner with the imperial envoy."

Lin Shisan asked: "What is this De Commercial Bank?"

Liang Wude smiled and said, "It is a business that I opened with my brother Lu. We do grain, loan and fur business in Liaodong. We took one character from my name and one character from my brother Lu's name as the name of the business, 'Xingde'."

Lin Shisan thought: It seems that the delayed military pay and rations have allowed them to make money from this business. I can investigate them and start from this business.

Thinking of this, Lin Shisan said, "You two know that my father, ah, your grandfather, is a businessman."

"Liaodong furs are very popular in Beijing. My father wants to open a fur shop in Beijing."

"How about letting me meet the owner of Xingde Trading Company and discuss business?"

Liang Wude was eager to have business dealings with Lin Shisan.

Liang Wude said: "If Mr. Gan wants to do fur business in Beijing, I guarantee that he will make a profit!"

"The furs from Liaodong are very cheap. The Jianzhou Jurchens have no money to pay taxes, so they use furs to pay taxes."

"For example, a top-quality black bear skin that sells for 200 taels of silver in the capital can only be used to offset taxes with 10 taels of silver. The Jianzhou Jurchens handed the bear skins over to the government, and I asked Xingde Commercial Bank to buy them for 10 taels of silver."

"Those barbarians are good at hunting, but they are experts."

As an aside, when Nurhaci started his rebellion in later generations, he mentioned the "Seven Great Hates". This hatred did not come out of thin air.

It is true that during the Jiajing period, the Liaodong government exploited the Jianzhou Jurchens. On the other hand, during the Jin Dynasty, the Jurchens also cruelly exploited the northern Han people. We can only say that history is a cycle.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Then I will take advantage of your two adopted sons and start a fur business. I will go to the study with you guys later."

After dinner, Lin Shisan followed the two of them to the study.

The shopkeeper of Xingde Commercial Bank is named Xu, and he is an expert at calculating.

Shopkeeper Xu held the account book in his hand, looked at Lin Shisan, then at Liang Wude, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Liang Wude said, "Lin Chuanfeng is my adoptive father. We are all family. You don't have to hide it. Just tell me."

Shopkeeper Xu said, "This month, the three businesses of grain, money lending, and furs have brought in a total profit of 9,645 taels and 3 cents."

“This is the detailed account.”

After saying this, Shopkeeper Xu handed over the account book.

Lin Shisan thought to himself: Nine thousand six taels a month, more than one hundred thousand taels a year. My two bastard sons keep saying that Liaodong is a barren land.

Even in this barren land, they were able to fleece the sheep until sparks appeared, and scrape the ground until a layer of oil appeared.

Liang Wude took the account book and flipped through it.

Lin Shisan said, "Shopkeeper Xu, how much did you earn from fur goods this month?"

Lin Shisan deliberately stated that he was only interested in the fur business, and did not even ask about the lending or grain business.

Shopkeeper Xu looked at Liang Wude.

Liang Wude cursed, "You old fool. I told you that my foster father is a family member. What's there to hide?"

Shopkeeper Xu said, "The fur business has made a profit of 2,500 taels this month."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I'm going to go to Xingde Commercial Bank this afternoon to see how the fur business is done. How about that?"

(End of this chapter)