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

Chapter 234 Big Brother, you're pretty cunning!
Two days later, Big Snot Bubble Street, Keyun Restaurant.

The restaurant's business was clearly not doing well. The name "Ke Yun" was simply meant to convey the auspicious wish of "guests coming like clouds." However, at the time of day when people were drawing to a close for dinner, the sky inside the restaurant was completely cloudless.

Inside a private room on the second floor, two young men, one thin and one fat, around sixteen or seventeen years old, were drinking together.

The thinner one had a pair of large, bright eyes that gleamed with intelligence. His name was Luo Sigong, a Tangtie Xiaowei (a military rank) in the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He was a subordinate of Sun Yue's subordinates, one of the two thousand informants of the Northern Garrison within the capital.

The fat one had a憨厚 (honest and simple) look on his face, and was gnawing on a chicken leg with his mouth dripping with oil. This person was a third-class servant in Xu Jie's residence, named Qin Pang'er.

Luo Sigong laughed and said, "It's been a long time since we've seen each other. Don't just eat the food, come on, let's drink! I'll fill your glass."

Qin Pang'er sighed, "Alas, we brothers grew up together, but our fates are so different. If my father hadn't been involved in a lawsuit that year and had his family property confiscated, he might have even donated a membership card for me in the Imperial Guard."

"Why should I bother going to the Prime Minister's mansion to become a servant?"

After saying that, Fatty Qin picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

Luo Sigong laughed and said, "You can't say that. What's so good about being a clerk in the Embroidered Uniform Guard? You get up earlier than the rooster and go to bed later than the rooster."

“They receive a meager monthly salary, yet they risk their lives to do things.”

"And there's still no hope of advancement. Of all the appointments on the register, only one in a hundred is truly successful!"

“You’re different. As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official can rise to a high position in front of the prime minister’s gate. If you work hard in the prime minister’s residence, you might become the gatekeeper of the Xu family in a few years.”

“When high-ranking officials or ministers from the Six Ministries visit Grand Secretary Xu’s residence, they all give him a few taels of silver as a gift.”

After saying that, Luo Sigong poured Qin Pang'er another cup of wine. He looked at Qin Pang'er with a smile.

In fact, he already saw his childhood friend, who was unusually fat, as a stepping stone to climb higher.

Luo Sigong kept urging him to drink, and Qin Pang'er drank heartily while complaining.

Gradually, Qin Pang'er, weakened by the alcohol, began to ramble on incoherently: "I've had my eye on Widow Xu from Blood Hemorrhoid Alley since I was thirteen."

Luo Sigong laughed and said, "Widow Xu is ten years older than you."

Qin Pang'er waved his chubby hand: "What do you know? A woman three years older brings good fortune, a woman six years older brings two good fortunes, a woman nine years older brings three good fortunes. A woman ten years older, it's not too late to marry her!"

"But now I work as a servant in the Xu household. They say I'm a servant of the Prime Minister's mansion, but in reality, I just pick up cat and dog poop in the backyard. I deal with cat and dog poop every day."

"He only earns nine hundred coins a month. And that's after deducting his food expenses at the mansion. When will he ever be able to marry Widow Xu?"

Luo Sigong slammed his hand on the table: "Ahem! As the saying goes, a divine bird either doesn't fly at all, or it soars into the sky. You are that fat divine bird with a bright future, destined to soar into the sky!"

"Waiter, another pot of wine, and a larger bowl!"

Qin Pang'er dissuaded him, saying, "Don't serve any more wine. I know your monthly salary is limited."

Luo Sigong said, "I'm treating my childhood friend to a drink, would I be stingy with the money! Waiter, bring the best wine and two big bowls!"

Luo Sigong then forced Qin Pang'er to drink two more large bowls of wine. He saw that Qin Pang'er was already quite drunk and that if he drank any more, he would probably pass out.

Then this meal was a waste of money.

Luo Sigong finally asked the question his superior most wanted to know: "Fatty, I heard that you recently got six red-eared snow foxes in your back garden? Those are rare and exotic beasts from the deep mountains of Liaodong."

"Young Grand Secretary, you're truly resourceful. You managed to get six of them at once. Where did you get them from?"

Qin Pang'er thought for a moment and said, "That, that's us, our young master wrote a letter and asked, asked someone to get some dangerous mountain meatballs dipped in soybean paste, to get, to get it."

Luo Sigong asked in confusion, "Mixed meatballs with soybean paste? You mean the garrison commander? The six foxes that the young Grand Secretary asked the garrison commander of Xianshan to bring over?"

Qin Pang'er nodded: "It seems so." After saying that, he passed out drunk.

Luo Sigong stood up and slapped a few pieces of silver on the table: "Waiter, the bill is due. My friend is sleeping here for a while. When he wakes up, tell him that the bill has been settled and that he has to go."

Every officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard dreams of being registered on the official register. Lin Shisan had this dream more than a decade ago. Luo Sigong has it now.

Recently, we were assigned a task by our superiors: to have our spies in the Northern Division inquire about the origins of the red-eared snow fox in the Xu household.

Luo Sigong heard that Deputy Commander Sun of the Northern Division was quite concerned about this matter.

Who is Deputy Commander Sun? He is the third-in-command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the apprentice of the Thirteenth Master, the head of the Northern Division.

If I could find out the truth about this matter before my colleagues and report it to Deputy Commander Sun, he would be pleased and say a few good words to the Thirteenth Prince. Wouldn't my official credentials then have a chance of being officially registered?
Luo Sigong could not hide the excitement on his face and jogged towards the direction of the Northern Garrison.

That night, at the Lin family's old house in Goujibo Hutong.

Lin Shisan was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard when Sun Yue strode in: "Master, we've figured out where those six foxes came from."

Lin Shisan corrected him, saying, "We're at home. Call me Big Brother. Fu'er, quickly bring a stool for your Uncle Pang."

Fu'er happily brought over a stool. Sun Yue sat down and said, "Those six red-eared snow foxes were obtained by Xu Fan after he wrote a letter to Li Chengliang, the military commander of Xianshan."

Lin Shisan asked in surprise, "Li Chengliang?"

Li Chengliang was an old acquaintance of Lin Shisan. During the Jiajing era, Lin Shisan met Li Chengliang when he went to Liaodong to search for the Hundred Flowers Immortal Wine.

Li Chengliang was skilled at leading troops in battle, but even more adept at navigating interpersonal relationships.

He was the same kind of person as Qi Jiguang, and he knew that if he wanted to serve the country and fight on the battlefield for a long time, he had to find a powerful backer in the imperial court.

It's good to have a big tree to lean on for shade, and it's good to have someone in the court for an official position.

Therefore, when high-ranking officials and their sons in the capital wrote to him asking him to procure some local specialties from Liaodong, Old Li always treated it as an important matter.

Lin Shisan slapped his thigh: "I've got it!"

Sun Yue said, "What? My master's wife, oh no, my sister-in-law, is pregnant again."

Lin Shisan shook his head: "Don't talk nonsense. I've got a way to deal with Xu Fan."

"I'm asking you, who is Li Chengliang?"

Sun Yue replied, "The garrison commander of Xianshan is a third-rank military officer in the Liaodong border army."

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "The son of the Grand Secretary privately mobilized border troops to help him capture Red-eared Snow Foxes. What crime is that? In the Ming Dynasty, a subject's unauthorized mobilization of troops is considered treason and an attempt to rebel!"

"Whatever the purpose of troop deployment!"

Sun Yue frowned: "Mobilize the border troops? The information I've gathered is that Xu Fan only wrote a letter to Li Chengliang, asking him to keep an eye out for red-eared snow foxes. If found, send them to the capital."

"The letter didn't seem to mention anything about mobilizing the border troops."

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "Have you forgotten what the Embroidered Uniform Guard's specialty is? Framing!"

"What letter to Li Chengliang? That's clearly a troop mobilization order!"

"In order to keep the treacherous young Grand Secretary in check, Li Chengliang secretly sent people to capture the snow fox and send it to the capital. At the same time, he secretly reported the matter to the Northern Garrison Command."

"He also handed over Xu Fan's troop mobilization order to Lin Shisan, the Northern Garrison Commander. Is that right, my chubby second brother?"

Sun Yue slapped his forehead, then gave a thumbs up: "Brother, you're pretty cunning!"

"If there's no fabricated troop mobilization order, we can forge one. That way, we'll have physical evidence."

“Li Chengliang is an acquaintance of yours and is on your side. There are witnesses to prove it.”

(End of this chapter)