Dugong

Chapter 36 Taking office
According to the account books recorded by Xiaoluzi, there were nine people who embezzled more than 100,000 taels of silver.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that there are only nine corrupt officials in the Tribute Bureau, but these are the ones Xiaoluzi has seen, heard, and come into contact with.

Perhaps there are still hidden corrupt officials who act cautiously and never reveal any traces.

Li Ping'an crossed out the corrupt officials with deep backgrounds. Three of them had close ties with Grandpa Gan, and the other three had direct access to the Imperial Household Department.

The remaining four corrupt officials each have their own characteristics. Some are responsible for certain things, while others have clever means and can bring benefits to the Tribute Bureau.

For example, there was a eunuch named Xiao Yuzi, who had a pair of clever words and could talk a lot. He made the officials who came to pay tribute from all over the country dizzy and willingly send more tribute.

The tributes outside these accounts, after deducting the cost of replenishing losses, became the profit of the Tribute Bureau.

The money was resold to merchants outside the palace, and everyone got a share of the profits. Among them, Xiao Yuzi contributed the most, so naturally he got the most.

"This guy can't move for now!"

Li Ping'an had a shallow foundation when he took office, which harmed the interests of all the eunuchs under his command, and it would be difficult for him to keep his position in the future.

The other two responsible persons were involved in the Seal and Ribbon Bureau and the Shangyi Bureau. They were not sure whether they had bigger backers behind them, so they could not act rashly.

The only last eunuch, Dong, was the adopted son of the former eunuch Lu. He relied on this relationship to resell silver noodles at will and embezzled at least hundreds of thousands of taels over a period of more than ten years.

The most important thing is that Eunuch Dong didn’t even share the money he embezzled with Grandpa Gan!
This is suitable for making an example of someone.

Eunuch Yuan was surprised and said, "Eunuch An, our family loves to investigate small officials who are extremely corrupt. You tell us the number, and we will use the coffin book to make up for it."

We dare not investigate the serious corruption of high-ranking officials, and we have no credit for the minor corruption of small officials. Only the major corruption of small officials is the easiest to investigate.

Li Pingan reminded him, "Eunuch Dong did embezzle tens of thousands of taels, but most of it was given as tribute to Eunuch Lu, so the full amount cannot be found in cash."

"Hehehe, Eunuch An, you don't understand this."

Eunuch Yuan's lips curled slightly. "We're investigating corruption, not stolen goods. We just need solid evidence to get Eunuch Dong to confess his guilt and sign his name. Recovering the stolen goods is the job of others."

Most of the stolen silver that Eunuch Dong embezzled was turned into the imperial treasury after Eunuch Lu committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but one portion of the stolen silver could be used to earn him two merits.

One time, the Internal Affairs Bureau handed over the stolen silver, and the other time, Eunuch Yuan tracked down a corrupt official.

Each one has his own merits and they do not affect each other.

……

The next day.

Tribute Department.

It is located at the northernmost end of the imperial palace, next to the north gate, making it convenient for eunuchs on duty to go out and discuss tribute matters with local officials.

Today is the day when the new director takes office. Eunuchs of all ranks in the department are waiting at the door early, looking forward to it.

Everyone had already inquired that the new person in charge was Admiral Liu's grandson, who could be said to be the most legitimate faction in the Imperial Kitchen.

According to past practice, new officials must kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.

Except for a few eunuchs who were proud of their background, everyone else was nervous, fearing that they would become a warning to others.

It's approaching noon.

Two figures came closer and closer, talking and laughing, seemingly with a close relationship.

Both of them were wearing blue official robes, and it was difficult to tell which one was the new boss. Among them, a well-informed eunuch knew that the eunuch in charge had a round face.

Several eunuchs hurried forward, slightly bending their legs from a distance, and kneeling on the ground when they got close.

Li Ping'an didn't even look at it and went straight into the tribute department with Eunuch Yuan.

When I arrived at the main office, the furnishings were similar to those in my godfather's office, with two armchairs in the front and four pairs of mahogany guest chairs on the left and right.

Paintings and calligraphy of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are hung on the wall, implying noble character.

"Eunuch Yuan, please."

"Eunuch An, please." Li Ping'an walked forward slowly and sat down on the armchair. He had sat on many similar chairs before, but this one was particularly comfortable and refreshing.

The eunuchs waiting outside bowed and followed Li Ping'an in. After Li Ping'an sat down, they all knelt down and kowtowed.

"Meet the Master!"

"Everyone, get up."

Li Ping'an suppressed his excitement and tried to imitate his godfather's calm demeanor, a veteran of officialdom, as he introduced the man: "This is Eunuch Yuan, the Chief Supervisor, in charge of investigating corruption!"

The room was suddenly silent, and the sound of the violent beating of the heart could be clearly heard.

There were a few timid guys who collapsed to the ground, then quickly stood up and knelt, fearing that they would offend Eunuch An and be dragged out for severe punishment.

Li Pingan glanced at the crowd and said, "We invited Eunuch Yuan here because we heard there's a corrupt official in the Ministry of Tributes. We must investigate and find out what's going on. Your Majesty's grace will not be in vain!"

Eunuch Yuan continued, "You can report on each other. Those who have made contributions to the fight against corruption may have their charges reduced or exempted."

Everyone looked at each other, unable to understand what the two eunuchs meant, and could only remain silent.

"Since no one is talking, we have to make a list."

Li Pingan took out a scroll from his sleeve, which was as thick as a thumb, opened the first page and read: "Little Mencius, I received 1,500 taels from the governor of Lingnan Prefecture, and allowed medium-grade taro to pass off as high-grade.

Which one is Little Mencius? Did we say something wrong?

As soon as he finished speaking, a eunuch in his twenties crawled out from the crowd, knelt in front of Li Ping'an and kowtowed.

"Please spare my life, eunuch, please spare my life..."

Li Pingan reminded him: "Eunuch Yuan is investigating corruption in person, so our family can't spare his life. However, you can report other people. If the amount exceeds 1,500 taels, you can be exempted from punishment!"

Little Mengzi suddenly turned around and looked at his colleague whom he could see every time he looked up.

Some people looked at him fiercely, threatening Xiao Mencius not to say anything, while others pleaded silently, hoping that Xiao Mencius would not report him for the sake of their past friendship.

Li Pingan urged: "If you don't tell me, we will send you to the capital."

"My Lord..."

To protect himself, Little Mengzi gritted his teeth and said, "Little Ruizi also accepted bribes from the Lingnan prefect, using fish sauce to impersonate oyster sauce. He took at least two thousand taels."

Li Ping'an raised his eyebrows. It turned out to be new evidence of a crime. This matter was not recorded in Xiaoluzi's book.

"Who is Xiao Ruizi? Is what he said true?"

Xiao Ruizi crawled out of the crowd and looked at Xiao Mengzi with a cold and fierce look. Normally, the two of them had a best relationship, and he was the only one he had talked about the oil consumption issue.

"Master, we also want to report..."

This time, without Li Ping'an's urging, Xiao Ruizi directly reported his colleague, a eunuch named Xiao Dezi, for secretly selling tribute venison.

Xiao Dezi followed suit and reported Xiao Daizi for selling inferior products as good ones and accepting bribes.

Mutual reporting should not be started. Once a chain reaction is formed, everyone will be in danger and can only choose to report others to protect themselves.

Li Ping'an was amazed when he heard this. The Tribute Bureau had various means of corruption. It could be said that all the means of making money could be seen here.

"Your Majesty, how pitiful! The tribute had to be passed through the hands of the eunuchs first, and you can only pick up the leftovers and eat them..."

Thinking of this, I feel even more satisfied with this job.

Li Ping'an waved his hand to stop the eunuchs from reporting, and said in a cold voice: "How dare you all deceive us, talking about trivial matters. Is it possible that there are no corrupt officials or even big corrupt officials in the Ministry of Tributes?"

Eunuch Yuan said, "As long as we investigate and punish this corrupt official, we will let the others off the hook."

Xiao Mengzi and others were silent for a while, looked at each other, and seemed to have made some kind of decision, and they rushed to speak.

"Master, we are reporting Xiao Yuzi..."

(End of this chapter)