Dugong

Chapter 38 Three Sons
Xiao Yuzi is twenty-three years old, with a mature face, looking like he is in his thirties. He kneels in front of Li Pingan like a father worshipping his son.

However, the word "godfather" was called very sincerely and kindly.

"Hey, good job."

Li Pingan agreed, "Tomorrow you will go to the clerk's office and take charge. Record all the accounts clearly. Don't miss a single thing!"

Xiao Yuzi took back the remaining banknotes, with an expression of surprise on his face.

No wonder the godfather was able to hold an important position at such a young age, was not tempted by tens of thousands of taels of silver, and arranged important tasks for his godson.

"Godfather, I will do my job well. If anyone dares to embezzle, I will find him and punish him severely."

"Just write down the corrupt officials and use them when punishment is needed."

Li Pingan said earnestly, "We are new here, and the entire tribute department can only rely on you. Please don't let us down!"

With tears in his eyes, Xiao Yuzi kowtowed so hard that his forehead bled.

"I am willing to die for my godfather!"

"Good good."

Li Pingan patted his son's shoulder and said, "From now on, we are one as father and son. If your godfather stutters, I will never let you go hungry."

Xiao Yuzi was inexplicably moved and bowed and retreated with excitement.

"Hehehe, our family has finally become a big shot who can adopt a son!"

Li Ping'an laughed triumphantly, stretched out his foot and rubbed it on the ground to wipe off the blood, picked up the tea, blew away the hot steam, and took a sip.

Even if the tea is cold, the procedures and rules cannot be violated in the slightest!

I waited about a quarter of an hour.

Little Mencius peeked into the master's room and saw Li Ping'an sipping tea leisurely. A look of joy appeared on his face and he trotted over to him.

He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times.

"This servant pays homage to the eunuch."

Li Pingan asked knowingly, "Why are you looking for us so late at night instead of going back to rest?"

Little Mengzi wiped the tears from his eyes and said sincerely, "Father-in-law, I heard that you don't have a godfather. My parents died early. If you don't mind, I want to be your son!"

Li Pingan said, "My son is only thirteen years old, much younger than you. It's not appropriate for him to be your godfather, right?"

"It's suitable, very suitable. As the saying goes, a son is never too young, and our ancestor has many older adopted sons under his command."

Little Mengzi wanted to give it a try, but when he saw that he had a chance to become his godfather, he knelt down and took a few steps forward, hugging Li Ping'an's thighs.

"I've been hanging around in the palace for years, but haven't been able to secure a position. I need a young and promising godfather like you to give me some advice. You're really taking advantage of me!"

Li Pingan said, "Since you are so sincere, we will accept you."

"My son greets his godfather."

Little Mengzi kowtowed loudly, and the ground stained red with blood from his forehead happened to be the same place where little Yuzi had kowtowed just now.

Li Pingan said, "Tomorrow you will be in charge of the warehouse. Remember to do your job well and reduce leaks."

"Don't worry, godfather. I will keep a close eye on it."

The corners of little Mengzi's mouth curled up involuntarily. He had known for a long time that having a godfather would bring benefits, but he had never been so surprised.

The warehouse stores tributes from all over the country, and even if it is just temporary storage, it is easy to make money.

Li Pingan patted Little Mengzi on the shoulder and said, "We are new here. You are the only one in the entire tribute department worthy of trust. Please don't let us down."

Little Mengzi said in a deep voice: "I have always been cautious in my work, please rest assured, godfather."

"Go down."

Li Ping'an waved his hand and looked at little Mengzi's back, his expression suddenly becoming gloomy.

"Hmph, no wonder he's still a little eunuch after all these years. He didn't even bring any gifts when he became his godfather. How can he make progress if he doesn't know how to be sensible?" He stretched out his foot to wipe the blood off the ground, then continued to sip his tea and waited for the next person.

There are dozens or even hundreds of eunuchs in the Tribute Department, and there are definitely more than just these two who want to climb up. Now that they are in need of people, they will recruit them regardless of their quality.

After completely controlling the Tribute Department, he would replace them one by one with useful and obedient servants.

As for those eliminated adopted sons, they were naturally left to Eunuch Yuan to make meritorious deeds, which was also a way of making use of waste.

Li Ping'an followed his godfather's advice and treated the eunuchs under his command as tools, using them more if they were useful and discarding them if they were not.

Didn't have to wait long.

Xiao Dezi came to the main office stealthily, afraid that his tracks would be discovered by his colleagues, so he kowtowed as soon as he entered the door.

Li Ping'an raised his eyebrows. Eunuch Xu really taught the rules well. Everyone regarded kowtow as a skill to make a living.

"When you have time, go pay your respects to Eunuch Xu. So many people in the palace have been taught the rules by him. If this kindness is used well, it will be a huge help!"

……

The news that Eunuch An had adopted three adopted sons quickly spread throughout the Tribute Department.

The three adopted sons were responsible for the clerk's office, the inspection office, and the storage room respectively. It could be said that they controlled the key positions where tributes entered the palace. Although they were few in number and had little power, at least they were no longer blind.

Among them, Xiao Yuzi was the most loyal. He kowtowed to the emperor every morning and evening and served him wholeheartedly.

While enjoying the service of his godsons, Li Ping'an did not forget his mission in the Tribute Department and ordered his three godsons to pay special attention to several tributes.

Donkey hide gelatin, bird's nest, snow frog, Poria cocos paste...

They are all excellent meals for maintaining pregnancy and replenishing qi. Since Princess Yuan is about to give birth, she will definitely use them.

These tribute items are produced in various places, such as the golden bird's nest from Lingnan and the blood bird's nest from Dongyang. Another example is the Poria cocos paste that strengthens the spleen and stabilizes pregnancy, which is produced in Tiannan and Yuexi.

Princess Yuan was aware of the conspiracy of the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor, so she would not dare to take the pregnancy-maintaining food at will, and would only let the Zhang family send it to the palace.

Li Ping'an only needs to carefully observe the ins and outs of these tributes, and he can follow the clues and find the Zhang family's connection with the Tribute Bureau.

"We want to see who is so bold as to ruin the Empress's good deeds!"

Not a few days passed.

Little Yuzi came to the master's room, kowtowed and greeted his godfather when he entered. When he heard his godfather say "get up", he stood up and bowed to report.

"Godfather, we've sorted through our past accounts and discovered that the amounts of ginseng and royal jelly tributed from Northern Xinjiang don't match our inventory."

Li Pingan raised his eyelids and said, "Tell me more about it."

Xiao Yuzi said: "These two tributes are necessary for refining many pills. The palaces draw a lot of them, so it seems difficult to find anything unusual.

However, after careful calculation, I found that the frequency and amount of withdrawals from various places fluctuated within a certain range..."

Although he could understand all the words, Li Pingan still had some difficulty understanding them when they were spoken together.

"Just tell me the result."

"Reporting to Godfather, the amount of money that the Fire God Temple has withdrawn from the True Man's boy in the past two months has increased by 50% compared to the previous few years."

Xiao Yuzi added, "We've asked someone and found out that Master Xiang is not refining any more Xuanyuan Pills than before."

Li Pingan asked, "So you took the tribute from the Immortal but didn't make the elixir, but used it elsewhere?"

"Nine times out of ten."

Xiao Yuzi said, "Master Xiang has been refining pills for many years and has mastered the technique. Xuanyuan Pills are not a complicated pill, so it's impossible for them to consume 50% more of the medicine out of thin air!"

"You did a great job."

Li Ping'an took out a pearl from his sleeve and put it into Gan'er's hand.

"This is the South Pearl bestowed by our ancestors. We give it to you as a reward. Continue to track down the whereabouts of the tribute and find the big borer hiding in the Tribute Department for His Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)