From street beggar to high-ranking official

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Chengdu experienced a rare winter rain, causing markets to close early and streets to be deserted.

"Our family won't have time to go back to the capital for the New Year," Lu Li couldn't help but think.

The thought of missing out on a year's worth of New Year's Day bonus made him feel uneasy, no matter how much money he made in Chengdu.

We don't care about a few extra taels of silver, but we'll be very particular about a few less!

During this period, Prefect Wen sent people to collect tea tax. Faced with wave after wave of legitimate extortion, the people dared not speak out in anger. Lu, an official, also accompanied him and witnessed the various tax levies, which broadened his horizons.

For example, they had a whole set of tricks up their sleeves to extort money, such as tea money, peace money, cleaning fees, and New Year's money.

It seems that because it involves his political career, Prefect Wen is particularly concerned, and his subordinates are even more ruthless in squeezing money from him. The people dare not speak out against the military buildup.

Upon seeing this, Lu Li was especially relieved, for thankfully his family was not ordinary citizens.

As for sympathy?

Eunuchs had a terrible reputation among the people.

At first, Lu Li did feel some sympathy, but when the commoners saw him dressed as a eunuch, their pitiful expressions turned into hidden anger and hatred. Lu Li's pity was instantly exhausted, and he directly cursed, "It's not like we're stealing your money, why are you glaring at us?"

They still dare to glare at us? They must not have gotten all the money yet. We'll have to come back another day and collect all the money by the 24th year of Yongxi.

During this period, Lu Li was in charge of supervising the local military. He had learned before that the tea tax in Shu was divided into two parts: silver and tea leaves. The silver could be collected in time, but the tea leaves could not be collected from the people.

Ordinary people had no use for storing tea leaves and tea bricks; most of them were sold to pawnshops, taverns, and caravans, and only a few circulated in the market.

Therefore, Prefect Wen sent people to buy from the Zhou family, since the Zhou family accounted for 30% of the tribute tea around Chengdu Prefecture, and the missing tea could be made up.

Lu Li kept this matter in mind, but he still couldn't guess what the Zhou family head would do.

The letter sent by the godfather did not explicitly instruct the Zhou family to do anything; it was merely a reminder, even if that reminder was actually a kind of inclination.

At the same time, he gradually figured out Qian Gonggong's attitude towards him.

Eunuch Qian was ordered to collect tea tax and check the accounts. The accounts could be faked, but the tea tax was incomplete. No matter how perfect the accounts were, they were just empty talk. No matter how much money he squeezed from the common people, he could not make up the missing tea.

Therefore, the only option is to connect with established families.

The Zhou family was the only option.

There are other prominent families in Chengdu Prefecture, but most of them are branches or remnants. The other prominent families in Shu are located in other prefectures and states. Moreover, the tea fields under the names of the other prominent families combined cannot compare with those of the Zhou family.

"In my opinion, the Zhou family may be cooperating with the Prince Consort on the surface, but we don't yet know how big the hole he created by embezzling tea leaves is. Eunuch Qian may know, but we shouldn't ask until Eunuch Qian speaks up."

Lu Li had already realized his position.

While it may seem that Eunuch Qian is using Eunuch Chen's connections to get in touch with the Zhou family, in reality, he is now on the same side as the Zhou family.

The Zhou family has already taken action in secret; what they need to do is to obtain solid evidence of the prince consort's embezzlement.

This is the hidden meaning in Eunuch Chen's letter, but there is still one thing that Lu Li is not clear about. Putting aside whether the newly established aristocratic family can face the army of a prefecture, why did Eunuch Chen take action against the prince consort?

At first, I thought my godfather was just a minor official in the palace. Later, I realized that he could influence the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. Then I was astonished to find that he was suspected of being involved in politics within the inner palace, and this remains the case to this day...

They even dared to secretly harm the prince consort.

Perhaps only a superintendent general could possess such power.

"We should inquire about our godfather's deeds properly later," Lu Li pondered.

......

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, light rain continued for three days.

Lu and his colleagues stayed in the storeroom of the Prince Consort's mansion. After checking the accounts, they counted the tea in catties one by one. After the final reconciliation, they found that the amount of tea owed was more than 80,000 catties short compared to the amount actually received.

The sheer number is staggering.

It should be noted that Chengdu Prefecture only produces about 200,000 catties of tea throughout the year. Upon learning of this account, Eunuch Qian's face immediately turned ashen.

A few thousand catties of tea is manageable; a sweep of Chengdu Prefecture would easily provide enough. Tens of thousands of catties of tea could be emptied of the tea market to fill the gap. But this is eighty thousand catties.

It's already the end of the year, and the tea harvest for the whole year has long been over. Even with the losses incurred during transportation, plus the support from surrounding prefectures and states, it's still possible that the losses won't be recovered.

Moreover, this is only the surface-level account.

The Tea and Horse Bureau's warehouse had no tea stored from previous years, and the tea harvest in Sichuan was not as poor as it was this year due to natural disasters. The actual amount embezzled by the prince consort would only be greater than what was recorded in the accounts.

On that day, Eunuch Qian ordered all the eunuchs not to leak the news. That afternoon, Eunuch Qian led everyone to find the Imperial Son-in-Law Ouyang Luntai in a great hurry.

"Prince Consort Ouyang, how many more private treasuries do you have?" Eunuch Qian asked directly.

"Apart from the manor's treasury, there is nothing else..." Ouyang Luntai, a handsome man with a scholarly air, couldn't help but ask, "Eunuch Qian, is it really that serious?"

Even Lu, who was listening quietly from the side, couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with the son-in-law's brain—the situation was already extremely urgent.

Eunuch Qian laughed hastily: "The Great Qian Law clearly states that embezzling a thousand catties of gold is punishable by death, and the family members shall be exiled a thousand miles away. Although it is said that the law does not apply to high-ranking officials, Ouyang, you have embezzled far too much."

Ouyang Luntai was also somewhat resentful. He had been secretly in charge of the Tea and Horse Bureau for five years. Even though he was not allowed to interfere with the duties of local officials in name, his imperial decree and status alone made many high-ranking officials with real power willing to befriend him.

But these people are focused on their special status rather than their own power.

He was originally a top-ranking scholar in the imperial examinations and had a promising official career. However, because he married a princess, he was barred from entering officialdom. It should be known that interference in politics by the emperor's relatives was a major problem. Thus, he became a powerful but powerless imperial son-in-law.

Aside from receiving a salary, Ouyang Luntai had little opportunity to utilize his talents.

Later, Emperor Yongxi sent Ouyang Luntai with an imperial decree to provide disaster relief and transport grain, which allowed him to realize his ambitions. Although he had no real power, he had already gained a good reputation.

Ke Ren's ambition was boundless, and Ouyang Luntai was gradually distorted by his desire for power, until he came to Sichuan to supervise the tea tax.

At first, Ouyang Luntai did not dare to embezzle tea taxes, but seeing that the Tea Horse Bureau's treasury had a surplus, and seeing that the Tea Horse Bureau's ambassador and Prefect Wen were both embezzling, he began to have some ideas.

Originally, he was just secretly trading, but the money came too slowly, and there were middlemen taking a cut. So his ambition and resentment grew, until he secretly took control of the Chengdu Tea and Horse Bureau. Only then did he feel like a real official, and subsequently, his greed intensified...

In previous years, nothing happened. If it weren't for the severe drought that caused the fire, nothing would have happened this time.

"Ouyang Luntai!"

The eunuch's words jolted the prince consort out of his reverie. He frowned and asked, "Were you even listening to me?"

Ouyang Luntai then came to his senses and immediately expressed his thoughts: "It's not beyond repair. The Zhou family in Chengdu owns countless tea fields, and that fire didn't reach them. Buying tea from the Zhou family might be a way to salvage the situation."

"Even if I can't fill all the holes, even if I end up short by several thousand taels, I'll accept it," Ouyang Luntai said earnestly.

"It's good that the Prince Consort is aware of this." Eunuch Qian nodded. "Just in case, the Prince Consort shall drink plain water from today onwards."

Ouyang Luntai was displeased and was about to reprimand him when Eunuch Qian pressed him down into a chair.

"Prince Consort Ouyang, it's already the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. I have received an imperial decree that I must clear up the mess in Chengdu Prefecture before the end of the year." Eunuch Qian said quietly, "I am willing to help you because of His Majesty's benevolence. Don't be ungrateful."

Ouyang Luntai was intimidated by the chilling aura emanating from Eunuch Qian, and for a moment he couldn't bring himself to say a reprimand. He simply nodded and said, "I will go to the Zhou family in person tomorrow."

After Eunuch Qian finished giving his instructions and left the mansion, Ouyang Luntai muttered under his breath, "What's so great about the eunuch faction!"

As for Eunuch Qian, who had just left the Prince Consort's residence, he sneered, "Does he really think he can use the title of Prince Consort as a shield for the rest of his life? A pedant is a pedant, and he'll never change that."

Lu, the clerk standing nearby, stepped forward and asked, "Eunuch Qian, should we strike first?"

After a moment's thought, Eunuch Qian said, "Keep an eye on it. We need to find out where Ouyang Luntai sold the embezzled tea."

Since there is embezzlement, there must be a way to dispose of the stolen goods. Perhaps we could ask Prefect Wen.