Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Lu Chen estimated that in the end, only three or four hundred thousand taels of silver would remain at the Linqing Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But this was still a huge sum of money, much more than the tax silver that the tax collection office sent to the Ministry of Revenue.

As the department directly handling this silver, the Hundred-Household Office of the Customs, including Hundred-Household Officer Shen, Chief Flag Officer Fan, and Lu Chen himself, should be second only to Thousand-Household Officer Gao in the distribution within the Thousand-Household Office.

Lu Chen estimated that he could earn over a thousand taels a month, and during the peak months of July and August, he might even earn more than two thousand taels.

Of course, there wouldn't be any more. After all, the entire Jinyiwei Linqing Thousand-Household Office has more than a thousand people. When officials eat meat, they have to leave some soup for their subordinates.

This only includes the gray income from merchant ships.

There must have been many instances of government grain transport ships, official ships carrying passengers, and civilian ships secretly smuggling goods.

The officers of the Imperial Guard at the Customs Household Office would certainly not let such a chance to make a fortune pass them by!

If they find out, they'll either arrest the person and confiscate the goods, or the owner of the goods will have to pay a bribe.

When the captains received the silver, they would naturally take out a portion to give as tribute to their superiors, including Lu Chen, the captain.

However, getting this money depends on luck. Sometimes you can only get a small amount, but sometimes you might suddenly get a windfall.

The head of the Linqing Thousand-Household Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Customs Office, and the Hundred-Household Office, could earn more than 10,000 taels of silver a year. It was indeed a very lucrative position!

Lu Chen didn't believe Lu Bing was unaware of this.

Since he knew this, the fact that he still placed "Lu Chen" here can only mean that "Lu Chen" is more important to Lu Bing than he originally expected.

That Commander Gao must have seen it immediately.

No wonder he immediately bought this mansion, which is worth at least 30,000 taels of silver!

This is an attempt to curry favor with me while simultaneously flattering Lu Bing, who is far away in the capital!

"Sir, this Western glass cup is in excellent condition, without any flaws."

The butler whispered in Lu Chen's ear,

"A price of 150 taels is fair."

At this moment, Lu Chen was with his steward and several servants in a curio shop in Linqing City.

In the ten days or so after taking office, Lu Chen would go to the yamen of the customs office and the customs gate every morning, and then go home in the afternoon to change into civilian clothes and take a few servants to stroll around the city to observe the people's conditions.

Because his five subordinate officers were undergoing internal personnel adjustments, Commander Shen had no official duties to delegate to Lu Chen.

I couldn't stand being idle in the government office.

Lu Chen thought that he might as well take advantage of this free time to see what money-making projects he could come up with in Linqing Prefecture.

Even if I just coast along every day as long as I'm in this position, I'll still receive all the regular benefits I'm entitled to.

Moreover, it is now the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign, a hundred years away from the chaos of the late Ming Dynasty, so there is no need for me to make any preparations for it.

Emperor Jiajing (Zhu Houcong) reigned for 45 years, second only to his grandson Emperor Wanli (Zhu Yijun) for 48 years in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Throughout the Jiajing reign, the Lu Song and Lu Bing families enjoyed continuous imperial favor.

Even after Lu Bing died in the thirty-ninth year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, the Jiajing Emperor allowed his son Lu Yi to inherit the position of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard).

The Lu family was purged during the Longqing reign.

It's only the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign, and there are still twenty-eight years until the Lu family falls from power.

Since Lu Bing takes such good care of "Lu Chen", in theory, as long as the Lu family doesn't fall, he can continue to live this life of wealth and leisure.

Before the industrial age, an ancient city with a population of one million was definitely a megacity.

In Linqing, this ancient metropolis, as long as you have money, you can enjoy any kind of luxuries.

However, he was ultimately an imposter, not the real "Lu Chen"!