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

Chapter 46 Xu Jie's land holdings actually
Zhao Wenhua hurriedly spoke well of Hu Zongxian in front of Wan Cai: "My brother Ruzhen is full of strategies and understands both civil affairs and military affairs. He has his own comprehensive and careful plan for resisting the Japanese pirates, and he is far-sighted."

Wan Cai waved his hand and interrupted Zhao Wenhua: "If you recommend him to be the prefect of any place, my Ministry of Literature can make its own decision. Except Hangzhou. It is an important city in Jiangnan second only to Yingtian. The elder must give the order."

Yan Maoqing took a sip of tea and said, "Brother Zhao, in my opinion, you should take Censor Hu to see the Lord as soon as possible. As long as he can win the Lord's favor, he will be the prefect of Hangzhou for sure."

Luo Longwen agreed: "Yes, yes, yes. Whatever the Lord likes, you can give it to him as a gift."

Hu Zongxian had a sad face and said nothing.

Zhao Wenhua said, "Alas. Brother Ruzhen originally spent three thousand taels to prepare a good pigeon. But the pigeon was lost. Lin Shisan."

Lin Shisan stood up and bowed: "I am here."

Zhao Wenhua asked anxiously, "Ruzhen asked you to find the pigeon. Have you found any results?"

Lin Shisan told the truth: "There is no clue yet."

Zhao Wenhua cursed: "Waste! What do you do for a living?"

Luo Longwen coughed and said, "My dear Zhao Butang, please don't scold my master in front of me. When you beat a dog, you should look at its owner first."

Luo Longwen seemed to be saying "Lin Shisan is my man", but in fact he was reminding Zhao Wenhua: "Lin Shisan is a member of the Jinyiwei, and his master is Lu Bing."

Zhao Wenhua understood immediately: "Ah, Brother Lin, the situation is urgent, I said something serious, don't take it seriously."

Lin Shisan naturally didn't dare to get angry with the new governor of Zhejiang, but he also couldn't appear to have taken Hu Zongxian's money for nothing. He cupped his hands and said, "I have asked someone to inquire at the aviary in the imperial palace today, and also visited the pigeon-wrapping shops and cooks in the capital."

"The white-feathered bow-tailed pigeon didn't fly into the palace, and it doesn't seem to have been taken away by the hooligans."

Zhao Wenhua said: "Just tell me, how confident are you that you can find it back?"

Lin Shisan spoke the truth: "I told Censor Hu before that the chance of finding it is only 30%."

Zhao Wenhua took a deep breath and said, "That means there is a 70% chance that we won't be able to find the gift that Ruzhen gave to the elder?"

Lin Shisan said, "I would like to ask you to make a suggestion, but I don't know if I should say it or not."

Luo Longwen said: "Master, we are all family here. Just tell us what you want."

Lin Shisan said: "If the white-feathered bow-tailed pigeon cannot be found, it is better to buy another excellent pigeon. I know there is an excellent purple-spotted pigeon in the flower, bird, fish and insect market on Diaobeng Street. Why don't you let Censor Hu buy it?"

"Pah!" Zhao Wenhua immediately put the tea bowl in his hand on the table: "If Ruzhen gives the elder a top-grade purple dot, he will never be promoted again in his life!"

Luo Longwen was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Wenhua asked back: "You like to play with insects, but you don't know the way of pigeons. Do you know what the other name of the top-grade purple dot is?"

Luo Longwen asked: "What's your nickname?"

Zhao Wenhua pointed at Lin Shisan and said, "Let your master tell you."

Lin Shisan said: "The upper beak of the top-quality purple dot is purple, and the lower beak is flesh-colored. Hence, it is also known as 'Mandarin Duck Mouth'."

Zhao Wenhua said angrily, "When Xia Yan was alive, he once mocked the old cabinet member as a mandarin duck in the cabinet duty room. The old cabinet member had a purple spotted cat at the time, and when he returned home, he threw the purple spotted cat to death in a rage."

As the name suggests, "mandarin duck mouth" means saying one thing in front of people and another behind their backs.

Lin Shisan didn't know there was such a story. He quickly said, "I am ignorant. I shouldn't make random suggestions."

Luo Longwen protected Lin Shisan: "Ignorance is not a crime. Our Lord Zhao is very generous and will not blame you."

Zhao Wenhua said: "You still have to work hard to find the white-feathered bow-tailed pigeon. If you find it, I will give you a hundred acres of fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River."

One hundred acres of fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River is worth a thousand taels. Who wouldn’t be tempted?
Zhao Wenhua was very loyal to his "confidant" Hu Zongxian. He spent a lot of money to help Hu Zongxian get the position of prefect of Hangzhou.

Lin Shisan bowed his head and said, "I will do my best."

Luo Longwen coughed and said, "Mr. Zhao, let's get on with the business." After saying this, Luo Longwen winked at Zhao Wenhua and pursed his lips in the direction of Lin Shisan. This "business" was obviously to be passed on to Lu Bing by Lin Shisan.

Zhao Wenhua said, "Yes. This time when I went to Jiangnan, I found out something very big. Our Xu Jie and Xu Ci Fu's hometown is Songjiang."

"Guess how many acres of land the Xu family has in Songjiang?"

A group of Yan Party officials began to act together in front of Lin Shisan, the messenger.

Wan Cai said, "Lord Xu has been an official for 32 years. He has served as a local school official, headed the Hanlin Academy, and served as an official in two ministries. Now that he is the deputy minister, he should be able to accumulate several thousand acres of land, right?"

Zhao Wenhua waved his hand: "You are being petty, aren't you? Everyone, guess again!"

Luo Longwen said: "It must be at least 10,000 acres."

Zhao Wenhua laughed: "Haha, Lao Luo, you are also a person who has never seen the world. Ten thousand acres? Not even a fraction of it."

Zhang Xiang, a doctor in the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, opened his mouth in surprise: "Ten thousand acres is not enough? How much is it?"

Zhao Wenhua finally gave the numbers: "Lord Xu has 170,000 acres of land in Songjiang!"

Lin Shisan was shocked. 170,000 acres? That would cost 1.7 million taels of silver!
Good fellow. Isn't it said that Xu Cifu is a great and wise minister in the court? I'm afraid that even if he served as the cabinet's vice minister for 800 years, he would not be able to accumulate 170,000 acres of land.

Where did the land come from?

Zhao Wenhua's eyes swept across Lin Shisan's face, which was filled with the word "doubt".

Zhao Wenhua took the initiative to answer questions and resolve doubts. He said loudly: "Our Xu Cifu, on the surface, never embezzles public funds. It is also rare to hear of him accepting bribes."

"But he was good at one thing. Protecting his family from doing big business within his authority."

"For example, at the beginning of this spring, he submitted a memorial to the emperor suggesting that he repair the ancestral mausoleum in Fengyang. Before submitting the memorial, he asked his family to bring in 50,000 pieces of top-quality wood and transport them to Fengyang. The emperor approved his memorial and ordered him to take charge of the matter. He then used public funds to buy his own wood."

"For example, this summer, the emperor was determined to send troops to the southeast. He asked his family to stockpile 30,000 dan of rice. He also wrote a letter to Li Tianchong, the governor of Zhejiang, asking him to buy his family's rice as military rations."

"For example, the imperial court strictly prohibits private maritime trade with foreign tribes. Guess what?"

Luo Longwen asked: "What's going on?"

Zhao Wenhua said: "Songjiang produces high-quality cotton cloth. The biggest cotton cloth smuggler in Songjiang is his nephew!"

Yan Maoqing, who had been silent the whole time, shouted, "Oh! My ears are really dirty! This is worse than openly embezzling public funds and accepting bribes!"

"He talks about morality and ethics, but he only cares about his own business. Some people are greedy for money, some are greedy for fame. He is greedy for both."

The Yan Party put on a show for Lin Shisan to see, and said these words for Lin Shisan to hear.

But what they said is absolutely true.

The great and virtuous prime minister Xu Jie was indeed not an innocent person.

But Xu Jie was far better than Yan Song in one respect.

Xu Jie would not kill loyal ministers and generals who fought against the Japanese invaders in order to seize power. He would not, or dared not, use the military and national affairs of the court as a tool to seize power.

But in terms of greed for money, the Yan Party and the Xu Party are equally matched. It's just that Xu Jie's way of making money is not as ostentatious as that of the Yan Party, but more covert.

At midnight, the insect watching event finally ended.

Luo Longwen left Lin Shisan and talked alone in the study.

Luo Longwen got straight to the point: "Do you know why the soldiers and officials were asked to leave during the meeting tonight, and only you were left?"

(End of this chapter)