From street beggar to high-ranking official

The territory of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Lu Li arrived carrying large and small bags of silver. He knew his way around and went straight into a duty room.

"Eunuch Lu is here again today!" Eunuch Qiao, who was sitting at his desk practicing his writing, beamed with joy when he saw Eunuch Lu.

"We'll still have to trouble the officials of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs." Lu Li smiled and quickly arranged the large and small packages of silver, which soon covered the entire table.

"Eunuch Lu is a regular customer of ours, there's no need to be so formal." Eunuch Qiao said politely, but he had already begun to carefully collect the large amount of silver on the table. While he was being polite to Eunuch Lu, he was already slowly counting the exact amount in his mind.

"A full three thousand taels of silver! Eunuch Lu has really struck it rich!" Eunuch Qiao took a deep breath. Usually, when Eunuch Lu came to us, it was around a hundred taels. Now that he has become the chief eunuch, he has really made a fortune!

"I hope the officials of the Directorate of Ceremonial can find my family as soon as possible, otherwise I will never be able to let go of my filial piety." As Lu Li spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and large tears dripped onto the table. Seeing this, Eunuch Qiao sighed and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears.

"Our family was destroyed and we had no choice but to enter the palace. Now that we have been reinstated, we naturally hope that Eunuch Lu can also reach that level," Eunuch Qiao said after taking inventory.

Lu Li came here hoping to use his connections in the Directorate of Ceremonial to find his relatives. He couldn't tell his godfather about this, so he had to find out on his own.

There are two places in the palace where gold and silver are exchanged: one is the Imperial Household Department, and the other is the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. It is not easy for Lu Li to visit the former, but as for the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, my family is a classmate of Xiao Jizi!

However, the search for relatives did not end with finding the biological father. The household registration had to be revised and the identity certificate stamped. This required not only the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs to search for people in various circles in the capital, but also to use the connections of the Directorate of Imperial Seals.

The Imperial Seal Office was mainly responsible for the records of officials' titles and official appointments, as well as official registers, military registers, and tax records. By using connections with the Imperial Seal Office, one could change a person's status from a lowly local to a local one in the capital, and even be exempt from taxes.

The corruption of the Directorate of Imperial Seals has always been a steady stream, with sources of silver including local officials, powerful families from various regions, and even military officers. They would either alter their own records and resumes to make them look better, or change their military registration or the years of corvée labor, or evade poll taxes and receive salaries without working, etc.

In the palace, apart from daily bribes, Lu Li spent a lot of his money on these two things, and his once full purse suddenly became empty.

It's truly a case of making money in the palace and spending it in the palace; don't even think about taking a single penny home!

"Eunuch Qiao actually returned to his ancestral home?" Lu Li's eyes widened upon hearing Eunuch Qiao's words. "How did he manage that?"

Eunuchs were neither male nor female. They were not allowed to enter ancestral halls during their lifetime, nor could they be buried in ancestral graves after death. Even their names in the family genealogy would be erased. They were considered the lowest of the low in society. In the "Great Qian Law," they were also clearly classified as belonging to the five insects: snails, scaled creatures, hairy creatures, feathered creatures, and insects.

This is practically classifying eunuchs as animals!

"Little Lu, you don't understand, do you?" Eunuch Qiao's eyebrows twitched as he thought of this. "As long as you have money, what can't you do? When our family followed the governor out of the capital, we made a special trip back to our hometown to arrange the clan's affairs. Our ancestors must have received so much money and merit in the underworld, and they must be very happy that their unworthy descendants have recognized their ancestors and returned to their ancestral home."

It should be noted that Cao Cao also came from a family of eunuchs!

Lu Li nodded thoughtfully, thinking that if his family ever had that time, they would also return to their hometown in glory. Although his Lu family was not a large or prestigious clan, the thought of personally entering the ancestral hall to register his name, burn incense, and kowtow warmed Lu Li's heart.

When we die, we won't be buried in the Zhongguan Cemetery. Instead, we'll have a grand funeral with a full forty-nine-day ceremony and a grand burial.

Lu Li was still young and did not understand the mysterious mysteries of birth, aging, sickness and death. He could endure loneliness and was not afraid of getting old. He did not have the hidden unease in Eunuch Qiao's heart, but only had endless fantasies about his glory after death.

Only those who are not afraid of death can freely imagine what will happen after they die!

The two chatted for a few more minutes, during which Eunuch Qiao mentioned the fact that some eunuchs had families outside the palace.

"This is not surprising at all," said Eunuch Qiao, waving his hand. "Not all those who come into the palace are young eunuchs. Some are people who have settled down, started families, and left descendants. Without exception, they all couldn't make a living. I wonder if Eunuch Lu went to the martial arts academy recently. This year, quite a few eunuchs who entered the palace are in their early twenties or early thirties."

Of course, the younger the child, the easier they are to discipline; if they are too old, even the Palace Attendant won't take them in.

The palace isn't a place for you to retire in!

Lu Li quickly thought of Xiao Jizi and continued the topic Qiao Gonggong had brought up: "In that case, are there any of your own sons who have come in to become eunuchs?"

"This..." Eunuch Qiao was truly stumped by this question.

Several eunuchs' names flashed through her mind, but she finally said definitively, "No, at most it's adoption. An adopted child comes in to become a eunuch. Rather than finding a godson, it's better to raise one yourself. That's the logic."

Lu Li thought it made sense. It was a pity that he was the only son in his family. Even if he found his biological father, it would be difficult to find an adopted child to be registered under his name.

The two chatted happily, but Lu Li only came during his free time, and after a while he had to return to the Palace Guard to handle official documents.

As Lu Li got up to leave, Eunuch Qiao hurriedly saw him to the door. The two waved goodbye, looking forward to meeting again.

Only after seeing Lu Li leave did the gatekeeper, who was standing guard at the door of the duty room, ask Eunuch Qiao, "Godfather, are you really going to find relatives for Eunuch Lu?"

It wasn't that Eunuch Qiao took the money and didn't do anything; it was just that the efficiency of his work depended entirely on the amount of money. For example, with the money that Li Lu had given him before, if the eunuchs of the Inner Palace Office in the capital discovered similar people or names while on duty in the local areas, they would naturally report it, but they would never take the initiative to look for them.

After all, the silver wasn't just given to Eunuch Qiao alone; he had to share it with everyone else. The more people involved, the less silver there was, and the less silver there was, the slower the efficiency became.

......

Upon returning to the Imperial Palace, Lu Li went straight to his office. Now a seventh-rank eunuch, he was much more imposing than before. As official documents were presented, Lu Li gradually came to understand the current situation of the Imperial Palace.

In short, we are short-staffed.

There is a severe shortage of personnel.

The old rule that the martial arts academy would send a batch of students to the palace for duty every six months may need to be changed. And it's not just the Palace Attendant's Office that's short-staffed; the Imperial Horse Administration, the Palace Attendant's Office, and other similar offices are also short-staffed.

The palace needs a constant supply of manpower and tools.

Lu Li carefully examined the contents of the official document and quickly gleaned some basic information. More details, such as the movement of people in Chuxiu Palace and the repeated changes in the staff in some halls, indicated that the Inner Palace Administration had begun to gradually eliminate spies after the last night attack by thieves.