My eunuch godfather

Chapter 92 Running around delivering gifts until your legs give out

The residence of Li Ruzhen, the Western Division Commander, at Dengshikou in Mingshifang, northern part of the capital city.

After reading the gift list handed to him by the servant, Li Ruzhen got up from the soft couch and walked quickly to the door of the main room.

Reaching out to help Zhang Kun, who was kneeling in respect, to his feet, he said with a smile:

"No need for formalities. I have long admired Minister Zhang. How about I address you as my nephew?"

Compared to the coldness and even impatience of the last meeting, his attitude made a complete 180-degree turn, becoming incredibly warm and friendly.

"You flatter me, Grand Commander."

Zhang Kun knew why Li Ruzhen's attitude had changed, and his heart was bleeding. He respectfully said:

"I've come today to seek guidance from the Grand Commander..."

According to regulations, the task of suppressing the bandits in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu fell within the jurisdiction of Zhang Kun, the commander of a thousand households responsible for apprehending criminals.

However, mobilizing thousands of people to suppress the bandits was not enough to deter such a large-scale operation with Zhang Kun's reputation alone.

Therefore, Zhang Kun prepared a generous gift, along with a personal letter from his eunuch godfather, requesting that Li Ruzhen be sent to govern Zhangjiawan at that time.

The gift list is as follows:

One small box of Zhenjinhao tribute cigarettes and one large box of top-grade Jinsi cigarettes.

Shaochunhao's newly launched "Jade Ice Dew" comes in a small case; it's a high-proof spirit as clear as water, and it's packaged in both glass and jade bottles.

Charcoal is commonly used for water purification in modern times, and there is also a special kind of "white charcoal," which is a type of activated carbon.

Zhang Kun had Shaochunhao treat the distilled spirits with white charcoal, resulting in the transparent Jade Ice Dew, which tasted very much like vodka.

The Red Eyebrow ship carried a large chest of gold and 800 taels of gold.

The reason for only sending gold was to highlight the preciousness of the tribute cigarettes and the top-grade Jin Si cigarettes, Yu Bing Lu cigarettes, and Jin Hong Mei cigarettes.

Among them, the tribute cigarettes, which are priceless and unavailable, also have packaging boxes made of gold leaf.

At that time, the price of gold was about 1 to 6, so 800 taels of gold was equivalent to 4800 taels of silver, which was not as high as the cost in later times.

"......OK,"

Li Ruzhen had read the project proposal for the bandit suppression operation and was quite tempted by Zhang Kun's persuasive words, so he agreed on the spot:

"Rest assured, my dear nephew, I will submit a memorial to His Majesty tomorrow and settle this matter!"

Zhang Kun was somewhat uneasy. Who knew if Li Ruzhen would change his mind tonight? He said respectfully to Li Ruzhen:

"Grand Commander, could you please grant me an official document so that I may act in accordance with the law?"

"No problem!"

Li Ruzhen immediately had his advisor bring paper and pen and drafted an official document ordering Zhang Kun to annihilate the bandits.

After affixing the official seal of the Western Office of the Admiral, and personally signing and affixing it, he handed it to Zhang Kun, offering words of encouragement:

"If you handle this task well, my dear nephew, you'll surely have a bright future!"

Although Li Ruzhen didn't have much real ability and mainly relied on the legacy of his father and brothers, he sat in the position of the Admiral of the Western Office for more than ten years.

They can now bring their official seal home from the government office and work directly from home.

......

After delivering this gift to Li Ruzhen, Zhang Kun personally went to Xisi South Street in Xiaoshi Yongfang.

After communicating with his eunuch godfather and reaching a consensus, they exchanged the same gifts, along with 1000 taels of gold.

The body was sent to Lu Shou, the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently the director of the Eastern Depot, at a private residence on this main street.

Lu Shou monopolized all the interests of the Jin Yun in Shandong.

Meanwhile, in Shandong, with the help of Governor Li Changgeng, the tampons business had already begun to take shape.

Considering Zhang Kun's competence, Lu Shou agreed to help organize the anti-bandit operation within the palace.

Besides the Wanli Emperor who made the final decision, there were also the Inner Palace Office and the Imperial Household Department to deal with.

Because Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu have many imperial estates, shops, and factories, they may be affected by the anti-bandit operation.

The Imperial Horse Administration also had many pastures in both places. Fortunately, Zhang Kun's eunuch godfather was the head of the Imperial Horse Administration.

After delivering gifts to this family, Zhang Kun was to go to the Duke of England's mansion in Jiaozhongfang to deliver gifts.

By leveraging the connections of Duke Zhang Weixian of England, we can smooth things over with the Beijing Garrison to prevent them from causing trouble later.

Because Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu are very close to the capital, they are theoretically within the defense zone of the Beijing garrison.

In addition, Zhang Kun also established a relationship with Sun Wei, the Minister of War and Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, through Zhang Weixian, the Duke of England.

Then, the Ministry of War and the Censorate were dealt with:

The former goes without saying; mobilizing several thousand people to conduct military operations near the capital would inevitably require dealing with the Ministry of War.

The latter was to try to avoid having imperial inspectors, river inspectors, granary inspectors, salt inspectors, and land reclamation inspectors jump out and find fault with Zhang Kun.

Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu have the Grand Canal, many important warehouses, and a large store of the Hejian Salt Transport Office.

There were more than 70 garrisons in Beijing, and many of the official farmlands and military farms of these garrisons were located in two different places.

The Ministry of Revenue does not need to be visited:

Zhang Kun's eunuch godfather, as the tax supervisor of Tongwan Zhili Xuanda, was in a "competitive" relationship with the tax office of the Ministry of Revenue in Zhangjiawan.

Moreover, Zhang Kun did not expect to obtain funds or provisions from the Ministry of Revenue for this campaign to suppress the bandits.

They also need to move around outside the central nervous system:

First, there was Shuntian Prefecture, and Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu belonged to Shuntian Prefecture.

Prefect Qiao Yun was in charge of the prefects of Tongzhou and Wuqing, as well as the magistrates of Huoxian and Xianghe in the surrounding areas.

Liu Yuewu, the Shuntian governor stationed in Jizhou, was in charge of the Tongzhou garrison commander and the surrounding Sanhe military command.

Wang Keshou, the Governor-General of Jiliao, was stationed in Miyun County and also oversaw the surrounding Changping General and Changping Military Commissioner.

To prevent thieves from escaping into their jurisdiction and then refusing to cooperate, or even causing trouble for Zhang Kun.

There are also the neighboring Hejian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture.

Bi Ziyan, the Tianjin Governor stationed in Tianjinwei, also oversaw the Tianjin General and the Tianjin Military Commissioner.

Wang Ji, the governor of Baoding, was stationed in Zhending and was in charge of the surrounding Zijingguan military command, the Baoding garrison commander, and the Baoding chariot guerrilla.

Running, running, running... running nonstop!

Of course, Zhang Kun wouldn't personally go to places that are too far away.

Instead, he used his eunuch godfather's connections to entrust others to help him with the arrangements.

The gifts given to them were not as many as those given to Li Ruzhen, Lu Shou, and Zhang Weixian, but they still amounted to a considerable sum.

Zhang Kun calculated that it was around 30,000 taels.

Damn it, this is clearly a great thing that benefits the country and the people, yet Zhang Kun has to run around and make deals everywhere!

But you can't do without bribing them, because who knows if these deities are actually powerful backers behind the thieves?

By running around and making some noise in advance, it's best to scare away thieves who have powerful backers.

Let them leave Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu and go cause trouble elsewhere.

Moreover, Zhang Kun wouldn't expect a single operation involving a few thousand people to completely wipe out the bandits in both areas.

Ultimately, this campaign to suppress the bandits was merely the second of Zhang Kun's three bold moves upon taking office.

However, compared to ordinary newly appointed officials, the fire was "somewhat" larger.

Besides, the gifts given out are essentially a way of making Zhenjinhao, Shaochunhao, and Hongmeihao's high-end goods go bad, so it's not a loss.

Ultimately, Emperor Wanli personally ordered Li Ruzhen to "oversee the joint efforts to prevent and suppress bandits along the Tongwan River" as the Director of the Western Affairs Office.

Zhang Kun was tasked with apprehending a thousand households and "cooperating in the joint effort to prevent and suppress bandits along the Tongwan River."

Besides the Imperial Guards stationed in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu, it would be perfectly legitimate to mobilize them as well:

The river protection troops of the River Workers' Camp, the transport troops of the Grand Canal, the guards of the Tongwan Tax Bureau, the horse-breeding warriors of the Imperial Horse Administration, and the Four Guards Camp.

In addition, the Tongzhou garrison commander, Dingbianwei, Shenwuzhongwei, Yingzhou Qiantunwei, and other prefectures and counties in the surrounding area must also assist in the suppression.

As for money, provisions, and military equipment, nominally the responsibility was borne by the Western Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but in reality, it was Zhang Kun who raised the funds.