In the morning, Li Guolou looked at the file in Lu Haikong's room, the case he had at hand was a shocking scandal of the Qing Empire, and the treasury of the household department was less than 150,000 taels, and this case would be revealed because the newly appointed Yu Shuzhen, the right attendant of the household department, revealed it.

Yu Shuzhen is a Han Chinese, and she has just joined the fat and oily department of the main household department, of course, she must first check the accounts and check whether the original old accounts are wrong. He was an official and incorruptible, and when he checked the treasury silver, he was taken aback, and a full 150,000 taels of silver disappeared. This is not to kill him, he is not willing to cover up for his predecessor Jiang Shutian, and go directly to the heavenly court. Emperor Tongzhi was furious, and the Empress Dowager Cixi also spoke, no matter who was involved in this case, she would not be spared.

The shocking case was accepted by the Criminal Department, and it has been investigated for more than a month, but there is still no clue, and I still don't know how the silver in the treasury disappeared?

Li Guolou read all the records, a total of thirty treasury guards were able to access the silver in the treasury, and none of them admitted to stealing silver. The floor and walls of the treasury have also been carefully checked, and there are no loopholes for people to burrow into the treasury. So how did the 150,000 taels of silver disappear?

Li Guolou closed the file, looked up at the roof, and was silent for a long time. This case has traces of the Manchu-Han dispute, and the land, sea and air are deeply involved in it and cannot continue to investigate. Because Yu Shuzhen, the right attendant of the head of the household department, is a Han Chinese, and his subordinates are all Manchurian. Therefore, the land, sea and air force could not be tortured to extract confessions, and even the interrogation of a small treasury guard was watched by officials full of people. How can this be investigated? None of the officials and treasury guards of the household department cooperated with the trial of the case, but they were restrained everywhere, and as the arrest of the criminal department, they shrank back and did not want to offend the Manchurians, which also left the case unsolved.

The chief officer above investigated tightly, but the officials below did not cooperate, and the arrester caught in the middle said that he was suffering, and the case could not be handed down. Even Lu Haikong has become bitter melon-faced, those officials who are full of people are of high rank, they are all big officials, how can he ask, people say that they are not free today, so they will hang him outside the yamen of the household department.

Lu Haikong looked at Li Guolou without saying a word, and sighed: "Little Lizi, this is dealing with Manchurians, if you don't get it right, you will have to fall to the ground, although Lord Bao and Captain Yao can afford me and let me take this case, but how many catties and taels do I have?" I don't know yet, and I can't afford to offend anyone. If you look at what I asked in the dossier, it's the same, and if you deviate a little, people will show me a look. Although I am investigating the case, there are a lot of grandmothers above, and they don't even have the power to interrogate suspects. ”

Li Guolou said meaningfully: "Manchurian, the most united. Lord Yu will have a more difficult life in the future. ”

Lu Haikong sighed: "Lord Yu is my old superior, how can we subordinates not do our best." You see that Captain Yao has also become serious, and Master Wu has also pretended to be deaf and dumb, you should know that we have done our best. ”

Li Guolou asked, "Lao Lu, are there any suspects?" ”

Lu Haikong said angrily: "If you want me to say that it is a nest of thieves, there is no good goods, but I haven't caught a shape, and no one can be offended." Who will be afraid of you with your mouth alone, don't you say? Full of people! Lao Tzu can't afford to offend, so he can only endure it! ”

Li Guolou complained: "Lao Lu, then why are you still calling me here, will the Manchurians reveal the old man to me and let me know how a nest of thieves does it?" ”

Lu Haikong pursed his lips and replied: "There is only a big tree behind you here, and the Manchurians pay attention to the court, background, and family power, so they will not offend you casually." You have a big advantage, don't you know? Everyone will give you a little thin noodles, Captain Yao will let you pick the burden, he is worthy of you, I will help you behind my back, and I will not give you small shoes. ”

Li Guolou said angrily: "Just like you bear, running to the household department will frighten people's official hats!" You are holding the sword of Shang Fang now, are there any people in the world who are afraid? ”

Lu Haikong refuted: "Xiao Lizi, you have the Shang Fang Sword, and they also have the Danshu Iron Scroll." Which onion are you, people don't bird you, and they don't even let you step into the threshold, how can you check. Let me be a low-key person first, and don't let me be in a dilemma. ”

Li Guolou suddenly became depressed, he couldn't use the trick of scaring people, he was still on other people's territory, not to mention how awkward the taste of this restraint was.

Li Guolou said: "Lao Lu, then let's go to the household department first, we can eat anywhere at noon." ”

Lu Haikong replied: "Is it that simple? Can my post casually enter the Yamen of the Ministry of Households? Don't even think about it. It is necessary to have a signature order written by Lord Bao, and the date, time, identity, and number of people must be accurate before we can enter the household department to investigate the case. ”

Li Guolou sighed: "Ah! It's so troublesome, let's find Lord Yu to open the back door in the future. ”

Lu Haikong sighed: "I want to too, but doesn't this offend Lord Bao?" It's a little troublesome, the official hat is still on the top of the head, do you understand the mallet. ”

Li Guolou was extremely dissatisfied and said, "Then if Master Bao is not here, won't we be able to do nothing?" ”

Lu Haikong pointed to his head and said: "If you don't do it, your head is still there, if you do it wrong, your head will fall to the ground, you still don't understand the rules of officialdom, how can you be mixed up?" ”

Li Guolou smiled freely, took out a small ingot of silver, threw it upward, and said, "I relied on this to rise, haven't you taken my benefits?" ”

Suddenly, the silver ingots in the air arrived in the palm of Lu Haikong's hand, and he said with a smile: "I heard the master preach that it costs silver, do you understand the mallet." While speaking, the land, sea and air thieves escaped, and they had to get the signed order from Master Bao first, otherwise they didn't have to work for a day.

Li Guolou sat in a chair, this time he competed with a large group of high-ranking officials, did he want to break their jobs? Or with some people who know what's going on, but pretend not to know the truth.

It is impossible to steal only 150,000 taels of silver from the state treasury, and the former officials must have managed to fill the loopholes.

How did they close the loopholes? This time, why did Yu Shuzhen, the right attendant, expose the old background of the household department when the new official took office? The superiors above are intrigued, which side should the subordinates stand on? All kinds of mysteries made Li Guolou restless, and it is not yet known whether the investigation of this case will be a blessing or a curse. Li Guolou pushed open the window, and a cold wind invaded from the outside. Li Guolou didn't wear a coat, and couldn't help but shudder. Can the disease-ridden Qing Empire still be saved?

So many ridiculous things are called rules in the Qing Empire. Every place, every yamen, and every department has its own rules, and if outsiders want to gain a foothold, they must abide by the rules and integrate into this reasonable and unreasonable atmosphere. Otherwise, you will be thrown into the corner and no one appreciates it for the rest of your life, and the real society is like this.

Just like the laws of the Qing Dynasty, what is written in the book and what is actually carried out are two different things. People are a smart species, and they can make up their own rules and start over again. Running errands for the emperor eventually became making money for his family. If he wants to integrate into the life of the Qing Empire and climb up, he must abide by these rules that are out of place and do not benefit the country at all. But there is a force in his heart that makes him resist, unwilling to inherit these stereotypes and bad habits, whether to climb up or not? This is the test and the choice given to him.

Li Guolou does not have the character of being at ease with what he encounters, he already has an opinion, some people hide deeply, like to plan and command behind their backs, and some people are sharp and give up who they are. These personalities are not his choice, he likes to do it, but also to deal with it calmly, live a chic life, and break into a new world.

Li Guolou stood alone outside the public hall, looking into the dark and gloomy public hall, the plaque of "Mirror Hanging" was shining, making the people of the world have hope in their hearts. It's time for the truth to be revealed to the world, offend the Manchurians, and offend the Manchurians, at most don't be this official who spent money to buy.

The Yamen of the Household Department is not far from the Yamen of the Criminal Department, Li Guolou and Lu Haikong, Ai Hai, Ma Dequan and a total of 12 people walked over, it took more than 20 minutes on the road, and they were about to arrive at the entrance of the Household Yamen, Li Guolou said solemnly: "Lao Lu, now I am handling the case, and I am the main one." I don't kowtow to those officials, you are not allowed to be a slave, you want to use official hats to oppress people, wishful thinking, I don't eat this. ”

Lu Haikong was startled and said, "Ah! Xiao Lizi, you are so bold that you dare not kneel, they are noble and high-ranking officials, and we are a big gap between us and them. ”

Li Guolou pursed his lips, looking down on Lu Haikong in his heart, but he still had to make his words clear, otherwise there would be no internal unity, wouldn't it make those people in the household department look down on him?

Li Guolou admonished: "Lao Lu, you have to remember that we are now the emperor's mission, only when we see the holy decree to kneel, and the others are not long-sighted, we will first sue him for disrespecting the emperor." Before the buttocks are wiped clean, you have to give us a good answer, otherwise you will directly drag him to the yamen of the criminal department for questioning. ”

Lu Haikong asked, "Then there must be a reason?" ”

Li Guolou pointed to Lu Haikong's nose and said: "You are too bold, you directly said that he was guarding and stealing himself, and he stole the treasury silver. ”

Lu Haikong hurriedly said: "Then how can it be done?" There will be no evidence at that time, and we will not be in a state of flux. ”

Li Guolou said: "What are you afraid of! None of these high-ranking officials have a clean buttocks, and if they say a word about raiding their homes and searching for money, they will all be scared. It is worth a few hundred taels or a few thousand taels, and any high-ranking official's family background is worth tens of thousands of taels or hundreds of thousands of taels, and then the hat of a big embezzler will not be able to escape. Let's just play a royal official business, everyone will break up, and no one will want to end up in the good. Who is not worth it, those moths immediately understand in their hearts, will the money they find be returned to them? ”

Lu Haikong lamented: "Little Lizi, why don't you follow the rules!" Tell me how to behave. ”

Li Guolou replied: "Lao Lu, you don't want to wade into this muddy water with you, wait a while for you to make a thousand, just go back." ”

Lu Haikong's face was flushed, he was looked down upon by the younger generations, and these subordinates heard it on the side, and the hats of "cowards" and "wretched" will be worn for a lifetime in the future. How else can he do big brother lead the team? None of his subordinates would look up to him. Seeing the way his subordinates were eager to arrest someone, Lu Haikong knew that this time he was tricked by Li Guolou and forced to the cliff, and there was only one way to go.