When Li Qi arrived at the residence of the Minister of Revenue, many carriages were parked at the door.
The butler greeted me as soon as I entered the door, as if he had known that Li Qi would come.
"Master Li, you are here. The master asked me to take you to the study room first. He will be here shortly."
Li Qi nodded, casually took out a banknote and handed it over: "Thank you."
"This is what a villain should do, what's the big deal." The butler smiled and took the banknote.
After arriving at the study, Li Qi found that the study of the Minister of Household Affairs did not have a book at all, but looked more like a meeting hall.
There are several Taishi chairs inside, and there is a mahogany table at the end with a pile of folding books on it.
After finding a seat and sitting down, we waited for about ten minutes.
A burst of hearty laughter came from outside the house: "Master Li, I've been waiting for a long time."
Li Qi stood up and saw a middle-aged man in his forties walking in the door.
At the banquet before, Li Qi had drank with him, so they naturally knew each other.
This person is Lu Haochu, the Minister of Household Affairs.
"No, no, I'm just sitting here for a while. Mr. Lu is busy with official duties, so I should wait for a while." Li Qi cupped his fists and said.
Lu Haochu smiled and motioned for Li Qi to sit down: "Master Li, we are all our own people. If you have some words, I will get straight to the point."
"Of course. When I came here, His Highness the Crown Prince told me that Mr. Lu is one of our own, so just tell me some things directly."
When Lu Hao first heard this, he raised his head and laughed twice, with a look of happiness on his face.
"Master Li is indeed a cheerful person. If this is the case, then I will speak frankly." Lu Haochu said, "I wonder what the prince would say about the proposal I gave to the prince before?"
What Lu Haochu asked Jiang Qian to report was about the rebuilding of dams in the southwest. Originally, he could have directly reported this matter.
But during this period, the emperor was thinking about refining alchemy all day long, and had no mind to pay attention to other things.
It is said that I have not even read the memorial from the Ministry of War.
"The prince said that it is not impossible for him to go to the emperor for this matter, but..."
Li Qi stopped here, took a sip of tea, and said after a long time: "But the prince asked me what I meant... How could I, a little attendant, help the prince make a decision? So I came to see Lu
Sir, let’s discuss this.”
When Lu Hao first heard this, he rolled his eyes and thought to himself: This boy is a popular person around the prince, and it seems that he wants to come to him to blackmail him.
"Here comes someone." Lu Haochu called out, and a moment later the housekeeper walked in.
Lu Haochu ordered: "Go and get the jade I got a few days ago."
The steward heard this and nodded.
After a moment, a piece of jade as big as a palm was placed in front of Li Qi.
Lu Haochu smiled and said: "Master Li, this is a piece of fine jade that I got by chance. How about you help me palm my eyes?"
Li Qi took a look, smiled and said: "Master Lu really thinks highly of me. I usually don't know anything about jade. Except for silver, I don't know anything else."
Lu Haochu smiled and said: "It will be easy if Mr. Li knows money... The current market price of this jade is at least 30,000 taels..."
Grandma, you want to send me away with just 30,000 taels?
Who do you look down on?
Li Qi slowly drank tea again without saying a word.
Lu Haochu seemed to realize something and said again: "I have a house over there in Tongtongfang, which I just bought last year..."
Seeing that he had no sincerity at all and that the things he sent had no weight at all, Li Qi interrupted him directly and said: "Master Lu, let me tell you this. Do you think His Highness the Crown Prince lacks jade and a house?"
Hearing this, Lu Haochu was stunned: "Master Li is saying..."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to come over. There are some things that I don't want to explain too clearly. Mr. Lu is so smart, he must know much more than me."
Lu Haochu pursed his lips and said, "Master Li means that the prince also wants to do this..."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that in the past, he would just turn a blind eye, but it is different now. He is also tight on money."
Li Qi said bluntly.
He knew that his official tone was definitely no match for these old-timers, so he simply told the truth.
I thought that Lu Hao would hesitate after hearing this, but who knew that this guy actually smiled and said: "I see, then this matter will be easier to handle..."
Lu Haochu stood up, closed the door, moved to the chair next to Li Qi, sat down, and said in a low voice: "Since the prince also wants to get involved, I am willing to split the account with the prince thirty-seven. Your Highness will get 70%, and we will get 30%.
"
"How much is this 70%?" Li Qi asked.
"In previous years, the cost of building river embankments was around three million taels. With the prince's intervention this year, it can naturally be doubled..."
Damn it, these guys have really dark hearts.
Six million taels?
Damn it, being an official is indeed the most profitable!
"In other words, the prince can get 4.2 million taels?" Li Qi said.
Lu Haochu was a little surprised, as if he didn't expect Li Qi to come out so quickly.
I saw him shaking his head and saying: "I can't take so much..."
"It's impossible for all of the six million taels to go into our pockets... Mr. Li doesn't know something. Although he reported so much money, he still needs to allocate some to do the actual work. In total, we can only get about four million taels.
"
Li Qi nodded: "Does that mean His Royal Highness can get 2.8 million taels?"
Lu Haochu smiled and shook his head again: "It's 1.8 million taels."
"One million eight hundred thousand taels? Why is there so much less? Isn't it 70%?" Li Qi asked.
Lu Haochu: "Among them, 500,000 taels are for you, Mr. Li, and the remaining 500,000 taels need to be distributed to local officials..."
After listening, Li Qi looked at him with a half-smile but not a smile: "Master Lu, your calculation is not right."
"I hope Master Li can give me some advice."
"In previous years, 3 million taels were built to build river embankments, which means you can get 1 million taels from it, of which 500,000 taels are given to local officials... The remaining 500,000 taels are not enough for you. Build river embankments
Does the matter have something to do with the Ministry of Industry?" Li Qi said with a smile.
Lu Haochu originally thought that Li Qi was an idiot, but he didn't expect that this guy would discover something fishy so quickly.
In fact, the real situation is that the annual cost of building river embankments is only about 500,000 taels. The remaining money is distributed to local officials and all goes into the pockets of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works.
Just because of corruption, Li Qi wouldn't believe it even to death.
What was the purpose of Lu Haochu asking the prince to report to him? It was just that one day the emperor discovered it, and the prince was still there to support him.
If the risk is not high and there are not many crimes, there is no need to go through the prince's side.
As for what the actual number is, Li Qi really doesn't know.
But looking at the treacherous look on the old guy's face, it's definitely no less.