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The Wanbao Trading Company and Li Yifeng's residence were thoroughly searched inside and out. A large amount of spy activity documentation was found, piled up on Su Han's new office desk. There was also a box.
Su Han opened it to find gold, silver, Southern Chu banknotes, Qian Yuan coins, and twelve gold ingots of varying sizes.
"All of this was found at the Wanbao Trading Company and Li Yifeng's residence," Zhou Meng, who was responsible for the search alongside Lin Yu, said in a low voice.
"Oh," Su Han replied casually. "Leave the documents; turn in the rest."
"Captain Su," Zhou Meng glanced around and lowered his voice even more. "You haven't been here long, so you might not be aware of some situations. We shadow guards may seem glamorous, but we have our difficulties. In our Royal Confidential Office, there's a saying you might not have heard: 'Official shadow guards live in grand houses; preparatory shadow guards live in tile-roofed homes; minor shadow guards live in dilapidated houses; those on external duty squeeze into one place.' We minor shadow guards are actually quite similar to those on external duty—low salaries and poor treatment. Those from the local area are better off, but outsiders have to rent places. With just that little salary each month, after paying rent, it’s hardly enough to get by."
Su Han understood immediately. Although Tiandu couldn't compare to the bustling Jinling City, it was currently thriving. In recent years, commerce, culture, and education had all developed significantly. A large influx of Southern Chu goods had entered Tiandu, causing prices to rise.
Take the most common daily necessity, soap pods, for example: ten years ago, one soap pod cost five wen. This year, the same soap pod has skyrocketed to sixty-five wen. The only thing that seems to have decreased in price is agricultural products; this month, pork has already dropped to nineteen wen and eight li per pound.
Thus, people in Tiandu say, "Eat pork heartily; save on soap pods." Shadow guards are also human and need money to live.
Zhou Meng smiled apologetically. "So we have to find ways to make some money ourselves. The valuables we find from criminals are usually shared among us. Sometimes when we're really desperate, we go after those private salt traders or smugglers we've been keeping an eye on—what we call 'Fat Sheep.' We don’t do much to them; just make them cough up a bit of cash is enough. We have to find ways to survive."
"What about the higher-ups? Don’t they care?" Su Han asked.
Zhou Meng chuckled dryly. "Everyone has it tough; the higher-ups know our difficulties too. As long as we don’t go too far or cause any trouble, they tend to turn a blind eye."
Su Han nodded. "Lao Zhou, I just got here and don’t understand many of the rules yet; I’ll need your guidance moving forward."
"Not at all," Zhou Meng replied humbly.
"Then how do you suggest we divide these items?"
Zhou Meng seemed to have already thought this through. "For the silver and banknotes, we can split them into six shares—of course, you take the lion's share at seventy percent. The rest can be shared among us brothers as a favor from you. As for the gold ingots, I've weighed them: twelve ingots total one hundred twenty-eight taels—a substantial sum that we can't keep for ourselves entirely; we need to grease some palms up the chain as well. Er Tang is directly managed by the Office Lord; we don’t have the guts to give him anything directly, but we definitely need to set aside ten taels for Deputy Hall Master Sun Hai—he has influence with the Office Lord. Hall Master Xiao Yi from Er Tang should get eight taels; General Affairs Department Director Wang Qiang should also receive eight taels since we often seek his assistance. For others like Personnel Department Director He Jingzhi and Inspection Division Director Liu Feng, each must get ten taels—they oversee our assessments, promotions, transfers, and disciplinary supervision. Accounting Department Director Zhao Yu, Secret Letter Department Director Qian Ming, and Secret Telegram Department Director Zheng Hui should each receive five taels while Document Department Director Chen Liang can manage with three taels..."
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