Chapter Thirty-Five

Emperor Kangxi learned from the Crown Prince that the Crown Princess had also played a part in the matter. If the Crown Princess hadn't discovered it and been willing to tell the Crown Prince, he might have remained in the dark for a long time.

Upon learning that the bondservant had dared to deceive his superiors, sell inferior goods as superior ones, and inflate prices, Emperor Kangxi was furious and insisted on confiscating their property and exiling them.

Finally, there were simply too many families involved. It was impossible to behead them all, since they were all Manchus. If they were all killed, there would be no one left to use.

Only by selecting the most ruthless ringleaders, such as the current clan leader of the Uya family, Uya Weiwu, Daijia Zhuoqi (father of Daijia concubine) of the Daijia family, who serves as treasurer and is responsible for financial registration, and Guoluoluo Luoduoli of the Guoluoluo family... will they be beheaded at the vegetable market, and their lineage will be exiled to Ningguta.

As for the other branches, judging their crimes relative to their actions—such as those who were less greedy or forced to go along with the wrongdoing—is enough to cover up the losses.

Hmm... The main problem is that there's no one clean in the Imperial Household Department. They've all been exiled. Does the harem still need to function?

The only option was to choose the tallest among the short ones, and thinking about this, Kangxi couldn't help but feel down.

Add to that the big names on these lists, and they still dare to call themselves aristocratic families? What aristocratic families? Bondservants' families?

Emperor Kangxi's face darkened. Was it only because of the presence of the imperial prince that these bondservant men dared to be so arrogant and unruly?

Furthermore, what were they going to do with all that embezzled money? Did they intend to rebel?

Yinreng has been quite free lately. The princesses in the back courtyard have been confined and reprimanded as a warning to others, so none of them dare to come to the front courtyard to disturb him.

Two hundred thousand taels were placed on the Crown Princess's table. Looking at the Crown Princess's bright and adoring eyes, Yinreng was momentarily lost in his own world. A man who can make money is amazing and has a lot of influence.

Sure enough, when Yinreng learned that his father was going to investigate those corrupt and embezzling servants, he went to the Qianqing Palace to request permission to go without saying a word.

When Kangxi learned of Yinreng's purpose, his expression became somewhat subtle. "Baocheng, you don't need to go to these trivial matters."

As the crown prince, one must judge people by their character. If one always does things that offend people, which official would be willing to follow the crown prince?

Therefore, Kangxi refused immediately.

"Father, you work hard every day handling important state affairs. As the Crown Prince, I should set an example and bring these corrupt officials of the Qing Dynasty to justice."

"Moreover, with my status as your son, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble." He painstakingly investigated the results, poured his heart and soul into investigating corruption for his father, and exposed the big corrupt officials, but in the end, he didn't get a single benefit.

That's absolutely unacceptable!

The Crown Prince cried out in his heart about his poverty. His father, the Emperor, showed him no sympathy. He had worked hard and made contributions, yet he received no reward. He had to do it himself.

Anyway, the confiscated property will either go into the national treasury or the Emperor's private treasury. Rather than letting the Emperor support thousands of beauties in the harem, it would be better to support the Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess is now pregnant with his child and needs to nourish her body properly. He should bring her whatever is expensive, so as not to neglect his child.

Oh, and of course, we must not mistreat the great contributor, the Crown Princess.

The forceful and impassioned speech, delivered with the determination to catch the corrupt and servile lackey, made Kangxi give Yinreng several more serious looks.

He remembered that Yinreng wasn't like this before, so how did he change? Who led him astray? It must have been Suo'etu.

Thinking of this, Kangxi concluded that it was Suo'etu's fault. The Crown Prince had been taught perfectly and was excellent in his hands before, but who knew that he would change so much after only a few years with Suo'etu!

hateful.

He became even more certain that he should keep Songgotu away from the Crown Prince. The entire Qing Dynasty was so vast that it was impossible for it to lack capable ministers. If Hesheli was truly so incompetent that only Songgotu was useful, then…

If we replace him with a capable minister, the Fucha family would be a good choice.

"Baocheng, confiscating your property is too complicated and will not be good for your reputation, so I won't ask you to go." Kangxi still cared a lot about the Crown Prince's position. He had done so much to elevate the Crown Prince to a position of great respect, so this was not a good idea.

"Father, I am sure I can complete this task. Don't you believe me?" Yinreng knew his father well. Seeing his father's expression, he knew that his father might be about to hand over the task to someone else, so he immediately shouted.

Father Emperor no longer favors me.

Wronged.

Kangxi listened to Yinreng's rather accusatory and heartbroken tone, and remained silent for two seconds. He really couldn't understand why Baocheng had to do such a thing.

But judging from Yinreng's stubborn little expression, after Kangxi's silence, he did not reprimand or stop him severely. Instead, he reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright."

The decision regarding their fate will be made after the Crown Prince departs, to prevent them from escaping.

However, considering that the Crown Prince had tarnished his reputation (being harsh) by investigating corrupt officials in the Qing Dynasty, he had to drag others down with him.

The first person I thought of was Yinqi. They say that brothers fight tigers together and fathers and sons go to war together. Even if those lackeys don't deserve the title of "fierce tiger," sending Baoqing and Baocheng will let the people below know that the royal family will not tolerate servants who are insubordinate and deceitful...

Upon hearing that his father had sent someone to invite the eldest prince, Yinreng immediately became anxious. What was it? Did his father see that the eldest prince was also having financial difficulties, so he wanted to give the eldest prince some financial assistance?

Damn it, the boss is trying to steal his hard-earned results again. He worked so hard to find all of this.

"Father, since you have something to discuss with my elder brother, then I shall take my leave." I must get ahead of my eldest brother and confiscate those scoundrels' property. As the crown prince, how can I not oversee such a major event as confiscation of property and exile?

"No rush, let's wait for Baoqing to arrive before we talk about it." Kangxi didn't intend to hide it from Baocheng; wouldn't it be better to go together later?

Upon hearing that it was his father, the Emperor, summoning him, the eldest prince, Yinti, immediately rushed over.

When he saw Yinreng standing in the hall, he immediately restrained his anxious emotions. How could he show a loud and boisterous manner in front of Yinreng? Wouldn't that make him seem inferior?

"Your subject greets Your Majesty." Yinti put on an air of importance, and Yinreng recalled the Crown Princess's evaluation of Yinti: handsome and dashing.

Pooh!

Does the boss even deserve to be called that?

He was clearly Aisin-Gioro Yinreng, gentle and refined, elegant and noble, handsome and refined, cultured and courteous...

In the Crown Princess's mind, all the words used to praise men should be used to praise him, Aisin Gioro Yinreng.

However, Yinreng was extremely concerned about his image and, in the manner of the crown prince, could not allow anyone to discover his true feelings.

Therefore, when Yinti came in, he glanced at him casually, but the proud young man was full of dissatisfaction. The boss who came to steal the fruits of his labor was the most annoying.

"Yinti, the Crown Prince reports that the Imperial Household Department has been involved in a corruption scandal involving deception and cover-up. I'd like to send you to confiscate their property. What do you think?" Kangxi spoke to Yinti in a friendly manner, also wanting to assess the magnanimity between Yinti and the Crown Prince.

Upon hearing that it was the Crown Prince who had reported this, he immediately looked up at the Crown Prince and asked, "Confiscate their property?"

“Father, since it was His Highness the Crown Prince who discovered this, then His Highness should carry it out. This is also His Highness’s achievement. If I suddenly interfere, wouldn’t that be stealing credit from His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Yinti caught a glimpse of cunning on the Crown Prince's face, and his mind immediately raced with a multitude of thoughts.

The Crown Prince must be setting a trap for him again. Why would he be so kind as to ask his father, the Emperor, to let him confiscate his property? There must be something fishy going on.

He, Aisin Gioro Yinti, was no fool; how could he possibly be fooled by the Crown Prince?

Besides, the Crown Prince's ruthless behavior will definitely displease the officials. Corruption? Which official isn't corrupt?

Compared to Kangxi, Yinqi spent more time with Mingzhu and learned about interpersonal relationships from him.

Mingzhu himself was not clean, so when he was with the First Prince Yinti, he naturally wouldn't mention the matter of corrupt officials being eradicated. He turned a blind eye, always wanting his subordinates to feel that there was something to gain from him...

They would go on and on, inevitably mentioning to the First Prince that their faction was inferior to the Crown Prince's faction in terms of status, and that without winning over officials, how could they get them to stand behind them?

Therefore, Yinti was convinced that the Crown Prince was up to no good and wanted to kill him so that all his officials would run away in fear.

Who knows, the person who will be the one reporting the corruption case as soon as he steps out will be him!

After pondering the matter for a while, Yinti came to this conclusion: the Crown Prince must not be allowed to succeed.

Everyone knows that the eldest prince, Yinqi, is really not very good at thinking when it comes to dealing with the crown prince.

For example, at this time, the eldest prince, Yinti, refused his father's request and passed the matter on to Yinreng.

Having fought with Yinti for so long, Yinreng had long since figured out Yinti's thoughts, so he did this on purpose when Yinti came in.

Hearing his refusal, she was secretly pleased, but her face remained calm and nonchalant. "Father, since my elder brother is not willing, I will take my leave."

Without giving the eldest son a chance to back out, Yinreng quickly left, leaving Kangxi watching the scene unfold: ...

One insisted on going alone, and the other didn't want to go at all, so he decided not to force him.

However, he was still somewhat disappointed with Yinti.

Finally, he inquired about his son's condition, saying, "Baoqing, your wife is about to give birth, remember to take good care of her."

When Yinti spoke of his wife, he lost his former pride and self-confidence, because the imperial physician's diagnosis shattered his dream of having the eldest grandson—she was a princess.

"Understood, Father Emperor." Yinqi looked slightly disappointed with his head down, causing Kangxi to swallow back the words he wanted to say.

Tsk.

"Alright, you may leave." Kangxi was too lazy to discuss this topic with Yinti here. As for the issue of having sons or daughters, he had lost more than a dozen children back then, so wasn't that even more painful?

Yinreng immediately led his men, heading first to the house at the top of the list, the home of Uya Weiwu.

As Consort De's father, Uya Weiwu, relying on Consort De's influence, was a leading figure in the Imperial Household Department.

When His Highness the Crown Prince arrived with a entourage, Uya Weiwu was still indulging in debauchery with women. The sounds of breaking down the door and shouting filled the air, causing Uya Weiwu to frown in displeasure. What's all the noise about? Don't they know that their master is having fun?

Just as he was about to come out and yell at people, he saw His Highness the Crown Prince.

Just as they were about to step forward to pay their respects to His Highness the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince waved his hand, and the experienced men who had come to confiscate the property knew exactly where the money might be hidden. One by one, the members of the Wuya Weiwu family were brought out and made to squat in the open space of the courtyard.

"Your Highness, what are you doing?" Wuya Weiwu's face immediately darkened. With the back of Consort De, who had given birth to two princes, Wuya Weiwu had always been arrogant.

They even dared to intercept imperial tribute, and some tributes that even the emperor didn't need were easily obtained by these bondservants.

It is said that "little devils are hard to deal with." Exquisite but unreliable items, whether brocade, gauze, or food, must be delivered on time every year after becoming imperial tribute. Any flaws could even be life-threatening.

It would be better to use it to curry favor with certain officials.

Uya Weiwu and her family were crying and shouting, and they even dragged out Consort De, the Fourth Prince, and the Fourteenth Prince. But the Crown Prince looked at the piles of gold, silver, jewels, coral, calligraphy, paintings, and antiques that had been confiscated...

Even if you call out to your father, the Emperor, it won't stop me from confiscating your property.

Those chests of gold and silver, so dazzling and naked, were placed before him, almost blinding him.

The visual impact of silver notes and gold is vastly different. Holding hundreds of thousands of taels of silver notes given by the Emperor doesn't create much of a shock, but a dozen chests of gold...

Uya Weiwu's mouth had already been gagged by the Crown Prince's men, including the women in the harem: the primary wife, secondary primary wives, princesses, concubines... a whole bunch of them, and even more than a dozen illegitimate sons.

Several boxes of gold were dug out from the latrine, the pond, etc., which amounted to at least several million taels. Yinreng was doing his own little calculations. "It shouldn't be a big deal for me to take a few boxes of gold, right?"

Silver notes are fine too...

Starting from Uya Weiwu's home, to Daijia Zhuoqi, and then...

Emperor Kangxi sent wave after wave of people to help send people to prison and move boxes of valuables into the palace for the emperor to inspect.

Kangxi went from being shocked at first to becoming numb later. After the families of bondservants were confiscated, the total amount of wealth seized was comparable to half a year's tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty's national treasury.

It should be noted that he only ordered the confiscation of the property of some of the bondservants, while another group was still growing and stirring his heart. Should he also confiscate the property and exile the other group of bondservants and their slaves?

I thought about it and held back. If we really seized everything, the system wouldn't be able to function properly. We need to train a new batch of people.

Let's do it next time.

Looking at the financial revenue below, Kangxi pondered whether it was time to attack the Dzungars.

Galdan has been eager to break through the defenses lately, and with winter approaching, the northwestern desert is extremely cold and not suitable for growing crops...

Although Yinti was somewhat disappointed that his wife was pregnant with another princess after leaving the Qianqing Palace, he later thought that the Crown Princess was not pregnant yet.

She explained that she already had two daughters, while the Crown Prince had not yet had a single child, thus winning against the Crown Prince once again.

Upon learning that the Crown Prince had ordered the confiscation of property, Yinqi immediately went to find Mingzhu. He complained that the Crown Prince was treating every official and bondservant so harshly, and that as the heir apparent, he was going to ruin his reputation.

Seeing that the eldest prince had rushed over for this matter, Mingzhu said, "Eldest prince, don't rush, sit down and have a cup of tea first."

Mingzhu didn't ask, because he knew that even if he didn't ask, the eldest prince would tell him everything clearly.

For example, at this moment, when Mingzhu told him not to rush, her dawdling made the eldest prince feel annoyed.

"Mingzhu, do you even understand? Hmph, at first the Crown Prince even wanted me to raid their house, trying to scheme against me. Do you think I'm so easily fooled? Father Emperor even asked me if I wanted to go, and I..."

The eldest prince spoke smugly about his affairs, while Mingzhu looked at him with a somewhat subtle expression. If it weren't for the fact that the crown prince had Suo'etu on his side, he really wanted to leave the eldest prince's party.

The eldest prince is truly beyond saving.

The prince below is still too young...

After barely managing to shake off the thought from his mind, he mentioned to the eldest prince how to devise a plan against the crown prince. He was troubled because he would soon be dismissed from his post by the emperor and forced to stay at home. It seemed that for the time being, the eldest prince would have to deal with the situation on his own.

So, Mingzhu didn't stop the eldest prince from having his idea. Instead, she helped him make some improvements and then let him do it himself.

After getting the method he wanted, the eldest prince Yinti left triumphantly and began to smear the crown prince.

The news of the Crown Prince's investigation and confiscation of the bondservant bannermen quickly spread, and the key point was that... the vast majority of them were from the maternal clans of the imperial princes.

When Consort De of Yonghe Palace learned that her family... specifically her father's lineage, had been investigated and their property confiscated, she smashed porcelain in a frenzy and cursed angrily.

"Damn it, damn it, they must have found out something, how could this happen??"

Unable to accept the outcome of having her family's property confiscated and being exiled, and with her father even being sent to the market to be beheaded, Consort De felt both hatred and anger upon receiving the news.

Crown Prince!

Crown Prince!

Gritting her teeth, Consort De had given birth to three sons and three daughters for the Emperor, but only the Fourth Prince, the Fourteenth Prince, and the Ninth Princess were alive, all under her imperial edict. It would be a lie to say she had no ambition.

Historically, very few crown princes have ascended the throne and sat on that position, so Consort De had been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for her fourteen-year-old daughter to grow up.

As for the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen?

She's nothing but an ingrate, only fit to be her stepping stone at age fourteen.

Who would have thought the Crown Prince would be so ruthless? Knowing she was going to attack him, he struck first?

She hasn't even made a move yet!

Damn it.

Don't worry, there are other people in Wuya's family. When she tried to contact them, she found that she couldn't reach them.

The Crown Prince personally went to the Fucha family, found Fucha Fujin, and spoke to her earnestly about the recent confiscation of their property. He had finally managed to persuade his father to preserve the other collateral branches of the Uya family, and he also mentioned that Uya Weiwu had embezzled millions.

The sentiment was deep and sincere, and it was also stated that it was for the sake of the Crown Princess, but in front of the Emperor, one must show great benevolence and righteousness. The same applies to the other bannermen; only the leader was beheaded, which is a great act of imperial grace. You must be careful in your actions in the future...

That's the general idea. It's also hoped that Consort Fucha won't have any deep-seated grudges or awkwardness with the Crown Princess because of this matter, and... other banner families as well.

He had to make the trip; the Crown Princess was pregnant, and he had also managed to squeeze out a little extra money, so he was in a great mood.

With the Crown Prince's respect for scholars and his sincere sincerity, plus... the direct descendants being ousted, wouldn't these collateral branches have a chance to climb up?

revenge?

What's it to me!

The main issue was the exchange of benefits with His Highness the Crown Prince, who expressed his heartache, as he had worked so hard to squeeze some profit out of him.

My Crown Princess, I have truly suffered for you.

When Emperor Kangxi learned that the Crown Prince had also gone to appease the others, his face darkened. As the heir apparent, why should he bother with those lackeys?

Kangxi ignored it. Compared to the confiscated property, when it was counted, each family had over a million taels, and the total was nearly ten million taels.

They're sharpening their knives, ready to pounce on the next corrupt official.

At this time, good news came from Yuqing Palace: the Crown Princess was pregnant and the fetus was three months along!

Upon hearing this news, the Emperor was overjoyed and sent a wave of rewards to Yuqing Palace. The Empress Dowager followed suit with yet another wave of rewards.

When the First Princess Consort learned that the Crown Princess was pregnant, she was somewhat dazed. She was pregnant? And that was quite fast.

Only the Fourth Prince's Consort, Lady Guarjia, was filled with disbelief when she learned that the Crown Princess was pregnant. "Impossible! How could she be pregnant? How could she get pregnant so quickly?!"

Lady Guarjia was shocked. How could she be pregnant? What about her eldest son? It was definitely a daughter, or she would definitely miscarry!

Absolutely impossible!!!

(End of this chapter)