Just as dawn was breaking, Yinzhen was woken up by Su Peisheng. Prince Yu was going to visit a nearby fishing village that day, and Yinzhen and Qingyan had to accompany him on either side.

Qingyan opened her almond-shaped eyes, muttered a few words, and had to pull herself together.

For several days in a row, Prince Yu was investigating the problem of informants in the fishing village. Some churches and officials were also taken into custody one after another. Prince Yu felt heartbroken as he looked at the ministers who were controlled by the Dragon Guard.

For many years, Emperor Kangxi and Prince Yu have been cultivating officials. Many officials of the Qing Dynasty were valued by Emperor Kangxi and Prince Yu when they took the imperial examinations, and some were even personally sought out by Emperor Kangxi and Prince Yu.

Every candidate who entered the palace examination would be examined by the two powerful figures of the Qing Dynasty, who would coldly observe whether these candidates were suitable for officialdom.

"Second Uncle, please don't be angry. Let's take another look. It might not be their fault. It's just that the people below have misunderstood!" Yinzhen quickly persuaded Fuquan.

Previously, when Fuquan came over, he had already obtained a list of the prefects in the vicinity. Among them, many were personally selected by Emperor Kangxi and Prince Yu. More than two-thirds of the prefects forcibly imprisoned by the Dragon Guards were people selected by Emperor Kangxi.

Fuquan worried that if Kangxi saw this, he might be furious.

"Let's not talk about that for now, Fourth Brother. Have you investigated the kickback issue?" During the construction of the naval port, the villagers in the fishing villages must have received some kickbacks, which made those people even more unscrupulous.

Yinzhen nodded. This matter had already been investigated and clarified. These prefects were really bold enough to actually target Tufang.

These earthen materials were not provided by the imperial merchants, but by a shop owned by the governor's brother-in-law. When requesting payment, the receipts stated that they were purchased from the imperial merchants, so the price was definitely higher than elsewhere.

Now, he specifically investigated several shops owned by imperial merchants, and none of them supplied earth and silver to the military port. Everyone wondered how many problems might arise from this.

Fuquan sneered. These people were also wicked, daring to cause trouble here. Yinzhen's methods of checking accounts were getting better and better. No wonder Kangxi always mentioned it. If Yinzhen could get his hands on the account books, he should be able to figure things out quickly.

"Second Uncle, the soil wasn't provided by the imperial merchants; we've all been deceived!" Yinzhen said helplessly.

Fu Quan narrowed his eyes. If that were really the case, there would be problems later.

"Are you sure?" Fuquan asked, looking at him.

The Ministry of Revenue's account books also bear the seals of the Imperial Shops. If there were no more goods to be purchased, who would dare to provide the seals behind the scenes?

etc? !

"Fourth Prince, have you investigated whether those Ministry of Revenue seals are genuine?" Fuquan hoped that the imperial merchants would not tamper with them, after all, Kangxi trusted these imperial merchants and hoped that they could ensure his interests.

“It should be true. Each time, the imperial merchants had to go to the Ministry of Revenue to affix their seals in person. It shouldn’t be fake. I’m thinking that these people must have given some kind of benefit to get the imperial merchants to affix their seals directly.” Yinzhen also had his own thoughts.

After all, when the imperial merchant went to the Ministry of Revenue to get the official seal, he couldn't keep an eye on things all the time, so external problems would gradually increase.

Upon hearing this, Fuquan's mood worsened. These people were probably up to no good.

"How much kickback is there?" Fuquan asked his chief bodyguard.

These chief guards of the princes were all personally selected by Emperor Kangxi. On the one hand, they were to help the princes deal with some thorny issues. On the most important hand, Yinzhen knew in his heart that Fuquan should be investigated.

"At least forty percent!" The head guard said helplessly, looking at his prince.

People outside say that Prince Yu is the best master to his subordinates, but now he feels the murderous aura emanating from Prince Yu.

Forty percent?!

Qingyan's eyes widened in disbelief; these things were actually worth 60% of the price!

"Little darling, what's your opinion?" Prince Yu noticed a hint of mockery on Qingyan's face and quickly asked.

"I think these things are probably not worth that much; 40% of the silver should be enough!" Qingyan always said that the things Huang Shangmen sold were flashy but impractical.

Ugh!

The men present all twitched their lips. Qingyan had left no face at all. Kickbacks are something every business does; it's just a matter of whether merchants, if they acted with conscience, would give more or less.

"Are you sure?!" Yinzhen asked suspiciously.

The profit margin for earthwork was very small, and the imperial merchants never liked this business. Several imperial merchants came and went before finally settling on this small profit margin.

“Yes, I’m absolutely certain,” Qingyan said calmly. “After all, Yuelai Inn has changed a lot. I specifically had someone calculate that those imperial merchants will ultimately be able to seize more profits.”

Fei Yanggu held his teacup, watching the nun's progress in silence. If the matter could be resolved quickly, it should prevent a disturbance in the fishing village. However, if there was even the slightest oversight, the situation in the fishing village would definitely not be good.

"Old man, what do you mean?" Fu Quan looked at Fei Yanggu leisurely sipping his tea and felt a surge of anger.

"Just follow Your Highness's arrangements, this servant dares not say more!" Fei Yanggu was also a slippery man; since the decision had already been made, there was no need for him to say anything more.

"Explain yourself to me!" Fu Quan's temple twitched. Fei Yanggu, that old fox, dared to be so cunning even after being targeted by him.

Qingyan lowered her head and smiled. That's just how her father is. If her father weren't here, the problems here definitely wouldn't have been so thorough and serious.

"It must have been when the new army's barracks were being built that those people tasted the sweetness of success." Fei Yanggu recalled that the new army's barracks were built because there wasn't enough earth, so they had to buy it from outside, which annoyed the imperial merchants quite a bit.

Fu Quan suddenly realized what Fei Yanggu meant and sighed helplessly. Fei Yanggu was right. Those people were all ambitious. The more money they earned, the more advantageous it would be for them.

"Alright, just say everything you're thinking." Fei Yanggu also had his own ideas, and Fuquan gave him this opportunity.

"In the future, when a new naval port is built, Tu Fang will no longer need to rely on the imperial merchants to buy it. This is something we must discuss with His Majesty. Also, there might be something fishy about this. Why would the imperial merchants help those people as a cover?" Fei Yanggu raised a crucial question.

Instantly, the hall fell silent. Those people should understand what kind of situation they would face after the investigation, and they certainly wouldn't act rashly.

"Alright, let's go visit the fishing village right away. I want to see how many people in the village are on the side of those foreign devils!" Prince Yu had been holding back his anger ever since he heard that there were quite a few churches in the village.