No matter how shocking Lingpu's words were, the Crown Prince had to be protected.
Finally, the Crown Prince and Lingpu came up with a solution: dispose of what they could, make up for what they could, and send away what they couldn't.
As for how to "send" it and to whom, the Imperial Household Department always had a willing sucker to take it on.
After leaving Yuqing Palace, Lingpu began dealing with the items that shouldn't have been in his family's storeroom. He was indeed very quick, and he had almost finished dealing with them before Yinzhen could trace them back to him.
Yinzhen did see through it, but since Lingpu was the Crown Prince's man, he had to give him face. In addition, Lingpu had indeed secretly made up for a lot, and even if the Emperor knew, he would probably give Lingpu, the Crown Prince's confidant, a break. Yinzhen naturally didn't want to offend anyone for no reason.
The Lingpu incident is now behind us.
Lingpu finally breathed a sigh of relief after realizing the Fourth Prince's attitude. This prince's methods of dealing with the Imperial Household Department were truly ruthless. If it weren't for the Crown Prince's reminder, he would probably have really gotten himself into trouble this time.
He was fortunate enough to escape unscathed, but others were not so lucky. They embezzled too much, and their accounts were too large to be fully covered. Therefore, what Yinzhen found in the end was quite extensive.
Those ledgers were truly shocking to him.
He wrote down what he had found in a memorial, discussed it with the Crown Prince, and then presented the memorial to Emperor Kangxi.
When Kangxi saw the shocking numbers on the memorial, he slammed it down on the desk with a loud "bang," startling Liang Jiugong so much that he almost dropped the teacup he was holding.
Liang Jiugong knelt down, holding a cup of tea, and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
The Crown Prince and Yinzhen also knelt down and said, "Father, please calm down."
Emperor Kangxi's face was full of anger: "Calm down, how can I calm down? I originally thought they were just lining their own pockets, but what is on this list? Corruption is rampant, and they even smuggled imperial tribute items, replacing the real ones with fakes. They really have the guts to do this. What use are such servants to me?"
It took Kangxi a while to calm down, but he was still angry!
He asked his two sons, "What do you think should be done about this?"
The Crown Prince spoke first: "Your Majesty, such treacherous individuals who deceive their superiors should all be beheaded and their families exterminated."
Kangxi nodded upon hearing this, but inwardly sighed that the Crown Prince still needed more experience in handling affairs.
Kangxi was indeed furious about what happened in the Imperial Household Department and wanted to kill all those involved as a warning to others, but this had to be done in light of the actual circumstances.
The Imperial Household Department was dominated by bondservant servants. Besides, if you really count them, there weren't many clean people in the Imperial Household Department. Moreover, they intermarried with each other. After their families were confiscated and their clans exterminated, there would probably be very few bondservant servants left. So who would be responsible for the food, clothing, and daily necessities in the palace? The Crown Prince hadn't thought of this.
Emperor Kangxi asked Yinzhen, "Fourth Prince, what do you think we should do?"
Yinzhen had some thoughts in mind, but since the Crown Prince spoke first, he could only say, "Your subject shares the same view as Your Highness, but I think we should first punish some of the unforgivable criminals, then order the rest to return their ill-gotten gains, and then formulate a new system for the Imperial Household Department and its supervisory system. Corruption is rampant in the Imperial Household Department, and it is extremely rampant. In the end, it is because the supervision and punishment are not strong enough."
Upon hearing this, Kangxi was much more satisfied, at least more so than the Crown Prince's answer.
"What does the Crown Prince think?"
The Crown Prince hadn't expected Yinzhen to be so thoughtful. He was slightly displeased that Yinzhen was showing off in front of his father, but he could tell that his father was satisfied with what Yinzhen had said.
Furthermore, since the Crown Prince had been taught the ways of a ruler since childhood, he was not jealous. He said, "What my fourth brother said is absolutely right. I also think it should be so."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi was satisfied. The Crown Prince was the heir apparent; he didn't necessarily need to have solutions to problems, but he certainly needed the ability to judge the merits of solutions proposed by others.
For Kangxi, the fact that Yinzhen was accepted was enough to satisfy him.
Kangxi nodded: "Then let's do as Yinzhen says. Yinzhen, go back and write a detailed memorial. I will entrust this matter to the two of you. The Crown Prince will be in charge, and Yinzhen will assist from the side."
Crown Prince and Yinzhen: "Yes, Father Emperor, your son obeys."
After leaving the Qianqing Palace, the Crown Prince asked Yinzhen to go with him to the Yuqing Palace to discuss how to handle the matter. In fact, Yinzhen understood that he should be the one to take the lead in this matter, and the Crown Prince would be the one to benefit the most in the end, which did not surprise him.
The Crown Prince couldn't just do nothing. His existence was also a way for Kangxi to tell him that this matter shouldn't implicate him.
Yuqing Palace, the Crown Prince's Study.
"Second Brother Crown Prince, what are your plans?"
The Crown Prince said, "First, we'll single out a few of the most notorious embezzlers, confiscate their property, and exterminate their entire families as a warning to others. As for the rest, we'll order them to return what they've embezzled, but leave them a way out. Go back and draft a plan first, and I'll take a look before we discuss it further."
Although Yinzhen felt that the Crown Prince was talking nonsense, since what he said was similar to what he had just said, he usually wouldn't argue too much with the Crown Prince. He said, "Alright, then I'll go back and write my memorial."
Yinzhen returned to his quarters as the Fourth Prince and began writing memorials.
Dealing with corrupt officials is easy; all those who need to be investigated have been investigated, and they can be dealt with directly according to regulations.
However, there are also difficulties. The difficulty lies in how to formulate a new system. Not to mention that the Imperial Household Department's mechanism is already mature, whether the new mechanism is suitable is another question. The real challenge is what kind of system can prevent the Imperial Household Department from enriching itself at the expense of others.
After a whole night of work, Yinzhen finally managed to compile a list of the households whose property he wanted to confiscate.
It's not fair to blame him for being inefficient; it was indeed not easy. The relationships behind these Imperial Household Departments were complex, and if they were to be dealt with, they would have to make some calculations. Yinzhen carefully considered the list before finalizing it.
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