After lunch, Yin held Qingyan in his arms and lay down on the soft couch to rest. He opened his eyes and looked at the little person in his arms, feeling very happy.
"Master, the magistrate is here!" Su Peisheng said at the door.
Qingyan opened her eyes and saw Yin frowning, his eyes coldly looking outside. She prepared to get up and accompany him to see someone.
"Sisi, I'll go with you!" The magistrate must have come with his wife.
Originally, Yin and Qingyan planned to rest for at least two or three days.
"Su Peisheng, has the magistrate's wife arrived yet?" Yin asked.
"My lord, the magistrate's wife is not here!" Su Peisheng said quickly.
Qingyan blinked. This was the first time she had encountered a courtier who came to pay homage without his wife.
"Little darling, sleep a little longer!" After getting up, Yin sat on the edge of the soft couch, patted the silk quilt on her body, and told her to rest a little longer.
She shook her head, got up, and clung to him.
"Sisi, let's go together!" He sighed and agreed.
After washing up, the two went to the main hall together. The magistrate watched them walk slowly and secretly regretted that he should have brought his wife with him. The Fourth Prince doted on his fourth wife, and the court officials had known this for a long time. Many of them wanted to use their wives as a means of diplomacy and brought their wives along, hoping to make a better impression.
"This servant greets the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Princess Consort." The magistrate was very nervous.
On the first day of the masters' arrival, before dinner time, every household closed their doors and windows. He knew that this was clearly a sign that they were spoiling him.
Yin glanced at the other person coldly, without saying a word.
The magistrate knelt on the cold tiles, while his clerk and the others who had come with him dared not breathe, constantly glancing at Qingyan, hoping she would plead for them.
"Master, the account books have arrived!" Su Peisheng respectfully handed over the county government's account books.
Yin quickly flipped through the pages, the rows of numbers giving him a headache. Recently, the Ministry of Revenue had also adopted Qingyan's account book model, which was simple and clear.
In Jiangnan, things were clearly not done according to Kangxi's wishes. The county magistrate regretted it, wondering why he had listened to the instigation of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and had not kept accounts according to Kangxi's method.
"Little darling, take a look too!" Qingyan opened the account book, and as she looked at the Chinese characters, she felt a headache coming on.
These ledgers, like the previous ones, look very disorganized.
As Yin carefully examined the document, the magistrate's heart grew colder and colder. Why had Kangxi sent this old man here?
The fact that so many powerful officials in the Ministry of Revenue had been brought down by the Fourth Prince instilled in him a deep-seated fear that his own flaws would also be exposed.
"Yin Deben, is this the account book you keep?" Yin threw the account book in his hand on the ground. It was obviously an exaggerated record of accounts, without even the most basic evidence.
"Fourth Master, these account books have been kept by the clerk ever since I took over." The county magistrate was from the Plain Blue Banner and was considered one of the more capable ones among the Eight Banners. He was able to reach such an official position through his own abilities without using any of his family's influence.
Yin Deben understood that the account book had too many loopholes and there must be a problem. Officials in Jiangnan had embezzled a lot of money from the account book, and not much of the money actually went to the people.
"Father Emperor allocated funds to clean up the environment in various towns in Jiangnan. I've certainly had my eyes opened here." Yin sneered. The county magistrate had ordered his men to keep a close eye on the two of them, and Yin certainly wouldn't let it go.
The magistrate's back was soaked with cold sweat. This master was truly ruthless and would never leave anyone any face.
"Yes, this servant is guilty!" The county magistrate quickly apologized. He came from the Eight Banners and had no powerful backing.
Li Xu was born into a bannerman family, but he had Cao Yin as his patron.
"Looking at the commercial street in the county town, the cleanup is quite good, but what about the remaining streets?" Yin looked at her, not missing a single expression.
The magistrate trembled. This...
Li Xuming clearly stated that the masters only went to the commercial street in the county town.
Damn it!
"Eru, the man is in your hands!" Yin didn't care about anything else; his father had sent him here because he didn't want him to let go.
Erlu bowed respectfully and then quickly nodded.
"Fourth Master, it wasn't this servant's idea, it was Lord Li Xu's idea. He said that His Majesty only inspected the commercial street in the new city, and the remaining silver was divided up there. This time, when the commercial street was being cleaned up, there was still some silver from my own pocket involved." The magistrate quickly cried out that he was innocent.
Qingyan pursed her lips, noticing that there were still traces of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion on the record. Both of these establishments were clearly subject to heavy taxes, but the taxes set by the government were much lower than recorded.
"Sulan, have the managers of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion come over!" Qingyan was annoyed; her shops were also involved in collusion between officials and merchants.
Her face grew increasingly pale; these people were clearly falsifying accounts!
At first, she was puzzled that taxes in Jiangnan were much higher than in the capital. Now, she understood more or less that it was due to collusion between officials and merchants.
"Yes!" Su Lan told Xiao Sula to hurry up and go find someone.
The magistrate's heart leaped into his throat; he wished he could slap himself immediately. Li Xu hadn't mentioned that Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion belonged to this master; if he had known, he definitely wouldn't have bribed their shop's accountant.
"Little darling, take a look at this one too!" Yin pointed to the account books of the two shops. These four account books were of two kinds: one was for dealing with officials coming from the court, and the other was their internal private account book.
Su Peisheng led his men to search all the places, and soon all these private accounts were found.
Qingyan glanced at the first few pages, then slammed her cup down on the table beside her, feeling heartbroken.
More than a quarter of the profits from these two shops end up in the pockets of officials. If this could do something good for the people, she really wouldn't mind.
"Investigate!" Yin uttered a single word.
A response came from the air.
The magistrate trembled. His Majesty had dispatched the Dragon Guards around him to several princes, and the Dragon Guards would only appear when the princes needed manpower.
"This servant... really doesn't know any of this..." the magistrate quickly begged for mercy.
Qingyan stared intently at the account books of Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion with a serious expression. She had to admit that the records in these account books were truly eye-opening for her.
There aren't many people in the shop who can both deceive the shopkeeper and be bribed by the government.
"Little darling, let's put this matter aside for now. We'll interrogate them properly later. It would be great if we could use this money to improve the living conditions of the people here." Yin didn't intend to take the money anymore.
Qingyan nodded, indicating his agreement with Yin's meaning. Kangxi had been keeping an eye on the Yuelai Inn, and both Ulanara and she had enough money.
Therefore, donating all of these extra profits would be a way to accumulate good karma for the family.
The magistrate, observing the people's actions, couldn't help but be secretly astonished. The amount they received each year was substantial, and this had been going on for several years; it truly added up to a considerable windfall. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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