As the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month approached, the investigation gradually accelerated. After 'Feng Sen' returned to the south, strangers began to keep watch over Linglong Pavilion and his home.
News from the south kept pouring into Yin's study, and Tong Guowei couldn't sit still any longer.
In the past few years, Tong Guowei's faction has stood behind the Crown Prince, and Lingpu is no longer able to manage the Imperial Household Department. The amount of money needed by the Crown Prince is basically raised by several families. If the Tong family continues to contribute money like this, there will definitely be some problems.
Although Yin was from a very powerful family, one of the eight great families that entered the pass, all their silver was spoils of war seized on the battlefield.
Among the eight major families, there were many such items, and the Hesheli family even pawned two-thirds of the contents of their warehouses.
"Master, this is a list of the items that the Hesheli clan has mortgaged!" Erlu placed the list on Yin's desk, Yin's face was very gloomy.
Some of those items were bought by officials from the south and sent directly to Yuqing Palace as tribute.
He picked up a pen and began to draw a list, sketching out everything he had seen at Yuqing Palace.
After all the drawings were completed, those items were discovered, and it was found that only a very few had not been sent to Yuqing Palace.
"How strange. They released their own things, even took a detour to the south, and then returned to Yuqing Palace. Incidentally, they also gained a considerable amount of silver. It's definitely killing two birds with one stone." Yin sneered.
The Crown Prince has come up with this scheme to get more money; he must be quite arrogant.
"Fourth Prince, do you think this was the Crown Prince's idea?" Qingyan asked, looking at Yin.
What is this?!
"They really went to great lengths for money!" Qingyan sneered.
After the words were spoken, both of them fell silent. Qingyan took the list and looked at it page by page. She found that there were quite a few pieces of jewelry from Linglong Pavilion in the detailed records. These were all prepared by Qingyan for the Crown Princess.
"Fourth Prince, I basically prepared these sets of jewelry, so I made detailed notes on some issues!" Qingyan sneered. "It seems the Crown Prince is really short of money!"
Inside Changchun Garden, Kangxi received further information that the Crown Prince had instructed the Imperial Household Department to directly collect exorbitant bribes from merchants.
"Didn't even Qingyan and Lao Jiu's shops get spared?" Kangxi asked Tulichen.
Tulichen nodded in agreement, knelt on the ground, and prepared to follow Kangxi's instructions.
"Go and call the fourth prince and Qingyan over." Kangxi needed to know the situation. "Let the ninth prince come over as well."
Later that evening, Qingyan accompanied Yin to the main hall, where they found both Emperor Kangxi and Consort Tong present.
"Get up, both of you." Kangxi waved his hand, signaling the two to rise quickly.
After Yin and Qingyan were seated, Kangxi instructed Li Dequan to hand over the character that Tulichen had investigated to Yin.
"Father, these things involve the Linglong Pavilion. Could we let Xiao Guai come along and take a look?" Yin asked Kangxi.
"Hmm!" Kangxi nodded, picked up the cup, and took a sip.
Yin and Qingyan quickly flipped through the scroll. It not only recorded those things, but also detailed records of each item, some of which surprised Qingyan.
"Little darling, Linglong Pavilion often receives imported goods. You've seen these things, do you have any thoughts?" Kangxi asked Qingyan.
Qingyan was stunned. It turned out that the Crown Prince had made arrangements long ago. All the imported goods that were sent up had been used by the Crown Prince and auctioned off by the Hesheli clan.
Having just finished reading all the messages, Yin strode in from outside.
"Father Emperor!" Yin bowed respectfully.
Snap!
Before he could even get up, Kangxi threw his teacup at him.
Yin Ke dared not move, and the teacup smashed on him. Kangxi narrowed his eyes.
"Ninth Prince, almost everything that Hesheli sent over was sold in your pawnshop. What's going on?" Kangxi asked Yinzhi seriously.
In the south, Yin specially opened a pawnshop and received a lot of things from the south.
"Your Majesty, I only received some imported goods from the south. Who would have thought that many of those imported goods were originally sent out from Yuqing Palace? I was quite flustered when I received them!" Yin also had his own thoughts. After discovering Yin's actions, he dared not be negligent. He recalled all the things that had flowed out of the palace.
"When did this start?!" Kangxi sneered.
"It must have been when Lingpu was first dismissed that I discovered these things. I didn't dare tell any of my brothers, so I took matters into my own hands and bought back all the imported goods that had been out of the country." Yin was really heartbroken, even though he didn't have to spend his own money.
Kangxi felt very distressed after hearing Yin's words. If Lingpu had not been relieved of his duties, things probably wouldn't have turned out this way.
"Little darling, have you received anything similar in your business in the south?" Kangxi asked Qingyan.
Qingyan looked up at Yin, who nodded slightly to her.
"Yes, but I can only acquire a very small amount. All of those items are unclaimed, and the prices they ask for are far too high." Qingyan's Linglong Pavilion has a bottom line; if the value of its pawnshops exceeds the potential profit, it will no longer acquire them!
When Kangxi heard the two versions of the story from Qingyan and the Ninth Prince, he laughed out loud.
"Ninth Prince, did you hear what Qingyan said?" Kangxi asked, looking at Yinzhen.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will heed your teachings, Fourth Sister-in-law!" Yin replied directly.
“Father, I think that Ninth Prince’s pawnshop is probably for collecting imported goods. There are many wealthy families in the south, and they must have a lot of surplus imported goods during festivals. These are basically gifts to be exchanged between each other.” Qingyan remembered Yin’s words and added her explanation.
After hearing Qingyan's words, Kangxi had a better understanding of the situation. He figured that Yinzhi would definitely try to gain more benefits.
"Ninth Prince, how much profit can be involved here?" Kangxi asked, looking at Yinzhi.
"Without going to sea or taking any risks, they managed to extract two or three percent of the profits, which is quite a substantial amount!" Yin quickly reported to Yin.
"Little darling, if the family were to arrange a voyage, how much risk would it involve?" Kangxi asked Qingyan.
"We're only about 70% sure!" Qingyan said truthfully.
70%?!
Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi pondered whether he should continue sending people to sea.
These are profits obtained entirely through risk, and are probably more difficult to obtain than ordinary business.
"Ninth Prince, you've got some tricks up your sleeve!" Kangxi shook his head.
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