The weather in Beijing has entered October and has begun to become very cool.

The sweet potatoes planted by the people in the new city were also harvested. Zhu Cixi personally went to the new city for inspection and saw densely packed people digging sweet potatoes in the fields outside the east gate of the new city.

The county magistrate Ren Guangyu held up a huge sweet potato and smiled happily: "The yield of this kind of sweet potato your highness said is indeed high. Normally, one acre of wheat can yield one stone of wheat. The sum of summer, wheat and autumn millet is only two stones. The yield of this sweet potato per mu is quite high."

Several times."

Although the yield per mu of sweet potatoes was very high, Zhu Cixi was not satisfied. In later generations, the average yield of sweet potatoes per mu was 2,000 kilograms per mu in spring and 1,000 kilograms per mu in summer. The total yield in spring and summer was 3,000 kilograms, or 6,000 kilograms.

Now Xincheng's output is less than half, and it has not reached the dozens of stones per acre recorded by Xu Guangqi during this period.

Zhu Cixiang estimated that it was because of geographical reasons that sweet potatoes are suitable for growing in the Central Plains and the South. The farther north you go, the lower the temperature and the lower the yield, and the reason is the improved varieties. The sweet potatoes have just been planted in Xincheng and are not yet improved varieties. They should have to undergo several growth and cultivation.

These will take time to resolve, but Zhu Cixiang is not in a hurry. The current production is enough to feed the people of Xincheng, and the excess sweet potatoes can be exchanged for food in nearby prefectures and counties to pay taxes and improve their lives.

Zhu Cihong returned to the Xincheng County Yamen. He had just sat down and had a sip of tea when he saw Wu Zhong rushing over.

"Master, Mr. Li has sent a secret report." Wu Zhong handed over a piece of information.

Zhu Cixiang took it and took a look, his brows suddenly furrowed, sparks appeared in his eyes, and he said angrily: "These are these people who don't know whether to live or die!"

Li Tingbiao reported that the imperial censor reported that the East Palace had a brave guard camp of 20,000 troops near the capital. The troops were self-respecting, fearing that there would be a change in the Xuanwu Gate!

In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, held military power. He finally killed the crown prince's brother, put the emperor's father under house arrest, and became the emperor himself.

However, Zhu Cixi did not expect that these officials would be so vicious and use military power and the throne to touch Emperor Chongzhen's bottom line.

Li Tingbiao reported that Emperor Chongzhen ordered the imperial censor to give the imperial cudgel a round of twenty sticks. After receiving a round of twenty canes, the censor was still lying on the straw mat writing a memorial. His physical condition could not be said to be unsound.

This censor did not assess the situation and retreat when faced with difficulties. He ignored the warnings of his ancestors and used the second memorial in exchange for the fatal Twenty-Ting Staff without hesitation.

Since it was fatal, of course the boat capsized, and the censor was beaten to death by the Jin Yiwei.

The censor was executed with a stick, and the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate immediately went into trouble. Under the leadership of Tang Shiji, they went to the Meridian Gate to cause trouble, asking the emperor to open the door to receive advice, cultivate virtue and govern the heart, and get close to the Confucian officials. The matter became quite big.

.

Find someone to join forces, seize the target's weakness and hit the emperor's scar, play tricks at all costs, benefit oneself at the expense of others, deny relatives, and even sacrifice the lives of innocent people. These are Wen Tiren's consistent methods. No need to think, it must be him

Doing something.

Zhu Cixiang felt bad. Chongzhen's ears were too soft and he was suspicious by nature. Even though he cherished himself on weekdays, he was in the royal family and touched the imperial power...

The incident of the violent prince Liu Ju during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is a typical example. As the eldest son of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ju was established as the prince at the age of seven. He won the trust of Emperor Wu, had high hopes, and acted with virtue in politics. However, he was eventually framed by a group of villains.

lethal.

"Go back to the capital!" Zhu Cixiang quickly stood up and walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped and said: "Take the silver to buy fifty kilograms of sweet potatoes that sell well and take them back to the palace."

"Yes!" Wu Zhong responded and immediately asked his personal guards to get started.

As soon as Zhu Cihong returned to the imperial city, Li Tingbiao immediately greeted him.

"How many imperial sticks did that censor receive?" Zhu Cixiang asked as he walked.

Li Tingbiao followed closely and said: "When I returned to Your Highness, I gave him twenty gentle beatings. Half an hour later, the boy came again and His Majesty ordered another twenty beatings."

Zhu Cixiang asked: "Beat him to death in twenty blows? Did your people do it?"

Li Tingbiao shook his head and said: "It's not a low-level person, it's Luo Yangxing who is supervising and showing off his inner characteristics."

"What pigeons?"

Li Tingbiao explained: "There is a way to use the imperial staff in the palace. The Jin Yiwei who executes it will look at the supervising person's wishes. If the supervising person's boots point outwards in a figure-eight shape, the hand will be lighter, and the Jin Yiwei will raise the staff high.

, pat it gently, if the toes of the supervisor's boots point inward and form a figure eight, then the strike will be heavier and the person will be hit to death."

Zhu Cixiang suddenly stopped and said, "It seems that Luo Yangxing is not willing to be lonely and wants to mess things up."

Luo Yangxing is such a funny guy. He originally wanted to promote Li Tingbiao to command the Qianshi in Jinyiwei, but Li Tingbiao went on an expedition with the army and was promoted to the second person in Jinyiwei by Zhu Cihong for his military merit.

Zhu Cixiang didn't know whether Luo Yangxing felt uncomfortable or not. He only knew that this funny man not only had conflicts with the eunuchs headed by Wen Tiren, but also had friction with himself. Now he was isolated by both parties and was a complete troublemaker.

Li Tingbiao continued: "Your Highness, I have made another discovery."

Zhu Cixi stopped and said, "Say."

Li Tingbiao came closer to him and whispered: "The secret report of Da Yu is that Da Yu knows where you go every day, what you do, and even what you say. I judge that there should be someone in the palace."

The spy of the Young Eunuch Party."

Zhu Cixiang frowned slightly: "Can you roughly tell which of the twenty-four prisons they belong to?"

Li Tingbiao replied: "Based on your daily walking range, people from the Supervisor of Ceremony, Supervisor of Internal Affairs and Supervisor of Food and Beverage can easily come into contact with you."

"Got it!" Zhu Cixi nodded.

The palace is not like outside the palace. Although the royal guards have the right to enter and exit the palace, they cannot wander around, let alone arrest people in the palace at will. It is not easy to remove the informants in the palace, and they can only be outsmarted.

Zhu Cihong walked through the Chengtian Gate and came to the Meridian Gate Square. He saw a large number of officials kneeling in front of the Meridian Gate, wanting to enter the palace to speak to the saint.

Zhu Cixiang walked directly through the Yanguan Palace with his hands behind his back, and entered the palace directly from the left door of the Meridian Gate without even looking at these dogs.

"Arrogant!" Looking at the back of the crown prince, the official said angrily.

"Chen Yushi was executed with a stick because he was found guilty. The blood was not dry yet, but he actually ignored us like this!"

The officials in front of the Meridian Gate angrily criticized Zhu Cixiang's arrogant behavior, but it was of no use. They had to kneel outside to bask in the sun.

Zhu Cixiang first came to the Wenhua Palace to meet Emperor Chongzhen. After the ceremony, he found that his father was very calm, as if nothing had happened.

Seeing him like this, it was hard for Zhu Cixiang to ask about this matter. Chongzhen just hummed when Zhu Cixiang saluted and stopped talking, immersed himself in reviewing the memorial.

Wang Chengen remained silent on the side, only helping to sort out the memorials and polish the imperial ink. The Wenhua Palace was extremely quiet for a while.
Chapter completed!