Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

"Congratulations to Your Highness, during this trip to Songjiang Mansion, Your Highness directly investigated a major case in Songjiang Mansion!"

On the river, a fleet of boats moved forward mightily.

On the ship, Guo An chuckled as he looked at the young and strong soldiers who were still working hard on both sides of the river.

Zhu Gaochi's eyelids trembled slightly, but his expression was neither sad nor happy, "Teacher, I didn't expect that these officials would be so miserable!

Especially those officials in the capital, there are so many corrupt officials! "

"It's better for those officials to bite each other and report them!"

Guo An smiled and said, "In this way, from now on, there will definitely be a lot less corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty!"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi's eyes lit up.

"Teacher also thinks that most of the corrupt officials in Ming Dynasty have been caught?"

"no!"

Guo An slowly shook his head.

Zhu Gaochi's expression froze.

Guo Andao: "Because, with these officials in Songjiang Prefecture, they set a precedent. From then on, inter-office inspection meetings became popular.

Those officials no longer dare to trust each other. "

"..."

Zhu Gaochi was silent.

After a long while, Zhu Gaochi slowly said: "Teacher, these officials behave like this, can they still be considered scholars who have read the books of sages?"

Guo An said quietly: "Your Highness, when they exploit and oppress the people like that and treat the people like stupid dogs, they are no longer worthy of being disciples of the saint!"

"Teacher, the connections this time are so wide, so many officials will be killed. Even during the Hongwu period, there were only a few major cases..."

"Your Highness, do you still remember what the people and grain chiefs said in Jiading County? During the Hongwu years, those grain chiefs and officials did not dare to set up so many names to tax!"

"This……"

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but sigh heavily.

Guo An was extremely satisfied with the results of this trip.

Although he is a bit tired, he can at least add hundreds more households to his Guozhou, and most of them will be literate people.

Of course, so many corrupt officials were caught, at least hundreds of corrupt officials were confiscated, and the confiscated gold, silver and jewelry were shipped to sixteen large ships.

As for food, there are more than 600,000 stones of food!

With this food, the North will have no worries!

On the side, Zhu Gaochi stared at Guo An for a long time, and then said quietly: "Teacher, you seem to be in a good mood?"

Guo An smiled directly and said: "Your Highness, I can return to the capital in two days."

"Yes, I can finally go back!"

Zhu Gaochi also had a slight smile on his face.

Guo An added: "Your Highness, the three boxes of sweet potatoes in my house should be ripe!"

Zhu Gaochi was immediately overjoyed.

"Are the sweet potatoes ripe?"

Guo An said: "Your Highness, would you like to take one and try it?"

Zhu Gaochi's face was suddenly startled, and his eyelids trembled slightly.

"Teacher, I wonder how many pounds of sweet potatoes can be harvested from those three boxes?"

"Three boxes..."

Guo An subconsciously pondered for a moment, "Nine plants are planted in one box. One plant weighs about two or three kilograms. Three boxes weigh about fifty or sixty kilograms?"

"Fifty or sixty pounds?"

Zhu Gaochi's eyes widened, "Teacher, can you really harvest so many sweet potatoes? How many kilograms of rice can be harvested from one cluster of rice?"

"Maybe!"

Guo An smiled softly, "Your Highness, I don't know exactly how many sweet potatoes can be harvested!

However, even if it is not sixty pounds, there should be fifty pounds! As for the specifics, we still have to dig out those sweet potatoes to see! "

However, Guo An was directly sure that he would be able to dig out a hundred kilograms.

Although it is placed in a wooden box, which has little soil and relatively few nutrients, it is looked after by a dedicated person every day, and special fertilizers are brought back from farms outside the city every half month.

These sweet potatoes do not lack any nutrients.

Zhu Gaochi hurriedly asked again: "Teacher, if it weighs fifty kilograms, how many sweet potato seedlings can be cultivated? How many acres of sweet potatoes can be planted?"

"Fifty pounds..."

Guo An pondered for a moment and said helplessly: "Your Highness, to cultivate these sweet potatoes, you need to bury the whole piece of sweet potato in the fertile soil. After a few days, the sweet potato seedlings will grow. One sweet potato seedling can grow a single sweet potato." .

As for how many sweet potato seedlings these fifty pounds of sweet potatoes can cultivate, and how many acres of land they can be planted on, I don’t know! "

"I see!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly and then gave the order directly.

"Send the order, the fleet speeds up, and rush back to the capital as soon as possible!"

"The general will obey the order!"

As a captain raised his hand in response, a moment later, the ship trembled slightly, three plumes of black smoke came out of the stern, and the ship's speed suddenly doubled.

On the ship, all the soldiers and generals were beaming with joy.

Even some soldiers and generals shouted cheerfully!

Even though they have been on this kind of big ship that can use fire to increase speed countless times, they still can't help but get excited every time they feel the speed of the big ship under their feet.

On both sides of the river, the merchants and young warriors couldn't help but stop and looked at the big ship that was smoking and moving fast in the river with astonishment on their faces!

"Is this the steam ship invented by Duke Dingguo?"

"Isn't this faster than a horse?"

"I think should not be……"

……

On the third day, early in the morning.

The fleet has already docked at the Capital Pier.

After getting off the boat, Guo An and Zhu Gaochi went straight to Dingguo's mansion.

"master?"

"The master is back!"

"The master is back!"

Following a burst of cheers, Guo An took Zhu Gaochi directly to the back garden under the astonished eyes of the servants.

"See His Highness the Crown Prince, see the Duke!"

Yanshanwei, who had been guarding the back garden, hurriedly saluted.

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded slightly, went directly to the three boxes of sweet potatoes, and looked through the sweet potato vines with his hands.

These sweet potato vines have become obviously old and even a little yellow.

On the side, Zhu Gaochi stared at Guo An nervously.

"Mature!"

Zhu Gaochi hurriedly said: "Teacher, dig it out now?"

"Well, I have to dig it!"

Guo An nodded again.

Next to them, the two Yanshan guards suddenly tensed up, their faces filled with anticipation.

After waiting for so long, these sweet potatoes are finally ripe!

Guo An ordered Guo Ang on the side: "Guo Ang, go get two small axes..."

"never mind!"

As he spoke, Guo An looked directly at the steel knives at the waists of the two Yanshan guards.

"Give us a steel knife!"

"Yes, sir!"

A Yanshan guard quickly took out the steel knife and handed it to Guo An respectfully.

Guo An clenched his sword, made some gestures on the wooden box of sweet potatoes, and then said to Zhu Gaochi: "Your Highness, why don't you also take a steel knife and try how it feels to peel potatoes for the first time? "

"it is good!"

Zhu Gaochi's mind moved, but he didn't refuse and looked at the other Yanshan Guard.

"Your Highness, please!"

A flash of excitement flashed in Yanshanwei's eyes, and he hurriedly and carefully took off the entire steel knife from his waist, and then slowly handed it to Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi took the steel knife, pulled it out, and looked at Guo An aside.

In an instant, his pupils couldn't help but shrink.

I saw Guo An directly raising the steel knife in his hand and slashing towards the wooden box.

With a few bangs, the steel knife cut off the circle of sweet potato vines hanging down from the edge of the wooden box.

After looking at it a few more times, I saw that the wooden block on the top of the wooden box with a ring had also been chopped off.

With another tug, the entire wooden box fell apart, leaving only the pile of soil in the middle of the box.

Subsequently.

Then he waved the steel knife and slashed hard at the bottom of the mound a few times.

rough.

However, the effect is very obvious.

With a crash, the entire mound began to fall apart and collapse.

"Sweet potato?"

"so much……"

With two exclamations, all the sweet potatoes in the mound were exposed.

There are piles of them, which are extremely conspicuous.

"Guo Ang, go get the scale!"

Guo An shouted while squatting down and taking out the sweet potatoes.

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Ang responded and hurried out.

Guo An, on the other hand, kept picking out sweet potatoes in the mound.

No matter how big or small, they were picked out one by one.

Each nest contains five or six sweet potatoes. The big ones can be bigger than a human hand, while the small ones can be as big as a child's fist.

despite this.

Nine nests of sweet potatoes were placed on the ground, causing Zhu Gaochi and the Yanshan guards and servants beside him to widen their eyes, their faces full of excitement, and even their whole bodies were trembling.

Especially Zhu Gaochi, he understood how important these sweet potatoes were to Ming Dynasty.

"How can such a box of sweet potatoes produce so much food?"

"What a divine thing!" "This sweet potato is indeed the food of happiness for my Ming Dynasty!"

"If I, the Ming Dynasty, planted sweet potatoes like this on all the people's land, wouldn't it be impossible to eat all the food grown?"

"..."

"Bang... bang..."

Suddenly, there was a dull feeling from the side.

Everyone quickly looked up and saw that Prince Zhu Gaochi was already raising his steel knife with excitement on his face, imitating Guo An's actions just now, and processing the box of sweet potatoes.

Cut the vines, cut the sticks, and cut the mounds!

With a crash, the mound fell apart, and the sweet potatoes inside the mound were directly exposed.

"hiss……"

"So many again!"

People around him couldn't help but stare at Zhu Gaochi's movements.

"Master, the scale is here!"

At this time, Guo Ang, Liu Baiwei, Yuelan, Guo Shen and others also rushed over.

same.

When they saw so many sweet potatoes on the ground, everyone's eyes widened and they stood still.

How can so many sweet potatoes be grown in such a small wooden box?

soon.

Zhu Gaochi also pulled out all the sweet potatoes from the mound.

The number of sweet potatoes was no less than the pile Guo An dug out.

"scales!"

Guo An said directly.

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Ang hurriedly directed his two servants to put the sweet potatoes into a basket and began to weigh them.

Guo Ang took out an account book and kept count himself.

"This sweet potato weighs two pounds and six taels!"

"This one weighs three pounds and one tael!"

"Three kilograms and three liang..."

"Two pounds and eight ounces..."

"..."

"A total of twenty-six pounds and three ounces!"

"Twenty-six pounds and three ounces?"

When Guo Ang calculated the total, everyone around them suddenly widened their eyes and took a cold breath.

Then, he looked excitedly at the pile of sweet potatoes that Zhu Gaochi had just dug out.

"scales!"

Zhu Gaochi said with a trembling voice.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Guo Ang quickly took two servants and weighed the pile of sweet potatoes.

"Three kilograms and three liang!"

"Two pounds and six ounces!"

"Two catties and nine taels..."

"Three pounds and one tael..."

"Twenty-six pounds and one tael!"

Guo Ang shouted out the total amount tremblingly and looked at Zhu Gaochi with excitement on his face.

"Congratulations, Your Highness, our people in Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of food!"

"Twenty-six pounds and one tael?"

Zhu Gaochi stared closely at the pile of sweet potatoes on the ground, his whole body trembling.

"Teacher, we just dug out two wooden boxes of sweet potatoes. Each wooden box can grow twenty-six kilograms of sweet potatoes!

If you plant one acre of sweet potatoes, wouldn't you be able to harvest more than ten shi? "

After saying that, Zhu Gaochi still felt that he was in a dreaming state.

With ten shi of grain produced per acre, a family of four only needs to plant two acres of sweet potatoes to suffice for a year.

If you plant another acre, you will be able to pay all the taxes in one year.

And if they plant two more acres, their family’s food will be enough to pile up into a hill, and they won’t be able to finish it all...

In this way, how happy will the people of Ming Dynasty be?

And how powerful will the Ming Dynasty be?

"Ten stones?"

Guo An was slightly absent-minded for a moment, and his eyes shone brightly, "Your Highness, the sweet potatoes in these three wooden boxes have grown so big because of regular watering and fertilization.

If it is planted in an ordinary field, it will not be watered frequently or fertilized frequently, and it will be planted very loosely, and it is not certain how big it will grow!

In addition, although sweet potatoes are edible, they cannot replace wheat and rice. Wheat and rice still need to be grown! "

Zhu Gaochi stared at Guo An closely, "Teacher, no matter what, eating sweet potatoes should be better than eating grass roots and bugs!"

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded subconsciously.

Zhu Gaochi said again: "Teacher, for such a happy event, you should report the good news to your father!"

"What His Highness said is absolutely true. We should report it to His Majesty!"

Guo An cupped his hands towards Zhu Gaochi and said, "Your Highness, I still need to trouble you about this matter!"

"Teacher, don't you go to the palace?"

Zhu Gaochi looked surprised.

Guo An said: "Your Highness, during this trip to Songjiang Mansion, I am only assisting Your Highness, and everything is decided by Your Highness.

In addition, His Highness has personally dug out a box of these sweet potatoes, so he knows best.

Therefore, there is absolutely no need for me to do anything! "

"Wei Chen has left the house for more than half a month, and I really don't want to move.

In addition, Wei Chen has just come back, washed up, and will return to the palace tomorrow to report to His Majesty! "

Zhu Gaochi glanced at Guo An strangely and nodded slowly.

"In that case, I will enter the palace first!"

"Your Highness, please!"

"Um……"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly and prepared to walk out.

However, just after taking two steps, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly looked back at Guo An.

"Teacher, sweet potatoes are such a good food, please be merciful!"

Guo An was stunned for a moment and nodded slightly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, I won't touch one of it!"

"Teacher is kind!"

At this time, Zhu Gaochi left with some relief.

"Sir, these sweet potatoes?"

After Zhu Gaochi left, Guo Ang and others in the courtyard looked at the sweet potatoes on the ground with excitement, feeling a little at a loss.

They have also seen all kinds of rare treasures, but none of them are as valuable as the sweet potatoes on the ground.

"Let it sit in the sun for a day. Before the sun sets in the afternoon, put these sweet potatoes into an iron box and store them until His Majesty comes to inspect them!"

Guo An said helplessly.

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Ang responded quickly.

On the side, the look of surprise on Liu Baiwei's face has not gone away.

"Sir, are these sweet potatoes really capable of yielding ten shi per hour?"

Guo An smiled softly, "If it is planted properly, it shouldn't be much different!"

"So, these sweet potatoes were brought back to the Ming Dynasty by my master. When these sweet potatoes are fully planted in the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't it mean that my master is in the Ming Dynasty..."

"Girl forgot, there are still these corns!"

Guo An smiled slightly.

In the garden, the corn seedlings have grown to half a person's height.

And Liu Baiwei was even more surprised.

On the side, Guo Ang and a group of servants had a sentence automatically appearing in their minds.

If sweet potatoes and corn were grown in the Ming Dynasty, I must be a wise man in the Ming Dynasty!

It can even be said that he is a saint of the Ming Dynasty!

Guo An took another look at the growth of the corn, and then explained it to Guo Ang, Xu Yong and others before going to wash up.

He didn't lie to Zhu Gaochi either. He was really tired after spending more than half a month in Songjiang Mansion!

And in the palace.

Zhu Di listened to Wang Zhen's report.

Especially, after hearing how much gold, silver, jewelry and food he had brought back, the joy in Zhu Di's eyes could no longer be hidden.

"Wang Zhen, all the gold, silver and jewels have been put into storage... In addition, the food must be stored properly, and no mistakes are allowed!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Wang Zhen responded quickly.

Zhu Di thought of something, his eyes flashed, and he asked: "Where have the prince and Duke Ding gone? Why haven't they entered the palace yet?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, the prince and Duke Ding got off the boat and went to Duke Ding's mansion!"

Wang Zhen replied.

"Went to Duke Dingguo's Mansion?"

Hearing this, Zhu Di frowned slightly, "What are you going to do at Dingguo Duke's Mansion?"

Wang Zhen replied: "Your Majesty, it seems that the sweet potatoes are ripe!"

"Ok?"

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes and stood up directly.

"Are the sweet potatoes ripe?"

...(End of chapter)