Chapter 132: A Gentle Trap

Yang Xin, lost in a gentle trap, no longer cared about the floods raging outside.

The guy slept for a full day and night.

It happened to be rainy all these days in the Capital City, so he stole a moment of leisure from his busy life. That was another matter entirely…

“Your Bandit-Suppression Army has begun digging along the route you previously marked. It’s said the progress is smooth so far. You should thank Xu Guangqi for that; he sent his student Sun Yuanhua to help. It was this person who assisted you, the irresponsible one. Otherwise, did you think your clueless subordinates could dig a Grand Canal over a hundred li long by themselves? On another note, your sweet potatoes really came in handy. Local poor folks have already started secretly digging them up to eat. It’s said there were even armed clashes with your soldiers over this. Zuo Guangdou originally wanted to use this chance to impeach you again, but with His Majesty seriously ill, he hasn’t gotten around to it.”

Fang Tinglan traced circles on his chest while reporting the outside situation.

“Are the sweet potatoes really that good?” she immediately asked.

“Sweet potatoes are just something to keep people from starving, preventing death from hunger. If people truly relied on sweet potatoes to survive, they’d become sickly chickens. Don’t be dissatisfied; I’ve prepared something better for your Fang family,” Yang Xin said.

Sun Yuanhua’s appearance had taken him by surprise.

At this time, Sun Yuanhua was only a Provincial Scholar. In fact, he never obtained the Jinshi degree. He became an official as a Provincial Scholar and eventually rose to the position of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Denglai. In the Great Ming, this was already quite remarkable—many Jinshi-degree holders couldn’t achieve this.

It was common for Provincial Scholars to become officials.

For instance, Yang Xin once checked the records of past County Magistrates of Yuncheng in the Great Ming and found over half were Provincial Scholars. However, unless exceptionally outstanding, the fifth rank was an invisible ceiling for officials who were Provincial Scholars. For example, Song Yingxing only rose to Department Magistrate. Hai Gangfeng was a rare exception. Yet, Sun Yuanhua, as a Provincial Scholar, reached the fourth rank. While wartime factors played a role, he himself was exceptionally talented.

“What good thing?” Fang Tinglan asked, resting her head on his chest.

Yang Xin pointed to his own face. Fang Tinglan didn’t hesitate and bit…

Alright, it was a real bite!

“Ouch, ouch, let go!” Yang Xin cried out after being bitten on the face.

Fang Tinglan smugly released him and looked at the tooth marks on his face. But she was surprised to find the marks disappearing at a visible rate. Although she hadn’t broken the skin, this was still rather eerie.

“I’m experimenting with another thing. Actually, our northern regions are most suitable for growing corn, but current corn cultivation is too poor. Moreover, the saline-alkali lands around Tianjin aren’t suitable for corn either. The future paddy fields after digging the Relief Canal won’t need corn either. So, I plan to test this on your Fang family’s land. However, the key isn’t just corn planting. Given the current situation, increasing corn yield can rely on methods like manual pollination assistance and detasseling, but such increases are limited. The real key lies in the seeds. To truly boost corn yield, hybridization is necessary. Therefore, I want to find a piece of land for corn hybrid breeding. But I don’t know if it will succeed, or even when it might succeed. In short, this is a project requiring long-term investment. But if it succeeds, your Fang family can enjoy everlasting wealth and honor.”

Yang Xin didn’t notice her expression; he just held her and rambled on.

He really had no confidence about hybridization.

Because the modern corn hybrid seed strains didn’t exist in the Great Ming yet.

However, the Great Ming indeed had more than one corn strain. Corn entered the Great Ming via different routes at different times, so it was impossible that only one strain was introduced.

His idea was to gather corn from as many different places as possible, then establish an experimental base for a long, persistent effort.

Continuous experimentation.

Whether it could succeed or not, experimentation was necessary.

If they didn’t want a future reliant solely on sweet potatoes during the upcoming Little Ice Age, and dared not promote potatoes on a large scale due to virus issues (otherwise a famine like Ireland’s would be a greater loss), then food security couldn’t be taken lightly at all. Corn was the best choice. Yet, with current corn seeds, even with manual pollination assistance and detasseling, the potential yield increase was actually quite limited.

The corn at this time was more like a club than modern corn.

The corn cob pitifully had only a few kernels. Apart from being more drought-resistant, its yield per mu couldn’t even match wheat. The time when corn yield per mu equaled wheat’s was when the Great Qing was nearly finished. Once this project succeeded, the Fang family could indeed enjoy everlasting wealth and honor. Monopolizing seeds wasn’t just about wealth and honor; it was about control. However, Yang Xin only knew the general process of hybrid breeding. To actually do it required a dedicated team, and it needed to be experienced old farmers—people he didn’t have.

But a centuries-old family like the Fangs surely had such people.

“At least you have a conscience!” Fang Tinglan said contentedly.

“Young Mistress!” The voice of little sister He Xiang came from outside.

“Come in!”

“Young Mistress, Little Liu from the Second Master’s residence came. He said the Second Master entered the palace this morning and was hurriedly summoned by Imperial Edict to bring that Li Kezhuo for an audience. Grand Secretary Han accompanied them. That Li Kezhuo brought some immortal medicine,” little sister He Xiang reported, keeping her head down.

Yang Xin immediately pushed Fang Tinglan aside and stood up.

Little sister He Xiang was startled and quickly turned around.

Yang Xin swiftly grabbed his clothes and put them on as fast as he could.

“Where are you going?” Fang Tinglan asked, puzzled.

“To the Imperial Palace, of course. Such a good show must be watched!” Yang Xin said.

He wasn’t going to watch a show; he was going for a double insurance. In case that Red Pill didn’t finish off Zhu Changluo, he wouldn’t mind adding a stab. He had spent half a month returning to the Capital City; on the way, he had gone to prepare materials. Anyway, with that Red Pill as the base, whatever he added would be blamed on the Red Pill. Zhu Changluo had to die. If he didn’t die, Tianqi couldn’t ascend. If Tianqi didn’t ascend, then even if Zhu Changluo was clear-headed enough not to confiscate his property, people like Zuo Guangdou would at least finish off his Bandit-Suppression Army.

In over a year’s time, he had offended entirely the Donglin Faction.

And Wang Zhizai too.

Although Wang Zhizai wasn’t appointed by Zhu Changluo, he was soon reappointed by the Donglin Faction that controlled the court and eventually rose to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, until finally being killed by Nine Thousand Years Old.

Calculating this, Yang Xin was essentially the public enemy of the Donglin Faction Scholars.

Wang Huazhen was a student of Ye Cezi. He would definitely, with Ye Cezi’s support, compete with Xiong Tingbi for dominance in Liaodong…

However, the situation where Xiong Tingbi threw in the towel and quit hadn’t appeared yet.

In the original history, around this time, under attacks from Censors, he would have angrily claimed illness and resigned. But this time, the Censors’ attacks were limited. It would be strange if they didn’t attack him, but relying on the war Yang Xin had won earlier, along with Mao Wenlong capturing Tong Yangzhen, he, as the Liaodong Military Commissioner, was considered competent anyway.

The Censors could at most pick on trivial matters.

Not enough to make Xiong Tingbi resign in anger.

But Wang Huazhen was indeed eyeing this position covetously, especially since Zhou Yongchun, the Liaodong Provincial Governor, had submitted a resignation request due to his grandmother’s serious illness. Wang Huazhen was aiming for this Liaodong grand coordinator position. Zhou Yongchun and Xiong Tingbi cooperated well.

But Wang Huazhen aimed to seize power.

And now it also involved the money issue. Wang Huazhen controlled Guangning and made fortunes with Guangning’s powerful families through trade with Mongolia. But now Yang Xin interfered, causing Wang Huazhen huge losses, and Yang Xin was on Xiong Tingbi’s side. Including people like Chen Yujie in Kaiyuan, once Wang Huazhen successfully squeezed out Xiong Tingbi, the first thing he would do was cancel Yang Xin’s military supply transport rights and also kick out Chen Yujie and others on his side. In short, all of Yang Xin’s previous achievements would be wiped out.

So Zhu Changluo must die.

“You’re going in that outfit?” Fang Tinglan asked, staring in shock at his all-black clothes.

“Men handle business; women should speak less!” Yang Xin said domineeringly.

“Get out!” Fang Tinglan retorted rudely, throwing a pillow at him.

Poor little sister He Xiang lowered her head, wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Dressed in night clothes, Yang Xin slipped out quietly. Outside, the autumn rain continued. He quickly vanished into the pitch-black night, then immediately scaled the Fang family’s wall and headed straight for the Capital City. Although the city gates were closed, the Outer City’s six-meter-high wall was like nothing to him; without ropes, he could climb it with a running start and his jumping ability. Only the Inner City wall required some tools. Luckily, on such a night, there was little vigilance; not even patrols from the constabulary were seen. Like a ghost, he swiftly infiltrated the Capital City and headed straight for the Imperial City…

He couldn’t let the outside world know he had returned.

That was also why he went to Fang Tinglan’s place; returning to his own home could easily leak the news.

At this time, the Capital City’s impression of him should be that he was still in Liaodong fighting the Jiannu. The news of him personally killing Hurhan and beheading twelve hundred should have already been sent by Xiong Tingbi to the Ministry of War, including the delivery of Hurhan’s head, which was probably already through the pass.

Of course, no one had time to reward him now.

In just over a month, the court was chaotic everywhere. Memorials impeaching him were ignored, and memorials rewarding him were also ignored. Compared to the major event of changing emperors, who had time to bother with his trivial matters? Especially now, when there might be two emperors changing in just over a month.

His return was also secret.

No one knew along the way.

So, for people in the Capital City, he should still be in Liaodong.

Only Fang Tinglan and He Xiang knew he had returned.

The guy quickly reached the Imperial City wall. Using his hearing to confirm no one was above, he threw a rope, climbed the wall, and landed in the garden south of Taiye Lake inside. This area was basically deserted. Then he directly entered the water and swam north through Taiye Lake, perfectly avoiding the patrolling Imperial Bodyguard Battalions soldiers. Finally, he came ashore near the Temple of Guan Yu and headed straight for the palace complex at top speed. After swimming across the Moat, he used the same method to climb into the Imperial Palace.