After a group of jailers' rescue and washing, Xia Yuanji finally returned to his original appearance.

Then he was taken by the Embroidered Uniform Guards to the lobby of the yamen to meet the crown prince.

According to etiquette, Xia Yuanji could not look directly at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so he kowtowed as soon as he entered the hall and said, "I, the guilty minister Xia Yuanji, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Get up." An unfamiliar voice came.

Xia Yuanji was a little confused. He hadn't seen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for just a few months, so how come his voice had changed?

After he stood up, he dared to look up.

It's no big deal to take a look at it.

The next moment, Xia Yuanji's knees weakened and he kowtowed again, his voice trembling with fear as he said, "I, the guilty minister Xia Yuanji, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall fell silent.

In fact, few people compare Zhu Ying and Crown Prince Zhu Biao nowadays.

Although Zhu Ying's appearance is indeed very similar to Crown Prince Zhu Biao, if this matter is always brought up, it will also implicitly mention the identity of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The identity of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is of course beyond doubt, and this is also the consensus of all officials.

If you keep harping on this point, you will not be able to stay in the court today.

As for this matter, no one knows what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who always has a pleasant face, thinks.

Everyone who saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to be very gentle and easy to talk to, and they almost never saw him angry.

But everyone who has dealt with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wary, afraid, and even terrified from the bottom of their hearts.

This may sound contradictory, but it is true.

Even Song Zhong, or Guo Zhong who has always followed Zhu Ying, their presence is very weak.

This was entirely because Zhu Ying had completely covered it up. No one dared to say anything more unless His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked any questions.

"How dare you! Open your dog eyes and take a good look. The person in front of you is the legitimate grandson of His Majesty, the eldest son of the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Ming Dynasty." Guo Zhong paused for a moment, then reacted immediately and shouted harshly.

After hearing this, Xia Yuanji lay on the ground, looked up carefully, and then he discovered the clue.

As expected, the Crown Prince in front of him was extremely young, which did not match the appearance of the Crown Prince.

It was just that their looks, temperament and body shape were too similar, which led to the initial mistake.

Listening to the eunuch's words next to him, Xia Yuanji also felt depressed.

He had no idea when the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty was born.

But no matter how depressed he was, even if he didn't understand the situation at this time, he could only apologize first: "I am a sinner who didn't recognize the Holy Grandson in person, please forgive me, Your Highness."

Zhu Ying didn't care about anything, so he said, "Ignorance is not a crime, get up. You have been in this prison for too long, so it is normal that you don't understand some of the changes outside."

Zhu Ying's tone was quite friendly. He had a good impression of Xia Yuanji, even though this was their first meeting.

But some information from previous lives says that this was an honest person.

His document with an empty seal was delivered at so many post stations. Isn't it strange that others didn't know about it? But only Xia Yuanji kept holding on to it.

And the old man did not issue any special decree or stamp any empty document.

This shows two things. First, Xia Yuanji is bold and dares to speak his mind. Second, it shows that he is meticulous and can spot changes in details from clues.

Such talents are more than a hundred times better than too many officials in the court.

Every talent, especially in the current Ming Dynasty, is extremely precious and valuable in Zhu Ying's view.

The level of cultural literacy was not high to begin with, and the proportion of educated people was pitifully small compared to the common people of the world. The talents that emerged among them were even more proud.

Therefore, even if an official made a mistake, Zhu Ying did not want to execute him directly, but wanted to make the best use of him.

What’s more, it’s Xia Yuanji.

Xia Yuanji did not disappoint Zhu Ying's expectations. The first thing he did when he stood up was to bow and say, "Your Highness, I have something to report."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Xia Yuanji immediately perked up and said quickly, "Your Highness, on my way back to Beijing from Sichuan Provincial Government to report on my duties, I happened to meet a group of freight transporters at the post station."

"I saw him acting suspiciously, so I checked his travel documents at the post station."

"Sure enough, the documents used by this group of people were stamped with blank seals. The seals were already stamped before they even arrived."

"But when I returned to the capital and told this story, I was imprisoned by the Imperial Guards."

Xia Yuanji called himself a guilty minister, but he did not mean that he was guilty of the empty seal document.

The criminals at the beginning were just examples, but the criminals later were those who were disrespectful to Zhu Ying. Mistaking the wrong person was a crime of great disrespect.

Theoretically, based on this one clause alone, Zhu Ying could execute him according to the Ming Dynasty law.

After Xia Yuanji finished saying this, even Lan Yu, who had been standing next to him, had a strange look in his eyes.

The other Jinyiwei didn't even look away, but smiled.

Zhu Ying said bluntly: "You are right. This group of people did use the empty seal documents, but the goods used in the empty seal documents were the high-yield crop seeds that I had people transport from the Western Regions."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Yingyou said: "In this regard, in order to quickly transport this high-yield crop, this palace violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty and was indeed inconsiderate."

"On this point, Xia Zhushi was wronged for no reason. However, this high-yield crop involves the highest secret of the Ming Dynasty. Especially during the transportation at that time, it was particularly critical. Any loss would affect the people of the world."

"So the Jinyiwei were all very nervous and concerned. When Chief Xia mentioned this, the Jinyiwei were trembling. After all, the news had not leaked out before, so they immediately detained Chief Xia."

"Now it seems that it was all a misunderstanding, and it has caused Chief Xia to suffer during this period of time."

Song Zhong's eyes moved slightly, and there was a hint of moisture in them.

The Jinyiwei guards around them felt a warm current flowing through their hearts.

Since the Jinyiwei was re-established in the 15th year of Hongwu, its reputation has been completely ruined.

In the previous three major cases of Hongwu, the persecution of loyal and good people could not be avoided. Of course, the emperor could not bear this blame, so the Jinyiwei naturally had to bear the blame.

Although the Jinyiwei were very powerful outside, it was inevitable that they would be despised behind their backs.

No one inside or outside the court has ever spoken up for the Jinyiwei, and helping the Jinyiwei to explain something like today is the first time since its establishment.

After listening to this explanation, Xia Yuanji finally understood the reason for his sudden misfortune.

However, since this involves His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Xia Yuanji has nothing to say.

"I deserve what I have done for my crime, but I don't know what this high-yield crop is. I hope Your Highness can help me understand."

Xia Yuanji felt a little confused when he heard the title of high productivity.

The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of money and grain, so it is naturally familiar with all kinds of agricultural products, which is also its job. Xia Yuanji wanted to know what the concept of this so-called high yield was.

Zhu Ying did not reply immediately after hearing this. Seeing this, Song Zhong, who was standing beside him, coughed lightly, paused, and then stepped forward and said, "This is the grain that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince obtained from the Western Regions with great difficulty. It can produce 1,000 kilograms per mu."

"It has already been planted in the capital. The first batch of grains obtained has a yield of about 1,000 kilograms per mu and is being distributed to the people."

Xia Yuanji was immediately shocked and said, "There really are grains in this world that can produce a thousand kilograms per mu."

Song Zhong scolded: "With the facts before our eyes, do you really want to doubt His Highness?"

Xia Yuanji kowtowed quickly and said, "I am a sinner, ignorant, but I have never heard of such a thing in all these years, thousands of years, and I am so distracted when I hear such a thing, and I am sorry to offend Your Highness."

Zhu Ying said: "There are many wonders in the world. Outside of the Ming Dynasty, there are also territories thousands of miles away. There are some miraculous crops that no one in the Central Plains has heard of."

"I got these crops by chance. If I hadn't planted them accidentally, it would have been hard to find them."

"Now that these crops have grown, we will know when Director Xia returns to the Ministry of Revenue to report on his work."

Xia Yuanji hurriedly said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "This time, it can be regarded as a disaster for you, but I am pleased with your spirit. As an official, you should be like Xia Zhushi, not trying to smooth things over. When you encounter any inappropriate issues, you must deal with them strictly."

"Some small things may seem insignificant, but they actually lay the foundation for extremely terrible disasters. This time, Chief Xia suffered, but I hope that Chief Xia will not be hesitant because of this, and will act as he did in the past in the future."

"What the Ming Dynasty lacks is talents like Xia Zhushi."

Hearing the recognition from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Xia Yuanji was moved and felt that the suffering he had endured over the past few months was not in vain.

Xia Yuanji replied with a choked voice: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Ying said, "After Chief Xia reports to the Ministry of Revenue, he should take a day or two to rest and recuperate, and then come to Kunning Palace to look for me. I happen to have some things to do here that require talents like Chief Xia."

Xia Yuanji's ability is unquestionable. Someone who can be called "Zhu Di's money bag" is certainly not a name for nothing and must be good at mathematics.

Now that the fifth factory is about to be built, Zhu Ying is short of talent.

General affairs were easy to handle, but when it came to calculations, Zhu Ying really didn't have many people to turn to.

The disciples under his command are good at fooling people, but naturally few of them have real talent.

In places like the Western Regions, it was difficult for people with a little talent to come under Zhu Ying's command. Even if there were a few scholars, Zhu Ying would treat them as treasures.

What's more, it involves arithmetic, which is an extremely advanced knowledge nowadays.

The classics related to mathematics are almost inaccessible to ordinary people and are basically controlled by the court.

Most of the accountants among the people are terrible at math. The so-called messy accounts are similar in all chambers of commerce. Only some big families can cultivate excellent accountants who know math.

Among them, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were considered to be at the top level in the art of calculation in the Ming Dynasty.

In some operas and novels, many people were fooled by arithmetic, but these are all true records.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness."

Although Xia Yuanji didn't understand why it was Kunning Palace, he naturally couldn't ask more questions at this time.

No matter how many doubts you have, perhaps you will know the answers after you leave the Jinyiwei Yamen and arrive at the Ministry of Revenue.

After Xia Yuanji left, Zhu Ying ordered: "Send all these files to the Daming Public Security Bureau."

Then he said to Lan Yu, "Duke Liang, let's hand over these files to the Public Security Department. There should be no problem."

Lan Yu quickly assured: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will do my best."

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "We must not let a bad guy go, nor can we wrongly accuse a good guy. From today on, I hope that Duke Liang will pay more attention to the Public Security Department, especially for officials who persecute the people, they must be severely punished."

Lan Yu said in a deep voice: "I obey your order."

At this time, Lan Yu felt some pressure in his heart.

Each of the files left behind by these Jinyiwei must be very difficult and involve a wide range of issues.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly handed over the files that were originally in the charge of the Imperial Guard to the Public Security Bureau. Lan Yu speculated on the intention behind this and was afraid that the reputation of the Public Security Bureau would not be good in the future.

However, facing the arrangement made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he had no room for refusal.

Just when Zhu Ying had made arrangements and was about to leave, a Jinyiwei suddenly came in and said, "Your Highness, outside the Jinyiwei Yamen, the commander of Jueshengwei, Yang Zhongkai, wants to see you."

Jueshengwei?

When Zhu Ying heard about this guard post, he was a little confused.

There were many guards in the Ming Dynasty. There were five or six hundred internal and external guards alone, and more than two or three thousand guard posts.

After Song Zhong's explanation, Zhu Ying finally understood the existence of Jueshengwei.

The duties of Jueshengwei and Jinyiwei are similar, but the members of each guard station are all deaf-mute.

Because they are deaf and dumb, their loyalty is purer and difficult for outsiders to reach.

Zhu Ying had no previous contact with them because the Juesheng Guard was a secret guard that was not under the Ministry of War or the Governor's Office and was directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor. The salaries of this guard were also paid from the imperial treasury.

Some of the earlier assassinations of meritorious officials were also handled by the Juesheng Guard.

After Zhu Ying understood, he also became interested. He didn't know why Yang Zhongkai suddenly came to see him, so he said, "Let him in."

Yang Zhongkai is an old man in his fifties with white hair and a rather thin figure.

But what was most striking was his eyes, which were very clear and bright, without any of the turbidity of an old person.

After coming in, he knelt down and then used some sign language.

Zhu Ying couldn't understand sign language, but the Jinyiwei had many talented people, so there was naturally an interpreter.

"Your Highness Yang Zhongkai pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

In fact, just based on this sentence, Zhu Ying could guess it even without translation.

All the officials said the same thing to him when they saw him.

"Get up." Zhu Ying said.

Without waiting for the sign language to be translated, Yang Zhongkai stood up and typed out some sign language.

Although he was old, the speed of his sign language was not slow at all, giving Zhu Ying a feeling of Taoist seal-making, as if he was about to take out a talisman paper and perform some Taoist magic in the next moment.

The Jinyiwei beside him quickly translated: "I came here rashly, and I beg Your Highness to forgive me, but I cannot do this. Jueshengwei would like to ask Your Highness for support."

Zhu Ying asked with some doubt: "What kind of support do Jueshengwei need? Tell me about it."

As soon as Zhu Ying finished speaking, Yang Zhongkai immediately responded with sign language at the speed of forming seals.

Zhu Ying also realized that Yang Zhongkai knew how to read lips.