After the village chief woke up, his eyes were straight and his expression was dull. He didn't respond at all to other people's caring words.
"Isn't this...the village chief going crazy with joy?"
"It's a bit like that. Look at the village chief, he looks scary!"
"Should we call Auntie over?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the village chief sitting on the ground suddenly burst into laughter.
Seeing this, Cheng Zhongqian murmured in his heart, is he really stupid? I should have known that he would have repaid him less!
"Uncle Village Chief, are you okay?" Lingbao's little face wrinkled up with worry. Madness is difficult to cure, and she can't.
The village chief waved his hand and said proudly: "It's okay. What can happen to me? I'm very fine!"
Everyone started talking again, and the village chief held Cheng Zhongqian's hand, his eyes bursting with joy: "Cheng Xiucai, thank you for teaching us this method!"
Cheng Zhongqian would not take the credit from his daughter. He solemnly explained: "It's not me, it's Ling Bao. She is willing to teach you. She also figured out this method."
There was an uproar, Ling Bao?!
Facing the amazed gazes of the villagers, Lingbao smiled sheepishly and said shyly, "I, I'm just lucky."
She told the truth, but the villagers thought she was being modest. What a good child, she was not proud even after doing such a good thing.
How do you think Cheng Xiucai raised his children? In the past, Lingbao was timid and clumsy. After being handed over to Cheng Xiucai, he became able to read and write, and learned medicine to save people. Now he even has the fertilizer method to double crop yields.
It's all done!
They wanted to praise Lingbao, but due to lack of language, they could only say "good boy" after holding it for a long time, but they took the trouble to say it over and over again, as if this could convey their feelings.
When the tax official came to register and inspect, my jaw almost dropped to the floor.
"Cheng Xiucai, what are you talking about? Your family is eighty-eight, eighty stone!"
Cheng Zhongqian shook his head.
The tax collector breathed a sigh of relief and said, Cheng Xiucai's children have not yet been allocated land. How could Cheng Xiucai have eighty shi from his twenty acres alone?
"It's eighty-one stones." Cheng Zhongqian said.
After all, it needs to be registered, and the numbers need to be accurate.
Although he had twenty acres of land, he only planted nineteen acres of wheat, and the remaining one was planted with beans and the like.
Tax collector: "..."
Tax collector: "............"
"How much?!" His throat was broken, it was sharp and thin, and it hurt people's ears.
Ling Bao hunched his shoulders and covered his ears, with goose bumps on his arms, but he still thoughtfully repeated: "Eighty-one stones!"
The tax collector was stunned, swallowed, and said he wanted to check.
This number was so unbelievable that he wouldn’t dare write it down in the booklet without checking it!
Cheng Zhongqian took him to see the granary. He saw that the granary was full of sacks. Each sack was filled to the brim and had no ties. You could see at a glance that the wheat inside was genuine, but there were no fishy eyes.
"Do you believe it now?" the onlookers said.
Since that day, the Cheng family has never been quiet. Every day, villagers want to see their granary. After entering, they order it themselves, and then laugh and laugh silly. They are even less likely to be absent when the tax official comes to register today.
….
Because they like the way others have never seen the world!
The tax collector nodded, then ran out in a running style, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"..."
"No, why did he run away? What does this mean?"
Cheng Zhongqian said casually: "I guess I went back to report the news." Of course, for such a big matter, the county magistrate had to be informed as soon as possible.
The villagers seemed to understand but when they saw Cheng Zhongqian and the others were about to leave, they scratched their heads and said, "Cheng Xiucai, can we stay here a little longer?"
Cheng Zhongqian laughed and said jokingly: "Just wait, you can sleep here at night."
"I would like to, but my mother-in-law won't let me!"
Saying anything that would disturb Cheng Xiucai's family would be like banditry.
Cheng Zhongqian: "..." Do you really have this idea?
Cheng Zhongqian and the others left, but Lingbao stayed behind to chat with them. The villagers touched her head curiously, asking how her head grew and why she was so smart!
The other side.
The tax collector returned to the county town in a hurry. He went to the county government office without stopping. He grabbed a clerk and asked, "Where is the county magistrate?"
"Let's discuss things with Master and the others inside..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the tax collector hurriedly ran in and rushed to the study room, shouting: "Master, my subordinates have something urgent to report!"
In the study, Magistrate Shang and Master stopped talking and frowned. What kind of boy doesn't know the rules?
He said to his master: "Okay, you go down. Remember, be smart when dealing with the people under King Qi."
"yes."
The master opened the door to let the tax collector in. The magistrate asked, sipping tea, "What's the matter?"
"My lord, Cheng Xiucai's family produced eighty-one stones of wheat from twenty acres of land!" the tax official said in an excited tone.
At that time, he, the person who came to report the news, will not be rewarded?
Even though he is a small official, he still has to save some money!
Magistrate Shang shook his hand, causing the tea cup to slosh, and the tea inside poured out, making his robe wet. However, he ignored it and put the cup aside, stood up suddenly, and said with sharp eyes, "Are you right?"
"No, my subordinate confirmed it with my own eyes!"
Magistrate Shang asked hurriedly: "Where are the other villages? Are there also so many?"
The tax collector shook his head: "No, only Cheng Xiucai's family is like this."
Why is this? Magistrate Shang asked, but the tax official didn't know the reason. After he confirmed it, he immediately came to report the situation, before he had time to ask about the specific situation.
"Forget it, I'll go there myself!" Magistrate Shang said as he hurried back to the backyard to change into clean clothes. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he sent someone to prepare the carriage.
The master who had just reached the door was called back again. When several officials in the county government heard about this, they wanted to follow him. Fortunately, the carriage had enough room.
It was already afternoon when we arrived at Beihe Village.
Cheng Zhongqian bowed politely and said, "Your Honor, County Magistrate." Then he greeted others in turn.
"Zhong Qian doesn't need to be polite."
"Zhong Qian, you must already know why we are here, right?"
Cheng Zhongqian nodded and welcomed them in. The door of the granary opened slowly, and a reassuring smell of wheat hit his face.
Magistrate Shang brought a scale, and after weighing it, it turned out to be eighty-one stones, an average of four stones and two buckets per mu!
After calculating this number, Magistrate Shang and others took a deep breath.
"Zhong Qian, how did your family do this?!" Magistrate Shang asked eagerly.
Cheng Zhongqian then told him about the fertilizer, and finally said: "My daughter figured it out."
Magistrate Shang looked at the little girl next to him, sighing and feeling sad for a moment. His son owed him a huge sum of one million taels, but Cheng Xiucai's daughter figured out a way to use fertilizer that would benefit the country and the people...