Normally, for jobs like building houses, the wages are usually twelve coins a day, without meals included. Because the weather is hot now, it is even more painful for people to do physical labor. The Su family has increased the wages of the villagers working in the construction workshop by five coins, and also provided a meal at noon, so that they can work in the morning and evening and rest during the hottest part of the day.

With high wages, good meals every day, and refreshing tea in the afternoons, the villagers were full of energy. They worked hard and finally got the workshop off the ground before the sweet potato harvest in Zaozhuang.

When it came time to settle their wages, the villagers from other villages were overjoyed. In just twelve days, they had earned more than two hundred coins. Moreover, after finishing the work, they not only didn't lose weight, but actually gained some weight. This was something they would never have dared to imagine elsewhere. At this moment, everyone regretted not being born in Shanghe Village.

Those with quick wits have already started looking for unmarried young men and women in Shanghe Village. Although they weren't born in Shanghe Village, if they could become in-laws with people from Shanghe Village, wouldn't that be equivalent to being half a Shanghe Village resident?

In this way, wouldn't the opportunities to work in the Su family workshop be increased even more?

Meanwhile, the villagers of Shanghe Village were planning to build new houses when the weather got cooler. They had made a lot of money from selling the pearls they had collected in the river, and with the wages their sons and daughters had earned selling vegetables for Su's Restaurant and working as waitresses there over the past few months, they would have more than enough to build a large brick house and have a prosperous New Year.

On the day of the sweet potato harvest in Zaozhuang, Magistrate Qin arrived with a team of county officials. People from the surrounding villages and towns, having heard the news, also came, all wanting to see just how much grain the sweet potato fields could produce.

Su Hua waved her hand and casually selected an acre of sweet potato field, letting Yang Qing and the other eight people start digging.

Seeing this, the villagers of Shanghe Village rolled up their sleeves and rushed forward to help. One by one, round sweet potatoes were dug out of the ground. Their purplish-red skin, mixed with the fragrance of the soil, made the crowd of people who were staring intently swallow hard.

A row of earthen scales was laid out on the ridge of the field. Magistrate Qin led a team of yamen runners to weigh the sweet potatoes basket by basket.

"The first basket of sweet potatoes weighs 215 jin!"

The man's voice was impassioned, like a bomb exploding in the hearts of the people.

"Two hundred and fifteen jin? This basket of sweet potatoes actually weighs two hundred and fifteen jin?!"

"Just one basket of sweet potatoes is equivalent to the harvest of one acre of rice. This acre of sweet potatoes yielded six large baskets, that's a lot of kilograms!!"

"My goodness! I'm an old woman with one foot in the grave, and this is the first time I've ever seen crops grow this fast!"

"Yes, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it..."

Although Magistrate Qin and his yamen runners remained silent, their hands trembled as they held the scales, and their voices trembled with excitement as they reported the numbers.

"The second basket of sweet potatoes, 225 jin!"

"The third basket of sweet potatoes, 235 jin!!"

"………………"

"The sixth basket of sweet potatoes, 256 jin!!!"

As the man finished reading, his nose stung, his eyes reddened, and hot tears streamed down his face. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally found his voice, “A full 1,460 jin, 1,460 jin of sweet potatoes!”

This is the yield under such a dry weather. If it were a year with favorable weather, I wonder what a huge harvest it would be.

With this miraculous object in Qingshui County, how could the people of the county worry about lacking food or clothing! The presence of the County Lord of Le'an is truly a blessing for Qingshui and a fortune for its people; the County Lord of Le'an is a noble person throughout Qingshui.

Finally, he bent his knees and knelt down straight in front of Su Hua.

As soon as he knelt down, all the constables followed suit.

The crowd of people all knelt down in a rush, their shouts hoarse and intense.

"Your Highness, this is a blessing for Qingshui and a boon for the people!"

"Your Highness, this is a blessing for Qingshui and a boon for the people!!"

"Your Highness, this is a blessing for Qingshui and a boon for the people of Le'an County!!!"

Looking at the crowd of people with red, tear-filled eyes, Su Hua couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat. "Uncle Qin, please rise quickly, everyone please rise quickly. The fact that Yu the Great was able to obtain sweet potatoes is not only due to my merit, Su Hua, but also because of the destiny of the Yu the Great nation. It is a blessing from Heaven, a creation of the heavens!"

As long as everyone takes good care of the sweet potatoes and there is plenty of water, no one will go hungry due to lack of food.

Upon hearing this, everyone cried even harder.

The imperial edict about sweet potatoes had already spread throughout Qingshui, but it was far less shocking than seeing it with one's own eyes. Even if it was a sign of the nation's destiny and Heaven's favor, without the Lady of Le'an County, it was impossible to know when this divine fortune would arrive.

Silkworm farmers couldn't afford fine silks and satins, and rice farmers couldn't afford freshly harvested rice. Generation after generation, they toiled in the fields year after year, yet even filling their stomachs was a luxury. Their hard work and poverty, day after day, never changed.

Until the appearance of the Lady of Le'an County, the darkness of those years finally gave way to light.

The group laughed and cried, and after kowtowing three times, they got up but did not leave. Instead, they all took the initiative to help Su Hua harvest sweet potatoes. The men dug sweet potatoes in front with their shirts off, while the women and children followed behind to pick them up. The 180-mu sweet potato field was full of people, and the noise startled the birds in Zaozhuang, who fluttered their wings and flew to the treetops.

With many hands make light work, the 180 mu of sweet potato fields were all harvested in less than half a day.

Su Hua asked Yang Qing and the others to pay everyone their wages, but the people were unwilling to accept them at all. They even prepared to leave as soon as they finished their work. Helpless, Su Hua could only ask each person to take two catties of the newly harvested sweet potatoes back with them. No one refused. Instead, they beamed with joy, as if they had found a treasure.

After harvesting the sweet potatoes, the Su family parted ways with the villagers. They drove their horse-drawn carriage, followed by seven or eight oxcarts carrying sweet potatoes, towards Shanghe Village.

Unexpectedly, just after passing Wangjia Village, the sound of horses' hooves and the arrogant shouts of men urging them on suddenly rang out.

"Hey you in the car, don't block the way, get out of my way!"