Early the next morning, Old Man Chen put on his best clothes, which had patches, but he was going to the county town to present the new sled and its blueprints to the county magistrate, so he wanted to look presentable.
Old Chen was also going to accompany Old Chen to the county town, so he changed into his best clothes.
Old Man Chen called Chen Kai’s four older brothers into the hall and said to them, “Today I’m going to the county town with the eldest brother to present the new sled and its blueprints to the county magistrate and see if we can get a reward. We’ll also sell the blueprints of the new sled while we’re at it.”
Old Man Chen took a sip of water and continued, "Second and fourth sons, go and deliver a new sled to each of your uncles' houses. Fifth son, go and pull a new sled to your eldest sister's house. The rest of you, continue working at home."
After arranging things at home, Old Man Chen and his eldest son set off for the county town.
The rest of the Chen family went about their own business, while Chen Kai and Xiao Tian went up the mountain to cut grass with Er Ya and San Ya.
When Chen Kai and his family returned home, they saw that everyone in the house was very happy as soon as they entered the yard.
When Old Man Chen saw Chen Kai return, he immediately picked him up and said happily, "My good son, the county magistrate praised our family today, saying that the new sled we made works very well. Guess how much reward money the county magistrate gave us?"
Chen Kai said in a coquettish tone, "Father, I can't guess. Just tell me, how much reward money did our family get?"
Old Man Chen said happily, "The county magistrate rewarded our family with a full twenty taels of silver!"
Chen Kai thought to himself, "This curved plow, which can increase farming efficiency and reduce manpower, is only worth twenty taels of silver, and it doesn't even have a name. It's a free achievement. The county magistrate is too greedy to give such a small amount of silver."
Speechless, Chen Kai continued, "Dad, how much did you sell the blueprints for the new sled for?"
When Old Man Chen heard Chen Kai mention this, he became even happier and said, "We went to the blacksmith shops in town and county, and sold them for two taels of silver each, making a total of eighteen taels of silver! In a few days, we'll go to the neighboring towns to sell them, and we're sure we can make a lot more money!"
Chen Kai looked at Old Man Chen and the others looking so happy and felt speechless. Old Man Chen had sold the blueprints for the new sled for a pittance of two taels of silver. The new sled would cost much more if it were made!
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian were quietly complaining about Old Man Chen's bizarre actions in the yard.
The next day, Chen Nong, who was playing outside, suddenly ran back anxiously and said, "Come out quickly, government officials are coming to our house!"
Xiao Tian asked, "What's going on? What are the government officials doing at our house?"
Chen Nong said, "I don't know either. I just heard people in official robes at the village entrance asking where our house is. They seemed to be high-ranking officials. Someone had already gone to inform the village chief, so I ran back first."
Seeing that the yard was in a mess, Chen Kai asked Lao Si and the others to clean up the clutter piled up in the yard and move it out.
Before long, the area outside the courtyard became noisy as many people came over.
Suddenly, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a man in his thirties dressed in blue walked in. He looked very imposing, followed by two guards and a middle-aged man in official robes.
The man in blue said, "No one except the Chen family should be let in."
The man in blue walked into the hall and sat down, with the middle-aged man in official robes standing behind him.
Seeing this, Old Man Chen quickly led everyone to bow: "This humble subject greets Your Excellency!"
Old Man Chen was extremely flustered. The middle-aged man in official robes was their county magistrate. Anyone who could be accompanied by the county magistrate and made to stand must be a very high-ranking official.
Then Old Man Chen asked nervously, "May I ask what brings you to my humble home, sir?"
The man in blue laughed and said, "Don't panic. I am from the Prince's Mansion. I came here on business yesterday and saw the blueprints for the new sled. I had them try it out and they thought it was a good tool for tilling the land. We will keep the blueprints. Here are two hundred taels of silver for you. This is a reward from the Prince's Mansion."
As the man in blue spoke, he instructed the guards behind him to hand the money to Old Man Chen. Old Man Chen's hands trembled as he accepted the money, and he was so excited that he almost collapsed to the ground.
The man in blue continued, "If you get any new farm tools in the future, just hand them over to the Prince's Mansion and give them to Lord Bai. He won't make things difficult for you."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Old Man Chen nodded hurriedly.
After the man in blue finished speaking, he left with his men. Before parting ways with the middle-aged man in official robes, the man in blue said, "From now on, you should look after the Chen family more!"
The middle-aged man said obsequiously, "Yes, sir! I understand." Hearing this, the county magistrate breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his head was safe.
Yesterday, when he received the new sled and blueprints from the Chen family, he was supposed to deliver them to the Prince's residence immediately. However, he tried to claim all the credit for himself, but the Prince's men discovered this. He had nightmares all night, fearing he would be beheaded. Thankfully, he escaped unscathed!
The man in blue was also overjoyed, never expecting such a great harvest on this trip. This new sled was truly excellent; he had already had it tested yesterday. Not only was it lighter than the old sled, but it also plowed deeper and could be turned by one person. Presenting this new sled to the Emperor would surely earn him even greater favor towards their royal residence.
In the Chen family courtyard, Chen Kai said to Xiao Tian, "The people from the Prince's Mansion are really generous, ten times more so! But now we have a backer, so if we manage to produce something else, we won't have to worry about it being stolen by others!"
Xiao Tian said, "I don't even know if we'll get a share of this money!"
After everyone left, the villagers started whispering among themselves. The village chief told everyone to quiet down and asked Old Man Chen, "Who were they? What happened?"
Old Man Chen replied, "It's nothing. The Prince's Mansion found out about the new sled and gave our family another fifty taels of silver."
The villagers were all envious of them for getting another fifty taels of silver, and then they dispersed.
After the villagers left, Old Man Chen told his family to keep their mouths shut and not to tell anyone that they had made so much money, so as not to attract thieves!
Then Old Man Chen divided the money according to the old custom: 176 taels were confiscated, 9 taels and 900 coins were given to the eldest son and the others, and 628 coins were given to each of the children.
After discussing it, Old Man Chen and Mrs. Zhou decided to buy a cow for each of Mrs. Zhou's uncles and daughters, and also to send them some other things, so as not to attract unwanted attention by sending money.
Old Man Chen said, "Now that we have such a large sum of money, we'll go to town tomorrow and buy a cow. Anyone else who wants to buy anything, as long as it's reasonable, can buy it!"
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