Liu Fu never expected that cutting a sweet potato chunk would trigger a fight and cause quite a commotion.
This Xu Laowai is really reckless.
Just because he stole someone's sweet potato, it actually led to the involvement of that person's relatives, and many people ganged up on him and beat him up.
Because Xu Laowai had no relatives around him, he immediately suffered a great loss and was almost beaten to a pulp.
When they all came before Liu Fu to have him judge the case.
Liu Fu was also surprised; he was so happy that he was overjoyed.
"Alright, alright, your case will be handed over to Judge Bao of Kaifeng Prefecture later. I don't care about yours."
As baskets of sweet potatoes and potatoes were dug out, and the weighing process was about to begin, Liu Fu forcibly suppressed the anger of both sides.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the one acre of land that had been precisely measured earlier had all been dug up.
All the baskets filled with potatoes and sweet potatoes were carried to the earthen platform in front of Liu Fu and weighed on the large scale.
"The first basket weighs 120 jin (60 catties)."
"The second basket weighs 139 jin (64.5 catties)."
"The third basket weighs 108 jin?"
…………
After weighing them thoroughly, and after a while, when everyone counted to the 27th basket, the amount of sweet potatoes was finally collected.
Immediately, a minor official arrived, bowed before Liu Fu, and loudly proclaimed:
"There are 27 baskets of the Eighth Prince, totaling 3179 jin."
Upon hearing this number, Liu Fu was extremely excited.
The weighing and calculation were all done right under my nose, so there's no way they'd lie about it, which proves the number is real.
When the number was actually announced, those who heard it were stunned, as if struck by lightning. They were momentarily speechless, their minds went blank, and they thought they had misheard.
Many people who previously thought it was impossible for Liu Fu to produce such a large quantity are now doubting whether they are dreaming or mishearing. Is 3179 jin (1538 catties) really true? It sounds so unbelievable that many people simply cannot believe it.
But only a minority of people were unwilling to believe it. After hearing the number, they were stunned for a few seconds. When they came to their senses, the whole audience burst into loud cheers.
The farmer who planted sweet potatoes under pressure was now moved to tears. He knelt down in the field and called out to his parents.
His words were filled with deep emotion, so moving that they brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard them.
Even this tough man was moved to tears, and he shouted to the heavens.
"Father, Mother, Grandfather, and my grandmother who raised me from childhood!"
"Forty years have passed, and finally our son can eat his fill, and our grandson can finally eat his fill. Can you hear me?"
At this point, the man burst into tears.
"Father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother, it's a pity you didn't live to see such a good time. In those days, there were no extraordinary people like the Eighth Prince. We didn't meet this benefactor. Otherwise, we could have planted sweet potatoes and potatoes earlier, and you wouldn't have starved to death due to lack of food."
As the man spoke, his voice grew hoarse from crying.
After a long while, he kowtowed three times to the spirits of his parents and grandparents, then turned to Liu Fu and bowed deeply before kneeling down and kowtowing heavily once more.
“Eighth Prince, in my whole life I have only kowtowed to my parents and my grandparents. You are the first one I have ever kowtowed to.”
"What I value most is filial piety towards my parents for raising me. I kowtow to them three times, so please forgive my disloyalty. I will kowtow to you once here. I hope you will not blame me for my lack of manners."
Upon hearing the man's words, Liu Fu's eyes also reddened. He hadn't expected the man's family to be in such a tragic situation. He quickly got down from his seat and helped the man up.
"What merit do I have? You have only now had enough to eat and the opportunity to be warm. There is still much I need to do, and there are still many things I have not done well. I hope you can give me, the entire Later Han Dynasty, and His Majesty the Emperor another chance to correct them. I believe that as long as we are in the Later Han Dynasty, your future will be better and better, and this prosperous age will surely come as you wish!"
When Liu Fu uttered these words in a very loud voice, the people in the hall who heard them immediately erupted in cheers. Many were moved to tears, their eyes brimming with gratitude.
The tears flowing from everyone's eyes at this moment are not tears of pain, nor tears of displeasure or dissatisfaction, but tears of emotion, joy, and excitement. These are the heart-wrenching tears of emotions that have been suppressed for thousands of years and are finally being released.
For thousands of years, people have never had enough to eat. Now, they finally have this opportunity. When everyone plants sweet potatoes and potatoes, it is conceivable that there will be no more famines. Even in years of severe drought, everyone will have enough to eat and no one will starve to death.
At that moment, not only the peasant family, but everyone who heard the sound bowed and kowtowed to Liu Fu.
Immediately, more than 20,000 people cheered and expressed their gratitude in unison.
They sang praises to the Eighth Prince for his benevolence and righteousness, bowing and kneeling repeatedly, kowtowing again and again.
Liu Fu really didn't expect that he had only done something insignificant. If it were in modern society, it would be an even more unnoticed and laughable thing, not worth praising at all.
But in this ancient world, simply feeding these people was enough to earn so much merit and so much gratitude.
Look how easily the common people are satisfied. Even if you just give them some sweet potatoes or potatoes to eat, as long as they have enough to eat and don't starve, they will be grateful to you. What a kind and lovely group of people they are!
At this moment, Liu Fu secretly made up his mind that he would transform the entire Liaodong region, and even the entire Later Han dynasty, into an ideal country, so that everyone could not only be well-fed and clothed, but also gradually realize their dreams, and achieve fairness, justice and equality. Although this wish was great and the difficulty of realizing it was great, Liu Fu was now willing to make an attempt for these goals.
It doesn't matter if we fail.
After the initial wave of cheers subsided, others began reporting potato yields per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares), which reached over 2,700 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 0.5 kg) per mu.
Immediately, other farmers began digging, weighing the potatoes one by one. The average yield of potatoes was about 2,600 jin per mu, while the yield of sweet potatoes was a little higher, reaching about 3,100 jin per mu.
At this point, those who had previously made sarcastic remarks were completely dumbfounded; they wished they had planted potatoes and sweet potatoes as soon as possible.
"Sigh, I wish I had been one of the first to sign up. What a pity, I missed such a great opportunity."
"The Zhao family is really lucky. One mu of land yields one mu of sweet potatoes, which adds up to five or six thousand jin of grain. That should be enough for them to eat for several years."
"Sigh, who can argue with that? We misjudged him back then, but it doesn't matter now. The Eighth Prince is kind and benevolent; he will definitely help us."
Sure enough, Liu Fu spoke at this moment:
"Don't be too disappointed. This is just the first trial planting. Next, we will promote it throughout Liaodong and even the whole country. You will be able to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes soon."
Upon hearing Liu Fu's promise, countless cheers and shouts of joy erupted in the hall. At this moment, Liu Fu had already tied on his apron and picked up a spatula. He was finally about to show off his culinary skills. The people had been filled with anticipation just now, and now the greatest anticipation had arrived: the Eighth Prince was actually going to cook for himself!
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