To be able to dig up all the potatoes as soon as possible, Li Yao brought Da Zhuang, Third Son, and Fourth Son with her before dawn had even broken the next day.
Mother had said that sweet potato leaves and vines were liked by oxen, while piglets liked raw sweet potatoes even more. So Da Zhuang must have brought the little yellow ox, and Wang San'er must have been holding his little pig.
He Xiaoya had wanted to go too, but after thinking about it decided to stay home to make stewed meat and stewed goose. Although these were small businesses for the family now, she felt they couldn't just give up on them altogether.
Wang Er had also wanted to go, but Li Yao didn't allow it.
Tomorrow was the big day when Song County Magistrate would be "praying for rain," and Wang Er had to prepare for it.
When they reached the edge of the valley, Li Yao lowered a rope first and worked with Da Zhuang to slowly clear a small path. Although it was winding and very narrow, luckily the little yellow ox wasn't too big, so he could still go down smoothly.
Once they were in the valley it was easy. Under Li Yao's lead they soon reached the end of the valley.
The happiest ones were naturally the little yellow ox and the piglet. There was green grass and sweet potato vines everywhere, and if they rooted around a bit they could even eat the sweet potatoes. You can imagine how carefree they were.
Digging up potatoes was no easy task, because the ground was rather hard, making it quite strenuous work.
After digging for a couple hours even Da Zhuang was starting to tire.
Finally Li Yao thought of a solution - she had Da Zhuang go back home to fetch a plough and had the little yellow ox pull it. They turned the soil over directly with the plough, while the others only needed to look through the overturned soil for potatoes.
Seeing the large pile of potatoes, Third Son and Fourth Son were extremely happy and immediately lit a fire to start roasting them.
They definitely wouldn't be able to dig up all the potatoes from the dozen or so acres in one day. Li Yao planned to spend the night in the mountains since they had brought everything they needed. They would go home whenever they finished.
...
While they were busy digging up potatoes, the common people of Baichuan County were excitedly bringing their families to the market gathering.
Today was a big day!
Although people didn't really care if the county magistrate Song was going to pray for rain or not, and watching plays wasn't that important either, the key was that everyone could get one jin of unpolished rice!
Now very few families had any extra grain left, and one jin of rice porridge was enough to feed a family for several days.
And in the last few days this news seemed to sprout wings, flying to neighboring counties, and even their neighboring counties. So many people who could walk had converged on the Baichuan Market.
The sun had just risen not long ago, yet the largest open area outside the Baichuan Market was already filled with crowds.
Facing so many people, Magistrate Song had prepared in advance and had Captain Zhang organize a team of two hundred men, responsible solely for maintaining order and preventing any incidents.
At the morning geng hour, under the extremely eager gazes of the masses, Magistrate Song strode up onto the high platform in the center.
Dong- A clerk beat the big gong and the scene instantly quieted down.
"Dear elders and villagers," Magistrate Song said loudly, "everyone can get rice now and go home."
Huh?
Among the crowd of at least tens of thousands, they were all left scratching their heads in confusion.
Wasn't he going to pray for rain?
Why was he letting everyone go home already when he hadn't even performed the ritual?
"Sir, you're not praying for rain anymore?"
"Rain?" Magistrate Song said, "The rain has already been delivered to your villages, to every household and field."
The commoners were even more bewildered, thinking the magistrate must be spouting nonsense.
"Have you forgotten, just ten days ago every village organized themselves to dig wells, and your grains have now been planted as a result?"
"Oh... so this is what the sir magistrate meant by praying for rain."
"That makes sense," someone said, "Actually I feel like these wells are more reliable than relying on the heavens. At least we can use them to water the fields whenever we want."
"That's right, these wells are a great invention."
...
"But do you know who first discovered these wells, who first dug them out?"
The commoners of Baichuan County had heard something about this, but those from further counties truly did not know.
"She is the housewife from our Baichuan County's He Wan village - Li Yao!"
"She was the first to dig a well for drinking water, then the first to dig a drought-relief well!"
"So you see, don't forget the one who dug the well when drinking the water. You've all been able to plant grains this year and won't have to face famine next year, this is all thanks to Li Yao!"
"Who is Li Yao?" asked the commoners from other counties, still confused.
"You don't even know Madam Li?" the Baichuan County commoners immediately explained. "Madam Li from our county is incredible. You must have eaten her stewed meat and stewed goose before."
"Oh, so it was her!"
"Amazing, amazing! She can be considered our great benefactor."
...
"Therefore, to commend Li Yao for her merits, our county has decided to reward the housewife Li Yao with one hundred taels of silver!"
Whoa-
They may not have understood the talk of merits before, but one hundred taels of silver instantly shook everyone tremendously.
One hundred taels, they probably wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing for life.
Seeing the commoners buzzing in discussion, Magistrate Song knew his first goal had been achieved.
In no time, the people of Baichuan County and surrounding counties would know the drought-relief wells were Li Yao's achievement.
But this was still not enough, the impact was too small.
"Additionally, not only did Li Yao invent the drought-relief well," Magistrate Song continued, "her stewed meat and stewed goose are also extremely delicious, and I personally am very fond of them. She has also opened a specialty shop, specifically selling green grass ointment, soap, and handmade soap. All of these are rare quality goods..."
Listening to the county magistrate endlessly advertising for his family, Wang Er was completely bewildered.
Among scholar, farmer, worker, and merchant, merchant was the lowest status!
How could a county magistrate do something like this?
But what Wang Er didn't know was that Magistrate Song's words made some merchants who had come to watch the hubbub and look for business opportunities eager to immediately find Li Yao and discuss these products.
Magistrate Song saw that many people were already leaving the scene, probably heading to the specialty shop.
This accomplished his second goal as well.
Merchants traveled far and wide, they would surely spread tales of Li Yao even further, letting more people know of her.
"Li Yao, come get your reward!"
Everyone craned their necks, wanting to see just what kind of character Li Yao was. But they saw a handsome young man walk up on stage instead.
"My mother is feeling unwell and had me collect this on her behalf."
"Very good," Magistrate Song said smilingly to Wang Er, "like father like son. Wang Er studies diligently and has bright intellect. He is the most outstanding scholar in our county, and will surely pass the county exam to become a xiucai next year."
What?
This time Wang Er really was stunned.
He didn't understand why he was able to gain such favor from the magistrate, who actually praised him so generously in front of so many people!
Just what was the magistrate's intention?
Could it be... he had eyes for Mother?
Of course Magistrate Song had no designs on Li Yao. He simply loved talent. After interacting with Wang Er a few times, he discovered the boy was quite gifted in academics, and even more rare - diligent and modest.
He naturally did not want such a sapling to wilt in the dust.
In the crowd, Li Xian's face was turning green as he watched the magistrate personally hand the hundred taels' silver note to Wang Er.
It wasn't that he was jealous of the money, but that the magistrate had called Wang Er the most outstanding scholar!
Clearly he, Li Xian, was the most outstanding scholar in all of Baichuan County!
"Now everyone get in line to collect rice and watch the plays!"
As soon as they heard they could collect rice, the commoners immediately erupted. Watching the scene like a groundswell, Magistrate Song actually felt heavy-hearted.
One jin of unpolished rice truly could not change the commoners' circumstances, yet for now this was the limit of his capabilities.