Chapter 267: Digging Sites
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hearing this, the villagers excitedly swung their hoes to the ground.
Sweet potatoes grew a lot underground, so they had to be careful when digging, or else they would spoil the sweet potatoes.
However, the villagers had already gained experience and were quickly digging.
Soon, the first sweet potato was dug out. There was a series of sweet potatoes under it, some big and some small, but in general, it was much bigger. The largest one was estimated to weigh more than one catty.
Even if it was not in their hands, the visitors could see that the sweet potato dug out was definitely more than 15 catties. They all looked at this scene in shock. Their pupils dilated, and their mouths were wide open for a long time.
For a moment, the scene was as quiet as a chicken. No one said anything. They all looked at the villagers digging in shock. Only the sound of hoes swinging could be heard.
Soon, a pile of sweet potatoes was dug out from the ground. Some women followed behind and picked them up. They pulled them out from the vines and cleaned the soil.
Because there were more than 30 villagers digging at the same time, it only took them 15 minutes to dig out an acre of land. The people who picked up the sweet potatoes were also almost done. They were all placed in a big bamboo basket.
The village chief took out a big scale and handed it to the two strongest villagers. He said loudly, “Everyone, look carefully! Now let’s start weighing!’
With that, the two villagers used the scale to lift up a basket of sweet potatoes.
After it stabilized, the village chief shouted, “112 catties!”
The faces of the people who were visiting became even more interesting. They had dug up nearly 15 boxes in an acre of land, and if each box weighed more than 100 catties, then it would definitely not be less than 1500 catties. This was a terrifying number.
The people who originally just wanted to come in to visit could be said to be overjoyed. The emergence of a high yield of grain was a great thing for them. This meant that they finally did not have to go hungry! More than 1,000 catties.
Even if they paid a few percent of the tax, they would still be able to keep a few hundred catties! If they planted a few more acres, then they would not have to go hungry for a year! They could not wait to go out and tell their relatives and friends about this good thing!
Those who had other motives had ugly expressions, especially those who were servants sent by the landlords and country gentry. They all understood what the appearance of high-yield grain meant to them. It meant that the citizens had eaten their fill, then it would not be written that someone was renting their land, which meant that the food they grew would not be able to be sold. They did not want to see this happen, so they all lowered their heads with different expressions.
Their attention was on their own little thoughts, and they did not know that the officers around them had been staring at them.
A few of the officers looked at each other and gave each other a look. Then, they continued to observe these people without batting an eyelid.
15 boxes of sweet potatoes were quickly weighed out. The village chief said loudly, “A total of 1,920 catties!”
This number stunned everyone. Although they had a premonition, the moment the announcement was made was still very unbelievable.
The villagers looked at their unworldly appearance and smiled smugly.
Actually, they were also very shocked in their hearts. 1,900 catties! In the past, planting rice and wheat might not yield this many catties, but now it was only one acre!
However, they had been digging for the past few days and had been weighing the catties. They were somewhat used to this number, so when they heard this number, they could not show any fear and pretended to be very humble.
At the beginning, their expressions were even more interesting than those of the onlookers, because they had personally planted it. It was really a dream-like feeling..
