Inside the study of the Bazhou Governor's Yamen, a charcoal brazier burned a fierce red, yet it failed to dispel the gloom between Governor Mu's brows. Raising his teacup, he slowly skimmed the froth with the lid, his gaze sweeping like a knife toward Assistant Prefect Pan, who stood bowed before the desk. "Lord Pan, this official hears that the immortal seed potatoes in Xia Family Village have yielded a bumper harvest. Relying on greenhouses covered with tung oil paper, they actually managed a yield of over a thousand catties per mu even in the dead of winter. Is this true?"
"The yield is two thousand five hundred catties!" Assistant Prefect Pan corrected. "The men I planted there say that Xia Huai'an is quite dissatisfied with this, claiming that with such meticulous care, chemical fertilizers, and close planting, it ought to have broken five thousand catties per mu. But because the past two months had so many overcast days and insufficient sunlight, the yield was cut squarely in half!"
"Five thousand catties per mu!" Governor Mu gave a cold laugh amidst his astonishment. "What a grand boast, he truly isn't afraid of biting his tongue! What about the Xia Family Village's account books? I hear he employed hundreds of thousands of commoners, and even issued administrative orders setting workers' monthly wages higher than those of junior runners in the yamen. Can his Xia Family Village really produce that much silver?"
Chapter 127