CHAPTER 743: CHAPTER 724: THE METEORIC RISE OF THE SWEET POTATO

Guo Huaimu looked at his own blood-drenched, severed arm, and fainting from excessive pain, passed out.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself hanging from a thick, withered tree.

Due to having lost one hand, he was tied up by the other, living a fate worse than death.

Eighth Prince sat on a Taishi Chair drinking wine, speaking coldly.

"Guo Huaimu, how do you intend to compensate me for my twenty thousand soldiers? If I let you go back now, with empty hands, do you think Inspector would let you off?"

"Water, Eighth Prince, I beg you, give me a sip of water."

Guo Huaimu pleaded weakly. From the earthquake in the evening onward, he had been going on disaster relief with Inspector, and since then, had not had any water.

But Eighth Prince didn’t care about Guo Huaimu’s request at all. Right in front of him, he poured a bowl of water onto the ground, not letting Guo Huaimu have a single sip.

"Do you even deserve to drink water? Bring in the punishment!"

Eighth Prince vented all his rage over losing twenty thousand soldiers and having received two cheap glazed bottles on Guo Huaimu.

Eighth Prince took a red-hot iron and seared several holes into Guo Huaimu’s body, then poured salt water over them.

The starving and thirsty Guo Huaimu screamed from the pain, but he did not pass up the saltwater and greedily licked it up.

Who knew the Eighth Prince would suddenly scold General Gan at his side.

"Idiot! Why are you using saltwater, don’t you know we’re seriously short on salt?"

Short on salt?

Hearing this, Guo Huaimu saw a glimmer of hope and spoke loudly, "Eighth Prince, I have a way to acquire official salt for you. Just spare my life and from now on, I will forever serve loyally in front of your horse and behind your saddle!"

At this moment, Eighth Prince wasn’t so easily fooled, but he calculated the timing and it seemed it was almost the period when Jiannan State and Lingnan State distributed official salt.

"I can spare your life. You better pray for good fortune. If you can’t bring me 100 dan of official salt, even if you’re at the ends of the earth, I will find someone to skin you!"

Having said this, Eighth Prince and General Gan left, leaving Guo Huaimu alone, hung up in this wilderness.

Pray for good fortune?

Guo Huaimu finally understood. He used all his strength to shake the trunk continuously.

If he could just break the trunk, he would gain his freedom.

Finally, before dawn, he managed to snap the branch and heavily fell to the ground, finally free.

The next morning, at dawn, Lin Yi and the other officials from Jiannan State waited at the city gate for the return of Guo Huaimu.

But after waiting for half an hour, the spies reported there was no sight of Guo Huaimu’s carriage.

And the twenty thousand soldiers behind him hadn’t eaten half a day, their stomachs beginning to protest with rumbling sounds.

"Report!"

"Inspector, there is a situation at the ferry port, a huge, strange ship has suddenly docked!"

Lin Yi was shocked, Nan Yi and the others finally arrived.

Wait, why just one ship?

"Are you sure you saw it right? Only one ship?" Lin Yi needed confirmation once more.

And the spy still firmly said, "Reporting to Inspector, it’s confirmed to be one ship. Do we need to drive them away from the ferry port?"

"Absolutely not!"

Lin Yi immediately ordered, in addition to arranging two thousand soldiers to go back to Gan County, all the remaining soldiers were to follow to the ferry port.

"Hold on, everyone, our food supply is here. Once we get to the ferry port, we can fill our stomachs."

The news from Inspector excited everyone.

But Sun Pingkai was puzzled; even if Guo Huaimu was bringing back food supply, it should be through ox-carts.

Using a ship, pulling it back from the ferry port, would obviously be a long journey, and in this less than half a day’s effort, how could Guo Huaimu have managed it.

"County Magistrate Sun, what are you hesitating for? We’re just waiting on you, hurry and keep up," Ouyang Qian kindly reminded.

The remaining 18,000 soldiers were already famished and unwilling to move.

But upon hearing the Inspector’s assertion that there would be food available at the ferry crossing, they were instantly rejuvenated.

At this critical juncture, the Inspector’s words became the driving force for their advance,

Fortunately, their current location was only five miles from the ferry crossing, and after half an hour, all soldiers had arrived at the crossing.

They were exhausted, but their eyes brimmed with anticipation.

Everyone saw a large, sturdy ship with a blue and white hull, approximately 200 meters long, 40 meters wide, and 60 meters high.

"My heavens! How can such a massive, heavy object float upon the water?"

"Have we arrived at a mirage? Is this enormous thing an illusion?"

...

Amid continued speculation, Lin Yi paid no mind to these comments.

"General Han, General Meng, please wait here for a moment, Qianqian, with me!"

Only one ship carrying jade had arrived early, and of course Lin Yi had to go and inquire about the situation, though he couldn’t yet tell the officials and soldiers from Jiannan State that it was loaded with jade.

Lin Yi took Ouyang Qian’s hand carefully onboard the freighter.

Nan San was extremely excited upon seeing Lin Yi.

"Director Lin, I have finally returned."

Lin Yi immediately hushed, "Shush, my identity in Jiannan State is that of Acting Minister of the Department of Justice and part-time Inspector Zhong Qi. Qianqian is also a distinguished Inspector. Make sure not to give us away."

"Understood, Inspector."

Turns out, the freighter helmed by Nan San happened to encounter a flood, and with the wind and the current in its favor, it arrived ahead of the others, estimated to be a day in advance of the remaining four freighters.

"Any problems with the jade?"

After such an arduous journey, Lin Yi was naturally concerned about the condition of the jade.

"Inspector, I inspected them three times daily, and they are all undamaged."

Lin Yi then went below to inspect the ship’s hold.

Due to the high density of jade, even with twenty thousand stones of jade loaded, there was still ample space in the freighter.

"Good, you have worked hard these past few days. Qianqian, quickly take Nan San ashore to rest; I can handle things here."

After sending Nan San and Ouyang Qian away, Lin Yi immediately placed an order in the Nine-Eyed Mall.

[Di-di-di, Host has successfully purchased 10 tons of red potatoes, 100 vines of red potato, with 2 million Heavenly Bead Coins paid, items have been dispatched to the freighter.]

In the blink of an eye, ten tons of red potatoes appeared in the hold, sustaining the food supply for the 18,000 soldiers.

Lin Yi stepped out of the cabin and shouted to General Han, "General Han, General Meng, bring 500 soldiers over here!"

General Han was curious about what was inside this large object and hurried over with his troops.

"Unload all the red potatoes inside, but don’t let so many people in the ship at once."

"Red potatoes, this thing is about half the size of a palm and tapers on both sides, can it be eaten?"

One soldier earnestly asked as he picked up a red potato.

In Dayu, they had never seen red potatoes and were curious about this unfamiliar food.

Lin Yi found a clean red potato, wiped it clean, and directly started eating it,

explaining as he did.

"Red potatoes can be eaten raw, or cooked in various ways such as boiling, baking, and frying, and serve as an important food to stave off hunger."

"This is the vine of the red potato; scatter it casually on the ground, and it will grow like wild grass, with the fruit developing underground."

"After you’ve unloaded these red potatoes, each of you take two pounds to relieve the hunger; remember, the tapered ends can be cut out and collected for planting."

...End of Chapter...