It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Zhou Yu raised his hand to stop everyone's discussion and said, "Everyone, please be patient. Let's go to the clerk's office and do some statistics. We'll make an estimate first."

Whether there are forsythia shrubs in the village is really known by the village chief or the clan leader.

Everyone reported the number to the clerk in a hurry.

After about a cup of tea, the clerk handed the statistics to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu took it and looked at it. There were a total of 35 villages under his jurisdiction, and 18 villages had reported having this Forsythia.

These villages are large and small. The large villages have more than 60 households, while the small villages have only 10 to 20 households.

Let’s just take a general approach and assume that there are thirty households in each village.

If each household is limited to harvesting 20 jin per day, then a village of 30 households will need to prepare 17 strings of money for half a month, even if the harvest price is one penny per jin.

If a household is limited to harvesting 30 jin per day, then a village of 30 households will need to prepare 27 strings of cash if they harvest for half a month at the same price.

In addition to the manpower needed to prepare and make tea, and the money for the tea that the subordinates have to pay for their hard work, at least thirty strings of coins must be prepared to cover all the expenses.

Of course, there are not so many Forsythia shrubs on the hills of some villages, so you may not be able to pick so many.

But this is just an estimated number, the purpose of which is to give a rough estimate of the investment.

Zhou Yu quickly calculated in his mind. The money was indeed not much for him, but for the county government which could no longer pay wages, it was an astronomical figure.

This means that even if the selling price is 40 wen per catty, he has to pre-order 750 catties of Forsythia tea immediately in order to earn back the wages of the people.

Zhou Yu had an idea in mind. Selling more than 700 kilograms of tea was neither difficult nor easy.

So he said to everyone, "Well, go back and inform the villagers first."

"The county government charges one cent per pound of forsythia leaves. Each household can only harvest 30 pounds per day. The harvesting period is half a month, and the wages will be paid in one lump sum by the government after the harvest is completed."

The entire lobby suddenly became noisy again, with everyone talking about it. No one could believe that such a good thing would happen to them.

Someone who was good at arithmetic immediately exclaimed, "Four hundred and fifty coins?"

Those villages that did not have forsythia shrubs did not take it seriously at first.

When I heard that I had missed such a good opportunity to make money, I felt both heartbroken and envious.

You have to know that every household is very poor nowadays. Not to mention a job that can earn 450 coins in half a month, there is no job that can earn that much money in a month.

Muramasa, with his quick mind, couldn't help but ask, "Sir, if...if I go to Lin County and pick these forsythia leaves, is that okay? Will the county government accept them?"

"You are citizens of Qishui County. You went to other counties to pick these forsythia leaves. Aren't you afraid of being caught and handed over to the authorities?"

The man shrank his neck and explained with a wry smile, "They don't know its use either."

Zhou Yu raised his hand to stop them. "I know you're anxious, but wait a moment. Once this is over, we'll have work for you to do in this county."

After he sells the tea, the county government will have some money. Then they can hire the people to do jobs like building city gates, walls, and dredging canals!

As soon as these words were spoken, the Muramasa and clan leaders who had missed the opportunity to make money all became energetic, and their eyes were bright when they looked at Zhou Yu.

"Your Excellency is wise! Our county is truly blessed to have an official like you!"

"Yes, yes, sir, you are our adopted parent."

Someone even said, "We should erect a monument and engrave a seal on it for the county magistrate, so that future generations will remember your kindness!"

Everyone echoed this sentiment, their faces filled with genuine gratitude.

It was always the county magistrate who collected various taxes from them under various pretexts.

There is no county magistrate who wants to lead everyone to make money.

The villagers felt that they had met a good official, and they all started praising Zhou Yu.

Song Zhi stood aside, watching Zhou Yu's face gradually become stiff under the endless praise of the villagers, and couldn't help but smile.

Zhou Yu felt uncomfortable when his fellow villagers praised him, but he didn't want to get angry at the enthusiastic people.

Just at this moment, he saw Song Zhi standing in the crowd and laughing secretly. He raised his hand to stop the people's endless flattery.

"Everyone, be quiet and listen to me."

Everyone quieted down and focused their attention on Zhou Yu.

"Well, today, regarding this Forsythia tea, besides me, you also have to thank Miss Song. This county didn't know about Forsythia tea before, so I have to thank her selflessly for informing me about this profitable business."

"Miss Song, please tell them some more about the precautions during the picking and storage process. I'm sure everyone is eager to know."

Everyone's attention in the lobby turned to Song Zhi.

An old man bowed to Song Zhi and said, "On behalf of the people of Li Village, I would like to thank Miss Song for her righteous words!"

Everyone followed the old man's example and thanked Song Zhi one by one.

For a moment, Song Zhi became the busiest person in the lobby.

She first thanked the villagers who came to her, and after returning the greetings one by one, she explained the precautions for picking Forsythia leaves.

"In addition to what I mentioned earlier about avoiding diseased or insect-infested leaves, after picking the forsythia leaves, they must first be sun-dried. The drying time should not be too long, about half an incense stick, and the leaves should curl slightly at the edges."

"Then you can put it in a cool place and wait for the government officials to come and collect it!"

"Is it that simple?"

Song Zhi nodded. "It's that simple, but I need to remind you all that there are many snakes and insects in the mountains. When you go into the mountains, you must wrap your ankles and arms, and any exposed skin, with cloth strips!"

"If bitten by a poisonous insect like a blood-sucking bug, you could get a rash or a high fever at the very least, or even die at the worst. Please go back and make sure the villagers take precautions before going up the mountain!"

When everyone heard how serious he was, they looked at each other in confusion.

Someone couldn't help but question: "We've never heard of this before when we came to the mountain!"

Without waiting for Song Zhi to explain.

Zhou Yu spoke up, "Everyone should take what Miss Song said seriously. Just because nothing happened before doesn't mean it won't happen now."

"No matter how low the probability is, once this happens to someone, it will be an unbearable pain."

"This county does not want today's wake-up call to cause irreparable consequences due to your negligence."

Since the county magistrate had said so, the people below did not dare to argue anymore.

At this time, Song Zhi also suggested that in addition to taking these precautions, they also needed to buy snake and insect repellent powder.

When everyone present heard this, they immediately became unhappy!