After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 421 Sparks a Chili Pepper Growing Craze
Magistrate He also praised Chen Lizheng, saying that it was all thanks to his excellent teaching that Su Xiaoxiao, a talent, emerged from Baihua Village under his jurisdiction.

However, Chen Lizheng knew very well that Magistrate He was flattering him. But if Su Xiaoxiao couldn't get the chili planting site done well enough to satisfy Magistrate Chen, then things would be different.

Magistrate He then asked Chen, the village head, "If the villagers of Xinghua Village disagree with this matter and try to sabotage it, what will you do?"

Upon seeing that Magistrate He was testing his work, Chen Lizheng immediately stepped forward without hesitation, bowed deeply, and replied, "Reporting to the Magistrate, I will certainly enforce the law impartially and punish those who violate it severely!"

Magistrate He was delighted upon hearing this and expressed his satisfaction with Chen Lizheng's answer. He said, "In that case, I'll await your good news!"

Su Xiaoxiao and Chen Lizheng bid farewell to Magistrate He. After leaving the county government office, the village head kept wiping sweat from his brow with his sleeve. This was his first time having such close contact with Magistrate He. He had heard before that Magistrate He was not someone to be trifled with; he had never given a smile to the village officials or other officials under his jurisdiction. This man was unpredictable and not to be trifled with. You never knew which word you said might offend him, which was quite a difficult situation.

Chen Lizheng never expected that after being summoned, he would receive such a warm welcome from Magistrate He, and that nothing would happen to him, which was quite surprising.

However, he could also understand that he was probably only in this situation because of Su Xiaoxiao.

However, at this moment, Chen Lizheng also felt that he should be more focused on doing a good job of the task assigned by Magistrate He. If he failed to do so, he might also witness the harsh side of Magistrate He.

In order to keep his official position, Chen Lizheng still had to do his best in this matter.

Chen Lizheng took the official document from the capital back to the village and showed it to the villagers. He also held an impromptu meeting at the village entrance, requiring each household to send at least one person.

He read the document aloud to everyone, then looked at the Su family members beside him. Old Madam Wang had come in person this time, bringing her daughter Su Xiuer with her.

Is there anything else to say this time? He looked at the old lady Wang in front of him and asked them, "Look at this, do I need to say anything else? The approval has already been issued by the capital. No matter what else is said, as long as it is an approval issued by the capital, do you dare to disobey it?"

Now, who dares to voice any dissent here? Some families, in order to show their support for the approval document from Beijing, have even offered to use their own land as experimental fields. Some have even joked, "Village head, our land is already full of crops, otherwise we would definitely be planting chili peppers."

Some people even suggested, "Why don't we pull up all the beans planted in the field and all respond to the call from the capital to plant chili peppers?"

The village head hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't make a fuss here. There's no need to go to such lengths. Let's use Tang Xiaoman's field as an experimental field for now. Once we've all achieved some success, we can learn from Su Xiaoxiao and the others how to grow chili peppers."

Someone suggested to the village head, "I think we should develop that wasteland behind our village and plant chili peppers there."

Indeed, there was still a piece of wasteland behind the village that had not been developed. After the village head asked Su Xiaoxiao for her opinion, Su Xiaoxiao said she agreed. This was all for her sake. Did she know the reason?

If this wasteland were developed and used entirely for growing chili peppers, it would surely yield a considerable harvest.

Chen Lizheng was also very enthusiastic. He did what he said he would do and immediately contracted out the wasteland at the entrance of the village to Tang Xiaoman.

The next day, Su Xiaoxiao found people to cultivate the land. She saw that although it was wasteland, it didn't matter at all. After all, growing chili peppers doesn't require top-quality soil; as long as the soil properties meet the standards, it's fine, and nothing else needs to be considered.

If you fertilize and water on time, you can harvest a great crop of chili seedlings.

Su Xiaoxiao not only hired people, but she also came down to help herself. In one day, she had already planted nearly an acre of land.

However, since this was developing wasteland, she was still very careful and dared not be negligent in the slightest.

For example, planting chili seedlings involves factors such as soil temperature and humidity, and seed germination, which require attention. These are things that are not easy for most people to master, especially since we are all newcomers.

Su Xiaoxiao taught very carefully, and everyone learned with great enthusiasm.

After the village committee meeting yesterday, the villagers began to respond to the imperial decree, knowing that planting chili seedlings was supported by the court. They all started to follow Su Xiaoxiao's example and began planting chili seedlings.

At yesterday's village meeting, Su Xiaoxiao saw Old Mrs. Wang's face, which turned ashen and then pale; she was genuinely frightened.

This time, the approval document wasn't from the county government in the town; it came from the capital. She couldn't afford to offend it, nor could she afford to provoke it.

Old Mrs. Wang didn't want to be arrested again. This time, she had to be extra careful. If she were arrested, she estimated she would face multiple charges and might end up spending her life in jail.

Although Old Mrs. Wang did not participate in planting chili peppers, she absolutely dared not anger Su Xiaoxiao again this time.

Even those villagers who previously opposed Su Xiaoxiao planting chili peppers have now kept their mouths shut and dare not say another word.

Old Su also came to help. This time, his help in planting chili peppers was more legitimate, since he had the imperial court's approval.

Although Old Man Su didn't know how to grow chili peppers, he was an experienced farmer and had his own theories about farming.

He stood by and gave Su Xiaoxiao and the others a lot of guidance, and Su Xiaoxiao learned a lot of farming techniques from the old man.

At this moment, Su Xiaoxiao felt quite lucky. An experienced old farmer like Su Laotou would definitely be able to give her a lot of help in planting crops.

Su Ping'an also wanted to come and help, but Su Xiaoxiao didn't ask him to come. Instead, she kept him at home and told him to focus on his studies.

This time, Su Xiaoxiao asked Mr. Li to develop a complete study plan for Su Ping'an, and said that he must master all of these in order to win first place in the future imperial examination.