In mid-July, Jin State suffered another plague of locusts after a severe drought. The officials and people of the Wei clan sat and watched as the locusts devoured the food that was about to be harvested and did not dare to kill them. Weimanduo even publicly condemned, saying that this was due to the lack of morality of the rulers of Jin, and pointed the finger of public opinion to Zhao.

Zhao Wuxi did not take the blame. He publicly retorted: "The plague of locusts is rampant. Seeing that the crops are eaten by the locusts and the people are starving to death, Wei Qing, who is in power, has no way to restore it, but he came out to condemn others. You have been offering sacrifices for days. The katydids are still the same, how can he make up for the disaster? How can he be worthy of the people under him?"

Therefore, in the name of disaster relief, Zhao Wuxi dispatched thousands of soldiers into Changzi County to help the local people **** grain, as much as they could. But what is interesting is that in the army rushing to the counties and townships, there are also a few people who do not mention sickles or spears and halberds.

These people, dubbed "Art Team" by Zhao Wuchen, are a special branch of the military that has only been established in recent years. They originate from the "Hundred Operas" in Taoqiu Market, that is, the profession of performing for a living. But they don't touch each other, nor do acrobatics, but eat with one mouth.

After they arrived at the place, they immediately gathered the people in the township and performed the extraordinary "Manyan opera" in front of everyone. It was Zhao Wuxi who chose the script for him, but he was allowed to play freely.

In Taigu Town, a small town, there are two people on the soil platform that was originally a village shooting ceremony. One is dressed in shabby clothes and plays the peasant who has lost everything because of the locusts crossing the border. .

The person playing the farmer's acting skills was not necessarily good, but he was very hardworking, and he sighed when he appeared on the stage.

"The locusts cross the border, and the fields are densely packed, but there is no harvest at home."

When it comes to sadness, he grabbed the ground with his head, which resonated deeply with the people of Taigu City.

At this moment, a gong sounded, and the man who played the Zhao official immediately jumped out and said loudly, "Since it's so hateful, it's better to kill it!"

The person who played the farmer was shocked: "The superior is joking, the katydids are divine locusts, and it's too late for worship, how can they attack them?"

"It's not a god." The Zhao officials flatly denied it. He turned his head and declared to all the people: "The gods of the mountains and rivers of the Jin state, and the gods of the four mountains and rivers, the four rivers and rivers, must be recognized by Zhao Shangqing, but they don't know anything. God locust, the king of insects. Jun Buwen Shangqing angrily scolded outside the eldest son city a few days ago, 'You eat the grains of the rest of the people, like eating the hearts of the rest of the people. Fly away, don’t you dare to do harm? It can be seen that these locusts are false gods, and they are afraid of the true master.”

Seeing that the people were suspicious, he added: "Does the great witch of Song state wish you and others to know? The most predictable person in the world, who is most favored by heaven, she also spread word to Jin state, saying that this locust plague has something to do with the world. If you lose your virtue, the retribution from God has nothing to do with it.”

"What the **** is a katydid?" The actor who played the farmer asked the right question. This question is also what the simple people want to ask. Just as the daughter of the Wei family's salt family saw, the shock of flying locusts in the sky, Make them fearful, subconsciously thinking that this is not something mortal forces can create.

Katydids are insects, and the mosquitoes that bite you and the flies that buzz around the cesspool are all a type of insects! If you don't believe me, go to the fields and see, the ground is full of locust eggs, and new locusts will be born in the coming year. Come"

The actor who was playing the role of an official turned his head and asked the people loudly: "All things are born to support people, it can be seen that people are the spirit of all things, and they are supreme. But these insects are the lowest things in the world, and it is just their habit to gather in groups. That's it, will you worship the white maggots in the toilet? Will you worship the mosquitoes in the stinky ditch?"

Everyone was angry and shouted: "Of course not!"

"Then why are you still afraid of divine locusts?"

Seeing that the mysterious face of the locusts had been dismantled, and the crowd was excited, the real Zhao officials stood up and announced loudly: "In this case, it is better to catch locusts than to sit and watch the locusts for food! It can be exchanged for one stone of food!"

A thousand words can't compare to the effectiveness of catching locusts in exchange for food. Under the performance of the actors, the villagers who no longer have a sense of mystery about locusts began to dispatch collectively and joined the army to fight the locust plague...

...

Since Zhao Wuxi proposed to fight the locusts to the end, he was naturally prepared. The students in the Linzhang Academy were very complicated and extensive, except for the engineering department headed by Lu Ban, the book lovers headed by Shi Zhao, and the astronomical instruments headed by Chang Hong. , in addition to those who draw the star map, there are even a group of people who practice "checking things for knowledge".

They don't do anything else. Zhao Wuxi's private treasury contributes money to ensure their food, clothing, housing and transportation. They only need one person to find one thing and observe hard. For example, some observe locusts, some observe bamboo, and some observe dogs and horses. Play, just like the old soldiers of the Eight Banners play with birds. The difference is that they still have to record and summarize. At the end of the year, you hand over the progress and experience of the records to prove that you are not eating rice.

The biological science system could not be established from scratch by Zhao Wuxi, but a large amount of observational materials could be made. Just like the conditions created by Alexander for Aristotle, all rarities were sent to the Academy for research records.

During this process, the people who observed the locusts also had some insights into the relationship between the growth of locusts and the environmental and climatic conditions. For example, they concluded: "The locusts are as big as corn when they are first born, and in a few days they become as big as flies and can jump. It is called cockroach. It can fly in groups for a few days. It is called locust. Wherever the locusts go, their beaks keep biting and destroying crops. The female locust lays eggs in the ground. The eggs in the ground will turn into cockroaches on the eighteenth day, and the cockroaches will become locusts. This is repeated over and over again. Within ten years, one locust will have thousands of descendants..."

They also solved the age-old mystery of the generation of locusts: "The birth of locusts must be at the edge of the great lake, and it must also be dried up suddenly... Therefore, the great haze is the birthplace of locusts! "

"This is probably the earliest entomological record in the world..." Zhao Wuxi was also surprised by their achievements. His private money was not spent in vain, but at present he is only asking people to study various agricultural-related fields. biology, as a supplement to agronomy.

Using these observation records, he concluded that locusts have phototaxis habits, so he asked the counties of Changzi County to set up fires at night, and dig pits beside the fires to attract locusts at night to die. Some officials resisted the locust removal and were immediately dismissed from their posts. Zhao Wuxi announced that if the county officials allowed the locusts to eat the crops, causing the people to starve, they would be responsible for the consequences and go to the Dali Temple court to face trial!

Under such circumstances, all the counties in Changzi County actively rescued the food, and at the same time organized the people to remove locusts. In addition to attracting them with fire at night, they also dug long ditches in the fields, digging ditches at regular intervals, and mobilizing farmers to knock gongs to drive them away. The rice-grain-sized locust hopper jumped into the ditch, filling it with soil and buried it. For adult locusts that have slipped through the net, use rope pockets to pick them up and cloth bags to store them.

In addition to the ineffective manpower, the chickens, ducks, geese and birds in the forest helped a lot this time. There are many duck farmers in the place where the eldest son is close to less water. When the locust plague comes, others are worried, but they are overjoyed.

At first, I was afraid of the name of "God Locust" from the Wei family, so I could only secretly release it. Later, when Zhao Wuxi encouraged it, it was released with great fanfare. It is said that one big duck can eat two catties of locusts a day, and a hundred ducks can eat two hundred catties of locusts every day!

In addition to being surprised and commended by Zhao Wuxi, it is a pity that he can only make up for it now. He has to raise more chickens and ducks in various places in the coming year to prevent the next generation of locust hoppers from hatching locust eggs from becoming a disaster again. According to the conclusions drawn by the "Gewu" faction, farmers were mobilized to mow the grass in the low-lying water and aquatic plants in Changzi County. After drying, it could be used as fuel, and it also cleared the place where the locusts lay eggs.

Finally, since locusts do not eat taro, mulberry, water chestnut, pea, mung bean, hemp, etc., he encouraged Changzi County to replant more of these crops next year, which will help prevent the harm of locust plague.

The above methods can be said to be quite detailed, only because of the rapid and rampant locust plague, so the effect is also limited, but compared with Wei's miasma of praying to gods and worshiping ghosts, it is already much better.

From mid-July to early August, within half a month, the counties in Changzi County culled 140,000 locusts in total. The Zhao family has a vast territory, and there is a steady stream of grain from the Changping warehouse in Yecheng. In this way, the eldest son is relieved and the people are spared the suffering of famine...

After working hard and getting food for the winter and seeds for the coming year, the people are naturally ecstatic and sing "I will go there, return to my happy hometown!" They are happy to return their homes. Zhao Wuxi's image in their minds also became taller.

A master who can lead them through natural disasters...

A master who produces miracles wherever he goes...

This kind of miracle is not a forged miraculous prophecy~lightnovelpub.net~, but it brings together thousands of people and unites to fight against all evils.

However, according to the people's word of mouth, the locust plague that began to slow down under the influence of various factors was said to be Zhao Wuxi swallowing the locusts, so God was moved and let the locusts fly elsewhere...

Zhao Wuxi didn't know that he had the intention to plant flowers that would not bloom, and to plant willows and willows for shade. He was in the city of the eldest son, listening to the ministers discussing how to deal with the 140,000 stone locust corpses, as well as the locusts that were constantly handed over by farmers and jumping around... …

He listened to it for a while, but he didn't like it, so he stood up and said with a smile: "Second and third sons have worked hard, let's stop here today, take a day off tomorrow, and I will have a feast at the county governor's mansion. Come on! I'll let the chef cook up a special meal, and treat you to wait!"

ps: Sorry for one chapter if something happens today

(To be continued.)