County government.
Magistrate Shen, Master Yuan, and the chief registrar were all there, and it was a small meeting.
There are thirty-six villages under the jurisdiction of Ping'an Town. They visited the last three or four villages. There were many locusts flying all over the sky. However, these locusts were still scattered and not densely packed. It was not as scary as last year's locust plague, but it was enough. It's shocking.
Master Yuan said: "At this time last year, the locust plague broke out."
The head clerk looked solemn: "I think if we wait for at most two or three days, the locusts will gather and cause a disaster, and there will be no room for recovery."
The clerk let out a long sigh: "We finally solved the drought problem, but we fell victim to locusts again. We have suffered from disasters for many years, tax revenue cannot be paid, and the official treasury is empty. The court is afraid that it will be held accountable..."
Several people sighed one after another, and Magistrate Shen's head was as big as a bucket.
Things have happened in Ping'an Town for two years in a row, and he, the county magistrate, is probably going to die.
At this time, a government servant hurriedly ran in: "Report, Zhao Li of Dahe Village is asking to see you."
When they were looking for water sources and digging ditches last time, Magistrate Shen and Zhao Lizheng got along for four or five days, and they got along quite happily.
After that goodbye, we never saw each other again.
His intuition told him that Zhao Lizheng's visit must be about the locusts.
Magistrate Shen asked the government officials to bring the people in.
In addition to Zhao Lizheng, there was also a young man who walked in, wearing a blue robe. He looked like a scholar, and he looked vaguely familiar.
"The common people pay their respects to the county magistrate."
Zhao Lizheng and Cheng Zhao fell to the ground.
Magistrate Shen waved his hand: "You don't have to be so polite with me. Get up."
Zhao Lizheng got up from the ground and went straight to the point: "Sir, I am here this time because of the locusts. Although the locusts have not yet become a disaster, according to my experience, the locusts will definitely gather in less than three days." , just like last year, a large group flew in and could eat all the food in the field in less than half a day."
His speculation coincided with the chief clerk's idea. The chief clerk stood up and said, "Then what do you have in mind when you come today?"
Zhao Lizheng said honestly: "Four or five days ago, Dahe Village was studying a method to exterminate locusts. Huang Tian has paid off his hard work and has finally figured it out. Cheng Zhao, hurry up and present the method."
Cheng Zhao stepped forward and presented a thick stack of rice paper with both hands.
The chief clerk took the things and opened the first page. He couldn't help but marvel in his heart. The handwriting was so beautiful, vigorous and powerful, and the writing was sharp. It would be impossible to write such beautiful handwriting without a lot of hard work.
A stack of paper was placed in front of Magistrate Shen, and the head of the bookkeeper and clerk came close to it.
At first, a few people looked at it in a fog, it was all numbers, and they couldn't understand what to do. After reading the previous words, they had a conclusion later.
Qi Ai can repel locusts, and lantana can poison locusts instantly. How much water is needed to boil a pound of lantana, the cooking temperature and time are all recorded. The next page shows the campfire trapping method, plus duck killing. Locusts were buried in ditches, and then sprayed with lantana... After combining these methods, the number of locusts killed was also recorded, and there were descriptions of the fields, and there were even simple brush paintings, which seemed to let people see the locust eradication in Dahe Village. picture.
The last few pages are about how to operate, precautions, how to protect the field, how the operator can protect himself, etc.
After reading it, Magistrate Shen and others were stunned.
Master Yuan was the first to come to his senses: "Is everything written here true?"
Li Zheng gave up the home court.
Cheng Zhao cupped his hands and said: "What is written on the paper is a record of what Cheng Zhao has seen and heard these days. All the data is only written after counting. There is absolutely no lies."
Magistrate Shen was stunned for a moment: "You, are you Cheng Zhao?"
His son was studying in Nanfu Academy. He had been to Nanfu Academy several times and heard people mention the name Cheng Zhao, saying that he would definitely become a scholar.
There will be a college examination next year. How could Cheng Zhao go down to record these things?
Master Yuan lowered his voice: "I heard that Cheng Zhao was expelled from Nanfu Academy for cheating. The matter was quite big..."
Zhao Li was standing in the hall and didn't know what the people above were muttering. He introduced: "He is Cheng Zhao, Er Gouzi's cousin. Er Gouzi's mother is Cheng Zhao's aunt. This Cheng Zhao has been living in our Dahe Village for a while."
There was no mention of Chengjia Village in the words. Cheng Zhao lived with them anyway, so he could represent Dahe Village for the time being.
Magistrate Shen remembered that the last time he met Ergouniang in the town, Cheng Zhao was with Ergouniang. No wonder he looked familiar.
The handwriting of this young man is beautiful. As the saying goes, a person's character and integrity can be seen through the handwriting. People who can write such good handwriting cannot cheat.
On the other hand, his son is as good at handwriting as a dog. It would be nice if he could learn more from Cheng Zhao.
However, it is still necessary to send someone to inquire about the specific circumstances of the cheating.
Magistrate Shen arranged the stack of papers on the case neatly: "If this method can really eliminate locusts, I will record your great contribution."
Cheng Zhao raised his head and said: "This method was thought up by the second aunt Cheng Zhao. If the county magistrate wants to take credit, the credit should belong to my second aunt, to Zhao Lizheng of Dahe Village, and to everyone in Dahe Village who participated in the extermination of locusts." villagers, without them, there would be no data recorded by Cheng Zhao..."
Zhao Lizheng couldn't believe it.
He didn't do anything, so how could he get credit?
There are also those old men and women in the village. They exterminate locusts just to protect their own rice. How can they have the dignity to claim the credit?
County Magistrate Shen waved his hand: "We will discuss the merits later. Now we need to promote this method. Master Yuan, please hurry up and ask all the villagers to come to the county government."
He paused and continued, "Zhao Lizheng, Cheng Housheng, you two don't leave in a hurry. You still need to tell Lizheng in other villages orally how to deal with the locust extermination."
"Yes, Lord Magistrate!"
Zhao Lizheng and Cheng Zhao stayed.
Li Zheng of all villages in Ping'an Town was summoned to the county government.
The news of locust extermination spread like the wind, reaching every corner of Dahe Village.
"Have you heard? The county magistrate has used our locust extermination methods. Osmanthus Village, Chengjia Village, Lijiagou, etc. are all following our example."
"If you ask me, I have to thank Dashan Niang for this. If she hadn't discovered lantana, we would be just like last year, sitting in the ground crying one by one."
"I also have to thank the boy from the Cheng family. He is a scholar. It is not easy for him to go to the fields to kill the locusts with us."
"I just find it strange. Why doesn't Cheng Tongsheng go back to Chengjia Village?"
"He is able to study because of Dashan Niang. He has not been close to this second aunt in so many years. I am afraid that he will come to live here just to pay for the exam next year."
"I'm going to Huzhou to take the exam. I have to walk for more than half a month, and I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money on the way."
"I don't know how long he will stay in Dahe Village. I want to send my boy there to read a few words, and the repair fee can be used as payment for Cheng Tongsheng."
A group of women chatted casually, ranging from locust extermination to reading, and walked to the door of Cheng Wanwan's yard.
