In the second year of Zhenguan, there was a drought in the capital and locusts broke out. Emperor Taizong went into the garden to look at the grain and saw locusts. He picked a few locusts and cursed: "People depend on grain as their livelihood, and you eat it, which is harmful to the people. The people have made mistakes, but it is only one person who has a spirit, but it will harm me." The heart is harmless to the people." When he was about to swallow it, the people on the left and right suddenly admonished him: "I'm afraid it will cause illness, so don't do it." Taizong said: "I hope to avoid the disaster, why should I avoid it?" Then he swallowed it. Naturally, locusts will no longer cause disaster.
This is a very famous fragment of Taizong swallowing locusts in history, recorded in "Zhenguan Politicians"!
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty "swallowed locusts", perhaps because of his true feelings, perhaps because he was acting for people to watch, or perhaps both. But one thing must be certain: if he didn't understand the situation and the disaster that locusts bring to the people; if he treated the people as nothing but grass and didn't understand the pity and fear of the people, I'm afraid there would be no "Locust Swallowing" incident. Take a look, maybe there will be a joke about "why not eat minced meat"!
The stars have changed and the world has changed. Now in the Tang Dynasty, Li Zexuan has warned in advance, and the court has made many preparations for the locust plague in advance. This overwhelming locust plague does not seem to be impossible to eradicate, but Li Er still chose to devour it in front of all civil and military officials at this time. The purpose of locusts is also very clear, that is, to show the civil and military forces of the dynasty and the people of the world. Only in this way can all the people of the world completely put aside their fear of locusts and work together to eliminate locusts!
Although he understood Li Er's good intentions, he still understood and asked Li Zexuan to eat the locusts alive. Li Zexuan could only say, "I can't do that"!
This thing would taste better if fried, but if eaten raw, it would be too disgusting!
But can it be done without eating?
Look, Fang Xuanling is now nearly fifty years old, and he goes to the fields to look for locusts himself; and Wei Penzi is so upright and unafraid of power on weekdays, why didn't he just grab a locust and feed it to his mouth? ? Let’s look at Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde and other generals. They relied on Qinggong to fly left and right in the wheat field, just to find a locust. It was not that they wanted to show off their Qinggong, but because there were many people in the field. The locusts in the city have been almost wiped out by the Tianji Brigade. It is really not easy to find a surviving locust!
I feel sorry for the locusts in the field. They had just managed to escape the raids of the Tianji Brigade a quarter of an hour ago, but now they are being hunted down by those powerful generals. The only one to blame is the locust that flew onto Li Er. If it hadn't been for it, it wouldn't have caused a wave of destruction!
Seeing that all the civil and military officials were secretly looking for locusts to stuff into their stomachs to show their loyalty, Li Zexuan seemed extremely awkward standing still. In order not to make himself look so abrupt, Li Zexuan had to join in the search for locusts and eat them alive. Army!
"Uh, Wocao! How about such a coincidence?"
Just when Li Zexuan couldn't find a locust after searching for a long time because he could escape, a cute and cute grasshopper flew up from the wheat field without warning and landed on his head.
"Hey, hey, hey! Marquis Yong'an, come on, come on, there's a locust on your head! Don't let it escape!"
As if he had discovered a new world, Wei Zheng pointed at Li Zexuan's forehead and said excitedly.
"Thank you Wei Zuocheng for reminding me!"
Li Zexuan's face was covered with black lines. He originally wanted to quietly throw away the grasshoppers on his head, but when Wei Jingzi yelled at him with a loud voice, he had no chance to do something small, so he had to grab the locusts on his head. He held it in his hand, then cupped his hand towards Wei Zheng and said dullly.
Wei Zheng chuckled and said: "Marquis Yong'an is really a man of great luck. We all have to work hard to find a locust, but Marquis Yong'an only needs to wait for the locusts to come to our door automatically. It's so enviable!"
Li Zexuan couldn't help complaining in his heart: "If you're lucky, I'll be pissed off by you, an old troll, sooner or later! If this is good luck, I'd rather not have it!"
Standing there with the locust in his hand, Li Zexuan was choked by Wei Zheng and was speechless for a moment. At this time, he glanced casually and found that dozens of ministers and Li Er were all looking at him with burning eyes. To be precise, Looking at the locust in his hand, what he meant was simply self-evident!
"Well..."
Li Zexuan was a little dumbfounded. These ministers who had eaten locusts and Li Er didn't want to "let him go"! As for...
"Marquis Yong'an, what are you still hesitating about? Your Majesty can eat locusts alive for the sake of the people of the world, why can't you? Are you more noble than Your Majesty?"
Qiu Xinggong took the opportunity and said angrily.
This guy just ate two grasshoppers without blinking an eye. He is indeed a ruthless person!
Cheng Yaojin's brows jumped, and he wanted to come out and say something for Li Zexuan, but was stopped by Qin Qiong, because at this time, Li Zexuan had no choice!
"Hmph! When I lived in seclusion in the mountains with my master in the early years, I even gnawed the bark of the trees. What's the point of being just a locust?"
Li Zexuan also knew that he had to eat the locust today, otherwise he would be openly slapping Li Er in the face, so he snorted at Qiu Xinggong and boasted, then he closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and put the locust in his mouth. After stuffing it, I flapped my cheeks three or two times, and a wild locust fell into my stomach.
Resisting the urge to vomit, Li Zexuan glanced at Qiu Xinggong provocatively, but said nothing!
But today's relationship is finally settled. Although Qiu Xinggong is famous in history books, if he really offends Li Zexuan, Li Zexuan will never sit back and wait for death!
"For the sake of the common people, His Majesty, regardless of the safety of the dragon body, swallowed locusts alive. This move will not only move the people, but will also leave a lasting name in history and become a model for future emperors! Tomorrow's "Datang Daily" will surely mention His Majesty's act of loving the people today. Spread the word to the world, so that everyone in the world can feel His Majesty’s care, and at the same time, it can also call on all people to work together to catch the locusts!”
After a pause, Li Zexuan cupped his hands towards Li Er and said.
Hearing that Li Zexuan wanted to publish his act of swallowing locusts today in the newspaper, Li Er couldn't help but secretly praise Li Zexuan for being sensible, but he said calmly on his face:
"Eating locusts alive today is just an act of righteous indignation after I saw locusts harming crops! It's not enough for all the people!"
After that, Li Er saw that all the civil and military officials had almost eaten locusts. He waved his sleeves and said, "That's it for today's afternoon meeting! All ministers will return to Chang'an immediately, and then each perform their duties. Be sure to Mobilize the people in the disaster-stricken areas to fight the locusts and prevent a large number of refugees!"
"I obey the order!"
All the officials accepted the order one after another, and then rode back to Chang'an.
Li Zexuan, because he lived in Lantian County and had nothing to do in Chang'an, did not leave with him. Instead, he planned to go directly to Wangjiazhuang to see the locust extermination process of the Tianji Brigade.
But Li Er stopped him: "Marquis Yong'an, come with me and walk around!"
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
Li Zexuan accepted the promise.
"Where is the Tianji Brigade now?"
Li Er asked at this time.
"Your Majesty, it's in Wangjiazhuang, west of Yunshan Mountain!"
"Okay! Then let's go to Wangjiazhuang and have a look!"
So, the two of them walked towards Wangjiazhuang, followed by dozens of forbidden troops, as well as Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong and other generals.
Because controlling locust plagues is the specialty of civilian officials, military generals like them can't help much even if they go back.
Two-quarters of an hour later, this small group arrived at the edge of the farmland outside Wangjiazhuang. What they saw were densely packed chickens, as well as farmers and children driving the chickens away.
"Gu Gu Gu~ Gu Gu!"
Those children eventually made a "cooing" sound of a special frequency from time to time. What was strange was that after the chickens behind them heard the "cooing" sound, they followed the children very obediently, then flapped their wings and tilted. He swooped into a farmland full of locusts. A flock of about four to five thousand chickens cleared an acre of farmland in only a dozen breaths, and then took the lead in "directing" the children there. Next, he jumped into another acre of farmland!
This looks like a general commanding thousands of troops, which is quite spectacular!
Li Er, Cheng Yaojin and others were dumbfounded when they saw such a strange sight.
"Xiaoxuan, these dolls can really train chickens?"
Cheng Yaojin stared and said in disbelief.
Li Zexuan smiled and said: "That's natural. My nephew didn't brag to His Majesty and uncles in the court earlier!"
Niu Jinda asked: "Xiaoxuan, where did they learn this skill of training chickens? Did they learn it from you?"
Because in Niu Jinda's view, Li Zexuan knew a lot of weird and weird skills, that's why he made this guess.
Li Zexuan hurriedly said: "Uncle Niu, how can my nephew have these skills? To be honest, last spring, my nephew discovered a pair of siblings in Hanjiazhuang with withdrawn personalities. They stayed with the chickens raised at home all day long. This pair The siblings were able to make the chickens obey their words. At that time, the nephew had an idea and asked all the children in Zhuangzi to learn this skill from them. After learning and passing the test, they can get rewards! No, now Hanjiazhuang and Meicun Children can basically train chickens!”
Cheng Yaojin couldn't help but said happily: "Hey! Xiaoxuan, you still have more ideas! If you didn't let these babies learn this skill, now even if you have 150,000 chickens, you can't kill the locusts on Zhuangzi so quickly. All destroyed!"
Li Er nodded and said: "Zhijie is right! If it weren't for these children, the 150,000 chickens you have, Yong'an Marquis, would be just a bunch of headless flies flying around. It would be impossible to exert such efficient action." ! What I am thinking is, after all the locusts in Lantian County are wiped out, can your chicken brigade be transferred to other states and counties to eliminate locusts?"
Li Zexuan cupped his hands and said: "Even if Your Majesty doesn't say it, I have this intention! Not only that, classes at Yanhuang Academy have been completely suspended. Students are now in various villages, mobilizing farmers to drive away chickens and go to the fields to kill locusts! Wait until the locusts in Lantian County After everything is basically cleared, I will immediately take the Tianji Brigade and the students from the academy to the neighboring affected states and counties!"
"Well! I'm very pleased that you have such an idea!"
Li Er nodded and said.
"Xiao Xuan, the Cheng family still has more than 20,000 chickens. After the locusts on the Cheng family village are cleared tomorrow, I will have these chickens driven to Lantian County and join your chicken brigade!"
Cheng Yaojin said at this time.
Lao Cheng's family has a total of more than 5,000 acres of fertile land. Even though the efficiency of the more than 20,000 chickens in killing locusts is not as high as that of the Tianji Brigade, one day is still enough.
Li Zexuan cupped his fists and said, "Thank you so much, Uncle Cheng!"
Qin Qiong also said at this time: "Xiao Xuan, the Qin family has about fifteen thousand chickens. I will come to you when the time comes!"
Yuchi Jingde: "Yuchi's family has thirteen thousand..."
Niu Jinda: "The Niu family has fourteen thousand..."
Li Jing: "I only have 8,000 of them. When the time comes, they will all be sent to you, Xiaoxuan!"
These families followed Li Zexuan in the past and raised so many chickens. Now that they see that Li Zexuan has so many children who know how to train chickens, they do not hesitate to send over all the chickens they have raised in captivity!
When Li Zexuan heard this, he quickly thanked them one by one. After all, at this time, he wouldn't mind having too many chickens!
Li Er pondered for a moment and said: "There are probably nearly 30,000 chickens in the Royal Manor. I will send someone to deliver them to you tomorrow!"
Li Zexuan said happily: "Thank you, Your Majesty! In this way, we can collect 220,000 chickens. At that time, I will borrow some chickens from farmers in Lantian County, and the Tianji Brigade may have nearly 300,000 chickens." , the number has doubled, and the speed of eradicating the locusts will also double by then!"
Li Er sighed and said: "It's strange that I didn't fully believe your prediction. Otherwise, I would have built a rooster brigade consisting of one million chickens. Now we can quickly clean up the disaster-stricken counties!"
After saying that, Li Er shook his head and left directly with a group of guards.
Qin Qiong and others said something to Li Zexuan and followed Li Er.
Cheng Yaojin deliberately lagged a few steps behind and whispered to Li Zexuan: "Xiaoxuan, you have to be more careful about Qiu Xinggong in the future. This old guy is too utilitarian and wants to show his loyalty in front of His Majesty. Moreover, he is cruel and ruthless. But you have to be careful when dealing with it!”
Li Zexuan nodded and said: "Uncle Cheng, don't worry, my nephew will not take the initiative to provoke him! Besides, my nephew doesn't have much interaction with him on weekdays, so even if he wants to find trouble, he has nowhere to go!"
Cheng Yaojin shook his head and said: "Xiaoxuan, you are wrong! Have you forgotten that His Majesty just appointed you as the secretary of Xuanjia Army to join the army a few days ago?"
Li Zexuan said strangely: "Uncle Cheng, of course my nephew has not forgotten it!"
Suddenly he realized something was wrong and asked quickly: "Uncle Cheng, is it possible that Qiu Xinggong is also in the Xuanjia Army?"
Cheng Yaojin sighed and nodded: "Yes! Qiu Xinggong and Duan Zhixuan can be regarded as the earliest generals in the Xuanjia Army, but Duan Zhixuan is more valued by His Majesty, so Duan Zhixuan is now the commander of the Xuanjia Army. And Qiu Xinggong is just the deputy commander! So if you join the army as a recorder, you will inevitably have to deal with Qiu Xinggong in the future!"
Li Zexuan was stunned, and secretly thought that this was really a narrow road for enemies. Before the Xuanjia Army reported this, he had already formed a conflict with the second-in-command of the Xuanjia Army. How can he get along with him in the future?
"Uh...Uncle Cheng! Is it too late for my nephew to resign from this job with His Majesty?"
Li Zexuan said a little crazy.
Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened and he said angrily: "What are you saying? Are you still afraid of Qiu Xinggong? Don't worry, I, Old Cheng, have long disliked that old guy. If he deliberately causes trouble for you, I will Just go to the Xuanjia Army to compete with him and beat him hard! And the second brother Qin will not stand idly by. Duan Zhixuan has a good relationship with the second brother Qin. As long as you don’t take the initiative to make mistakes in the Xuanjia Army, Qiu Xinggong will never do it. I dare to touch you! Even if you make a mistake, I and Brother Qin will support you from behind!"
Hearing this, Li Zexuan couldn't help but feel a little moved. He cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, Uncle Cheng!"
Lao Cheng patted Li Zexuan on the shoulder and laughed and said, "Hey! Why are we talking about two different things? I heard that Xiaoxuan, your workshop also has a car called an electric bicycle. Can I try it out someday?"
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An engineering geek living in the Tang Dynasty
An engineering geek living in the Tang Dynasty
