Soon, the latest news came.
After leaving Hexi Prefecture, the locust army headed east and entered Dongshan Province.
Li Qiao also set up a chicken and duck defense line at the junction of Yuanhe Province and Dongshan Province. He asked the people of Qiu'an Prefecture and Zhouyang Prefecture to raise chickens and ducks, and said that he would open a duck shop and fried chicken shop in Weiqing County. .
This line of defense has only been established for a short period of time. There are not as many people raising chickens and ducks in these two prefectures as in Hexi Prefecture, but they are not few either.
The measures taken by officials in these two prefectures were similar to those taken by officials in other places, so when the locust army passed through these two prefectures, they were also consumed.
When the locust army first broke out in the five prefectures of Xishan Province, there were so many locusts that they covered the sky and covered the sun. They pressed on the plants in three layers, inside and outside, giving people goosebumps.
However, after the locust army was consumed along the way, when it left Qiu'an Mansion and Zhouyang Mansion, it had turned from a major locust plague that occurred once in decades to an ordinary locust plague.
When the locust army flies up again, it cannot block the sun. When it lands on grass or crops, it can bend the leaves, but the thickness is only three or four fingers thick.
The reason why this locust plague was successfully eliminated was that the locust army was constantly being consumed and there were few new locusts joining along the way.
Hexi Prefecture has many rivers and ponds, and there are no innate conditions for locust eggs to hatch. Qiu'an Prefecture already has a lot of water, otherwise the Grand Canal would not flow through Weiqing County.
In addition, Li Qiao placed 50,000 acres of cultivated land in Qiu'an Mansion, where Li Gu has been hiring people to build rivers and dig trenches, so Qiu'an Mansion is not conducive to the hatching of locust eggs.
As for what will happen to the rest of the locust army after they rush into Dongshan Province, it depends on the report from Dongshan Province.
Governor Ming made drought relief a priority before he took office. After taking office, he immediately inspected the river conditions in the province. Daze Prefecture is adjacent to Yuanhe Province. When the route of the Grand Canal was determined, it almost couldn't flow through Weiqing County because The British government wanted the Grand Canal to bypass Weiqing County and go to Dazefu.
Daze Mansion is adjacent to Yuanshan Mansion. Yuanshan Mansion is the hometown of the British father. Under the control of the Lu family, these two mansions had caused many deaths due to the underground gambling house.
After the death of the British Duke, Zhao Cun personally went to the two mansions to uproot the Lu family's influence in the two mansions. After the Ming Governor took office, he also came to inspect the two mansions.
First, I want to see the situation in these two provinces. Second, Dazefu is adjacent to Yuanhe Province and adjacent to Weiqing County, Liqiao's dock.
When the Grand Canal is opened in the future, Weiqing County will inevitably be developed into a large wharf by Li Qiao, with huge passenger flow. Therefore, the Ming Governor attached great importance to Daze Prefecture.
Although they are two provinces, who should let the two places be adjacent to each other? Daze Mansion might be able to take advantage of Weiqing County.
With this purpose in mind, Governor Ming first formulated a plan for water conservancy construction in these two prefectures.
Governor Ming personally watched over it, and the river construction and ditching projects in Daze Prefecture and Yuanshan Prefecture went smoothly.
Moreover, Governor Ming had long known about the locust plague. When the locust army rushed into Yuanhe Province, he was worried that it would spread to Dongshan Province, so he went to Dazefu personally.
There is no chicken and duck defense line in Daze Prefecture, but there is plenty of water and no drought. Therefore, the locust army did not increase in Daze Prefecture, but was only consumed.
Governor Ming recruited a group of people from the capital and set bonuses out of his own pocket.
Under the supervision of Governor Ming, a lot of the locust army was wiped out in Daze Mansion. The locust swarms were no longer continuous and were divided into small waves.
This kind of small wave of locusts can only be captured slowly by manpower.
Fortunately, Dongshan Province is not considered to be in drought this year. If no new locusts join, this small wave of locusts will not be able to establish a climate.
Locusts have a short life span and either die naturally or are exterminated by the people.
At this point, the locust plague that affected three provinces is finally over.
After Sheng Hong received the report from Governor Ming, his gloomy mood for almost two months finally cleared up.
According to the reports he received during this period, the losses caused by this severe locust plague were actually within his tolerance.
What a miracle!
*
The author has something to say:
Judging from the conditions in ancient times, it is impossible to eliminate the great locust plague. However, this article is a false statement, and it is very false. So you guys, just treat me as nonsense and have fun watching it. Don't take it seriously~
Chapter 227: Aftermath, trivial matters will all be compensated
It’s almost the end of August.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and the temperature has dropped a lot.
Shengjing was not affected by this locust plague, and the autumn harvest in Shengjing had already begun.
On this day Wang Guihua came back from Zhuangzi, not only bringing back some peanuts still covered with soil, but also a basket of freshly caught grasshoppers.
Recently, the three little ones, Li Xiaorui, Li Changfeng and Li Yunfan, like to listen to their elders talk about their past experiences when the Li family didn't get rich, and they also want to experience it.
It was too tiring work to go to the fields to harvest in autumn. Li Qiao, Tao Bamboo, King Osmanthus, could not bear to let the three of them be tired and would not allow them to work in the fields.
But it is okay to bring back some fresh crops from Zhuangzi and cook them the same way as before.
For example, peanuts. These freshly plucked peanuts are washed and marinated in a pot. They taste much better than dried peanuts.
There is also roasted sweet potatoes. Build a small earthen stove and roast the sweet potatoes until half-cooked. Then smash the whole small earthen stove and cover it tightly with soil. The stewed sweet potatoes will also be delicious.
As for grasshoppers, in the past, the Li family could not afford to make deep-fried grasshoppers. After catching them, they were strung into a bunch and thrown into the fire. After a while, the aroma of the meat wafted out.
This rough way of eating is not delicious enough according to the current taste of the Li family.
But Li Xiaorui, Li Changfeng and Li Yunfan, the three little guys who are used to eating exquisite food, really like it and find this hands-on experience very interesting.
Moreover, there was a steady stream of letters from Pingcheng, each one related to the locust plague, so these three little guys' interest in grasshoppers never disappeared.
Wang Guihua brought back some local specialties from Zhuangzi from time to time.
Li Xiaorui saw that his grandma had brought back a lot of grasshoppers for him and his two uncles, and immediately ran to the kitchen door to light a fire.
Grasshoppers are more fragrant and authentic when eaten roasted.
Children can easily get into trouble when they play with fire. Tao Zhu came back early today, so he moved a small bench and sat at the door of the kitchen to watch over the three of them.
So far, the charity has received a total of less than 70,000 taels of silver in donations.
The money can be used to buy food in prefectures and counties adjacent to the disaster-stricken areas based on the principle of proximity, which can save a lot of transportation costs.
He only needs to count the donations, and the specific operations are handled by the charity director arranged by Sheng Hong, so he is not very busy these days.
Sometimes I can go to my farm with Wang Guihua to keep an eye on the autumn harvest.
Li Xiaorui was also sitting on the small bench. He was holding a small wooden stick in one hand and scurrying grasshoppers on the small wooden stick with the other. His mouth was also busy: "Oh, I wish I had been in Sanliu Village at that time, so that I could open my eyes wide. Kill."
"Yes, I also want to kill locusts without blinking an eye."
Li Changfeng's fleshy little hands were also skewering grasshoppers. When he mentioned this locust plague, his white and tender face was full of regret.
"Although Brother Xiaobao is two months older than us, he is definitely not as strong as us. If we use a broom to sweep away locusts, we will definitely harvest much more locusts than Brother Xiaobao in one day."
As Li Yunfan spoke, he pursed his lips and sighed, his chubby cheeks bulging into small buns due to his small movement.
Obviously, he regretted not being able to show off his talents in this locust plague.
Tao Zhu's eyes turned around the three of them, feeling helpless: "This is not a good thing. Didn't your Aunt Chuntao tell you that the locust hit Xiaobao's eyes, which made Xiaobao shed several tears in discomfort."
During the locust eradication operation in Sanliu Village, Li Chuntao and Zhang Tiansheng's eldest son Zhang Xiaobao was very brave. Although he was only over five years old, he picked up a small broom to sweep the locusts on the ground so that they could be swept into the sacks.
This kind of work is actually risky for children. Zhang Xiaobao was not paying attention and his eyes were scratched by locusts.
But the three little guys ignored the danger and only remembered that Zhang Xiaobao could catch the locusts. They regretted not being able to personally participate in the locust extermination these days.
"Dad, if Yunfan Ruirui and I join the battle, we will definitely protect ourselves."
Li Changfeng pursed his lips as he spoke and sighed: "It would be great if we could fly. Wherever there is a locust plague, we can fly wherever there is."
Although he knew that the locust plague was not a good thing, he really wanted to participate in the scene described by Aunt Chuntao in the letter.
Because in addition to everyone working together to catch the locusts when they came, everyone was still cooking, drying, and grinding the locusts afterwards.
This step sounds so interesting!
"You should focus on roasting grasshoppers. Don't say this when you go out again. It's best to completely eliminate the locust plague."
Tao Zhu's tone was a little harsh.
The Holy Spirit has been in a bad mood recently. These three little guys must not say words like "It would be great if there was a locust plague in the capital."
Otherwise, even if Li Qiao Jian is in the Emperor's heart, the Holy Emperor will still feel a pimple in his heart.
"Don't worry, Dad, the three of us won't talk nonsense. We just want to kill the locusts."
Li Changfeng said and threw the string of grasshoppers into the fire.
Then he kept staring at the grasshopper skewers with his bright eyes, and grabbed a fire stick with his little hand. The locusts are easy to cook, so you have to pay attention to the heat, otherwise they will be burned out in one fell swoop.
"That's right, Uncle Dazhong actually caught more than 5,000 kilograms of locusts by himself. It's amazing."
Li Xiaorui was amazed and threw the skewered locusts into the small fire.
"If it were my father, he might be able to catch 10,000 kilograms of locusts."
Li Yunfan's big eyes were wide and sparkling when he smiled, and he looked at Tao Zhu: "Dad, do you think so?!"
Although I don’t know how much 10,000 kilograms of locusts weigh, but his father is so powerful, he can definitely double the kilograms of uncle Dazhong!
"...No, your father can't catch them. The reason why your uncle Dazhong was able to catch so many locusts was because someone helped him."
Tao Zhu shook his head.
Li Dazhong is a strong man and is a standard strong laborer. When the locusts attacked, he took the big bamboo broom with a diameter of one meter and went to his field, followed by Baiyou's driver, boy and rough messenger. Mother-in-law.
Li Dazhong used a big broom to sweep over his sweet potato seedlings, and a pile of locusts appeared on the ground.
His three helpers quickly put the pile of locusts into sacks.
In this way, except for a short break when drinking water and eating steamed buns, the four of them spent the rest of the time catching locusts non-stop.
Working from dawn to midnight, we caught more than 5,000 kilograms of locusts.
There are many strong laborers like Li Dazhong, such as Zheng Qianqian's two brothers Zheng Qi, Zheng Guang, and Wang Xiuying. Although they are women, they are as strong as men and are also good at catching locusts.
The half-grown boys in the private school stopped class, howling and waving their brooms to catch locusts, even though their mouths and noses were covered with cloth.
Except for Tao Shu's family, every family in Sanliu Village has savings of more than a thousand taels. They have lived a prosperous life for ten years and have never experienced hardship. Therefore, this locust plague is too much fun for the young and half-grown children in Sanliu Village. harm.
So after reading the steady stream of letters from Pingcheng, the three little guys, Li Xiaorui, Li Changfeng, and Li Yunfan, also thought it was fun to catch locusts.
Tao Zhu wants to try his best to bridge this cognitive gap between adults and children.
It’s not fun. The locust plague is not fun at all.
Who suffered the most from this locust plague?
