He Shen's original intention of doing this was just an official pretense.
He did this just to stabilize his sacred image in the hearts of the people in Taiyuan Prefecture.
However, the people did not think that Heshen was being pretentious, because during the half-month period of culling the locusts, Heshen did not enjoy any privileges or preferential treatment, and he never cheated or cheated at all...
From beginning to end, he was just like ordinary people. He received porridge, steamed buns, and pickles from the porridge shed set up by the government every day...
Moreover, He Shen is so kind and polite to every common person, just like he is with friends.
"…………"
In this way, the common people's impression of Heshen is not only the incarnation of God, but also endless gratitude...
It can be said that with Heshen's current status and reputation in the hearts of the people of Taiyuan Prefecture, let alone asking them to extinguish the locusts, even if he raised his arms and pulled them to rebel against the Manchus, I am afraid not many people would do it. hesitate.
As long as He Shen thinks about it, millions of people can be attracted in an instant...
In fact, Heshen was not the only one who ended up exterminating the locusts. Because Heshen did it personally, Liu An and other Taiyuan local officials, although they did not understand...
However, because of the unspoken rules in the officialdom, they, the lower officials, had to follow He Shen's example.
Liu An and others took off their official robes, put on common people's clothes, and were busy with He Shen.
As a result, Liu An and others who used to prey on the common people and bully innocent corrupt officials in Taiyuan Prefecture actually received a lot of praise these days.
………
Time passes little by little, the sky is getting closer to evening, the sun sets in the west, and the fire clouds begin to appear...
He Shen was busy for most of the day. Although he was quite tired, he still did not rest. Instead, he directed the people to burn the bodies of dead locusts...
There are two benefits to doing this. The first benefit is that gathering the locust corpses and burning them in the fields will make the fields fertile. When the weather is good next year, there will definitely be a good harvest of food.
The second benefit is that there must be a large number of eggs left in the locust corpses. If they are not burned, the locusts will come back next year!
The common people believed what He Shen said, so they followed it one after another...
In terms of ecological types, locusts are generally divided into two types, one is the gregarious migratory locust, and the other is the solitary jumping locust. What we usually eat are just scattered jumping locusts.
It is true that people can eat locusts, but that is when the locusts are small, not "too many", and are scattered jumping locusts...
When a severe locust plague occurs over a large area, it is actually unreliable to rely on humans to eat locusts to resolve the disaster.
Because the locusts in the locust plague are actually inedible, because they will produce genetic mutations when stimulated by living in groups...
This genetic mutation will cause the locusts to produce a series of chemical toxins in their bodies to protect themselves from being eaten.
After these gregarious mutations, the body shape and color of these locusts have undergone tremendous changes, turning into the color of black iron and citrine...
In addition, locusts causing locust plagues may carry some viruses, which poses a great risk...
Chickens, ducks, and geese are the natural enemies of locusts. However, when too many locusts appear and throw chickens, ducks, geese, and birds into the swarm, their first reaction is not to feast, but to run away quickly.
Saying that the locust plague is coming and everyone is skewering, frying, stir-frying, and eating locusts is as absurd and ignorant as saying that the flood is coming and every household is eating big fish and prawns.
When the corpses of a large number of locusts were burned by the fire, everything was settled...
Liu An, who had been following He Shen closely these days, came to He Shen and asked softly:
"Sir, it's getting late. You've worked hard all day and it's time to eat. Should we go to the porridge shed to eat today?"
Seeing He Shen nodding, a bitter look flashed across Liu An's face.
As the prince of a palace, he has always been pampered and pampered. Now he is asked to eat porridge, steamed buns, and pickles all day long. How can he accept it...
However, since He Shen, as an imperial envoy, had to eat all this, Liu An was just a fifth-grade prefect, so even if he didn't want to, he could only follow suit...
"…………"
He Shen is too lazy to say anything to local officials like them...
He Shen, on his side, signaled He Er to open the wine bag. Seeing this, He Er pulled out the cork and released the wine...
He Shen, on his side, washed his hands alternately with wine.
His palms were already covered with wounds from doing strenuous work for a short period of time.
When I exerted my strength just now, not only did the skin burst, but the skin on part of the palm was also peeled off, and there were a lot of gravel and grass clippings hanging on the tender flesh...
Because there are so many people here in Zhu Sheng, it is almost as lively as temple fairs and township fairs...
Most of the people in the porridge shed are ordinary people, who have come from all over the country...
Because there are too many people, all kinds of dirty water, sewage, and leftover food and drinks are everywhere on the ground. There is an unpleasant sour smell everywhere in this place...
Blow flies were buzzing around, and after wandering around for a long time, He Er finally saw a cleaner dining table.
His eyes lit up and he immediately took possession of it...
Seeing this, He Shen and Liu An strode towards the table...
Liu An, who was sitting opposite He Shen, could only lean to his side and sit on the edge of a stool because of the gap in status, carefully keeping himself far away from He Shen.
He Shen smiled but said nothing.
He knows that the rules of the officialdom are like this. There must be a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority...
The reason why the two of them are sitting at the same table like this is because they are both officials...
After Liu An sat down, he felt something was wrong all over. He tried not to let himself look at the dirty stove and dishwashing bucket next to him...
Because He Shen and Liu An had special status, porridge, steamed buns, and pickles were served quickly...
"…………"
The cook who was responsible for distributing these things also gave a plate of sauce as a favor. She scratched the edge of the table a few times with a black rag...
Liu An frowned. It was hard for him to get angry in front of He Shen, so he could only force himself to look away from the cloth that was clearly stained with black mud.
For him, not to mention eating this meal, just looking at it makes him feel sick...
Liu An, holding chopsticks, is neither eating nor not eating.
Eat it, you will feel nauseated. If you can't eat it, don't eat it. The superior officer is right in front of you. If you don't eat it, you won't give face.
"…………"
He Shen saw that he was embarrassed by such a meal!
Seeing the misery on Liu An's face, He Shen smiled and said, "Master Liu, I know you are not used to eating these porridge and pickles..."
"These days, it's really hard for you, the prefect, so let's go find some food by yourself today instead of accompanying me."
"What I have done these days only represents an individual. You and other local officials can do so on their own initiative."
Although He Shen said so, how dare Liu An really agree...
Liu An, on his side, shook his head and said quickly.
"My lord, you are right in what you say, but you look down upon a lowly official..."
"My lord, you love the people like your son, and you are extremely wise. Being able to follow my lord these days, I only feel that I have benefited a lot and made a lot of profits..."
"Now is the opportunity to continue to learn and improve from you, sir. How can I miss it..."
"Hehe, so of course, whatever you do, sir, your subordinates will follow suit."
He Shen sighed lightly, shook his head, and said with a smile: "You are asking for trouble. Don't blame me in the future."
"How could it be? Your Excellency, you are joking again. It is an honor for a low-ranking official to follow you by your side."
Liu An said diligently.
"..."
While talking, He Shen picked up the chopsticks, picked up the pickle strips, and stuffed them into his mouth. After chewing a few times, he felt that the taste was not enough. Then he picked up a chopstick and dipped it into the sauce plate a few times, stuffed it into his mouth, and mixed it with the corn steamed buns. Chewed it...
Seeing Liu An eating reluctantly, He Shen couldn't help but sigh in his heart and stopped looking at Liu An.
He picked up the earthen bowl and blew on it, turned it against the edge of the bowl, and took a sip of water and porridge...
Then he put down the rough earthen bowl, picked up two chopsticks of pickles, dipped them in the sauce and stuffed them into his mouth.
Heshen's side ate and drank like ordinary people. In the blink of an eye, three steamed buns, a large earthen bowl of porridge, and a plate of pickles were eaten.
After eating, He Shen wiped his mouth and looked at Liu An, who was a little stunned when he looked at him. He smiled and said: "I'm hungry, I'm really hungry. I made Prefect Liu laugh..."
"Huh? Oh, I don't dare..."
Liu An was stunned for a moment, and after hesitating a few times, he whispered back...
The people around them left after eating. They had nothing to eat and were waiting in line for a table...
To be honest, in the year of great disaster, the people were able to maintain such order, but Heshen also had a share of the credit...
Because here in Heshen, every time I come to the porridge shed to eat, I always queue up and wait for a table...
When the common people saw the gods in their hearts, He Shen was like this. In addition, there were enough porridge, steamed buns, and pickles in the porridge shed, so they naturally queued up.
When they saw He Shen and were getting ready to leave after eating, the people near the porridge shed also stood up, with respectful expressions on their faces, and knelt down to He Shen one after another, saluting and greeting him.
"Everyone, get up quickly. You have been busy all day, why do you have to kneel here and there anymore? You are not an official, so you don't need to abide by so many rules in the officialdom."
After seeing the people kneeling around him, He Shen waved his hands and said quickly, and helped the people kneeling beside him up one by one.
After the people stood up, their enthusiasm remained unabated, and they greeted Zhao Junchen one after another:
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, you have really worked hard on this day!"
"Sir, you are really the Great Master Qingtian!"
"………………"
In the midst of the noise and greetings, He Shen just smiled and waved his hand in rejection.
Seeing this scene, Liu An and other Taiyuan local officials all had complicated expressions and were filled with emotion.
