A locust the size of two fingers flew from the north and landed on the weeping willow in Tongque Garden.
Then, a large green-yellow net was cast from the northern sky, covering the Bronze Bird Garden, and countless locusts spread on the trees and gnawed at them.
The palace guards and guards all went down to kill them, but to no avail.
One big net after another was thrown down, and the green in the Tongque Garden gradually disappeared.
With a buzzing sound, the locusts raised their wings, jumped into the sky, and continued to fly south.
Li Yue watched everything on the bronze bird stage. The sky was gloomy and locusts were boiling like dust.
With the autumn harvest just over a month away, the drought and locust plague in Yan gradually spread to Hebei.
Major water systems in Hebei have dried up.
The troubled land of Hebei is facing a new round of natural and man-made disasters.
What is more terrifying than drought is the locust plague. When it comes, it is overwhelming, and when it leaves, it is a mess, and all the crops are eaten away.
Zhongshan, Changshan, Xiangguo, Boling, Zhangwu and other counties were severely affected.
The food supply around Yecheng is basically gone.
"If the locusts go south, I'm afraid there will be no grain left in Qingyan and Yanzhou." Liu Qun said with sweat on his face.
The drought stops north of Yecheng, but the locust plague will not stop. They will fly to places with crispy plants.
"How was the disaster in Yan State?" Li Yue asked.
Last month, Murong Ke personally led his troops to attack Yuyang, suppressing and pacifying him. Murong Ke was always tolerant and true to his word. After resisting for more than 20 days, the Tian family and several other powerful people surrendered one after another.
Murong Ke sent the powerful men back to Jicheng.
Gongsun Chuo of Beiping County was defeated by Yue Wan and fled to the grassland.
The rebellion in Yan State was quickly put down.
Zhang Shengye said: "Looking carefully at the news, most of the fields in Youzhou and Liaodong were destroyed, many livestock and horses starved to death, and Murong Jun led his troops to eat in Liaodong."
Murong Jun ran to Liaodong. There should be no war in the north in the short term.
"All soldiers and people within the territory must use all means to control the locusts. We must not let the locust plague spread to the south of the river!"
With such a huge locust plague, Li Yue set an example and joined the new army he summoned to fight against the locusts.
Zhou Qian also mobilized 70,000 to 80,000 slaves and more than 100,000 civilians in Chenliu, and lit dry grass beside the Yellow River to prevent the locusts from moving south.
There are no green leaves near Yecheng, only bare tree trunks.
Tongshanbei and Baisibei in Fangtou in the south are suffering from locust poisoning.
Looking at the wheat fields that were about to have a good harvest being eaten by locusts, Li Yue felt uncomfortable. Famine was more terrifying than war. When people are hungry, they will not care about the government and the court. The people's hearts, which have just stabilized, will become turbulent again.
Liu Qun, who was in his sixties, personally went to the fields to catch locusts.
At this time of year, locusts have carapace and limbs as sharp as knives. Within a moment, Liu Qun's hands were dripping with blood.
Others were no better.
Even if there are layer after layer of insect corpses on the ground, it will not help.
There were so many locusts that they came from the north.
"Everyone stop, light the fire, burn!" Li Yue reluctantly gave the order.
The food in these two areas cannot be saved. It will be thankless to continue like this. After the locusts have eaten and drank enough, they will become a breeding ground for them.
"Mr. Liang, how can so much food be destroyed in one day? We only need to survive this month to have a good harvest!" Liu Qun, Shen Zhong and other veterans had bitter faces. They had experienced the famine in Yecheng and cherished food as much as their lives. .
"Hebei can no longer be saved. We must save Henan. This is a military order. Burn!" Li Yue did not explain to them anymore and asked his guards to light a fire.
Soon, a fire broke out in the wheat field.
Attracted by the flames, countless locusts swooped down from the sky and got into the flames. After bursts of crackling sounds, there was a burning smell everywhere.
Li Yue suddenly remembered that insects all have phototaxis, that is, moths fly towards the fire.
The effect is more obvious at night.
Li Yuexuan immediately ordered all the new soldiers to cut firewood and wood, and also ordered dry firewood to be taken from the surrounding cities and thrown into the fire.
Keep the fire burning.
At night, Tongshanpi and Baisipi fires soar into the sky, lighting up the dark night.
The overwhelming locusts came from all directions and got into the fire.
"Tian Zu has a god, and he is bound by the fire. This method of Liang Gong has deep ancient meanings!" Seeing that this method was effective, Shen Zhong sent a warm flattery.
Ran Min proclaimed himself emperor, and he was the first to respond.
"There is no perfect path, no matter how difficult it is, a country can prosper!" Li Yue became more and more confident under the light of the fire.
As long as the food supply south of the Yellow River is preserved, the problem will not be big.
Li Yue established the first line of defense in Liyang, Fangtou, and Zhou Qian established the second line of defense in Baima and Puyang. Qinghe, Pingyuan, and Bohai counties also adopted this method, setting fire to the locusts at night.
Although there were sporadic locusts flying across the Yellow River, they were out of scale and were culled by the people who went all out.
For half a month, Li Yue lived in Tongshanpi, and even his wedding was postponed.
Fires were lit on both sides of the river every night, and scouts and school officials traveled to and from both sides of the river, inspecting every county like Li Yue's eyes and ears.
No one was careless in this matter, and the fear of famine was already deep in his bones.
There was no need for Li Yue's order. All localities mobilized, men, women and children went into battle together.
The number of locusts visible to the naked eye has become less and less, and there is no longer that overwhelming scene.
Li Yue still did not dare to be careless, and even the official affairs were handled directly in the Tongshanpi camp.
The disaster was so severe in Yecheng, not to mention other counties in Hebei.
The disaster in Yan State was far above Yecheng, and even Murong Jun went to Liaodong.
The counties of Zhongshan, Wu'an, and Xiang were full of hungry people. The Yan army also took the initiative to shrink its defenses and retreated to the front line of Xiang, abandoning Handan, Wu'an and other cities.
They retreated, and Li Yue did not send troops to occupy these cities.
For one thing, there is currently a drought and a locust plague. These cities are a huge burden, and the population has been relocated.
Secondly, there were fewer soldiers defending the city and could not stop the Yan army, but there were too many soldiers defending the city and weakened Yecheng's defense.
The surrounding areas of Yecheng are already solid and as solid as a rock. Building a new line of defense is not a simple matter. It is better to turn this area into a buffer zone.
Li Yue even suspected that Murong Ke deliberately attracted him to invest troops to the north.
Crisis, crisis, and where there is danger, there is opportunity.
Julu, Anping, Changshan and other counties sent people to request food support, and Wang Wu of Lukou also sent people.
Eaters are soft-mouthed, but takers are short-handed.
A natural disaster gave Li Yue more and more control over these forces.
Su Yan, the governor of Changshan, sent his family members to Yecheng. The governors of Anping and Julu also wrote to request the Heiyun Army to move in.
The only one who still stiffened his neck was Wang Wu of Lukou, but he also became submissive to Li Yue's tone.
"To tame a fierce horse, you must first understand its temper and gain its trust." Li Yue drooled over this elite team from Lukou.
Starting from Deng Huan, this group of troops had resisted the attacks of Murong Ke and Murong Chui several times.
Liu Qun was not as optimistic as Li Yue, "There is not much food left that I worked hard to save last year..."
Li Yue said: "Qingyan has been saved. We don't have to worry too much about food. We have people and a new land in Huaibei. We can just vigorously cultivate it."
Heaven treats everyone equally. If you suffer a disaster, others will also suffer.
The fertile lands on both sides of the Yellow River were controlled by Li Yue, and with the support of the Central Plains behind him, they recovered faster than the Yan State.
"Mr. Liang, an envoy from Xinye has arrived!"
Li Yue was shocked, Huan Wen sent someone...
(End of chapter)
