Chapter 86： Solve the locust plague

Lord Shangrao County Shouwang has been unable to eat for many days and restless in bed. When he learned that there were a large number of migratory locusts in Guanyang County under his jurisdiction, he immediately arranged for manpower to catch them, but the locusts flew extremely fast, they were not big, and couldn't easily catch them!

A few days later, the number of migratory locusts gradually increased and spread to nearby villages, causing hundreds of mu of corn to be damaged in several villages in Guanyang County. The yield of corn per mu of more than 500 mu was reduced by 30%, and the yield of more than 300 mu was reduced by 40%!

The locust team is growing day by day, and the pace of advance is endless. Now the locust plague has spread to six counties including Luoshui County, Yunlai County, near Guanyang County, and there is a trend of further spread!

Thinking of the fact that in the last years of the previous dynasty, a large-scale famine caused by a locust plague led to the destruction of the country, how to prevent the worsening of the disaster was stuck in his heart like a brick, and he couldn't breathe heavily.

I don't know how he plans to deal with his memorial after reading it. Will he send someone down?

"My lord!" Suddenly there was an official yelling loudly, the voice was as annoying as the cicadas on the tree.

If he had been reprimanding the Ya Ya for being reckless in the past, but now...

After sighing, Lord Wang lifted his eyelids and glanced at him listlessly: "Why are you so flustered?"

"My lord! The imperial commissioner sent by the imperial court is here!" Ya Ya's flushed face was full of excitement.

what? Master Wang was startled, stood up abruptly, eagerly grasped the Ya Ya, and asked with a trembling, "Where is the person?"

"Just waiting outside the door! It's a young official, escorted by the imperial army." Ya Ya said with joy and joy.

When Master Wang heard this, the ecstasy in his heart was suddenly discounted. Young official? Can young people have experience in controlling locusts?

Although hesitated in his heart, the emperor sent him no matter how young he was. He could not neglect, so he quickly greeted him.

Outside the yamen, there was a group of men and women, one of whom was wearing a red official uniform.

Lord Wang quickly looked at the young man, and his suspicion was even greater. This imperial commission is too young! And it's still an unseen face!

"I have seen Lord Wang! In Shen Yan, I was ordered to come to Shangrao County to treat the locust plague." Shen Yanbei took out the imperial edict and let the other party look at it.

Lord Wang's eyes brightened. This person is Shen Yan? Isn't Shen Yan the champion of the new division, the celebrity in front of the emperor? Have you been sent to Liuyang County for disaster relief before? This is from Liuyang County?

Lord Wang immediately developed a sense of confidence in his heart, and after confirming that the imperial decree was correct, he politely bowed his hands: "You have missed far away! You have missed away!"

Shen Yanbei didn't talk nonsense with him, and straightforwardly asked him to take himself to the counties and towns infested by locusts.

In the expansive cornfield, the leaves of the corn have been eaten up by the locusts, leaving only the bare corn stalks and the corn cobs that have not yet grown full. Shen Yanbei frowned, and after asking about the expansion range of the locust, he rushed over without stopping.

Shangrao County is one of the poorer counties in Daqi. Because Shangrao County has low rainfall and insufficient surface water resources, crops are not easy to grow, and drought-tolerant crops are planted in the ground, which makes life difficult for the people. It is conceivable that this locust plague has caused great economic losses to the local people!

Before arriving in Shen Yanbei, Donglin County, I heard the endless "whoop" sound. When I looked up, a large swarm of locusts flying high in the sky! The locust army is migrating to the next green plant at a very fast speed.

The locusts are about to come, and the faces of the people in Donglin County who have planted corn and sorghum and other crops in many fields are desperate. Corn and sorghum will be harvested in more than a month. When the locusts come, the leaves of the crops in the field will be eaten up, and the yield will be greatly reduced! The hope of this year is gone!

Despite the bitterness of the people, this army of locusts has landed!

When Shen Yan arrived north, he just witnessed the sight of locusts crossing the border-countless two-knuckle-long migratory locusts fell on the corn field, densely covering the plants, and the scalp was numb, and the goose bumps could not help falling. Ground. Especially the sound of gnawing leaves, which was almost inaudible, was amplified by thousands of locusts and converged into a rustling sound, making people chill.

Some people waved the locusts in their cornfield angrily, but too many locusts were useless at all, and his face was so muddy that he could only watch the locusts gnawing away the corn leaves, crying bitterly.

Lord Wang looked at this miserable sight with a frown. He and the magistrate of Guanyang County, the state of Pennsylvania, thought of a lot of ways, but it didn't help much. Turning his gaze to Shen Yanbei, who was beside him, he found that the young imperial servant had a calm complexion and was catching a locust and studying.

"Master Shen has a way to deal with it?" Lord Wang asked with the mentality of giving it a try.

Shen Yanbei asked, "Master Wang can arrange for someone to monitor the movements of these locusts?"

Lord Wang nodded hurriedly and asked people to submit the observation record. The above recorded in detail when the locusts took off, which direction they were heading, when they landed, and the time to eat and rest.

Shen Yanbei thought about how to deal with this on the road. Seeing that the setting sun had fallen behind the mountain and the sky would be dark, he proposed one of the solutions-to use the phototaxis of insects to attract locusts with light, and then set it on fire. !

People placed dense torches along the way as a guide, piled up high firewood on an empty sandy ground ahead, and lit a bonfire when it got dark. The migratory locusts were attracted by the light emitted by the torches and swarmed, and were lured all the way to the bonfire by the torches, just like moths fighting the fire, and there were bursts of "cracking" sounds. The migratory locusts ran across the fire like a headless fly, and the migratory locusts whose wings were kissed by the tongue of fire could not fly and fell into the fire with another crackling sound.

The scene of burning migratory locusts is very spectacular, attracting many villagers to watch.

"Okay! Burn them well!" "Burn them all to death!" "Burn them to death!!" Seeing those horrible locusts struggling in the sea of ​​fire, and then turning to ashes in the fire, everyone felt that they were very relieved of their hatred and could not help but shout Applauded.

The smell of scorched meat floated far away, and Shen Yanbei touched his nose, feeling a little sorry.

When he was in high school, he used to travel to a certain province with his mother and grandmother. A locust plague happened in a certain province. The dramatic thing is that although the locust plague caused great damage to the local crops, the farmers were not sad at all, but were happy. Too much from ear to ear! Because the local farmers sold the locusts they caught for thirty-four yuan per catty, they could earn thousands of yuan a day, much better than growing corn. Many people are also looking forward to such a good future next year!

It turns out that the nutritional value of locusts is very high, and it can also relieve cough and relieve asthma, nourish and strengthen. The fried locusts are fragrant and crisp, making people unable to stop eating. It is a delicacy that can make people cry!

The residents nearby came to catch locusts when they heard about it. They also went to join in the excitement. On the first day, the locusts covered the sky, and the second day people cast nets to catch locusts. On the third day, the locusts could still mess around. Jumping, on the fourth day, the two who jumped together were strung onto thin bamboo sticks. On the fifth day, there were more people than worms in the locust-affected area!

The power of eating food is simply appalling! A massive locust plague ended so comically, making people dumbfounded. The old man of his grandmother also sighed that the times are different. The locust plague that was so discolored in the past is now being played in the palm of the hand. Then his grandmother told him about her personal experience-how people managed the locust plague in the backward era.

There is no doubt that the most effective way to deal with the locust plague is to use medicine, but the conditions are limited, he can only use physical methods.

Shen Yanbei sighed. If his wife was there, he would give him a locust feast. Pity.

Thinking that things that people will prepare will be delivered soon, Shen Yanbei organized the villagers to take the opportunity to hunt down the locusts, so baskets of locusts were buried in the soil.

Lord Wang was so excited that his hands trembled: "Master Shen..." He also thought about using fire to drive away locusts, but the locusts in the daytime were not afraid at all, and at most they burned to death.

It turned out not that this method was useless, but that it was used inappropriately!

Shen Yanbei smiled and directed the villagers to continue adding firewood.

The migratory locusts rushed forward one after another. Everyone was so busy that their faces were covered with sweat, but no one was tired and no one stopped to rest.

The fire was not extinguished until midnight. Shen Yanbei calmed the emotional villagers and asked them to go back and have a good rest.

So many locusts can't be burned out by a few fires. The next day a swarm of locusts flew to another place to eat the crops. The villagers who received the news of the burning of locusts last night eagerly hope that night will come and light another fire, but Shen Yanbei let people lay a fine net on the way the migratory locusts will pass.

On the way to Shangrao County, he wrote a letter asking a brother of the Forbidden Army to transfer to Qinghe County to bring him to Su Qingze’s father, Qinghe County keeper Su Jingheng, and asked him to help him find fishermen to buy fine meshes suitable for catching locusts. Today Finally sent over. His chef Shen Laifu also accompanied him.

Lord Wang looked at the net with mixed feelings. They also thought about using nets to catch locusts. One is that the net bag is small, and the mesh is too big. Second, it takes too much energy. But the mesh that Shen Yanbei had prepared was so small that locusts could not penetrate, and the net was suspended in mid-air, which could definitely intercept the migratory locusts!

but……

"The number of migratory locusts is huge, and this net is afraid of being overwhelmed." Lord Wang reminded.

"It's okay, just let the villagers pick up the locusts on the Internet." Shen Yanbei introduced Shen Laifu to him: "This is the chef of the Qingzhou Tongfu restaurant. He heard that there was a locust plague in Shangrao County, and his owner ordered him to come and buy locusts. "

Lord Wang was shocked. After looking at Shen Laifu for a few times, he asked carefully, "Is this true?"

Shen Laifu reluctantly pulled out a smile. After Shen Yanbei's eyes repeatedly urged him to reluctantly say: "Master Shen is right. We and Fu Restaurant will purchase locusts and price by the catty. The adults can let the villagers If the locusts are caught, I will collect as much as I have."

Master Wang's eyes were filled with surprises, and he repeatedly confirmed that this was not a joke before letting the Yamen go to each village to knock the gong to inform.

"Shen..." Shen Laifu was very anxious, "I said Lord Shen, you called me all the way to buy these locusts? What else can these locusts do besides feeding chickens and ducks?"

Shen Laifu was heartbroken to spend money on chicken and duck feed. There is no need to find such crappy reasons for charity!

"Brother Laifu, this is a good thing, it's easy to eat." Shen Yanbei caught a small basket of locusts and went back.

Leave the locusts hungry for an hour and a half, wash them and scald them with boiling water, cut off the wings and dry the water, and then put oil in the pot. When the oil temperature rises, the pan is fried, deep-fried, drained, and sprinkled with some salt and pepper. A delicious and unbeatable fried locust is ready!

"Hiss——" Shen Laifu sucked, his eyes fixed on the golden plate of reddish locusts, hesitating. "This stuff... can it really be eaten?"

Shen Yanbei's answer was to start eating.

His squinted eyes were so enjoyable that Shen Laifu looked straight, ignoring other things, and slammed a chopstick into his mouth.

After chewing twice, Shen Laifu's eyes suddenly widened.

"It's okay?" Shen Yanbei raised his eyebrows.

Shen Laifu's little chicken pecks rice and nodded, Shen Yanbei laughed: "Then tomorrow?"

"I accept! I accept as much as you want!" Shen Laifu promised quickly.

"Living insects cannot be kept for too long. You can ask the villagers to dry the locusts before harvesting them."

"Yes, boss!"

Hearing that someone was buying locusts at a price of ten cents per catty, the entire Shangrao County was boiling over.

The locusts were burned on fire last night. Although the villagers temporarily relieved their hatred, the loss has been caused. After the mood is calm, they are depressed and worried. Now locusts can sell for money. Some people from the elderly to the children carry a cloth bag and go out just for the sake of Go to the big net to catch locusts.

The overwhelming locusts were stopped by nets, and the villagers beat them with bamboo poles and swept them with brooms, eagerly picking the locusts into their own bags.

At night, like last night, light a torch to attract locusts when it gets dark. But this time the villagers didn't want to kill the locusts, but took the locusts that had flown over.

Seeing the swarms of locusts were swept away all at once, Lord Wang wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

It's terrible, even a locust will not be spared. These talents are locusts, right?

In the next few days, the people who carried cloth bags with them all stared at the locust swarms and hunted them whenever they had the opportunity. The number of migratory locusts decreased visibly.

Later, the three children of the village strolled in the cornfield, and when they saw the locusts alone, they grabbed them and took them home. Shen Yanbei asked Shen Laifu to teach everyone how to eat locusts. Fried grasshoppers were crunchy, but the farmers were not willing to spend the oil at all. Instead, they treated the locusts and roasted them for a year. A few times the meaty children relieved their greed.

A disaster was resolved in this way. The haze on the faces of the villagers who exchanged the locusts for money was wiped out, and Shen Laifu took the purchased Lagan locusts back to Qingzhou. Shen Yanbei has already drawn up the names of the relevant dishes with locusts as raw materials, and also told him how to sell the migratory locust feast. He must implement it as soon as possible.

Most of the locusts have been wiped out, and the rest is not a concern. However, we must eliminate the roots and eliminate the locust plague from its source. Shen Yanbei gave some opinions on the place where the locust plague occurred, Guanyang County and other places. By changing the structure of crops, there are fewer kinds of corn, wheat, sorghum, and a variety of beans and fruit trees that locusts love to eat for agricultural control. It is recommended that the villagers raise more poultry and refrain from hunting birds, so that the natural enemies of locusts can grow...

After half a month, Shen Yanbei set foot on the road back to Beijing in the grateful eyes of the people of Pennsylvania.

Raising the whip in his hand, Shen Yanbei gave his horse anxiously.

The barbarians are offending, his wife has gone on the expedition with the troops!