Historically, locusts like drought and hate water, but the south is rich in mountains and rivers and has a lot of rice, so locust plagues are basically non-existent.
It was not until the introduction of corn, sweet potatoes and other crops from the Americas that the Jiangnan mountainous areas increased the development of mountainous dry lands, which provided living soil for locusts to lay eggs, hatch and break out.
The mountainous land of Linjiazhuang does not grow crops. Because Lin Wanwan brought potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, this year the tribesmen went into the mountains and opened up a lot of wasteland in the mountains, which provided an agricultural foundation for the breeding of locusts.
Xiao Chong used the power of the court to vigorously promote sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, which also accelerated this process.
Xiao Chong accidentally discovered locust eggs in the field. His good mood disappeared, but his face was still calm, and others could not tell the difference.
"Clan Chief Lin, the locusts are really harmful. Before they become a threat, the clan should get rid of the locusts as soon as possible."
Xiao Chong clasped his hands behind his back and spoke calmly to Patriarch Lin about how to control locusts: "There are many poultry in a certain tribe. Chickens, ducks, geese and flying birds can kill locusts. They are the natural enemies of locusts. Patriarch Lin asked the tribe to let them graze in the fields in the future."
poultry.
In addition, if we organize the tribesmen to arrest them personally and adopt a two-pronged approach, there will be no big disaster. As an upright person, you must inform every household about this matter and take it seriously."
Patriarch Lin bowed his head and said, "Here, I accept your order."
Because so many locusts were discovered, the joy brought by Quyuanli was somewhat diluted.
As the sun sank completely into the sea, Xiao Chong picked up a pot of wine that was said to be "brewed" by Lin Wanwan himself, mounted a bay-red horse, and headed back to Xiaoxi Town with his attendant Shuqi and scribe Wang Lang on horseback.
Lin Wanwan knew that once he left, he would face a tough battle again. The locust plague was really not that easy to deal with in ancient times.
Looking at the Quyuanli left by Xiao Chong in the lobby, Lin Wanwan sighed. Being a county magistrate really has too much to worry about.
That night, Patriarch Lin called Lin Mengbo and together they went door-to-door in the dark to inform them that they were going to start catching insects.
Many people in Dafengzhuang fled from drought and locust plagues in their hometowns in the north. When they heard that there were locusts in the fields in Luan County, they suddenly panicked.
However, the development of the matter was different from what Lin Wanwan expected. Instead of catching and exterminating the insects day and night, the farmers who got the news began to practice feudal superstition and worship the locust god in order to pray for it to spare them.
Except for Linjiazhuang, which has two absolute authorities, Chief Lin and Lin Wanwan, who have strictly ordered the locusts to be exterminated, other places are actually left to their fate!
Lin Wanwan was shocked!
She returned to modern times to investigate the locust eradication operations in history, and discovered that the emperors before Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, and from the Han Dynasty onwards, believed that whenever there was a locust plague, it was God's sin. From the emperor to the local officials, everyone from the emperor to the local officials worshiped "locusts".
God’s foolish behavior!
Emperors after Li Shimin also worshiped the locust god. For example, Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty. Shortly after he succeeded to the throne, before the Kaiyuan era emerged, locust plagues occurred across Shandong.
The locusts are raging, blocking out the sky and the sun. People can't go out without lighting torches to drive away the insects. Not to mention the crops, even the bark of the trees has been eaten away!
Li Longji came to power by defeating Wu Zetian, and there was basically no major locust plague during Wu Zetian's reign. However, the country encountered a locust plague after it came into his hands.
It is false to say that he did not believe it was a divine punishment. Li Longji ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the worship. However, the result of worshiping the locust god twice was that the locust plague became more and more serious.
Prime Minister Yao Chong entered the palace with an urgent report from Shandong and asked for orders to go to Shandong to eliminate the locusts. However, Li Longji said: "My dear, please don't go. When I worship the Locust God again, the disaster will go away."
Yao Chong said angrily: "There is no locust god at all. If we want to overcome the difficulties, we can only lead the people to kill the locusts and exterminate them. If worshiping the god works, we will not starve to death all over the land now! Worshiping the god is useless, why not worship me!"
A fierce quarrel broke out between the DPRK and the DPRK over this matter. The God-worshiping faction and the God-destroying faction each had their own arguments and refused to give in.
Fortunately, Prime Minister Yao Chongyu defeated the enemy in the end, and under his leadership, the local people followed suit and burned the locusts.
In addition to the fire, the food urgently allocated by Yao Chong from the Ministry of Household Affairs also played a huge role. The people of China would not rebel as long as they had a mouthful of food to eat.
Lin Wanwan used to see these information as just information, but now, it is vividly displayed before her eyes.
People can really be so stupid that when they see locusts starting to eat crops, they not only refuse to destroy them, but even worship them.
This is still under the rule of Li Shimin!
Li Shimin was an emperor who dared to eat locusts alive. He had many top men under his command. Who would be afraid of the illusive Locust God?
But this is Luan County, the emperor is far away from the sky, and only the "Locust God" is close at hand.
Li Shimin said that if locusts dared to eat his people's food, he would eat the locusts. The common people thought that the Locust God would be suppressed by the Human Emperor, so they would not dare to cause trouble again, but Luan County is far away from the Human Emperor! What should they do if they piss off the Locust God and bring disasters every year?
You must know that all the villages and towns around Linjiazhuang received sweet potato seedlings, corn seedlings, and potato seedlings on credit from Lin Wanwan.
The mountainous areas here are the most developed. Once the locusts grow into flying adults, even if Linjiazhuang wipes out all the locusts on their side, it will not help. They will fly over!
Lin Wanwan couldn't sit still, so she took Huanong and Kunlun and went straight to Xiaoxi Town to find Xiao Chong to find a solution.
This year, Xiao Chongke promoted sweet potatoes and potatoes around Xiaoxi Town! Especially his own farmland was basically used as a test field for new crops.
As a result, as soon as she arrived in Xiaoxi Town, she was stunned by the crowds of people on the street. What were they doing?
Today is not a big festival, so why is everyone in Xiaoxi Town celebrating with singing and dancing!
For those who didn’t know, they thought today was the Lantern Festival!
The locust plague is approaching, but the people in the city are still singing and dancing in peace?!
Lin Wanwan signaled Huanong to stop a passerby and ask about the situation: "Mr. Sir, what happened here? Why did everyone rush to the street?"
"Hey, don't you know? Are you from other places? It's auspicious! It's auspicious! Xiao Ming's Mansion is going to its mountain platform to worship heaven."
"Sacrifice to the sky? Xiao Chong?" Lin Wanwan was shocked and secretly said, "What the hell is Xiao Chong doing, offering sacrifices to the sky at this time? Is he actually afraid of the locust god? That's why he worships? It's outrageous!"
This is so different from Xiao Chong's usual resourceful appearance!
Is this the work of a county magistrate who can design mountain weirs, open up salt fields, solve cases like a god, and eat all the old foxes in Luan County to death?
Lin Wanwan couldn't help but stumble a bit, the images of Li Longji and Bai Juyi flashed through her mind.
These two are also big bosses, smart people who have been passed down through the ages, but they also believe that locusts are transformed by evil spirits and do not advocate the eradication of locusts, so Xiao Chong thinks so...
No! He is different from them! He has a broad mind and is not like the ancients at all. He should not have the limitations of the times.