Chapter eight hundred and fourth unexpectedly suffered a disaster
"Okay! Allocate three million taels of silver and one million dans of grain to the army in the north to reward the whole army!"
The surrender of the city finally came to fruition, and the Central Plains Allied Forces won unexpectedly, paying the price of more than 300,000 troops in exchange for 500,000 lives of the Hu and Di Allied Forces.
When the news spread, the people who were happiest were not the monarchs and ministers of Chen State and the people of Beiyu, but the King of Tang who seemed to have no big connections thousands of miles away.
Three million taels of silver and one million dans of grain. The King of Tang was the real big shot, and the 'reward' he threw out with one wave of his hand was 'everything' Zhu Biao could get in return for his infamy.
Fortunately, Zhu Biao, who was happily counting money in Hedong, did not know that this place existed in Beijing, otherwise he would definitely feel inferior. He had paid such a high price, endured so much infamy, and wasted two months to get it.
The money can only be spent once as a reward from the King of Tang. It is so... despising!
"Order Fenwu General Zhu Wu to move to the east of the river in the Northern Han Dynasty and return it to Zhu Biao's tent. He will transport 2 million taels of silver and 2 million dans of grain and grass from the east of the river to support military supplies.
I will personally draft a letter and send it to Zhu Biao for signature..."
King Tang's eyes were shining with clear light, and it was obvious that he was not confused at all. But if he was not confused, how could he take advantage of Zhu Biao for nothing?
Yao Jing, Zhang Wentian and other advisers and wise men stood aside quietly, and no one showed any intention of obstructing this...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Time entered June, and the sun was scorching like fire.
Zhu Biao ushered in the 200,000-strong army of General Zhu Wu at the junction of Hedong and Chen.
He had only received a personal letter from the King of Tang two days ago, and yesterday afternoon received a report from Zhu Wujun, who was greeted by Pegasus within a day.
The 200,000 troops are his own troops from today on.
The king of the Tang Dynasty did not engage in loss-making business. He gave Zhu Biao a big gift, hoping that Zhu Biao would come out of the mountain again and conquer the world for him. However, he was also aware of the national hatred and family feud between Zhu Biao and the Hu people.
, if the barbarians behind the Northern Han Dynasty are not dealt with, Zhu Biao will always be just soy sauce when he goes to the Central Plains.
In order to deal with the Hu people, now is a good opportunity to make a big move. In the battle of Shoujiang City, more than 500,000 Hu Di troops were killed. The strength of the two armies was reduced to a certain extent due to the loss of soldiers. The king of Tang made an overall estimate and found out that the Hu people's
The military strength is already less than one million.
Since the last time the Zhou army left the fortress, this is the last time for Hu Qina in fifty years.
Of course, even if this opportunity comes, the half-disabled Hu people cannot be defeated by Zhu Biao's 60,000 to 70,000 remnant troops in the east of the river. Zhu Biao needs a large army, an obedient army.
The king of Tang Dynasty has prepared everything here. He wants to give Zhu Biao the best stage to let Zhu Biao display his talent to the fullest.
——An army of 200,000 was stationed in the east of Hedong, and another 500,000 troops, after reorganization, also turned their spearheads towards Baishan and Chishui.
Of course, in the King of Tang's mind, Zhu Biao's revenge was just to kill the Hu people a few times, just like the previous Hu-Han battlefields. As long as the Hu people were beaten and the ground was full of teeth and they did not dare to look south, it would be a victory. But
Little did he know that Zhu Biao's inner ambition was to destroy Hu Tu Di.
But regardless of anything else, before, the millions of soldiers of the Northern Zhou Army were all rushing towards the Di tribe, but now the main force has changed its direction and is all pointing at the Hu people.
Zhu Biao had no reason not to accept such a big 'red envelope'. Killing Hu and Di was one of his 'biggest' wishes.
He must also agree to the 'invitation' of the King of Tang. Because the King of Tang is the boss of the Northern Han Dynasty now. The situation of the King of Tang is terrible, and there are dark clouds floating over the Northern Han Dynasty. The King of Tang was destroyed, and the imperial army that had successfully suppressed the rebellion also
They would not pity the hardships that the Northern Han Dynasty had experienced. The army swept Zhongshan by the way, and the Northern Han Dynasty and other countries were certain.
Inside Peiping City.
Yunqin said to her son: "Yun'er, how about being a mother?"
Ji Yun lowered his head and said: "The mother is far-sighted, but the son is short-sighted."
"Don't let jealousy blind your eyes, and don't let hatred blind your reason. As a king, you should be public and not selfish.
Did Zhu Biao once say something like this to Hou Yi Bei: There are no eternal friends in the world, only eternal interests.
Only if it benefits the imperial court, hold it in your hands and respect it. Do you understand?"
No third person in the world would know what Yunqin's godson said, but the same thoughts, the same emotions, and the same change of attitude would come out of Yunqin's mouth alone.
Yibei Houfu.
Yu Ziliang was deeply moved by the changes in the situation in the DPRK in the past ten months. The dark alley actually gave Zhu Biao a chance to walk out of the sunshine avenue.
With the two hundred thousand Zhou troops obeying orders, Zhu Biao's extraordinary status in the northern Han Dynasty was completely established. This shows that the Tang king attached great importance to Zhu Biao. It is very likely that when everything settled, Zhu Biao and the Zhu family
, will all jump out of the Northern Han Dynasty and not enter a larger stage.
This kind of thing didn't happen during any great changes in the world. A sparrow turns into a phoenix just by flying on a branch.
The Yu Jingxian family that has been separated has been full of joy these days. From the master, madam, young master, young lady, to the maids and servants sweeping the floor, everyone has a smile on their face. Although the maids and servants don't know it.
Why is this so? The master has not been promoted, and the young master has not made a fortune. But there are fish and meat in the bowl, and there are silver dollars in the hand to reward the money. Isn't this enough fun?
After mid-June, the sun continued to be scorching, there was not a trace of wind in the sky, and there was not even a drop of rain.
A severe drought, a very sudden severe drought. After a rain before the wheat harvest, there was no rain for more than a month.
This made the common people happy during the summer harvest, but cast a thick cloud over the autumn harvest.
Zhu Biao has calmed down from his previous joy. He is always concerned about the weather, but there is no cloudy day, not to mention rain.
There are cracks on the ground. In some places the cracks are half a foot deep and you can insert your finger.
"It's dry again!"
In the study room of Hedong General Mansion, Zhu Biao sat with his brother-in-law, worrying about this dry summer and autumn.
He also thought that after half a year of accumulation, he would contact Chen's troops in the autumn and immediately send troops north to Baishan and Chishui.
But now, Hezhou, Luozhou, Gyeonggi, Pingzhou, Jingzhou, and the entire northeastern part of Northern Han Dynasty have been dry for more than a month this summer without any rain falling. Especially in the northeastern corner of Hezhou, it is really
Rarely, it reached the point where not even a drop of rain fell.
Fortunately, Hexi was still under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, otherwise Zhu Biao might have been charged with more crimes.
"I don't know when it will rain. If it is delayed until autumn, there is no need to count on autumn crops. If there is no rain or snow in winter, the situation will be very bad next year." Because after autumn crops are planted, there will be no rain.
Totally ruined.
Zhu Biao said to Liang Jin, looking a little depressed.
"The news from Peiping said that the king is going to pray for rain again in two days. When praying for rain at the beginning of the month, it rained a bit in the capital area, and the situation was better than that in Hedong." Liang Jin also said with a sad face, "That's us.
In Hezhou, there is really no rain. But in Chenguo next door, there is quite a lot of rain!"
"There are already signs of a locust plague in the Hedong area. If this really happens, the autumn crops will be completely ruined."
"Three years of farming will yield one year of harvest; nine years of farming will yield three years of savings. The imperial court only has two good years now. Last year, Uwe Tuo wandered around the hinterland for another week, and there was no surplus grain in the household department.
Fortunately, the summer grain harvest has been abundant, otherwise there might be refugees now. There are two million tons of grain newly given by the King of Tang in Hedong. We can still support it. As long as it rains and snows this winter and next spring, we can feel at ease."
Liang Jin is the chief steward of the Hedong Army. After saying this, he seems to be a little excited, but the worry in his eyes cannot be concealed. "Liu's Bank also needs to make more preparations. People's livelihood is going to be difficult. People's loans...
"
Zhu Biao nodded understandingly.
The time has moved to July.
Chen Di rested, and Zhou Jun, who was almost ready, sent someone to contact Zhu Biao. If Hedong was also ready, they could launch a joint attack in August.
But at this time, Zhu Biao was not at the General's Mansion at all. It was still a sunny day without any clouds above his head. Zhu Biao went to Yinchuan.
That is, Yinchuan County is on the bank of Luo River, directly opposite Shanyang County.
The sound of water can be heard from a distance. The Luohe River Embankment, which is ten feet high, is like a long dragon, crossing from the west to the east. Standing under the embankment and looking up, you will be amazed by the length of the embankment.
It's endless. But now is the absolute "dry season". Standing on the embankment, there is a distance of fifty or sixty steps from the Luo River. The two sides are only one hundred and twenty steps. The entire width of the Luo River is also
Only three hundred feet.
It can be seen that the water is very dry during this 'dry season'.
After getting off the embankment, Zhu Biao stopped at a random piece of land. He put a little force on his feet and the soil turned out like "waves".
A ball of soil was placed on Zhu Biao's hand, and there were several long strips mixed in the soil.
"What is this?" Gao Xie asked in confusion.
Liang Jin's ugly face turned completely serious, "Locust."
"Locusts?!" Everyone exclaimed. They were not officials close to the people, but who didn't know the severity of the locust plague?
Zhu Biao pointed at the river beach at his feet. The dry and cracked land was densely covered with small holes. "They are all filled with locust eggs."
The faces of Gao Xie, Zhu Zhong, Zhu Tong and even Zhu Hong [Zhu Wu's son] turned pale in an instant. They were not as well-informed as Zhu Biao, nor were they civil servants like Liang Jin. In the past, they only heard about it from others.
What do grown-up locusts look like? How do you know about locust eggs? Today I saw countless small holes on the river beach. Each hole is just one insect egg, and I thought, "How many locusts are there?!"
Liang Jin said solemnly: "It's close to the water, so there are few of them. Going south, there will only be more."
Zhu Biao dug up the soil with his hand and held an insect egg in his hand. "This egg sheath can hatch dozens of locusts. Just on this small river beach around us, there will be millions of locusts by the beginning of next spring."
In the entire Yinchuan County, I'm afraid there are hundreds of millions but we can't count them."
"One can hatch dozens of them?!"
"Um!"
Zhu Biao nodded and threw away the eggs. He knew a lot about the miscellaneous things on the computer back then. He turned around and looked around: "Locusts are afraid of water and like to be dry. If this place is flooded, they won't be able to hatch."
"But..." He looked up at the scorching sun in the sky and gritted his teeth: "Where in the hell is the water here?!"
"We can only hope for more rain and snow this winter, otherwise when spring comes next year, we will really have big troubles in the Northeast of Northern Han Dynasty." Zhu Biao's deep voice, mixed with the rolling water of the Luo River, seemed to be a long river of history.
The slapping sound.
Prime Minister's Mansion.
"The situation of the autumn grain in the Gyeonggi area has been reported. At most, 40% can be saved. Zhushuai of Hedong also came up to report and made it very clear that the Luo River beach is full of locust eggs. There are hundreds of millions of them. When spring comes next year,
It's just locusts all over the sky.
As for the autumn grain in the land of Hedong, if you can get two out of ten, it is already thanks to God's blessing. Also, I heard that some people are secretly hoarding grain in the market?" Gao Shouxun's face was not only heavy, but also stern, "Speculators.
.Deserves to be killed——”
"The other thing is to raise chickens and ducks!" Zhu Biao's memorial mentioned drought resistance as one thing, and another thing to deal with locusts: "Raise chickens and ducks to deal with next year's migratory locusts."
Upon hearing this, more than a dozen officials in the Prime Minister's Mansion shook their heads: "Things like chickens and ducks may not necessarily be useful."
"How could I not know this?" Gao Shouxun sighed: "Raising chickens and ducks is only a supplement, not the main means. When the time comes, we will still have to organize people to exterminate locusts and spend money to buy locusts. A pound of locusts will give
For two or three cents, if you don’t want to, you can also let the children come out to earn some pocket money.”
"It's just that Zhu Shuai said that locusts can be dried and ground into powder. They can be used as meat and used as military rations..."
Gao Shouxun frowned. He imagined the scene of eating locusts and shuddered. Can this really be done in the army? Can people eat that thing? Is it possible that soldiers would cause trouble?
"Prime Minister, this is a lie. Never mention it."
"Incredible, incredible..."
"Zhu Biao's nonsense, how can locusts be added to the population..."
There was an outcry in the chamber.
In July, there were more locusts in Hezhou.
The Luo River, with only half of its riverbed as wide as water surface, gives everyone the most intuitive understanding of today's drought. And the countless locust eggs on the Luo River shoal are even more frightening.
The nymphs that crawled out of the ground this autumn are as tiny as ants. They can jump all over the ground, gnawing at flowers, trees, and autumn crops in the fields without any effort.
Standing on any high ground and looking at the densely packed locust larvae under his feet, Zhu Biao felt his scalp numb. This batch of locust larvae have just hatched this autumn and are already covering the ground. If they grow up and fly, wouldn't it?
Just blocking out the sky?!
And the eggs left behind by this batch of locusts will be left by the beginning of next spring...
Zhu Biao no longer dared to think about it.
Fortunately, Zhu Biao's prestige in Hedong was very high, and he had organized people to fight. Looking down from the city wall, you could see thousands of people lined up along the fields, holding brooms and beating on the ground.
It seems that it does not take much effort to kill the locusts in this nascent stage.
But the land in Hedong is so big that it is not easy to exterminate locusts by manpower alone. Moreover, even if the locust extermination in Hedong is successful, it will not help the overall situation. Because in addition to Hedong, the locusts also live in Hexi, Luozhou, and Pingzhou.
, Jingzhou, etc. Zhu Biao can control Hedong, but he cannot control other areas.
The current efforts of the people in Hedong are of no use to the entire locust area that is more than a thousand miles away. It is a drop in the bucket.
However, even if it is just a drop in the bucket, you still have to do it. Don’t let the good deeds be ignored because they are small.
Ten days later, even the towns of Hedong County were infested with grasshoppers.
After leaving the city gate and walking less than ten miles, I saw at a glance that there were big flat heads jumping on the ground, and they were densely packed even on the roads. There were also many locusts flying up, running rampant in the air, and even hitting people.
His body and face were sore from the beating. However, in the fields beside the road, groups of chickens and ducks were running away happily, but most of them were people. Men, women, old and children each held big brooms and beat them hard in the fields.
The "anti-pornography" campaign in Hedong territory continues.
It's just that the original "price" of three kilograms of locusts for one kilogram of coarse grains or three cents has become five kilograms of locusts for one kilogram of coarse grains or three cents. The grasshoppers have grown up, there are more of them, and they are easier to catch, so the price is natural
Then it landed.
Locusts are extremely light, and there can be nearly a hundred of them per kilogram. They can fly and jump, so it is not easy to catch them. But there are so many locusts in the field that they can't hold them, and five or six of them can be pounced on with just one broom.
Locusts are easy to catch, so there are many people who exchange rice. In the four counties and 38 counties in Hedong, there are rice exchange points sent by the government outside the city gate of each county. Each point can discharge a line
There was a long line of people, mostly old people or children, carrying pockets to exchange for rice. A squire or an old man in his seventies or older in cotton silk stood beside him, keeping the line in order. There was a bookman below.
The office manager was sitting on a small stool and registering in a book.
When Zhu Biao wrote to Gao Shouxun that he was eating locusts, Gao Shouxun and a group of officials in the Prime Minister's Office couldn't accept it and just said it was absurd. But this absurdity has actually happened in Hedong.
A kilogram of locusts can be dried in the sun and only about three ounces can be left, which can be ground into powder and eaten with noodles, which is also meaty. Or fried directly, which Zhu Biao likes to eat. He has performed in public many times in the past few days. It’s just that
After returning home, I was scolded by my mother. When I was making out with my wife at night, I couldn't even kiss my wife. Both Shan Yuping and Song Yingzhu had mental disorders.
Zhu Biao was speechless.
In August, the sun continued to be hot. But God finally opened his eyes. It rained for two days, allowing the dry and scorching land in Hedong to moisten his throat.
However, the trend of locusts has not weakened, and there are still a large number of locusts flying over from Hexi.
The entire Hedong area has been caught up in the locust swarm. There is no other way but sowing will begin soon. If the locusts continue to cause trouble, all the people will suffer.
Besides, when it comes to catching locusts and giving money and food, Zhu Biao never breaks his word. For many families, the whole family can work together, and at the end of the day, they can still have a balance of twenty or thirty cents. If it can last for two or three
In a month, you can save a sum of money to survive the famine next year.
In September, the autumn was high and the horses were fat outside the Great Wall. But Zhu Biao still failed to take a step north.
Because of locusts, the autumn grain harvest in Hedong is only a little more than 10% of last year's harvest. Locusts are not only eaten by people in the army. It can be said that every household in Hedong eats them.
Zhu Biao fried locust powder and noodles to make fried noodles. This way of eating has spread throughout Hedong. According to common people's feedback, the taste is really interesting. It is much better than just fried noodles.
In October, the north wind howled, and this year's locust plague finally subsided.
