Chapter 342 The whole people fight against locusts
On this day, the people got up at dawn as usual.
It was originally a sunny day, but it suddenly turned gloomy.
Outside the door, there was a crackling and banging sound on the roof.
"Is it raining? Why is it so loud? Is it hail?"
The people said, just looking at the black spots above their heads that blocked the sky and the sun, they were stunned for the next moment.
The sky is not dark, but covered with dense locusts.
Instead of rain falling, what I heard was the sound of dense locusts hitting the door panels and the roof.
Locusts! Lots and lots of locusts!
I have been farming for decades and have never seen such a horrific scene.
The locusts that covered the sky and sun turned from green to gray, like messengers from hell, devouring the world as if it was the end of the world, devouring crops, devouring tree leaves, devouring green things. The willow tree at the door was originally green, but in the blink of an eye, it was covered by locusts.
The pit was completely dark, leaving only the bare and crumbling branches.
Some people seemed to be going crazy and ran to their fields to drive away the locusts.
When they arrived at the fields, many people were dumbfounded. All they saw was desolation. A few stray wheat straws fell down in front of their eyes. Thick locusts swarmed up and the wheat straws disappeared in the blink of an eye. The endless wasteland was covered with ferocious and terrifying locusts.
No more, nothing left.
Yesterday, the banker was almost ready, but now there is nothing.
In some places, locusts are gnawing, and the people are waving big brooms to drive away the locusts. Some are lighting fires to burn the locusts. The number of crops that can be saved is counted.
…………
"Come on, eat fried locusts!"
At the entrance of Youzhou City, some large pots were placed one after another, and baskets of locusts were thrown in and exploded. Li Mu was the first to step forward and take a bite, but he felt that the taste was not very good.
The taste was not very good, but Li Mu still said: "Fried locusts really don't taste very good, but after all, they taste better than Guanyin soil and tree bark. Come and try them!"
Ji Xuewei frowned, but still stepped forward to eat.
Hua Wuying also stepped forward to eat.
Other officials also moved forward one after another and began to eat.
But the people around him still hesitated.
"I'll do it!" A middle-aged man in a short shirt came out, grabbed the locusts and ate them. While eating, he said: "It tastes delicious, delicious, just delicious. It tastes better than fish and tofu."
.The villain Li Erhei is not big in anything, he is just brave. If you just said it tastes good, it must be delicious. How can you deceive us ordinary people... You think too highly of yourself!"
"If a person is so hungry that he can eat people, gnaw tree bark, and eat Guanyin soil, it is nothing compared to eating locusts... Can eating locusts be poisoned to death?"
"Even if he is poisoned to death, he will die from hunger, not from starvation!"
"But locusts are messengers from heaven. It is unlucky to kill locusts..." a commoner said weakly.
Li Mu smiled and said: "The emperor is the Son of Heaven, so what is the Son of Heaven? The Son of Heaven is the son of the Emperor of Heaven, and the gods are just the ministers of the Emperor of Heaven. Therefore, there is a saying that the Son of Heaven canonize gods. What do you think is greater, the Son of Heaven or the gods?"
"The emperor is great!"
A commoner shouted.
"That's right!" Li Mu said with a smile, "The emperor said that locusts must be exterminated... we must also exterminate locusts. The locust god is nothing in front of the emperor!"
“Come and eat!”
Immediately, several more people came forward to eat locusts.
Suddenly, countless people came forward to eat the locusts, which tasted really good.
Li Mu was very satisfied and asked for help. His acting skills were still good.
If there is an example in the front, the people behind will follow and eat locusts. People have a herd mentality.
The first step, initial success.
But in the face of overwhelming locusts, eating alone is not enough. Even if everyone in Youzhou eats, they won't be able to eat them all in a short time. What's more, there are still only a few people who are willing to eat people.
"These locusts are a rare delicacy. It would be a pity if everyone does not eat them. I encourage the people to catch locusts. No matter what method you use, if you catch a hundred kilograms of locusts, you can exchange them for one kilogram of grain with me. Catching locusts
Very easy!" Li Mu said deliberately.
Immediately, a police officer came forward, took a huge net bag, and waved it toward the sky.
After a while, the net bag was already densely packed with locusts.
Li Mu took the net bag and motioned to the people to look at this, "You all saw that it is so easy. There are at least five kilograms of locusts in this net bag. It is very easy to catch locusts!"
Immediately, under the call, the people began to catch the locusts.
This scene happened at the gates of various prefectures and counties at the same time, with the whole people fighting against locusts.
There are scenes of locust extermination everywhere, but here there is a scene of locusts gnawing.
The battle between humans and locusts begins.
But there are too many locusts, there are billions, tens of billions, or even more, but there are too few humans, and they are scattered everywhere. They try to kill the locusts, but it is still too slow, and they cannot keep up with the locusts.
speed.
But that’s just to say it sounds nice.
Relying on the entire population to eat locusts and relying on the entire population to catch locusts only reduces the harm. It does not truly eliminate the locusts, it only reduces losses.
Locusts are scary, but the harm caused by locusts is also huge and scary.
With the arrival of the locusts, countless people began to rush to the major grain stores to buy food. However, when the people arrived at the grain stores, they found that all the major grain stores had closed their doors.
Are the people really short of food?
That’s not necessarily the case!
In this era, many people generally lack a sense of security and have the habit of storing food at home.
There is always a surplus of food at home.
Except for a few poor people who cannot cook the pot, most of them have a surplus of food.
The so-called panic buying now is just a symptom of panic.
Li Mu immediately issued an order to limit the purchase of grain, collect it according to household registration, and implement the grain stamp policy.
The purchase of grain is restricted. You can only go to the official warehouse to buy grain according to your household registration certificate. Food is limited to once every three days.
The food stamp policy also restricts the sale of food and combats speculation.
However, it is still not enough, and various grain stores still need to be opened.
…………
In the government office, the bosses of major grain stores were gathered together, with excited smiles on their faces and contempt in their eyes.
Things are changing, and finally it's time for the government to beg us.
"Youzhou knows the state, and Wushuanghou has arrived!"
With the arrival of Li Mu, other officials arrived one after another. The grain merchants who were talking loudly just now suddenly became quiet.
"Everyone, everyone has obviously guessed the purpose of inviting you here today."
an official said.
"The locust plague is imminent, and the court is short of food. The official food of the court alone cannot help the people. I hope you can join us in uniting and do a good job in relieving the people. I would like to thank you all."
"It's our duty to open warehouses and release grain wherever we are. But we don't look much at the grain in our hands. There is a lot of loss in the grain transported from other places, and the price will also go up!" said a boss, "At that time, the price of grain will inevitably rise.
Improvement, sir, don’t say I’ll wait, it’s just speculation and driving up prices!”