A general smiled and said: "Captain, in fact, these locusts can't stay alive for a few days. It's going to be cold soon. They will all freeze to death when it snows. What I mean is that if a small number of locusts run to Lingzhou, there will actually be no problem."
Not big."
Liang Wu smiled bitterly and said: "That's because we have no choice but to say this. It only proves our incompetence. Alas! Once the locusts go to Lingzhou, they will be in big trouble. We still try our best to stop them at Xiaoguan."
At this time, Liang Wu saw the three county magistrates and asked, "Is Magistrate Xiaoguan here?"
Xie Changming stood up, cupped his fists and saluted, "Xie Changming, the lower official, has just taken office as the magistrate of Xiaoguan County!"
"Very young!"
Liang Wu smiled and asked: "How did you Xiao Guan prepare?"
"Reporting to Governor Liang, we have prepared 30,000 ducks and tens of thousands of chickens, mobilized more than 4,000 people, and prepared to beat them with brooms, catch them with nets, and then burn them together."
Everyone laughed. They actually used chickens and ducks to kill locusts. It was unimaginable! Liang Wu held back his laughter and asked, "How effective would it be to use ducks and chickens?"
"This is Hebei's locust control experience. It is said that a duck can eat 300 locusts in a day, and a chicken can eat a hundred. The chickens and ducks we prepared can eat more than 10 million locusts in a day."
This data moved everyone. They didn't expect chickens and ducks to be so powerful. If that were the case, chickens, ducks and manpower would be enough to deal with locusts.
"Can a duck really eat three hundred locusts in a day?" Liang Wu asked in disbelief.
Xie Changming smiled and said: "The villagers say so, but I have never seen it with my own eyes, so I dare not vouch for it!"
A general raised his hand and said: "Captain, it must be true. Ducks can be eaten. I have seen it with my own eyes. I can eat several kilograms of small fish in a day. A strong duck should have no problem eating three hundred locusts in a day."
Liang Wu was from Lingzhou. He knew that many people in Lingzhou raised ducks by the Yellow River. He immediately concluded: "If we go to Lingzhou to collect ducks and create an army of 100,000 ducks, I think we can solve the problem.
"
...........
Liang Wu immediately wrote a letter to the prefecture and county governments in Lingzhou, asking them to immediately collect all ducks from the private sector and transport them to Xiaoguan in carts for catching locusts.
Locust extermination was the most important task. Lingzhou immediately mobilized and collected 100,000 ducks within three days and transported them to Xiaoguan County in thousands of trucks.
At this time, part of the locust swarm in Pinggao County, Yuanzhou began to move north along Hulushui, and the situation began to become serious. Everyone hoped that the locusts would go south. The crops in the south were harvested, and the locusts had little impact.
The wheat in Zhouzhou and Fengzhou will not mature until October, so intercepting the locusts heading north has become a top priority. Even Wei Yingwu, the Minister of Household Affairs, rushed to Xiaoguan.
Thirty thousand troops dug a trench five miles long on a high ground about three hundred steps away from Xiaoguan. It was filled with pine branches and sprinkled with five thousand kilograms of sulfur powder. The trench formed a fireworks interception barrier.
, in addition to being able to burn some locusts to death, most locusts will become sluggish after being fumigated with sulfur smell, which is very beneficial for hunting and killing locusts.
Liang Wu accompanied Wei Yingwu to inspect the army's preparations. He pointed to the endless grassland and said: "Everyone thinks that locusts will rest and lay eggs on this grassland, so in addition to using fire as a barrier, we mainly rely on manpower to hunt and kill them.
We have chickens and ducks to help fight the locusts, mainly ducks. We have prepared 130,000 ducks and count on them to eliminate the locusts."
Wei Yingwu nodded repeatedly, "What a great idea. Using ducks is a great idea. Who thought of it?"
"It was Magistrate Xiaoguan's idea, he is there!"
Liang Wu saw the county magistrate Xie Changming explaining something to a group of people from a distance, so he waved and shouted: "Thank you, magistrate!"
Xie Changming heard the shouting and ran over quickly, "Director Liang, what do you want from me?"
Liang Wu pointed at Wei Yingwu and said: "This is Wei Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs, who is here to inspect our locust extermination on behalf of the imperial court."
Xie Changming knew Wei Yingwu. When Wei Yingwu was the governor of Suzhou, he often interacted with Xie Changming's father.
"Your Majesty Xie Changming is here to see Wei Shilang!"
Wei Yingwu looked at him and asked with a smile: "County Magistrate Xie looks familiar! Have we met before?"
Xie Changming quickly said: "My father is Xie Kuan of Changzhou!"
Wei Yingwu suddenly realized, pointed at Xie Changming and said with a smile: "So you are Lao Xie's son. I should have met you a few years ago. You were still young then!"
"Six years ago in Huqiu, Minister Wei also pointed out the poems of the younger generation."
"Haha! I actually met the son of an old friend here, but you should be only in your twenties! Why have you become so old?"
Xie Changming had dark, rough skin and a weathered face. He looked like he was thirty years old. No wonder Wei Yingwu was surprised.
Xie Changming smiled bitterly and said: "This junior was a Jinshi the year before last. He first served as county captain in Baiquan County and was just promoted to Xiaoguan County Magistrate. The conditions here are relatively difficult and the wind and sand are strong, so his skin is a little darker."
Of course Wei Yingwu knew why Xie Changming was promoted to county magistrate in less than three years. This was also the intention of King Jin, to win over the Jiangnan nobles, so the children of several major families in Jiangnan were promoted exceptionally.
If nothing else, next year's imperial examination will also favor Jiangnan.
Wei Yingwu nodded, "Not bad! Not bad! Work hard and don't let your father down."
"Excuse me, Minister Wei, how is the current situation in Baiquan County?" Xie Changming asked.
"You should know something!"
"Bizhi only knew that the drought was serious. He once led the people to dig wells to fight the drought, but the situation of the locust plague was unclear."
Wei Yingwu sighed and said: "Baiquan County is also a locust-stricken area. Today's harvest is estimated to be only 40% of last year's. The court has urgently allocated food relief. You don't have to worry too much. The court will not let the victims show up."
Xie Changming nodded, "I don't have anything else to do. I'll go and do my work first."
"Go for it!"
Xie Changming saluted Wei Yingwu and Liang Wu and hurried away.
Liang Wu looked at his back and said with a smile: "A very pragmatic young official. He has been in office for less than ten days, and the people in the entire county know him and are full of praise for him."
"Yes! His father and I are close poetry friends. I know that the Xie family has a very strict upbringing and the children they cultivate are generally excellent."
At this time, a soldier rushed from Xiaoguan and bowed: "Latest news, a swarm of locusts flying north has been discovered fifty miles away from Xiaoguan."
Wei Yingwu suddenly remembered something and asked: "If the locust swarms continue to fly in, how long can the fire barrier last?"
"We prepared three batches of pine branches, which can be burned for more than two hours each time. The rest can only be destroyed by manpower and chickens and ducks."
Wei Yingwu was also a little worried, wondering how many locusts would fly in and whether they could be stopped under Xiaoguan City.
.........
In the morning of the next day, although the soldiers and civilians were all ready to prepare, a buzzing sound was heard in the distance. Soon, a large black locust swarm appeared in the sky above Xiaoguan, covering the sky and the sun, and the sound was very spectacular.
"Light the fire!" Liang Wu ordered loudly.
The pine branches in the trench were doused with kerosene, and the soldiers threw torches into the trench one after another. The flames burst into flames and soon spread into one.
In an instant, thick smoke billowed into the sky, and the air was filled with the strong smell of rosin and the pungent smell of sulfur. The dense swarm of locusts crossed the pass. They discovered the grassland below and swooped down.
In fact, the flames were too low and had no effect on the locusts. The key was the smoke. Locusts kept crackling and falling from the sky, but a large number of locusts still rushed through the wall of fireworks and flew into the endless grassland.
Groups of ducks were released, and soon 130,000 ducks and 40,000 chickens began to spread on the grassland. They were like a powerful army, devouring the delicious locusts on the ground without restraint.
Thirty thousand soldiers and thousands of civilians also joined the army of locust hunters. They worked in pairs. One of them beat the locusts with a pine branch. With one blow, dozens of locusts were injured and unable to move. The other person quickly picked up the injured locusts.
Sweep them into a pile and put them into a sack. The sack will soon be full.
The soldier quickly poured the locusts in the bag into a burning fire pit. There were fire pits burning locust corpses everywhere on the grassland, and the air was filled with a pungent burning smell.
Although the soldiers were powerful at catching locusts, they could not deal with their eggs. However, the ducks were hunted like a carpet, not even letting go of the eggs. In just two days, the first batch of flying locusts were killed.
Over the next few days, as the second and third batches of locusts flew over Xiaoguan, they fell into the endless grassland, mating and breeding here.
A total of more than 300 million locusts flew through Xiaoguan in three batches, but they encountered powerful natural enemies here. In addition to the 30,000 locust-killing army, there were also hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks preying on them.
Eliminate locusts in the grasslands.
In early October, the wheat harvest in Lingzhou was finally completed, but the locust invasion from the north was never found. This huge invading army was completely wiped out in the grassland outside Xiaoguan.