Upon seeing this, the official at the post station panicked. His eyes widened, and he rushed forward to check the situation, shouting for his servant while directing the others.

The servants rushed over from all directions, carefully lifting the messenger as if handling a fragile treasure.

Someone brought a clean cloth and gently wiped the dust and blood from his face, while someone else quickly brought a reclining chair to make him more comfortable.

Others rushed to prepare hot water and food, even though they knew he was no longer able to eat.

Inside the room, everyone waited anxiously for the imperial physician to arrive, their eyes constantly glancing towards the door. Every second felt incredibly long, as if time itself had frozen.

On the main thoroughfare of the capital, officials from the Office of Transmission spurred their horses at breakneck speed, rushing through checkpoints and along post roads, their hooves kicking up clouds of dust.

With his waist token and urgent document, he traveled unimpeded all the way to the palace and finally presented the extremely urgent letter to the emperor.

The Emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, solemnly unfolding the letter.

At first, his brows furrowed slightly, but as his gaze moved downwards, his face grew increasingly grim, the horror in his eyes intensified, and his hands trembled slightly involuntarily.

The locust plague described in the letter made him deeply aware of the seriousness of the situation.

The situation was urgent and could not be delayed. The Emperor suddenly stood up, waved his sleeve, and loudly ordered the imperial eunuchs to immediately summon his close ministers to discuss countermeasures.

Before long, hurried footsteps sounded outside the palace, and the close ministers rushed into the hall, kneeling down to pay their respects.

The Emperor was extremely anxious and, without bothering with pleasantries, went straight to the matter of the locust plague.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically, and for a moment, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Ancient technology was far less advanced than that of later generations, and there were no powerful insecticides like those used today.

Faced with this overwhelming and ferocious locust plague, everyone racked their brains, but still had no solution.

After a difficult discussion, the group had no choice but to ask the Ministry of Revenue to allocate a huge sum of money.

They mobilized manpower and resources, working day and night to transport large quantities of grain to Haiyan County, the area most severely affected by the disaster, to alleviate the urgent needs of the local people.

When it came to methods to completely eradicate the locust plague, all the senior ministers looked worried and shook their heads in sighs.

Throughout the long years, in the face of locust plagues, in addition to holding solemn sacrificial and prayer ceremonies.

Led by the highly respected imperial advisor, the group burned incense and kowtowed on the altar laden with offerings.

Aside from praying for divine mercy and protection to drive away this terrible insect plague, the only remaining options are the two most primitive methods: manual capture and digging up the insect eggs.

Manual capture requires a lot of manpower, and people with simple tools engage in a difficult battle against locusts in the fields.

To dig out insect eggs, one must carefully search across a vast area to excavate the eggs buried deep underground.

However, these methods are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring a huge amount of human and material resources, but also extremely slow to take effect.

Often, by the time the locust plague is brought under control, the crops that people have worked hard to grow all year have already been devoured by the locusts.

Without food, famine will inevitably follow, plunging the people into misery, and the tragic scene of starving corpses everywhere could happen at any time.

At such times, the emperor would often issue an edict of self-reproach, deeply reflecting on whether he had failed in his moral conduct, and apologizing to the people as the emperor to appease their hearts.

However, those who lost their lives in the disaster could never return to the world, leaving their loved ones to grieve and weep in the earth.

Even more serious is the fact that the locust plague spreads extremely quickly, potentially reaching surrounding counties and districts within just a few days, causing the affected area to expand and the situation to become increasingly critical.

The key ministers who had been summoned looked at each other, their eyes filled with anxiety and helplessness. For a moment, none of them could think of a better solution.

Finally, everyone's eyes focused on Prime Minister Qin.

Prime Minister Qin naturally understood what everyone meant. He slightly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally landing on the Emperor's anxious face.

After pondering for a long time and considering it carefully, he calmly proposed that the countermeasures be discussed in detail at the morning court the next day.

After he finished speaking, everyone nodded silently, filled with worry, and slowly left the hall, leaving only the emperor in the empty hall, pacing alone in deep thought, his expression solemn.

The emperor's expression instantly darkened, his eyes filled with exhaustion and helplessness.

He closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath as if to swallow all the anxiety and helplessness in his heart, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly nodded.

Within this deep palace, he had been well-versed in the classics and historical texts since childhood, and knew how people had dealt with natural disasters such as locust plagues throughout history.

Countless people of virtue and talent, as well as wise rulers and ministers, have racked their brains, but to little avail.

He understood that he could not possibly criticize these loyal and equally dedicated ministers before him.

But as the ruler of a country, he was responsible for the well-being of all people and possessed the vast territory and countless subjects.

Faced with this overwhelming natural disaster, we are also helpless, and a deep sense of powerlessness and frustration arises spontaneously.

Now, with the situation so urgent, he could only place his faint hope on the young girl from the Qin family who was still quite childish and had not yet reached marriageable age.

The moment this thought crossed the mind, a strong sense of shame welled up in the emperor's heart.

He couldn't help but think to himself that the court was filled with civil and military officials, all of whom were carefully selected and highly regarded by the court.

On ordinary days, they would speak eloquently and spiritedly in the imperial court, displaying their vast knowledge and eloquence, and they would talk endlessly about strategies for governing the country and ensuring its stability.

But now, faced with this locust plague that concerns the life and death of the people and the stability of the country, they have collectively fallen into a stalemate and cannot come up with a practical and feasible solution to the urgent problem.

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