Thinking of this, Sun Jian turned to Yao Tianzheng and said, "Lord Yao, in my opinion, the locust plague will probably break out on a large scale this evening, which is about two hours from now!"

"Time is tight and the task is heavy, we need to hurry up and prepare!"

Yao Tianzheng nodded.

Great minds think alike; not only Sun Jian thought so, but all eight people in the Prime Minister's office present knew it.

Don't be fooled by the current uproar outside, with claims of locusts swarming in dense numbers, darkening the sky and obscuring the horizon.

But only those who have dealt with disasters understand that this is nothing!

The number of locusts that now blot out the sky and stretch as far as the eye can see is probably less than one-tenth, or even one-hundredth, of the total number of locusts in this disaster!

Seeing everyone nod, Sun Jian said directly, "Gentlemen, our best time is within these two hours!"

"Gentlemen, may I ask whether the previous disaster relief strategies and plans have been fully implemented?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression became somewhat complicated.

Seeing their expressions, Sun Jian was somewhat bewildered.

The disaster relief strategy was proposed by himself, and each step is interconnected, so overall it should be fine.

Why do all these people have that expression?

Is there a problem with the execution, or is the result just not working?

"My lord, the results... the overall results are somewhat disappointing."

One of the junior officials reported this situation to Sun Jian.

His job was to liaise with officials in various states and counties, relay the latest news to everyone, and essentially act as a liaison between superiors and subordinates, issuing instructions and communicating with each other.

Holy crap!

What does it mean to be "generally unsatisfactory"?

"Go on."

Sun Jian frowned, wanting to hear why the results were so disappointing.

"The preliminary publicity and repeated evidence collection, as well as the communication of strategic information to the four major prefectures, took our Prime Minister's Office a total of eight days."

"Now all the prefectures, counties, and people of the entire Daqian region have accepted the information that locusts can be used in medicine and food."

"Moreover, prior to yesterday, the response from various states, counties, and districts was very positive!"

“Every day, many people actively catch locusts to exchange for money or grain.”

"Under the guidance of the government, many ordinary people also took the initiative to try the food at home!"

"The results are all good!"

Sun Jian frowned even more. "Isn't this good enough?"

"Yes! The results were excellent until yesterday. When I reported to you gentlemen, you were all very confident in this strategy. But then the locust plague appeared yesterday evening..."

"Up to now, apart from information from the Jingzhao region, not a single message has come from any other prefectures or counties!"

"this……"

Sun Jian was stunned.

He knew in his heart that once the Prime Minister's Office was established, all information would be transmitted via express courier.

When the imperial court used the 800-li express courier service to send messages, it was an extremely urgent matter.

Let alone stopping the messenger, even a commoner who glances at the messenger and doesn't avoid it will be beheaded!

This is not something Sun Jian made up!

When he studied history in his previous life, he found that every dynasty was like this!

Moreover, very few dynasties could utilize the 800-li express courier service!

Anyone who tries to obstruct you will have their entire family wiped out!

It's not an exaggeration at all!

The laws and regulations are written very clearly, and once activated, they can be sent by express courier!

That means that all counties and prefectures must report to the Prime Minister every four hours! There must be no mistakes!

But from yesterday evening to this noon, almost seven hours have passed!

Apart from the Jingzhao area, there has been no news so far!

That's a bit of an exaggeration!

Da Gan is said to be the land of four states, but in reality it has the area of ​​five states.

Because the area of ​​Jingzhao is as large as that of a province, but because the capital city is within it, the several hundred kilometers of Jingzhao are not counted within Yongzhou.

Leaving aside the more distant areas, let's just talk about the counties and prefectures surrounding the Jingzhao region.

They were only half a day's journey from Kyoto, and could arrive in an hour by express courier.

Why haven't we heard anything since yesterday evening?

"Yes! Since other prefectures and counties haven't received any news from messengers, we also don't know what happened."

"But based on the news from the Jingzhao region, we can guess a thing or two!"

Sun Jian nodded, signaling the minor official to continue.

"According to reports from messengers in several counties of the Jingzhao region, not only has a locust plague appeared in the imperial estates in the eastern suburbs, but it has also appeared in their areas! And now they are all in a state of panic... waiting for instructions from our Prime Minister's Office!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian took a deep breath and stared in disbelief.

"Holy crap! Locust plagues have appeared in other places too?"

"That's right! That's absolutely true!"

Yao Tianzheng stepped forward to speak, his eyebrows furrowed tightly from the very beginning.

He was unaware of the news when he attended court, assuming the messenger had already arrived, and was waiting to process the message immediately after court.

Unexpectedly, not only have they not arrived in other places, but even the news from the areas that have arrived is bad.

This situation only proves one thing!

That is, locust plagues broke out simultaneously in different regions, and they were very serious.

It even hindered communication between the Prime Minister's office and the messengers...

Since the Prime Minister is located within the Imperial City, if disasters occur in all eight directions surrounding the capital, it is as if the capital is encircled.

That's probably why the messenger couldn't reach the destination!

Of course, this is just speculation.

We'll have to wait for the messenger to arrive to find out the specifics.

"Lord Yao, what is your opinion on this matter?"

Sun Jian directly asked Yao Tianzheng for his opinion.

Yao Tianzheng let out a deep breath and replied to Sun Jian with only ten words.

"Locust plague ravages, pipelines into Beijing blocked!"

Even Yao Tianzheng thinks so.

It seems my guess was right!

Sun Jian fell into deep thought, and his expression turned gloomy.

This is practically a disaster from the start...

I originally thought the locust plague started in Huangzhuang in the eastern suburbs, but now it seems that it is almost everywhere in the entire Jingzhao area!

In this situation, no one even needs to resort to underhanded tactics; the rampant locust plague alone is enough to drown Sun Jian!

At this moment, the entire Prime Minister's office fell silent.

Everyone looked as if they had swallowed flies.

No matter how much the situation worsens or how painful it is for everyone, things must move forward.

Every moment of hesitation worsens the disaster.

The lives of the people in the entire region are now in even greater danger.

Everyone present understood this principle!

"Lord Yao, what do you think we should do now?"

Zhuang Qishi composed himself, adopting an old and frail appearance, and asked Yao Tianzheng.

"Yes, Lord Yao, we can't just wait for news from the prefectures and counties where we haven't received any information before we can make any arrangements!"

Minister of Works Xing Kang nodded in agreement with Zhuang Qishi's words.

Minister of Revenue Mi Zhu also chimed in, "The disaster is urgent; the safety of the nation rests on our shoulders..."