It is now mid-May, and there is only more than half a month left until the normal harvest.
Shen Yu'an racked his brains but could not figure out why Wang Zhicai and the people of Shenjia Village fled in the original book. Was it because of an earthquake, a locust plague, or something else? But no matter what, they must have left before the grain was harvested, so the grain must be harvested in advance.
Finally, she made up her mind to call the Shen family together, and suggested in a heavy tone: "Grandpa, let's collect the grain in advance."
"Harvest grain? The grain can be harvested in half a month, why are we asked to harvest it now?" Zhao asked with a puzzled look on her face.
Although there is only half a month left until the harvest, a lot of food will be lost, at least 30% to 40% less. Zhao felt distressed just thinking about it.
Shen Yuan thought of something and asked Shen Yuan: "Did the old man in the dream tell you something again?"
Shen Yu'an shook her head. She didn't know much about this matter. If she continued to talk about what the old man told her, the secret would be exposed.
She considered her words carefully and said, "I have been feeling uneasy these past few days. I always feel like something big is going to happen."
"It hasn't rained here since the beginning of winter last year. Even the river behind our village is almost at the ground level. Locusts can easily reproduce in large numbers in this kind of weather. If..."
The Shen family was shocked. If a locust plague occurred, they would have no harvest at all!
"Granddaughter, are you sure?" Old Mrs. Shen asked in a panic.
After asking the question, she clapped her hands in annoyance. What stupid questions she was asking. How could her granddaughter know whether it would happen or not?
However, now that the grain has been harvested, although there will be a loss of 30% to 40% , the remaining 60% to 70% can be saved.
What Old Lady Shen thought of was naturally what the other members of the Shen family also thought of. In the end, they unanimously decided to collect the grain in advance and start from tomorrow.
The Shen family does not have many fields, only two acres of fertile land and five acres of dry land. There are many Shen family members, so if they start harvesting tomorrow, they will finish harvesting all the fields in two days.
After making this decision, the Shen family fell into another dilemma: whether they should tell the villagers about this.
Finally, Mr. Shen and Shen Rong went to the headman's house together to tell him. If anyone asked for the reason, they would put the blame on Shen Rong, saying that it was his inference from the book and that Miss An must not be exposed.
The three sisters-in-law of the Shen family will each go back to their parents' home early tomorrow morning and try their best to persuade them to collect the grain in advance.
…
At the Shen family's home in the village, they had just finished their meal and were about to go back to the house to rest when they heard a knock on the door.
"Bang bang bang~"
"Here I come."
The one who opened the door was Shen Tiezhu, the eldest son of Shen Lizheng's family. When he saw the people outside the door, he quickly stepped aside to let them in: "Uncle Xingde, Brother Rongzi, why are you two here at this time?"
Mr. Shen’s name is Shen Xingde, and he is of the same generation as Shen Lizheng.
He said, "I came to discuss something with your father. Is your father home?"
"He's at home. He just went into the house after dinner. I'll go call him." After saying this, Shen Tiezhu hurried into the house.
The main hall of Shen Lizheng's house.
Mr. Shen and Shen Lizheng sat together and exchanged a few pleasantries before getting down to business.
Everyone in the room heard the news brought by Mr. Shen and Shen Rong, which was absolutely a bolt from the blue for them.
"Brother, are you sure about this? We can't just notify you casually about such a big thing, right?" Shen Lizheng asked in a tangled manner.
"It's only 50% sure. After all, it's just my eldest brother's deduction based on his years of study. I can't really guarantee anything." Old Master Shen said, "But everyone is from the same village. We have decided to harvest the grain in advance and we have to tell everyone the reason. Those who believe in it can also harvest together."
"You have already decided!" Shen Lizheng asked in surprise.
I thought they had thought of this possibility and came to ask for advice, but they had already made the decision.
They dared to collect grain with only 50% confidence. Could it be that they got some news in the town? Shen Lizheng felt a little shaken.
"I will tell the villagers about this tomorrow morning, but we can't control what they do." Shen Lizheng replied.
"What the village head said is right. We just need to tell everyone about this. As for what to do, it's up to them." Shen Rong said.
Shen Tiezhu sent Mr. Shen and Shen Rong out the door again, and when he entered the house he heard his mother talking about this with his father.
"What do you think they are thinking about this? If we collect the grain now, how much less will there be?" Shen Lizheng's wife curled her lips, thinking that Shen Rong and the others were probably crazy. They were scholars, but their brains were not as good as hers.
Chen Lizheng glanced at his wife sideways and ignored her, still struggling with his conscience.
He didn't believe that Shen Rong would dare to take the grain without any certainty.
After leaving Shen Lizheng's house, Grandpa Shen and Shen Rong went to Grandpa Shen's eldest brother Shen Xingwang's house. They didn't believe the news, but seeing how serious Grandpa Shen looked, they couldn't help but feel a little hesitant. In the end, they decided to follow Grandpa Shen to collect grain in advance. After all, there would be some left if they collected it, but what if they didn't collect it all and it was all gone?
…
Early the next morning, every household heard the sound of a gong before breakfast. The village only struck the gong when something needed to be announced.
On the threshing ground, villagers from Shenjia Village stood together in groups, whispering to each other, wondering what had happened.
"What's the matter with the head of the village calling us here? We haven't had breakfast yet." A woman asked the person next to her.
"I don't know. Let's wait for the headman to tell us. He can't just call us over for no reason." The person being asked responded.
The village head stood on a relatively high stone platform in front of the crowd and struck the gong in his hand to signal them to be quiet.
"Everyone, I called you out today to tell you about a matter of life and death!" Shen Lizheng said seriously.
When they heard that their lives were at stake, everyone below looked over and the gossip stopped.
"What's the matter?" someone couldn't help but ask anxiously.
The head of the village struck the gong and drum again before saying, "Yesterday, Mr. Shen came to my house and told me that we might have a locust plague. I am telling you this now so that you can consider harvesting grain in advance."
Shen Lizheng had thought of saying this last night. Even if there was no locust plague, the people who collected their grain in advance could not blame him. However, if there really was a locust plague, he had also mentioned this.
"Collecting the grain in advance, what a joke! If we collect the grain now, we will lose 40% of it."
"Yes, yes, how could a locust plague happen?"
"You can take it if you want, but my family won't."
As expected, as soon as they heard the news, the crowd exploded, saying all kinds of things, and most of them didn't believe it.
Suddenly someone asked, "Village head, where did Shen Xiucai hear about the locust plague? He can't just say that for no reason."
Shen Lizheng repeated the same words that Shen Rong said yesterday.
After hearing this explanation, the crowd had different opinions. Some said that Shen Rong was the town's teacher and must know more than them, while others said that Shen Rong spread the rumor. For a moment, the crowd was in chaos.
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