Chapter 63: Arrow Shooting...
If there are borers in Sanfu, Bingzhou will inevitably be affected.
Jingzhao, Fengyi and Fufeng were already struggling to recover from their previous poor harvests, and the raging locusts would not be able to get enough food and would spread to several states near Sizhou.
During Liu Hong's reign, the worst locust plague ever occurred spread over seven states.
The long and winding Taihang Mountains may be able to block the invasion of the army, but it cannot stop these invading locusts.
You have to know that the plants and trees in the mountains are edible. After sustaining the life of these locusts that have crossed the border, the wheat fields across the mountains become their targets of plunder, which is enough to support their spread throughout Bingzhou.
Besides, it's still summer.
Bingzhou is located to the north of Sizhou, which is good, but the weather is not cold enough to freeze the locusts to death.
Even in the northernmost Yunzhong Yanmen area, the climate is still pleasant at this time.
Locusts...
Locusts that can fly three hundred miles a day!
Perhaps by the time this news reached the desks of high-ranking officials in Bingzhou, the first batch of locusts spreading from Sanfu had already arrived in Bingzhou.
Governor Zhang Yi was shocked when he received the news, and Qiao Yan was no exception.
Even though she had seen the inevitability of the locust plague from various signs, when she really received the accurate news of the locust plague in Sanfu, what she felt was not a sigh of as if it was just as it should be, but an indescribable sense of urgency.
All in all, the preparedness against locust plagues in Leping County is definitely far better than any other place in Bingzhou. Even the ducks raised in the fields are prepared for locust plagues.
Keleping is the base for Qiao Yan to take in the population and build her career. She has invested too much energy in both industry and farming in this year, and she will not allow any of it to fail.
Besides, this was her first time dealing with a locust plague.
So we really can't blame her for feeling nervous when facing the unknown.
She walked out of the room immediately, holding the letter in her hand.
There is one particularly ridiculous thing in this letter.
Most natural disasters in history require a scapegoat, especially those in the three highest positions in the court. Most of the time, this person would be dismissed from his post to indicate that the natural disaster occurred because someone was in an inappropriate position.
But perhaps because the three highest officials had already rotated in each other's positions countless times, it was inevitable, and also because Liu Hong was not very willing to maintain the saying that the celestial phenomena were related to the court, in short, the choice he made at this time was -
Huangfu Song, who was transferred from the post of Governor of Jizhou back to the post of General of Chariots and Cavalry, was dismissed for the crime of failing to conquer Beigong Boyu. The new General of Chariots and Cavalry, Zhang Wen, set out from the capital to quell the rebellion, and an acquaintance of Qiao Yan also accompanied the army.
It was Bao Hong.
Bao Hong was rewarded with some merit for escorting Qiao Xuan's body to Leping and delivering a memorial to the capital on behalf of Qiao Yan. Also, because he delivered a gift for her, he gained some favor. Finally, the assignment of deputy general in the expedition to Liangzhou fell on him.
Although he is still a colonel, a colonel who can go on an expedition with the army must have much more power than an ordinary colonel of the Northern Army.
Bao Hong therefore felt that he owed Qiao Yan a favor, so when a locust plague broke out in the capital and Zhang Wen replaced Huangfu Song to fight against the rebellion in Liang Province, he sent a quick-footed messenger to deliver the letter to Leping.
The messenger arrived at a fairly fast speed, so Qiao Yan and Zhang Yi received the news of the locust plague at the same time.
If we really wait until Zhang Yi notifies the counties...
Maybe it's too late!
Qiao Yan had just had someone reward the messenger when Chu Yan, who was patrolling in the mountains, sent someone to report that traces of locusts had been unexpectedly discovered in the mountains to the south.
There is no doubt about the flying ability of adult locusts. Since some have reached the mountains, it is estimated that it will only take one or two days at most for them to fly to Leping.
When Qiao Yan heard this, he immediately asked someone to call his men over.
The terrain model of Leping also came in handy again and she had someone carry it over.
However, on this model, instead of the original markings of the scope of the reclaimed mountain land and the locations of usable things in the mountains, there were markings of the horizontal and vertical gullies and the locations of the keel overturning in the farmland area of the county.
This is a "stupid method" that was once recorded in the "Memorandum on Eliminating Locusts", but it has become a relatively feasible method because of the existence of the dragon bone overturning car.
"Mr. Zhongde, please open the warehouse in the county to get grain and spread it in the previously dug ditches at intervals. Now it is not the harvest season yet, and the ripe corn is more attractive to locusts than crops. The long ditch is under the overturned cart. Once the number of locusts gathered reaches a certain number, immediately open the undercarriage of the overturned cart to pour water in and bury them alive."
When the words "buried alive" were uttered, everyone in the room was shocked.
You have to know that people nowadays know very little about locusts. At least before the Tang Dynasty, when encountering a locust plague, the first thing people thought of was divine punishment rather than insect disaster.
"In Shandong, there were huge locusts. The people offered sacrifices and worshipped them, but they just sat there and watched them eat the seedlings, not daring to catch them."1
This is the norm at this time.
There are even places where people have great reverence for locusts, and some even call them "locust gods."
At least before Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, took the lead in eating locusts, ignoring the dissuasion of his ministers for fear of illness, people at that time did not even think of catching locusts.
At best, it was just like what Qiao Yan had said in his previous letter to Zhang Yi, which was to find ways to weaken the impact of the locust plague rather than to capture the locusts when they passed through.
However, Qiao Yan's performance in Leping over the past year has been significant and has established enough foundation, especially for those who have followed her for a long time, who have no doubt about the correctness of Qiao Yan's decision.
As for Cheng Li, the first person she ordered to do something, he was a person who didn't have so many scruples.
In other words, who might think that locusts are gods? Cheng Li certainly wouldn't think so.
He nodded and replied, "I'll take people to do it right away. There aren't many locusts in the area right now, so it's inevitable that there aren't many that can be trapped. If releasing water is a bit of a waste, I'll have people flood the area and bury it."
With him taking the lead, everything else can be arranged easily.
Qiao Yan turned his head and looked to the other side. "Yuanzhi, have people distribute the ducks under the yam fields to various places in the county and keep them in pens. Just don't let them invade the crops."
Xu Fu bowed and accepted the order.
It is not a secret that ducks eat locusts. If you count, other animals that eat locusts include frogs, but the breeding of the latter is obviously not as easy as the former.
This is different from catching locusts directly. Qiao Yan is not quite sure how people of this period explained this phenomenon. Maybe it was something like the locust god was sacrificed to the duck god, but it didn't sound right.
In short, as long as we can accept the food chain where ducks eat locusts and humans eat ducks, it will be fine.
In the past few months, the production of duck eggs has also become a source of income for the Montenegrin Army.
However, it was not until this time that Xu Fu realized that Qiao Yan was raising these ducks not just to use their feces as fertilizer for the yam fields, but was waiting for them to come in handy at this moment.
Seeing Xu Fu taking orders and leaving, she pointed to the next name: "Chu Yan, I asked the women and children in the Black Mountain Army to start making fish foil. You will be responsible for collecting it and handing it over to Zhang Niujiao and others to use for the protection of the yam fields. If there is any excess, you can sell it to the county residents at a low price."
Fish foil is a fishing net. In the "Secrets of Catching Locusts" recorded by the ancients, locusts clustering in the air were mostly caught with combined nets or fish foils. However, the arc-shaped combined nets are not as convenient to operate as fish foils in the mountains, so Qiao Yan had mostly asked people to make fish foils.
If it is not used for fishing but for protection, fish foil can undoubtedly play a significant role.
In addition, if the locusts do not come, the old fish foil can be used to make mulberry paper. Even if Qiao Yan makes a wrong prediction, he will not have to worry about not being able to use it all if he stocks too much.
Chu Yan immediately responded with a "yes".
"also--"
Qiao Yan paused for a moment before continuing, "I intend to exchange the county's grain reserves for locust eggs. After all, there is still more than a month before the autumn harvest, and the county government will definitely not be short of food. However, if locusts pass through and lay eggs in the county's farmland, the ones that slip through the net will come back next year, which will be troublesome."
This is a method of alleviating with benefits.
After these instructions were issued, Qiao Yan calmed down a lot. At least she had prepared a lot beforehand, so she was not caught off guard by this expected accident.
Moreover, after all these arrangements, in addition to the interplanted bean crops that are already growing there, there is one last killer trick.
She had previously purchased several small plots of land from farmers in the county, and allowed county residents who were short of arable land to open up a corresponding amount of arable land in the mountains.
Under her arrangement, no crops were planted on these scattered farmlands outside the county town, but thatched huts had been built several months ago.
And because it has hardly rained in recent days, the weather remains dry enough.
Before nightfall, she made a special trip to look around the dozen or so huts to make sure that all the weeds around them had been cleared away, to prevent a fire from starting in the huts and spreading to the surrounding farmland.
After making sure everything was correct, she stepped back with confidence.
After nightfall, Qiao Yan found a stone on the ridge of the field and sat down, resting his chin on his hand and looking at the thatched cottage in the distance.
Although the news of the locusts' approaching made the county residents panic, the prices of candles and lamp oil were high enough that they would not stay up all night by candlelight.
From the county town to the nearby villages, everything was in complete darkness at this time, and because it was dark tonight and there was no moonlight, it seemed even darker.
The most striking thing was the scattered flames in the wild.
The bonfire was lit in the thatched cottage.
"Lord Qiao knows a lot about people's livelihood issues and can put them to practical use. Leping is truly fortunate." Xi Zhicai sat down on the ground casually and spoke.
Qiao Yan looked at the hand that made the noise. In the dark, it was not difficult to see that this guy was quite leisurely and went to get another pot of wine.
Since he is still in the mood to drink, I guess he feels that the current situation is still under control.
If it weren't for the current understanding that people who eat locusts will definitely get sick because of offending the gods, Qiao Yan would have wanted to recommend him to drink wine with roasted locusts, thinking that it should taste good.
Unfortunately, she was already doing something out of line by catching and killing locusts. In a season that was not extremely famine-stricken, her idea of eliminating them by eating locusts would meet with a lot of resistance. It was a thankless task, so she gave up the idea.
"Before my grandfather passed away, he once asked me how to be a good county marquis." Qiao Yan looked at the flickering fire in the distance and replied, "This is the answer I gave him."
This is also an extremely effective method for catching and killing locusts.
Xi Zhicai was also quite optimistic about this method because anyone who had some understanding of the habits of locusts would not ignore this fact -
Locusts have a very obvious tendency to attract light.
This is a bit similar to moths.
Therefore, these thatched huts with bonfires lit at night are actually "insect lamps".
Even though there are not too many locusts arriving in Leping at this time, it does not affect the fact that some of them will follow the light and arrive here when there is only light at night.
The locusts attracted to some of the huts seemed small to the people who were watching nearby, so they simply used fish foil to block the doors and windows of the huts and caught them with small nets.
The ones that attract the most locusts, such as the one near the mountain -
In just one hour, most of the first batch of locusts that arrived in Leping gathered here, and because of the small amount of corn stored in the house, they temporarily stayed in the thatched hut.
When Qiao Yan arrived, the person in charge of guarding the place had already lost some of the numbers because his calculation skills were a little poor.
But after all, Qiao Yan did not force him to calculate it clearly.
She stared at the bonfire that was shining through the window, raised her hand and ordered, "Light it."
The next moment after she gave the order, someone threw a lit torch towards the hut.
The flame on the torch suddenly spread into a blazing ball as the dry straw burned.
As the hut burned, it collapsed rapidly, leaving no chance for the locusts gathered inside to escape, so they would be burned to ashes along with the hut.
Five hundred years later, it was hard for Qiao Yan to imagine how much resistance Yao Chong, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, encountered when he advocated killing locusts by burning them.
She only knew that in Leping County, because of the winter protection and her status as Marquis of Leping bestowed by the Han court, she didn't even need to go through the step of overcoming all objections. It was much easier than the situation faced by Yao Chong.
This resistance cannot really be blamed on the ignorant people who regard locusts as the "king of insects". In such a difficult and harsh situation, no one told them that they can also resist natural disasters.
The fire in the thatched cottage also illuminated Qiao Yan's eyes in a red glow, until the thatch and wood were completely devoured by the flames, and then the scorching glow gradually subsided.
She pointed at Zhang Yang who was watching nearby and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. Rebuild the huts here as soon as possible and light a bonfire every night. If such a large number of people gather, just light the fire directly without asking me for instructions."
As long as we can ensure that it does not affect the surrounding farmland.
"Don't worry, Lord Qiao. I will never let you down." Zhang Yang immediately responded in a loud voice as he was entrusted with an important task.
Although the enemies he had faced before were all the Hu people outside the Great Wall, Zhang Yang thought that locusts were not difficult to deal with.
In the end, it's just a matter of finding a nest to lure people in and catch them all in one fell swoop, and then capturing those that wander outside individually.
There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two in terms of the destructiveness to farmland.
In the slightly bright sky, when Qiao Yan looked at Zhang Yang, it was not difficult to see that he was full of energy, but no matter how she looked at him, she felt that he seemed to be thinking about something strange.
However, the most important thing now is to contain the locust plague within a controllable range, rather than the more bizarre brain circuits of his subordinates.
Even with these light sources that attracted locusts, when the morning light completely replaced the night, Qiao Yan still found some sporadic signs of locusts gnawing on the yam fields when he carefully inspected them.
This fully demonstrates the locusts' preference for plants with thick leaves.
Although she didn't plant the fields herself, the crops were still grown in her territory, so it was hard for her not to feel distressed at this moment.
But think about it, Leping was well prepared, with soybean seedlings interplanted next to the yam seedlings, and it ended up like this. One can imagine what the Sanfu area, which was hit by the first step of the locust plague, and other places in Bingzhou outside Leping were like.
Just as Qiao Yan was thinking of this, she suddenly saw Lu Yuan leading several county officials, walking towards her with horses and ready to go.
After paying his respects to her, Lu Yuan said, "Marquis Qiao, please allow me to report that the locust plague has hit Shangdang. Since Marquis Qiao intends to maintain his relationship with the Guo family in Yangqu and to gain a foothold in Shangdang, I, as the envoy of Leping, should naturally go to Changzhi at this time. I wonder if you can allow me to do so."
"Even if you don't say it, I have to let you go today." Qiao Yan's tense expression relaxed, and although he didn't smile yet, he couldn't help but give her an approving look.
This intuition of diplomatic timing undoubtedly fits Qiao Yan's demands for her position.
"Last night, Le Ping had already proved that the method of luring locusts with fire and then burning them to death was feasible, and he also told him about it. If..."
"If Governor Guo is hesitant about whether to kill the locusts, you should tell him that the order from above to allow the killing will definitely reach Shangdang by the day after tomorrow at the latest."
Hearing Qiao Yan's confident words, Lu Yuan did not ask any more questions. He just bowed to her and led the group over the mountain to Changzhi.
After watching her leave, Qiao Yan walked towards the yam fields near the mountains again. After confirming that the losses were still within controllable range, he turned back to the county government office.
By this time, the sky was completely bright.
But after a busy night, Qiao Yan still couldn't rest.
As for the last method she proposed, which was to exchange grain for locust eggs, she asked Qin Yu to consult several elderly people who had experienced locust plagues in Leping. They had a rough estimate of the number of locust eggs and formulated the exchange rules overnight.
One bushel of locusts for one bushel of millet, and one bushel of locust seeds for three bushels of millet.
Only after she wrote the notice in her own handwriting, stamped it with the seals of the Prime Minister of Leping and the Marquis of Leping, and handed it to Qin Yu to post it did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing how busy she was, even the system, which often had a lot of problems, didn't dare to make a sound to disturb her work.
Although it was still a little strange, why Qiao Yan dared to tell Lu Yuan that the order must reach Shangdang at the latest the day after tomorrow.
But before it could take the opportunity to seek an answer to its puzzle, it saw Qiao Yan lying on the bed and quickly falling asleep.
It began to think whether it should not even set the alarm clock today.
As a qualified atmosphere group, it decided to remain silent.
Qiao Yan slept until the evening before he finally recovered from the overnight arrangements.
What was unexpected was that the first thing she did after she stood up and straightened herself was to say to Xi Zhicai:
"Please, sir, draft a letter of apology for me."
Apology?
Why plead guilty?
In Leping, the slight signs of locust plague had almost been suppressed by her arrangements yesterday and tonight.
As for the locust storm that may continue later -
The mountain yam fields are intercropped with soybeans for protection, and there are dragon bone irrigation ditches. Now all other means to prevent the reproduction and rampage of locusts have been issued. What crime has Leping committed?
Furthermore, Qiao Yan was the Marquis of Leping, not the Prime Minister of Leping. If someone had to apologize for the locust plague, it should not be Qiao Yan who went, but Cheng Li.
In fact, she should be considered to have made some contributions.
After all, if she had not purchased peas and prompted other parts of Shangdang to plant peas between the ridges, the first wave of damage to these crops would have been much more severe than it is now.
She had never concealed the effect of the dragon bone overturning irrigation, which would certainly have made the situation in the jurisdiction of Governor Guo Yu and the territory of the Jinyang Wang family less dangerous.
But what Xi Zhicai saw when he followed Qiao Yan out quickly was that she grabbed the short bow and quiver hanging on the wall in the courtyard, called Dian Wei and Chu Yan, and brought a group of rangers and attendants with her, and went straight into the stable to lead out the mounts.
Then he jumped on his horse and headed straight out of the county town.
This action was done in one go, without any hesitation or delay.
Before the news that she, the real host of the county, had stood up could reach the ears of all the officials in the county, she had already left the city.
The only instruction left was to hand over the task of collecting fishing nets that Chu Yan was originally responsible for to Zhang Niujiao.
That's all.
"Mr. Xi, why..." Zhao Yun didn't quite understand why Qiao Yan didn't bring him along this time.
He saw clearly that when Qiao Yan rode away, others might not understand her intentions, but Xi Zhicai must have figured it out.
Otherwise, he would not have shown such a look of realization on his face as he does now.
And if Zhao Yun was not mistaken, behind this dazed look, there was no worry at all, but an indescribable appreciation and boiling emotion.
"Don't ask any more questions. Immediately pretend that you have not caught up with them, and then turn back to help Zhongde kill the locusts."
Xi Zhicai closed his eyes and thought for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he was already as cynical as usual, "I will write a letter of apology for Lord Qiao."
The moment she took off the bow and arrow, Xi Zhicai understood her seemingly incoherent words.
What crime? The charge is for assassinating the governor!
Or maybe this shouldn't be called an assassination.
It should be called——
Because the governor was not worthy of his position and refused to listen to good advice, the disasters that have occurred in various parts of Bingzhou today are bound to be worse than the situation could have been. The young county marquis acted out of indignation.
Judging from Qiao Yan's behavior, this would never be a bloody assassination, but he had to write a letter of apology.
The purpose is not to plead guilty.
Just like what Qiao Yan wanted was not for this disciple of the Yuan family of Runan to disappear in the Bingzhou area where she was.
When she led a group of people who had nothing to do with the Leping County Government in terms of their positions and broke down the gate of the provincial government, the governor Zhang Yi, who came rushing over after hearing the noise, was about to blurt out "outrageous", but he saw the county marquis, who was only eleven years old, raised his hand.
She came surrounded by people, and Zhang Yi didn't notice that she was holding a short bow in her hand.
The guards in the provincial capital had never expected that it was strange enough for the county marquis of Bingzhou to break into the provincial capital, and now he was carrying such a weapon.
The archery skills that I have been practicing frequently in the past few months to build arm strength finally got the opportunity to be demonstrated.
She frowned and took two quick steps forward. The movement of drawing the bow, putting the arrow on it and shooting the feather arrow was as smooth as flowing water.
With her current archery skills, she would not miss the target within a range of twenty steps. There was no possibility that the arrow would go astray at such a close distance!
The arrow went straight through the official hat on Zhang Yi's head, and because of the sudden impact force, it even knocked the crown, which was not tied tightly, away!
Zhang Yi's face turned pale.
But when the sound of the crown falling to the ground was heard, he suddenly realized that he was still alive after the arrow was shot, he just narrowly escaped death.
But before he could recover from the rapid heartbeat caused by fear, he saw Qiao Yan in front of him raise the bow again, and the cold light of the second arrow on the bow reflected in his eyes.
If Qiao Yan was the only one who committed the crime, it would be fine.
No, that's not right. As a county marquis, it is still unclear who is superior and who is inferior. At most, it is said that she dared to attack court officials, which is against the law.
But she came with someone.
None of the people he brought with him were wearing the official uniform of Leping County. Instead, they looked more like private soldiers gathered by Qiao Yan, and their actions revealed a ruthless bandit spirit.
Led by Dian Wei and Chu Yan, this group of people completely outshined the people on his side in terms of momentum alone.
Zhang Yi hated himself especially for agreeing to Zhang Liao's application half a month ago and letting him run to Yanmen to carry out the suggestion of secretly supporting Qian Man and fighting against Kou Bian Kuitou at the same time. Otherwise, with the young thief-killing boy by his side, there would not be such an obvious contrast at this time.
Especially Dian Wei, a strong man who looks very capable of fighting...
He looked around at the officials in the provincial capital, and it seemed that none of them could compare to him in physique!
But among the crowd at this moment, the one with the most dazzling aura was undoubtedly Qiao Yan.
The bow in her hand, the arrow on the string, together with her extremely sharp eyes, formed an astonishing deterrent force.
So much so that Zhang Yi, who was clearly being beaten up and was in the right, couldn't help but shudder for a moment at this moment.
But he suddenly realized that he had nothing to hide!
Since Qiao Yan only dared to shoot at his official hat instead of him, it meant that no matter how domineering she was, she only dared to make such a coercive move.
He immediately straightened his chest and shouted, "Does the Marquis of Leping want to kill the officials of the imperial court?"
However, when he regained some courage and intended to take back the initiative, he did not see any guilt on Qiao Yan's face. He only saw her slowly pressing the tip of the arrow down, from aiming at his head to his heart.
Her aura did not diminish during this change. Instead, her face was revealed more clearly, allowing people to see the storm in her eyes.
With such an expression, no matter how calm her tone was when she spoke, it was difficult to change the tension in her words.
"I have previously submitted a memorial to the provincial government, saying that severe droughts are likely to cause locust plagues. If we work on irrigating dry fields, it is better to prepare in advance than to be caught off guard."
“The state government won’t allow it.”
As soon as the words "the provincial government does not allow" were uttered, the guards surrounding Zhang Yi could not help but look at each other in bewilderment.
They originally thought that Marquis Leping was offending them for no reason, which showed that Zhang Yi did not refute what Qiao Yan said, as if in the comparison between the two, Qiao Yan was more reasonable.
Before Zhang Yi could come up with an excuse for himself, he heard Qiao Yan continue to say: "In extraordinary times, extraordinary things should be done. Now the locust plague is approaching, and the state government is incompetent. Only Qiao Yan can take over the important tasks temporarily. First of all, I will help the people and then ask for your forgiveness."
If he hadn't been pointed at by an arrow at this moment, Zhang Yi would have wanted to curse loudly. Qiao Yan had done such an unreasonable thing, so what was the point of just apologizing to him?
But he soon saw that under Qiao Yan's command, these guys who were as bold as her swarmed forward and captured all the guards around him, and even pressed him to the ground.
The arrow that had not been shot was pointed at his head again.
But at this moment the arrow was not on the bowstring. The bowstring had been retracted and the arrow was in the hand. The only thing that remained unchanged was the awe-inspiring sharpness in the hand.
What made Zhang Yi feel even more humiliated than today's incident was that the seal on his waist was pulled off and handed to Qiao Yan's right hand.
She held the seal tightly and said word by word, "Your Excellency, rest assured. Once the locust plague is over, I will apologize to the emperor."
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