Seeing that Lili had almost finished eating, Gu Ziyi turned to Xia Ning and said, "I have already sent a letter to the Minister of Rites, asking the Xia family to send someone to bring you back to the capital."
Upon hearing that she could go home, Xia Ning almost cried tears of joy and immediately knelt down to express her gratitude: "Thank you, Your Highness. I will always remember your great kindness!"
Gu Ziyi waved his hand: "I was just doing it on the spur of the moment. You should save your thanks for Lili."
Xia Ning said, "Of course, Xia Ning will never forget what Li Li did!"
For some unknown reason, Gu Ziyi suddenly burst out laughing: "I'll never forget it either."
Lili, biting into a chicken wing, asked curiously, "What is it?"
Gu Ziyi said seriously, changing the subject: "No. It will take the Xia family time to send people, at least half a month. I need to return to the border, and it will be inconvenient to take you with me. Why don't you stay here at the prefectural government office for the time being?"
The prefectural government has been raided and is now just an empty shell. Although Xia Ning is a young girl, she is still a woman, and it would be inappropriate for her to return to the border with him. Staying at the prefectural government is the best option.
Xia Ning would never agree to that.
She almost lost her life here, how could she want to live here?
However, Xia Ning knew that what His Highness the Crown Prince said was true, and she was too embarrassed to trouble His Highness. After thinking about it, she decided to agree.
Lili saw through Xia Ning's little scheme and offered, "Why don't you come home with me, Sister Xia Ning?"
Xia Ning's eyes lit up. She remembered the interesting things Li Li had told her before, and then thought about the unlucky place that was the prefectural government. Xia Ning immediately said, "Okay, okay!"
Lili figured that the young ladies from wealthy families were probably used to sleeping on their own large, soft couches, so she said so in advance.
“Lili sleeps in the same room as her mother, but Sister Xia Ning can share a small bed with Lili. Lili’s small bed is very soft.”
Xia Ning had been kidnapped and had even slept in a pigsty during the days she was away. Now she could accept sleeping on the floor at Lili's house, let alone sleeping with Lili, this little dumpling.
Xia Ning readily agreed.
She doesn't want to live in the prefectural government office; she wants to be with Lili!
Seeing that the two had already discussed it, Gu Ziyi naturally had no objections.
There is one thing Gu Ziyi would like to ask Lili for help with.
With years of war on the border, the people of the border town are not as good at harvesting grain as those in other places. Now, there is a severe drought. Yuncheng has not received rain for several years, and the land is about to dry up. The temperature is rising, and the rice fields are infested with insects.
This caused immense suffering for the people of the border town, and the soldiers on the frontier, apart from the regular supplies provided by the imperial court, mostly bought their rice and grains from the local people.
Soldiers must not go hungry if they are going to war.
The people understand this principle well. Before, the people saved a little and it was barely enough to meet the needs of the soldiers. Now that this insect plague has come, half of the rice fields have been affected. When the harvest comes in September, I'm afraid there won't even be enough for the people to eat!
For the past week, Gu Ziyi's maternal grandfather, the mighty general, has been troubled by this matter. Fortunately, the world has been at peace in recent years, and the Southern Jin Kingdom has maintained a peaceful relationship with the Great Jin Kingdom to its south.
Therefore, General Weiwu could still send some soldiers from the military camp to the fields to help the people, but as the temperature rose and the heat became more intense, the insect plague spread to a wider area, and he gradually became powerless to help.
Gu Ziyi was so busy with the Crown Prince's affairs that he forgot Lili was a skilled farmer.
When I was discussing matters with Lili's uncle in Xinghua Village last time, I happened to hear Lili's insightful remarks, which were truly astonishing.
It's unbelievable that this tiny little dumpling understands the ways of farming.
This is perfect opportunity; I'll ask Lili.
Gu Ziyi always felt that Lili could solve the problem that even the strategists in the military camp couldn't solve.
"Lili, what do you think?"
This leads to a question about Lili's major.
Lili was genuinely afraid that Gu Ziyi would ask her some political questions.
If you ask me anything else, Lili will have to think it over for a while. But if it's something related to farming, Lili can reply instantly.
Rice paddies are relatively prone to insect infestations in the summer.
The high temperature and humidity of summer provide a suitable environment for the reproduction and growth of pests.
Common rice paddy pests such as rice planthoppers and rice leaf rollers may proliferate in large numbers during this season.
High temperatures accelerate the development and reproduction of pests, while high humidity favors their survival and spread. Furthermore, the vigorous growth of rice in summer provides an abundant food source, attracting pests to congregate there.
However, the occurrence and severity of insect infestations are also affected by a variety of factors, such as paddy field management measures, the surrounding ecological environment, and whether pest and disease monitoring and control are in place.
For example, Lili put in a lot of effort for her own rice paddy. Shen Jiahao and his friends had wiped out all the ladybugs near her house and caught them all in the paddy.
Seeing that this method was effective, the villagers of Xinghua Village followed suit, and after a period of time, Suiye's condition indeed improved considerably.
However, since Lili had never seen the situation there in person, and Gu Ziyi said it concerned the soldiers on the border, she became more cautious and asked, "Insect infestations are indeed common in summer, but there are many kinds of insects, such as rice planthoppers, rice leaf rollers, and rice stem borers. I don't know which kind of insect you are referring to?"
Gu Ziyi rarely showed a bit of bewilderment. He had only seen such a thing once before when he came to the border, and he didn't know what kind of insect it was.
Gu Ziyi thought for a long time before vaguely remembering that the people on the border seemed to call the insect a "leaf-rolling insect".
Lili thought for a moment, and realized that this seemed to be the common name for the rice leaf roller.
I don't know if the name is the same here, but as Lili described the scene of the rice leaf roller infestation, she asked him...
"So, does this insect start as an egg, then hatch like a caterpillar, slowly growing from light green to orange-red, and finally becoming a winged adult, like a little moth that has changed color?" Lili added, worried that he hadn't seen what the insect looked like before. "And then the green leaves all turn grayish-white, looking very withered?"
Gu Ziyi had only gone to the fields once with his maternal grandfather, Xu Yao. At that time, there had not yet been a pest infestation. Only four or five families discovered that many small insects had suddenly appeared in the fields. Upon closer inspection, they found that they were what people commonly called leaf rollers, and that the eggs had already hatched. They hurriedly reported this to the authorities. Xu Yao was worried and went to see for himself.
Gu Ziyi nodded: "That's right, it is indeed a small, bluish-green insect!"
However, Gu Ziyi was not sure about the other characteristics that Lili mentioned. He had only heard Han Xi mention that many gray and white stripes had indeed appeared in the fields.
Lili nodded, indicating that she understood: "If it's the rice leaf roller, it's not that serious in the early stages, but it gets serious when all the insects are mature. However, by then the rice is completely ruined, and there's not much that can be done to save it."
In modern times, pesticides could be sprayed to try and save the plant, but there aren't any pesticides as good as those available here.
"I've changed His Highness the Crown Prince's age; he's eight years old now."
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