Ye Chen had the most delicious mutton meal of his life in Yuguan, and the rest of the journey was much smoother. He only stayed in Ning County for two days because of the rain.
"The climate here is really similar to that in Kyoto. I don't have that feeling that my nose is on fire anymore." Ye Chen played with the calluses on Chen Qiu's hands, watching the rain falling outside as if the sky was falling.
"The rain here is really heavy. There is so much rain here. It would be great if some of it could be shared with Kang County." Chen Qiu supported his cheek with the hand that was not held by Ye Chen.
"Kang County is higher than here. The river here flows south into the Xiao River, and Kang County is to its north. Moreover, the moisture coming from the west is intercepted by Yushan Mountain, so Ning County is completely different."
"Then why is Qi County the same as Kang County? It's only a little better than Kang County. It's right next to the Gobi Desert, where no grass grows." Chen Qiu sat up straight and asked something that she had been unable to understand.
Ye Chen stood up and found the map, spreading it out in front of Shen Qiu. "Look, the entire northwest is like a big bone. I heard that there's an ocean further west. The moisture blowing in from there has no obstruction and directly enters this big bone of the northwest. Ning County and Lan County are on the sunny side, so naturally there's a lot of rain. But look at Qi County's location, it's beneath the Qishan snowfield, so all moisture is blocked by it, so it's naturally dry."
Chen Qiu seemed to understand what he said, and raised her head with admiration and asked Ye Chen, "Husband, how do you know so much?"
Ye Chen smiled and put the map away. "Your strength is martial arts, and mine is a photographic memory. The advantage of a photographic memory is that I can remember everything I've read. I've read more books, so I know more than Qiu'er. But it's not completely correct. After all, I haven't actually seen it, so I'm just using it to pass the time. However, combined with the Feng Shui books passed down since ancient times, I can understand the map pretty well by looking at it."
Such heavy rain lasted for two days and one night, but there was not much water on the ground as soon as the rain stopped. "There are many rivers here and the terrain is relatively high. The rainwater flows directly into Xiaojiang River, so there is no water accumulation." The postmaster here explained the doubts in everyone's mind.
Everyone set off, and just as Ye Chen had estimated before, it took them ten days to reach Qi County. It wasn't obvious in Ning County, but it became more and more obvious the further west they went. In Lan County, they could see patches of bare land, and even the grass had been eaten beyond recognition.
This phenomenon is even more serious when leaving Lan County and heading towards Qi County. Qi County, Lan County and Ning County are three northwestern counties, but the distance between the three counties is very large. The distance between Lan County and Ning County is the smallest, at least 600 miles, while the distance from Lan County to Qi County is more than 1,300 miles.
In this area of more than 1,300 miles, not only did the water become less, but the crops grown were also different. When Ye Chen arrived at the border of Qi County, he felt the fire in his nose again.
After entering Qi County, due to the drought, there was little cultivated land, but now only bare crop roots could be seen in the fields. Chen Qiu threw a stone at the crops, which immediately startled a sky full of locusts, just like poking a hornet's nest, but these locusts would not attack people.
"So many?" Everyone looked at this shocking scene. Chen Qiu had never seen so many locusts in his entire life, no, not even in his previous life. There were too many.
"This is a locust plague. We can't kill them all. They eat our food, but we can't do anything about it." Ye Chen looked at the locusts all over the sky and could only sigh helplessly.
"Is there no way?" Shen Qiu turned to look at Ye Chen. In Shen Qiu's mind, Ye Chen was omnipotent, and he wanted to hear some solutions from Ye Chen.
Ye Chen just shook his head and looked at Chen Qiu, "Qiu'er, there is no other way except to capture them. However, this is such a large area, and there are so few people in the northwest. There is no way to find everyone to capture them. So, there is no way at all. We can only wait for winter to come, and they will naturally die. Then we can replant the seeds the next year."
"So, what we can do is to find more food to ensure that the people and soldiers here have enough to eat, and prevent the Tatars from taking the opportunity to attack us."
Ye Chen nodded without saying anything. If so many locusts were placed in a prosperous place like Jiangnan, the Great Yin Kingdom would be doomed.
After traveling for ten consecutive days, it was already early July when the grain delivery team arrived in Qi County. Chen Yue greeted them outside the city gate of Qi County, and "Brother" Chen Qiu jumped off the carriage.
"Didn't they say it would arrive by the end of June?"
Ye Chen got off the carriage and said, "It rained in Ning County and I was stuck there for two days, so I came late."
"Well, let's go directly to the county magistrate. We received your letter and everyone is waiting for my brother-in-law at the county government office."
"Well, Brigadier General Wang will go with us. He is the grain delivery officer this time. Qiu'er, you and Xing'er go home first. We may not be able to go back until later." Ye Chen asked Chen Qiu to go home first, and he followed Chen Yue and the grain team to the county government office.
"Here they come, here they come," when Ye Chen and his companions entered the city gate, someone had already gone to the county town to report to the leaders of Qi County. When they saw the long line of food, it seemed as if they saw hope for surviving this year.
Chen Qiu and Xing'er rode all the way to the general's mansion, which was closer to the military camp. Chen Qiu's mother, Wang, and the grandparents of the Shen family were waiting outside the gate. When they heard the "clatter of horse hooves", a smile appeared on Wang's face.
When Chen Qiu stood in front of her, he had another blaming expression on his face, "You're already married and still so unstable. How could you leave your child alone at home? Why did you come here on horseback? Didn't you take a carriage?"
Chen Qiu smiled and waited for her mother to finish saying these words, then she knelt down in front of Wang and kowtowed, "Mom." Chen Qiu had been married for more than a year, and she sent her mother off the next day after returning to her parents' home. This was the first time she had seen her in more than a year. Although she would return to Kyoto every year before and stay away for more than half a year, at that time, there were dates for her departure and return every year. If it weren't for the locust plague this time, Ye Chen came to deliver grain on behalf of the emperor to patrol, and she didn't know when she would see these relatives again.
He kowtowed to Wang and then to the grandparents of the Shen family before he stood up. At this moment, all the fatigue from the journey seemed to disappear.
"How is An An? Is she doing well at home? I heard from your brother that you've grown quite fat. Although chubby kids look cute, they can't be too fat. The child of a captain of the police in the county government was too fat. The folds of his arms and legs were festering." Wang pulled Chen Qiuju and started nagging, but Chen Qiu didn't feel impatient at all. Maybe she would be fine in a few days. Who cares? It's fine now. She can talk about it later if she likes it.
"Mom, I want to eat fried cakes (a way of eating millet) and kaoluoluo (a way of eating oats from the northern Loess Plateau)." Chen Qiu leaned on Wang's shoulder and acted coquettishly.
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