Chapter 315: Not quite what he expected
Similar scenes to those in Zhounan Village appeared in every corner of Lingnan. However, the difference between Zhounan Village and Zhounan Village was that the people encouraging everyone had changed from the Su family to someone else.
As for how to deal with the captured locusts, different places have come up with many different ways.
Someone suggested burning a pile of grass directly in the wild, and placing the backpacks and bamboo baskets containing locusts on it for fumigation.
The locusts arrived faster than people imagined.
When people from all over Lingnan discovered young locusts appearing in the fields, they immediately reported it.
Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan received the news and made arrangements immediately.
The ducks raised at the Gulf Experimental Field, as well as the chickens, ducks, and geese from farms across the country, were all thrown into the army of locust extermination.
Even the pheasants raised in Jiang Tang's space joined the locust-killing army.
The chickens, ducks and geese, which were originally short of food due to the drought, became visibly fatter after eating a large number of locusts, and the hens, ducks and geese also began to lay eggs desperately.
This made all the workers who were raising chickens, ducks and geese laugh so hard that they couldn't stop.
Although these eggs do not belong to them, they will be given some rewards.
However, the locusts swarmed too quickly, and these chickens and ducks could not completely eliminate them. At this time, manual capture became the main force in eliminating the locusts.
The method of fumigating locusts to death in the wild was eventually adopted by various places and became the main method of fumigating locusts to death.
The villagers of Zhounanzhuang thought of using sea water to scald the locusts to death and then putting them in an oven to dry them.
Because it was difficult to get water, and the locusts were more difficult to dry after being scalded by hot water, the villagers quickly abandoned this method and used the more convenient method of fumigating them on the spot.
Of course, this method of killing locusts with boiling sea water and then baking them is not completely useless.
Some villagers who live near the sea and have easy access to water will also use this method when tools such as backpacks are insufficient.
When hunting locusts, not only were there not enough tools such as backpacks to carry the locusts, but even the nets prepared in advance to catch the locusts were not enough.
At this time, the nets Jiang Tangtang had asked the refugees to weave came in handy. While the government distributed the nets to the people, it also announced the purchase price of the locusts.
A pound of locusts can be sold for fifteen cents.
By then, the villagers had already tasted the sweetness of catching locusts. The locusts roasted in the oven were particularly fragrant, which made the villagers, who had been tightening their belts since the drought, very happy.
They all worked hard to catch locusts and then had a meal
If there are too many locusts to eat all at once, that's OK. You can grind them into powder and mix them with whole grains.
Whole grains with locust powder added to them are more filling than whole grains alone. The villagers treasured the locusts, and without even needing government incentives, they were already working tirelessly to catch them.
Because there were not enough nets to catch locusts, some villagers even took down their own mosquito nets in a hurry to catch locusts.
Of course, there were many conflicts, quarrels and fights caused by fighting over locusts.
After the patrol team caught several villagers who were fighting over locusts as examples, the following villagers immediately became obedient.
As for the sea rice, which was a key protected object, Lu Shiyan directly dispatched soldiers to form a smoke protection line made of straw piles soaked in sea water around the sea rice.
If the locusts are not driven away by the smoke and break through the defense line and rush into the rice fields, they will be caught by a fishing team composed of soldiers. In addition, farmers in the sea rice base will serve as the third line of defense and continue to catch the fish that have escaped the net.
We must make every effort to protect this hard-earned sea rice.
With such multiple protections, although sea rice suffered some damage, the losses were not great.
Similarly, the major families that own sea rice have also devoted themselves to the battle to kill locusts and protect rice.
There was a drought last year and there is another drought this year. I don’t know when this drought will end.
Even wealthy families are getting anxious.
The government's sea rice fields were guarded by soldiers, but they were not. Besides paying exorbitant fees to hire people to catch the locusts, Pei Yang and other members of the wealthy families also personally went to the countryside to fight the locust plague.
Witnessing with their own eyes how the Lingnan government led the people to turn a locust plague that could have driven countless people to despair into a food-grabbing campaign that was beneficial to the people, the major families were once again amazed.
At the same time, the Great Zhou, Western Rong, Rouran and other countries were all troubled by locust plagues.
Large tracts of fertile farmland in the Great Zhou Dynasty are now barren and no one cares about them. Not to mention the situation in Lingnan where officials personally take the lead in checking the fields. When they find locusts, they immediately send a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture and ask people to bring chickens, ducks, and geese to eat the locusts.
The locusts, left unchecked, grew like wild weeds and soon became a major threat. By the time the officials of the Great Zhou discovered the swarms, which had covered the sky and sun, they were already out of control.
Faced with the locusts that covered the sky, the Emperor of the Great Zhou had no other choice but to lose his temper.
More refugees flocked to Lingnan.
The locust plague was equally severe in the Western Rong, a nomadic people with little arable land. Like a storm, the locusts devoured the grass that had barely grown that spring, causing heavy losses for the herders, who had yet to recover from the drought.
Many herders lost their cattle, sheep and horses and became refugees.
Drought and war dragged this ambitious country into the abyss. The royal family of Xirong could not provide much food for disaster relief, and finally encouraged the people under them to flee to Lingnan.
The number of refugees outside Cangwu City is increasing every day.
Qi Hongshen, who personally pushed Lingnan into such a situation, pays close attention to the situation in Lingnan every day.
After receiving a message from a spy, Guo Shaoan was puzzled and asked, "Young Master, why hasn't Lingnan been in chaos yet?"
They deliberately brought refugees infected with the plague into Lingnan. The mixing of so many refugees infected with the plague was a catastrophe for any country.
However, their men held Cangwu for many days, and surprisingly, Cangwu did not become chaotic. According to the news they brought back, except for the closure of several routes from Cangwu to Lingnan, everything in the city was normal.
Even ordinary people in the countryside go catching locusts as if nothing happened.
To be honest, this was beyond Qi Hongshen's expectations. He pondered for a moment and said, "Still haven't seen Jiang and Doctor Xue leave the city?"
Guo Shaoan shook his head, "No."
Qi Hongshen said: "Arrange people to incite the refugees and make them riot."
"Young Master, I'm afraid it's difficult to encourage this. Although Jiang Clan didn't take doctors out of the city to treat the refugees suffering from the plague, they did send people out to deliver medicine every day."
Guo Shaoan shrank his neck in fear and lowered his voice. "Now, not only do the refugees from the Great Zhou see her as a savior, but even the refugees from our country worship her as a bodhisattva."
The refugees cursed the Xirong royal family and praised Jiang Tangtang, but he didn't dare tell him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
