But he knew very well that the villagers listened to him so much because he had the ability to feed the villagers.
It can be said that since he took over as village chief, the villagers of Zhulin Village have not been hungry, although they have not eaten well.
But he couldn't guarantee it this year. When the locust plague came, the crops in the fields seemed to have been razed to the ground. Not to mention food, there was not even a leaf to be found.
Now he regretted not listening to what the informant who came to the village said.
They said a locust plague was coming and asked everyone to harvest early.
When he heard this, his first reaction was that someone had nothing to do after eating and was making up rumors. This kind of person must be arrested by the government. Not to mention imprisonment, he would definitely be beaten with dozens of sticks.
Of course, he didn't take it seriously, and the villagers just treated it as a joke and didn't take it to heart at all. They just continued to do what they had to do.
What he and the villagers did not expect was that a locust plague really came soon after.
At this time, the villagers regretted their decision and started to harvest in the fields with tools. However, the locusts were too fast. As soon as they harvested the edge of the field, all the crops were eaten by the locusts.
The villagers' freshly harvested rice, before they could even bring it home, became a meal for the locusts.
The key is that the villagers watched helplessly as the fruits of their months of hard work were reduced to nothing in an instant. How could they bear it so much that they fought desperately to kill the locusts and seek revenge on them.
But the locusts in a locust plague are not so easy to deal with. If they were in the wild, you could catch them however you wanted.
However, the locusts were so overwhelming that human power was unable to cope with them, and many people in the village were injured while trying to catch locusts.
This has placed a heavy burden on families that were already not well-off.
Because there were so many injured people, even if he wanted to help, he didn't dare to step forward.
Although his family lived the best in the village and had saved the most money, it was all his and he couldn't just give it away to help the villagers.
As a result, the injured villagers, instigated by someone, all came to his door and begged him for help.
He is just the village chief, not a doctor, how can he save lives?
At this time, a villager asked to borrow money. How could this be possible? His family's money was not blown by the wind, so how could he lend it out casually?
What's more, they are a bunch of low-class people who can't even afford a few dollars. How can they possibly pay him back? What can they use to pay him back?
But these are all what he thinks in his heart, and he must never say them out loud. Not only can he not say them out loud, but he also has to appease them well, otherwise where can he find so many obedient people to satisfy his "official addiction".
Seeing that more and more people were kneeling at his doorstep, he had no choice but to compromise and asked his son to go to the town to get some medicine for the wounds.
A large pot was set up in the village threshing ground to boil medicine. Since everyone was bitten by locusts, they naturally had to drink the same medicine.
He didn't care whether drinking it helped or not. Anyway, he had used the money to buy medicine and could shut the villagers up.
What he didn't expect was that just when he solved the problem of villagers bitten by locusts, there was another food crisis.
In previous years, even if the harvest was not very good, he could still have enough to eat half full. In addition, he led his men to grab a few pieces of grain, so he didn't have to worry about going hungry.
But when the locust plague came, all the crops in the fields were eaten by the locusts. It was impossible to get away with it by just grabbing a few pieces of food.
Besides, he obviously felt that he was getting older this year and his health was not as good as before. He could no longer rob things from far away places like he did in previous years.
However, the current situation in the village is not optimistic. If he still wants to have absolute authority in the village, he must find a way to get enough food before winter comes.
After all, once winter comes and heavy snow falls, it’s not easy to go out.
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