He helped me one minute and then asked me to go to his residence the next. Refusing would be unreasonable, but not refusing would be difficult due to our respective statuses.
“Your Highness, I already have an appointment today. After returning to the city this afternoon, I need to visit Lord Yao Tianzheng’s residence. I will definitely repay Your Highness’s kindness today by visiting him another day!”
After speaking, Sun Jian clasped his hands in a fist salute and bowed again.
Seeing that his invitations had been rejected several times, the Second Prince was not angry and still had a smile on his face.
"In that case, I will not keep General Sun any longer. I will be waiting for General Sun at my residence in the coming days."
"Yes, sir!"
Sun Jian clasped his hands in a fist salute and bowed slightly, showing the Second Prince considerable respect.
The second prince laughed heartily, said nothing more, and turned to get into the carriage.
"General Sun, please remember our agreement..."
The honor guard returned, and the Second Prince's voice echoed in their ears.
Sun Jian sneered, watching the Second Prince's departing figure, and couldn't help but start to think.
"My benefactor... do you have a past relationship with the Second Prince, Prince Liang?"
Gu Hu was of lowly status and had no say in the conversation between Sun Jian and the Second Prince. But now that the Second Prince had left, it wouldn't be a problem to have a discussion.
"We can't really call ourselves old friends; this is only the second time we've met."
"And this is the first time we've spoken face-to-face!"
Sun Jian said calmly.
"hiss!"
Gu Hu looked at Sun Jian with disbelief.
Just how amazing is this benefactor of mine...?
This is only the second time we've met and the first time we've had a conversation, yet the Second Prince of Daqian, Liang Wang, has treated us so well!
This is just too outrageous!
"Hey kid, what's with that expression?"
Sun Jian rolled his eyes at Gu Hu.
Gu Hu scratched the back of his head. "This humble general just thinks you are an extraordinary person. Even a master like the Second Prince treats you with utmost respect..."
"Fortunately, nothing serious happened today."
Sun Jian sneered, "Ha, he's trying to win me over."
"Alright, we can discuss his matter later. It's getting late, let's hurry out of the city and head to the Imperial Estate."
"Yes, sir!"
Gu Hu nodded, and followed Sun Jian as he remounted his horse and left the city.
The soldiers guarding the city gate were the same group who had knelt and kowtowed to Sun Jian earlier, begging for mercy. At this moment, they dared not obstruct him in the slightest, and did not even dare to look Sun Jian in the eye, which shows how great the impact and shock of what had just happened was on them.
The two rode out of the city and soon arrived at an imperial estate in the east.
This imperial estate is very large, with a very flat and fertile land.
The straw left on the ground clearly indicates that the previous crop was harvested not long ago.
Sun Jian squatted down and examined the soil before secretly praising it.
"This royal estate is incredibly fertile and ridiculously large."
"It looks like all we need to do is dig up these straws and burn them on the spot. We can plant potatoes without even turning over the soil."
Sun Jian dusted off his hands and began to secretly calculate the manpower needed for planting potatoes in Huangzhuang.
"My benefactor, look at this..."
At that moment, Gu Hu suddenly pulled up a straw root, examined it carefully, and then called out loudly to Sun Jian.
"What's wrong?"
Sun Jian stopped thinking about the manpower issue and quickly squatted down to examine it.
You wouldn't believe it until you see it, and what you find is astonishing.
Sun Jian immediately gasped, staring at the base of the straw in his hand with a complicated expression.
At this moment, the straw root in my hand was densely covered with a large number of dark brown larvae.
"Bang!"
Upon prying open the base of the stem, it was found to be full of these things.
"These...these are locust larvae!"
Gu Hu exclaimed in surprise.
Sun Jian naturally knew that these were locust larvae. In his previous life, he had done a lot of farm work since he was a child, so he had naturally seen locust larvae before.
But I've never seen so many locust larvae on a single straw root before.
A locust plague is coming...
Sun Jian's heart skipped a beat. Although potatoes grow underground, their stems and branches are on the outside!
A small-scale locust plague may not have any impact, but once the locust infestation area becomes too large, no crop can withstand it!
"Quick, take a look at the others!"
Sun Jian and Gu Hu began to examine the other roots separately.
After several inspections, it was found that almost every root had a dense swarm of locust seedlings.
This situation is enough to illustrate the number of locusts.
Each root contained tens of thousands of larvae; the Huangzhuang area was so vast that the number of straw roots was countless. The number of locusts was practically innumerable…
This is not a small-scale locust plague; it is practically an unprecedented locust plague!
"Heavens! My benefactor...this..."
Gu Hu panicked at that moment, and his face twitched involuntarily.
Such a severe locust plague is rare in a century. Not only will crops fail, but the locusts may even devour all the flowers, grass, and trees when the locusts are at their worst!
Next year, the people won't even have tree bark to eat, let alone grain!
The number of people who starved to death was countless.
"This is troublesome!"
"Such a large number of locusts is unprecedented in the last hundred years."
"If not handled properly, tens of millions of people could lose their lives..."
Sun Jian stood up, his face solemn.
Based on his understanding from his previous life, this situation should be beyond the capabilities of people in this era!
Although he doesn't have any saintly heart, he still has people he cares about.
With such a severe disaster occurring, no one can escape it.
"My benefactor, if we burn these seedlings now, is there still a chance to avert this disaster?"
Gu Hu asked Sun Jian questions from the side.
Cold sweat was already streaming down his forehead without him realizing it.
"It's too late. This number is enough to prove that it's not just this area, but the entire area around Kyoto is full of locust larvae!"
"this……"
Gu Hu was speechless again, the words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know what to say.
"Return to the palace! This matter must be reported to His Majesty immediately!"
Sun Jian understood that this matter was urgent and that they still had time while the locust larvae were still growing.
The two men looked somber throughout the journey.
No one spoke.
They took a few straw roots back to their residence.
Without saying a word, Sun Jian entered the study, quickly picked up a brush, ground ink, and began writing a letter.
Logically speaking, it would be very difficult for Sun Jian to see the Emperor in person. Without a special summons, he would need to have a reason for the matter, apply for approval, and wait for the approval of the official. The official in charge of approval would decide whether to submit the application to the higher authorities based on the importance of the situation.
Even after approval, an interview time still needs to be scheduled.
Only by doing so can one have the opportunity to meet His Majesty.
Apart from that, only His Majesty can summon them personally...
Sun Jian had just finished writing the letter to His Majesty when he immediately took Gu Hu to Governor Yao's residence!
At this moment, we can only rely on Governor Yao's influence to report this matter!
The two moved very quickly, without even lingering at home for long.
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