The locust plague in the 22nd year of the reign of Wei State, starting from Dai County, affected Shanggu County, Fanyang County, Youbeiping County, Jixian County, Guangyang County, Jingyouzhou Prefecture, all the way to the northeast, and then passed through Changli County, Xuanwu County, Lelang County, Daifang County, Liaoxi County, and finally went all the way north from Liaodong County to the border and entered the Turks. More than 80 counties in 12 counties in Youzhou were all affected, and nearly 50,000 households and more than 200,000 farmers became victims.

The court received excerpts from the disaster one after another, while the entire court was arguing over the opening of the warehouse for soup kitchens and tax reduction. More than 200,000 victims were disregarded.

In the north of Xinchang County, the villagers who served with Lijia Village certainly saw the insect plague in the sky. They were all so frightened that they fell to the ground. They are not only worried about themselves, but also about their families. There are even some cowardly ones, and they wet their pants and cry non-stop. For a time, the entire military station was in chaos.

After the insect plague, the people who served in the service fled home in a panic wherever they could stay in the service station.

The yacha guarding the service was frightened stupid when the insect plague came, and he hid in the shed and didn't even dare to go out, and where could he stop the irritable villagers.

When everyone ran out, they came out of the shed, ran back to the county office, and reported the matter to the county magistrate. But at present, the entire Xinchang County is surrounded by red cliffs for thousands of miles, and there is not even grass to be seen on the wasteland, so how can anyone care about going to the village to arrest these villagers who have escaped service. The county commander was busy writing a memo stating the disaster situation and strengthening the city defense, and all the officials and soldiers in the county government went to guard the city gate to prevent a large number of disaster victims from pouring in.

The villagers in Lijia Village also fled back with them, and dozens of people didn't even return home, so they went directly to the fields to see the crops. Dozens of people seemed to have been pointed, and they didn't move at all.

They could not have imagined that the field was not completely bald, and that they could still see the crops that were growing well. When they came to their senses, everyone sat down on the edge of the floor with joy and cried. The village is and the daughters-in-law and children in the village also rushed over when they got the letter, and at this moment the happy crying of the fields resounded in the sky over the entire Lijia Village.

At this time, it was difficult for the village to send people to service, so they had to gather everyone in the ancestral hall.

The villagers all got the letter from their daughter-in-law, knowing that they could keep these crops this time thanks to the village is letting everyone burn firewood and set off cigarettes, and the words of gratitude continued, "Uncle Zheng of his village, I have listened to the mother-in-law of the family, if you didn't bring a pile of firewood to smoke, we wouldn't even have stuttered!" ”

"Yes, I ran all the way back, and there was not even a single grass on the side of the road. I was so scared that I wouldn't even leave. Na Cheng thought, but there are still dozens of acres of land left in this family. ”

"Yes, Uncle Zheng of his village, you saved the lives of my family!" When the villagers talked about their excitement, they would cry a few times.

Listening to these words of thanks, Muramasa felt hot in his heart and smiled on his face, but he knew in his heart that this idea was not what he thought at all, so he had to divert the words, "Okay, I didn't do this alone." When you come back now, you don't know what the county is like, the land is still dry, so you all rest and hurry into the mountains to find water. I still have to catch a car to the county seat. ”

"Uncle He's in the village, I'm afraid! The people on the service have long run out, and even the officials are nowhere to be seen, how can anyone remember us! ”

"That's it, I'm saying that I'm not going to suffer that tiredness anymore!"

Although the villagers said so, the village still drove the ox cart into the city, and did not see the county order, but only listened to the transcript of the meaning of the county order, so that the villages and villages were taking care of their own villagers and not making trouble. got the quasi-letter, and Muramasa was relieved.

At this time, the men of Lijia Village have returned, and dozens of acres of harvest have been preserved in the field, and every household is more lively than the New Year.

Saburo and Shiro haven't been there since they came home from the prefectural school. Situ Yan estimated that the entire Liaodong County had been hit by the disaster, and there must be people everywhere outside, and it was not safe to go out.

The two of them stayed at home for a while, so they followed Situ Yan into the mountains to find water, and even tried to dig up the mountain soil to get water, and finally filled the seven water cellars in the backyard and official fields. After another ten days of busyness, all the three acres of dry land in the backyard were planted with buds, and then all 60 acres of wheat were harvested. This time, Situ Yan's land was harvested more than a month earlier than that in the same village, and the people in the village ran to the ground every day these days, especially Li Dalang's land, which had already gotten the letter, knowing that this insect plague, Li Dalang's family kept the most land, and the curious and gossip never stopped.

At this time, I saw that Li Dalang's family had harvested so much wheat so early, although there was envy, but more was jealous. For a while, Situ Yan and Li Dalang became the topic of conversation in the village again. Every household is talking about it, and even the previous few people who collected insects made people turn it out and chew it.

Li Daniu's house, Cao's heard the letter, and deliberately went to Li Dalang's field to take a look, looking at the piles of bundles of wheat and gritting his teeth fiercely. When he got home, he called Li Erzhu and Li Sanzhu, "Old son, what do you call this, everyone in this village lights a fire and smokes, why do we collect the least in our fields?" Those shameless stinky boys got so much wheat, and they didn't know who sent them to honor and honor his grandmother, a few of them had no conscience, and they didn't want to think about who brought them up! ”

Li Erzhu is working in the field these days, and taking care of his terminally ill daughter-in-law, so tired that he doesn't even want to speak, he will listen to his mother's nagging, and he just squats on the ground by the kang with his head down, just smoking dry tobacco.

Li Sanzhu was also angry in his heart, but he didn't face Li Dalang, but blamed his mother for being stingy, and the village repeatedly told him that he must pour some oil on the firewood to light the fire. But her mother was so distressed that she couldn't even eat it on weekdays, so she was willing to use it to light the fire. But it's too late to regret it at this time, the firewood can't be lit, if it weren't for the smoke in someone else's field, he is afraid that he won't be able to keep even ten acres of land. Moreover, unlike his mother's jealousy, for Li Dalang and Situ Yan, Li Sanzhu wants to stammer more.

But where did Li Sanzhu dare to say this to his mother, for fear that his mother would whip him with the sole of his shoe again, "Mother, my family's land is at the entrance of the village, and the insects will eat our family's crops first, and we are protecting the villagers from disasters." ”

"Oops! Really, you loser's thing, why didn't you say it earlier? No, I have to go to the village and say that every family in this village has to give us a stone of food to thank you, otherwise I won't be done with them! Cao Shi knocked the dry smoke, pulled his shoes and went out.

Li Sanzhu pursed his lips, he told his mother that he had also made this plan, thinking that he could ask the people in the village for some food, but he was not as greedy as the Cao family, and the family also lost what his mother said, anyway, if this thing was not successful, there would be no loss to their family, so his mother would go to the village to make trouble.

How can the village stay at home at this time, every day is early in the morning, and it is not dark and not at home, Cao's came to the door, and naturally pounced, and he went several times without seeing anyone. I had to take a break for a while, and then make trouble after the autumn harvest, but she thought about it, and if it was a big deal to open an ancestral hall, she didn't believe that she would have food. It's just that before the Cao family made a fuss, another big incident happened in the village.

Cao's calculations in their hearts, where would Li Dalang and Situ Yan know that they were busy grinding the dried wheat these days, and this time the drought was severe, and they caught up with the insect plague, so they only got 3,600 catties of white flour, 1,800 catties of black flour, and 600 catties of wheat bran. That's when she settled down. Taking advantage of Li Dalang's few ploughing and fertilizing, and the lack of beans, he put all the grain and grass into the ring, and told the four brothers of the Li family that all the grain was collected by the grain shop in the county and exchanged for silver money.

Li Dalang has learned a lot from Situ Yan and books these days, and he can also see the jealousy in the eyes of the villagers. I think it's good that the little sister can sell all the grain, and the villagers won't fight their family if they don't have food.

Lijia Village has kept part of the crops, and the villagers have stayed at home safely, and no one has gone into the city to make trouble, but more than 10 villages in Xinchang County have all been affected by the disaster, and the villagers who have lost their livelihoods have no food in their homes, and all of a sudden they have become victims of the disaster and flock to Xinchang County.

The county commander sat in the county office and was in a hurry, and before the imperial court's decree arrived, the victims of the county gathered outside the city, and the defenders of Xinchang County let the defenders of the border city pull them to the border city. This side of the city was also affected by the same disaster as Xinchang County, but there were strong Turks outside there, and there were people attacking the city inside, and the captain of the defending army was more urgent than his county order.

The county magistrate and the secretary, the master, the household, the soldier and other officials all gathered in the yatang, and several people discussed for a few days, except for closing the city gate, there was no way at all.

"Open a granary soup kitchen!" If the warehouse is not opened, the victims outside the city gate will attack the city, once the hungry people enter the city, not only the granary can not be held, but I am afraid that these shops in the city will also suffer. Moreover, there are only a few "people" left in the county government now, and it is impossible for such a few people to defend the entire county.

"No, sir! The imperial court has not yet issued an order, if the granary is opened privately, it will be a crime of collaborating with the enemy, and the nine clans will be destroyed! "The county doesn't want to lose his life for the sake of some victims.

"I am the order of a county, listen to me in this matter, if the court condemns the crime, I will bear it alone. The master took two messengers with him, and first went to post the list and give porridge at noon every day to appease the victims. The assistant secretary, the soldier and the rest of the officials are responsible for opening the warehouse and boiling porridge, so let's do it! ”

"Your Excellency, you can't just go your own way, please forgive me for not being able to agree with your approach!" The county was so angry that he threw up his sleeves and left, returned to his house and wrote a note directly, which was sent to the capital in an expedited manner for eight hundred miles, and secretly participated in a copy of the county order.

After waiting all these days, the victims have long since lost their patience and are clamoring to start storming the city gates. Fortunately, at this time, the master led people out of the city to post the list, and the official messenger stayed in front of the list to explain to the victims. When the victims heard that they were going to open a warehouse for soup kitchen, they suddenly boiled, cried and knelt on the ground, and kowtowed in the direction of the county seat. It is also thanks to the Xinchang County Order to deal with the emergency, otherwise the city gate will be lost at this time.

The text of the list writes the time of the daily soup kitchen, and it is limited to the good people of the county, and the porridge can only be received by the village with the household book. Anyone who impetudes or makes trouble shall be punished with 30 rods, and all his family members will be exiled for 3,000 li.

The victims of the disaster can stutter, they are already grateful, how can anyone still make trouble. With the decree of the county order, Xinchang County finally survived July safely.

The villagers of Lijia Village took advantage of this peaceful period to harvest all the crops in the field, and some families even learned from Li Dalang to plant horse feed beans to fertilize the land. It's just that the villagers don't know that this horse feed bean man can also be eaten.

The righteous act of the Xinchang County Decree was naturally impeached and used by some unconscious officials, but the Emperor of Wei only believed in slander, and a holy decree dismissed the Xinchang County Decree on the spot and exiled him for 3,000 li, even his family was not spared. On the day the county magistrate was escorted away, the county magistrate was promoted to a higher level and sat in the position of the county magistrate. The first decree sealed the granary of the government and demolished the porridge shed outside the city. By the time the villagers got the letter the next day, the county order had been taken out of Xinchang County and exiled to the northwest.

The victims of the disaster have run out of food and have no food again, although they have not eaten enough these days, but at least they can still live, and now there is no way to live, how can people still have reason, they have picked up their own farm tools and killed the county.