As soon as it was dawn, Liu Pei summoned the guards and asked, "Is there any news from the direction of Jinan recently?" ”

The guard said, "There's news. It's already in the handsome's study. ”

Liu Pei sent the guards and went directly into the study, and sure enough, he saw a stack of documents on the table. After Liu Pei finished writing a few documents, there was only one report left, and this report was the report on the locust plague in Jinan.

After Liu Pei opened the file and browsed it carefully, his heart sank. The locust plague was worse than he had expected. He thought that it would take at least ten days for the locusts to form a colony, but he didn't expect that he had miscalculated. Less than ten days after he returned to modern times, the countryside around Jinan and Yanzhou had already shown signs of locust plagues.

The villagers have been trying to find a way to kill the locusts, but there are too many locusts to achieve much success. As for the government, there has been no action. Liu Pei knew that even if the government made a move, it might be too late. Since locusts appear on the surface, it means that they are gradually transforming from larvae to adults. Within a few days, they will be able to fully grow into adult worms. Then there will be an overwhelming army of locusts that will devour everything.

Thinking of this, Liu Pei immediately pulled the rope hanging down from the roof. The end of the rope was in the guard's room, and a bell was tied to it. As soon as the bell rang, the guards knew that it was Liu Pei who was summoning.

After a while, one of the guards pushed the door in and saluted, and said, "Commander, what do you command?" ”

Liu Pei pointed to the pile of documents on the table and said, "Send these documents to the Government Affairs Yuan." In addition, let Fang Degang come to see me immediately. ”

The guard stepped forward to pick up the papers and transfer them out. A moment later, Fang De just pushed the door and entered. The Government Council sounds magnificent. But in fact, it was just a small courtyard next to Liu Pei's residence. After all, Liu Pei has too little territory in his hands now, and he doesn't need many people. But in a few days, Fang Degang and the others will move to the Ryukyus, and that's where they can show their skills.

As soon as Fang De entered the door, he said, "Dashuai, you are looking for me." ”

Liu Pei said: "Brother Guiren, hurry up and come in and sit." ”

As soon as Fang De came in and sat down, the guards brought tea and left. Liu Pei picked up the teacup and said, "Brother Quy Ren, how have you done to control locusts in various villages during this time I have been away?" ”

Fang Degang said with a smile: "It's all arranged!" I didn't go myself, but I let my guards walk around. He said that the implementation was good everywhere! Speaking of which, I have to say that Dashuai is very far-sighted! ”

Liu Pei smiled and said, "Oh, why do you say that? It's rare to hear you compliment me! ”

Fang Degang laughed and said: "The marshal sent those disabled soldiers below to be the village head and the head of the militia

It's really a stroke of genius! In the past, it was always difficult to carry out any orders from above, but when they reached the village level, it was always difficult to carry them out. Those village chiefs and village elders have a way to change your orders into a mess! But the people we sent don't worry about these things! It's very good at every glance. I think they still listen to government orders as military orders! ”

Liu Pei nodded and said, "The interests of these people are closely related to us. Naturally, there will be no disobedience to our orders. And those village chiefs and wise elders are different! They are more concerned about their own interests and the interests of their descendants. Forget it, don't talk about this. How are they doing to defend against the locust plague? ”

Fang Degang said: "They did a good job! Four fires are lit in each village at night. Each fire is guarded by five people to prevent water from going away. According to my guards, in the first few days of the fire, the locusts jumped desperately into the fire, all night long! It wasn't until he came back that there were many fewer of them. In addition, chickens and ducks are raised in each village, and all the chickens and ducks are released during the day. Someone guided the clean-up of the fields one by one, and it is said that the effect is also good. And the chickens and ducks have gained weight! ”

Liu Pei said: "You have to do it like this!" Once the locusts gather in swarms and fly, they can't be contained! You can only start to deal with locust plagues before they happen! In the future, the annual observation of locust growth must be listed as one of the necessary tasks of the village chief. ”

Fang Degang nodded and said, "I understand, I'll arrange it when I go back." ”

Liu Pei then asked, "How is Jinan Mansion doing now?" ”

Hearing Liu Pei ask this question, Fang Degang's face became serious. said: "Very serious! ”

Liu Pei frowned and said, "How serious is it?" ”

Fang Degang said heavily: "It's rare in a hundred years!" The people we sent asked many local long-lived farmers, and they all said that they had never seen so many locusts in all these years! ”

In fact, what you may not know is that the locust plague does not mean more than a billion locusts, but hundreds of millions of locust plagues. In fact, small-scale locust plagues have never stopped. It's just a spin up and down, and it hasn't been recorded in the history books.

China's land is so big that it is rare in the world. Therefore, the calamities of various places naturally come and go. It may sound like a natural disaster, but in most areas there are no incidents. But the disasters that can enter the history books are not small disasters! If you put it on a small country, you can destroy the country!

Liu Pei sighed and said, "Does the government have any moves?" ”

Fang Degang sneered and said, "How can they move? They are now stockpiling grain and harming the people with those merchants! Dashuai, do you know how much food is a stone in Jinan City now? ”

As soon as Liu Pei heard it, he knew that the price was naturally not low, so he said tentatively: "Five taels of silver? ”

Fang Degang stretched out his hand and gestured and said, "Eight taels and one stone!" Or multigrain! ”

Liu Pei slapped the table angrily and said loudly: "What are these bastards going to do?" Killing? ”

Don't blame Liu Pei for scolding. Eight taels of silver is nothing for the rich, but for the small people, it is a huge number! Many people work hard all year round and can't earn two or three taels of silver. But now that the price of food has reached eight taels and one stone, how can these small people who have no savings survive? Don't forget, the locust plague has just begun, and the time for food prices to soar is still to come!

Fang Degang said: "In addition, I got the news that the grain depot of the government is empty, and there is not a grain of grain!" I'm afraid I won't be able to help the victims! ”

Liu Pei said in surprise: "How is this possible? Even if they are corrupt, they can't swallow all the food, right? ”

Fang Degang said: "I'm afraid we all underestimate these people!" Don't forget, a while ago, the thieves of the Wenxiang Sect rose up, and the government transported a large amount of food from the treasury to supply military supplies in order to quell the thieves. He also borrowed a lot from the rich. In the past few years, during the autumn harvest, all the grain has been returned to those rich households. No matter how big and small the officials put their hands on it, it's no wonder that the grain in the treasury is not empty! ”

At this point, both of them fell silent. Both were horrified by the terrible vision of the future. This time, I'm afraid that I will starve all over the place, and I will be thousands of miles away!

After a while, Liu Pei said in a deep voice: "Have we sent out all of our people?" Did the traffickers communicate well? ”

Fang Degang said: "No problem, I personally grasped these things." Three grain cantonments were secretly set up along the way. Along the way, the places where the victims ate were all in the wilderness, and it was not easy to be discovered. Makeshift camps and trestles by the sea have also been erected. The traffickers also contacted a group of people, and if they bought people who met our requirements, they would send them directly to the direction. ”

Liu Pei looked at the map on the wall, sighed and said, "There is no good way, I can only do my best and obey the destiny of heaven!" ”

Fang Degang also sighed and said, "That's the only way!" ”

Then the two of them looked at each other and were speechless.

The reason why we had to build temporary camps and trestle bridges was because not all the victims brought from Jinan, Dongchang and Yanzhou would be brought to Jiaozhou. Some of the victims would board a ship at the junction of Yanju and Qingju and go straight to the Ryukyus. Although the sea route from there became longer, the victims had to travel more than 100 miles less by land. Maybe if you don't walk more than 100 miles, many people will survive. If you can make it to the Ryukyus, it will become a new home for the victims of the disaster.