Li Xiaofei couldn't hold it back, poked his head out of the river, exhaled a few breaths, his scalp was a little itchy, he reached out and picked down more than a dozen flying locusts, and then saw that the original grassland by the river was gone, and the water on the ground was full of locusts. There were more locusts in the sky that covered the sky, constantly falling down with some black scum.

Murong Ling also came out of the water: "Hurry up!" ”

The two of them ran to Zhangjia Village wet and wet, along the way there were brave people beating gongs and drums to scare the locusts away, some people found firewood and grass to light them to smoke away the locusts, and more people hid in their homes with the doors and windows closed and got into the quilt to wait.

Li Xiaofei and Murong Ling watched as these people desperately tried to drive away the locusts, but the locusts that were smoked to death were only a very small part, and more were still grazing on the grass and a few crops unscrupulously.

The two of them still didn't join these brave people, but quickly ran back to their homes, fortunately, Zhu Xuehua and Hongrui closed the doors and windows and hid in the quilt. Murong Ling pulled Li Xiaoyue up the bamboo building, and went down from the bamboo building to the back room.

As soon as the four of them met, before the two girls asked them to change their clothes, Murong Ling urged them to leave here quickly.

Li Xiaofei disagreed: "This place has already suffered a disaster, how can the people in this village and city survive?" I can't leave them."

Hongrui and Zhu Xuehua also felt that Li Xiaofei was right, so they also asked Murong Ling to stay.

Murong Ling asked rhetorically: "Do you have food or medicine in your hands, after the locusts, then there will be famine and pestilence, what is the use of you staying?" ”

Li Xiaofei also-for-tat: "Aren't you the descendant disciple of Doctor Li?" We follow you to find medicine."

Murong Ling smiled bitterly: "The medicine is not here, and after a while, people will have nothing to eat, and it will be useless if there is medicine." We will go back to Luoyang now to raise food, maybe it's still too late! ”

The four of them were silent for a while, and Li Xiaofei held Murong Ling's hand: "Murong, you take them to Luoyang, I'll stay!" ”

Murong Ling looked at Zhu Xuehua and Hongrui: "Let's go"

Hongrui hugged Li Xiaofei: "I'm not leaving, you two can go"

Li Xiaofei turned around and was anxious: "Sister, you are pregnant, you have to go to Luoyang, there are many people in the palace to take care of you"

Murong Ling glanced at the house: "It's okay to stay, you husband and wife can also have a good reunion, and the things accumulated in this yard are enough to support a year."

Murong Ling took out a cyan bottle from his arms and handed it to Li Xiaofei: "Save your life!" ”

Li Xiaofei caught it with both hands, Murong Ling pulled Zhu Xuehua and turned around and left, Zhu Xuehua turned back with tears: "Sister, Brother Li, cherish!" ”

After Murong Ling took Zhu Xuehua away, Li Xiaofei also went to Shouxian County to discuss countermeasures with Taishou Xiao An. Lord Xiao An was kneeling outside the City God Temple with a group of scholars to recite the Book of Filial Piety, all of them were crawling with locusts, and the people in the city were also kneeling on the ground and praying to God to end this disaster.

Li Xiaofei stepped forward to pull Xiao An, but was stopped by everyone: "Don't offend the gods, kneel down and ask the gods for forgiveness"

Li Xiaofei was pressed and knelt on the ground by a group of people, and he couldn't get up when he wanted to, so he could only kneel in the crowd together.

The locusts that covered the sky were still flying around in the sky, and some began to eat people's clothes. In the evening, the people kneeling on the ground were unclothed, and some of the people who recited the Book of Filial Piety began to faint and fall to the ground, and their voices were hoarse. At this moment, all the locusts on the ground flew up and gathered in the sky, lightning and thunder began to roar in the distance, and the sky became dark, and countless locusts turned into a large black cloud with no end in sight and flew towards the east.

"Manifestation!"

"Lord Xiao's sincerity touched me for three days! We are saved! ”

"No, it was the piety of the people who moved Heaven and saved us!" Xiao An retorted

Everyone rejoiced, and surrounded the dying Xiao An to return to the mansion.

Li Xiaofei's pestle was speechless in place, it was clear that the locusts flew away when they had nothing to eat, and at this time it became everyone's merit.

Li Xiaofei went to Xiao An again a few days later to discuss the preparation of food for disaster relief, but Xiao An prevaricated with the imperial court.

Li Xiaofei had no choice but to find Meng Crow and Huang Banxian, but their business became even more prosperous. It turned out that a lot of locusts that had not flown away had attracted the birds that had hidden in the mountains and forests earlier and did not dare to come out, and this time the birds really died for food. The people who hunted birds were very busy, and they got more and more money, so no one cared that Shou County had just suffered a locust plague. It was also Shou County Taishou Xiao An who led the people to drive away the locusts and protect the lives of a county, and the court also issued a decree to commend them.

Li Xiaofei noticed that the carcasses of many locusts began to turn black and moldy, and the black scum that had fallen was washed into the river by the rain, and the water also had a strange smell. Li Xiaofei returned to Zhangjia Village and re-drilled a well, but it was too late, and many people began to fall into their homes with sweat, vomiting and diarrhea.

Overnight, there was a strong smell of decoction in the sky above Shou County, and every family was sick, and the birds could not be caught. Soon, Shou County was full of mourning, and many new graves were piled up outside the city.

At first, Emperor Liu Xuan asked, Xiao Shan and others only said that there were occasional locust plagues in several counties, and the imperial court could allocate money and grain for disaster relief. Later, many people fell to the ground at the gate of Jinling City, unable to hide it, Liu Xuan finished reading the three-foot-high recital, tried his best not to tremble, looked at the ministers who were indifferent with red eyes, picked up a book of recitals and read it:

"On the third day of the fifth month, the plague in Shou County, countless people died, and 3,000 people died in the household"

"On the twenty-fifth day of April, the locust plague in Chuzhou was lost"

"May 13, Yuzhang flood, 10,000 dead, no harvest"

"On May 18, Jingzhou was flooded, ten counties sank, hundreds of thousands of people died, and the harvest was lost"

"On the first day of June, Xuzhou was dry for March, and the harvest was out"

"On the third day of the first month of June, Fuyang, Liyang, Changshan, and Fanyang suffered a severe drought and failed to harvest"

"On the eighth day of June, Yecheng, Yunzhong, Shuozhou, and Chang'an suffered from a severe drought and no harvest"

The ministers knelt on the ground and listened quietly, waiting for the meeting to end.

Liu Xuan read half of it, and threw the rest of the recitals below: "You and others are all officials for several generations, and when this country is in trouble, no one is willing to save the country and relieve the disaster!" The imperial court has supported the family for 300 years, how can the family serve the country? “

Yuan Kang was the first to raise his head and answer: "The locust plague in the world is flooding, the locust plague and the plague are spreading, it must be the immorality of the imperial court, which angers the heavens, so it causes disasters, Your Majesty immediately edicts himself, and then takes hundreds of officials to fast for five days and burn incense and pray to seek forgiveness from God."

Qin Tianjian Zhou Fang also raised his head and answered: "The minister watched the sky at night, and saw that the emperor star was obscure, and there was a disaster star invading the Central Plains, which is a sign of the loss of morality of the king!" “

Liu Xuan almost fell from the throne, it was clear that these families sat back and watched the disaster spread and refused to provide relief, but now it has become the emperor's own crime. Before Liu Xuan could speak, Xiao Shan also spoke: "Your Majesty has been prosperous since he ascended the throne, but he has not had any heirs so far, so Taizu Taizong and other ancestors have spirits in the sky to warn Your Majesty with disasters, and Your Majesty will be exempted from disasters because of the accumulation of virtue!" “

This is obviously forcing the palace, and Liu Xuan couldn't help it at this time: "All parties are guilty, the sin is bowing, Keer and others sit back and watch the world suffer disasters and refuse to pay a single money for disaster relief, is it a virtuous person?" Where are the Yellow Guards? Lock the door of this temple today, if you refuse to donate money for disaster relief, I will burn your jade and stones! “

More than a hundred yellow-clothed guards immediately poured out, drew their swords and surrounded the ministers, Xiao Shan laughed: "Your Majesty is a smart son of heaven, you should know that without this family, there will be no big beams, Your Majesty wants to hold the minister hostage, this is infamous in the history books!" “

Liu Xuan didn't care about this at this time, and for the first time in the three years since he ascended the throne, he showed the majesty of the Son of Heaven: "I don't care about the infamy behind me, you can bear it if you are greedy for money and power, and I can bear it if you attack me without heirs, but now that the people of the world have suffered a catastrophe that has not been encountered in a century, you can be indifferent, I can't bear it!" What I did today, I prepared for the worst. I don't hide it from you, I have sent the edict of Liu Jian, the king of Han, as the crown prince to various places, and you will be able to get out of the main hall in a while, I believe you can also see it in Jinling City! If something happens to me, King Han will avenge me after he succeeds to the throne! “

At this moment, Xiao Shan, who was still aggressive just now, softened suddenly, and the rest of the people were dumbfounded, after all, no one expected that this puppet emperor who had been on the throne for three years would actually send out the edict of establishing King Han as the crown prince under their noses. But all this is thanks to the substitution method they have come up with, and even the eyeliner spies of various families have found a replacement, and this substitute is naturally inferior to professional people, and it is very easy to buy. Liu Xuan has been hiding because the family is too powerful, and he doesn't want to get to the point where the fish is dead, but today, he has to take risks and have a showdown in advance.

Some ministers have begun to kowtow and confess their guilt, begging Liu Xuan for forgiveness, Xiaoshan, Xiao Ding, Xie Rui, and Yuan Kang looked at the yellow-clothed army standing with their swords drawn, and knew that it was really possible to be killed by this angry emperor in the court if they didn't bleed today.

The four knelt down in the front row and kowtowed to confess.

"Chen Xiaoshan is willing to give a million for disaster relief!" , Xiao Shan was the first to respond

"Minister Xie Rui sent out a million for disaster relief", and Xie Rui also followed

After the remaining ministers from 800,000 to 5,000 guan all expressed their positions and signed and postponed, Liu Xuan spoke: "Your loyalty can be seen, I immediately issued an edict against myself, and from this moment on, I will burn incense and pray with you in this hall." Qin Zhong, you take thirty internal guards with the list signed by the adults and my edict to collect the donations from the adults door to door, and then return to the palace to report after King Han leads the troops to Jinling to take over! Qin Gou'er, you take out the gold, silver and jade artifacts of my inner mansion and distribute them to the guards guarding the main hall, and you also bring all the inner eunuchs in the palace to guard outside the palace with weapons, and no one is allowed to go outside! ”

Everyone in the court began to tremble, not daring to look up at Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan saw Qin Zhong leading people out of the palace gate, and cried loudly, this cry, everyone in the hall was at a loss, but they were afraid of being killed, so they cried along.

Liu Xuan knelt in front of the throne and cried and shouted: "Ancestors and ancestors, Liu Xuan is not filial, this great country has become a hell on earth, and the dignified son of heaven is actually a puppet, defiling the blood of the ancestors and ancestors!" ”

The ministers were overjoyed, thinking that Liu Xuan would do something drastic after losing his temper, but Liu Xuan stood up again and pointed to the ministers in the palace: "I hope you understand that there can be no family and no emperor in this world, but there can be no people." The people of the saints are precious, the society is secondary, and the monarch is light, but you are more familiar with reading than me. ”

Everyone knelt down, not daring to respond, and at this time they were all fantasizing that their subordinates or doormen could enter the palace to save them.

They thought too much, Qin Zhong took the internal guards out and summoned the sons-in-law or wives of each family into the palace, these people did not suspect that one by one Qin Zhong led people into the prison, took off their jade jewelry and returned to the main hall.

Qin Zhong put away the jade pendant jewelry of each family, the courtiers all collapsed to the ground, Liu Xuan sneered: "Qin Gou'er, take a pen and paper, let the ministers write down the warrant, Qin Zhong will go again to get the donations of the adults."

Xiao Shan got up angrily: "Your Majesty, how different is your behavior from bandits, by the way, you forgot, Liu Jian, the king of Han, is my son-in-law, and when he comes with soldiers and horses, I'm afraid the emperor won't be able to be the son of heaven for a few days!" ”

Liu Xuan slapped the throne with a palm: "He, Liu Jian, is still a descendant of Emperor Taizu!" It's the blood of my Liu family, not your Xiao family! ”

This sound of interruption woke Xiao Shan from his dream, and Xiao Shan had no choice but to fall backwards and pretend to faint. Yuan Kang cried and begged Liu Xuan: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zuo has a sudden emergency, if he is not sent back for treatment in time, in case there are three long and two short, it will damage the reputation of His Majesty."

Liu Xuan summoned Qin Gou'er to come over, and Qin Gou'er carried a bucket of water and splashed it on Xiao Shan, who quickly got up.