Chapter 204 A Thousand Miles of Disaster Relief Pioneers

For Zhao and Ju, instead of the money in the inner treasury rusting in the palace, it is better to take it out and turn it into live money circulation. Since Gaozong crossed to the south, the emperor has accumulated a lot of money in the treasury, and Zhao and Ju have sent people to settle the accounts, Rao is that he has become accustomed to the tens of millions of numbers reported by Liuqiu, and he still can't help but exclaim.

"I'm not a miser, what's the use of keeping the money?" Zhao Heju smiled and said: "Wei Liaoweng too, I don't tell me directly about this kind of thing, but I go to you!" ”

"Wei Shangshu didn't mean to find a minister, but casually talked about it when discussing with the minister." Cui shook his head and said, "Wei Shangshu said that the price of rice in Lin'an City seems to be a little abnormal in the past two months. ”

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Zhao and Ju were very interested, as a traverser, of course he understood that what was hidden behind the price of rice was whether the country was stable. If the price of rice is high, it means social unrest, and if it is not a natural disaster, then there may be political turmoil.

Cui He was about to speak, when suddenly a waiter shouted in the distance: "Your Majesty, Xuzhou is in a hurry!" ”

Zhao Youju was stunned at first, and then said to Cui Youzhi: "Let's see what's going on in Xuzhou." ”

After Li Ye returned to Lin'an, Qin Dashi was transferred to Xuzhou and succeeded as the governor of Xuzhou, and his position in the front of the palace was taken over by Li Yunrui. Zhao Youju's plan is that although the several chief officers of the front division of the palace are given to those generals in the army, the middle level must be filled by the righteous young man, and after the righteous young man stays in the front of the palace for more than a year, he can be justified and sent to one side. This urgent performance from Xuzhou was the first letter from Qin Dashi after he took office, and he used it at the beginning, which surprised Zhao and Ju.

"Could it be that Jin Guo or Menghu is moving again? Menghu can't wait to come to me for revenge? Zhao Youju said lightly, unimpressed.

Xie Daoqing got his signal, and walked quickly away from the pavilion, and after a while, she came to present the recital. Zhao Youju motioned for her to step down, although Zhao Youju didn't say a word during the whole process, Xie Daoqing did it very much to his liking.

"A plague of locusts?"

After reading the letter, Zhao Heju was surprised.

Choi was also shocked, he shifted his body, trying to get closer, but still sat back in his seat.

For people at this time, the locust plague is almost a bad omen that is closely linked to tragedy. Moreover, locust plagues often occur at the same time as droughts, doubling the damage, and in an agrarian society, the lethality of such disasters can be imagined.

"Lao Chen's mouth ......" Seeing the Son of Heaven looking at him, Cui He smiled bitterly.

He was just saying that if there was a disaster, it would not be easy to rescue the disaster if he no longer recruited soldiers, but the report of the locust plague came immediately.

"It's just a sign of a locust plague, it's not enough to ......" Zhao Youju gave it to Cui He after watching the urgent performance, and comforted himself in his mouth. But he was only halfway through the sentence, and he didn't say any more, he was not the kind of person who couldn't stand the blow.

It seems that since the pro-government, his luck has run out, Menghu changed his original strategy and suddenly went south, so that half of Jingdong and Huaibei in the first quarter suffered from the war, and finally Menghu was eliminated, and the locust plague came to join in the fun. This year, Xuzhou's agriculture is basically in vain, and the newly built factories will inevitably face the dilemma of having no raw materials.

If there was no three-year gambling contract with Zhen Dexiu, Zhao Heju would not have taken it to heart, after all, the Song Kingdom now has overseas land, and it can still afford to suffer disasters on one or two roads. However, the first year of the three-year bet contract was wasted, which made him a little annoyed, if he didn't waste this year, he would overwhelm Zhen Dexiu with an absolute advantage, so that the master of science had to admit his shortcomings, which could be regarded as a happy thing.

"You must send locusts to hunt." After watching the rush recital, Cui He said calmly: "This matter must not be delayed, Your Majesty can urgently order the competent person to go." ”

Xuzhou is a special place, if it is another place, Cui He will directly recommend people, but in the land of Xuzhou, in order to avoid misunderstanding the Son of Heaven, he also imagined Xuanxuan to intervene here, he just suggested sending someone to supervise the locust hunting, but did not say who it was.

"It's not very useful to send someone to it...... Zhao Heju took a breath, it had happened, and there was no point in thinking about it, he thought about it for a while, and remembered the biological locust extermination method of later generations: "Yangzhou and Gaoyou duck eggs are very famous, and Huainan and Jiangbei are not people raising more ducks?" ”

"Why did the official ask this?" Cui He was stunned and said, it's not very useful to send people, why not send ducks?

"Some time ago, during the Dragon Boat Festival, I remembered that there were also Yangzhou duck eggs in the palace." Zhao and Ju Dao.

"Indeed...... Can ducks kill locusts? ”

Zhao and Ju also laughed, thought for a while, and said: "Chickens and ducks all feed on locusts, I don't remember where I have seen them, a duck can eat two hundred to four hundred locusts in one day when they are driven out to eat locusts in the morning." Naturally, the elimination of locusts by chickens and ducks is relatively slow, which is a long-term strategy, and the current emergency still requires manpower...... I only hope that Liu Quan, Fang Youcai and Qin Dashi can plan properly. I send another messenger ......"

Before he finished speaking, he heard the waiter shouting, "Your Majesty, you are in a hurry." ”

"Huh?" Zhao and Ju and Cui were all a little surprised, in the short time that the two of them were talking, they came a few times, which made the two feel strange. Especially Liuqiu, in the past, there were performances that came through their own exclusive channels, and they would not go through the procedures of officialdom, but this time they were presented by the inner attendants, not the front secretary of the palace - could it be said that there are also things like locusts?

Xie Daoqing didn't wait for the Son of Heaven to speak, so he went out silently and quickly, although until now, Zhao Youju still stayed away from her dignified and solemn expression, but he couldn't help but praise in his heart, although she had been by her side for a short time, she was already close to the level of Han Yu's servant.

Liuqiu's urgent performance was quickly sent to Zhao Youju, who opened it and looked at it, first shocked, and then overjoyed.

"Cui Qing, Concubine Yang is also happy." He raised his head to Cui and Zhidao.

He didn't show this urgent letter to Cui He, Cui He heard this, he was also full of joy, and left the seat to congratulate, but was pulled up by Zhao Heju: "How can it be a boy who has not yet been born, let the prime minister kneel and worship, Cui Qing still has to take care of his body, the prince of me, in the future, he must take Cui Qing as a teacher, at least Cui Qing's ability to obey people and things must be learned." ”

The unhappiness of the Son of Heaven was swept away, and he was in a good mood and even made a joke of himself, and Cui He was also very happy. The Great Song Dynasty has successively several sons of heaven are not prosperous, although the upper Emperor Ningzong has eight sons, but none of them can inherit the throne.

It's just that soon Zhao Heju was worried again, Yang Miaozhen was not by his side after all, and he had to suffer from the wind and waves while pregnant with a child, which made him extremely uneasy.

A bad news and a good news, the two reports spread in Lin'an City like they had long legs, the good news was that Zhao and Ju deliberately dispersed, and the bad news came from the businessmen in Xuzhou. Concubine Yang is also happy, which is naturally good for the people who look forward to the continuation of the Heavenly Family and the Kingdom for generations, but the locust plague in Huaibei makes them very uneasy. This year was supposed to be better, but why didn't God have long eyes?

While the people were muttering, a fast horse galloped up the canal.

Immediately the passenger twenty-three or four-year-old appearance, looking a little excited, he almost never sleeped, in the way of 800 miles of rapid reporting along the way to change horses, only two days from Lin'an to Xuzhou, to Xuzhou City, he has a thick layer of dust on his body, like a mud man.

Asked where the Xuzhou Governor's Mansion was, he urged the horse to come to the Governor's Mansion, if it weren't for his youth and strength, he couldn't even stand firm when he got off the horse.

"Where is Qin Chongde and Chief Qin?" He asked, gasping.

"I'm not in the house, I'm out on official business, your Excellency?" The guard at the door responded.

"I'm coming, I'll squint here for a while, and Qin Dashi will wake me up when he comes back." The man could not bear it, and he did not care where he was, but wrapped his cloak and slept in front of the governor's house. If he hadn't said "walk", the guards would have chased him away.

He was so tired from his journey that as soon as he lay down he snored, and the guards in front of the governor's house looked at him and at each other, with curiosity and wonder in their hearts.

I have never seen such a person, if you come on official business, you can call and ask for placement, at least there is always a bed.

They did not come from the Guards of Liuqiu, but from the Loyal Righteous Army, so I don't know who they were. If it was the guards who came from Liuqiu, they didn't know him, and they could guess his identity from his behavior.

At lunchtime, Qin Dashi came back from outside the city, and he rode more than ten times before he got off the horse, and immediately saw the man on the ground.

"The man said he was coming." The guard in front of the door replied.

"This is ......" He hesitated slightly, feeling that this person was familiar, but he didn't recognize it. In the four years of Liuqiu's great development, he lurked in Lin'an City, ready to protect and respond to Zhao Youju at any time, so it is inevitable that he is a little unfamiliar with the acquaintances who have changed rapidly in the past four years.

"Boss, it's Xu Feng and Xu Zixun, let's ask for one of the nine monsters!" A person from the sixth phase of Yixue next to him said with a smile.

"I haven't seen him for four years, I didn't expect him to change so much!" Qin Dashi smiled when he heard this, if Li Ye was here, he would definitely walk over and kick Xu Feng awake, but he didn't, but made a silent action to prevent the guards from waking him up. Immediately, everyone quieted down, and Qin Dashi motioned for everyone to go in, and he himself stood in front of the door and waited.

Looking at Xu Feng's sleeping appearance, Qin Dashi could imagine how tired he was on the way.

After a while, Xu Feng suddenly woke up, he opened his eyes that were still a little hazy, looked left and right, and then looked at Qin Dashi: "Senior Brother Qin!" ”

"Xu Zixun, I heard that you have become one of the nine monsters in Liuqiu?" Qin Dashi stretched out his hand, pulled him up, and said with a slight smile: "Today I can be regarded as a stranger to you, when you come to my door, you don't want anyone to find you a bed, and you can sleep on the ground - this is obviously looking down on me Qin Chongde!" ”

Xu Feng smiled a little abruptly, scratched his neck, and then suddenly stood up straight, and said quickly: "The Son of Heaven has an edict!" ”

Qin Dashi stood upright solemnly, and the Son of Heaven who sent it should have seen it, this Xu Feng was sent to summon him.

"The troops of the Guards stationed in Xuzhou, the troops of the Loyal and Righteous Army, and the troops of the cantonment and reclamation should immediately mobilize to fight the locusts, and they must block the locust plague north of the Huai River." Xu Feng said loudly.

Previously, Xuzhou was only a group of people who were sent to control locusts, and although there were migrant organizations that wanted to return, the effect was not very good. This locust is from Henan Province, night and day, it is the people of Huaibei in Xuzhou who actively kill it, but the number is still not reduced.

Hearing the Son of Heaven's order to mobilize the Guards and the Loyal Army, Qin Dashi replied solemnly: "Yes!" ”

"Without further ado, the Son of Heaven ordered me to coordinate this matter." Xu Feng didn't enter the mansion either, and asked bluntly: "Where is the place with the most locusts, I'll rush over immediately!" ”

Seeing his dusty appearance, Qin Dashi somewhat understood why he became one of the Nine Great Monsters of Liuqiu. He smiled and said: "Xu Zixun, it will take time for me to gather people, and it must be hard to see how you look this way, how about you eat a little food first, and then go out after I gather people?" ”

"You can also ...... You urge faster, in addition, find me a few master books, the Son of Heaven has some strategies to drive away locusts, I will dictate while eating, and they will post a list immediately after they write it down. ”

This Xu Feng looked like he was in a hurry, and Qin Dashi couldn't help but laugh, although he forgot to sleep and eat like this, although it was for official business, he was too self-suffering.

Zhao and Ju's strategy to drive locusts is not new in the Great Song Dynasty, Dong Xuan, who died only ten years ago, summed up a set of effective locust control strategies in the Ningzong Dynasty, Zhao and Ju mainly said these, but also slightly added some of the experience summarized in Xu Guangqi's "Removing Locusts" in the later generations. Xu Feng dictated while eating and drinking, and after eating and drinking, he was extremely anxious, and immediately got up and asked, "Have you gathered all the people?" ”

"It's all there." Qin Dashi stayed with him, listened to his question, and smiled.

Xu Feng felt strange in his heart, he didn't see what Qin Dashi ordered, and he didn't hear any sound outside, why did he say that it was all right. When he went out, he saw that in the small school field in front of the governor's mansion, more than 4,000 people stood with bated breath, although the sun was shining and sweating like a spring, no one made a sound.

When he came in, there was no one in the small school field, and he had never seen Qin Dashi give orders, and more importantly, he knew that Qin Dashi was here to take over Li Ye's position, and he had only been in office for a month, but the ability he showed to lead troops was amazing.

"It's no wonder that when the Son of Heaven was hiding in the dragon, he only ordered Senior Brother Qin to answer in Lin'an, and the famous generals of the ancient times were nothing more than that." Although Xu Feng was anxious, he couldn't help but praise him bluntly: "Little brother admires it very much!" ”

"Hehe, I just took Li Hanfan's hand." Qin Dashi smiled faintly, he didn't have much pride in his heart, although he was able to lead the troops to this point, and he could also see his personal ability, but it was Li Ye and Li Yunrui who trained these soldiers to the point of forbidden. He himself was also a little worried in his heart, Li Ye had merit in training and fighting, and if he took over his hands, if he was not careful, he was afraid that he would be criticized.

With the arrival of Xu Feng, the locust extermination in Huaibei and Jingdong was carried out rapidly, and the township community organizations with the return of farmers as the core of the grassroots were fully mobilized, and under the stimulus of the reward of exchanging a stone locust for a bucket of rice or in exchange for an equivalent gold yuan coupon, the people fought locusts day and night, not only the locusts in the area controlled by the Song State were sent to be burned, but also in the territory of the Jin State, there were also people who crossed the border and sent the locusts they had killed to the Song State.

This measure, coupled with Lu Xin's return of the property of the victims of the Jin Kingdom, really won a lot of popular hearts for the Great Song Dynasty, and the number of people who secretly crossed the border from the Jin Kingdom to the territory of the Song Kingdom to survive increased sharply.

Note 1: In the third year of Kim Zhengda, the locust plague in Jingdong and Henan is a historical fact.

Note 2: Dong Xuan died of illness in 1217, and there is a "Book of Saving the Famine", which is dedicated to how to deal with the famine.