Li Chengzong trusted Ma Zhou very much and immediately approved Ma Zhou's proposal to hunt and kill locusts. Ma Zhouzuo asked Li Chengzong to give an order, asking the people to light a fire in the field at night. When the locusts saw the light of the fire flying down, they concentrated on culling; At the same time, dig a big pit at the edge of the field and burn it while fighting.

But in this medieval era, feudal superstition still occupies people's hearts, so the culling of locusts in various places is not carried out thoroughly, and people are worried that if they kill locusts too much, they will be retaliated by locust immortals.

Moreover, the governor of Shezhou also wrote to Li Chengzong that the locust plague was a natural disaster, which could not be changed by manpower, and that it should be eliminated by praying for the sake of cultivating virtue. It is also said that when Liu Cong, the son of the Han Dynasty, there was also a locust plague, and people hunted and buried it, and the locusts were even more harmful.

Ma Zhou immediately retorted, "Ridiculous, Liu Cong is a fake son of heaven, of course his virtue can't suppress the demons, the king of the Han Dynasty is virtuous, and he is an ironclad holy monarch, under his rule, how can the demons be vicious, the good magistrates in the past, the locusts dare not go to him to harm." If the locust plague can be avoided by cultivating virtue, then the locust plague in Shezhou is serious, could it be that you have no virtue to cause it? ”

At Ma Zhou's suggestion, the governor of Shezhou was dismissed from his post and replaced with an official who could implement the intentions of the central government. At the same time, Li Chengzong's Jinyi guards were also searching everywhere, and whether they were active or lazy in locust hunting, they reported to Qindao. Only then did officials at all levels dare not slack off and strive to organize the people to hunt and kill.

Although the officials have done their best, but the people are not very willing to follow, as the commander-in-chief of the locust extermination, Ma Zhou understands that in order to quickly control the locust plague, the first thing is to let the people understand that locusts are nothing to fear, this is just a kind of worm, but how to achieve this goal? Ma Zhou thought of a method that was basically impossible.

After Ma Zhou found Li Chengzong, he said: "Lord, the people say that locusts are bred by locust immortals, because there are too many sins in the world, so locusts are sent to punish the people, but you hold high the banner of righteousness, ascend to the heights, and since the establishment of the Ding, you have made great efforts to govern the country, rectify the rule of officials, develop the economy, reduce taxes, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, so the ministers will never believe in the existence of any locust immortals." You are the future lord of the world, and the people are your people, in order to prove to the people that your status is higher than that of the so-called locust immortals, I ask you to move to the disaster area, and eat the locusts in front of the people, so as to dispel the fear in the hearts of the people......."

To say that Ma Zhou is worthy of a generation of celebrities, not to mention that Li Chengzong is also a Ming monarch, if this was said to other emperors, I am afraid that his head would have been cut off dozens of times, but Li Chengzong listened to it and only said: "Lone thinks this matter is feasible." ”

But the ministers next to him immediately stood up and attacked Ma Zhou, saying that he didn't care about Li Chengzong's dragon health. There is the way of being a courtier. Ma Zhou said: "If King Ma Zhou Mabin eats locusts, the people can believe it, and I am willing to do it on behalf of His Highness." In the end, Li Chengzong made a decision and set off immediately.

Li Chengzong, Ma Zhou and others came to Shezhou, the most severely affected by the disaster, and the people because the concept of the supremacy of imperial power was deeply rooted in the bone marrow, plus here and Haizhou and Xuzhou and other places are new territory, the people are both afraid and awe of Li Chengzong, so when Li Chengzong came, they knelt on the ground and shouted long live.

Su Qi, the new governor of Shezhou, considered that eating locusts directly might taste too bad, and his lord might be a little uncomfortable. So he asked people to set up an oil pot, poured dozens of locusts into the fried and fished out, Li Chengzong's guards packed a few fried locusts on a plate and sent them to Li Chengzong, Li Chengzong is essentially a foodie, as soon as he saw the fried locusts, he couldn't help but think of the scene of eating locusts raw when he and his comrades were training in the field in his previous life, so he was a little sentimental, but in the eyes of others, Li Chengzong, who was the king of a country, hesitated and hesitated, and even the people below secretly looked up at Li Chengzong's actions from time to time.

At this time, Ma Zhou immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, success or failure is only in a thought. For the sake of the world, please do not hesitate. Li Chengzong came back to his senses at this time, he immediately put a fried locust in his mouth, and when he actually swallowed a fried locust, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he said: "Hahaha, the taste of this locust is still good?" ”

After finishing speaking, Li Chengzong said to everyone who came with him: "Come on, come on, this fried locust tastes really good, hehehe, in the opinion of Gu, this dish can be called Feihuang Tengda, come, gentlemen, you can also taste it!"

When the ministers heard this, they didn't care whether they dared to eat it or not, whether they wanted to eat it or not, but Li Chengzong ordered that they didn't dare to disobey, and the four words that Li Chengzong said also said that these people were in their hearts, so they stepped forward one after another and ate one bite at a time. Seeing this situation, the people, under the leadership of the secret spies of the brocade guards who had been planted long ago, shouted again that King Han should be the lord of the world, long live!

Li Chengzong took the lead in eating locusts, so that the people under his rule understood that locusts were nothing to fear, so they began to actively catch locusts, and more importantly, the victims who had no food at home directly used locusts as food to satisfy their hunger, and the locust plague finally disappeared after a few months.

Li Chengzong presided over the extermination of locusts, and his virtuous help Yang Rong was not idle, Yang Rong as the queen of the Han Kingdom, she was compassionate and compassionate, and she was also very concerned about agricultural affairs like Li Chengzong, for example, she was very interested in sericulture now, and after the locust plague broke out in the Han Kingdom, she attached great importance to the locust plague.

In the previous article, Yang Rong said to Li Chengzong that she knew a strange article on the management of the locust plague, and after the locust plague ended, Yang Rong turned this "Locust Treatment", which should have been born a thousand years later, into her own "Locust Control Policy".

In this "Locust Control Policy", Yang Rong not only summarized (plagiarized) the research results of the locust plague of his predecessors, but also did quite in-depth research on the basis of field investigations. She discussed the characteristics of locust plagues, the living habits of locusts, and other issues, and systematically summarized the methods of dealing with locust plagues.

Yang Rong compared the locust plague with floods and droughts. He believes that floods and droughts are not easy to control by manpower, while locust plagues can be controlled by man. If a suitable method is found, the locust plague can be nipped in the bud.

Yang Rong flipped through the more than 100 locust plagues recorded in historical materials, and found that the frequent occurrence period of locust plagues is between summer and autumn, that is, from April to September of the lunar calendar, because this period of time is the time when various crops grow luxuriant and bear fruit, which is equivalent to preparing abundant "food" for locusts, and the growth cycle of locusts also develops from larvae to adults. Therefore, the work of controlling locusts during this period of time is particularly important.

In addition, Yang Rong also found from the history books that the many areas of the locust plague in China were "south of Youzhuo, north of Changhuai, west of Qingyan, and east of Liang and Song dynasties", that is, the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Because these areas, sometimes dry up and sometimes overflowing, provide a breeding ground for locusts. From a geographical point of view, these areas are the focus of locust control.

According to historical data and field research, well, Yang Rong's proposed methods for controlling locusts include cutting down aquatic weeds in low-lying stagnant water areas to remove locust spawning sites; When the eggs are formed in spring and summer, once rows of loose soil are found (which is caused by the eggs developing into larvae), the government organizes manpower to deal with them; After the eggs become larvae, they should dig a ditch and beat them; After the insects become adults, the government wants to buy locusts and encourage the people to fight them; It is necessary to have a variety of crops such as taro, mulberry, peas, mung beans, hemp, sesame and other crops that are not eaten by locusts; After sifting the grass ash and lime into fine powder, it is sprinkled on the crops, so that the locusts will no longer eat the crops.

After the completion of Yang Rong's "Removing Locusts", it was promulgated and implemented by her husband Li Chengzong. This article was widely circulated for a while, effectively guiding the people to exterminate locusts, and indirectly saving many hungry people........

The performance of Li Chengzong and Yang Rong in the management of the locust plague fell in the eyes of the people, and the popularity of their young couple rose vigorously for a while.......