It was dusk when they arrived at the mansion, Chen Yunfeng, Wang Jiu, and Jiang Rong gathered in the study, and Jiang Min was looking at Bai Liyan with a solemn face:

"Mr. Wei is here."

"Wei Xian has seen the lord."

"Excuse me, Mr. Chen will tell Wei Xian."

Chen Yunfeng took over and said:

"In the urgency of Hongling, there is no harvest of autumn grain in Xiannan County, and eight or nine out of ten in Qiunan County. The locust plague had spread to the southwest of the capital two days ago, and according to the post guard, when he left, the southwest direction covered the sky and the sun, and the locust plague was probably already in the ink pond at this time. ”

"It's all in the county, so fast."

Bai Liyan (Wei Xian) was taken aback, he never expected the locust plague to come so quickly.

Previously, it was estimated that the locust plague would enter Chunan County after half a month, and it was only less than half a month, and the locust plague had reached Chenling, and even the ink pool, at this rate, the fastest would be two or three days to Guangxin, and all the crops along the way would be eaten and wiped clean.

"I'm looking for you here to discuss a countermeasure." Jiang Min said in a deep voice: "Before Mr. Wei came, Mr. Chen suggested that the late rice should be harvested, and how much could be harvested. I don't know what Mr. Wei thinks. ”

"I'm afraid it's too late." Bai Liyan was worried, and then said: "One person can cut one acre of rice field at most a day, and Guangxin can mow millions of acres of land, even if 500,000 people are mobilized, it will take ten days to mow it." Even if the rice is harvested, it still needs to be stored in the sun. Locusts are everywhere, where can you still dry the grain. ”

Bailiyan couldn't help but think again: If it is really a combine harvester, one or two hundred acres of land a day, manpower can harvest one acre of rice at most every day, and only half an acre can be harvested, not to mention that there are more than 500,000 people in Guangxin's county, not to mention that more than 100,000 people are not engaged in agricultural labor.

Millions of acres of paddy to be harvested, to say the least, it will take half a month to be harvested in batches, and it will take at least a month to dry and store, to mid to late October.

Even if the whole city is mobilized, the harvest will not exceed 600,000 mu within two days, and it is still rice with great moisture, and it will not be moldy at all in winter.

"Yes...... Jiang Min sighed for a while: "This can only recover some losses, at least it won't be nothing." This year's summer grain is abundant, and some taxes will be waived to help farmers and tenants survive this winter, and hopefully there will be a better situation next year. ”

"My lord, this locust plague is coming, take it as the worst plan."

Chen Yunfeng said, Wang Jiu agreed:

What Mr. Chen said is that this locust plague is surging, and it is difficult to say that there will be no more locust plagues next year. If we just survive this winter and there will be another locust plague next year, we will have to allocate rations from the government treasury for disaster relief. ”

Although Wang Jiu has little knowledge, he has heard a lot about natural and man-made disasters, and he is far more familiar with the succession of locust plagues than Jiang Min, who was born in a powerful state.

Jiang Rong was silent at this time, first, there was no skill, and second, the entire Central Plains was affected, and it was not the only one in Guangxin, so it was useless to be anxious. At this time, he secretly glanced at Bailiyan, and saw him holding his chin and meditating. Seeing this, Jiang Rong couldn't help but wonder: "Can he still have any spells to drive away the locusts." ”

Jiang Rong just wanted to say something, but Bai Liyan suddenly said:

"My lord, I have a plan when I get down."

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

Jiang Min wiped his sweat with a cold towel, which was all a strategy that had nothing to do. Chen Yunfeng, Wang Jiu, and Jiang Rong looked at Bailiyan at this time, and Chen Yunfeng asked:

"I don't know what good plan the virtuous brother has, but I can grab the autumn grain."

Bai Liyan smiled lightly:

"Brother Chen knows that moths fight fires."

"The way of nature, what do you mean?"

"Brother Chen only knows the way, but he doesn't know the reason. But every insect is as blind as a finch at night, so when it sees a lamp, it will fly around it. Can you see a bonfire in summer, and mosquitoes are accompanied by a bonfire? ”

"So what?"

Chen Yunfeng was still confused, and Jiang Rong shouted in surprise:

"Use fire to draw locusts to the fire!"

Jiang Min, Wang Jiu, and Chen Yunfeng were taken aback, and Bai Liyan affirmed:

"What the county lord said is that he used the bonfire as bait to lure the locusts to fight the fire. In this way, the infestation of locusts can be reduced. ”

Insects are phototaxis, as long as the fire attracts locusts to gather at night, the locusts will swarm and inevitably rush into the fire to die, so that the loss of the field can be minimized.

The effect depends on the area covered by the locusts, the number of locusts, and the routes of migration and coverage. It is only effective at night, and it is difficult to work during the day, so it is very important to grasp the time.

"My lord, this method depends on the number of locusts and the calculation of time. If hundreds of thousands of fires can be gathered in the Guangxin territory within two days and lit together at night, the locusts that fly to Guangxin during the day can gather and annihilate them. It is even better if the locusts happen to arrive at night. As long as the locusts are kept at bay overnight, the day is survived, and the bonfires are lit at night, the autumn grain is mostly worry-free. ”

"Is this really possible?"

Jiang Min looked at Chen Yunfeng questioningly, Chen Yunfeng was silent, he was also considering whether this attention was reliable, if he explained the moth fighting the fire with this reason, it would make sense. At this time, Wang Jiu said in a thick voice:

"Mr. Wei's method is really unheard of, how can there be a reason in the world to throw himself into the net and die."

"What Brother Wang Jiu said is good, but the locust has no brain, how can it know that it is a plan."

"This ......"

Wang Jiu was speechless for a while, Jiang Rong covered her mouth and smiled:

"Father, daughter thinks that since there is no hope of grabbing the harvest, it is better to be a dead horse as a live horse doctor. Anyway, there is no shortage of hundreds of thousands of acres of rice in the fields that cannot be dried. ”

Jiang Min was silent for a moment, as if he was entangled in his heart, even if millions of acres could not be recovered, grabbing hundreds of thousands of acres of rice that could not be dried could at least make up for some losses, if he gave up completely and launched the whole city to collect firewood and set fire, it might be a stupid trick, and in the end, it was possible that even a grain of grain would not come back.

On second thought, there seems to be no better way right now. After careful consideration, Jiang Min said solemnly:

"Mr. Wei, how sure are you of this method?"

"There is a 100 percent certainty that the locusts can be extinguished at night, but that does not mean that the autumn grain in the field will be saved. If the locusts far exceed the fire, even if they are drowned, Guangxin can be drowned. ”

"That'...... All right. Lone immediately ordered all the people in the Guangxin domain to collect firewood, and as for how to arrange it, Mr. Wei discussed it with Yunfeng and Wang Jiu. ”

"No, I'll get ready now."

To build more than 100,000 bonfires in the Guangxin domain to attract locusts to fight the fires is easy to say, but not easy to do. With such a large amount of firewood concentrated in a short period of time, how to distribute it, how to arrange the fire array, and how far apart the bonfire should be, all need to be carefully calculated.

If the number is less, it will not help, choosing the wrong place is equal to nothing, the locusts may miss a lot of nets if the spacing is large, and the firewood may not be enough if the spacing is small. The passage of locusts during the day is the worst result, and the fields contaminated with locusts can be eaten up in half a day, and there is not much left of the autumn grain of the entire Guangxin in the evening.

The most favorable time to extinguish locusts is at dusk, when the locusts pass through the country and the fields begin to ignite and attract insects, which lasts until early morning, during which time there are more than ten hours to strangle the locusts. During the day, there are fewer locusts in transit, and even if they do harm, they are no better than sitting idly by and letting them eat.

As long as the first wave of strong locusts is resisted, the further back, the weaker the strength of the locust army, continue to attract locusts with bonfires every night, take turns for several days and nights, and wait for the food of the locusts in the north to decrease, the locusts will naturally disperse to other places, or a large number of frozen to death after the cold weather, and the remaining eggs will wait for the spring hatching next year.

Exiting the study and walking in the verandah, Chen Yunfeng was still skeptical:

"Brother Xian, the method of locusts to fight the fire can be certain."

Bai Liyan smiled:

"There is 100% certainty of attracting locusts with fire, but if you want to keep all the autumn grain, you may be able to keep 50% of the harvest, maybe only 30%, but it is better than not having 10% of the harvest."

"How different is this from nonsense." Wang Jiu said dissatisfied.

Jiang Rong coughed:

"Ahem, since Mr. Wei has a plan, according to the lord of this county, he should act as soon as possible, and the locust plague will not wait for anyone."

"No!"

The crowd spoke in unison, and then turned and left. Jiang Rong looked at Wei Xianwei'an's back, but her face was inexplicably hot, and a little expectation flashed silently in her eyes, and she was secretly worried in her heart.

In the night of the same day, Bai Liyan and others worked out a plan for the deployment of the fire array overnight, and the government sounded a gong overnight to inform the whole city and the counties that each household except for those over 60 years old and under 14 years old, and there was no male in the family, and one male from each household would go to the four gates to gather outside the four gates tomorrow, and all counties and villages would go to the government office to gather, and those who violated the law would be fined three stones.

In this way, those who are unwilling to contribute will have to pay a fine of food, which can not only deter those who are willing to work hard, but also raise disaster relief food in advance in an unwarranted name, which is simply killing two birds with one stone.

All men are in a team of 100 people, and the soldiers of the county soldiers and Guangxin Gongfu serve as centurions, and 1,000 people are assigned to collect firewood, cut wood, chop firewood and other tasks, and roughly divide the millions of acres of land in Guangxin territory into more than 300 areas, and stack bonfires with a diameter of half a zhang and a height of 20,000 to 30,000 piles in each area.

In addition, another 20,000 people were transferred to the border areas of Lincheng, Dingyang, and Pucheng, and a density of one pile per 100 steps was set up to build a five-mile fire network.

Even if there are not enough resources to complete the border fire network, holding the farmland fire network can still effectively kill and injure the locust army that mainly attacks the farmland.

At the same time, more than 500 scouts were sent to Pucheng, Dingyang, and Lincheng to observe the movement of locusts.

In the midst of our busy schedules, we must not forget the deserted villages, although there is little land, but once the locusts are extremely hungry, they will eat people when they reach a certain number. Send Sikong Nan to the deserted village to organize the strong men to cut wood for firewood on the spot, so that there is no need to support bonfires in the farmland, mainly to protect the village and people.

Thanks to Guangxin is a population town, the registered strong men account for nearly 20 percent, if the total is over 14 years old, under 60 years old, this number may reach nearly 40 percent, and finally more than 140,000 men, those who have not arrived are roughly divided into four categories.

One is the wealthy, who pledge.

The second type is the unit of households, small households have three or five people, and large households such as rich businessmen may be dozens or hundreds, but they are also one household, and in the end only one person is produced. This method of distribution on a household-by-household basis is very unreasonable.

The third is that there are no men in the family, or there are many men, such as brothels and music shops are typical professional households without men, which are based on households, and women are attached to the household registration, so they do not need to be out.

The fourth category is the privileged class, such as officials, magnates, scholars, craftsmen, conscription, and those whose families join the army can also be exempted from conscription, not to mention this kind of firewood gathering, which does not need to be sent out at all.