140,000 people cut countless firewood a day, with the counties and villages of Guangxin City as the center, quickly radiating to the surrounding areas, and increasing the cultivated land of several thousand mu in just one day. However, from the perspective of later generations, it is too damaging to the ecology.

The next day, each county and village piled up firewood at a specified distance and height according to the area, but not a little more. The progress of the firewood stacking at the perimeter boundary was noticeably slower, especially the first day, when most of the time was spent on the road, it was already afternoon when the news arrived, and the firewood was already noon the next day.

The locusts had crossed Dingyang City in the afternoon of the next day, and the locust vanguard could reach the border between Dingyang and Guangxin southeast of Dingyang at the earliest, and it happened to be the fattest high-yield field in Dingyang, even if there was no need to accumulate fertilizer, the yield per mu was more than four stones.

More than half of the food towns of Dingyang Marquis are there, and the main force of the locust army rubs Dingyangcheng all the way north along the northeast route, and the places it passes make people's scalps tingle.

Countless locusts poured into the fields, and there were three or four locusts lying on each rice plant, and eleven or twelve locusts were densely packed from top to bottom.

What is even more odious is that the well-fed locusts are full of lust and lust, and do hermaphroditic things in broad daylight, and many females are also conceived all the way, and when they are full, their stomachs are distended like drums, and they lay millions of eggs in the ground on the spot, leaving them to make a comeback in the future.

The news that the locusts had arrived at Dingyang had reached the military tent set up at the border, and when they looked eastward, they could faintly see a black oppressive patch, like a dark cloud.

"It's still early."

Bai Liyan (Wei Xian) looked at it and said, Chen Yunfeng also glanced south with concern, and couldn't help but feel that his scalp was numb. He could imagine what it was like to see locusts flying in the sky, and the rain of arrows in the sky would not be more terrible than where the locusts passed.

"Brother Wei Xian, the locusts are here first, what should we do next?"

"This place is the border between Guangxin and Dingyang, there are still five or six miles away from the nearest farmland, more than ten miles away from the villages and counties in the hinterland of Guangxin, and it is farther away from the east and west sides.

Therefore, when Wang Jiu was informed that the sun had completely set after dusk, he ordered the counties and villages south of Guangxin to set fires, and the counties and villages at the east and west ends would not light fires for the time being. ”

The locust vanguard was the first to attack from the southeast, Pucheng in the west and Lincheng in the east have not yet come to report the discovery of locusts transiting, with the habit of locusts in the day and night, all the way to the north to reach the southern territory of Guangxin City should be dusk, after dark it is too late to spread to the east and west, tonight will not merge with the locusts that will arrive in Pucheng and Lincheng tomorrow, and continue to expand the scope of the epidemic.

The first wave of locusts came with such ferocity that a tingling buzzing sound could already be heard from a mile away, and Bailiyan saw a locust pounce on a green branch and stomp it to death with one foot.

"Moth!"

Chen Yunfeng shook his head and smiled:

"There are so many moths in the world, and they are far more harmful than locusts."

"What Brother Yunfeng said is extremely true, the locust plague is only a visible disaster, and the invisible man-made disaster is not fiercer than a tiger."

Chen Yunfeng used metaphors to satirize the present, reminding Bai Liyan of the new deal "Promoting Business Tax".

Previously, Zhao Xun sent a letter to Dasi Nong Mo Anzheng to advise that the locust plague had spread widely, and the implementation of the new policy should be suspended to stabilize prices. Gongsun Yue did not comply, insisted on carrying out the new policy to the end, and only symbolically reduced taxes.

Now that there is no harvest in Chunan County, and the autumn grain production in Xianxi County may have been extinct at this time, and the new policy continues to be implemented, it is difficult to imagine what the year will be next year.

Will the popular uprising, which was quelled four or five years ago, be revived? In other words, Gongsun Yue knew that he would die, and he tried his life to survive, dragging the Jin State into the quagmire of economic war and turmoil in the Xian State, forcing the Jin State to invest a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources and then give up control of the Xian State.

If this is a clever move by Gongsun Yue, but the price is too great. It can't help but make people think of the time when King Goujian of Yue was lying on his back and trying his courage, putting the entire Yue under the control of Wu, and at the same time wasting Wu's national strength with economic strategies.

If it succeeds in turning over the Xianguo, Gongsun Yue's plan can be called a shocking strategy, and maybe history will leave some allusions to "self-deprecating people".

The sight of locusts as dense as arrows must be described in one word, and that can only be "the end of the world".

The overwhelming locusts are like a very thick blanket, the whole is pierced, there are locusts everywhere, and a rough count shows that the landing rate of the first wave of locusts has reached more than 30 per square meter. According to the cubic calculation, it can reach 3,000 per cubic meter, and one acre of land is hundreds of thousands.

According to this calculation, even if the local egg production rate is 1 percent, hundreds of billions of locusts may hatch next year.

Locusts spread all the way from south to north, and there is no grass in the place they pass, and it is okay to live in the south of Xu and Zhiguo, the winter is cold, it snows all year round, and the eggs will freeze to death if they can't survive the winter.

The northern part of the Sun Kingdom, the Xian Kingdom, and the Changsun Kingdom are all temperate tropical and tropical climates, and the winter is above freezing, and the locusts migrate in a large area, and the eggs laid will survive the winter and set off a large-scale locust plague next year.

In this way, year after year, day after day, for several years, it is not a high probability event that it will be difficult to guarantee the instability of the people. People live for the sake of their lives, and under the high taxes, they have been plagued by natural disasters for several years, the common people are hungry, and the government is unable to provide disaster relief, so rebellion has become the only way to survive.

Looking at the sky full of locusts, Bailiyan said worriedly:

"Brother Yunfeng, I'm afraid that next year will stir up a change in the people."

"How can you see a virtuous brother?"

"There are a lot of poor households in the two counties of Qiunan and Xianxi, and the extinction of production in the fields will be unsustainable, and the combined population of the two places alone will exceed more than 2.3 million, not counting the losses of Du County and Beihai County, how to survive for three or two years with the strength of Xianguo alone."

"Could it be that Brother Fei Xian thinks that the locust plague has a tendency to continue?"

"It's best to only have this year's stubble, but the locust plague has been repeated many times, and the locust plague is so dense today, the locust plague is bound to rise again next year, and it is difficult to guarantee that the locust plague will not rise again in the year after next and the year after that."

Chen Yunfeng read the scriptures and was more optimistic about the locust plague. Since the beginning of recorded history, there has been an average of one locust plague every eight or nine years or so, with more than 70 percent lasting two seasons and 20 percent lasting one year.

A total of three locust plagues have been recorded for more than two years, the most recent of which was more than 120 years ago.

Although history is a lesson, the land of Xianguo in 120 years is as much as 1.5 times that of today, and it can still rely on the rich land of Jiangdong County to support the people, and now only half of the Xianguo on the river is left, where is there enough power to support millions of refugees. Even the Jin Kingdom would rather see a huge reduction in the number of people in the Xian Kingdom, and would never be willing to invest in it.

People are the fundamental resources of politics, military and economy, and if a country wants to be destroyed, the most fundamental thing to do is to eliminate the population, if the Xian State dies out three or two million people overnight, the Jin State is obviously happy to see it, and even more than the simple economic and financial disorder of the civil change is conducive to the Jin State to annex the Xian State.

In this way, it is not known whether Xihuan's current strategy can be adhered to, but it can be seen that Gongsun Yue will lift a stone and shoot himself in the foot.

At dusk, news came from the front that the locusts had reached five miles south of the city, and in fact they might be closer.

All farmland along the route was contaminated with locusts, and when it was dark, the activity of locusts dropped sharply. In addition, flying all the way from Dingyang City, most of the locusts are half-full, and the motivation to eat is insufficient.

When night fell, bonfires were lit in various counties and villages, and the locusts, which had been silent, immediately became restless, and threw themselves into the raging fire, and suddenly made a crackling and crisp sound.

Seeing this, Chen Yunfeng swept away the previous haze and laughed heartily:

"That's a good plan!"

"Brother Yunfeng is too famous, as long as he is willing to study deeply, others can follow suit."

Locusts are actually slightly less phototaxis than other insects, but they are so dense that the locusts still cover the ground like a carpet when they flutter on the campfire. Bailiyan picked up a handful of roasted locusts from the fire, stripped off the elytra and scales, and said with a sly smile:

"Roasted locusts are also a rare delicacy in the world, Brother Yunfeng would like to taste it."

Hearing the news that he wanted to eat locusts, Chen Yunfeng looked disgusted:

"Brother Xian, this can't be helped."

Bailiyan laughed, swallowed three roasted locusts in one bite and said:

"Fragrant, really fragrant."

Locusts are rich in delicate protein, and a variety of trace mineral elements, the nutritional value can be compared with silkworms, which can be called the gold among insects. Nowadays, we are conservative, and we naturally can't do such a thing as eating locusts. If you don't set an example, how can others believe you.

Under Bailiyan's "persecution" several times, Chen Yunfeng reluctantly ate two bites, and his face became strange.

"Brother Yunfeng, how does it taste?"

"The taste is soft, burnt and smooth, but it has a bit of an earthy smell."

Baili said at this time:

"Locusts nourish vitality, tomorrow during the day can make the people of Guangxin fight locusts to satisfy hunger, you can have some rations left, and you can use insects to replenish food, but also nourish the body, so that the method of killing three birds with one stone can look at the world how can there be such a good thing."

Chen Yunfeng bluffed, took two more bites, and agreed, but he was not confident.

"Well, I'm afraid it's hard for the world to recognize this law."

"What's so difficult about this, this locust plague can be as short as three or two days, or as long as ten days and half a month. As long as the lord orders that those who eat one pound of locusts on the first day will be rewarded with one hundred pounds of copper coins, which is also worth a few pounds of rice money. As long as the beginning is opened, there is no fear that the people will not fight locusts in the future. ”

"How can the lord agree to such a ridiculous law."

Chen Yunfeng is still worried, even if he can agree, Jiang Min may not have this face to give this order, if it is spread, it must not be shamed to the world as a "locust man", or a "locust sweeper".

Seeing Chen Yunfeng hesitating, Bai Liyan said strangely:

"There's a plan down to get the lord to agree to this."

"Oh, say it."

Chen Yunfeng raised his eyebrows, just thinking that it was a good plan, and when Bailiyan said it thoroughly, Chen Yunfeng was still taken aback:

"This ...... A good plan is a good plan, but I'm afraid that the county lord mistakenly thinks that the virtuous brother humiliates her. ”

Bailiyan disagreed:

"As long as the county lord agrees, not only can she not blame me, but she will also get the harvest, wouldn't she be happy."