Yizhou, named after the Yi River, belongs to Yanzhou Prefecture and has jurisdiction over two counties, namely: Tancheng and Fei County. Yizhou was the hardest hit this year, and the plague almost broke out. Fortunately, Zhu Youxiao was prepared for a long time, and before the outbreak of the plague, he was effectively controlled by Wu Youxing.

Now the imperial court has a complete set of disaster relief measures, and when Zhu Youxiao arrived in Yizhou, everything was still in order.

"Wu Aiqing, how is the situation in Yizhou?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"The epidemic situation in Yizhou has been temporarily controlled, and the people suffering from the epidemic have been separated and isolated outside the city. There is no notification of the epidemic in other parts of Shandong for the time being. Wu Youxing replied.

"Wu Aiqing, the next work will be even harder, the epidemic has just begun, I am worried that there will be a big outbreak next year, I must not be a little relaxed, we must persevere, after this disaster is over, I will reward the three most outstanding personnel as barons." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" Wu Youxing said. In this era, medical protection measures are very backward, and going deep into the epidemic area is fighting for his life, and Zhu Youxiao feels the need to give a heavy reward.

"The emperor means that next year will be a disaster year?" Zhang Yan asked softly.

"I feel that next year should be another disaster year, and everything will be fine if I survive next year, which is why I must come to the disaster area." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty, the minister has found that the outbreak of the plague has a lot to do with the famine, and if next year is still a disaster year, ensuring the supply of food is the most important thing." Wu Youxing said.

According to historical records, the plague that broke out at the end of the Ming Dynasty must have been accompanied by famine at the same time, and in the case of hunger, people's resistance would decrease, and at that time, people were so hungry that they had no choice but to eat the dead, which led to the rapid spread of the plague.

"I will find a solution to the problem of food. I promise that there will be food for disaster relief next year. Zhu Youxiao looked into the distance and said.

"If the food supply can be satisfied, as long as it is not a highly contagious disease like plague, the minister must have a way to control it, even if it is plague, as long as it is dealt with in time, it can be controlled." Wu Youxing said.

"The matter of epidemic prevention will be handed over to you, and I will definitely support you with all my might." Zhu Youxiao said.

"No."

……

After Wu Youxing left, Zhang Yan asked, "Your Majesty, how to solve the food problem next year?" ”

"There will be no problem with grain, several important grain-producing areas have not been affected this year, with the increase in the area of pioneering, the output of these grain-producing areas will be further increased this year, and the planting effect of sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes and other crops is very good, although the empire has suffered a lot of disasters this year, but these are also excellent rations in the famine year, I have already sent an order for the local yamen to purchase these grain crops and transport them to the disaster area, so there is no need to worry too much about the food problem next year." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Hearing the emperor say this, the concubine was also relieved." Zhang Yan said.

"You're going to appear tomorrow, what the queen wants to do is the mother of the world, since you're here, you have to be prepared to endure hardships this time." Zhu Youxiao said.

"The concubine knows that the concubine has already been prepared, and when the porridge is given tomorrow, the concubine will personally give the porridge to the victims. After the soup kitchen was finished, the concubine would give them blankets. Zhang Yan said.

"Well, I'll be with you then, and there's one more thing to do." Zhu Youxiao said.

"What's the matter?" Zhang Yan asked.

"Eat locusts." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"Eat locusts?!" Zhang Yan said in surprise.

"Locusts are sweet, pungent and warm. It can strengthen the spleen and eliminate food, relieve wind and spasms, relieve cough and asthma, and clear the channels, it can be eaten, and I am going to hold a locust feast. There are nearly 200 million people in the empire, if locusts can be on the table, there will be no more locust plagues from now on, if you can't eat it, you don't have to force it, I can eat it alone. Zhu Youxiao said.

In the treatment of locusts, in the Ming Dynasty has formulated a series of systems for the prevention and control of locust plagues, and even in the third year of Hongzhi, the imperial court decreed that one liter of locusts can be exchanged for two liters of rice. According to records, some people ate locusts in the Tang Dynasty, but the way of eating was wrong, resulting in too few people eating locusts, and it was not popularized among the people.

If we can eat locusts like the locusts in later generations, and the locusts don't dare to jump out in pairs, there will be any locust plague there. In the Hereafter, all the locusts will be eaten domestically.

"Try it, concubine." Zhang Yan said.

"From ancient times to the present, floods, droughts and locust plagues have been fatal to the people, and in the future, every seven days in the spring, autumn and summer months, a dish made of locusts will be served, and I will popularize the eating of locusts from the court, and completely eradicate the locust plague in the stomachs of my subjects." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty Shengming!" Zhang Yan said.

……

There are six soup kitchens in Yizhou, and the soup porridge is made of sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, which are not staple foods in the empire, and the imperial court specially uses them to make porridge, and the transferred rice, wheat, etc., are used to sell them to stabilize prices.

Zhu Youxiao, Zhang Yan and Gu Mei's soup kitchen was located in the south of the city. As soon as Zhu Youxiao and the three of them appeared, the military and civilian officials on the scene immediately shouted, "Long live the emperor, long live the queen!" ”

"Flat!" Zhu Youxiao said, "You have suffered! I and the Empress should have come earlier, but it was only the busy state affairs that delayed it until now. Today, the queen and Gu Jieyu will personally make up for your porridge. You're hungry too, so I'll say more, and now I'll start giving porridge! ”

Under a series of measures taken by the imperial court, food prices were suppressed, but for many poor people, no harvest meant no income, and they had to rely on government relief to survive. Therefore, the people who were given porridge were the poorest group of people in Yizhou, not to mention that everyone was in rags, but at least fifty percent of the people were like this.

Zhang Yan was born in a wealthy family since she was a child, and has always adhered to female morality, and she has never seen such a situation, when she saw this group of people, she couldn't help but burst into tears, she didn't expect that there were people who were too poor to wear clothes in the empire.

In fact, looking back at every dynasty and generation in history, why was it that when the country was founded, it was always able to rule the world, and in the later period, those emperors would always make jokes of "why not eat minced meat"? The bottom line here is that the royal family is decoupled from the people, they don't understand the situation of the people, they don't understand what is happening to the people, and the ministers deceive their superiors and subordinates, so that such a situation will occur.

(End of chapter)