Seeing this, Chen Gong naturally understood that the taste of this dish must not be bad, and on the premise of getting Lu Bu's permission, he also sandwiched one.

I have to say that the appearance is not very good, but fortunately, the cook is very sensible and has his head removed, otherwise it is estimated that it will not be easy to look at it. Seriously, the first time he ate this thing, Chen Gong made a lot of determination to eat it in his mouth.

After chewing a few times, I found that it was not as unpalatable as I imagined, but the more I chewed, the more fragrant it became. The spicy taste and aroma of the chili pepper soon spread, which was the most unbearable, and finally I begged for a cup of tea to drink, and I felt less uncomfortable.

"The locusts taste good, it's this pepper, and the subordinates are not blessed......" Chen Gong kept sighing, and snot and tears flowed out almost at the same time, how embarrassed and embarrassed he was at the moment.

"Hahaha, it seems that this dish, the public platform is blessed...... "Lu Bu slowly sandwiched it, eating and eating felt that it was not good, and ordered someone to send a pot of warm wine, and ate it with wine, only to feel that the more I ate, the more fragrant it became, and the one-pound locust soon bottomed out.

"It's good, it's delicious! It's just that the appearance is not very good, as long as the problem is overcome, it is not a big problem, no wonder Li Ming will buy a large number of them, this thing is copied and sold, it is not a problem to sell three or four hundred wen a plate, there are delicious gourmets everywhere! Lu Bu thought about it carefully, "What do you say if we come to do this deal?!" ”

"The lord is a great talent!" Chen Gong smiled, anyway, Lu Bu didn't promise to sell it to Li Ming, if it can be successful, it may not be a good business.

"No, no, no, if you think about it carefully, it's a bit of putting the cart before the horse!" Lu Bu thought for a moment, "This thing is also meat, right?" In order to practice Qi, our soldiers need a lot of meat ......."

"Li Ming may also be based on this consideration!" Chen Gong thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was indeed the truth. Compared with the price of grain, the price of meat in the Central Plains is even more ridiculously expensive. After all, now everyone is trying to find ways to let the soldiers practice Qi, so that the consumption of meat becomes very large.

"Hahaha, immediately order people to buy a large number of these locusts and send them to the army! This thing, a pound is a penny, it is estimated that a lot of people will catch it! Lu Bu laughed, a penny and a pound of meat, is it so cheap?!

Time passes little by little, in the blink of an eye 195 A.D. arrived, the winter of 194 was a warm winter, for many people, this winter was very comfortable, and there was no need to worry about the elderly or children at home being frozen to death.

There are very few rulers who go back to pay attention to the issue of women and children, and can ensure the birth rate and healthy growth rate, Li Ming spent a lot of effort, and also dragged the Chu army from going north. In contrast, the population growth rate under Li Ming's rule was more than 50% higher than that of other forces, and the people's morale also improved a lot.

In the summer, the weather began to get hotter, a large number of locusts began to grow rapidly, there was not much rain since the beginning of this spring, the entire Central Plains, and even Guanzhong fell into a state of water shortage, and people with insight understood that the drought was coming!

Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and the imperial court are now all suffering from drought. There is no weather forecast these days, so who will prepare in advance? In the case of temporary conquest, the water conservancy problems under his rule were soon exposed, and the area that had not been developed for the sake of the war led directly to large-scale crops, which began to wither because they did not receive sufficient irrigation.

The price of grain in Guanzhong soared suddenly, from the usual price of one stone, to fifty yuan and one stone, and even in the end, even if it was one hundred yuan and one stone, no one was willing to sell it. The families hoarded Juqi, but the imperial court had no way at all, Liu Ting brandished the profits from the Silk Road, hoping to buy grain, but no family sold it accordingly.

How comical it seems to be today that people can starve to death even if they were rich...... At the same time, it is so sad.

During the same period, in Xuzhou, with Donghai County as the boundary, the scene in the north and south was completely different. To the north of Donghai County, many farmlands have been abandoned due to drought, and the people have to die of thirst because of the depletion of waterways.

There are tragedies of heat stroke every day, and Chen Qi, who was appointed by Cao Cao as the Taishou of Dongjun, is helpless. The more it is in the middle of summer, the more scorching the sun becomes, and the surface is getting more and more arid, but last year's funds have already been used for military affairs, mainly for conscription and military cantonment, and there is no money to repair water conservancy, and it is very difficult to levy and issue conscription.

To the south of Donghae-gun, Xiapi-gun shows a very different situation. There was also a drought here, but drought-tolerant crops were planted, all the waterways were dredged and dredged, and a lot of waterwheels were built. The rivers at the mouth of the Yangtze River have been expanded, and for more than half a year, Li Ming has mobilized nearly one million people to repair water conservancy in Wuyue Prefecture, Lujiang County, Jiujiang County, Guangling County, and Xiapi County.

The benefits were also fully manifested when this drought came, and the people were still very strange why the government wanted them to keep working overtime to catch up with work, and would rather pay them more 'overtime pay'. When this drought came, they knew why they did it, and the people, who were still complaining, suddenly exerted 150% of their energy, not only for the court, but also for themselves and their hometown!

"The growth is not as good as last year, but the harvest is already very good!" The people of Guangling County looked at the rice in the field, which was a little wilted, and showed a knowing smile.

In such a period of severe drought, rice can still grow, which is already a very good result. In the past, only the fields near the river were likely to have a harvest, and it is estimated that there were not many of them.

The government is good, and a lot of river mud has been cleaned up, and it has been taken out and distributed to the people. These rivers are fertilized, and with their addition, the rice grows today, but not just by keeping it watered.

"The imperial court is having a headache about the drought and is too busy to save itself, which is implemented by the Marquis of Chu against public opinion. Think about it carefully, when did you get paid for conscription in the past? "At this time, someone will always say a few words, and then everyone will nod their heads, and I don't know who said it in the first place, anyway, everyone thinks it makes sense.

Li Ming couldn't do good deeds without leaving a name, so he took this opportunity to expand publicity and establish his image. Not kidding, now under his rule, because of this drought, most of the people recognize him more than the imperial court.

Now some people say that he is the overlord of Western Chu, and even if Li Ming is directly self-reliant, nearly seventy percent of the people under his rule will follow him without regrets. The people are actually very easy to fool, and whoever is good to them, they will follow whomever they want.

At the same time, in Yanzhou Chenliu County and Dong County, it is also the only paradise in the Central Plains. It took Lü Bu more than half a year, and even dispatched the army to help dredge the river, build water conservancy, and divert the water of the Yellow River for irrigation, so as to avoid drought to the greatest extent.

The only pity is that as an indigenous, he is only a pure servant. Fortunately, when the drought came, the people naturally helped without regrets, after all, it was also related to their survival.

With the comparison of Jiyin County next door, many people are naturally grateful to Lu Bu, but it's a pity that this gratitude is a little lighter. Chen Gong also tried to maximize publicity, and it was also effective, but it was not as big as Li Ming's side.

Just when everyone was anxious, a new round of disasters came, and the sky was full of locusts......