One afternoon in March of the third year of Kaiyuan, in an ordinary village in Bianzhou, farmers were lying under the trees in the east of the village, only to hear the pedestrians from east to west shouting in panic: "Look, the thick clouds in the sky in the west cover the sun!" ”

In less than half a cup of tea, the gray clouds were rolling closer and closer. The village was bleak. There was a terrifying sound in the air. Then crackling and earthy yellow insects all over the body, overwhelmingly came to the sky.

An old woman who was enjoying the shade outside, seeing this scene, immediately knelt down, folded her hands and faced the sky, and kept chanting: "God, bless, bless!" ”

More than a dozen people around were stunned by her prayers.

An old man of the same clan in the village seemed to understand something, and immediately shouted: "The grasshopper has appeared!" ”

The grasshopper that the villagers said is the flying locust, and in an instant the flying locust came to the top of the head, covering the sky and the sun, rising and falling, in the air and on the ground, intertwined up and down, falling on the tree black pressing, the thick arm of the branch pressed up and down, screaming vigorously, while eating, only listening to the rumbling sound of chewing in the valley, the sound of falling, they had nothing to do, and looked at the green grain seedlings with worry, and soon they would be gnawed into a bare stalk by locusts......

……

Fan Changfeng and Dong Shaoqing hurriedly came to Li Tao.

"Does the imperial court know about this news?" Li Tao said with a frown after hearing this.

"I don't know yet." Dong Shaoqing said: "Our news was reported directly by the Bianzhou firm from Kuaima as soon as possible, if it was reported to the county government by Lizheng, and the county government reported to the state government, and the state government reported to the imperial court, it is estimated that it will take three days later." ”

Fan Changfeng nodded: "It seems." Our semicolon delivers the news, and it is indeed faster than the post station of the imperial court. ”

Li Tao didn't speak, just lowered his head and thought deeply.

No doubt. There was a locust plague in Bianzhou.

The habits of locusts are very strange, when the wind and rain are good in the year, the herbivorous locusts will generally disperse and live alone, and will not cause locust plagues, but once there is a drought in a certain place, even if it is mild, the number of plants decreases, and a large number of locusts cling to a few plants. Locusts will change their habits due to the contact of their thighs, and they will become social and a large number of social locusts will multiply. Then, a storm is formed that swallows up all the vegetation in the heavens and the earth, and this is the locust plague.

The devouring power of these locusts, which compete with humans for autumn harvest rations, is quite terrifying, and it only takes half a day. The fields covered by the locust plague will be bare ground. All plants that can be eaten, including the leaves of tall trees and low mosses, all green vegetation will become the food ration of the locusts, and the locusts will join in the plunder of the plants after a few dozen days.

Farmers who have worked hard for a year look at the sky full of flying locusts, and their sorrowful weeping is useless, and locust plagues often occur in years. They are all starving and eating all over the land.

We must not let that happen, think of it. Li Tao said to Fan Changfeng and Dong Shaoqing: "This matter is not trivial, you should hurry up and use all the power that can be used by the firm to do the following things." First, a large amount of grain should be mobilized to Henan Province, especially Bianzhou, and the more the better. Second, mobilize people from the Chang'an headquarters and other branches to Bianzhou and wait for orders. Third, raise a large amount of cash for emergency use. ”

The two of them knew that the stakes were high, nodded and turned around and hurried away.

Li Tao paced a few steps in the house, and asked Hua Yunfeng and Song Lin to be found.

After a while, Hua Song and the two arrived.

Li Tao didn't talk nonsense, and told him about the locust plague in Bianzhou, and then said: "After the two of you go back, go to check the ancient recipe as soon as possible, and you must find a prescription for locust treatment, which is related to the livelihood of thousands of households." ”

"We'll do our best!"

……

Li Tao made all the preparations, and the rest could only wait. Although he also knew that disaster relief was like fighting a fire, he had to wait for the final decision of the imperial court, otherwise he could not do anything.

On the night of the ninth day of the third lunar month, in a study room in the Sifang Pavilion, an old man was reading intently. This person is none other than Yao Chong, who is the emperor of the dynasty.

Since Yao Chong became the first assistant, Li Longji obeyed Yao Chong's words, and Yao Chong also did his best to Xuanzong, and the monarch and ministers were close and tacitly cooperated. Although Yao Chong became the prime minister, he didn't have a mansion at the beginning, so he lived in the Gangji Temple.

The temple is full of flowers and trees, there are more mosquitoes, and once, Yao Chong contracted malaria and had to ask for leave to rest. Li Longji couldn't see Yao Chong, so he was so anxious that he kept sending envoys to visit, and sent dozens of them in one day.

Since Yao Chong is resting, he can only be ruled by another prime minister, Lu Huaishen. Every time Lu Huaishen went to Li Longji's place to do something, as long as it was in line with Li Longji's thoughts, Li Longji would always say: This must be Yao Chong's idea, right? Once what he said was not in line with Xuanzong's wishes, Xuanzong would immediately say: Why don't you discuss with Yao Chong before you come!

Later, Lu Huaishen felt that it was too inconvenient to always go to the temple to ask Yao Chong for advice, so he simply played Li Longji and asked Yao Chong to move to the Sifang Pavilion to recuperate and work at the same time, so that his family would also come here to serve him.

The Sifang Pavilion is a place where Datang receives envoys from various countries and can stay.

When Xuanzong heard this, he immediately agreed, urging Yao Chong to move.

Yao Chong repeatedly excused himself: "There are many archives and documents in the Sifang Pavilion, and it is inconvenient to live in them!" ”

Li Longji didn't care: "The establishment of the Quartet Pavilion is for the country." Let you live in it today, also for the sake of the country. If there are no institutional restrictions, I can't wait to let you live in the palace, what is the Quartet Pavilion, you don't have to refuse! ”

Li Longji trusts Yao Chong so much, which is the greatest recognition of him. Yao Chong was also grateful, and he couldn't wait to "do his best" for Xuanzong, and then die.

"Elder Ge! The king of Lantian asks to see! Yao Chong's old butler came in to report.

"Lantian King?" Yao Chong frowned.

Li Tao is a clan, his ability is undoubted, he has made great contributions to His Majesty, and he is deeply trusted by His Majesty, but he has always been low-key and rarely participates in political affairs, so he rarely visits him alone. It's never been done before to visit at night like today.

"Hurry up, please!"

"Lao Yao, I haven't seen you for a long time, how is it? How's it going? ”

Li Tao is very enthusiastic every time he sees Yao Chong, and always uses the title when he was in Luzhou, although Yao Chong is now the prime minister, he still feels very cordial when he hears Li Tao's title.

"Thanks to the blessing of King Lantian, everything is fine with the old man!" Yao Chonghe smiled and said, "Please inside, I have good tea here!" ”

"Good, good!" Li Tao was also not polite, and followed Yao Chong into the study.

After the two sat down, Yao Chong asked, "King Lantian is a rare guest, I don't know ...... tonight."

Li Tao said with a smile: "Lao Yao, the two of us are old acquaintances, so we won't go around in circles, I have something I want your help with." ”

"It's rare for King Lantian to ask for someone, let's say, as long as it's reasonable, I can do it, and I will never refuse." Yao Chong's words are not leaky. (To be continued......)