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"Brother Ouyang, we can't just do it!" Cai Xiang stepped on the locust larvae crawling all over the ground with his feet, and said to Ouyang Xiu: "Why don't we kill all these insects?" ”

Ouyang Xiu didn't answer him directly, but found a wooden root to dig on the ground, and waited until he reached his target before shouting: "Brother Cai, come and see!" These locusts were hiding so deep underground before they turned into worms, how do you think we can get rid of them? Not to mention how to find their hiding place, and even if they do, what is the best way to kill them all? ”

"Brother Ouyang is right!" Cai Xiang bowed his head and said: "The two of us really didn't do anything with them, why don't we go and tell the people around us and let them kill locusts together?" ”

Ouyang Xiu shook his head: "Brother, you have never seen the situation of the locust plague, but the foolish brother has experienced it personally, that scene is terrifying to think about, the swarm of locusts that cover the sky and the sun swept like a storm and clouds, leaving bare land after a while...... Alas! Whenever at this time, seeing their own food disappear without a trace, the people can only look up to the sky and sigh, wanting to cry without tears! ”

"Is this locust plague really so incomprehensible? Have we read all the books of the sages for so many years in vain? Cai Xiang looked at Ouyang Xiu and asked, "Let's have to do something!" ”

Ouyang Xiu said slowly: "For today's plan, we can only rush to the capital as soon as possible, tell the examiners about this situation, and let them tell the current saint." Only the Holy One has the ability to mobilize the people of the world to deal with the locusts together! ”

Cai Xiang: "Then what are you waiting for!" Let's go! ”

For the next two days and one night, Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang no longer had the heart to enjoy the beautiful scenery, except for eating, they all floated on the Yellow River, even at night. Fortunately, Cai Xiang did have two brushes, so he avoided the undercurrent and reef all the way and arrived in the capital smoothly.

The two didn't care about resting, so they hurried to the Royal Academy and found Cai Qi and the others who were waiting for the candidates.

"Student Ouyang Xiu (Cai Xiang), meet the examiner!"

Cai Qi sat in his seat and nodded at the two: "The two of you have worked hard all the way, and you rushed over in less than half the time, which is still relatively fast." Come, give the number plate of the two of you to the official, write where you live in this booklet, sign it, and then you can go back to rest!" Remember, come to the exam on the 21st and don't forget! ”

Ouyang Xiu: "Wait, sir! Students still have important things to report! ”

"Oh?" Cai Qi: "Who are you going to report?" Come on, let's talk about it carefully, who committed the foul? ”

Ouyang Xiu: "The adults misunderstood, what the students want to say is that the two of us found many locust eggs on the way here, and some of them have hatched. The students are worried that there will be a locust plague this year, and they hope that the adults can tell the Holy God so that the Holy One can prepare! ”

"Huh?" Cai Qi was surprised: "You two won't be alarmist here, right?" What evidence is there? ”

"Students don't dare!" Ouyang Xiu arched his hand, took out a ball of things from his pocket and handed it to Cai Qi: "My lord, please see, this is the insect eggs dug up by the students and Cai Xiang." ”

Cai Qi said suspiciously: "You two have to think clearly!" There is no need to say more about how terrible the locust plague is, it is a great event, if this official reports this matter, then the saint will find out that you are opening a river, and the consequences will be very serious. ”

Ouyang Xiu and Cai Xiang glanced at each other, and nodded at Cai Qi together: "Students trust our own judgment!" ”

Cai Qi: "That's good! You go back first, and then the official will go and meet the saint!" ”

Cai Qi actually weighed it in his mind, anyway, this matter is beneficial to him. If it succeeds, it will definitely be a lot of credit, after all, there has never been a precedent for successfully defending against locust plagues. Even if it doesn't work, it cares about the people of Jiangshan and the people, and it can't be wrong.

So, he took advantage of his convenience as the temporary examiner and directly found Zhao Zhen.

"Weichen participates in the emperor!" Cai Xiang bowed to Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen looked up at him: "Yo! Isn't this Cai Qing's house! What's wrong? Did you go wrong with the imperial examination? ”

If you don't read the source of your feelings, you can put him here!

Cai Qi hurriedly shook his head: "Back to the emperor, there is no problem with the imperial examination, it is normal." I have something else to report to you! ”

Zhao Zhen: "Say it! ”

Cai Qi: "Back to the emperor, not long ago, two candidates rushed over to report to the ministers, and they asked the ministers to tell you that they had found a large number of locust eggs on the road, and they were afraid that there was a locust plague. Please decide! ”

"Locusts?" Zhao Zhen frowned, how did this damn thing come out!

Speaking of this locust, which is commonly known as grasshoppers, Zhao Zhen didn't feel anything in his previous life, and he even caught and played with it when he was a child. But such a small bug has caused countless disasters in history, so countless people have been killed, and it has even become the fuse for the outbreak of many uprisings.

It was only after Zhao Zhen became emperor that he realized the horror of the locust plague from the historical records. But it's one thing to know, it's another thing to solve it, before pesticides are created, you can only defend against locust plagues passively. In addition, Zhao Zhen's luck has been good in the past few years since he ascended the throne, and there has been no major drought in the main grain-producing areas, and locust plagues have not been induced.

As the saying goes, misfortune and fortune are relied upon, and blessing and misfortune are lurking!

The same is true here, there is a great danger hidden under the calm exterior, and the longer the interval between locust plagues, the madness of the outbreak!

Zhao Zhen thought about it again and again, and would rather believe it than believe it.

But before that, he quietly sent Cai Qi away, and then he pondered how to deal with this matter. Fortunately, the books I read before were not in vain, and I still have some memories of locusts, but it is still not enough to rely on these written things, so I have to find someone to discuss.

But who are you looking for?

If you look for those ministers, maybe people will not only come up with ideas, but they will also beat them up, saying that they have a problem with their morality, and Zhao Zhen doesn't want to be taught political lessons.

"Xiao Shunzi, go and call Dean Yan of the research institute!" After careful consideration, Zhao Zhen finally hit him with the idea.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Xiao Shunzi faithfully carried out this Zhao Zhen's order, ran to the Royal Research Institute, and arrested Yan Su, who was in full swing, into the palace.

"Your Majesty, are you looking for a minister?" Yan Su approached Zhao Zhen and interrupted his musings.

Zhao Zhen: "Yan Qing is here!" Sit down next to you and say! ”

Yan Su: "Thank you, Emperor!" ”

Zhao Zhen: "I'm getting straight to the point, I just received news that someone found a lot of locust eggs in the ground. I am afraid that there will be a locust plague, so I specially invite Aiqing to discuss. ”

"A plague of locusts?" Yan Su frowned like Zhao Zhen, and thought for a while before saying: "As far as the minister knows, locust plagues have always occurred after major droughts, and most of them occur on both sides of the Yellow River, and every time they are hugely damaged, there are eight layers of displaced people in our dynasty are due to it!" ”

Zhao Zhen: "What Aiqing said is very true! Regardless of whether this news is accurate or not, I feel that I should be prepared to deal with it! ”

Yan Su: "I don't know what the Holy One proposes?" ”

Zhao Zhen: "Since someone has found locust eggs, let's start with them." Aiqing is knowledgeable and talented, so I will ask you to collect information about locusts, find areas where locusts may ovulate, and then I will send people to kill them in a targeted manner. ”

Yan Su: "Your Majesty, your idea is right, but the minister thinks it's a little wrong!" Because according to the minister's experience and the records in the book, the time for locusts to go from eggs to adults is very short, about half a month. And, I just heard from you that someone has already found traces of locusts, so there is not much time left for us. The minister is worried that it will be too late in time! ”

Zhao Zhen: "What about Aiqing's opinion?" ”

Yan Su: "Back to the emperor, the minister thought that the only way to do his best was to obey the mandate of heaven, do his best to kill locusts, especially along the Yellow River, and prepare for possible disasters." If the locust plague is really uncontrollable, the imperial court will have to be prepared for disaster relief. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "That's what I see!" I'll take care of the rest, Aiqing will go back first! If possible, Aiqing would do well to include the study of the locust plague in her agenda. ”

Yan Su: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

After Yan Su left, Zhao Zhen shouted to Xiao Shunzi: "Drive the Zichen Palace!" Inform Yan Xiang to convene a cabinet meeting! ”

After Xiao Shunzi jumped up and down for a while, Yan Shu finally hurried over with more than a dozen cabinet ministers (except Yan Su).

"Ministers and others see the emperor!" Yan Shu led everyone to salute together.

Zhao Zhen: "Everyone, Aiqing is exempt! I now give rise to the formal opening of today's emergency meeting. Let me first say that since the beginning of this year, the rain has been scarce in the past six months, and there have been disasters to a certain extent in many places, and more seriously, after many investigations, there may be signs of locust plagues this year. Moreover, today the examinees have reported that they have found a large number of locust eggs and larvae on the tidal flats of the Yellow River. Just in case, I have summoned you all to discuss this matter! Now I would like to ask you, if there is a locust plague, will the imperial court be able to deal with it? ”

Yan Shu was the first to stand up and said confidently: "Back to the emperor, the dynasty has been relatively smooth over the years, the treasury has gradually become abundant, and there are also a lot of grain stocks in granaries around the country. ”

What he meant by this was to show off with Zhao Zhen, let him see that he was not a prime minister for nothing, and that I was doing such a good job, should you let me be a few more years old, Your Majesty!

Zhao Zhen expressed his understanding of his little bit of anxiety, no matter what, although Yan Shu is a little more modest, at least he will not strongly oppose some of his decisions, which is also the reason why Zhao Zhen has made him the prime minister for so many years.

Zhao Zhen bowed slightly at him: "It seems that you are all doing a good job!" However, you must not be complacent, according to the report of Qin Tiansi, the drought in the northern Liao State was already very serious last year, and our dynasty has only been able to survive until now by relying on the nourishment of the Yellow River. I'm afraid things are going to get worse and worse, so be prepared. ”

Yan Shu: "Thank you for the emperor's teachings!" After that, the old minister arranged for the various departments to prepare and try to mobilize the grain from the south to the north. ”

Zhao Zhen: "Yes! That's right! In any case, food comes first, and the people cannot be left hungry. ”

"The emperor is merciful!" Everyone still patted the ass very appropriately.

Zhao Zhen: "I don't think it's enough to do this, and I should also think of ways to defend against locust plagues. At this request, the Privy Council immediately sent orders to the garrisons of the state capitals along the Yellow River, asking them to send soldiers to investigate suspicious places and kill locust eggs as much as possible. ”

Zhang Yaozuo: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Zhao Zhen: "Prime Minister Yan, in the name of the imperial court, immediately issued instructions to the state capitals along the Yellow River, asking them to mobilize the masses and cooperate with the garrisons in various places to carry out a large-scale 'locust sweeping operation' to reduce the scale of the locust plague as much as possible." ”

Yan Shu: "The old minister understands! ”

Zhao Zhen: "The rest is the matter of the household department, Fan Aiqing, you have to prepare the emergency supplies, once the disaster is out of control, you have to give it to me!" ”

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" As a hardcore confidant, Fan Zhongyan is not ambiguous at all.

Zhao Zhen: "And the last point, every time there is a major disaster, there are many lawbreakers who make trouble there, the most of which is hoarding, driving up prices, and even officials are profiting from it. The Supervision Yuan is going to keep an eye on me, and once such a guy is found, he will be severely punished! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Not long after Dingwang Zhao Yuanyan took office, he encountered such a big event, and he was still a little excited in his heart.

In the year of Xinghua, a large-scale "locust sweeping operation" with military and civilian linkage kicked off...... (To be continued.) )