Jing Jian did what he said, and immediately wrote a letter and handed it to the people under his hand to pass it on.

After Su Chengxi returned to Fengwu Palace, he looked through the government affairs presented to the court, and suddenly his eyes turned pale, and his calm eyes instantly became solemn.

The southern locust plague.

Isn't that something that should have been postponed for another two years?

Could it be that her inversion caused the butterfly effect?

The matter of the locust plague was a big matter, and she did not make up her mind in time, but asked Rulan to let people pass the word, and called several highly respected ministers of the court to the Chengqian Hall to discuss how to solve the locust plague.

In the original text, this huge locust plague lasted for three years, which completely plunged the entire south into the dilemma of food shortage, and many people were displaced, starved of food, and even the cruel phenomenon of changing children to eat.

Prime Minister Lu Cheng's face was solemn: "Empress Dowager, locust plagues have also occurred in previous years, but the solutions are only to treat the symptoms but not the root cause, almost half of the grain has been killed by locusts before it is ripe, so that the toiling people have no harvest." Now, now that such a phenomenon has occurred, it is necessary to plan ahead. ”

This plan is naturally a plan for disaster relief.

Now the treasury is not full, and it is ready to send grain and grass to the soldiers who are far away on the frontier to resist the enemy.

Now that autumn has begun, it is the season of bumper grain harvest, and if we do not come up with a proper solution, the hard work of the people of Li will be wasted for a year, and they will be hungry for at least the next year.

Su Chengxi took a deep breath, turned his head to look at the other ministers, and asked lightly, "Ladies and gentlemen, is there any other way?" ”

Marquis Zhongwu pondered for a moment and said, "Empress Dowager, wormwood can drive away locusts, but due to the small amount of wormwood, the effect is not great. Now that the whole south is suffering from the scourge of locusts to a greater or lesser extent, there seems to be no good way to get the people to drive the locusts away on their own. ”

There were no pesticides in ancient times, and Su Chengxi was not engaged in biochemistry or drug preparation, so he was not good at it, but locusts can be eaten, rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, and can be roasted and fried over fire, boiled and stir-fried.

Now let the people go to catch and drive away the locusts, maybe they can't be killed, but if the people go to catch the locusts in the name of buying locusts, is it a feasible way?

Su Chengxi knew that today's ministers couldn't come up with good ideas, otherwise they wouldn't have allowed the locust plague to last for three years in the original text.

After a moment of silence, she said with a final word: "Since you don't have any proper solutions, then let the mourning family make the decision!" And the order went down, let the people catch locusts, and take the locusts caught as a unit, and the captured locusts can be taken to the right place in exchange for copper coins, a pound of copper plates. The locusts that were collected were made in the same way as those written by the mourners, and sent to the frontier. ”

"This ......"

Prime Minister Lu Cheng was surprised: "Queen Mother, with all due respect, what is the purpose of this locust, and why was it sent to the frontier?" ”

Su Chengxi said seriously: "The mourning family occasionally got a dossier, on which there were locusts written on it, but it was full of stomach and delicious meat. As long as it is cooked properly, it is a rare delicacy, and the mourning family has made people try it, and the taste is really good, and there is no adverse effect. In that case, why can't you send them to the frontier and give them extra food to the soldiers of the frontier? ”

Prime Minister Lu frowned, speechless for a long time.

King Yuancheng nodded and said: "What the Queen Mother said is good, when this king led the troops. He once strayed into a valley, and there was no wild fruit around him to feed his stomach, so he gritted his teeth and led the soldiers to eat locusts for a few days. The king sees that this method is feasible, and the king supports the queen mother. ”

The king of Yuancheng said this, and the others had to nod their heads.

The Empress Dowager's decree was quickly transmitted to the disaster area.

The depressed and sad-faced people were stunned at first, and then a happy smile appeared on their faces, and both adults and children all poured into the craze for catching locusts.