Zhang Zheng hurriedly turned over, dismounted, rushed to the old man with an arrow step, and supported the old man.

"Liu Gong, it's me, Zhang Zheng!" The old man was a little old, and his eyes and ears were not very good, so Zhang Zheng had to shout loudly in the old man's ear.

"Xiao Langjun, it's Xiao Langjun." The old man's voice was a little hoarse, and he said tremblingly.

"Liu Gong, it's me! What about Liu Sanbo and them? Zhang Zheng asked loudly.

"Xiao Langjun is here to find the third child? The third child led people to carry water by the river! ”

Hearing the old man's words clearly, Zhang Zheng helped the old man back to the wall and sat down.

"Brother Zheng'er, what are we doing here?"

A group of gentlemen followed Zhang Zheng all the way from Lantian to Weinan.

Out of trust in Zhang Zheng, everyone did not speak when they were on the road. At this time, it seemed that he had arrived at his destination, and he finally couldn't help but ask.

Zhang Zheng looked up at the sky, wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said to everyone:

"I'm not sure yet, but you'll find out in a moment."

After speaking, he led a group of questioning gentlemen and guards to the edge of the Wei River.

From a distance, I saw a sturdy man with arms and legs on the hundredth, shirtless, and naked.

The water from the Wei River was being poured into the canal of the field with a wooden barrel, and a large field by the river was irrigated.

But compared to unirrigated land, it is still a drop in the bucket.

These are all the members of the Zhang family, most of whom are veterans who followed Zhang Gongjin and had to quit the army because of physical disabilities and other reasons.

Zhang Gongjin arranged them to his own Zhuangzi, and he barely had a settlement.

Similarly, the villagers naturally saw Zhang Zheng and the others, and saw that a group of young men in fresh clothes and angry horses were watching them on the edge of the field, so they sent the two of them towards Zhang Zheng and the others.

Zhang Zheng waved his hand at the visitor from afar and shouted: "Liu Sanbo, it's me, Zhang Zheng!" ”

When the man heard the shout, he trotted all the way, and shouted as he ran: "It's Xiao Langjun, this is coming!" Here it is! ”

When the man ran to Zhang Zheng's eyes, everyone looked at him, but it was a middle-aged man about forty years old, the fingers of his right hand seemed to have been cut off by some sharp weapon, and the wound was smooth and neat.

"How come Shao Langjun has free time to come to Zhuangzi?"

The man surnamed Liu saluted Zhang Zheng and asked curiously, ignoring the inquiring eyes of the others.

The man surnamed Liu is the third oldest in the family, and he is called Liu Sanbo by Zhang Zheng.

In his early years, he was a soldier who followed Zhang Zheng and his father Zhang Gongjin, and he was also a warrior who captured the flag.

Later, he was wounded in a battle, and the fingers of his right hand were broken, and he could no longer hold the blade.

He withdrew from the army, and Zhang Gongjin arranged him to his Zhuangzi, and the man surnamed Liu has since become a member of the Zhang family.

There are two elder brothers above him who are also government soldiers, but unfortunately they died in a foreign land during the expedition to Goguryeo in the former Sui period.

"Time is urgent, and I'll make a long story short, there may be an insect plague this year." Zhang Zheng didn't talk nonsense, and directly explained his intentions.

The man surnamed Liu was stunned when he heard this, and said in unison with the others: "Insect plague? ”

"Xiao Langjun, this is no joke." The man surnamed Liu saw that Zhang Zheng was serious, and hesitated.

"That's it, Brother Zheng'er, what are you kidding?" A group of gossip asked, obviously not believing Zhang Zheng's words.

"Xiao Langjun, this year's weather is indeed abnormal, and God has basically not rained much since the beginning of summer.

After two scenes, a few drops fell casually, and they couldn't penetrate into the depths of the soil at all, and the water of the Wei River had bottomed out, and the leaves of the seedlings were dried up and rolled into strips.

If it doesn't rain again, it is foreseeable that this year's drought will be inevitable.

But to talk about locust plagues, it's a bit alarmist. ”

The man surnamed Liu really didn't believe Zhang Zheng's words, and seeing that everyone with Zhang Zheng was questioning Zhang Zheng's words, he still opened his mouth to explain.

Zhang Zheng thought for a while, and when he saw that everyone was obviously unconvinced, he asked: "Liu Sanbo, you are a veteran of the crops, can you foresee how much the grain output will be reduced this year?" ”

When the man surnamed Liu heard this, he thought about it and replied: "If there are two rains before autumn, it is estimated that seven or eight percent of them can be saved."

If it doesn't rain, then even in the best case, the yield will be reduced by at least three or four percent. ”

The people next to him were shocked when they heard this, although they didn't know anything about crops, they also felt that what Zhang Zheng said about the insect plague was alarmist.

But they still know what a 40 percent reduction in grain production means.

Zhang Zheng is no exception, but he knows that the drought may be just the beginning, and there may be even greater disasters after the drought.

If it is just a drought, then with the current national strength of the Tang Dynasty, the monarchs and the people may not be able to survive by tightening their belts and gritting their teeth.

But with the locust plague in mind, I'm afraid things aren't that simple. It is the blessing that is incomparable, and the disaster is not a single line.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zheng personally walked to the field, squatted down and picked up a piece of soil, and turned into dust and debris with a light force.

Then he picked up a wooden stick and stuck it into the ground, turning up a large clod of dirt with a strong warp.

Pick up a clod of dirt and look at it a few times, then pick out a few eggs from the clod.

The man surnamed Liu and the crowd were attracted by Zhang Zheng's actions.

"Brother Zheng'er, what are you doing?" Cheng Chuliang looked at Zhang Zheng turning over the soil and couldn't help but ask curiously.

Zhang Zheng did not say anything, but changed a piece of soil and continued to look for insect eggs.

The man surnamed Liu saw that Zhang Zheng had more and more insect eggs deducted from the soil, his brows furrowed tightly into a Sichuan shape, and he also squatted in the ground, turning in the soil like Zhang Zheng.

After a while, Zhang Zheng's hands were full of insect eggs.

After Zhang Zheng got up, the man surnamed Liu also stood up with Zhang Zheng, and the two glanced at each other. They all saw solemn expressions in each other's eyes.

"You guys, go through the whole land and see how many of these eggs there are." Zhang Zheng ordered with a gloomy face to the group of gentlemen.

Everyone also came back to their senses at this time, and gradually saw some clues.

"Is there really a plague of locusts?" A kind of squirm exclaimed.

"Yes, it doesn't seem like I'm worrying about it." Zhang Zheng replied, the expression on his face gloomy as if he was about to drip water.

Hearing Zhang Zheng's confirmation, the faces of the gentlemen were not very good-looking.

Zhang Zheng gave an order, and the guards of the public quickly took action.

There are many people and fast hands, and the land that Zhang Zheng asked to turn is not big, and the guards quickly turned over the land.

And the turned out eggs borrowed a basket from the villagers and put them together, about three or four catties.

And the expressions of the gentlemen, after seeing so many insect eggs dug up in this small piece of land, also became as gloomy as Zhang Zheng.

The man surnamed Liu turned pale, sat on the ground with his buttocks, and muttered, "It's over, it's over!" ”

"Uncle Liu, cheer up a little, first continue to take everyone to carry water and irrigate the fields, and I will find a way to deal with the insect eggs." Zhang Zheng pulled the man surnamed Liu up and comforted him a few words.

Seeing the man surnamed Liu walking towards the river in despair, Zhang Zheng looked up at the crowd.

Seeing the seriousness of the people's faces, they knew the importance of the matter.

Zhang Zheng didn't continue to emphasize anything, directly turned over and got on the horse, and then said to everyone: "Go back to Chang'an." ”

The crowd looked at each other speechlessly, and no longer had the mood to fight according to their words when they went out of the city, and they all hurried towards Chang'an.

……

Back in Chang'an, the crowd dispersed sporadically, and Zhang Zheng hurried back to the Zou Mansion alone with a basket of eggs.

Lao Zhou, the housekeeper of the Guogong Mansion, wanted to step forward to greet him: "Shaolangjun? ”

was pulled aside by Zhang Zheng, and then pulled it over again, holding the butler Lao Zhou's collar and asking, "Where is my father?" ”

Lao Zhou was taken aback by Zhang Zheng's fierce look, and hurriedly pointed to the study and stammered: "Grandpa Guo, in... In the study! ”

Throwing Lao Zhang aside, Zhang Zheng ran towards the study in a hurry.

kicked open the door of the study, and the whole set of movements was extremely smooth.

"Ahh Who? ”

"Son!"

Zhang Gongjin, who was concentrating on reading in the study, was startled by Zhang Zheng's rough kicking of the door!

"Bang!"

A bamboo basket was placed on the desk in front of Zhang Gongjin without knowing what it was. It happened to press on the book Zhang Gongjin was reading, raising a puff of dust.

Zhang Gong was so angry that he trembled, stretched out his index finger and pointed at Zhang Zheng, and was rudely interrupted by Zhang Zheng before he could say anything.

"I didn't have time to explain Daddy, look at what this thing is!"

Zhang Zheng said, stretched out his finger and pointed to the bamboo basket in front of Zhang Gongjin, motioning him to look at the contents of the bamboo basket.

Zhang Gong looked in the direction of Zhang Zheng's finger as he said.

He recognized at a glance that the basket contained locust eggs, and he was shocked to realize that things might not be so simple.

Holding back the unhappiness in his heart towards Zhang Zheng, he asked, "Where did so many insect eggs come from?" ”

"In the Zhuangzi outside the city!" Zhang Zheng opened his mouth to explain.

Zhang Gongjin's face suddenly became solemn.

Zhang Zheng explained to Zhang Gongjin in the most concise language everything that happened when he went out of the city today.

Of course, he only said how he wisely found the eggs, highlighted his own merits, and did not mention anything about the grudge with the lord of Gaochang.

When Zhang Gongjin learned that Zhang Zheng and his guards had found so many insect eggs in less than half an acre of land, his face became extremely ugly.

"No, this matter is too much to do, and the old man wants to enter the palace immediately to face the saint." Zhang Gongjin looked at the insect eggs in front of him, his eyes were extremely fierce, like a fierce beast that wanted to choose people to devour.

Then he glared at Zhang Zheng fiercely and threatened: "Son! I'll talk to you when the old man comes back. ”

Then let the housekeeper Lao Zhou prepare the carriage and honor guard, and Zhang Gongjin carried a basket full of insect eggs out of the Guogong Mansion and hurried to the direction of the palace.