Although the displaced people at the gates of the city looked malnourished and weak, they were still coherent when it came to the calamity that had befallen them.

After listening to one person's words, Ye Hao realized that it was a small village north of Barbarian County that had been plagued by insects.

It's also unlucky to say that this year has been smooth and rainy, and it is not easy to encounter a good year. Unexpectedly, before the harvest season, a once-in-a-century insect plague came to the door.

And the small village where they are located, because it is sandwiched on the boundary between the barbarian county town and Qingcheng, the tax revenue of the two counties is grabbing vigorously on weekdays.

Now that something happened, the officials of the two counties shirked their responsibilities and did not want to care.

In such a dynasty, the insect plague was a devastating blow to the fields, and they only knew how to deal with the farmers, who only knew how to work hard.

And the officials above did not want to bear this responsibility, which led to the delay of the matter, and all the fields in the village were eaten up, and the villagers had no choice but to leave to ask for an explanation.

But this is an era of supremacy of imperial power, how can the poor people go to reason?

Even these homeless people in front of Ye Hao can only be turned away, and they can't even enter the county seat.

"Insect plague? Could it be a locust?! ”

As soon as she heard that it was an insect plague that could eat up crops, Ye Hao subconsciously thought of locusts.

Even if she hadn't seen this disaster, which was very feared by the peasants, she had heard of it in her previous life.

Locusts cross the border, and not a single grass grows.

"If it's really locusts, that's bad!"

Thinking of the appearance of the large locusts that she had seen on TV, she couldn't help but get goosebumps all over her body, and the sense of ominousness in her heart was even worse.

"Our fields are now full of worms! I really can't help it, so I came here! ”

The homeless people wiped their tears as they spoke, their faces full of misery and attracted attention.

But few passers-by really stopped, and in such a remote and poor place, it was good for everyone to take care of themselves.

Looking at the very miserable crowd, Ye Hao didn't know how to feel for a while, so she could only take some ready-made food from the carriage and give it to them before leaving.

Although the money on her body can completely help these people, she knows the truth that wealth is not exposed, she knows it very well in her heart.

If people know that they are carrying a lot of money, I am afraid that Lin Bin may not be able to keep himself at that time.

On the way back, the carriage was so jolting that it made people sleepy.

However, Ye Hao didn't feel sleepy at all, and she was worried about it since she heard about the insect plague.

Perhaps the uneasiness on her face was too obvious, and Lin Bin, who was sitting opposite, couldn't help but raise his eyes and asked in a low voice:

"Are you worried about the insect plague?"

Raising her eyes to look at him, Ye Hao's face was grim and she nodded.

"This is a natural disaster, and we can't resist it with the strength of ordinary people, so you don't have to worry so much."

relieved her, Lin Bin didn't take this matter to heart.

Insect plagues were rare in this era, and he had only heard of them, so he didn't have much of an idea about them.

And for an ancient person like him, this is an irresistible natural disaster, and it is useless to worry about it.

But Ye Hao was not at the same point as he was thinking, and after sighing slightly, he said in a deep voice:

"I'm worried that if it's a plague of locusts, as the displaced people say, they've eaten up their fields, and the locusts will migrate to other nearby fields!"

No matter how small a village is, it must have dozens of acres of land, right?

If so many crops can be eaten in a short period of time, the number of locusts in this batch is definitely not a few!

On top of that, these locusts don't know how to converge at all, and after they have eaten a piece of land, they will definitely follow the next destination.

If you indulge them, it is estimated that the entire Lingnan region will not have a good harvest this year!

Ancient peasants are not as good as modern ones, and when they suffer disasters, the state still allocates grain, and it is their life to harvest them!

Otherwise, she wouldn't have seen so many displaced people who had left their homes, and they all came out to find a way out when they couldn't survive.

"How serious is it?"

Lin Bin is not a stupid person, as soon as he heard Ye Hao's words, he immediately figured out the key to it, and he couldn't help frowning.

"Hope I'm wrong!"

Silently hiding her worries in her heart, Ye Hao didn't want to think about the worst.

What if it's just an ordinary insect infestation that doesn't cause the disaster to spread? She should not worry about it for the time being.

When they arrived at the house, it was getting late, and the women had already prepared dinner.

Ye Hao kept the insect plague in her heart, continued to devote herself to her busy life, and soon forgot about it.

The next day, she had to deliver a month's worth of spices to Mochizuki Tower early in the morning.

In fact, I could have asked Steward Liu, who came to collect the snails and yellow eels in the morning, to bring them back with him, but when he signed the deed at that time, he said that he would settle the money and goods in person.

After all, it is thousands of taels of money, and even if Steward Liu is quite effective by Fu Heng's side, he will not be able to handle such a large amount of business alone.

Therefore, Ye Hao could only do it herself, and after exchanging and counting the seasonings in the kitchen, she transported them all to her own carriage and went to Wangyue Tower.

This time, Lin Bin didn't follow, and changed to Xie Yunshu.

There are not many things at home, just have someone to watch, Xie Yunshu offered to accompany him, and Lin Bin didn't say much.

It was still Xie Yunshu driving the carriage, and Ye Hao was sitting in the carriage.

Today, because she had to count the spices, she got up early, so she squinted in the carriage while she was in a hurry.

When she arrived at the Moon Tower, she woke up in a daze.

"Here we are."

Xie Yunshu, who walked into the carriage, saw Ye Hao, who was still confused, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously showed a smile, even he didn't notice it.

Ye Hao, who struggled to sit up, was a little stunned because she was not fully awake, and she almost didn't hold it steady and fell.

It was Xie Yunshu who found that her hand was empty, grabbed her arm, and stabilized the person's figure.

"Be careful!"

said with a little reproach, Xie Yunshu didn't notice how much anger he had in this sentence.

And Ye Hao, who was not yet awake, didn't notice it, and only after rubbing her eyes did she wake up completely and get out of the car with the other party.

The amount of spices on the car was huge, and there was no need for the two of them to bother, so the guys from Wangyuelou came over to unload the goods.

Fu Heng, who was waiting at the door of the Moon Tower, led the two into the restaurant and went straight to the second floor.

Because it was still early, there were no guests in the restaurant, and it was very cold.

"The owner went back to Qingcheng after meeting you yesterday, and I will check with you about the seasoning."

A few people sat down in the box, and Fu Heng first took out the deed and checked it with Ye Hao.

After waiting for another cup of tea, a man came to report that the number had been counted and confirmed.

Fu Heng took out a silver ticket of thousands of taels in front of the two of them, counted them, and handed them to Ye Hao.

After receiving a few fluttering silver tickets, Ye Hao always felt as if she weighed a thousand pounds.

Thousands of taels of silver are enough for hundreds of families to live a thick year!

"Mrs. Xie, there is one thing, I think I still have to remind you in advance."

After the transaction, Fu Heng hesitated, but took the initiative to talk about another thing.

Seeing his stumbling appearance, Ye Hao was a little dazed, and after glancing at Xie Yunshu, he asked:

"What's the matter? Fu shopkeeper, but it doesn't hurt. ”

"I advise you to prepare some food in advance. It is estimated that it will not be long before the price of grain in our county will rise. ”

Fu Heng's words were a little confusing.

On weekdays, the price of grain is set by the government, and it is impossible to raise it privately how high, which Ye Hao still understands.

But these words came out of Fu Heng's mouth, and she already believed seven or eight points in her heart, and the other party should not deceive her.

But this thing is very wrong, the wind and rain are good at the moment, it doesn't look like there will be a shortage of food!

"Why? There doesn't seem to be a shortage of food in our county, right? ”

Her doubts were also the doubts in Xie Yunshu's heart, and both of them looked confused.

Sighing slightly, Fu Heng told the two of them the news he had only received early this morning.

"I've heard that several villages on the border with Qingcheng have been plagued by insect plagues, and I'm afraid there will be no harvest in the fields this year! Moreover, the plague seems to be spreading! ”

Insect plague!

As soon as this word came out, Ye Hao's forgotten memories immediately surfaced, and her face changed instantly.

Yesterday, she saw the homeless people learn about this matter, and today Fu Heng focused on this matter, and his tone was so determined!

The Fu family's ability behind Mochizuki Tower must be not small, even if Fu Ru'an was kicked out, but the ability of his eldest son should not be underestimated.

The news that can come out of Fu Heng's mouth is afraid that it will not be far from ten.

Ye Hao was still worried yesterday, afraid that it would be a locust plague that would continue to infringe on other fields.

Today, this worrying bad news has come out.

"This insect plague, but for the locust plague?!"

She quickly straightened her face and asked.

Fu Heng was originally just thinking about the friendship between the two sides and wanted to remind the other party, but he didn't expect Ye Hao to be so interested in this matter.

Nodding, he gave the full information he had gotten.

"A plague of locusts indeed! Originally, it was only in a small village, but after the fields in this village were gnawed, some people saw the locusts split in two and go to other nearby villages. ”

This insect plague occurred at the junction of the barbarian county and Qingcheng, which caused the areas of the two counties to be affected.

It's good now, everyone can't run away!

"Humph! It's not these corrupt officials yet! If you only know how to shirk responsibility, you won't even think about dealing with the problem first! ”

couldn't help but snort angrily, Ye Hao had obvious resentment on her face, and her mouth reprimanded the inactive officials.

Hearing this, even Xie Yunshu, who had always been calm, changed his face and was extremely gloomy.

The infestation is devastating for the fields and farmers, as the gnawed crops cannot return.

Their year's hard work has been wasted!

Hearing Ye Hao's words as a disdainful official, Fu Heng was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly.

"This is a plague of insects! Even if the Qing officials are in charge, I'm afraid they won't be able to deal with it! ”

He didn't excuse the county orders of the two county seats, but in their hearts, the insect plague was irresistible.

Insect plagues are as famous as droughts and floods, which are all irresistible to manpower, and can only be endured against the grain.

But this is just helpless for ancient people, and modern people like Ye Hao, although they can't completely resist, at least they can come up with ideas.

"The insect plague is indeed terrifying, but with the right methods, it can still be solved! If the prefectural commanders still sit idly by, it will only lead to bigger and bigger losses! ”

At that time, I am afraid that it will not only be a problem of rising food prices, but it is estimated that it will become a situation where even money cannot buy food!

If the locusts cross the border, if there is no appropriate way to deal with it, even all the fields in the two counties will not be harvested!

"Could it be, Mrs. Xie, do you have a way to deal with the insect plague?!"