Chapter 88: Frying locusts and mobilizing people all over the world to kill locusts!
Ever since the locust plague broke out in Yanzhou, the atmosphere in the capital immediately became tense.

Because locusts can fly, past experience shows that locusts will not only move northward, but also westward to the capital and the three auxiliary areas.

The capital is rushing to harvest the autumn crops.

The only thing that made them feel a little fortunate was that locusts were said to not eat sweet potatoes, and they couldn't eat potatoes because they were buried in the ground.

Of course the harvest will be affected.

But corn, wheat and other crops are completely destroyed wherever the locusts pass.

So it makes people panic!
The most important thing is that the people believed that locusts were a natural disaster, a warning from heaven, and that the "locust god" was dissatisfied with the world, so they did not dare to carry out "locust extermination work."

"Report——

“Your Majesty, the locust plague has spread to Chenliu County in Yanzhou and is rapidly advancing towards the counties of Yanzhou.

"According to investigation, it was Yuan Shao who secretly sent people to dig out insect eggs and capture locusts to divert the disaster to the east.

“This is why the locust plague was not eliminated in its early stages, but instead spread rapidly.”

...

"Report——

"After the locusts wreaked havoc on the land of Yanzhou, they headed north to Jizhou. It is said that the locust plague in Jizhou was so overwhelming that it covered the sky and blocked out the sun. Given the locusts' flying speed and eating speed, Jizhou will surely be barren this year, with not a single blade of grass growing!
"According to the deduction of the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, it may affect Youzhou and the grasslands outside the Great Wall!"

...

"Report——

"News of locust plagues has come from all the counties in Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yuzhou. People all over the world are in a panic, but because of their misunderstanding of the locust plague, the people dare not carry out locust eradication work!
"There are also rebellious spies like Yuan who are secretly fanning the flames and stirring up trouble, saying that the locust plague is a warning from God!

"It was your majesty who started the wars everywhere, which caused so much destruction and loss of life that it angered the heavens and the people!
“This is divine punishment!
"There are even... traitors who are inciting the people and spreading rumors and slander, saying that Your Majesty should issue... an edict of repentance!"

……

During this period, news from all provinces and counties across the country gathered in the capital. Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Jizhou were all affected by the locust plague.

The locust plague is like a plague. If the source is not immediately controlled, it will spread quickly and cannot be stopped.

In addition to drawing the pesticide, Liu Bian later drew many other ways to kill locusts.

however.

It's of no use if the people don't take action!
Because the imperial court's order to "eliminate locusts" was jointly issued by the Secretariat and the Ministry of Agriculture, and was not an imperial edict from the Han emperor.

The people of the world do not believe it and do not approve of it!

The locust plague is a "natural disaster" and they only recognize the edicts of the "Son of Heaven" who is "appointed by Heaven", the ruler of a country and the lord of the Han Dynasty!

This made Liu Bian feel a little bitter!

I don't know whether to say that the imperial power of the feudal dynasty is deeply rooted in people's hearts? Or at this critical moment, he can only stand up and take the blame? !
Yes, take the blame!
Since the legitimate ruling power of the "Son of Heaven" comes from "receiving the Mandate from Heaven", when a "natural disaster" occurs, the Son of Heaven needs to step forward and "take the blame"!

It is impossible for the emperor to take all the benefits and let others bear the bad consequences!
but! !! !!

This would shake the ruling power of Emperor Liu Bian, his reputation would be damaged, and even a peasant uprising might break out!
If a "reproach edict" is issued, the throne will be questioned!
"Report——

“Your Majesty, locusts have appeared in Hanoi County and Henan Yin.

“Because of the recent rainfall in Sili, locusts have difficulty flying, but locusts are jumping and eating plants all over the mountains and plains!
"The people are in panic, and the country is shaken!"

...

All of a sudden, Liu Bian could no longer stay in the rear and had to rush to the front line to provide relief for the locust plague!
The capital of the Han Dynasty is Luoyang!

If a locust plague breaks out even in the capital city of Luoyang, then this is not just a warning from God, but a punishment from God!
The emperor receives his mandate from heaven, so natural disasters mean that heaven is dissatisfied with the emperor!

A natural disaster befell the capital. Was it a warning from heaven that the emperor was unworthy of his position?
At this time, if Yuan Shao and other rebels stir up trouble and spread rumors to confuse the people, everything will be caused by your majesty's mobilization and war everywhere, and the war will destroy the people and cause them to suffer, so that the heavens will be angry and the people will resent...

The people will believe it without a doubt!
Liu Bian must stand up and express his position as the emperor!

If he expresses his stance as the Son of Heaven and personally suppresses the locust plague, it will be difficult to succeed in the locust eradication work. Then the only thing left is to "issue an edict of repentance"!

This is also the only way for emperors of all dynasties!

In addition to locust plagues, there were also floods, droughts, etc. After the emperor expressed his views as a disaster relief agency but failed to provide any results, the only thing left was a self-criticism edict!
……

Liu Bian summoned civil and military officials and gathered all the people in the city to come to Beimang Mountain.

The Han Emperor's actions attracted the attention of the entire capital, the entire Sili Prefecture, and even the entire world!
Because Liu Bian was the king of a country and the ruler of the Han Dynasty, when he expressed his opinion as the Son of Heaven, it meant that he would be responsible for this "natural disaster".

The emperor was appointed by heaven, so how would he face this natural disaster? !
Liu Bian’s approach is:

In front of all the common people, civil and military officials, soldiers, and spies from the noble families, he personally took the lead and caught a locust. He said:
"Natural disaster? No! This is the meat protein that God sent down specially because he saw that the Han people were short of food!
"Locusts are rich in nutrients and can supplement the body's nutritional deficiencies. Moreover, such a large number of locusts are like food that can be easily taken and eaten immediately!"

In order to increase his credibility, Liu Bian had a pot of locusts fried in oil.

In fact, locusts can be divided into solitary and gregarious types.

Solitary locusts are also called grasshoppers and grasshoppers. Many rural children caught and played with them when they were young. When locusts live in groups, they are called locusts.

Scattered locusts can be used and are rich in protein.

But locusts are poisonous when they live in groups. They emit high concentrations of the volatile organic compound phenylacetonitrile from their bodies, which is a precursor of cyanide, making locusts smell bad and poisonous.

If the locusts are preyed upon by birds, the benzonitrile stored in their bodies will immediately convert into cyanide, and the concentration can increase more than ten times. This is obviously a way for locusts to protect themselves.

The amount of benzyl cyanide released is proportional to the locust density. When the extreme locusts are separated, the benzyl cyanide concentration drops significantly.

When mild locusts are gathered together, the concentration of phenylacetonitrile increases dramatically. This compound is very sensitive to changes in population density.

However, after being converted into cyanide, the locusts will poison themselves first!

Therefore, it is necessary to take action against the scattered locusts, which can generally be identified by the fact that they do not emit an unpleasant odor.

But if they live in groups, eating them can be fatal!

...

When the fried locusts came out of the pan, they already gave off a delicious fragrance, making the people around them salivate and appetite.

In fact, for the common people, they even ate tree bark and grass roots. When famine broke out, they even ate soil and even their own children.

Do you still care whether locusts have toxins?

For the people, what they need to know is whether the natural disaster of locusts is a warning from God.

The emperor, the Son of Heaven, who is appointed by Heaven and exercises power on behalf of Heaven, can tell them the truth directly!

And now-

Your Majesty actually said that locusts are edible? !

This made the surrounding common people, civil officials, military officers, generals, and even spies from aristocratic families, all look at each other in confusion!

This time, His Majesty personally summoned the entire city to watch. They thought he was going to announce something big, but who knew it was actually a feast of delicious food? !

In other words, a locust feast!
...

Liu Bian looked at the fried locusts, resisted the urge to feel uncomfortable, reached out and grabbed one, with a smile on his face, and then made a "crunch" sound, chewed it in his mouth, and commented:

“Mmm, it tastes delicious!”

"Wow—"

No imperial edict or locust extermination was as convincing and moving as Emperor Liu Bian's statement!
Can locusts be eaten?
This made the people of Guizhou eager to take action. If they had known that locusts could be eaten, what would they be afraid of? !

And let these "things" eat up all the food in the land? !
They can eat them all!
The common people in Guizhou are relatively simple and don't have too many ideas.

But the civil officials and military generals, as well as the spies from the surrounding aristocratic families, were, after all, people who had received education and had enlightened the people.

They were deeply suspicious of this and believed that His Majesty did it on purpose!

however.

The ruler of a country, the head of the Han Dynasty, had expressed his views personally, and even tasted it despite the eunuchs such as Cao Zhengchun trying to stop him in every way. How could they just stand aside and watch? !
Therefore, the civil and military officials present, the eunuchs and soldiers, came forward one by one and divided the fried locusts.

While eating, he forced himself to smile and exclaimed with relish: "Delicious! This is so delicious!!!"

"Wow—"

These scenes have further strengthened the understanding of the common people!

Your Majesty, all the ministers and soldiers in the court are like this. This undoubtedly proves that these locusts are edible!

This made the common people look at the locusts jumping in the distance with their eyes shining!

Because it has rained in the capital in recent days, the locusts can't fly and can only jump around relying on their bouncing power.

Doesn't this give them the opportunity to capture and eat them? !

...

Liu Bian looked at the expressions of the crowd and knew that it was almost ready. He sucked the grease on his fingers, showing a delicious gesture, which made the common people swallow their lips and get excited and expectant!
But at this time, Liu Bian said:
“Of course, not all locusts are edible!

“It’s just like the water source. If it’s raw water, you’ll have diarrhea after taking it because there are bacteria and microorganisms in the water, um, toxins, which will make the body uncomfortable.

"But after boiling, the boiled water can be taken. Drinking more boiled water is actually good for the body. As the saying goes, water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. This is the truth."

Liu Bian explained it to the people in a very simple way so that the common people, whose literacy rate was almost zero, could understand it.

After a pause, Liu Bian continued:

"So which locusts can be eaten? First, the solitary locusts! The gregarious locusts are poisonous. You can tell by whether the locusts emit an unpleasant odor..."

Liu Bian popularized what locusts are edible, and finally popularized the "methods of killing locusts", such as Yao Chong's method of digging trenches, filling and burning them in the Tang Dynasty, and Gu Yan's complete method of killing locusts.

At the same time, people were also told about the prevention and control of locusts. Locusts prefer drought and are not fond of humid environments.

Improving water conservancy technologies such as plowing and irrigation techniques, or raising chickens and ducks and preventing predators from preying on them can all help control locust plagues.

The people were mobilized!
This created a strange spectacle in the capital city. Citizens from all over the city went to the suburbs to catch locusts. Locusts all over the mountains and plains were cut up and eaten.

But to be honest, because locusts live in groups, there are very few edible locusts, only a few solitary locusts.

However, the mobilization of Emperor Liu Bian made the people participate in the "locust extermination work", which is an example of leading by example!

There are nearly one million people in the capital, more than three hundred million people in the entire Sili Prefecture, and more than sixty million people in the entire Han Empire!
If this energy is invested in locust eradication, the locust plague will not be so terrible!
Of course, the most important thing is——

Locusts do not eat sweet potatoes and cannot eat potatoes in the soil, but these two crops can be used as staple food!

This increased the confidence of the court and the people!

Even the locust plague has helped promote sweet potatoes and potatoes!

...

"Your Majesty, after dealing with the locust plague, we have also summed up the experience of exterminating locusts--"

Xun Yu said:
"You can dig a long trench, scare the locusts into the trench by beating gongs and drums, burn them and bury them. You can also capture them manually. And there is also the insecticide that your majesty used to kill the locusts.

"Choose crops that locusts don't like to eat, such as sweet potatoes. Raise chickens, ducks and other natural enemies to prey on them. Use drugs for prevention and control, such as the anthelmintic drugs recorded in Fan Shengzhi's book.

"We also need to improve dry fields and turn them into paddy fields, and weed regularly so that locust larvae don't have the conditions to reproduce."

After hearing this, Liu Bian nodded.

"Wen Ruo, compile it into a book and spread it throughout the world."

"promise!"

After Xun Yu received the order, he immediately said:
“Your Majesty, the locust plague has had a huge impact, affecting several states and nearly a hundred counties and kingdoms, causing public resentment, which has given Yuan Shao and other rebels a foundation to develop by deceiving the people and fanning the flames.

I suggest calming people's hearts and reducing taxes. I even strongly advocate the idea of ​​allocating taxes to each acre to stabilize people's emotions."

...

Liu Bian was a little surprised: "Wen Ruo, didn't you think that I was a little too radical in implementing the policy of allocating land tax?"

...

"I dare not!"

Xun Yu nodded and said:

"This is a different time. When Your Majesty first took control of the capital, the food and grass crisis and financial problems were severe. You should have pretended to be accommodating and taken things slowly.

However, locust plagues are raging, and the Yuan family and other traitors are misleading people and spreading lies. Propaganda on the issue of equalizing the land tax can stabilize people's hearts and avoid rebellion. "

...

"As you say."

Liu Bian felt very relieved.

In fact, when Xun Yu and others disagreed with the "equalization of land tax", Liu Bian did not doubt whether they were thinking about their own family.

But Xun Yu and others were very loyal, and it was impossible for Liu Bian to be too suspicious of them.

But after going through so many things, Liu Bian has also understood that loyal ministers like Xun Yu are really thinking about the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bian was a bit radical when he implemented the policy of allocating land tax to each household!
Just as Xun Yu said, he had just taken control of the capital and had not yet established a firm foothold. The food and financial crises were both very serious.

At this time, we should take things step by step and pretend to be accommodating. As the saying goes, "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish", we can't "act too hastily"!

We should stabilize those aristocratic families!

If we do this, perhaps when we take action against Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, those aristocratic families will stand idly by and the resistance will not be so great!

But Liu Bian was so decisive and swift that he caused those aristocratic families to secretly help the Yuan family, and the suppression of the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu has been delayed until now!

This time, the locust plague broke out, which exacerbated the "natural disaster" under the influence of the "man-made disaster" caused by Yuan Shao and other rebels.

This made Liu Bian understand more clearly that sometimes the promulgation of policies should not be rushed.

Need to wait for the right time to come.

In Xun Yu's opinion, now is the best time.

Whether the land tax can be implemented or not is not the question for the moment, after all, it needs to be measured. And this requires literate scholars, most of whom are from aristocratic families or poor families, and are resistance elements!
However, promoting the policy of allocating land tax to each household can stabilize people's hearts and prevent them from rebelling due to the locust plague!

As long as the people see hope and the future, they will choose to live an agricultural life instead of becoming bandits and rebelling!
This is to strangle the possible "peasant uprising" in the cradle!

...

Afterwards, Liu Bian discussed with Xun Yu and other ministers for a long time before he stepped back to carry out the imperial edict.

After Liu Bian set an example by "frying locusts", the capital and its prefectures launched a "locust eradication operation" against locusts.

The common people all participated enthusiastically!

This sentiment affected Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Qingzhou, Jizhou and so on. After the people in the locust-affected areas learned the news, they finally stopped being afraid of the locusts and instead struck back hard!
Even His Majesty, the "Son of Heaven", has made such a statement, so they must naturally obey his orders and take action!
This must be the divine will bestowed upon Your Majesty by God!

The people were somewhat simple-minded and superstitious, and devoted themselves even more diligently to the work of "eliminating locusts".

As a result, the locust plague was gradually suppressed and the spreading trend was halted!
……

The suppression of the locust plague is an exciting thing, as it means that food in other places will not be greatly affected, and it represents the possibility of "man conquering nature"!

But some are happy and some are sad!

"You didn't suppress it earlier or later, but chose to suppress it after all the food and grass in Jizhou were eaten by locusts. Your Majesty, did you do this on purpose?!"

Yuan Shao thought sinisterly, "Besides, if the locust plague is suppressed, won't the imperial army come back again?! Everyone, what should we do?!"

People have dark minds and everything they think is dark.

Because of the locust plague, Yuan Shao suffered heavy losses, and he could not swallow this humiliation.

Moreover, if the locust plague is lifted, the imperial court's troops will return, and the people in Jizhou will be in panic after experiencing the locust plague, which will be an opportunity to take advantage of.

Yuan Shao saw his future of failure and became worried!
"My Lord, the locust plague has a huge impact. Even if it is temporarily suppressed, it will only ease the trend of its spread, not completely eliminate it!"

Feng Ji analyzed and said:

"After the locust plague, the affected areas include Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Jizhou, and even Sili. Therefore, it is impossible to continue to mobilize troops this year.

"At least we got some time to breathe!"

...

This answer did not satisfy Yuan Shao, and he still looked worried.

It was already mid-August. If they couldn't mobilize troops this year, what about next year? They were still lambs to be slaughtered!
They must move back to their disadvantages!

Unfortunately, because of His Majesty's example of "frying locusts", people all over the world have participated in the "locust extermination work".

The locust plague that could have swept the whole world was suppressed, and Yuan Shao also lost the opportunity to mobilize public opinion and force the emperor to issue an edict of repentance.

If we can force His Majesty to issue an edict of repentance, then we can suppress the imperial power politically.

This could shake your Majesty's reputation and prestige, your ruling position, and the stability of your throne.

In this case, the ambitious people will definitely take action!

In this way, those ignorant people may be misled into rebellion!
But now, the locust plague has been suppressed!
At this time, Guo Tu seemed to see what Yuan Shao was thinking and said with a folded hand:

"My Lord, His Majesty said that locusts that live in groups cannot be eaten, but locusts that live in groups can be eaten. We can make a fuss about this.

"The information transmission in the capital is unchanged, delayed, and even vague. We can take it out of context, promote the idea that locusts are edible, and downplay the issue of locusts living in groups or dispersedly.

"With your Majesty's example of 'fried locusts', the people will surely believe it, and because the food is devoured by locusts, the people will have no way to survive, and they will definitely flock to catch locusts.

"By then, the people will be poisoned and die after taking it. We can even help the people get rid of their suffering and reincarnate in advance. In the end, the blame will be put on Your Majesty - Your Majesty is using the lives of the people to kill the locusts!

"If this idea explodes, it will surely cause the people to surge with anger, and soon a rebellion even more horrific than the Yellow Turban Rebellion will break out!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao's eyes lit up: "This is a brilliant plan!"

Many civil officials wanted to persuade Yuan Shao, but seeing Yuan Shao's excited expression, they knew they could not do anything.

I sighed in my heart.

It is easy to destroy something, but it is extremely difficult to repair it!

Liu Bian led all the civil and military officials in the court to work day and night to exterminate the locusts. However, as soon as they saw some initial results, a group of ambitious people tried to sabotage them secretly.

In the eyes of Yuan Shao and others, they don't care about the common people or the country at all, they only care about their own conspiracies and struggles for power!
What’s even worse is that the common people are so innocent. They lack information channels but are exploited by them.

It is still unknown how many people will be buried in Guo Tu's plan, and they will not even leave their names, only a bloody number -

Such as "There was a great famine, and people ate each other"

For example, "Locusts came from the east, destroying the sky and causing epidemics throughout the world."

For example, "severe drought, locust plagues, great famine, epidemics, and cannibalism."

And considering Yuan Shao’s purpose, he would definitely add a sentence - something like "Because they believed the emperor’s words, they ate locusts, resulting in countless deaths and injuries"!
Whether a country prospers or falls, the people are the ones who suffer!
(End of this chapter)