As Liu Mingqi expected, starting from the third day, small and medium-sized grain merchants couldn't help but ship the goods.

Although rice and wheat are still at a high price of 40 cents per liter, food can finally be bought everywhere in the Gyeonggi area.

So the limited amount of food in a day went from being sold out in two hours in the morning to not being sold out until the afternoon.

The people's anxious and urgent thoughts seemed to have been alleviated to a certain extent.

Many families, a family of three, went out and bought a bucket of grain, but they were not so anxious to buy it.

As soon as the court promoted it, it was available every day for at least one month, and they couldn't do it if they didn't sell it.

Second, the price of one liter and forty cents is too high. It used to be enough to buy two liters of grain. Now the more you buy, the less money you have in your pocket. This is not possible.

As for ordinary people, they are all used to being stingy and saving.

Moreover, during this period, farmers have picked various vegetables from outside the city to sell them, and they sell them very well. They often come here in the morning and will be empty if the basket is not in half an hour.

Especially those vegetables that can be preserved a little longer are more popular.

Even the price of vegetables has risen with the grain water, but the increase is not as scary as grain. Eating more vegetables and eating less rice and noodles has become the best slogan for people in the Gyeonggi region, especially in Beijing.

In fact, it’s not just vegetables, but everything related to food is rising prices.

For example, the lean pork meat that plummeted a while ago was originally 5 cents a pound, but has increased to more than 10 cents a pound in the past few days, but it made the people who fed the pigs laughed from ear to ear.

However, it is a bit hard for people who have chickens and ducks at home, or those who raise chickens and ducks to sell them.

The Imperial Capital Palace, including the entire Jingji area, sent out yamen runners, borrowed chickens and ducks from the farmers, and put them in cages around some fertile fields. It is said that they were waiting for the locusts to come and eat them.

If it weren't for the person who came forward, Xiong Wenqing, the governor of the Gyeonggi, and Miao Yan, the governor of the Imperial Palace, were not assured to lend the chickens and ducks to the yamen.

Of course, it is not that you don’t pay any money. Local governments rent each chicken and duck for about 2 cents, which is very moral.

As the entire Gyeonggi area was in trouble, news continued to occur on the Imperial Palace.

As the locusts were getting closer, some people said that they had already entered the eastern side of the Gyeonggi area and would enter the Imperial Palace area in one or two days.

While people were nervous, they suddenly heard a funny news.

Prince Yu's Mansion posted another notice at the entrance of his five Miaowei Building, announcing that one liter of locusts or two liters of locust pupae at a price of ten cents, without a limit.

The news spread throughout the country in an instant.

It’s not that the news spread so quickly, but that the yamen runners mentioned it to the farmers when they were seconding chickens and ducks.

Someone said, could this be the joke of Prince Yu’s Mansion?

Locusts and insect pupae have a bad use. What did they buy for ten cents per liter? Do you play with a room of locusts?

But someone immediately refuted it. If you want to say something else is talking nonsense, it is possible.

But the one who talks about Prince Yu's Mansion, that's different.

In the past few days, Wujia Miaoweilou sells rice porridge and steamed buns every day from morning to night. You can buy half a pound of rice porridge that is similar to dry rice for two cents, plus five large steamed buns. How dare you think of such a good thing on weekdays?

The cost of rice porridge and big steamed buns is less than ten cents!!

I don’t know how many ordinary people have relied on rice porridge and steamed buns from Miaoweilou for three meals a day these days.

No matter how much you sell and lose, people promise to continue until the disaster is over.

Such a prince would post a special notice to deceive you?

After such a refutation, more people believed the notice from Prince Yu's Mansion.

Then many people began to think about it.

The locusts were about to come, but the crops in the fields were no longer preserved and there was no work for people. So why not catch more locusts and take them to Miaoweilou to pay back the money.

Four liters of locusts are forty cents, so you can buy one liter of rice.

The whole family is out, but you can’t get a twenty or thirty liters in a day?

After a replacement, there are seven or eight liters of rice, which can help a lot!

If the locust stays for three or seven or eight days, you can get one or two taels of silver.

As long as you save a little now, buy all the things like wild vegetables and vegetables, and wait until the rice price is cheaper, will not this minimize the loss?

With such thoughts, many ordinary people are really ready for fun.

Not only them, but also the people in the city who had nothing to do and wanted to make some money, also began to prepare.

Over the past thousand years, people have had many experiences in catching locusts.

Just like what I said before, the people wear, bag-brushing, net-type, fish foil-type, etc. are all methods that the people think of themselves.

Don’t mention the people’s suffering and joy.

After the first 800-mile rush, various latest information were sent one after another.

On the third day of July, locusts had eaten the alluvial plains at the junction of the three provinces, and millions of people were destined to have no grain harvest this year.

A memorial issued by local officials said, "Where the locust plague passes, crying everywhere, and looking around for a hundred miles, no grass grows." "I beg the court to allocate grain and fund disaster relief as soon as possible to save the lives of millions of disaster victims in the fire and water."

What will the court do?

He could only squeeze out another 2 million taels of silver, and then ordered the surrounding Hebei and Shandong to do their best to provide disaster relief. If there is surplus grain in Jiangnan, he would also ask for one or two million stones to solve the urgent problem.

As for the Northeast Defense Line in the north...

Forget it, it’s cold and freezing there. Every year, Shandong has to import grain. If they don’t look for the mainland, they will be fine. It’s impossible to save a few rice in their mouths!

To be honest, looking at the words on the memorial and thinking about the people's crying, the locust plague has not yet entered the Gyeonggi area and has not yet rushed to the two lakes. Jinghe Imperial Capital has begun to consider whether the side tea tea and salt scent that Mingqi mentioned can be done.

If Bai Hengwang hadn't been rolling and climbing, rushing towards Jiangnan on a boat and ensuring a satisfactory reply to the court within a month, Emperor Jinghe would have been unable to bear it.

On the fifth day of July, the locust army officially invaded the Gyeonggi area, swept across the west, swallowing all the food you could see.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, the locust army arrived in the Imperial Palace.

On the tenth day of July, everyone in the capital could see that the sun above their heads was covered by locusts, and it took almost an hour to pass by.

Liu Mingqi was also standing in the garden of Prince Yu's mansion. Seeing this scene, she was shocked.

As a modern person, Liu Mingqi has only watched such scenes on TV. At that time, she was just watching the show, after all, it did not happen in China.

Now I have seen myself encountering such a fierce locust plague where I live, and I have never had such a shock before.

It does not represent a magnificent scene, but a flood of disasters.

The locust plague has always been gone, but now it has finally arrived at the Imperial Palace.

God knows that after such a disaster, I don’t know how many people are affected and how many people cry.

The economy in ancient times was very fragile.

Just like the Ming Dynasty, there were still "Three Major Conquests of Wanli" in Wanli. As a result, after twenty or thirty years, due to disasters of all sizes, the Ming Dynasty, which was once so powerful and prosperous, died directly due to disasters of all sizes.

The demise of the Ming Dynasty did not depend on foreign invaders, but on internal.

If there were not so many disasters, the Qing Dynasty alone would not be enough to enter Shanhaiguan.

Although the Dakang Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time, if such a disaster occurs three or five times, it will cause great damage to its vitality. If there are any major floods or droughts, it will probably be too breathless for decades.

Liu Mingqi happened to live in this era, so of course she didn't want to have a situation like the Ming Dynasty - she ushered in the competition between the grassland barbarians in the Central Plains decades later, and her family was destroyed.

This is also one of the reasons why he is so active in finding solutions for the locust plague.

After all, as long as you are alone, you will not want to be a Fulu Tang.

...

Like Liu Mingqi, Emperor Jing He also watched this scene with a group of important officials of the court in the open space of the Qianqing Palace.

"It was my unethical virtue that led to God's punishment and made the people of the world suffer so much." Emperor Jinghe seemed to have been several years old, "Cao, please publish the edicts in the world!"

"His Majesty!"

All the important officials knelt down.

Eunuchs and eunuchs, including the palace maids standing in the distance and Qianniu Guards, also knelt down.

Unless it is a major festival or an important day on weekdays, all ministers do not have to kneel down to the emperor.

It hasn't been a year since I knelt down like this.

Whether it is a civil servant or a military general who kneels down, no matter what kind of thoughts he has on weekdays, he will inevitably feel a sense of shame at this time.

The emperor was forced to issue a "self-crime edict". This was certainly the emperor's own responsibility, but isn't this also a shame for these important officials?

They are the ones who assist the emperor!

As the prime minister, the head of all officials, Cao Yi took off his official hat and bowed: "The ministers were wrong in this locust plague, but the old minister, as the prime minister, cannot be forgiven! You also ask Your Majesty to allow the old minister to resign as prime minister and submit it to the officials for the crime."

"I am willing to accept punishment!"

The three deputy prime ministers, six ministers, the imperial guards, etc., all took off their official hats and worshipped them on the ground.

"You have resigned, what should I do if the entire court? Can I do this mess alone?" Jing Hedi waved tiredly, "If you want to help, then do the aftermath of this locust plague. This is the only thing we can do for the people!"

"I am ashamed!"

Cao Yi kowtowed three times in a row, "Your Majesty, I have lived in Wenyuan Hall from today. I will never return home until the locust plague is completely resolved!"
To be continued...