The moment Qin Hao and Yun Ye entered the Tai Chi Hall, the eyes of all civil servants fell on them.
Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling looked at each other in a tacit understanding, and both of them realized that Li Shimin summoned them here today for more than just a simple chat.
"Qin Aiqing, Yun Aiqing is here. Come and sit quickly. I will bring two more braziers." Li Shimin looked concerned.
Qin Hao secretly winked at Yun Ye, and Yun Ye also understood it and hurried forward.
"Your Majesty, I have something important to report."
Li Shimin was very satisfied with Yun Ye's attitude. After all, he sent someone to peek at the minister's letter and couldn't get it out in the open. He could only let Qin Hao and Yun Ye raise it themselves.
"Oh? Yun Aiqing just said it doesn't matter."
Yun Ye took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, when Master was still alive, he once said that there will be a large-scale locust plague in Guanzhong in the coming year. If we don't prepare in advance, I'm afraid there will be thousands of miles of red land and the people will change their lives.
And the food is miserable."
In an instant, the entire Tai Chi Hall seemed to be frozen by a blast of cold air. Apart from the slight crackling sound of charcoal burning, the only sound left was the rapid breathing of Du Ruhui and other civil servants.
Li Shimin had already read Yun Ye's letter. There were a lot of typos in it and he could only barely make it out. But when he heard Yun Ye say it with his own ears, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
Du Ruhui immediately stood up and stared at Yun Ye solemnly: "Is there any basis for what you said?"
"No, but I believe the master will not lie!" Yun Ye couldn't find any evidence. He had only seen similar records in history books. He had no choice but to blame the illusory master.
Hearing this, Fang Xuanling swung his sleeves fiercely: "That's ridiculous, Mr. Yun County, do you know that this Tai Chi Hall is where government affairs are discussed? If your words are accepted by His Majesty, millions of people in the Tang Dynasty will be punished."
!”
Yun Ye was speechless for a moment. He seemed to know in advance that the earthquake was going to happen, but how could he prove that the earthquake would really happen? Otherwise, the awake people were the most painful, because he had to shoulder the responsibility of waking up those who were sleeping.
Some of these people are angry when they wake up, while others are deliberately pretending to be asleep.
"Master has a kind heart and will never make fun of the people. If Zhongshu Ling doesn't believe it, there is no need to adopt it. But if there is a locust plague in the future, will Zhongshu Ling dare to shoulder the responsibility?" Qin Hao snorted coldly.
In the eyes of outsiders, he and Yun Ye were already one and the same. They both prospered and suffered losses. As a senior brother, he naturally could not let Yun Ye be bullied.
Fang Xuanling was speechless. As Qin Hao said, if there is no locust plague, the world will naturally be peaceful. But once the locust plague really comes, if someone warns him, if it is because of his advice, the court will not
If he makes any preparation, his sin will be great.
The livelihood of millions of people, even if it is cut into pieces, cannot bear such a responsibility.
Seeing that his partner was frustrated, Du Ruhui hurriedly smoothed things over: "The man from Qin County has spoken harshly. Zhongshu Ling just thinks that because of one man's words, he is going to war. I'm afraid the decree can't push it forward. I'd like to ask Your Majesty to make a decision."
Li Shimin was also in trouble. He had kicked the ball to himself. He glanced at the many civil servants present. At this moment, even Wei Zheng avoided looking, obviously feeling that it was very difficult.
Qin Hao did not continue to argue with Fang Xuanling. After thinking for a moment, Qin Hao said in a deep voice: "Has your Majesty noticed that this winter seems to be not as cold as in previous years?"
Li Shimin subconsciously looked at Du Ruhui. Du Ruhui and others were stunned. After looking at each other, they bowed and said: "Your Majesty, as the man from Qin County said, this year is indeed not as cold as last year."
"What does Qin Aiqing mean?"
"If snow heralds a good year and the winter is not cold enough, it means that the survival rate of insect eggs buried in the soil will be higher."
In the Tai Chi Hall, the already depressing atmosphere became even more solemn, and everyone felt as if there was a big mountain pressing on their chests.
Li Shimin took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Qin Hao: "Qin Aiqing, since the master predicted the locust plague, did he tell you how to prevent it?"
Qin Hao thought for a while.
"The locust plague is caused by a large gathering of locusts, which allows people to raise a large number of poultry..."
Before he finished speaking, Du Ruhui interrupted directly.
"The people themselves don't have enough to eat, so how can they have extra food to raise poultry? Not to mention where to raise so many poultry at once?"
Qin Hao said in a deep voice: "The growth cycle of poultry such as chickens and ducks is not long, and locust plagues often harm remote rural areas. There are a lot of forests and grasslands, where there are a lot of grass seeds, fish and insects for the poultry to eat. It does not need to be completely
Eating food, it is difficult to stop such a large-scale locust plague with just one or two methods. Captive poultry can be one of them. Since Du Shangshu feels that the strategy proposed below is useless, it is time for him to come up with a better method.
.”
"This..." Du Ruhui's scalp felt numb when he thought of the locusts that were covering the sky. Since ancient times, books have shown that there is no way to deal with these natural disasters. He can only let them wreak havoc and then find ways to relieve the victims.
How to prevent it really involves his blind spot in knowledge.
Upon seeing this, Li Shimin also said to Qin Hao: "We will discuss the matter of raising poultry in captivity later. Does Yun Aiqing have any other methods?"
If we were in modern society, just a few planes spraying pesticides could control the locust plague, but this was in ancient times, and there were no pesticides, let alone planes.
Seeing that Qin Hao had not spoken for a long time, Li Shimin's face became even more ugly. Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling and other civil servants also had bitter expressions on their faces.
"There is another way that we might try."
"Oh? Qin Aiqing, come quickly." Li Shimin said impatiently.
"When the frozen soil melts in the coming year, let the people in Guanzhong reclaim as much wasteland as possible." Qin Hao said slowly.
Li Shimin looked confused, and Du Ruhui and other civil servants also didn't know why.
"Mr. Qin County, how can we prevent locust plagues by reclaiming wasteland?"
Qin Hao said unhurriedly: "Master once said that all things in the world have their own laws of growth. Locusts will bury their eggs in the soil before winter. When the frozen soil opens up and all things grow in the coming year, these eggs will
It will begin to hatch, and will generally enter the larval stage in about twenty days. After that, the locusts in the larval stage will shed their skin every seven days. The entire molting process will take five times, which is about 35 days, before they will grow into locusts.
Then it comes out of the ground and eats plants."
"If we can turn over the land as much as possible before the locusts mature and expose the locust eggs on the ground, birds, snakes, insects, rats, and ants will naturally eat the locust eggs, thereby reducing the number of locust swarms.
the goal of."
"Secondly, to reclaim wasteland, we need to clear away the weeds on the wasteland. These weeds are also food for locust larvae."
Li Shimin listened very carefully, and when Qin Hao finished speaking, he sincerely sighed: "Mr. Xiaoyaozi is so knowledgeable, he is truly a god."
"Du Aiqing, Fang Aiqing, what do you think of Qin County Man's plan?"
Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling looked at each other and bowed down: "I think you can give it a try."
Li Shimin nodded, and then said to Qin Hao again: "Qin Aiqing, if the two strategies are carried out at the same time, can the locust plague be eliminated invisible?"
Qin Hao shook his head: "Your Majesty, the locust plague is not just a few locusts, let alone tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but trillions of locusts, covering the sky and covering the earth, leaving no grass growing in their path. All we can do is to reduce the losses.
drop to lowest."
"Is there nothing even Qin Aiqing can do?" Li Shimin said sadly.
Qin Hao was silent, while Li Shimin waved his hand bitterly: "I am the one who has made things difficult for others. All dynasties have been helpless against the locust plague. Qin Aiqing's ability to come up with two strategies is already a great achievement."
"Du Aiqing, Fang Aiqing, let me leave this matter to you two. Remember, don't make a big fuss, so as not to give some people with ulterior motives an opportunity to take advantage of it."
"promise."
Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling and others were nervous. They naturally understood that the people with ulterior motives mentioned by Li Shimin were the remnants of the old prince. Since the Xuanwu Gate Incident, these people were like rats hiding in the dark, ready to jump out and bite them at any time.
people.
Qin Hao and Yun Ye left the palace side by side.
"Senior brother, do you still have any thoughts that you haven't finished speaking?"
Qin Hao paused and turned to look at Yun Ye: "How did you know?"
"My guess is that my senior brother seemed to be weighing something when I saw him just now."
"You observe carefully." Qin Hao did not deny it.
"In fact, the simplest and most effective way is to create an isolation belt in the Guanzhong area, just like a fire break belt, destroying all the trees and vegetation in the entire area so that locusts can't find anything to eat here.
, it will naturally turn around and turn towards the Hexi Corridor.”
Yun Ye couldn't help but his eyes lit up when he heard this, and he exclaimed: "Such a brilliant idea, why didn't Senior Brother just tell me about it?"
"Because it's useless to say it." Qin Hao shook his head.
"how come........"
Qin Hao raised his hand and interrupted: "You saw the initial reactions of Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling today. Do you think they really don't believe there will be a locust plague next year?"
"It's not that they don't believe it, but they don't dare to take this responsibility. If the locust plague comes next year, they have only done their part. But if the locust plague doesn't come, will they still be able to hold their position?"
"And you have also seen the execution ability in ancient times. The imperial power did not go to the countryside and asked the people to bulldoze the land they depended on for survival. What do you think they would do? Maybe the entire Guanzhong Plain would be in chaos before the locust plague came.
Not even Li Shimin has the courage to implement this plan."
"Wouldn't it embarrass your superiors to propose a plan that is destined not to be implemented? Li Shimin was a wise king, but he also showed no mercy in killing his own brothers. Imperial power is sacred and inviolable."
After saying that, Qin Hao patted Yun Ye on the shoulder: "Remember, junior brother, we are in ancient times. We are not in a modern society where you can resign at any time if you offend your boss. Before doing anything, you must first learn to protect yourself. Now you are
The head of the Yun family needs to be more steady, do you understand?"
"Thank you, senior brother, for your teaching." Yun Ye bowed deeply to Qin Hao.
Qin Hao smiled, led Chi Yue out of the stable, and got on the horse.
"Drive~~~"
After returning to Wannian County, Qin Hao called the housekeeper.
"How is the harvest in Zhuangzi this year?"
The housekeeper replied with a low eyebrow: "This year's harvest is better than in previous years, but after farmers have paid off the crops they grew in previous years, there won't be much left at home."
"Does each family have enough food to last until next autumn harvest?"
"I'm afraid it will be difficult."
Qin Hao stood up after hearing this: "Take me to the village for a walk."
"Sir, this snowy day..."
"If you don't want to go, I'll call someone else..."
The housekeeper quickly said with a grimace: "Sir, you have misunderstood. I am afraid that the houses of those farmers are too simple..."
Soon, Qin Hao saw what the butler meant by being simple.
In the coldest month of winter, there was no window paper at home, the roof was crushed by heavy snow, and the family huddled in bed shivering from the cold. The children at home didn't even have any pants, so they had to hide on the cave all day long.
This is the current situation of this family.
"Old man, I see there are knives hanging on the wall. Have you ever been in the military?"
The old man was gray-haired, hunched over, and nodded bitterly: "I have been a soldier for more than twenty years. I served as a soldier for the Sui Dynasty before, and later for the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, I never made any decent achievements.
, it’s pretty good to be able to come back alive.”
"Were life so hard in the past?" Qin Hao felt a little sad in his heart. They said that during the Zhenguan period, all nations came to court, but in fact the people at the bottom were still living a very hard life.
The old man smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This year is not bad. The old man can still take care of several acres of dry land at home. The children at home do have stutters. Although they are not full, they have not starved to death."
Not to starve to death, this is the simplest and most basic desire of the ancient people.
"I have a new kind of grain that can produce fifty shi per mu. Are you willing to plant it?"
Before entering Chang'an City, Zuowu guards Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda smashed a jar of potatoes. Qin Hao took the opportunity to hide a few, originally planning to make seeds for the farmers in the fiefdom next year.
Since it is his own fiefdom, he cannot bear to see that the people in the fiefdom are living in misery. If he is poor, he will take care of himself, and if he is prosperous, he will help the world. Although he is not so noble and cannot help the world, he can still take care of what he can see.
At a glance.
The old man obviously didn't believe Qin Hao: "Noble man, please don't make fun of me. There is no food in the world that can produce fifty dan per mu."
When the butler heard this, he cursed: "You old man Liu, you really deserve a beating. Did you know that the auspicious potatoes were presented to His Majesty by His Majesty? His Majesty also rewarded His Majesty with a gold medal. Everyone in Chang'an City knows about this."
, but you don’t believe it.”
"What? The noble is the master?" The old man was about to kneel down when he turned his head. Qin Hao helped him up and said with tears in his nose.
"If I had known that it was the master's face, the little old man would naturally believe it. If the little old man offends the master, please punish him."
Qin Hao stopped Old Man Liu who was about to beat him and asked curiously: "Why do you trust me?"
"The master's family is different from other nobles. Not only does it not squeeze us villagers, but it also exempts and exempts this year's taxes, and there is no corvee. All three Zhuangzi said that only those who have accumulated great virtues in their previous lives can only
I met such a good owner." Old man Liu said while wiping his tears.
Qin Hao said silently, these are ordinary people, as long as you are kind to them, they will remember you ten points.
This also made Qin Hao even more determined to let the people in his fiefdom live a good life.