stubborn thief

Locusts ravaged the land under Liu Chengzong's rule.

What amazed the people of Lanzhou was that the main task of the Generalissimo's Mansion was not to exterminate locusts, but to send troops and horses to fight for territory with the Ming army.

On the night when locusts attacked Lanzhou for the first time on the fifth day of September alone, the brigade commander Wang Wenxiu led the three battalions of Luo Rucai, Yang Chengzu, and Li Wanqing to march 160 miles in two days and one night. One day, the third battalion set off again on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month.

To the south of Lintao Mansion is the military and civilian commander of Taozhou. In this piece of land larger than Lintao Mansion, the ruler is Yang Guolong, the chieftain of Zhuo Ni, who has excellent skills in learning people.

Chieftains are people who like to learn, because if a piece of land is not closed enough, the emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty will not allow chieftains to appear. The closed environment brings a great sense of security to chieftains, but it also makes the sense of backwardness a must in life for chieftains. An indispensable experience.

This turned Yang Guolong into a fine scholar. Oirat's Heshuote Guoshi Khan entered Qinghai, and Yang Guolong asked Zhuoni chieftain to convert the whole territory to the Gelug Sect in one day, and then Guoshi Khan was killed by Zhao Ke Changing the stamp and getting off the horse, with the harvest in Hehuang, Yang Guolong's chieftain Zhuoni copied and pasted the policy of land equalization and administrative divisions of the Marshal's Mansion within a day.

This autumn, Yang Guolong tasted the sweetness. Although Taozhou's land is not fertile enough, he can still proudly say that thanks to "his own" policies, the people of Taozhou Military and Civilian Command and Envoy Division are almost full!
It is indeed almost full. It is difficult to find a piece of flat and fertile soil like Lanzhou, Jinxian, and Hehuang in Taozhou. Agriculture is not developed. The pillar of people's survival is animal husbandry. It is difficult to irrigate, with highland barley as the staple food and rape as the non-staple food, the yield per mu is low.

Thanks to the introduction of new crops, potatoes became a new staple food and were well placed on the tables of the natives.

The reason why he was not full was that Yang Guolong observed the actions of the Marshal’s Mansion with a prudent attitude. Liu Chengzong was very stuck in planting potatoes and sweet potatoes in the Marshal’s Mansion. crop.

Although Yang Guolong didn't understand why, in order to ensure safety, Yang Guolong did everything in the territory and copied this rule.

In fact, this is already a very bold agricultural policy. Planting an unknown crop with one-tenth of the land sounds like a small proportion. In fact, the impact on people's lives has already made people struggling on the line of food and clothing. The people on the top fell to the line of life and death.

There are advantages and disadvantages to following this rule. The advantage is that it reduces the loss. The cold mountainous area is not suitable for large-scale planting of sweet potatoes. The disadvantage is that there are a little few potatoes. If you can grow some potatoes, maybe this year his natives You will be full.

Grain brings prosperity, and Yang Guolong's pockets are bulging. The first thing he wants to do is to recruit soldiers and horses. He has wanted to do this for a long time, but when the real thing comes, he dare not.

The size of Taozhou is not small. To the east is an army of [-] peasants, and to the north is the huge Marshal's Mansion. No one notices him, just because he is like an ostrich, trying to hide himself in the mountains. Once he starts recruiting troops, other Needless to say, the Marshal's Mansion in the north will definitely notice him.

A fist as big as a sandbag must be verified by sticking out its face. Yang Guolong didn't think he could catch Liu Chengzong's punch after expanding his army.

Unexpectedly, he did not expand the army, but Liu Chengzong stretched out his fist.

On the evening of the eighth day of September, Yang Guolong saw the local soldiers who were dying of exhaustion in the Zhuoni official village in Taozhou, and learned that the tens of thousands of troops marched south yesterday, stationed in Lintaowei in a mighty way, and set up bonfires in the fields , illuminating the field like daytime.

When he sent people out of the mountain again to investigate northward, they were already unable to pass.

There are two main roads from Taozhou to Lintao Mansion, one is in the northwest of Taozhou Guanzhai, called Ilongguan, which is occupied by the Marshal Army; the other is in the northeast of Zhuoni Guanzhai, and there is a Yangsa Pass in Taozhou On the morning of the ninth day of the ninth day, news also came that outside Yangsa Pass, General Li Wanqing of the Marshal's Mansion led his troops to set up a stronghold, and ordered the defenders to either surrender or leave the pass defense, otherwise a strong attack would be launched in three days.

It is said that Li Wanqing had a very powerful conjurer with him, which made the incantations of the conjurers stationed at Yangsaguan invalid.

Yang Guolong thought to himself, I have never offended you!
The native official guarding Yangsaguan is Yang Guolong's nephew, and he sent back a letter to prepare for a desperate battle. Yang Guolong thought about it and decided not to allow his nephew to fight, so he decided to bring wine, food, cattle and sheep to Yangsaguan to meet Li Wanqing.

There are only [-] troops in Taozhou. If war is inevitable, it is better to surrender directly.

But Li Wanqing really didn't come here to fight Taozhou. The task he received from Wang Wenxiu was to seize these two customs defenses, so as to prevent Lintao from being disturbed when the locusts were wiped out. As for why they were in countless ravines Li Wanqing didn't even know about seizing these two customs defenses.

Wang Wenxiu knew, but it was impossible for Wang Wenxiu to tell others. He didn't know the road to Taozhou at all. He just found two gates on an old map and decided to take it down first.

This is not even Wang Wenxiu's main direction of attack. Wang Wenxiu himself was stationed in Didao's Lintao Guard, with Yang Chengzu's battalion as the vanguard, stationed in Weiyuan County, and launched an offensive against Shouyang Pass in Gongchang Mansion. On the other side, Luo Rucai was in charge of Didao He ran all over the place nearby, conveying the orders of the marshal's mansion to exterminate locusts to the township security during the day, and set fire to the locusts in the fields at night.

Like moths, locusts tend to light. As long as a bonfire is lit at night, locusts will rush into the fire.

Liu Chengzong gave him Wang Wenxiu's order to guard the southeast of Lintao Mansion, firstly to guard against the government army, and secondly to wait for an opportunity to seize the southern part of Gongchang Mansion.

In the northeast of Lintao Mansion, Wei Qian'er led the battalion to station in Jinxian County, and went to the gate to support Shi Xiang, preventing the officers and soldiers from passing through the gate. At the same time, if there is an opportunity, they will wait for the opportunity to seize stability like Wang Wenxiu's side. , Huining two counties.

Wu Panlong arrived in Lanzhou in the early morning of the sixth day of September. Song Shouzhen was a little slower. He summoned the township officials of Dongguan Town and organized the manpower. He crossed the Yellow River before dawn. When he arrived in Lanzhou, Liu Chengzong was already having breakfast.

Because of the topography, Hehuang is much better at dealing with the locust plague than Lintao.

Liu Chengyun was originally in Dongguan Town, but when he received the news of the locust plague sent by Liu Chengzong, he ran westward. He didn't run too far, but went to the pox farm established by Liu Chengzong during the Hehuang War. The westernmost end of Guan Town is also one of the narrowest areas in the Hehuang Valley.

Chengyun ran there because there were trenches there. During the battle with the Ming army, many trenches running from north to south were dug.

Chengyun's idea of ​​locust control is very simple, that is, we can't let the locusts fly over Dongguan Town, and the fields in Dongguan Town can be abandoned, because the land here is planted with sweet potatoes, and the land has been destroyed, and now all the beans are planted. , as early as when they were still living in Miaoshan of the Black Dragon King, the second uncle always said that planting millet could not prevent locusts, and planting beans could not prevent drought.

Locusts don't eat beans.

To prevent locusts from flying over Dongguan Town, it is very simple, between two mountains, between two ditches - set fire.

As soon as he started the fire, the village guards were still transporting timber, when the locusts that had had a full meal in Lanzhou flew over and directly knocked out the wall of fire that he raised between the two trenches three times. The fire finally stabilized.

Liu Chengzong was not worried about Hehuang. There were fathers, teachers, and Chengyun there. On the contrary, Lintao Prefecture, which only had an army, was helpless in the face of the locust plague.

However, the team of township officials brought by Wu Panlong and Song Shouzhen solved this urgent need.

"Two days, there are still nineteen days."

In the main hall of Chengyun Hall, Liu Chengzong handed over the locust control booklet he had written all night to forty township officials. People watched and listened to his explanation: "Where locusts eat food, they lay eggs there. Lay fifty insect eggs three inches underground."

This is a terrible number. People know that locusts are born quickly and die quickly, but no one knows how many locusts can be born, nor do they know the exact time.

At this time, there are more than hundreds of thousands of locusts flying into Lanzhou. It only takes 21 days for the number of locusts to expand at a rate of ten times. The only thing that can limit their number is food. For food, until it enters the winter and dies clean.

"So you have to do three things. The first is to catch locusts, the second is to collect locusts, and the third is to kill eggs."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong unfolded the map, crossed his body on the topographic map of Lintao Mansion, and said: "Song Shouzhen is in Lanzhou, and Wu Panlong took forty township officials to the place to organize the people to set up a locust catching team. A team of 20 people, A team of 400 people."

"Each team is divided into left and right wings. Two people on the left wing hold shovels and dig a dirt ditch one foot long and four feet deep. The floating soil is piled on the opposite side; four people are behind the ditch and two are beside the ditch, sweeping the locusts into the ditch with long brooms. When the locusts are full, they are buried and crushed to death; the other two use long-handled leather palms to slap the locusts that cannot be swept in to death."

"Ten people from the right wing organized women and children to catch locusts. The live locusts they caught were plucked out of their wings, soaked in small salt water to death, made to spit out black water, and dried in the sun. They could be kept for their own use or sold to the government; The dead locusts caught are sold directly to the government for food, salt, or money.”

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he raised his hand and pointed to the west, saying: "The salt will be delivered soon."

The people in Lintao Mansion have no shortage of other things. Liu Shizi believes that the people will most likely exchange the captured locusts for salt. This is a great advantage for him. The Marshal’s Mansion has endless salt, and more than 60 places have been found in Qinghai. There are only two salt lakes that are actually used, which can already meet the daily needs of the Marshal's Mansion.

In fact, taking Chaka Salt Lake as an example, if his salt fleet in Qinghai Lake runs once a day, the reserves of Chaka Salt Lake are enough for a Central Plains empire to use from life to death, but in fact his salt fleet in Qinghai Lake runs every It only takes one trip a month, and not the entire fleet, only a few ships need to make one trip, and the salt transported is enough to supply the various consumptions of the entire Marshal's Mansion.

The Chaka Salt Lake is not the largest salt lake in the Marshal's Mansion, it is too small compared with those big salt lakes in Golmud - it is only the closest to Hehuang.

"All the brigades, set up a bonfire in the field at night, attract locusts to come and burn them to death—Song Shouzhen."

Liu Chengzong turned his head to look at Song Shouzhen, and said, "You also have work to do in Lanzhou. You borrow ovens from military households, and temporarily set aside a plot of land outside the city. You will bake the dead locusts sold to the government by the people from all over the country, and then use The boat mill on the Yellow River crushes and grinds powder."

Locusts can be eaten, but how to eat them.

If it is a locust that is caught alive, as long as it is caught, it will spit out the black water in its stomach, soak it in salt water, and spit it out more cleanly. Such locusts only need to be dried in the sun, and they can eat whatever they want; but dead The locusts that were caught after falling, because there is still something in the stomach, and the smell cannot be eaten directly, must be dried by fire, ground into powder, and a small amount can be mixed with other things to eat.

Even if it is not eaten by humans, let chickens and ducks be eaten as feed, but it cannot be used as the main feed, otherwise the odor will enter the meat of livestock. If you must use such feed, you need to stop using it seven or eight days before slaughter. , Let chickens and ducks metabolize this taste.

Song Shouzhen clasped his fists in response. He knew that the oven Liu Chengzong mentioned was an oven for baking bows. People who own bows have this oven in their homes. It is mainly used to protect bows from moisture during the rainy season.

And lighting fire to exterminate locusts was a good method used by Yao Chong in the Tang Dynasty. He lit fire at night to attract a large number of locusts to land, and then lit a fire to burn them to death. This method is generally used on wasteland. As the saying goes, slash and burn, let off fire The soil quality will become loose, which is conducive to reclamation and also conducive to the development of wasteland.

"If you do it fast enough, you can kill the newborn locusts before they crawl out of the ground, but I don't think you can kill them all, so you can catch and kill them before they grow wings, and then mobilize the people throughout the winter On the plains, oxen are used to plow the fields, and sheep are driven to and fro to trample them."

"The places where there are insect eggs are mostly wasteland, and there will be small honeycomb-shaped holes. The insect eggs on the rocks on the river beach are sprinkled with lime and watered to boil them to death; where the mountains or highlands cannot reach, use a spray can Spray them with potions and kill them."

The spray can is the pump, the fire spray can be filled with kerosene, the fire extinguisher can be filled with water, and the pesticide can be sprayed with liquid medicine.

In the Ming Dynasty, the simple medicines for locusts were concentrated alkaline water, mature vinegar solution, or poisonous herbal juices such as zinbuba, jiacao, mangcao, and mulberry.

"In addition, even if we get rid of all the locusts in Hexi, there will still be a large number of locusts crossing the border in spring and autumn next year. On the one hand, we must be prepared. Every household must prepare bags, brooms, and leather palms for catching locusts; On the one hand, plant winter barley and winter wheat this autumn, and harvest next summer to avoid the time when locusts multiply.”

"In the several counties of Lintao Prefecture, there are vacancies for county magistrates, county magistrates, and Dianshi, and they will be selected from among your forty township officials. Therefore, this time you will lead a team to catch locusts in each township, and you will all look at the team. For those who can be promoted, select a few confidantes, pass on the method of exterminating the locusts, and strive to wipe out the locusts, and I will need you people to go to Gongchang Mansion, or even Guyuan and other places later."

Liu Chengzong explained his summary of the ancestors' method of exterminating locusts in one breath, and finally heaved a sigh of relief, and said to everyone: "When the harvest is not harvested after the end of the year, the counties will open warehouses for the people to borrow food, so you don't have to worry about it, Hehuang The food will be transported over there."

good evening!