Datang Longya

Chapter 291 I Believe It Anyway

The strategy of fooling the people, a strategy that emperors like very much, filled the people's conversations with strange gods and gods. Perhaps it invisibly made them full of awe of the royal nobles, but it also gave birth to the unfortunate thing of "superstition".

Superstition is a global cancer. Even if future generations enter the 21st century and the age of science and technology, superstition is still entangled in the footsteps of the times like a chronic disease.

Leng Feng doesn't believe in those gods and monsters, even if he escaped from later generations to the Tang Dynasty more than 1000 years ago, he still doesn't believe it. What caused him to travel must be a space-time tunnel that technology can't explain.

If an old man with a white beard stood up and said that he used his magical powers to send Leng Feng to the Tang Dynasty, Leng Feng would definitely put a three-edged thorn on his neck. Why didn't he send him to his parents before the car accident with this spare time?
Li Shimin doesn't really believe in those gods, gods and monsters, at least he doesn't believe it now, so at this time he doesn't think there is anything wrong with pretending to mess around with God's will, maybe, even if there is a God, seeing that he "came out for the sake of the people" This is the worst policy" and will forgive his crimes.

Hundreds of thousands of chickens, ducks and geese were flying around in Chang'an. The locusts were big and delicious. In addition, they had been hungry for two days, and they chased the locusts even harder.

Looking at the chaotic Suzaku Street, Li Shimin shouted without losing the opportunity: "The sign of the gods and beasts, the plague of locusts must not be the will of the heavens! I follow the will of the phoenix and issue an order to the world! This plague of locusts must be extinguished!"

"Exterminate the plague of locusts!"

"Exterminate the plague of locusts!"

.........

Hearing Li Shimin's voice, those people who were originally watching the excitement stood up one after another, stepped on the locusts when they saw them, and some rushed all the way home, and after a while, they took wooden boards and other weapons to beat the locusts. Take out the sacks, Tianxialou collects locusts, and the locusts can be exchanged for money and food.

These things are everywhere now. Although it takes several sacks of locusts to exchange for a small bag of grain and a few copper coins, you can't hold back the locusts!That's all there is in the city, but if you go to a place with grass and trees outside the city, there are a lot of these things!
So many people living in Chang'an took sacks and ran out of the city avoiding chickens and ducks.

Li Shimin did not know when he came to Leng Feng's side, glanced at Liu Shuwen, then looked at Zhang Zhongqing, and said, "Although your play is disgusting to those who are interested in it, it has a good effect on the common people."

Leng Feng kicked away a big rooster approaching, and said to Li Shimin: "Let's do our best to provide disaster relief, we will have to feed the people in Guanzhong for several months!"

Li Shimin nodded, then turned and walked towards the palace. Next, he would announce the disaster relief process and look at the faces of those officials with five surnames.

In this game, Li Shimin won a complete victory, which finally made him a little happier.

The people who went out of the city rushed to the broken grass, and the locusts were almost everywhere. Just take a shovel and shovel it into the sack, which is much easier than growing crops!
The old man had already stopped the catering at Tianxialou, and gathered all his hands to collect locusts on the street in front of Tianxialou. The first person who came to exchange the locusts was an old man. The old man was lucky and found a lot of locusts. The son packed five sacks of locusts together. Although the locusts were light, the father and son had to spend a lot of effort to bring the five sacks to the gate of Tianxialou.

The old man asked the servants for help, without measuring the weight, he threw five sacks onto the carriage, and then handed the old man five new sacks. No matter how the world went down, he would not even collect the sacks from the common people.

Lao Yuan took his father and son to one side and asked, "Do you want food or copper coins?"

The old man said without hesitation: "I want food, shopkeeper, how many bowls of food can those locusts exchange for?"

Lao Yuan picked up a small sack from the grain pile. It was a bit difficult for Lao Yuan to pull it with one arm. It was full of broomcorns: "It's about the same. You can see if it works. If it doesn't work, I'll add a few more bowls for you."

"Enough! Enough! Thank you, the shopkeeper! Thank you, Mr. Master, the host!"

The old man originally thought that he would not be able to exchange much food, but now it seems that this small bag of food is enough for his family to eat for four or five days, and porridge for more than ten days, and he and his son have only been busy for two hours. How can there be such a good thing?
Isn't it the benevolence and righteousness of the landlord of the world?

The old man looked at the old man's gray beard and said puzzledly: "Old man, the imperial court's announcement said that the old and the weak, women and children can go to the generals' ration points to receive food. You are so old, why are you still catching locusts?"

The old man patted his son on the shoulder: "Although the old man is old, he can catch locusts. There is such a filial son at home, so there is no need to go to white-collar food."

It is the habit of the people in Guanzhong that they will never bend down if they can change food with their hands!

Looking at the old man who was energized to catch locusts, the old man sighed and called the servants to put the sacks. Today is destined to be a busy day.

Sure enough, after a while, there were several people carrying sacks to exchange for money and food. After a while, countless people gathered in front of Tianxialou, and the scene was very chaotic.

A carriage loaded with sacks will pull the locusts to Tianxia Manor, where there is a newly leveled flat land. After the locusts are crushed by Yan Liben's crusher, the farmers of Tianxia Manor will lay them flat on the sackcloth on the flat ground to dry, and wait After drying, it is crushed into dry powder with a roller and stored in bags.

Compared with Tianxialou, the bulk grain points set up by the generals in front of the mansion are much quieter, and only after a stick of incense will an old man and old lady come to pick up the grain. They are all childless and cannot walk. After the food, you have to kowtow stubbornly to thank you.

Those who passed by carrying locusts would also praise the generals for their good deeds. The common people don't care how many people go to get food, or how much food the generals distribute, as long as they show it, it is a good deed!

In this atmosphere where all the people are catching locusts, in just three to five days, the number of locusts around Chang'an has decreased a lot.

However, the locusts did not only exist in Chang'an, the entire Guanzhong was affected everywhere. The landlords and wealthy households with surplus food were better off, but those with no surplus food were unlucky. What people don't eat, locusts eat, people eat, The locusts also eat it. After the locusts are all over the sky, even if they want to eat the bark, they can't eat it.

What could be more hopeless than having nothing to eat?
In this desperate atmosphere, one or two gossips came out...

"Have you heard that the emperor offered sacrifices to the sky, and the queen worshiped the phoenix? The statue of the phoenix appeared that day and sent a lot of chickens and ducks to help us catch locusts. It doesn't mean that the plague of locusts was not sent down by God!"

"Have you heard of it?..."

"Anyway, I believe it!"

A villager held a hungry child in one hand, and picked up a sack in the other: "Anyway, I believe it. The announcement said, what kind of public official didn't collect locusts for us to exchange for food! I'm going to catch them now!"

(End of this chapter)