Poor family mother and son

Although Chu Qing thought that there would be a locust plague, he didn't imagine it would be as serious. After all, here is the south, where there are many rivers and lakes, and insect eggs will suffocate in the soil, unlike the north where there is less water, and insect eggs can breathe.

The usual locust plagues are also prone to occur in the north.

Thinking about the terrain again, it's no wonder that to the east of here is Xinlunzhou, the terrain is higher, not as low as the six southern mansions, and the lakes and rivers are not criss-crossing.

Chu Qing followed the old man's thinking for a while, and felt more and more worrisome about the future.

I originally thought that the food of locusts is mainly gramineous plants, as long as more attention is paid to the fields, but if the serious disaster is like the old man said...

Then, vegetables, cotton, fruit trees, even reeds, weeds, animal fur, as long as they can chew, there is nothing they will not eat!

Think about the ferocity of desert locusts in East Africa before crossing, do you have to encounter such a scene?

Chu Qing's goosebumps instantly covered her whole body and rushed straight to her cheeks.

The old man held the waist card in his left hand, bent the index finger and middle finger of his right hand, and knocked his knuckles on the waist card as a kowtow: "My lord, the young people in the village are very dissatisfied with your order to breed fifty chickens and ducks, but the old man is Thanks you!

If the chickens and ducks are properly raised, they can eat a lot of locusts, but fifty are too few and too many!If you use them to catch insects, how many are too few!
But it’s too much to feed them... It’s not easy to hatch the eggs, and it’s a loss if they can’t be fed. If they are fed, there is no food to feed them. Once the chicks die, there will be several chicks. We can’t afford it. "

Even the old man said that Chu Qing ordered fifty poultry to be raised, which shows that these officials have deeply implanted this concept in the hearts of the people.

There is no way to correct this matter. You can't go door to door and tell people "I didn't make the order, and I have no right to order it," right?

However, what the old man said is also true. Now there is no food in every family. Fortunately, the temperature here is higher than in the north. I can go to the mountains to dig wild vegetables, so I don’t have to eat if I can’t fill my stomach.

But it is indeed difficult for them to feed the chickens and ducks with the little grain left.

Chu Qing took the waist badge, and suddenly felt that the waist badge was very heavy, as if there were two fingers on it that symbolized kowtow, which represented the knees of the old man and the knees of ordinary people.

Officials use the excuse of "controlling the spread of rumors" to suppress the disaster that has not yet happened from the public opinion, so as not to be detrimental to their political achievements. This kind of feeling is understandable.

But only if there are corresponding countermeasures to solve the problem, it is enough to solve the problem, not to solve the person who raised the problem!

Chu Qing thought ruthlessly: What does this have to do with me?This is what the magistrates and magistrates should take care of!I'm just a farmer, a farmer who only cares about cotton, not crops!
They framed me and set me up, so do I still have to make suggestions for the people under their rule?Do I still have to work hard to keep their black yarn?Do I have this obligation? !
No!

Absolutely not!

"I..." Chu Qing licked her lips that had suddenly become dry, and found that she couldn't say anything cruel.

Xiangzi led the horse and came over: "Master, their cart is full, and the villagers want to send my husband back."

Chu Qing and the old man looked back together, and saw those young and strong people holding poles in their hands, surrounding the donkey cart, and there were many full buckets on the ground.

It was probably because the old man was talking to him, and there were people with horses guarding him, so they didn't dare to approach him.

But from the blue veins on their arms holding the poles, Chu Qing could see that these people were always ready to attack—as long as Chu Qing was not good for the old man.

The old man hurriedly waved his hands and shouted: "Wait, I'll talk to this young man!"

The old man still took care of Chu Qing's men's attire and concealed his identity for her.

If there was an old man, the expressions of the villagers relaxed a little.

Apparently the old man has a respected status like "village elder" in their village.

"I... can get chickens and ducks," Chu Qing said, "I can give you on credit, and I can also give you some coarse grains on credit, but they need to be registered;

After autumn, you want to sell me chickens and ducks, and the credit will be deducted at that time, do you think it is feasible? "

Chu Qing's hands shrunk into his sleeves, and he ruthlessly scratched the palm of his hand——still couldn't bear to let it go.

"Okay! Okay!" The old man said repeatedly: "I will watch them and not let them renege!"

"Can they listen to your advice and raise more chickens and ducks?" Chu Qing was worried.

"Yes! I can make them obey!" The old man's eyes lit up with excitement, and he grabbed Chu Qing's arms with both hands.

"Cough...cough!" Xiangzi coughed at the side, and the old man withdrew his hand like an electric shock: "Yes... I'm sorry, I'm rude again, and I'll go back to the village head and look for Li long;

Ask them to write a letter of commitment, promising to credit the chicken and ducklings, we old people will lead the whole village to press their fingerprints, and we will never renege on the debt! "

Chu Qing nodded, and asked: "Aren't the chickens and ducks you raise now two months old? You need to train them from now on, let them go to the fields and fields every day, teach them which route to take so as not to harm the seedlings, or can eat."

The old man nodded again and again: "My lord is right, you are right! I can't think of it, you, my lord, are so familiar with our farmers' work. Chickens and ducks need to be trained, just like cattle and sheep."

"Also," Chu Qing said, "you need to clean up your chicken and duck manure diligently. You can collect them and sell them to me. I'll buy them."

The old man was puzzled: "Why do you want those? Chicken manure and duck manure can't be used as fertilizer, it will burn seedlings!"

The old man felt that "Master Cotton" was a good person to help them, so he had a good impression of him, and he didn't want Chu Qing to waste money.

Farmers know to use manure to add nutrients to the land, but their approach is a bit sloppy. They simply mix the collected manure with some plant ash, add water and mix it, and then use it to irrigate the field.

In this way, thinner cow and sheep manure is okay, but human manure, chicken and duck manure will not work, it will indeed burn the seedlings.

Chu Qing said: "Well, I know, you just sell it to me."

In the old man's cognition, it is also manure. Chicken manure and duck manure are not only the most useless, they can't be used as fertilizer, and they are not easy to clean up, because ducks have straight intestines and they are pulled wherever they go.

This kind of useless thing, "Master Cotton" said to buy it, it must be because they are afraid that they will neglect to clean up, pollute the environment, and make it difficult for chickens and ducks to survive.

"Master Cotton" actually used his own money to encourage them to breed. The old man's lips trembled and he slapped his thigh: "Good! Good! Thank you, sir!"

Chu Qing asked Xiangzi to tell the old man the address of the fertilizer workshop in detail, and told them to go there to buy chicken and duck seedlings, and then said goodbye to the old man.

On the way back, Chu Qing told Xiangzi to send people to Junhu Village to buy chicken and duck seedlings, and to visit a few more Junhu Villages to collect more, and then send them to the fertilizer workshop.

They had to send people to each village, like Chu Qing did just now, to persuade some visionary and respected elders in the village to drive the villagers to raise more chickens and ducks.

Those who have been raised must be grazed and turned into "herding chickens" and "herding ducks".

"Boss, why don't we put up notices?" Xiangzi suggested, "Let's write more notices, not talking about locust plagues, but selling chicken and duck seedlings on credit, and then paying for our fertilizer workshop. Wouldn't it be easier?"

This is a good idea, Chu Qing agreed, but still instructed: "Then we have to go to the villages to do work, don't make too much noise, and don't let us be accused of 'rumours and troubles'."

"Okay! I'll pick a few smart ones when I go back, and I'll take them with me!" Xiangzi agreed.