Wu Chao: Take the whole family to escape the famine

Chapter 8 Locusts cross the border, no grass grows

When several households in Jiangjia Village started harvesting grain, many households were watching.

Maybe it was driven by this atmosphere, or maybe it was really afraid of what would happen, and joined a few families who had collected grain in advance the next day.

A few men from the Jiang family were in charge of cutting the rice in the field. Jiang Zhiyue followed Mrs. Jiang, Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Sun to carry the harvested rice to the threshing ground for husking and drying.

When Jiang Zhiyue was holding the rice, she put a lot of rice in the space when people were not paying attention, and then took it out to avoid people when she arrived at the threshing ground.

The Jiang family discovered Jiang Zhiyue's little trick and helped her cover it up.

Jiang Zhiyue snickered in her heart, thinking that it was a wise decision to leak a little bit of information about the space, and it really made things much more convenient.

At noon on the third day, the scorching sun was still high in the sky, and after a while, dark clouds floated from the sky to cover the scorching sun.

The people who were drying the grain in the threshing ground hurriedly pulled the grain home, fearing that the heavy rain would wet the hard-won grain after a while.

In just a quarter of an hour, the rain poured down.

Some people were lucky to have harvested the grain, otherwise the rice would have germinated on the tassels after the heavy rain.

Those who confiscated the grain were panicked, but they couldn't save face and could only sternly say: "It may rain for a while, and the rice can produce a few catties of grain if it is full of water. You still harvest the grain in advance, and then you will regret it. Bar."

The heavy rain didn't last for too long, and it gradually stopped in the middle of the afternoon, but the sky was still gray, which weighed heavily on people's hearts.

Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the sky became darker, and there was a buzzing sound.

Jiang Zhiyue stood in the yard and looked up, seeing a large number of flying insects coming from a distance.

She reacted and reminded loudly: "The locusts are coming, close the door quickly, and the cellar entrance is also blocked!"

Jiang Yuqing took Dalang and Erlang to the cellar, covered it with a lid, covered it with several layers of tarpaulin, and covered it with soil.

The rest hurried back to their respective houses and closed the doors. When they saw the locusts flying in, they quickly slapped them and gathered in the main room.

Mr. Jiang stood by the window with a cigarette bag, and sighed, "Hey, what a confiscation of food."

Those who should be persuaded have also been persuaded, but he has seen in the past two days that the number of households collecting grain is less than one-third of the residents in Jiangjia Village.

"No matter what happens, it's not your turn to worry about it. I told you in advance that when the time comes, you want to help anyone who comes to borrow food." Mrs. Jiang reminded.

"I know it in my heart." Mr. Jiang frowned and took a puff of cigarette, and said in a heavy tone.

Can he not count in his heart? There are hundreds of households in Jiangjia Village, and if they borrow one, they will come to the second one. How can there be so much food to borrow?

He lent this food to others, and the boys in his family would be hungry. Although he was kind-hearted, he was not incomprehensible, and it was precisely because he could see clearly that he felt uncomfortable.

At the moment, the fields in Jiangjia Village are in chaos, and there are constant cries accompanied by the sound of locusts beating their wings.

After the locusts attached to the rice stalks, they began to bite at an extremely fast speed. Those who confiscated the crops wanted to grab the grain from the locusts, but they would sink if they stepped on the fields that had just rained, and there was no time to harvest them. .

All kinds of cries and cries were mixed in the field. On Jiang Hengrong's field, he slapped his mother-in-law in the face.

"It's all about you. If you insist on only accepting half of the food, it's all right now, there's nothing left."

Jiang Hengrong's mother-in-law was slapped to the ground, looked at the man who beat her in shock, and shouted in a broken voice: "It's not because you said that we will only collect the land if there is no locust plague. Half of the food in the rift is now blaming me, and it was not something you agreed to at the beginning."

Jiang Hengrong's face turned blue and then pale, and kicked his wife who was sitting on the ground, and his mother-in-law also stood up and fought with him.

The same situation happened to other people. Seeing Hengrong and his mother-in-law fighting together, they seemed to have found an outlet and a reason to evade responsibility, and they all blamed their relatives around them.

And the people who collected the food and wanted to come out to have a look at the situation were dumbfounded when they saw the tragic situation outside!
At this time, if you don't rush to grab a few more bundles of grain and go home, why do you fight with your own people?

People who could have grabbed enough food for a few days also missed the opportunity. The locusts ate up all the food here and moved to the next place.

The slapstickers looked at the empty fields and began to sit on the ground and howl.

Some people began to rejoice that they listened to the persuasion and collected the grain in advance.

Jiangjia Village was not the only place that suffered locust plagues. Half of the entire fiefdom of King Changding suffered from locust plagues. The people were crying, and the gates of the county government were closed.
-
The ginger family——
Jiang Yulai told what happened outside just now, and everyone was a little silent.

Seeing everyone's silence, Jiang Zhiyue also understood their feelings, but she also knew that there was not much time left for them to grieve.

She said: "Tomorrow morning, my third uncle and I will go to the county to inquire about the situation. Others should not go up the mountain and exercise at home. If anyone wants to come to ask for food, they can call directly!"

Hearing Jiang Zhiyue's serious voice, everyone nodded heavily.

Although the plague of locusts has just been hit today, and each household has not run out of food, it is hard to guarantee that no one will be evil and blame them for the confiscation of food.

After talking about the matter, they dispersed separately, but it is not clear how many people can sleep peacefully tonight.

Early the next morning, after a simple breakfast, Jiang Yulai drove the ox cart and set off from home.

There was no notification from the school in the town, so Jiang Yuchao and Erlang, the eldest son of the Jiang family, were still going, so they happened to give a ride.

This is the first time for Jiang Zhiyue to come to the county seat. The bustling scene on the street makes it hard to imagine that there was a plague of locusts yesterday, and the impact of this disaster has not yet spread here.

"Third Uncle, let's go to the county government." Jiang Zhiyue sat behind and said.

"it is good."

At this time, a lot of people who rushed over from the villages and towns below had already gathered in front of the county government office, but the gate of the county government office was closed tightly, and no one would open the door despite the shouts from outsiders.

More and more people gathered outside, and some people began to incite the crowd to break open the gate of the county government.

"We were hit by a disaster, but the county magistrate hid inside and saw no one. He might be a hot drinker. Let's knock the door open and ask him to give us an explanation." Someone stood in the middle of the crowd and shouted.

"Yes yes yes, knock the door open and let the county magistrate open the warehouse to release the grain." More and more people responded and began to squeeze forward excitedly.

The door was overwhelmed and began to slam.

Suddenly, the door was opened from the inside, and several yamen servants with long guns stood at the door to block the people who wanted to crowd in.

"Quiet, everyone, listen to me." A voice came from behind the yamen servant. Jiang Zhiyue stood on the bullock cart and looked in. It was the county magistrate with a round belly wearing a black gauze hat.

Seeing the county magistrate coming out, the people were still subconsciously afraid, and the resentment that had just been aroused dissipated a bit, and the crowd gradually quieted down.

"I know that the crops in the field were plagued by locusts yesterday, but it's only the second day. I have to report to the capital to get food to you, right?" If you made trouble before, be careful to get you into prison!"

"Master Qingtian, you have to save us. The family will run out of food in half a month without food." A gray-haired woman knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to the county magistrate.

Some people knelt down intermittently, pleading continuously.

The county magistrate glanced out impatiently behind the crowd, and said loudly, "Understood, everyone back down."

The door was slowly closed amidst the pleas of the crowd, Jiang Zhiyue glanced at those kneeling on the ground, but couldn't bear it but had no choice.

She has the ability to come up with the food to solve this crisis, but that will only expose her to danger.

After finally being able to do it all over again, she wants to be safe and secure with the Jiang family, and she can't be willful until she has enough ability to protect herself and the Jiang family.

She couldn't bear to turn her head away and told Jiang Yulai to leave.

They didn't get any useful information in the county seat, so Jiang Zhiyue and Jiang Yulai had no choice but to go back.

However, she had a premonition in her heart that the imperial court would not open the granary to release grain.

Just as she thought, the current court has become a mess.
-
Wu Dynasty Palace——
"If you have nothing to do, dear friends, you can retreat." The emperor sitting on the dragon chair said

"Your Majesty, I ask your Majesty to register the crown prince." An old minister stood up and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty, in order to stabilize the country, it is better to establish a crown prince early."

"The eldest prince is the eldest son and is honest and pure. I think the eldest prince should be established as the crown prince."

"The difference is that although the eldest prince is the eldest son, he is not orthodox. The eleventh prince is the queen's heir. I think the eleventh prince should be the crown prince."

"But the eleventh prince is too young to take care of the country and the country. The emperor has many sons, so it is natural to choose the prince with the strongest ability to be the prince."

All of a sudden, there was chaos in the court, and now there are thirteen princes who have not yet died. Except for the two youngest princes, most of the other princes have people standing in line, but there are also people who are silent and waiting for the opportunity .

Several princes stood in front of the courtiers with different expressions. Some of them didn't show a trace of excitement, as if the matter had nothing to do with them, but some quietly raised their heads to observe the emperor's expression.

"Bastard!" The person sitting on the dragon chair above yelled angrily, and threw a copy in his hand onto the head of the first official below who asked to be crowned prince.

The courtier's legs softened and he knelt on the hall, and the few people who had just spoken also knelt down in fear.

"The emperor calm down." All the courtiers lowered their heads.

"I want to establish a prince before I die, are you cursing me or want to change my master!" the emperor asked angrily.

"The ministers are loyal to His Majesty, and never dare to have second thoughts!" All the ministers hurriedly expressed their loyalty, and dared not bring up the matter of the crown prince.

The emperor was so angry that he gasped for a few breaths. The chief eunuch next to him bent forward with great winking, and handed over the exquisite ivory box in his hand.

"Your Majesty, elixir." The eunuch's thin voice echoed in the hall.

The emperor finally put the elixir into his mouth and swallowed it. The next moment he felt refreshed, his complexion became rosier, and his mood improved a little.

With this miraculous medicine, he can live forever. This world belongs to him from generation to generation. A group of bastards want to establish a prince all day long!
He stood up and flicked his sleeves, and said loudly: "The matter of setting up the crown prince is not allowed to be discussed again, I have my own plan, and I will retreat!"

Besides, on Jiang Zhiyue's side, even though she couldn't get any real news, she wasn't too disappointed.

After an hour, the two finally returned to Jiangjia Village, and at this time, the front of Jiangjia's gate was extremely lively.

"No matter where she married Jiang Xiaoqing, she was a girl who crawled out of my stomach. How could she deny me as a mother and let her help my brother with food." Du Mudan in the crowd shouted confidently.

There was also a middle-aged couple standing beside her, Du Mudan's old son Jiang Xiaoming and his daughter-in-law Yuhe.

On the Jiang family's side, Mrs. Sun, who had a slap on her face, was guarded by Jiang Yuqing, and the three brothers Erlang, Sanlang, and Silang also stood in front of her and stared at Du Mudan viciously, preventing Du Mudan from coming up to beat someone again.

"Damn, why should I give you my family's food." Mrs. Jiang, as the number one fighting force, was scolding Du Mudan.

The persimmons had to be picked softly, so Du Mudan just scolded Mrs. Sun: "Let my old lady starve, so you won't be afraid of choking to death when you eat."

Mrs. Sun has been married to Jiang's family for so many years, and her waist has long been hardened. She came out from behind the crowd and said:

"Why didn't we tell you in advance when we harvested the grain in advance? Why did we give you the grain in our family? You sold your daughter and got so much money and went to the town to buy grain by yourself."

"You damn girl, you dare to talk back, it's against you."

Du Mudan yelled and ran over and tore Sun's hair, but Sun fought back not to be outdone.

Mrs. Jiang and Mrs. Zhang hurried forward to stop her. No matter what, Du Mudan took over one of Mrs. Sun's nominal mothers. If this fight really happened, it would not be good for her reputation, and it would also affect the few boys in the family to say goodbye.

"Xiaoming, Yuhe, come and help mother." Du Mudan's hair was torn and she couldn't straighten her waist, so she could only shout at her voice.

Jiang Xiaoming looked at the men of the Jiang family who were staring at him, and pushed Yuhe hard, "I didn't see my mother was beaten, what are you doing here?"

孙氏逮着被推进来的雨荷就是一顿狠揍，这女人也不是个好的，和姜晓明成亲以后就一直撺掇杜牡丹和姜晓明来打秋风，孙氏直接把对杜牡丹的怨恨发泄在了On Yuhe.

Jiang Zhiyue squeezed into the crowd and stood next to the Jiang family, noticing that Jiang Yuchao and Dalang Erlang, who were supposed to be in the town, were also at home, but now was not the time to ask.

Jiang Xiaoming noticed Jiang Zhiyue walking in, his eyes lit up, and he squinted her up and down.

Jiang Zhiyue noticed an uncomfortable gaze, and when she looked up, she saw Jiang Xiaoming's lewd eyes.

She glared at him with sharp eyes, but Jiang Xiaoming didn't seem to realize it, and still stared lewdly.

Jiang Zhiyue's expression turned cold, and she rushed towards him with mental strength. Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang also noticed the situation here, walked over in three or two steps, and each of them punched him.

A sudden sharp pain in Jiang Xiaoming's mind gave him no chance to react, so he could only lie flat and let the beatings continue.

After exhausting enough anger, Mrs. Jiang and others walked back to the door. The three people lying on the ground looked miserable.

(End of this chapter)