Mugui

Chapter 256 Locust plague
And Yang Mu and Zhuangzi under the name of the Tang family have already started to snatch them up.

The farm heads suppressed the complaints of the farmers, even coaxed and cheated, and bit the bullet to grab the grain.

Those fruits and vegetables are not in a hurry, they are put away relatively quickly.

Yang Mu asked Zhuangtou to find ways to raise more poultry and livestock. Since she entered Qipin, she has a high demand for meat, and she will cry if she has no meat to eat.

Yang Mu stocked up some bamboo shoots and summer radishes for Qiuqiu.

……

As the people of the capital realized the importance of hoarding food, when the price of food started to rise, the matter of the explosion at the lumber store on the Mid-Autumn Festival night was finally found out.

The announcement posted by Jing Zhaoyin's mansion was that it was an accident.

And Lin Xiao's original words were: "The person in charge of the granary on Suzaku Street is the Queen Mother of the East. The person who detonated the timber store is the Queen Mother of the West."

In other words, in order to take over the granary in the hands of the Eastern Queen Mother, the Queen Mother ordered people to create the explosion.

Yang Mu's eyes were cold. How cold is this Empress Dowager? An explosion that killed and injured so many people was just to bring down a granary official? !
I'm afraid I'm not crazy!

Such a person being a queen mother makes people feel chills down their spines!

Another piece of news from Lin Xiao made Yang Mu even more startled.

In the entire capital city, among the eight granaries, none of them is proper!
The grain stored in the eight granaries is all old grain, that's all, but the quantity is so small that it is not enough to feed the entire capital for three days!
According to regulations, the eight granaries combined should be able to supply the entire capital for three months!

The quantity varies too much!
In order not to cause panic in the capital, the empress dowagers of the two palaces did not disclose the matter of the granary to the public, and only a small number of people in the court knew about it.

The order to transfer grain from various provinces to Beijing has already been issued. If you are lucky, a part of it will be made up within a month.

However, Yang Mu's eyes were full of helplessness. If he could really make up for it, Yang Fei would not be so eager to hoard food.

What Yang Mu was worried about happened soon.

In less than ten days, the memorial of locusts passing through the whole north was placed on the table of the empress dowagers of the two palaces.

What made the Empress Dowagers of the Two Palaces even more chilling was that the entire north couldn't borrow a grain of food!
The local granary was also besieged by locusts, and a lot of food was eaten. The remaining ones not only had to supply the local famine, but also ensure the army food.

Zhezi from the south came two days late. The largest river in Dashun, Shunjiang, was attacked by a big fish and changed its course suddenly. The farmland around the river was completely submerged, and the houses of the people collapsed.

Not to mention the supply of food, the common people have to gnaw the bark themselves.

In the court hall, Empress Dowager Sheng looked at Empress Dowager Tao coldly, and said sarcastically, "Mother Empress Dowager, even if you kill that Pan Duo [-] times now, you still can't solve the food crisis in the capital!"

Pan Duo is the official who manages the granary in the Eastern Queen Mother's camp.

Empress Dowager Tao said with a cold face, "Situ Zheng said that the Sheng family sent people to purchase a large amount of food. Does the Empress Dowager want her mother's family to be alone?"

Empress Dowager Sheng curled her lips, she is the Empress Dowager, even if the entire capital starved to death, she would not be starved to death, why bother to be alone?

Empress Dowager Tao said: "Order Prince Su to lead the household department to level grain prices, dispatch various grain shops, and restrict grain sales. Order the Nine Cities Army and Horse Division to step up patrols, and there must be no troublemakers."

Empress Dowager Sheng was very upset when she saw Empress Dowager Tao issuing orders, and immediately said: "I order the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment to appease the people. I order the granary to consolidate the existing grain for emergencies."

All the ministers in the court should come out one by one.

……

The locusts are still here.

Covering the sky and blocking out the sun, the day is also like night.

This is the first time Yang Mu has seen what is called "locusts cross the border, and no grass will grow."

After three days and three nights of locusts, the entire Furong Garden and even the entire Duke Huguo's Mansion became bare, even the bark of the trees were eaten away.

The most terrifying thing is that the ground is full of eggs left by locusts!

Half a month after these eggs, the next wave of locusts will pass!

The servant girl in the mansion covered her face and cleaned up the eggs.

Piles of worm eggs were burned.

The flower farmer held the big jars and sprinkled the powder on the branches to kill locust eggs, one jar after another.

The only happy things are the frogs by the lake and the birds flying in the sky. The locusts in the past few days can't be eaten, and they are too full.

During these three days and nights, almost every household closed their doors and sealed all the doors and windows.

Listening to the "dong dong dong" sound of locusts hitting the door panels and windows, people can't sleep at night.

Not just because of fear and noise, but also worry about rations.

Some people who don't believe in the rumors of locusts didn't grab the crops of geography, and now they regret it so much that their intestines are green.

And those who snatched the crops were extremely fortunate, at least those half-cooked grains could also satisfy their hunger!
After the first batch of locusts flew away, people walked out of their rooms carefully, seeing the bareness everywhere, and couldn't help feeling sad.

It's only the end of summer now, and there is still a whole year until next year's autumn harvest, so how can we survive?
In the midst of panic, the scene that the government least wants to see is still coming.

In the beginning, it was only at night that someone climbed the wall and entered the house to steal. Almost all of the stolen food was food.

After just a few days, people who had no food in stock stopped eating, and some outsiders couldn't even buy food with money.

Gradually, some people dared to rush into secluded alleys and rob houses during the day.

Afterwards, some mobs started looting in the busy market, focusing on major grain stores.

Half a month after the locusts crossed the border, the city defense army also ran out of rations, and the city became even more chaotic.

The shop under Yang Mu's name had already closed down when the locusts crossed the border, and the food in the shop was transferred, leaving only a month's supply for the shop staff.

The clerks in the shop can live at home and come to collect food every three days, three catties of rice each time.

You can also live in the shop, protect the safety of the shop, manage the food and drink shop, and receive a catty of grain every day.

Under such conditions, all the guys choose to live in the shop.

Occasionally, a thief came in, and when he saw so many people, he was scared away.Even when encountering powerful robbers, they can't beat so many people at once.

So the capital was in chaos for more than half a month, and none of the shops under Yang Mu's name were robbed.

When the robbers were at their worst, Yang Fei felt that the time was almost up, so she asked Li Che to give him a surprise.

There is food in the homes of the big families, so there is no need to worry about not having enough to eat.But Li Che still wanted to take this opportunity to gain some reputation for himself and Prince Su's Palace.

But the grain in his hand is only a few hundred shi. If he opens a warehouse to release grain, it will be a drop in the bucket.

Besides, if all the food was given to the common people, what would he eat?
When I was really anxious, I received a letter from Yang Fei.

It turned out that Yang Fei wanted the 1 taels of silver in order to hoard three thousand shi of grain for him.

Li Che couldn't help being ecstatic, thinking that this daughter-in-law who could predict the future was the right choice!
He quickly ordered people to spread the news that he wanted to set up a porridge factory at the gate of the city to help the people!

Yang Fei was waiting for Li Che at the entrance of an alley, and the two entered an ordinary courtyard together.

Yang Fei stood in the yard, pointed at several rooms, and said with a smile: "My lord, this room is full of food! How is my gift?"

Li Che looked at more than a dozen houses, imagining the white flowers inside, and his eyes lit up instantly!

(End of this chapter)