Datang: Starting from a fortune-telling stall, Wu Zetian was suddenly abducted

Chapter 49 Fighting with the Locust God

For a while, the two sides were at loggerheads.

In the blink of an eye, an hour has passed, and there is still no consensus.

Li Chengqian looked at the noisy crowd and suddenly felt a headache.

At this moment, someone said a word, instantly quieting everyone down.

"Liquan County rashly exterminated locusts a few days ago. Didn't your Highness get implicated? Isn't this warning clear enough?"

Everyone looked at the speaker. It was Gao Guoan, the magistrate of Lantian County. He was upright, even if he was a bit of a nerd, and he was the only one who dared to say this.

However, Li Chengqian sensed an opportunity from these words and called a subordinate to give some quiet instructions.

Then he acted as a peacemaker and said to everyone:

"My lords, instead of discussing the reason here, why don't we go have lunch first?"

"After lunch, will you go to the place where the locusts attacked me to see if you can get any warning?"

Li Chengqian's words left everyone confused.

Among these people, there are those who serve their families and the country; there are those who work hard for the people; there are those who fear ghosts and gods; there are those who disobey Li Chengqian;

But they all know one thing, the locusts flew away early after the attack, how could they really leave you any warning.

But it is not without, but I am afraid that these warnings are all based on rich imagination.

Everyone had no idea what kind of medicine Li Chengqian was selling in his gourd, so they could only agree one after another.

Li Chengqian left Wei Yingcai until the end and asked him to follow his instructions.

Wei Yingcai couldn't help but turned pale after hearing this, and said quickly: "No, Your Highness, how can you put yourself in danger? It's better to leave this kind of matter to your subordinates."

Li Chengqian shook his head and said: "This matter has been settled, just follow my instructions."

Wei Yingcai had no choice but to take orders to leave.

Some thoughtful people also discovered Wei Yingcai's departure, and began to speculate in their hearts.

Especially those who were dissatisfied with Li Chengqian, began to feel uneasy in their hearts. Could it be that the prince saw that we would not follow, and wanted to harm us?
But thinking about Li Chengqian's temperament, I feel that nothing big will happen.

In this way, the meal ended in different thoughts.

After eating, Li Chengqian took the lead in riding towards Liquan County. Seeing this, everyone could only follow on horseback.

You must know that the martial arts style of the Tang Dynasty is prevalent now, and the spiritual energy is very abundant.

Although many county magistrates here are civil servants, but riding a horse and holding a sword is the most basic operation, so no one sits in a sedan chair at all.

After arriving in Liquan County, Li Chengqian did not take everyone directly to the place where the locusts attacked, but first took them to the Liquan River.

Before reaching the embankment, they heard noises, chickens and ducks calling.

After everyone arrived at the river embankment, they were instantly shocked when they saw the scene in front of them.

I saw that along the Liquan River, apart from the people carrying water to irrigate the fields, many other places were occupied by chickens and ducks crowded together.

At this time, Wei Yingcai was also commanding below.

Seeing Li Chengqian arriving, he quickly walked onto the river embankment and said, "Your Highness, my subordinates have already done everything according to your instructions."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, turned to look at the county magistrates and said:
"Have you all seen this? I have asked Wei Yingcai to drive the chickens and ducks onto the river bed to eat the insect eggs." "A few days ago, there were many chickens and ducks eating the insect eggs here, but the scale was not the same. This is big.”

"My lords, please remember this scene, and come with me to see the farmland again."

After saying that, he walked towards the bottom of the embankment, followed closely by everyone.

The expressions of those who fear ghosts and gods have already changed, and they whispered softly: "It seems that something big is going to happen."

Following Li Chengqian to the fields, everyone was shocked again.

In the fields, there were also many chickens and ducks grazing in the fields, and they seemed to be eating insect eggs.

Some scattered locusts have nowhere to hide. Even if they keep flying, they still cannot escape the fate of being devoured.

Some people are setting up big nets; some are digging big pits; some are collecting piles of wood to make dozens of fires.

Although I don't know the specific purpose of these things for the time being, they are obviously all for dealing with locusts.

Seeing this battle, it seems that Li Chengqian really intends to fight the Locust God to the end.

After walking for about half an hour, although there are many shade trees, everyone is already sweating profusely.

Not far away, they saw a military camp. Judging from the busy appearance of the people in the military camp, they probably were building it but had not yet completed it.

Everyone knew it was Li Chengqian's arrangement at first guess, but why build a military camp here?
In an instant, they became even more suspicious.

When he got closer, Li Chengqian raised his finger to the gate of the barracks and said:

"My lords, that's where I fell off my horse that day. As a warning, I've ordered people to check it, but nothing was found."

"If any of you are interested, go and investigate again. If you are not interested, then let's talk in the big tent."

At this moment, everyone was walking around by Li Chengqian enough, saying, since His Highness didn't find out, we couldn't, and then hurried into the big tent.

When I entered the big tent, I saw several old farmers sitting there.

When the old farmers saw a group of officials arriving, they stood up in a hurry and saluted them one after another.

The leader, Li Chengqian, smiled and said: "Uncles, please take a seat. You are all my guests. Guests must take their seats."

The old farmers declined one after another, but they couldn't resist Li Chengqian, so they all sat there in fear.

The situation inside the tent was indeed a bit funny. Li Chengqian was sitting in the middle, with a few old farmers on one side and a group of sweaty and embarrassed officials on the other.

On both sides of the military tent, there were more than a dozen Yulin soldiers standing upright with swords and guns.

Li Chengqian looked at the old farmers and said, "My uncles, I heard that the county magistrate Wei said that you all migrated from the northwest, right?"

Hearing this, the old farmers nodded one after another.

Li Chengqian changed the subject: "I heard that you have encountered locust plagues before, why don't you tell me about it, how about it?"

Li Chengqian's words obviously brought back their memories. Immediately, an old farmer showed an angry look on his face, and the wrinkles on his face became even tighter.

He sighed heavily: "I fled from Longzhou. The reason for my escape was precisely because of the locust plague. More than 40 years have passed in the blink of an eye. All of you adults here must have never seen such a huge locust plague."

"That day I was watering the fields, but suddenly I heard the sound of strong winds. I looked up and saw thousands of locusts covering the sky and the sun. They flew to the ground and just blinked. In the short time, all the crops in the field were eaten away in an instant, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a bare patch left, not to mention the grass, even the big trees were eaten away until only their trunks were left."

The more the old farmer talked, the more excited he became, and he even spoke faster.

(End of this chapter)