In Sanshui County, water was flowing out of many wells. Some wells even collapsed, but there was no change in a few wells. The drought was still going on and had not been completely solved. It was just that they did not have to worry about the people dying of thirst due to the lack of water.
County Magistrate Cheng originally wanted to make a Longevity Memorial for the two masters on Zhangjia Zhuangzi, but he was opposed by Zhuangzi, so he could only keep this matter in mind.
There were some good things happening in the county. At the same time, some rich people heard that water was flowing out of many wells. They went to take a look and smelled a familiar smell. They thought it was firecrackers, so they went to buy hundreds of thousands of firecrackers. They found a dry well and threw them into it. In the end, there was only a short burst of sound, and then there was no other reaction.
Looking at the smoke floating out of the well, they were sure that firecrackers could not be used to blow up the well. After smelling it again, they felt that it was not the same, so they could only give up. Originally, he wanted to find a way to help people get water out of the well to make money.
The dock that Song Jinggong was in charge of was still in full swing. It seemed that it would be finished by late autumn.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter. Shannan East Road, Henan Road, Hedong Road, and Guannei Road all had varying degrees of drought. Guannei Road was slightly worse, but Shannan East Road and Henan Road had the most severe drought. Hedong Road was also affected. Fortunately, there were several main rivers in Hedong Road and Guannei Road, so they might be able to hold on until the arrival of the rainy season.
If there was only drought, there was nothing to be afraid of in Henan Road. Crop failure was inevitable. However, they were able to use the water from the Yellow River. Since spring, there were more locusts in these two places than in other places. At first, the people did not notice it. There were locusts jumping around every year, so this year was not a big deal.
Who knew that with the drought, there would be more and more locusts. Some of the bigger ones even grew to two inches long. When they flapped their wings, they flew in front of people like little chicks.
Seeing these locusts eating the crops, the people lit incense burners outside the fields and kept kowtowing. But no one said that they were going to chase them away or let their poultry eat them. In the end, the locusts covered the sky and covered the earth.
Not only did the people in the prefecture not care, they even reported this matter to their superiors, asking the Emperor to issue a decree to build a temple of locusts here. Li Longji clearly knew the danger of these locusts, but he couldn't do anything about it. The other ministers also didn't stop it, except for Yao Chong. He jumped up and down, first promising the Emperor that he would take responsibility, then followed the other ministers to threaten him. In the end, he obtained a non-support and non-opposition agreement.
He personally went there to check the situation and get rid of those locusts.
At this time, Zhangjia Zhuangzi in Sanshui County also followed suit. The ten thousand dan of grain was divided into two portions. One portion was given to Xu Si to stop at the market and quietly transport to Henan. The other portion was given to Erniu to find a cart to transport it to the county seat. The cart took several li to transport it to the county seat.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were prepared to personally go and take a look. It could be considered a trip for the childhood sweethearts. In the end, they were stopped by the people in their family. Usually, when the two of them did something, the adults didn't care. This time, they wanted to go out, but no matter what, they didn't agree. They were afraid that the two of them would sneak away, so they arranged for ten people to take turns to watch over them.
When County Magistrate Cheng heard this news, he understood that it was time for him to take action. He arranged things in the county seat and took half of the bailiffs to prepare to go to those two places to provide disaster relief. In fact, it was to deliver grain.
Cherries also hatched a lot of chicks and gave them to the farmers to raise. She took more than six thousand chickens and Xiao Hong's ducks and geese and also set off. Some of the 'idlers' in the courtyard also followed to help feed the chickens and pick the eggs.
This time, Cherries and Xiao Hong only brought enough feed for the poultry to eat for two days. Along the way, they had to choose places with grass or places with a lot of grasshoppers. According to the young master's instructions, as long as the eggs were laid, they would exchange them with the local people. They could buy them with money or with cloth and silk. Even if it was a year's worth of grain, they would exchange them. Some children caught various insects to feed the poultry, but they also gave them eggs.
"Everything depends on Erniu. Whether or not our family can continue to enjoy this kind of treatment depends on Erniu's response. We have a lot of grasshoppers here. Some are hiding in the mountains. Let's fry them and eat them. Call Da Niu back from the county seat and let him try to make a cake. When the time comes, we can exchange the grasshoppers with the children on Zhuangzi.
This thing is good. It's high in protein. Make some salt and pepper. After it's fried, we can eat it together. Don't eat the staple food. We can eat grasshoppers every day. I've decided to beat a five-year-old child when I'm three years old. "
Zhang Xiaobao had been holding back his anger because his family didn't allow him and Wang Juan to go there personally. He waited for others to leave before he started to come up with ideas.
"Eat it every day? Then you eat it yourself. I won't accompany you. No matter how much protein grasshoppers have, how can they compare to rice and flour? I don't know how you're a liar. " Wang Juan also wanted to go out and see what other places in this era were like. In the end, she was locked up at home. She was also depressed.
Zhang Xiaobao had no other choice. If he really wanted to run out, it was very easy for him and Wang Juan. However, if he ran away, his family would definitely be worried. It wasn't easy for him to finally have family. He definitely wouldn't do that.
Seeing that Wang Juan didn't want to accompany them to eat grasshoppers, he found a compromise. "Then how about we use flour to wrap grasshoppers and fry them? What do you think?"
"So you're competing with a grasshopper? Why don't we let them catch more and bake them into powder. We can make some pastries for the children in the village to eat to replenish their nutrition. When we grow up, they can become the most loyal guards. When we expand the territory, no, when we open up the wasteland, the strength of the seedling protection team will be stronger. "
Wang Juan heard about four deaths in the past few months. She felt a little distressed. There was a Zhuangzi in the Ge family. He was six years old, but he died of an illness. Life was really too fragile. At that time, the courtyard sent all the resident doctors and used a tael of ginseng, but it only delayed his life by a few days.
In addition to the medical reasons, there was also the children's daily nutrition problems. Healthy children had a stronger resistance to diseases. Usually, it was enough to see some children play and exercise, but the intake of protein was less. People nowadays didn't eat grasshoppers unless they were hungry. If it was in the past, grasshoppers would be a good thing.
Zhang Xiaobao also knew what Wang Juan was thinking. He thought for a while and said, "It's useless to just eat grasshoppers. When this matter is settled, we can build a school and find some students who failed to pass the exam to teach the children. At that time, three meals a day will be prepared. Naturally, the children will be healthier.
As for the grasshopper powder, why don't we add our monosodium glutamate and send it to some pancake shops as seasoning. The taste will definitely be different from pancakes or other noodles. We can also add some fish powder. Forget about monosodium glutamate, we can just add something else. "
"Providing raw materials is the least cost-effective. It's better to sell it in our own shop in Sanshui County. It's not a big deal, we can just arrange it casually. It seems that before they come back, the two of us will have some free time. Let's think about how to help your father pass the exam."
"Okay, starting tomorrow, we will find my father to go outside and enjoy the scenery. You have to cooperate. I'm not very familiar with poetry. You have been exposed to a lot of training when you were young, so I will rely on you in this aspect." Zhang Xiaobao wanted his father to take the county entrance examination. He could hint some political and economic ideas, but not poetry.
"Okay, tomorrow morning, we will go out and learn something with your father. We will hint at him then." Wang Juan promised.
*****
County Magistrate Cheng Lingxiang set off that night when Erniu came with so many carriages. He had been paying attention to the disasters in those two places recently. He knew that if he went there now, he would definitely be recognized and his grade would be raised.
With such a large group, it would take at least half a month to travel from Sanshui County to those two places. On the other side, Cherries and Xiao Hong were also urging the group to move faster. The chickens, ducks, and geese were not very obedient, especially when they encountered water. The ducks and geese always wanted to go in and play.
Fortunately, Xiao Hong had a smart goose, Furry. It could understand whatever Xiao Hong asked it to do. It was busy, leading nearly ten thousand birds to eat as they moved. The people from the inner courtyard who followed them were also busy. They had to watch the left, right, and back of the group. Otherwise, it would be easy to lose a few birds. This was all money.
When they encountered the fields on both sides of the road, as long as there were grasshoppers, Xiao Hong and Cherries would lead the birds to eat. With the meat, the birds naturally did not want the grains. They lowered their heads and ran around. As they ran, they could eat all kinds of insects that were chased over. Even if the locusts were flying a little lower, the chickens would jump up and eat them.
Half a month later, County Magistrate Cheng's group arrived first. It could not be said that they had all arrived, as the carriages transporting grain were still behind. County Magistrate Cheng was preparing to contact the Prime Minister first, which was Prime Minister Yao You.
He had already received the news that Prime Minister You had also come out of the capital and would be here soon. He was just in time to meet him. The only thing he was worried about was whether the grain would be transported in time.
Xiao Hong and Cherries were also a little anxious. They were moving slower. The people were fine, but the birds were not very obedient. They always ran to a distant place to take a look, and then continued to move forward with the group.
They were already not slow, but they still had to walk for more than ten days. They did not know if they would be able to see Prime Minister You by then.
"Xiao Hong, you lead the group slowly. I have to hurry. Otherwise, when we reach the place and they leave, we will not be able to go back and explain to the young master. At least, we have to let that person with the surname Yao know that we have put in a lot of effort this time."
As they walked, Cherries was anxious and discussed with Xiao Hong.
Today was the third watch, tomorrow was the seventh watch.
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