In the beginning, the common people in the disaster-stricken area were not willing to help catch the locusts. Some even invited a few larger locusts into their homes. They wanted to raise them, so naturally, many of them were raised to death.
Prime Minister Yao finally managed to convince the people above and the court officials with great difficulty, but the progress on the ground was not fast. He ordered the local officials to organize manpower several times before there was a slight improvement. Unfortunately, after such a long period of recuperation, the locusts had already increased in number. It made people worry that they would spread to other Taoist palaces.
In recent days, the common people had moved to catch the locusts, but the results were not great. Just as Yao Chong was preparing to issue an even stronger order, Zhangjia Zhuangzi's army swayed and rushed over. This made his heart feel much more at ease.
Xiao Hong greeted Cherries and a few officials, then impatiently directed the poultry to rush into the fields or the wilderness. The chickens, ducks, and geese rushed the entire way. Especially in the last half of the day, they didn't eat anything decent at all. With the lead goose in front of them as an example, one by one, they directly rushed forward.
Especially those chickens, they spread out their two legs, lowered their necks, and flapped their wings. They ran very fast. Whenever a locust appeared in front of them, they would take one down. Their small mouths moved, their necks extended, and a locust was swallowed into their stomachs. Those flying locusts were not in a hurry to chase. They only wanted to eat the ones in front of them first.
The local people usually gathered to catch locusts at night. They lit a fire, and the locusts would desperately throw themselves into the fire. During the day, the only tool they had was a bag in front of a long pole. They used this to catch the locusts. In the beginning, the speed was a bit faster, but as the number of locusts in the bag increased, they had to deal with them. Naturally, it would take quite a bit of time.
These chickens, ducks, and geese were different. Once they caught them, they would eat them directly. If those locusts flew in front of the poultry team and continued to fly, they could be considered lucky for the time being. Those that flew in the wrong direction directly fell towards their natural enemies below. Without waiting for them to land, they would be eaten from the air by these sensitive poultry.
Humans and some animals had to rely on stomach acid to digest their food. Poultry, on the other hand, had to grind their food with peons. There was sand in the peons that they usually ate, so their digestion speed was much faster. Some of them even pooped while eating.
Especially when they were rushing all the way, they were always in a half-hungry state and had lost a lot of weight. At this time, seeing that there was so much food to supplement them, they ate with all their might. The need for food had reached an almost abnormal level for these domestic fowls that were raised like this.
It could eat two-thirds of its body weight or the same amount of food in a day. One could imagine the number of locusts that such a large chicken would need to eat. There was a chicken that was already powerful enough to fly more than two meters high. When it ate the locusts, its body also consumed energy.
After only half an hour, the chickens, ducks, and geese had become small dots in people's eyes. They passed by the fields, and there were not many grains on them to begin with. People did not eat such things, but there was a lot of meat in front of them.
At the same time, wherever they swept, they could not find any locusts. Occasionally, there would be a few pieces of locusts' wings that were not swallowed, mixed in with the chicken feathers and blown away by the wind.
The Prime Minister, the officials, and the people who came to watch the show were all shocked by this scene. So many poultry rushed over and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Not only did they eat the locusts, but they also left a lot of feces along the way. Seeing this, the people were happy. They would save a lot of trouble in the coming year and would not have to waste time looking for fertilizer.
When Cherries saw this scene, she remembered that it was the young master's order and immediately started to 'recruit' people from among the people. Under the supervision of the people who came from the inner courtyard, she recruited some people to be responsible for picking up eggs. Every 50 eggs picked up, they could take one home.
This could be accumulated. If they picked up 50 eggs in one go, they could directly exchange them for one egg. If they picked up 150 eggs in two days, they could also exchange them for one egg after a few days. Or they could not exchange the eggs and directly exchange them for other things. Cherries would think of a way to get them.
There were nearly 10,000 poultry, except for a few males, and the rest were all females. There were also many roosters on Zhuangzi, but they were not sent. Usually, they could lay more than 6,000 eggs a day. Because of the good food now, they could break through the 7,000 mark. The price they had to pay per day was less than 200 eggs.
Originally, Cherries was afraid that the people would not be willing to do it. After all, to pick up the eggs, they would need the poultry to lay them. However, she could not imagine the extent of the people's demand for food. The drought was a foregone conclusion. Even if all the taxes and levies were exempted in the autumn, the local people would not have a good life.
Usually, they had nothing to do, so they followed behind. Even if they exchanged one egg every two days, they would have 15 eggs in a month. These eggs were not much in the past, but in the current situation, it was not a small amount. When they heard the price Cherries offered to exchange for other things, the people chose to keep the eggs. The price Cherries offered was the usual exchange rate, but not the price that the people were in urgent need of food.
It didn't take long for Cherry to find a hundred people. The others who came later didn't have a chance. If there were too many people, they wouldn't be able to get an egg even after a few days. These hundred people were selected from whichever family had the toughest life. That family was chosen.
The others who were not selected did not complain when they felt bad. They came from afar to help, and they found the people who lived the worst life. They wanted to scold them, but they could not. They also had their own methods. It was not a big deal that they did not get to pick up the eggs. They began to go to other places to catch locusts. Even the children at home helped.
Some of the plants that did not grow food were cut down and made into simple chicken nests. They found Cherries and the others to discuss. When night came, they would let the poultry come here to sleep. They even provided locusts for supper.
Xiao Hong, Cherries, and the others were puzzled. They did not understand why these people were so kind. Some people in the inner courtyard came to explain. They said that these people were thinking about the feces. Because this year's harvest was destined to be poor, some livestock owners had to sell their livestock in order to survive.
If people ate less, the local fertilizer would be much less next year. In order to have a good harvest next year, they had to think of ways to save feces and wait to be composted.
Hearing this, Xiao Hong, Cherries, and the others pitied the local people, even if they came to help and make money. Cherries was one of the first people to follow Zhang Xiaobao. She was bold and responsible. She immediately gave orders.
"Have someone return to the farmstead on a fast horse. Have the farmsteads transport the farmsteads' poultry that are also about to lay eggs back here at the fastest speed. Bring the half-grown chicks as well. Tell the farmsteads to compensate them with one egg every two days."
"Ah? Send all of them here? Compensation? Miss Cherries, this compensation is a little too much. They don't need to raise them, so they can save a lot of food. "
Hearing Cherries's order, a person in the inner courtyard felt that the main family had paid too much. He also knew that the reason why they did not send those poultry here was because they were afraid that it would be difficult to settle the account. In Zhuangzi, there were 234 households in Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family. 196 of them raised chickens, ducks, and geese. They were all hatched by Cherries. Now, it was just the first two batches that could lay eggs.
"Listen to me and do as I say. I'll take care of everything. That's not how the accounts are calculated. Farmers raise chickens to get eggs, not to save on feed. They have to be compensated. Hire a carriage and move fast. There's still a lot of land here. It's impossible to eat all of it with just these chickens and ducks."
Cherries had already been 'authorized' when she came. She was the most powerful. No matter what decision she made, others had to follow unconditionally. Even if she said to kill all the poultry, others had to do it. If she did something wrong, the young master would take care of it. However, no one dared to disobey. She would beat them up first and bring them back to the main family.
Seeing that they could not persuade her, the people in the inner courtyard had to obey. They found a few horses and took another person. At the same time, they changed to a Mercedes-Benz and quickly went back to prepare a carriage and gather the poultry. When the two thought of the more than 200 chickens, ducks, and geese in each household, they felt a headache. How many carriages would they need to find to transport them?
Looking at the two people in Zhangjia Zhuangzi's swift movements when they jumped on the horses and their horsemanship, Yao Chong glanced at the personal guard beside him. The personal guard immediately said, "Master, those two people must be from the military. Looking at the way they jumped on the horses just now, they must have at least ten years of experience. Looking at their posture when they were riding the horses, they must have been in battle."
"Yes, I heard from County Magistrate Cheng that Zhangjia Zhuangzi found some people in the inner courtyard. It seems that these two were found later. These people usually do some chores, but they can charge and break through the enemy lines at critical times. Go back and check which place they are from. These two people are not old yet. Someone must have benefited from them."
Yao Chong seemed to be talking to himself. When the dust settled after the two left, he turned his eyes to the poultry that he had eaten all the way back from another place.
He said to the official beside him, "Record this down. Tonight, I will submit a memorial to the Zhuangzi and Zhang Family of Tuqiao Village in Sanshui County, Feng Zhou. Help the old man of the Zhang Family this time. He put in so much effort to get grain and poultry. The local people and officials are all watching. It can't be hidden even if you want to."
Yao Chong really did not understand why Zhangjia Zhuangzi valued the hundred households so much. Since that was the case, and they had helped him a lot, he should give them some benefits. If he forced it, it would chill the people. The ten thousand chickens, ducks, and geese were not just for show. The surrounding prefectures and counties would know and send people to invite them to eat the locusts.
"Master, I feel that Zhangjia Zhuangzi is doing this on purpose. He is making a big fuss to force you to give him a reward. Why don't we postpone it?" The official also knew that this matter was troublesome. Zhang Family and Zhuangzi were using righteousness to pressure others. No one would feel comfortable in this situation.
"Don't talk nonsense. They moved first. At that time, I was not here yet. Everything will depend on what the people who went to investigate have to say." Yao Chong was even more confused.
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