Bi Xu's face was full of disbelief. He was unwilling to believe it.
In this book, 'Gold versus Jade, Treasure versus Pearl, Jade Rabbit versus Golden Crow. A lone boat against a short oar, a wild goose against a pair of mallards … '
It was the same as the children's song, 'Catch grasshoppers, change grasshoppers, catch grasshoppers, get eggs …'
Written by the same person?
Reading books was like floating clouds in the sky; listening to nursery rhymes was like floating maggots in a cesspool.
"Brother, don't joke." Bi Xu expressed his disbelief.
"It's true. I'm Old Bi's little friend. I'm a dignified second-rank Henan official. The first time we met, he kept calling me 'Old Bi'. It was quite pleasant to hear, hahaha …"
Bi Goo laughed again. He couldn't help but want to laugh when he thought of the youth's actions and words when he questioned Li Yi at the bridge yesterday. It was too interesting.
"Why didn't he write nice sentences?" Bi Xu pursed his lips.
"Wasn't it the same when I wrote the notice to the people? It had to be something that the people could understand. "Bi Goo sighed. That youth's actions were erratic.
It was impossible to guess what he was thinking and what he was going to do next.
The only thing that was certain was that he was good to the people.
He also bribed the officials and got land at a cheap price.
When he got the land, he increased the wages. The money saved from renting the land was not enough to buy meat for the workers.
Thinking about it carefully, in order to achieve his goal, the youth didn't care about money. He was a man of great achievements.
"Brother, I've kept the book. I'll send it to you when I'm done. This book … "
Bi Xu carefully stuffed it into his sleeve and held it with his other hand.
"Pass it on. The Three Character Classic was also written by him. When I was there, he was still writing medical books. "
Bi Goo looked at the people who were still running out of the city and said.
Li Yi, who was said to be a man of great achievements, wrote ten nursery rhymes in a row. It was simple, like counting treasures. There was no need to deliberately match the rhymes.
"Take them out and pass them on. The simpler the folk, the more powerful it is. Open the city gate to welcome the king of roaming. The king of roaming comes and doesn't pay, haha! "
Li Yi put down his pen and said to the people around him. He also muttered to himself.
In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day of the third lunar month. Many people were sent to the mountains like sacks.
There were more and more locusts. They should have started to eat the unharvested wheat, but at night, under the light of the fire, they flew over.
The commoners used bags of various sizes to store them, and even ran out to catch them during the day.
There were more than forty thousand chickens and ducks, and the number of unfertilized eggs that appeared every day was not small.
This time, he could go all out.
In addition to collecting grasshoppers, they also collected pigweed and grass and chaff for horses.
"Dongzhu, at this rate, we won't be able to last more than a few days. At night, they go to faraway places to catch them. There are also carts of them from other counties."
The villager was anxious and ran over to Li Yi to report.
"Didn't you bring a lot of soap and other things? There are also silk and copper coins. Sell these things to the rich. If the eggs aren't enough, convert them into money and give them money.
In a few days, the chicken and duck seedlings will hatch and feed them to the chicks and ducklings. They can catch locusts and chop them up to feed them. "
Li Yi was not worried. After deducting the cost of hiring workers and food, he still made a profit from the exchange of grasshoppers.
Many grasshoppers were placed in large pots and blanched with boiling water before being dried.
The piglets were fed locusts and pigweed, and they grew at least two jin of meat a day. The more they grew, the more meat they grew. When they reached their peak, they stopped growing.
The piglets did not have chaff. Out of the five thousand piglets, there were five hundred boars and four thousand five hundred sows.
The ratio was one to nine. Under such circumstances, the probability of sows giving birth to piglets was higher.
In another seven months, the boars could be bred, and the piglets would be born during the new year. In February and March of next year, there would be a drought and a plague of locusts.
Li Yi had calculated all the growth cycles. The pigs ate more locusts than the chickens and ducks.
Now, the piglets were shown to the commoners who came over. The piglets' ears were burned with serial numbers.
Some of the commoners had been watching for a few days and realized that the piglets fed to the grasshoppers grew really fast.
"With Luoyang as the center, there is still a long time before the end of the year. It is enough time for many people to know about this matter."
Li Yi said as he picked up the brush again and prepared to copy the medical book.
To the east of the Taihang Mountains were Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, and other places. They were all important places for wheat production.
These places produced less grain for a year, so they would be hungry. Naturally, they would send less grain to Chang 'an. How high would the price of wheat rise?
Originally, they would produce ten jin, sell six jin, and eat the remaining four jin.
Now, they would not produce one jin. The imperial court would give them grain, and the difference would be huge.
Li Yi knew the scale of the plague of locusts that was recorded in the history books. He also knew that from then on, they would fight the locusts here every year.
If the plague of locusts in several provinces was stopped, the extra wheat might be enough for the Tang dynasty to launch a large-scale invasion.
— — —
"Report, urgent report from Henan." In Xingqing Palace, Li Longji had not been sleeping well these days.
He felt that something was missing and was not used to it.
Today, he received new news about Li Yi.
"Bring it over, officials …" Li Longji said to the messenger who delivered the report. He also signaled that the three prime ministers and the Minister of Works could leave.
"We also miss him." Zhang Shuo did not want to leave.
"Zhang Shuo, who are you thinking about?" Li Longji was unhappy. Why do you keep thinking about Li Yi? What does it have to do with you?
"I'm thinking about the drought and the plague of locusts." Yao Chong spoke at the crucial moment.
Lu Huaishen, Wei Zhigu, and Zhang Shuo nodded. Yes, we are thinking for the people.
"Read it." Li Longji did not believe the words of the Prime Ministers at all.
"When Li Yi first arrived in Luoyang, he disembarked from the ship west of Luoyang. He hired helpers to move poultry and urgently found a broker to rent land.
The registrar of Luoyang County was bribed by Li Yi and offered the lowest price. Li Yi took the initiative to raise the price and gave other officials benefits.
The registrar made the decision to increase the forest from 540 mu to 800 mu, which was only 20 mu a year.
Li Yi led the team into the mountains and made arrangements overnight. Two days later, the ditch was completed, the bridge was built and a large number of workers were recruited.
Henan Magistrate Bi Goo heard the news and personally went to the bridgehead with more than 200 cavalry. He asked Li Yi if he knew his mistake.
Everyone was shocked.
Li Yi took a few steps forward and grabbed Bi Goo's arm. "Old Bi, stop fooling around. We were just waiting for you. Let me tell you …"
"Hahahaha, aiya, I'm dying of laughter. Wahaha …" Without waiting for him to finish, Zhang Shuo clutched his stomach and squatted on the ground.
He then knelt on the ground and slapped the ground with his hands. He did not look like a prime minister at all.
"Old Bi, Old Bi, stop fooling around. Hahaha …" Wei Zhigu also squatted down.
Yao Chong's face was flushed red. He looked like he was trying his best to hold back his laughter.
Lu Huaishen sat there with his neck leaning against the back of the chair. He looked up, "Hahahaha ~ ~ ~"
Li Longji clenched his fists tightly, his expression sinister.
"Hahaha …"
"Hahaha …"
Some of the palace maids and eunuchs couldn't hold back their laughter. They covered their faces and turned around.
Li Longji tried to hold it in, but in the end, he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Hahahaha … Old Bi …"
Yao Chong also began to pant, but he continued to laugh.
For a moment, the entire Xingqing Hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
The young man reading the script laughed until tears came out of his eyes. He also didn't know that was the content.
After a full quarter of an hour, everyone recovered.
Zhang Shuo clutched his stomach and grinned. "Your Majesty, you can't say that to Empress Wang. The child, the child is important!"
Li Longji took a deep breath and nodded.
He said to the young man, "Skip the unimportant parts."
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