Li Yi was on his way to Lantian County to take a look at the situation and think of a way to deal with it.
However, the citizens of Luoyang were grateful to Li Yi. No one called him a wastrel anymore.
When the wheat was harvested, bundles of wheat were pulled down with a divine reaper. Even more locusts jumped around in the ground.
The citizens finally knew what this was. It was a plague of locusts.
There were so many locusts. They had already caught quite a few. If they did not catch them, more would appear in a few days.
And a rich fool brought chickens, ducks, and pigs over early in the morning to exchange eggs for locusts.
Everyone saw how chickens and ducks ate locusts and laid more eggs. Pigs ate locusts and grew faster.
Then, everyone went to exchange eggs. A few days ago, they exchanged chickens and ducks. They even learned how to hatch them manually.
When the wheat was harvested and the ground and dense locusts were revealed, they understood how dangerous it was.
If they did not exchange for poultry and knew how to catch locusts, what would they do now?
Now …
A large number of chickens and ducks were running in the fields around Luoyang City. The farmers had released them.
The people in front were harvesting the wheat. Behind them, the chickens and ducks flapped their wings and pecked at the locusts.
As long as the locusts flew lower, they would definitely be eaten down by the chickens.
The ducks stretched out their necks, lowered their heads, flattened their beaks, flapped their wings, and ran in the fields with their legs. They ate everything they saw.
Their heads bumped into people's legs, but they ignored them and continued to catch locusts.
Some of the chickens and ducks that had not been exchanged followed behind. They tripped after running a few steps and got up, cooperating with each other to eat locusts.
The locusts were too big for the chickens. One could not eat them. A few rushed forward and bit the locusts with their beaks. They pulled back and tore them apart.
"Don't step on the chickens and ducks. They will grow up." The person who had been hired by the farmers to release the chickens and ducks held a net and shouted for people to pay attention.
The Bi Goo brothers stood by the field and allowed the locusts to land on them without moving.
A yellow chick ran over and looked up at a locust on Bi Goo's body. It chirped anxiously.
Bi Goo glanced at it, grabbed the locust, and threw it to the ground. The little chick rushed up, but it couldn't swallow it. It didn't listen and tried to bite it, wanting to crush it.
Another chick ran over from the side and looked at the locust. After a few bites, the locust was crushed. The two chicks ate it and turned around to look for more.
"Elder brother, this is clearly a locust plague. Why do I feel like the people here are so happy?"
Bi Xu looked at the people who were grinning and hiding from the little yellow feather chicken and yellow feather duck. He felt that something was amiss.
Bi Goo was still looking at the scene of labor and said, "They saw hope. When they realized that locusts could be used to feed poultry and livestock, they thought about how to catch more locusts.
The common people also knew how to calculate the incubation period of chickens and ducks. They knew that a batch of chicks would be born every two weeks and a batch of ducklings would be born every month.
Ducks ate more locusts than chickens. Now it was time to harvest. After the harvest, a large number of locusts were in the field.
He used fire to lure them at night and catch them during the day. Looking again, there were already more than 70,000 chickens and ducks of various sizes eating.
According to the folk, chickens and ducks have straight intestines. They pooped while eating, and fertilizer fell into the ground. "
As Bi Goo spoke, the figure of a smiling young man appeared in his mind.
When he first came here, he was scolded as a fool. Now, the people who scolded him wished that they could kowtow to him.
Without saying a word, they ran away, leaving only a hundred farmers to manage the situation.
Bi Xu was still in a daze. Everything happened too quickly. It hadn't even been a month.
As he was thinking, he saw a chicken laying an egg. Immediately, a child ran over with a basket.
The basket was covered with wheat straw. The child carefully picked up the egg and placed it in the basket. He didn't dare to run anymore and walked to the side step by step.
There were already many big baskets by the side. They were also covered with wheat straw. Eggs and duck eggs were placed inside.
The people who were hired helped to look after the people and count. They gathered ten eggs and gave the child a small bamboo token.
Bi Xu knew that this token could be used to collect a chick or duckling.
The locusts were flying, the wheat was being harvested, and the child was looking for something. It seemed so harmonious.
"What kind of person is Li Yi?" Bi Xu tried hard to think, but he couldn't think of anyone. He couldn't match Li Yi with anyone else.
Li Yi seemed to be different from everyone else. According to his brother, he was sent by the Emperor.
"I'll ask around after I enter Chang 'an. He said that he would give me three ceramic teeth with golden cores and build a separate courtyard for me in Zhuangzi."
Bi Goo said with a smile. He believed that Li Yi was not joking.
"They still want to bring these chickens and ducks back?" Bi Xu didn't think much about the Chang 'an. He began to think about the transportation.
"Since he taught the method of artificial incubation, he must be more skilled. Why would he go back and forth in Zhuangzi? He must have sold them.
In addition, he sold the toilet water, soap, and other things a few days ago. Not only did he not lose money, but he also made a few times more money. "
Bi Goo calculated the ratio of eggs and chicks exchanged by the locusts, the approximate number of eggs laid, and the number of hatched eggs.
He came to the conclusion that the chickens, ducks, and pigs that Li Yi brought over would be sold for four to five times more money.
The officials would say that he was good, and the farmers had been thinking of ways to give benefits to the officials.
The people would say that he was good, and they would have more chickens and ducks to raise. They also learned the techniques of incubation and feeding grasshoppers to poultry and pigs to grow faster.
Amidst the praises, his farmers would return with a full load.
Compared to Bi Goo, who thought about the overall situation, the people were more simple. They only knew that the grasshoppers they casually raised could be exchanged for eggs, duck eggs, and chickens and ducks.
In their eyes, grasshoppers were everywhere and worthless. Only chickens and ducks were valuable.
As long as the grasshoppers didn't eat the wheat, they would start to catch them in large quantities after harvesting.
At the same time, they discovered something interesting. In the past, when it was harvest time, birds would come to eat the wheat, but now the birds were all eating the locusts.
Therefore, amidst the harmony, the wheat was harvested. Soon, people brought over threshing equipment and began to crack the wheat.
At this time, there was no need to rush to remove the husks. Wheat and rice could be stored for a longer period of time with the outer shell.
Flour and rice had a shorter shelf life because they would attract insects.
The stalks of the harvested grains used to be used for fire, but now, they were left to be composted or mixed together to be fed to the livestock in the autumn.
Even if they knew that they could burn the grains to fertilize the fields, they wouldn't do it.
Because of the technology of composting, the fertilized grains were better than burning them directly.
Bi Goo left with his hands behind his back. There was nothing more to see. There would be no problems with the Henan Province's food supply this year.
In the future, the people wouldn't be afraid of the locusts. They had found a way to deal with it, including how to convince themselves to catch the locusts.
What Heaven's Wrath and Locust God, in front of chicken and duck eggs, they were nothing.
"Brother, are we still collecting the summer rent this year?" Bi Xu thought of another question.
"If other locust infested areas collect it, the Henan Province will. If other locust infested areas don't collect it, why should we?" Bi Goo gave the answer.
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