Taiji Palace, Imperial Study.
As soon as Li Shimin entered, he didn't even have time to change his clothes before he asked, "Xiao Guizi, sort out all the memorials related to the locusts for me!"
"Yes!"
Seeing Li Shimin's gloomy face, Xiao Guizi hurriedly selected memorials from the mountain of documents.
Li Shimin also sat on the soft couch and flipped through them one by one.
A locust plague has broken out in Jiannan Province. The locusts are suspected to have come from Tubo territory. Countless victims of the Tubo disaster are rushing to the Tang Dynasty territory …
When he saw the memorial, Li Shimin immediately read through it and said, "Thoroughly investigate the source of the locusts and the losses. Expel all the people from Tubo!"
Then, Li Shimin looked at the next memorial.
This memorial was related to Shannan Province.
A locust plague has broken out in Bazhou, Maozhou, Yazhou, and Jiazhou in Shannan Province. The farmland has been severely damaged, and there are even signs of the locusts devouring livestock!
A locust plague has broken out in Henan Province, Yaozhou, Xingzhou, Min Zhou, and many other places. The forest has been severely damaged, and the food has been greatly damaged. However, there are no casualties for the time being!
Li Shimin took a deep breath and looked at Long Youdao's booklet. He took a deep breath.
Then, he slowly flipped open the memorial.
There were only a few words in the memorial.
However, each word was like a heavy hammer that struck Li Shimin's heart.
"A locust plague has broken out in Qiuci City and other places. There is no oasis within a thousand miles!"
After reading this, Li Shimin's heart couldn't help but tighten.
"Summon Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun, and Du Ruhui to the palace immediately!"
Li Shimin slapped the memorial hard. He had read five memorials, but there were still dozens of them on his desk!
What did this mean?
This meant that the locust outbreak had reached a point where it couldn't be delayed.
But most of them were concentrated near Tubo, and the south of the Tang Dynasty was basically unaffected. What did this mean?
This showed that the locust plague was really as Zhang Feng had said before. The locust plague in the Tang Dynasty was basically nothing, but the key was that after the locust plague in Tubo, the locust plague directly devoured Tubo, then migrated to the Tang Dynasty!
Previously, Li Shimin thought that Zhang Feng was talking about next year's locust plague. This year's locust eggs had basically been cleared out from Longyou to Chang 'an, and even the Tang Dynasty. However, he had forgotten one thing!
That was the locust plague that Zhang Feng had mentioned in Tubo!
At this moment, Li Shimin suddenly understood why he had said that there would be an irreversible disaster at the end of the year even though the locusts were almost completely under control this year.
This …
He had thought that this was Zhang Feng's guess, but from these reports and all the plans for Tubo, Li Shimin suddenly felt a kind of pressure.
An irresistible pressure.
A moment later, Wei Zheng and the others hurried into the Imperial Study of Taiji Palace.
Seeing Li Shimin's gloomy face and thinking about something with his head lowered, they didn't dare to disturb him and waited quietly.
After an unknown amount of time.
Only then did Li Shimin slowly wake up. He looked at the people standing in front of him and waved his hand tiredly, motioning for them to sit down. Then, he said, "How's the investigation of the locust plague?"
"Your Majesty, I have thoroughly investigated all the towns around Chang 'an and found that although the locust plague was fierce this time, Chang' an was already prepared. Although there was a loss of grain, it was not a total loss. Now, all the wheat has been harvested, only the corn has been lost. In addition, Chang 'an City's cooperative this time, basically every household has stored grain …"
"I'm asking about the locust plague, nothing else!"
Li Shimin interrupted Du Ruhui's report and asked.
Hearing this, Du Ruhui took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, about this locust plague … I have received the most detailed report. The black mass of locusts will cross the Qinling Mountains and reach Chang 'an City in five days!"
"I'm afraid that by then, there will be no crops in Chang 'an City anymore …"
"What?"
Five days?
Li Shimin's expression suddenly changed.
He hurriedly asked, "Then, what about Longyou Dao? And what about Jiannan Dao and other places? "
Li Shimin only wanted to know if the locust plague had broken out completely or if, as he had guessed, the locust plague had really moved south from Tubo and Longyou Dao.
But all the information he received, every single one of them made him despair.
Because the locust plague this time was really as he had guessed. It had basically spread from the north to the south!
What did this mean?
This meant that he still had five days left.
"Have you thought of any way to resist it?"
"Well … Your Majesty … I have indeed thought of a way …"
Fang Xuanling was a little hesitant. But seeing that the Emperor did not say anything, he said tentatively, "I think that if we follow the method that Brother Zhang Feng came up with and use an army of chickens and ducks, it might work, but the effect …"
"Also, since you can even eat the eggs of locusts, then even though the locusts look a little ugly and horrifying, you should be able to do that too!"
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