allonlinenovel Chapter 1321 Locking up locusts is unreasonable
Chapter 1321 Locking up locusts is unreasonable
"How could this be...?"
At the corner of the palace, Ōtomo no Maro looked utterly incredulous: "How could locusts not like to eat our rice...?"
What does it mean if a country can be less affected by locust plagues in the coming decades?
Agriculture, representing this country, will be at the forefront of the world!
For the next few decades, Japan will still have to bow down to the Great Zhou Dynasty, with virtually no chance of turning the tables!
As the representative, he simply could not, and dared not, lead Japanese samurai into the Great Zhou again and take all of the Great Zhou's treasures back to Japan...
“It must be because your rice is bad…” Ōtomo Maro muttered, his expression blank. “Even locusts won’t eat this rice, it must be poisonous! People will die if they eat it!”
"Insolence!" Chen Shengshen angrily rebuked, "High-yield rice is the foundation of our dynasty. How dare you spout nonsense and make arbitrary remarks!"
Lu Botang raised his fist: "You bunch of scoundrels, watch your mouths! Stop slandering others when you can't get what you want! The people of Tong'an County ate a year's worth of high-yield rice and were completely unharmed!"
The officials all nodded in agreement.
Rice is rice, how could it be poisonous?
“Eunuch Hong, please continue reading,” Yu Zhengqing said.
Eunuch Hong glared at Ōban Maro before speaking, "That night, Lord Shen led his men to set up two locations. One was the Wangyue Mountain Pass, and the other was the village road at the border of Fuzhou and Yanzhou, where locusts were rampant. Lord Shen named the pass 'Locust Locking Valley,' and the village road 'Locust Leading Road.'"
"Locust Valley?" Guo Bi's expression changed slightly.
Locusts.
Lock Emperor.
Shen Zheng is incredibly audacious!
He lowered his head and pondered for a moment.
No!
It is against propriety!
They are completely incompatible!
"Your Majesty..."
The moment he opened his mouth, the emperor's glare pierced straight at him.
He shuddered inwardly, his mind going blank for a moment.
The emperor squinted at him for a moment, then said, "Continue!"
Eunuch Hong immediately read aloud: "On both sides of the locust-leading path, ordinary rice and high-yield rice have been scattered. Connected to the path of the high-yield rice is the farmland of Wangyue Village, while connected to the path of the ordinary rice is the Locust-Locking Valley. By the time the vanguard of the locusts reaches the border between Fuzhou and Yanzhou, Lord Shen will have already laid a net of heaven and earth in the Locust-Locking Valley..."
As Eunuch Hong recounted the events with great emotion, the officials seemed to see the scene from that day.
Locusts darkened the sky and headed towards Fuzhou.
Upon reaching the fork in the road, they unhesitatingly chose ordinary rice over high-yield rice.
After flying into the locust-attracting path, the fragrance of rice guided them forward.
"Finally, the entire locust army arrived at Locust-Locking Valley!" Eunuch Hong became increasingly excited: "Lord Shen lured them in with the fragrance of rice, and they rushed into the Locust-Locking Valley in the blink of an eye! After they were all inside, Lord Shen immediately ordered them to be caught in nets, completely cutting off the locusts' retreat!"
"Whoa—"
The officials shouted in unison.
Because they know that the most exciting moment is just around the corner!
"Then what!"
"Then the mirror array was fully activated!" Eunuch Hong raised his right hand excitedly. "The locusts were completely disoriented! They fled in panic! Little did they know, death was closing in on them!"
"it is good!"
"it is good!!"
The officials cheered and raised their arms, and several officials from the Ministry of Revenue even embraced each other.
"My lords, there's more!" Eunuch Hong changed to a new sheet of paper. "Light the fire! Release the smoke, all in one smooth motion! Instantly, the smoke, as black as ink, filled every corner of the valley!"
"The locusts are even more dizzy!" he said. "Lord Shen pressed his advantage and directly ordered the lime-pouring team above the valley entrance to pour lime into the valley!"
He paused for a moment after saying this.
Why are you spreading lime?
He had been wondering why Lord Shen would bring lime to Wangyue Village.
The officials also asked, "Can lime really poison locusts?"
Eunuch Hong continued reading and then suddenly realized: "Lime is highly poisonous to locusts! Once they come into contact with it, they will die in no time!"
Upon hearing this, the officials were all moved and turned to look at the corner of the hall.
Ōtomo Maro kept shaking his head: "Impossible, impossible, how could you have discovered it so quickly..."
"So the method you're talking about for eradicating locusts is just lime?!" Lu Botang suddenly realized, and cursed, "You bastard, you actually want to use this method to exchange for half of our rice seeds?!"
Isn't this just taking advantage of someone's misfortune?!
Thankfully, they didn't fall for it!
Beside him, Yue Zhenchuan pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Although this method is effective, there is no second Lord Shen in this world, and it is also difficult to find a second Locust Lock Valley."
In an instant, all the officials understood his meaning.
"Even if we had agreed to give the rice seeds to the Japanese, we still would have had difficulty eliminating the locusts after obtaining the method!"
It's true that locusts are afraid of lime.
But locusts aren't stupid either!
They simply cannot stand in line and wait for someone to throw lime at them!
Only Lord Shen could cleverly use this method, devising a way to "lure" and "lock" the locusts by taking advantage of the terrain, thereby wiping out the entire swarm...
The claim by Ōtomo Maro that "this method is very useful" was merely an exaggeration!
At this moment, all the officials had only one thought in their minds—thankfully, His Majesty and Lord Ji had not given in, and thankfully Lord Shen was in Liuyang Prefecture.
After secretly letting out a sigh of relief, they all glared at Ōtomo no Maro, then turned back to ask Eunuch Hong, "And then?"
Eunuch Hong had already finished reading the last sheet of letter.
"Almost all the locusts in the valley were dead," he said. "The corpses piled up like mountains. Lord Shen ordered them to be transported in batches to an open area and burned. In the end, they turned into handfuls of black ash..."
After saying that, he added, "It was already the next morning when everything was burned. After everything settled down, Lady Shen collapsed! She... was unconscious for a whole day."
"What?!" Yu Zhengqing rushed forward: "What's wrong with her? Doctor Li! Didn't she bring Doctor Li with her?!"
Seeing the anxiety on Yu Zhengqing's face, the emperor secretly raised his leg and kicked Eunuch Hong.
What do you mean by "coma"?
The letter clearly stated "asleep".
Eunuch Hong shifted his heels and coughed lightly: "Don't worry, Lord Yu, Lady Shen is fine."
Yu Zhengqing didn't believe it: "They're unconscious, how can they be alright?! No, show me the letter!"
Hong Gonggong pulled his hands back, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Asleep!"
"..." Yu Zhengqing felt both heartache and relief. "Alright then."
The officials exclaimed, "By all accounts, Lord Shen hasn't slept for at least three days! He must have exhausted himself!"
"He needs to be taken good care of! Lord Shen is so young; we can't let this cause him to develop a chronic illness..."
"Your Majesty, Lord Shen's merits are truly outstanding; he deserves a reward..."
Someone said something, and the emperor immediately perked up.
He wanted to reward Shen Qing more than just.
He deserves a generous reward!
A hefty reward is due!