kingnovel Chapter 1206 Locust Vanguard?
Chapter 1206 Locust Vanguard?
At the third quarter of midnight, the waning moon disappeared into the clouds, and the horse's hooves crossed the boundary marker.
"We've entered Fuzhou territory." Jiang Zhiming looked at the distant lights and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Heaven knows, ever since he rode all the way from the Liuyang government office, his heart had been pounding like a drum, fearing that the people of Fuzhou would lose heart before the locusts even reached the area.
Only now, seeing the figures of people in the distance, heads down, rushing to harvest, did his heart, which had been in his throat, finally settle down a little.
Thankfully, it seems the people's hearts haven't been broken yet, and the people shouldn't... blame him, right?
He may be a negligent prefect, but right now, he has brought the strongest external support to Fuzhou. So, his merits and demerits can be considered to cancel each other out, right?
Thinking this, Jiang Zhiming looked at Shen Zheng's figure ahead, whipped his whip, and chased after her: "Lord Shen!"
On horseback ahead, Shen Zheng leaned against Hua Duo's chest and turned back to look at Jiang Zhiming by the dim light of the torch, asking, "Lord Jiang, what's wrong?"
Jiang Zhiming caught up, "This humble official just wanted to ask you, should we go directly to Wangyue Mountain, or...?"
"We need to go to the Fuzhou government office first." Shen Zheng gripped the small handle on the saddle with both hands, her voice bobbing as she said, "To completely eradicate the locusts, the resources required will be considerable, and the government office must make preparations as soon as possible."
“Good, good.” Jiang Zhiming asked while observing the fields along the road, “Lord Shen, what supplies do you need? Tell me, and I will write them down.”
Shen Zheng quietly shifted her thigh, which was chafed painfully by the saddle, and said slowly, "The amount of lime needed is not small. Although I have ordered the Liuyang lime kiln to send over the stock, the carriage is not fast enough. Therefore, the Fuzhou government office still needs to prepare a thousand catties of quicklime in case of any unforeseen circumstances."
quicklime......
After a moment's thought, Jiang Zhiming nodded: "Don't worry, Lord Shen, there is still a batch of quicklime stored in the government warehouse."
The original plan was to save the lime to pave the official road connecting to Liuyang Prefecture, but unexpectedly, it ended up being used to eradicate locusts...
After a pause, Jiang Zhiming asked again, "Lord Shen, what other supplies do you need?"
"A thousand bronze mirrors, a hundred bamboo woven nets and reed woven curtains, a thousand catties of wood ash and glutinous rice paste, five hundred bundles of mugwort and reeds, two hundred tinderboxes and torches..." Shen Zheng paused, then added, "We also need a hundred catties each of soybean oil and tung oil."
After hearing Shen Zheng's request, Jiang Zhiming was stunned for a long time: "That's all?"
The overwhelming army of locusts can be dealt with in one fell swoop with just these things?
Jiang Zhiming could hardly believe it.
“Of course, that’s not all.” Shen Zheng shook her head and added, “We also need some stands to hold the bronze mirrors, the higher the better. We also need tools such as hoes, shovels, rope ladders, and iron hooks... In addition to the tools, we need thousands of able-bodied men, so let’s give priority to recruiting people from the surrounding area of Wangyue Mountain who are familiar with the terrain.”
Jiang Zhiming nodded and wrote everything down.
What he didn't dare say was that he still felt Shen Zheng was asking for too little.
If locust eradication were truly that simple, why would locusts have caused such widespread devastation and devastation in previous years?
As I pondered this, the firelight on the field ridge ahead grew brighter, and the figures of the people rushing to harvest became clearer and clearer.
As the group rode their horses along the path beside the fields, the fragrance of rice wafted into their nostrils on the wind, sweeping away the fatigue of their long day's journey.
The road ahead was barely visible in the darkness. Xin Ji was the first to rein in his horse, dismount, and said, "I'll go ask around in the fields ahead to see if there's a shortcut to the prefectural city. We'll take the shortcut if we can."
After saying that, Xin Ji handed the reins to Jiang Zhiming and walked towards the rice paddies not far away.
"what--!"
Xin Ji had just taken two steps when someone in the field ahead suddenly cried out in surprise, "What is that?!"
The cry pierced the silence of the night, and almost everyone working nearby looked over at the same time. Shen Zheng and the others also reined in their horses and turned to look.
In the darkness, several young men, holding torches, quickly gathered in one spot, their voices urgent: "Uncle Zhang, what happened?!"
"Insects!" Immediately afterward, the person who had screamed earlier became even more panicked: "Buzzing sound, it's insects! Winged insects! Maybe it's..."
locust!
Locusts are coming?!
How could the locusts have arrived so quickly?!
But not even half of the rice in the field has been harvested yet!
Everyone's heart skipped a beat, and they panicked, frantically looking up at the night sky.
There is no moon or stars tonight, only a desolate wind and a dark, oppressive dome that makes it hard to breathe.
"Torch!" the young man in the field shouted to the other side of the field ridge, "Quick! Bring a few more torches! Let's light up the sky!"
Almost instantly, people on the opposite ridge started moving.
Shen Zheng and the others dismounted and ran towards the fields without even bothering to tie their horses.
After a moment of stunned silence, Xin Ji immediately followed.
"They really are locusts..."
As soon as Shen Zheng arrived at Tiangeng, he heard the desperate cries of the people: "It really is locusts! The vanguard of the locusts has arrived, and the rest will arrive in a day at most. We... it's too late."
Shen Zheng's body trembled violently, and she froze on the spot.
How can it be?
While on the road, she kept sensing the wind direction and force, mentally estimating the time.
If her calculations are correct, the locusts should arrive in Fuzhou by the early morning of the day after tomorrow. Even if they are the vanguard, they shouldn't be arriving this early...
Is there an error in the urgent report?
Or did I miscalculate?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Shen Zheng's mind, and every stroke of the urgent report appeared before her eyes.
No.
The urgent report was accurate, and the guards who delivered it dared not lie.
And she wasn't wrong; although it was still a southwest wind blowing, the wind wasn't strong and the wind speed wasn't fast.
So... where did the unexpected happen?
Shen Zheng looked up at the night sky, then slowly closed her eyes.
All I could hear were the cries and the soft whistling of the wind, but not a single buzzing sound of locusts flapping their wings.
Would a massive locust swarm only send out a few scattered scouts to explore the way?
Obviously unlikely.
So... these locusts in the field are probably not the vanguard.
Thinking of this, Shen Zheng finally calmed herself down, took another step, squatted down and jumped off the ridge, and ran towards the firelight.
The rice stubble was scattered in the field, and the mud was sticky and wet. Shen Zheng pushed through the crowd and walked to the center. She took a deep breath and asked, "Where are the locusts?"
The words had barely left his lips when the wailing continued.
Shen Zheng's question was like a grain of rice that unfortunately fell into the sea, without causing the slightest ripple.
"The locusts are here! But our heartless prefect is nowhere to be seen!" The farmer's cries were sharp and desperate: "He clearly promised us that we could exchange this year's new rice for high-yield rice seeds, but what about now? He's out there having a good time, while we're just supposed to let the locusts eat all our food! Will he be happy if we run out of new rice and have to spend money to buy rice seeds?"
The torchlight illuminated the farmers' desperate faces, and outside the crowd, Jiang Zhiming suddenly stopped in his tracks.