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Chapter 1493: Locust Eggs (Part 1493) [Seeking monthly votes]

Shen Tang did not seize the opportunity to beat the fallen dog.

It's not that she's kind, it's just that she doesn't have the energy.

Without counting the time when the Central Allied Forces attacked several enclaves in Yuanfu County, the more than one year of fighting with Kangguo can be divided into three stages, and the morale was lower and lower in each stage. From the beginning, they had a slight advantage and were aggressive, and the Kang national defense line was in danger. Then, they suffered strategic failures in several secondary battlefields, and the main force of the Allied Forces was forced to the Yidi Mountains. Finally, they were chased out of the Yidi Mountains. In the third stage, the battle line had been forcibly pushed into the territory of the Allied countries by Kangguo.

In another half a year, I will be able to have two rounds in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Kangguo is also feeling a bit tired.

Shen Tang needs to hurry to integrate his forces, consolidate the front line, and recover from this shock. He cannot take care of the allied forces for the time being.

The Allies did not celebrate this.

The battle line has been pushed back to our own home, what is there to be thankful for?

Kangguo recovered, but what awaited the allied countries was a brutal attack like a storm. Since it was not a war on their own territory, they naturally did not have to be restrained. They could go all out and smash and destroy as much as they could. It was not painful to demolish a house that was not their own.

Why doesn’t Kangguo fight with all his might?

This also means that information barriers must be broken down.

Public opinion has become a fire wrapped in paper.

"puff--"

Shen Tang almost spit out a mouthful of porridge.

He covered his mouth and coughed several times: "What did you say?"

In the remote city with a declining population, there were few ghosts on the streets, let alone people. The Central Allied Forces were also extremely ruthless. Before Shen Tang's troops arrived, they fortified the city and cleared the countryside, taking away everything they could take away, and smashing and burning everything they couldn't take away.

All the wells inside and outside the city were backfilled.

This was not enough. They also used human and animal feces to pollute the groundwater. Shen Tang ordered people to dig several temporary wells. The groundwater pumped up was brown, turbid and smelly. Even after filtering and boiling several times, it still tasted sour. Naturally, this water could not supply the army.

This is the case with the three cities along the way.

The Allied forces did not leave any usable or edible food for Kangguo. All the young and strong men and women were transferred away, leaving only a few old, weak and sick people.

Just when Shen Tang thought that the Allied forces had done enough, the royal courts of the Allied countries always did something even more outrageous - all the crops on the farmland were eradicated, Jimo Qiu found a large number of locust eggs deep in the soil, and the recent weather was very suitable for hatching.

There is absolutely no way these locust eggs could have occurred naturally.

Why is speculation artificial?

When two armies go to war, it is a basic operation for one side to fortify its defenses and clear the land, leaving no crops for the enemy to replenish. The most common means is fire. A fire is efficient and thorough, so why bother using other tools to destroy crops? The efficiency of the two cannot be compared.

Plus the distribution of locust eggs...

The density has exceeded the normal range.

If Jimo Qiu hadn't gone out to look for food for the Gu, this detail would have been difficult to discover. However, these were not the main reasons why Shen Tang lost her composure while drinking porridge. The main reason was that she found out that she was being slandered again, and it was a very outrageous rumor.

"Doesn't the Central Continent claim to be the orthodox country of ritual and music?"

Isn't it too shameless to do this?
In this era, communication was basically done by shouting, and transportation was basically done by walking. Scholars and warriors relied on their feet to spread information quickly within their circles, but it was different for ordinary people. The royal courts of various countries were afraid of morale collapse, so they either blocked civilian news or tampered with the real battle situation. For example, if the enemy was killed 300 times, a zero would be added to change it to 3,000. For example, a major defeat would be changed to a minor defeat, and a minor defeat to a draw.

The rout was also changed into a tactical withdrawal in order to plan for the future.

all in all--

He is a stubborn man and tells lies with his eyes open.

At the same time, they sent people to spread false rumors among the people, saying that Shen Tang had killed people like crazy and was cruel and inhumane, and that her crimes were even worse than those of Jie and Zhou. They also said that she was promiscuous and had to replenish her yin twice every three days, and that she needed three or four boys for each replenishment.

It was because she was good at the Yellow and Red Dao that she could cultivate so fast at such a young age, and even overcome the drawbacks of practicing both civil and martial arts. If they hadn't gone astray, why didn't any of the predecessors succeed? It is said that people in Kangguo, from the age of eleven or twelve to those in their seventies or eighties, would suffer from kidney failure and back pain as soon as they heard her name. The civil and military officials of Kangguo, tut tut tut, became a den of snakes and rats under her influence.

It's so obscene that it's unbearable to watch.

"...Qian Donkey has run out of tricks, and keeps going back and forth to the next three routes."

Gu Chi concealed his murderous intent: "Although the move is old, it works."

Based on these outrageous character designs, the common people have started to vigorously carry out fan creation activities, and everyone likes to add some details that they think are not OOC. Rumors spread back and forth, and the people can't tell where the private goods that were smuggled in are from.

Don’t ask——

The question is what they heard from other sources.

The common people cannot read a single word, do not understand the teachings of saints, do not have any special skills, and the simplest survival takes up their entire life's energy. They have no chance to learn how to enlighten the people... All of these require costs, which are thresholds.

But the only thing you don’t need to learn is the crotch.

There is no cost either.

Men and women strip naked and stick together, and naturally they can follow their instincts to find the way. Everyone can do it, of course there is no threshold.

Things with lower thresholds are easier to spread and easier to resonate with, which is why pornographic songs always have a market.

She said disdainfully: "But, this is too LOW."

Shen Tang had been slandered by her enemies for years. She would beat up those who heard it with her own ears, and pretended not to care about those who didn't hear it. Rumors can only bother people who care about them. With Shen Tang's current status and power, even if she was really promiscuous, what would it matter?
She wants it, who can refuse?
This is the horror of power.

Everyone below her could become a resource for flattery and pleasing others.

The Central Allied Forces did not have the final say in the public, and some people questioned these increasingly outrageous rumors, trying to piece together the real Shen Tang with facts. However, the truth was too bland, far less interesting than the "Shen Tang" in these rumors.

Most people still prefer to talk about what they are interested in.

Gu Chi said: "It's better to kill a chicken to scare the monkey."

Shen Tang shook his head: "It's unnecessary. These unruly people can't be frightened by killing a few chickens. Why are unruly people unruly? Why are foolish people foolish? The answer is written on their faces. They are cunning and dull, and their minds are blinded. They are just a group of frogs that grew up in a well. The sky they see when they are born is the shape of the well mouth. Over time, they have formed their own judgments. Even if you chop off a hundred heads in front of them, they will not really realize that they are 'wrong'. They will only think that you are bullying them by taking advantage of your power and making things worse."

Gu Chi couldn't help but feel a headache.

It would be fine if the rumor was in Kangguo, after all, it was their home turf, and it would be easy to clear the rumors, but they were in the territories of the Central Allied Nations, and they were at a disadvantage as they were away from home. The Lord was open-minded and didn't care, but Gu Chi and others couldn't stand hearing the dirty talk. Shen Tang comforted him, "The common people are stupid, and the fault lies not with the people but with the Lord. Enlightening the people is the duty of a gentleman."

"My Lord, now is not the time to discuss the doctrine or scriptures."

He could make up a lot of these words.

Shen Tang smiled and said, "Look at the tide and be at ease."

Gu Chi was almost knocked over by her anger.

"Well, the most important thing now is to deal with these locust eggs to prevent them from hatching and forming an insect plague." Although there has been no locust plague in Kangguo in recent years, it does not mean that Shen Tang does not take it seriously. If the locust plague really becomes a big deal, even Kangguo will have a headache.

Get rid of the borers and other pests, and don't let them harm the young plants in my fields.

Don't ask why we don't eat fried locusts. Wouldn't half a pound of locust meat per person be enough to eliminate the locust plague? In fact, this really doesn't work. Although locusts have no poison glands, let alone organs that can secrete venom, once locusts gather in large numbers, they will release highly toxic substances, which are also neurotoxins. Eating them? Not to mention filling your stomach, you are lucky to not be poisoned to death because of your ancestors' blessing and your good fortune.

In order to prevent the locust plague, Kangguo also thought of many ways.

The solution for the people is to raise more chickens, ducks and geese. In special years, the government will provide certain financial subsidies. If the common people can buy chicken, duck and goose seedlings, the government will purchase them in bulk. The government will also arrange for local household officials to go for regular training.

What to study?
Of course, it is to learn various farmer's words on how to deal with disasters.

Among them, there are several words about locust plagues.

For example, "Tian Ancestor has a god, who is responsible for the fire".

This word spirit is specifically used to set fire to locusts and locust eggs. The fire ignited by the word spirit will not harm any living creature other than these two.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the same talent as Lin Feng. Those scholars who work in the local household offices have a hard time learning. However, these are their problems. The Royal Court of Kang is only responsible for paying for them to study until they can use it proficiently. There will also be regular spot checks to ensure that their skills are real, effective and can be used stably.

Unfortunately, there is no one in the army who is good at these words.

Except Shen Tang.

But she couldn't spend too much energy on this matter.

It would be fine if there were only so many insect eggs in one place, but there were several places. Shen Tang could see that the Central Allied Forces wanted to die and drag her down with them. Helplessly, she could only slow down the pace of the attack.

But it’s not a good idea to drag it on like this.

The hatching of insect eggs depends on the temperature, not on Shen Tang's demeanor.

It was impractical to go to Kangguo to transfer officials who were good at farming. The news came and went, and the eggs should have hatched. There was still plenty of time for them to spread in groups and cause trouble in several counties. Shen Tang gestured on the map several times.

"...Actually, there are more suitable candidates."

Gu Chi and the others couldn't guess it for a moment.

Only Chu Yao still looked confident.

One person asked, "Who is this person?"

"Lingde."

"Lingde? But didn't Minister Lin follow the king's order... Roughly speaking, it seems like we haven't seen each other for many years..." Not everyone in the Kangguo camp knew what their colleagues were doing. This is understandable. There are only 30 or 40 students in a junior high school class. If you spend time together day and night and recognize each other's names and faces, you are considered to be close. Who can know the daily movements of classmates at all times?
There are more than a hundred civil and military officials in Kang State.

Personnel transfers, task dispatches, some of the information is public, and some is only known by a few bigwigs. Given Lin Feng's current status, there are not many people who can fully control her movements.

The person who spoke had been on the front line for nearly a year. If the master had not mentioned her, some people would have been unfamiliar with this name.

"Minister Lin is indeed good at this. If she comes, the Central Alliance's plan to deal with the locust plague can indeed be easily resolved. But——"

The problem right now is not a lack of people but a lack of time.

Lin Feng is not the only one who is good at dealing with locust plagues and infestations of locust eggs.

If you have enough time -

Not to mention three-digit numbers, there are also small two-digit numbers.

Shen Tang said: "Lingde is already on the way with his men."

This answer gave everyone peace of mind.

The news of the locust eggs flooding was only widely known yesterday afternoon, and the Lord said today that Minister Lin was on his way. According to the speed of a scholar, as long as Lin Feng is not in the extreme south or north, he should be able to arrive before the locust plague becomes a major issue.

Little did they know that Lin Feng arrived earlier than expected.

She arrived five days later.

The group looked exhausted.

Lin Feng, who was in the lead, looked exhausted but couldn't hide his sharp look.

Because they had to cross the battlefield and pass through several spheres of influence controlled by the Central Allied Forces, Lin Feng and his party hid during the day and traveled at night, and were very careful to escape from danger. They were only half a day away from the destination secretly notified by the master. From a distance, they could see thousands of clouds rolling in the sky at the end of the horizon, and the rosy clouds were diffused, which was pure and clear.

Until you could vaguely see flags fluttering across two hills.

Only then did Lin Feng relax his tense nerves.

A great sense of security emerged in my heart.

"Finally, I am about to see the Lord."

Although she can see the Master's incarnation Zixu every day, Zixu's face is not the Master's real face after all, so Lin Feng still prefers the Master's real face. Hearing that the teacher is also at the front line, Lin Feng is even more eager to go home. She wishes she could grow wings and fly over the mountain.

When he turned around, he saw his exhausted officials.

"Let's rest here first. Everyone is tired."

Lin Feng has a second-grade upper-level literary heart, and his physical strength and energy are much stronger than others. He can still hold on after working without sleep, but others can't do that. A group of more than ten people rested and ate on the spot to restore their physical strength. They could eat the dry and sour dry food with relish.

Lin Feng took two bites and put it down.

Although he seems relaxed, his focus is actually on being alert.

She was skilled at multitasking, thinking back to the good news the Lord had told her some time ago, that her teacher had survived the catastrophe and had reached the highest level of scholarly conduct. She wondered if her teacher had known of her return in advance, and was hiding behind some bushes now, secretly watching her?
Test her ability to see if she has any retreat?

"Alas, it seems not."

Lin Feng held his chin with his hand, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Not to mention coming to pick up his teacher in advance, even the master didn't send anyone to pick him up, which made Lin Feng feel a little sad. He was afraid that he had been away from home for many years and would become estranged from his relatives when he returned, and not as close as before. This thought made Lin Feng shudder a little.

"I don't want to think about it anymore. It's too scary."

She wrapped up the unfinished dry food and stuffed it into her collar.

He picked up the wooden stick beside him and stood up.

"Set off--"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Feng keenly noticed something was wrong.

She turned her head suddenly, and all the subordinates who were in her peripheral vision just now disappeared, as if they had evaporated from the face of the earth. She was left alone in the vast world, and the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo forest could be heard in her ears. Lin Feng narrowed his eyes, let go and threw away the straight wooden stick.

With a swish, the sword was drawn out of its sheath.

"I know it's you, come out."

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