Little lucky girl from the peasant family: Queen Splendid

Chapter 348 Locust Feast
Seeing that the ministers looked even better, Ding Wei said slowly, "I heard from the emperor earlier that the climate was abnormally warm last winter, and most of the insect eggs did not freeze to death. I am afraid that there will be an insect disaster this year. So, Only then was the decree issued for every household to raise more chickens. I don’t want to think that the locust plague is worse than expected, and it is not impossible for the prince to fast and sacrifice to heaven. After all, as the prince of Donghao, he should do anything for the suffering Donghao people. But only It is not good to offer sacrifices to the heavens. While praying for God’s blessing, we must also try our best to save ourselves. No matter how severe the plague of locusts is, they are still insects. Since chickens and ducks can eat them to feed their hunger, why can’t the common people catch locusts?
If one locust dies, one leaf of the crop can be saved. If you gather less, you can save more. If you rescue in time, even if you can't bring back all the crops, there will always be some results.

The people are ignorant and afraid of the so-called locust god. At this time, it is necessary for the court and the adults to guide the people.

The emperor has already prepared money, and now as long as the decree is issued, the prefectures and counties will buy dry locusts at a price of three cents per catty, and the people will definitely go all out to hunt and kill the locusts. Even if the crops are destroyed, at least there will be money to buy food to survive the famine.And the dried locusts will not lose money when they are bought back. When the time comes, they will be ground into powder, fed to chickens and pigs, and even humans can eat them.

What do you think, my lords? "

Those previous words were fine, but when they heard that people could still eat locusts, all the civil and military officials changed their faces and covered their faces in shock.

"Your Majesty, locusts, how can they feed themselves?"

"That's right, ma'am, how can insects enter?"

A flash of determination flashed in Ding Wei's eyes, she gritted her teeth, smiled and signaled to Yunying and others outside the door, "Go and bring me my new food, adults, please try it."

Yunying responded with a strange expression, turned around and left without a trace.

All the veterans were very puzzled, they didn't understand why the empress made such an order all of a sudden.

But without allowing them to think too much, Yunying came in with a large plate of golden fried food.

Ding Wei smiled and picked one up and threw it into her mouth, biting it loudly, and finally greeted, "My lords, please taste it, I just fried it just now, it tastes better when it's hot."

Prime Minister Fang was an old man, seeing that Ding Wei's fingers were trembling, his expression seemed to be trying to endure something, so he moved his feet back a little.

It is a few ministers who are not in the cabinet, because these days, I have heard a few cabinet elders talk about how delicious the dishes rewarded by the empress are, and I am very envious and curious.

Having such an opportunity today, I was very excited. Seeing that the elders didn't move, I smiled and said, "Since the queen empress rewarded you, let me taste the saltiness for you adults first."

After finishing speaking, several people picked up a golden ball and threw it into their mouths.

"Well, it's delicious, it tastes so good!" Several people praised, "It seems to taste like chicken, ma'am, are these fried chicken balls?"

After hearing this, the rest of the people lost their doubts and tasted it one after another, all of them nodded their approval.But when Prime Minister Fang came here, he waved his hand and declined, "I have a bad stomach today, and I can't eat greasy food. It's a disappointment to my mother's kindness."

Ding Wei still wanted to say something, but she was afraid that she would spit it out when she opened her mouth, so she endured it for a long time before saying, "Since your lords like to eat it so much, you shouldn't suspect that locusts are inedible. This plate of food is locusts wrapped in egg oil." fried."

"What?" Everyone listened to it for a long time before they regained their composure. They really couldn't connect the half-golden food left on the plate with the dirty and ugly locusts.

An Ge'er was young and ignorant, and just felt that the dim sum was not tasty, so he salivated jealously at the delicious golden plate, took advantage of the old lady not holding her back, ran over and grabbed a few and stuffed them into his mouth.The small mouth was stuffed bulging, and it creaked when chewing, and it looked extraordinarily sweet.

The crowd of civil and military officials saw it, but couldn't bear it any longer, covered their faces with their sleeves, turned their heads and vomited wildly...

It's all about everything, it's not about the few but the unevenness. When someone is sad with her, Ding Wei immediately feels much more comfortable in her stomach.

She smiled and comforted everyone, "My lords don't need to be like this, locusts are actually more nourishing than chicken. Just now, please consider my suggestion. I will go back now, thank you all for your hard work."

Ding Wei saw that the faces of two old ministers turned green from vomiting, and she didn't dare to stay any longer, so she hurriedly pulled her son who had pinched a fried locust in his hand and hurriedly retreated.

The Guangming Palace is only a short distance away from the Yongfu Palace, but Ding Wei's eyes almost turned red with anticipation today.After finally entering the side door, she spit on the side of the veranda.

Although she is keen on food, she still resists the heavy taste of worms.Today, for Donghao's people and the harvest in autumn, she can only go all out and sacrifice her stomach.

An Ge'er was chewing on locusts, and he didn't understand what the old lady was spitting up.Xu Shi suddenly remembered what grandma usually chanted, so he tugged at the corner of his mother's clothes in surprise and shouted, "Brother, younger brother!"

Ding Wei pulled off the veil and was about to wipe her mouth when she saw the locust legs sticking to her son's mouth, so she vomited again.

Seeing this, Gu Momo suppressed a smile and coaxed the little master down.

Leaving Ding Wei hugging the veranda pillars for a long while, she waved weakly and said, "Laugh if you want!"

Yunying took Angelica and the others, feeling sorry for her master, but remembering the embarrassment of those ministers of cultural relics throwing up just now, she also covered her mouth and shook her head in laughter.

"Master, didn't you see that Mr. Dong Ge vomited so much that his beard was dirty!"

"And Liu Shangshu, his face is green!"

"I'm afraid that if the master will make any food in the future, no one will dare to eat it!"

Ding Wei managed to vomit, and couldn't help laughing when she thought of what she looked like in the hall just now.

"There is no other way. The emperor is not here, so we can only make up for it. Although it has some miraculous effects, it is not good after all. When the emperor comes back, we still have to look for opportunities to make up for it."

Not to mention how the masters and servants joked in Yongfu Palace, but in Guangming Palace, even though the eunuchs and maids cleaned it up swiftly and opened the doors and windows for ventilation, there was still a lingering sour smell.

All the civil and military members had weird and complicated expressions, wanted to be angry but dared not, and finally swallowed this "big loss".

After all, the emperor already has countermeasures against the locust plague, which cannot be violated.Most importantly, they couldn't afford to offend that woman in the palace next door.If they can design them to eat locusts today, it may be poisonous tomorrow.For the sake of my own life, I should honestly act according to her will.

The worst result is that the crops are eaten up by locusts, and the disaster relief will be fine as usual.In case it works, they have credit for it...

Soon, the news was sent back to their respective prefectures by the eight hundred miles of fast horses.

Although the parents and officials of the state capitals were also somewhat resistant to the acquisition of locusts, they followed orders and sent messengers to the villages to spread the word.

Money has always been the most touching thing, especially at this time, seeing that the crops are about to die out, and the whole family will be hungry in autumn.Suddenly hearing that locusts can really be sold for money, and that the government pays for it, all the people were shocked.

But after the surprise, he acted quickly, making nets to catch locusts, burning wet branches to smoke them, catching them with bare hands, and driving chickens and ducks into the crop fields. Ten cash for a few catties of grain.

At this time, no one is afraid of the locust god, and no one has time to bow down.

After being so busy for two days, the open space of the Changping warehouse was full of bags filled with dried locusts, and countless copper coins were paid, but the number of locusts in the farmland was obviously much less.

At the beginning of spring, the eggs were dug out by the sharp claws of chickens and ducks, and they ate a lot, but now there are not so many outbreaks.Now that there is the temptation of money, it is even less of a threat.

A few days later, when the whole family of the people near the capital went out to catch locusts in the fields, they found that there were only a few locusts, and the chickens in the family were completely wiped out.

In this way, a small locust plague was really useless, and the prince sacrificed to the sky, and was completely won under the offensive of money.

According to the statistics of the various state governments, except for Huizhou and Zhuzhou, where the locust plague originated, and the crops in the fields were hardly spared, the rest of the state capitals have preserved [-]% of the farmland, and some have preserved [-]%. The [-]% guarantee is really beyond everyone's expectations.

Both the courtiers and the common people were overjoyed.

Looking at the history books, which locust plague was not fruitless, and now it can achieve such brilliant results, everyone should be remembered in the history books...

Ding Wei secretly ran to the farm to have a look, and saw that although the crops were a little wilted due to lack of water, most of the leaves were intact, so she was completely relieved and happy.

God has always been unable to help in emergencies, and joining in the fun comes first.

Just when everyone was rejoicing to successfully resist the locust plague, the sky that had been clear for many days turned gloomy.At night, under the expectation of everyone, the long-lost rain fell.

The downpour drenched the world almost instantly, and the crops in the field stretched their stems and leaves, greedily enjoying the coolness and moisture.

The farmers didn't even sleep, they laughed and danced in the rain, some even knelt down and cried, thanking God for the gift.

The next morning, the rain was over and the sky was clear, and the world was washed clean.The color of the mountains and forests is even more emerald green, and the birds are flying happily across the mountains, showing off their crisp voices.
The crops in the field were no longer as listless as before. They all smiled and waved their hands occasionally when the breeze blew, celebrating the joy of the rest of their lives after the catastrophe.

Ding Wei got up early and pushed open the window, also beaming with joy, "Ying, tell Lin Liu to prepare the ingredients, make some delicious food at noon, and apologize to the elders."

Yunying was feeding the thrush under the eaves of the corridor, and when he heard this, he smiled and said, "Master, you are sending food over now, but it has made the elders unable to eat. There were locusts earlier, and I heard that it killed several elders. I vomited several times when I got home."

"Then give it to Prime Minister Fang. He didn't move a single bite that day."

Ding Wei was in a good mood, and felt that flowers were blooming when she saw everything, and she also had a big appetite. She said, "Remember to ask Lin Liu to prepare ribs and pork belly. I'm probably tired recently, and I really want to eat meat!"

(End of this chapter)