Crabs will also flood? And they are crabs in the sea. Although later generations occasionally heard that crabs were flooded abroad, they were mainly freshwater crabs, and they were invasions of species. There were no natural enemies in the local area, which led to the flooding of crabs. But what Li Xiu never expected was that there were crabs on the seaside in Haiyan County. Shangguan Yi had not come back for three days and three nights in order to rescue the disaster. Hener was worried about his body, so he also went to the beach today, which made Li Xiu lose his life.

After Li Xiu came to the Tang Dynasty, he encountered droughts and locust plagues, but he had never seen crabs cause disasters. Therefore, after hearing about this, he immediately turned around and left the county town. He had already inquired clearly before. After walking more than ten miles east of the county town, he could reach the beach. Shangguan Yi and the others were here to rescue the disaster.

It was a distance of more than ten miles in a blink of an eye, but before Li Xiu and the others arrived at the beach, they had already found that the black smoke was soaring into the sky, as if someone was burning fire, and the air was filled with a strange smell, which smelled like roasted fish, which exuded the pungent smell. And the closer it was to the beach, the stronger the smell was.

There are not only beaches on the beach. In fact, both sides of the path Li Xiu and the others walked were reclaimed fields, and green sweet potatoes were planted in them. Many of the fields on the beach were saline-alkali land. Even if ordinary crops could survive, they would not produce much. However, sweet potatoes were not picky about land. Whether it was barren mountainous land or saline-alkali land, they could generally survive. Of course, the yield was definitely not as good as fertile land, but it was better than none.

After passing through this green sweet potato field and passing another Gaogang, a blue sea immediately appeared in front of me, which was much more beautiful than the polluted and slightly black sea water in later generations. There was a long and narrow beach under Gaogang, and dozens of black fires were emitting wisps of residual smoke. Not far from the fire, there were still several tents, and there were many people walking around. However, to Li Xiu's surprise, he did not see the scene of crabs flooding as he imagined.

Li Xiu drove his horse to the beach, and found that the people on the beach included government yamen runners and some farmers wearing short patched jackets, probably nearby villagers. However, Li Xiu did not see Shangguan Yi. He immediately asked someone to come forward to find a yamen runner and asked. Only then did he know that Shangguan Yi was resting in one of the tents.

After asking about the location of the tent, Li Xiu strode to the front of the tent door, but at first glance he saw a few guards of He'er guards guarding in front of the tent door. They were all picked out from the guards at home when He'er got married, and in his words, he would not be bullied after He'er got married.

These guards knew Li Xiu. When they saw him, they hurriedly greeted them. Li Xiu smiled and said hello to them, and then went straight into the tent. However, what he didn't expect was that Hen'er was also here, holding a needle and thread in his hand and sewing a piece of clothing. On the bed behind her, Shangguan Yi slept soundly and was sleeping soundly.

Hen'er was stunned when she saw Li Xiu coming in, and then she showed a surprise expression on her face, but then she gestured to Li Xiu again, as if she was asking him not to disturb Shangguan Yi, and then she stood up and came to the tent with Li Xiu, and finally said, "Sir, why are you here?"

"Didn't I say I'd come to Haiyan to see it last time? Unexpectedly, I was out of here when I went to the county government. After I learned that you were here, I ran over. But wasn't it said that crabs are flooding here? Why didn't I see any of them?" Li Xiu asked with a smile.

"Hehe~, I didn't expect that there was something in this world that the gentleman didn't know!" Li Xiu didn't expect that, Hen'er smiled happily when he heard Li Xiu's words.

"Haha~, there are so many mysteries in this world that no one can really know everything!" Li Xiu smiled freely when he heard Hen'er's words. Compared with other Tang people, he did seem very knowledgeable, but he was just an ordinary person in later generations, so he also knew himself.

"I'm still open-minded, but I only realized that the crabs on the beach usually come out to play at night and hide in the sea to rest during the day. Yesterday, my husband directed people to set up nets to catch crabs. He was busy all night. When I came, he hadn't rested yet. It was not until a few hours ago that I ate the breakfast I brought. The snoring sounded, and it seemed that he was so tired!" He also showed a bit of heartache on his face when He'er said the last time.

"So that's it, but are the crabs here really flooding?" Li Xiu nodded at first when he heard this, and then said with some disbelief. After all, he had never seen the scene of crabs flooding in later generations.

"It's not that Mr. I don't believe it. Actually, I've only come during the day and I haven't seen the scene of crabs flooding. However, I heard from the locals that almost every year, crabs in the sea will climb to the shore in groups. I believe that Mr. I just saw that not far from the coast is a large area of ​​farmland. It's the sweet potatoes that my husband just promoted and planted in the county this year, and it's also the food for the whole county people. If he let it go, these crabs will eat the sweet potato vines, just like locusts. Several fields near the sea have been affected before, so my husband organized nearby villagers to catch crabs." Hener explained softly at this time.

Li Xiu nodded when he heard this. Crabs are omnivorous animals, and the fish, shrimps and aquatic plants in the sea are their food. Sometimes there is insufficient food in the sea, and they will climb ashore to forage. Sweet potato vines can be eaten, so it is not surprising to attract these crabs. Although sweet potato vines can be regenerated, they will seriously affect yield. This was proven by the Ministry of Agriculture during the last locust plague.

Li Xiu and He'er chatted for a while, but Shangguan Yi in the tent actually woke up. When he walked out of the tent and saw Li Xiu, he was also very surprised to salute. After saying a few words, He'er asked Shangguan Yi to entertain Li Xiu, and then he went to the tent to continue sewing clothes.

"By the way, how do you deal with those flooded crabs?" Li Xiu asked Shangguan Yi at this time.

"Oh, you'll know if you follow me and take a look!" Shangguan Yi sighed when he heard Li Xiu's words, and then took Li Xiu to a nearby fire, saying it was a fire, but in fact, it was a big pit of more than meter on the beach. Now there are only some embers left in the pit, and wisps of black smoke emerged. However, some crabs can be seen in the ashes in the fire, exuding a pungent smell.

"You just burned the crabs just like that?" Li Xiu couldn't help but secretly complained that it was a pity when he saw this. This was too wasteful. Although sea crabs were not as delicious as hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake, they were not cheap in later generations. However, he did not expect that in the Tang Dynasty, they were burned by fire as pests.

Seeing the expression on Li Xiu's face, Shangguan Yi also guessed what he was thinking. After all, they had just eaten crabs in Yangcheng Lake last time, but he also smiled bitterly at this point: "Your Majesty, you know that although crabs are delicious, they are too troublesome to eat. Moreover, there are too many crabs this time, and they cannot be killed. This thing cannot be preserved, so they can only burn them in one go, so there will be too many plagues that will not be piled together to cause plague."

Although Li Xiu could understand when he heard Shangguan Yi’s explanation, he still felt a pity when he thought that so many crabs were wasted in vain. However, as Shangguan Yi said, crabs are indeed difficult to preserve. As for canning, don’t think about it, because just picking out the crab meat is a troublesome, and it is not cost-effective to invest too much labor.

Shangguan Yi took Li Xiu around the beach, but Li Xiu discovered that there were fire pits burning crabs everywhere on this dozens of miles long beach. When it was getting dark, the villagers around the beach also spontaneously came to the beach to gather. It seemed that there were thousands of people, including not only men and women, but even some half-aged children came to help. Another bonfire was raised everywhere. A large pot was set up on the fire, and the sea water in the pot was boiled quickly, and bursts of steam were emitted.

Li Xiu had never seen crabs flooding, so he decided to stay, but sent a guard back to report the news, so he would not worry Princess Pingyang and the others. When it got dark, some changes finally occurred on the beach.

The moonlight today is good, and the fire is shining, which makes people see clearly. I saw a black line suddenly appear at the intersection of the sea water and the beach, and it extends outward from the sea water, making a "rustling" sound. When I get closer, I will find that these black lines are crabs connected one by one, densely packed with all the beach.

"This... so many crabs?" Li Xiu lived for two lifetimes, but this was the first time he had seen so many crabs, and they were not small in size. But thinking about it, people in this era don't like to eat crabs. At most, some people eat freshwater crabs. For example, no one catches these crabs in the sea, so they naturally grow very small.

"Crab tide is coming, go online!" With the shout of an old man on the beach, the villagers who had already prepared all came forward immediately. The two of them spread a large rectangular net in groups and lined up to meet them. After the people in front of them had a net of crabs, they immediately retreated, and the people behind them immediately went up. They must not let the crab tide break through their defense, otherwise the crops behind would suffer.

After the crabs were put into the net, they were immediately thrown into the hot water in the pot behind and they were scalded to death. Then a special person threw these dead crabs into the pits of the burning crabs, and then burned them after dawn, so as not to rot and produce bacteria and cause plague.

Li Xiu was still feeling sorry for the crabs he threw away at first, but when he saw the crabs gushing out of the sea, he couldn't help but feel a little numb. The population of the Tang Dynasty is still too small, far from the spirit of later generations to eat flooded species into endangered species.

In the next few days, Li Xiu stayed in Haiyan and watched Shangguan Yi and the others resist the crab disaster. When the crab disaster was about to pass, news finally came from Zhang Shiyi who had gone to Quanzhou.
Chapter completed!