Compared with those hardest-hit areas, the consequences of the locust plague in Chang'an, the royal city of the Tang Dynasty, and several nearby small counties including Lantian County were obviously lighter because some preparations had been made in advance.

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But it was just a few. Facing the immeasurable army of locusts, almost the entire Guannai Road was in a whimper. A large number of people at the bottom of the life had to leave their homes and go to other places to avoid disasters in order to survive.

Faced with this situation, the Tang Dynasty officials headed by Li Shimin also took a series of remedial measures. For example, they distributed disaster relief food to appease the refugees. At the same time, in conjunction with Xiaoyao Villa, they began to advertise an unlimited purchase of locusts.

Most people would not believe this unbelievable acquisition announcement. Fortunately, Li Anran and Li Shimin, who had anticipated this for a long time, both used "drag" to allow the plan to be implemented smoothly.

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Since this method was not just a gimmick to consolidate Li Shimin's throne, at Li Anran's request, Xiangyun had arranged several batches of manpower in advance, and with the cooperation of the Tang Dynasty officials, special acquisitions were set up in various prefectures and counties in Guannai Province.

point.

At the same time, he also considered that in the face of a locust plague, it is easy for the entire Guannai Road to face a situation of no harvest. Li Anran not only purchased a large amount of rice grains from various prefectures and counties in the Tang Dynasty in advance, but also purchased from modern

Time and space brought a considerable amount of food.

Naturally, these grains are not used to enrich the country. On the one hand, they will cooperate with the Tang Dynasty officials to stabilize the grain prices in Guannei Road. On the other hand, they will also be used as funds for acquisitions. The purchases will be made directly according to the market price instead of copper coins.

The use of locusts.

Considering that fresh locusts need to be processed before they can be used, and they are not stored as long as dried locusts, the original purchase content changed from collecting both fresh locusts and dried locusts to only dried locusts, and the price was still a penny.

One pound.

Not to mention, such a move did have a very good effect. After those dragsters took bags of dried locusts in exchange for various grains or copper coins, a large number of people gradually invested in the effort to exterminate the locusts.

In the People's War.

It’s not surprising when you think about it. Although there are many ignorant people who regard the army of locusts flying in the sky and causing harm everywhere as gods. But when a person can’t even eat enough to eat and can’t even survive, who cares?

It deserves so much.

In addition, when the Tang Dynasty officials cooperated in publicity and related work, it was also revealed intentionally or unintentionally that the person in charge of this matter in Xiaoyao Villa was a land god.

At the same time, I also used the skills I learned from someone to downplay or confuse the locust plague and the rumors that God was dissatisfied with someone in the Tang Dynasty through overt and covert public opinion guidance. Although it was not completely eliminated, the effect was still good.

Not bad indeed.

In particular, Li Shimin, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, not only ordered all prefectures and counties to open warehouses for disaster relief as soon as the locust plague began. He also personally went out to inspect the hardest-hit areas near Chang'an City. At the same time, he did not hesitate to chop down several

After the corrupt officials who were caught at gunpoint acted as a warning to others, the situation was finally brought under control.

But even so, with the help of thoughtful people, there are many places in the entire Tang Dynasty. Because of the severe drought and locust plague in Guannai Road, various rumors spread. Among them, about the locust plague

It was a sign that God was dissatisfied with the Tang Dynasty. Fortunately, with the series of reforms Li Shimin made after he ascended the throne, these rumors would not cause any harm for the time being.

What surprised Li Anran was that the rumors this time actually had something against him. No, to be more precise, it should be about Xiaoyao Villa's purchase of dried locusts. It is said that these locusts are God's punishment for the world.

It's too late to worship the envoy, so how dare you carry out large-scale capture and trade without fear of offending Tianyan?

Faced with such rumors, Li Anran just didn't take it to heart at first. After all, it would be useless even if he was angry about such content being spread by word of mouth under the deliberate guidance of others. What's more, he didn't just have Chunyang Zhenren in him.

If someone dares to come and question your account, I believe it will definitely give them an unforgettable "surprise".

But what Li Anran didn't expect was that when such rumors began to spread near Chang'an City, the first person to jump out to defend himself was not Li Shimin, who represented the official Tang Dynasty, or a group of civil servants and generals, but just people he had met.

Yuan Tiangang, who was never seen again after the first meeting, and Sun Simiao, who was left behind by Li Shimin in Chang'an City.

Yuan Tiangang, who represents the Taoist sect closest to the imperial power of the Tang Dynasty in the secular world, although he has not explicitly stated that someone is a true immortal in the upper world, the rumors that have been spread through various channels of the Taoist sect have already regarded him as a real immortal.

He also brought with him a clear refutation of the statement that this locust plague represented God’s dissatisfaction with the Tang Dynasty.

As for Sun Simiao, who has not yet become the king of medicine, although he did not expressly support Li Anran, he explained the edible and medicinal value of locusts from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine. He even explained the edible and medicinal value of locusts in front of the patients who came here because of their reputation.

Family members eat snacks and dishes made with locusts as the main ingredient.

Although such a move is not as big as the one caused by Yuan Tiangang, in terms of effect alone, not only is it not bad, but it is quite good. Coupled with the private push by the Tang Dynasty officials, at least in Chang'an City,

With Chang'an City nearby, it quickly had a lot of effect on clearing up the corresponding rumors.

Xiaoyao Villa has placed purchase points in various locust-stricken areas along Guannai Road, and it has used a large amount of grain and copper coins every day to continuously verify the power of purchasing unlimited amounts of dried locusts. So much so that when the first wave of locust plague broke out,

After that, more and more people who could not find a way out due to the disaster joined the ranks of catching locusts, making them dry and selling them to make money.

According to Xiaoyao Villa's experiment, one pound of dried locusts requires two pounds of fresh locusts to make. The price of one pound per penny seems pitifully low, but don't forget, these mountains and plains are covered with locusts, covering the sky and the sun.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if this person stands outside and opens his mouth, locusts will automatically jump in. It should not be too easy to catch him.

Take the villagers of Xiaoyao Villa as an example. As long as a strong adult laborer has the right tools, he can catch at least hundreds of pounds of fresh locusts every day. Even the elderly, wives and children at home need to cooperate with each other to catch locusts.

The locusts are deeply processed and cannot be captured. At the end of the day, about fifty kilograms of locust dried meat can be obtained.

According to the price of one penny per kilogram, that is to say, you can earn fifty penny by working this day. For thirty days in a month, you can earn fifteen hundred penny. And such wages, let alone

In this special period of time, even on normal days, not everyone can easily earn money.

In addition, Li Anran used international trade channels in modern time and space in advance to import a large amount of grain. This had a very good stabilizing effect on grain prices during this special period. Although this fifteen hundred cents was not enough

It is enough for the whole family to have enough food and clothing, but at least have enough food and clothing.

Just considering the cost issue, Li Anran did not import the broomcorn millet and millet that were most commonly eaten by the people living in Guannai Road during the Tang Dynasty. Instead, he first bought a batch of old rice and low-grade flour. As a result,

But I found that these two things, even if one was from Chen, the quality of the other was not very good, but in the time and space of the Tang Dynasty, they were still not available to ordinary people.

Often, after ordinary people exchange baskets of dried locusts for the same old rice and flour, they will directly find different local grain merchants and exchange them for the most common and cheapest millet or millet, which is invisible.

In the end, these grain merchants, large and small, made a fortune.

Originally, Li Anran didn't pay much attention to this kind of thing. But not long after, news came from Li Shimin, vaguely pointing out that directly distributing rice and flour was too extravagant, and it was far better to directly distribute millet or millet.
Chapter completed!