After being exiled, relying on space to pamper the chief assistant

Although the refugees surrounding the city gate looked malnourished and very weak, they were still clear and coherent when talking about the disasters that had befallen their families.

After listening to each person's words, Ye Zhen realized that it turned out that a small village to the north of Manyi County was hit by an insect plague.

It's unlucky to say the least. The weather has been good this year, and we finally encountered a good harvest. Unexpectedly, before the harvest season came, a once-in-a-century insect plague came to our doorstep.

And because the small village where they were located was on the boundary between Manyi County and Qingcheng, the two counties usually competed vigorously for tax revenue.

Now when something goes wrong, officials from both counties shirk their responsibility and don't want to take care of it.

In such a dynasty, insect plagues were a devastating blow to the fields. Farmers like them, who only knew how to work hard, did not know how to deal with it.

The officials above did not want to bear this responsibility, so the matter was delayed again and again, until all the fields in the village were eaten up, and the villagers left in desperation to seek an explanation.

But this is an era where imperial power is supreme, where can the poor people go to reason?

Even the refugees in front of Ye Zhen could only be turned away and couldn't even enter the county seat.

"Insect plague? Could it be locusts?!"

When Ye Zhen heard that it was an insect plague that could eat up crops, she subconsciously thought of locusts.

Even though she had never seen this disaster, which farmers feared, she had heard of it in her previous life.

When locusts pass by, not a single blade of grass will grow.

"If it were really locusts, that would be terrible!"

Thinking of the large locusts she had seen on TV that could cover the sky and the sun, she couldn't help but get goosebumps all over her body, and she felt even more ominous.

"Our fields are now full of bugs! We have no choice but to come here!"

The refugees were wiping away tears as they spoke, their faces full of misery, attracting attention.

But not many passers-by actually stopped. In such a remote and poor place, it would be nice if everyone could take care of themselves.

Looking at the miserable crowd, Ye Zhen didn't know how to feel for a moment, so she could only take some ready-made food from the carriage and give it to them before leaving.

Although the money she carries can definitely help these people, she knows very well that wealth should not be revealed.

If people knew that he was carrying a lot of money, Lin Bin might not be able to protect himself.

On the way back, the carriage was bumpy enough to make people fall asleep.

However, Ye Zhen didn't feel sleepy at all. Ever since she heard about the insect plague, she had been feeling uneasy.

Perhaps the uneasiness on her face was so obvious that Lin Bin, who was sitting opposite, couldn't help but look up and asked in a low voice:

"Are you worried about the insect infestation?"

Looking up at him, Ye Zhen looked stern and nodded.

"This is a natural disaster. We cannot resist it with our ordinary strength. You don't have to worry so much."

After comforting her, Lin Bin didn't take this matter to heart.

Insect plagues are rare in this era, and he has only heard of them, so he doesn't have much idea about them.

And for ancient people like him, this is an irresistible natural disaster, and it is useless to worry about it.

But Ye Zhen was completely different from what he was thinking. After sighing slightly, she said in a deep voice:

"What I'm worried about is that if there is really a locust plague, and according to what the refugees said, their fields have been eaten up, those locusts will definitely migrate to other nearby fields!"

A village, no matter how small it is, must have dozens of acres of fields, right?

If they can eat so many crops in a short period of time, then this batch of locusts is definitely not a small number!

The most important thing is that these locusts don't know how to converge. After they eat a piece of land, they will definitely follow their next destination.

If we indulge them, it is estimated that the entire Lingnan region will not have a good harvest this year!

Peasants in ancient times were no better than modern ones. When disaster struck, the state would allocate grain, and the harvest was their life!

Otherwise, she would not have seen so many refugees who had left their homes. They all came out to look for a way out because they really couldn't survive.

"Is it so serious?"

Lin Bin was not a stupid person. When he heard Ye Zhen's words, he immediately figured out the key and couldn't help but frown.

"I hope I guessed wrong!"

Silently hiding her worries in her heart, Ye Zhen didn't want to think about the worst.

What if it was just an ordinary insect infestation that would not cause the disaster to spread? She should not worry about it for the time being.

When the two arrived at home, it was getting late and the women had already prepared dinner.

Ye Zhen kept the insect plague in her heart and continued to devote herself to her busy life, and soon forgot about it.

The next day, she had to deliver a month's worth of seasonings to Wangyue Tower early in the morning.

In fact, we could have asked Manager Liu, who came to collect the snails and eels in the morning, to take it back with him, but when he signed the deed, he agreed to clear the money and goods in person.

After all, it was thousands of taels of money. Even if Manager Liu was quite capable around Fu Heng, he would not be able to handle such a large amount of business alone.

Therefore, Ye Zhen could only do it herself. After exchanging and counting the seasonings in the kitchen, she loaded them all into her carriage and headed to Wangyue Tower.

This time, Lin Bin did not follow, and was replaced by Xie Yunshu.

There wasn't much going on at home, so just having someone to watch over it was enough. Xie Yunshu offered to accompany him, and Lin Bin didn't say much.

Xie Yunshu was still driving the carriage, and Ye Zhen was sitting in the carriage.

Today she had to take stock of the spices, so she got up a little early, so she squinted in the carriage for a while while she was on her way.

When she arrived at Wangyue Tower, she woke up in a daze.

"arrive."

Xie Yunshu, who walked into the carriage, saw Ye Zhen who was still confused, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth unconsciously, and even he himself was not aware of it.

Ye Zhen, who was struggling to sit up, was a little confused because she was not fully awake yet. She almost lost her balance and fell down.

It was Xie Yunshu who noticed that her hand was empty, grabbed her arm, and stabilized her body.

"Be careful!"

Xie Yunshu said something slightly accusingly, but Xie Yunshu didn't realize how much blame was contained in his words.

Ye Zhen, who was not yet awake, didn't notice it either. She rubbed her eyes before she woke up completely and followed the other person out of the car.

There was a huge amount of condiments on the car, so they didn't need to worry about it. The guys from Wangyuelou would come over to unload the goods.

Fu Heng, who was waiting at the entrance of Wangyue Tower, led the two of them into the restaurant and went straight to the second floor.

Since it was still early, there were no customers in the restaurant yet, so it was very cold.

"My boss returned to Qingcheng after meeting with you yesterday. I will check with you about the seasoning."

Several people sat down in the box. Fu Heng first took out the deed and checked it with Ye Zhen.

After waiting for another cup of tea, a waiter came over to report that the number had been counted and confirmed to be correct.

Fu Heng then took out thousands of taels of silver notes in front of the two of them, counted them, and handed them to Ye Zhen.

After taking the few flimsy banknotes, Ye Zhen always felt as if they weighed a thousand catties.

Thousands of taels of silver are enough for hundreds of families to live a prosperous year!

"Mrs. Xie, there is something I think I need to remind you in advance."

After the transaction, Fu Heng hesitated for a moment and then took the initiative to talk about another matter.

Seeing his hesitant look, Ye Zhen was a little confused. After looking at Xie Yunshu, she asked:

"What's the matter? Shopkeeper Fu just said it's okay."

"I advise you to prepare some food in advance. It won't be long before the price of food in our county will rise."

Fu Heng's words are a bit confusing.

The price of food on weekdays is set by the government, and it is impossible to raise it privately. Ye Zhen still understands this.

But these words came from Fu Heng's mouth, and she was already convinced that the other party would not lie to her.

But something is very wrong about this matter. The weather is going smoothly now, and it doesn’t look like there will be a shortage of food!

"Why? There seems to be no shortage of food in our county, right?"

Her doubts were also the doubts in Xie Yunshu's heart, and both of them looked confused.

With a slight sigh, Fu Heng told the two of them the news he had just received this morning.

"I heard that several villages on the border between us and Qingcheng are infested with pests. I am afraid that there will be no harvest in the fields this year! Moreover, the pest plague seems to be spreading!"

Insect plague!

As soon as this word came out, Ye Zhen's forgotten memories immediately came to mind, and her expression suddenly changed.

She only saw the refugees learning about this matter yesterday, and today Fu Heng mentioned it emphatically, and in such a firm tone!

The Fu family behind Wangyue Tower must be very capable. Even though Fu Ruan was kicked out, the ability of his eldest son should not be underestimated.

The news that can be told from Fu Heng's mouth is probably close to ten.

Ye Zhen was still worried yesterday, fearing that the locusts would continue to invade other fields.

Today, this worrying bad news came out.

"This insect plague is a locust plague?!"

She quickly straightened her expression and asked.

Fu Heng originally just thought about the cooperative friendship between the two parties and wanted to remind the other party, but he didn't expect Ye Zhen to be so interested in this matter.

Nodding, he told all the information he had obtained.

"It is indeed a locust plague! It was only in a small village at first, but after the fields in this village were gnawed away, some people saw with their own eyes that the locusts split into two and went to other nearby villages."

This pest disaster occurred at the junction of Manyi County and Qingcheng, which affected the areas of both counties.

It's good now, no one can run away!

"Humph! It's not like these corrupt officials! They only know how to shirk responsibility and don't even think about solving the problem first!"

Ye Zhen couldn't help but snort angrily, with obvious dissatisfaction on her face, and she even scolded the officials for their inaction.

After hearing this, even Xie Yunshu, who had always been calm and calm, changed his face and became extremely gloomy.

Insect plagues are a completely devastating blow to fields and farmers, because the crops that have been eaten cannot come back.

Their year's hard work was wasted!

Hearing Ye Zhen's disdainful words towards officials, Fu Heng was stunned for a moment, then a wry smile appeared on his face.

"This is an insect plague! Even if an upright official is in charge, I'm afraid he won't be able to deal with it!"

He was not excusing the magistrates of the two counties, but in their minds, the insect plague was irresistible.

Insect disasters are as famous as droughts and floods. They are irresistible and can only be tolerated.

But this is just helpless for ancient people. Modern people like Ye Zhen, although they cannot resist completely, can at least come up with ideas.

"The insect plague is indeed terrible, but as long as we use the right methods, it can still be solved! If the county magistrates still sit back and ignore it, it will only lead to greater losses!"

By then I'm afraid it won't just be a problem of rising food prices, it will probably become a situation where even those with money can't buy food!

When locusts cross the border, if appropriate measures are not taken, even all the fields in the two counties will lose their harvest!

"Could it be that, Madam Xie, you have a way to deal with the insect plague?!"