Chapter 88: Disaster Relief

Chapter 88: Disaster Relief

The village head explained, "The locust swarm has arrived."

"Has the locust swarm really come? My husband and the others are still in the fields." The woman's face changed color, and she realized she couldn't go out now. Her husband wasn't a fool; he would surely find a place to hide.

Zheng Shanci got the county office to put out notices and instructed the town head and village head to organize the villagers to avoid the disaster. However, the locusts hit too quickly, and there was still much wheat in the fields that hadn't been harvested. All the men in the family had grabbed sickles to harvest the wheat. They hadn't expected the locust swarm to hit so quickly. Had they known, they would've worked through the night, candles in hand, to harvest the wheat.

"Lord Zheng, Lord Ding, Village Head, have some tea to settle your nerves. We only have barley tea here, so pardon the humble offering."

Zheng Shanci: "It's fine. We are the ones disturbing you."

In the corner, two little kids were wide-eyed. One kid was tugging at the kitchen wall, eyes glued to Zheng Shanci.

Just as Zheng Shanci was about to sip his tea, the insect buzz grew louder, and the room dimmed. The paper windows were swarmed with locusts. The woman was frightened, not expecting the locust swarm to be so severe. Zheng Shanci felt like he was trapped in a cocoon of locusts, his scalp crawling. He glanced at the window and could even see the tiny hairs on the locusts' legs reflected on the paper windows.

The woman herded the two kids to their room, leaving the three men in the main hall.

The air was thick, filled with the eerie rustle of crawling insects. The village head wiped sweat from his brow, sipping tea from his bowl. He glanced up at the locusts on the paper windows, his heart pounding.

"Lord Zheng, in my twenty years as village head, I've never seen a locust swarm like this. But once you've seen it, it's unforgettable." The village head was terrified.

Zheng Shanci: "I read in Xin Feng County's old records about a past locust swarm. From the records, it wasn't a big swarm. But this time, it's way worse than what the records say."

The three men stuck together for comfort. As Zheng Shanci sipped his tea, he started worrying about Yu Lanyi. The young noble from the capital had never seen anything like this and was likely terrified.

Some folks in the fields dashed to nearby houses for shelter, the locusts crawling all over them making their skin crawl. A few men still out in the fields were petrified as the locusts blotted out the sky. Before they could reach shelter, they were swarmed, and others had to help brush off and crush the locusts.

Zheng Shanci peered at the paper windows, but not a sliver of light shone through.

Two hours later, the sky began to dim. Locusts are active during the day and rest at night. As evening approached, the number of locusts decreased.

There was a knock on the door. The woman came out and heard the voice, "It's my in-laws and my husband. They're back."

The woman opened the door to let them in. They were startled to see Zheng Shanci and hurriedly greeted him.

Zheng Shanci asked, "No need for formalities. How is the situation outside?"

"When we came back, we passed the fields. Most of the wheat has been damaged. Even the less affected ones have traces of locust bites." The man sighed, his arm showing marks from locust bites. "We farmers know about locusts. But these locusts are something else. Not only do they devour crops, but they also attack people."

Zheng Shanci noticed the man's arm was bleeding and said, "If you have any alcohol at home, use it to clean the wound first."

The woman quickly agreed.

Zheng Shanci and his group bid farewell and left the house. There were still locusts crawling on the road. Zheng Shanci returned to the county office, where locusts were also present. Scribe Jiang, seeing Zheng Shanci, felt reassured and hurried to greet him.

"Lord Zheng, you're finally back. This year's locust plague is severe. With so many locusts in the sky, it's likely not just our county but the entire Qingzhou region that's affected." Scribe Jiang followed Zheng Shanci.

A small-scale locust plague can be dealt with quickly, but once it expands, it becomes difficult to control. Zheng Shanci could see locusts everywhere with just a glance. His office was clean, with the scent of medicinal herbs, especially mugwort, filling the room.

"Go to the medical clinic and get more insect repellent. Let the chickens and ducks eat the locusts. Also, have Archivist Zhu send the yamen runners to kill the locusts. The green ones can be fed to the chickens and ducks, but if the locusts turn yellow-black or black, kill them directly."

Returning home, Zheng Shanci saw servants using wooden boards to beat the locusts on the ground, then sweeping them away with brooms. Zheng Qingyin was instructing a few maids to sprinkle insect repellent in the courtyard.

"Second Brother, you're back." Zheng Qingyin was delighted to see Zheng Shanci return.

"How is everyone at home?" Zheng Shanci smiled with relief, seeing how reliable Zheng Qingyin appeared.

Eldest brother came back from the eatery to accompany his wife, and there weren't many people eating anymore. Second brother's wife is in the room. When the locusts came, I was with second brother's wife. Second brother, you should go check on her."

Zheng Shanci went to see Yu Lanyi; the door was still closed. Zheng Shanci pushed the door open and entered, Yu Lanyi was sitting on the divan, holding a half-eaten apple.

"Why are you so absent-minded?"

Yu Lanyi saw that Zheng Shanci had returned, put down the apple in his hand, and reached out to hug Zheng Shanci's neck.

"These locusts are terrifying." Yu Lanyi recalled the scene, shuddering all over.

Since coming to Xin Feng County, he had not only become afraid of ghosts but also of insects, especially green ones. Then Zheng Shanci informed him,

"Actually, locusts can also be black."

Yu Lanyi glared at Zheng Shanci.

"What's it like outside?" Yu Lanyi dared not go out.

"Qing Yin is organizing people to kill the locusts. Fortunately, when the locust plague occurred, you were inside the house, not outside. Don't underestimate the locusts that are yellow-black or black." Zheng Shanci comfortingly patted Yu Lanyi's back.

Yu Lanyi leaned into Zheng Shanci's embrace, "I'm scared when you're not by my side."

"Don't be afraid. Secure the windows, have the servants spread more insect repellent in the room. I was worried about you while I was outside too." Zheng Shanci hugged Yu Lanyi tightly, "Seeing you safe puts my heart at ease. Tomorrow I have to go to the county office, and maybe to the fields, I can't stay home with you, but you're always in my heart."

"I know, I should be understanding." Yu Lanyi poked Zheng Shanci's face, saying, "Qing Yin told me that locusts eat grain. If they eat all the grain, what will others eat? As the county magistrate, you have responsibilities."

When Yu Lanyi returned home, he complained to Mr. Yu about Zheng Shanci being too busy. Mr. Yu just smiled and told him that he was busy for the good of the people below.

With so many locusts this time, Zheng Shanci should handle this matter, he just wanted to act spoiled with Zheng Shanci.

He is a dutiful husband.

Zheng Shanci said, "Thank you for your understanding."

Yu Lanyi lightly hit Zheng Shanci, "What are you saying, I'm your husband, how could I not understand you. I want to eat bird's nest soup; you feed me."

Zheng Shanci smiled and agreed, took the bird's nest soup from the table and fed it to Yu Lanyi.

Yu Lanyi felt much better seeing Zheng Shanci. After feeding Yu Lanyi the bird's nest soup, Zheng Shanci hugged him and said, "I want to secure a noble title for you in the future."

Yu Lanyi was stunned, he hadn't thought that far ahead. Now they're talking about noble titles. Well, hearing Zheng Shanci's words, Yu Lanyi also began to look forward to it. In the Great Yan Dynasty, for a man's mother and wife to receive a noble title, the official himself must be of the fifth rank or above, or have made significant contributions to the court.

Zheng Shanci is currently a seventh-rank magistrate, to reach the fifth rank, he needs to advance four levels. In the capital, there are so many high-ranking officials, but few can have their mothers and wives awarded noble titles by the emperor.

If Zheng Shanci were to confer a noble title on him, no matter what rank, Yu Lanyi would be overjoyed. Originally, Yu Lanyi didn't pay attention to noble titles, but on second thought, if he really got one, wouldn't people in the capital be envious to death.

Let them say Zheng Shanci is incompetent.

"You said it yourself." Yu Lanyi became happy.

"I said it myself." Zheng Shanci kissed Yu Lanyi.

Yu Lanyi thought about soon returning to the capital with Zheng Shanci, he couldn't help but smile.

The next day, when Zheng Shanci was away, Yu Lanyi saw a few dark shadows by the window, his morning irritability flared up, and he took his slipper to go outside and hit them.

Today there were fewer locusts, Yu Lanyi wasn't as scared. What he feared was a dense swarm, it made his head spin.

The room and the outdoors were filled with the scent of medicinal herbs, and mugwort was still being burned in the yard. Jin Yun brought breakfast over and saw Yu Lanyi killing a few locusts with his slipper, he was dumbfounded.

"Young master, Lord Zheng said it's better for everyone to eat in their rooms with the doors closed these days. Please eat first, young master."

Jin Yun felt a pang of fear.

Yu Lanyi set aside his slippers, washed his hands, and then sat down to eat the porridge.

"Why does this porridge have a strange taste?"

"The kitchen said they added calming herbs to cook it."

Yu Lanyi held his nose and drank the porridge. After finishing, he tied his hair with a hairband, muttering, "If it weren't for the locusts being so filthy, I could have crushed a few with my fist."

Jin Yun cleared the dishes, a chill running through him as he thought of that scene.

He went out with Jin Yun to check the accounts at the wine shop. Jin Yun held an umbrella to shade Yu Lanyi from the sun. The county office had hired people to sweep the locusts off the streets. Yu Lanyi glanced around and saw locusts, some black and yellow, others entirely black. The streets were littered with dead insects, giving off a strange smell.

He quickly walked to the wine shop, where the proprietor looked worried.

"Proprietor, the rice we stored in the warehouse has been eaten by locusts. We need a lot of rice for making wine in the future. If neighboring counties are hit too, we'll have to buy rice from elsewhere, driving up our costs. To reduce costs, we might have to raise the price of our wine."

Yu Lanyi was taken aback. For the first time, he realized how directly this natural disaster impacted his livelihood.

He looked at the shops on the street. The familiar steamed bun shop and dumpling shop he used to frequent were closed, probably afraid that locusts would fly into their pots. The common folk now dared not eat outside; they had to eat behind closed doors. Some eateries were indeed serving meals with their doors closed.

The streets, once teeming with people, were now nearly empty.

"Let's see first where we can buy rice for brewing," Yu Lanyi shivered suddenly, though he couldn't pinpoint why.

He was familiar with this street, remembering many stalls that used to line it. He had lived a life of luxury, and even when floods or droughts struck parts of the Great Yan Dynasty, these events never affected his life. His life had remained unchanged. This was the closest he had ever been to a natural disaster.

Yu Lanyi was momentarily stunned and a bit bewildered.

"This isn't the hardest time yet. What about the crops in the fields? If Lan County is hit by locusts too, people can't go without food, and there are still imperial taxes to pay."

Yu Lanyi used a gourd ladle on the table to kill a few locusts flying around the shop.

"Proprietor, what did you say?"

Proprietor Song shook his head and then smiled, "Lord Zheng is a good official. With him around, the people of Xin Feng County can still have decent lives. If it weren't for Lord Zheng's early warning about the locust disaster, the losses would have been even greater."

Yu Lanyi thought to himself, no wonder he disappeared early in the morning.

The early harvested wheat could still save some of the grain. Because they had planted medicinal herbs the previous year, Lord Zheng had the county office build several granaries. Now, Scribe Jiang was tasked with counting how much grain was stored in the granaries. Seeing the grain made people want to hoard it, especially in ancient times when resistance was fragile. Lord Zheng also had Chief Meng build granaries.

The only way to control the locusts was to stomp them to death. The green locusts were mostly gone, and the remaining ones were poisonous. Dr. Song had prepared several types of insect repellent, and the people went out with tools to kill the locusts.

Lord Zheng couldn't just sit in the county office; he went to the countryside again.

Chief Meng of Lanlong Village spoke with a booming voice: "The county office's notice said these black and yellow and entirely black locusts are poisonous. Be careful not to get bitten by them. Anyway, we can't plant crops now; let's deal with these pests first. Last year, we reminded you to store grain. Those without grain at home should quickly go to the shops in town to buy some, or the prices will be unpredictable later."