Section 233: The Terrifying Locusts
Magistrate Li felt sowhat confused.
Li Yu chid in, "These two children were brought in by my teacher. They're not here to cause trouble."
This implied that Magistrate Li didn't need to order the guests to leave.
However, Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen were indeed about to leave. They said their goodbyes to the adults and then happily hopped out of the County Governnt Office.
Li Yu sighed with emotion again, "These two kids are incredible. The locust control thod I just told you about was provided to my teacher by these two little ones."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Li was stunned. Then, a pang of regret struck him. Why didn't I look at the contents of that letter? If this thod had been passed to Censor Song through my hands, how good would that have been...
However, he only felt regretful for a short while before his thoughts turned again. Locust plagues are so difficult to manage! What great effect can a thod from two children have? When the ti cos, the bla will surely fall on my head.
As Magistrate Li's thoughts raced, Li Yu had already begun his work.
Song Renying genuinely cared for the children. Worried for their safety on the road, he sent people to escort them all the way back to Zhao Village.
When they returned to the village, they saw many villagers gathered at the entrance.
Among them were Zhao Zhitong's family, the Wei family, Qiao Clan mbers, and Butcher Zhao's family.
They knew that Zhao Zhitong and the others had gone to the County Governnt Office and hadn't been worried at first. But as a long ti passed without their return, they grew anxious.
So, they had gathered together, preparing to head to the county town to look for them.
Many villagers had also heard about this and hurried out to help; so ca simply to watch the commotion.
From afar, they saw the donkey cart CLIP-CLOPPING toward them, and soone in the crowd shouted out in surprise.
"Hey, look, they're back! They're back!"
The parents rushed towards the donkey cart.
Zhao Zhitong and the others had also seen their families at the village entrance. They slid off the cart one by one and ran excitedly towards them.
Zhao Zhitong shouted at the top of her lungs, rushing into Zhao Dong's arms, "Father! Mother!"
Sun i exclaid, "Oh, you're finally back! We've been worried sick."
At this point, the officials escorting Zhao Zhitong and the others saw that they had arrived safely and began to take their leave.
A villager curiously asked Zhao Zhitong, "Were these officials sent by the County Magistrate to bring you back?"
Zhao Zhitong replied, "No, no, they're the censor's subordinates."
"Ah? What kind of official is a censor?"
Many villagers expressed confusion.
Zhao Yue then gestured with his hands and eagerly answered, "He's a very, very important official! Even the County Magistrate has to kowtow to him!"
"Wow!"
The crowd erupted in surprise again. "My goodness, look at you kids! Such an important official sent people to bring you ho!"
Another villager asked, "So, that thod you ntioned for controlling the locusts, did that important official adopt it?"
Zhao Zhitong, with a little look of pride on her face, said, "Yup, of course! They'll inform us soon."
So questioned, "Can a thod from you few kids really work?"
Zhao Zhitong didn't get angry at all and confidently stated, "The censor said that as long as we all work together, we can definitely defeat the locusts and protect our crops!"
Many villagers were moved by Zhao Zhitong's words. Coupled with their deep hatred for locusts, they began to shout in agreent, determined to defeat the locusts.
Of course, there were so who didn't believe, such as Mrs. Zheng and Xiao Wang, who stood on the periphery of the crowd. However, they rely pursed their lips and didn't say anything at that mont.
After all, the locusts were still the biggest enemy!
Zhao Zhitong was right. Sure enough, before long, the Village Chief gathered everyone and announced two things.
The first was to encourage villagers to hand over their household chickens, ducks, and geese to help combat the locust plague. The second was to gather all the villagers to make tools to fight the locust plague.
It was unclear how the other villages were faring, but at least for these four villages, things didn't go smoothly at first.
Not many people were willing to hand over their chickens, ducks, and geese. They worried that once handed over, the poultry wouldn't be returned. So even said it was just another way for officials to exploit the common people.
Finally, with constant encouragent and the looming threat of the locusts, more and more villagers gradually agreed.
So, those families began to go to the house of the village chief to hand over their chickens, ducks, and geese.
However, the people in charge of collecting them were not the village chief but soldiers sent from higher up. These soldiers not only registered the villagers who handed in poultry but also wrote the household nas on the birds' feathers.
They also promised that the poultry would be returned after the locust plague passed.
With this guarantee, the villagers were much more at ease, and an increasing number of people beca willing to hand over their poultry.
At the sa ti, while poultry was being handed over, other villagers were assembled. Strong n went to the fields in the direction from which the locusts were expected and began to dig deep pits and erect tall nets.
The won, anwhile, made tools for combating the locusts: so tied shoes to wooden sticks for swatting, while others prepared net bags on poles for catching.
Even the young children weren't idle.
By the ti they were making these preparations, a few scattered locusts had already arrived.
It was evening when the main locust army sward towards them.
"The locusts are here! The locusts are here!"
As the shouts from people at the edge of the fields grew louder and louder, all the villagers mobilized.
For the past few days, most villagers had been sleeping near the fields, afraid they wouldn't be able to react in ti when the locusts arrived.
Now, hearing the shouts, they grabbed their shovels and tools, leaped up, and rushed forward.
Zhao Zhitong, also holding a stick with a shoe tied to it, joined Qiao Muchen, Zhao Yue, and the others, yelling as they charged forward with the crowd.
Seeing the locust army for the first ti had an indescribable impact on the young children. The locusts ca from the north, obscuring the sky like a massive dark cloud, pressing down on them in an instant...
They jumped on the ground and flew in the air, a deafening BUZZ, densely packed. Anyone with a fear of dense clusters would have been terrified to death.
Zhao Zhitong was terrified too. When the yellow insects sward onto her, she scread in horror.
Then she shook her body, stomping her feet to shake them off. Afterward, with her eyes closed, she jumped up and down, vigorously swatting at the ground.
The young locusts, which could only hop, fell into the deep pits. Villagers then frantically began to fill the pits with earth. During this, so adults would jump on the soil to compact it, fearing the locusts might fly out again.
Locusts flying higher up crashed into the nets and fell to the ground one after another. The won below these nets, ard with shoes, furiously swatted them on the ground, cursing through gritted teeth as they struck, "Die, you! Die, you!"
Their ferocity showed the villagers' deep hatred for the locusts.
However, the locusts were highly alert. When they hit the nets and were disturbed, they began to fly about erratically, heading for higher altitudes.
So, these two thods alone were not enough to eliminate them completely.
At this ti, the chickens, ducks, and geese were released.
Those locusts that escaped the nets and landed on the wheat seedlings began to devour the crops voraciously.
Then, like an army, the chickens, ducks, and geese strutted proudly and full of spirit into the fields. Seeing the locusts, they too perked up.
They lowered their heads and began to peck furiously.
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