lady, please calm down

Chapter 354 Huaibei and Huainan
  In the first year of Xuanqing, February [-]nd, Youshi.

The Ding Family Courtyard in Minhe New Village on the bank of Nanhuai River in Lu'an County.

In the tenth year of Fuchang the year before last, Ding Jiao's family moved here. At that time, the Huaibei Army escorted a large number of rebel prisoners here to participate in post-war reconstruction.

In one winter, the river channels were dredged and the farmland was plowed. In front of us is the courtyard of the Ding family with three main halls and two side rooms on the left and right. It was also built by the prisoners back then.

In addition, most of the villagers moved to Tongshan, so they have special feelings for the Huaibei Army.

When it got dark and the rain stopped, the news spread like wildfire that King Chu had come to the village and was staying at Ding's house. Before long, many people gathered outside Ding's house.

The white-haired rat guarding outside the courtyard persuaded the people who came to talk to the King of Chu to leave.

It's not that Chen Chu didn't see everyone, it's just that Xiao Yi sent news from the hospital that the prince was asleep.
  Yes, it was a [-]-mile journey from Caizhou to Shouzhou, and we hardly took any rest on the way.

After arriving in Lu'an County, the soldiers and guards could take turns to sleep for a while, but the prince summoned Shouzhou's military and political leaders to hold a small meeting at Ding's house, and the meeting ended a quarter of an hour ago.

I can't sleep for days and nights, and even a strong man can't stand it.

In the courtyard, in the main room that Chen Chu temporarily used as his headquarters, several large candles as thick as a child's arms were lit, illuminating the room brightly.

At this time, everyone had received their orders and dispersed. Chen Chu was leaning on a chair, facing up, with his legs propped on the table, and was already snoring.

Outside the door, Yang Erlang was sitting on the door pillar, his eyes were red, and his head was drooping uncontrollably.

Until the sound of slight footsteps suddenly sounded in his ears, Erlang suddenly woke up from his half-dream state. He subconsciously touched the crossbow behind his waist and shouted at the same time, "Who is it?"

"Erlang, it's me." Ding Jiao, who was holding a quilt and a thick coat, was startled and quickly stood still.

After seeing the person in front of him clearly and his brain gradually clearing up, Erlang realized that this was not a battlefield. He couldn't help but let go of the crossbow, smiled sheepishly, and called out: "Sister Jiao."

Back then, the person in front of me almost became the Yao family's daughter-in-law, and Erlang knew her well.

"I see that the prince is asleep. It's cold at night. Please take this quilt in."

"Well, that's good."

Erlang took the quilt and went into the house and put it on Chen Chu. When he came out, Ding Jiao, who was still standing at the door, handed Erlang a thick coat and said, "Here, put this on."

Erlang was not polite to Ding Jiao, so he took it and wrapped it around him. Seeing Ding Jiao turning around to go back to the wing, Erlang suddenly called out again, "Sister Jiao."

"What's wrong?" Ding Jiao turned around.

"Sister Jiao, don't be afraid, Brother Chen will definitely have a way."

"Pfft~" Ding Jiao smiled sweetly and said as if she was doting on her younger brother: "When have you ever been scared? To be honest, if you can come to my house, I feel more at ease. As long as you are here, I won't be afraid."

After saying that, Ding Jiao walked into the side room.

Erlang sat down on the door pillar again. After a while, Xiao Yi came back from a tour and sat on the door pillar on the other side. Seeing Erlang looking up at the dark night sky, he couldn't help but wonder: "Erlang, what do you want?"

But Erlang sighed melancholy and said, "Hey, Sister Jiao is a good woman! Why can't the eldest son learn to be as open-minded as Brother Chen and marry Sister Jiao?"

".Can this be called open-minded?"

At dusk, Yang Zhen led Dalang, the chief official of the Ningjiang Army stationed in Shuiyingying in Shouzhou, through the thick night and returned to the Ding family courtyard.

After Chen Chu had a good sleep, he felt refreshed. Shi Dalang was far more stable than his two brothers, Xiaowu and Xiaoqi. After meeting, he immediately took out handfuls of tied wheat ears from his fishskin bag and said, "Mr. Zhao On his orders, I took my brothers and I crossed to the south of Huaihe River at night and took wheat samples from Shouchun, Anfeng, Huoqiu and other places from east to west. This is from Shouchun."

Shouchun and Lu'an County are only separated by a river. The wheat samples Shi Dalang stole ashore were indeed infected with scab, and they were even more diseased than the wheat in Ding's wheat field!
  Chen Chu's expectation was correct. Today he walked from north to south from Lu'an County and found that the crops closer to the Huaihe River were more seriously affected by the disease. Now the wheat ears in Shouchun proved that the place where scab broke out was indeed there. Zhou Guo!
  To curb the spread of the disease, there are two top priorities. One is to seize the time to destroy the infected wheat fields, and the other is to control the source of pollution.

On both sides of the Huai River, the narrow waterways are less than a hundred feet long, and there is no barrier to scab that can be spread by the wind.

Due to good irrigation conditions on both sides of the Huai River, a large amount of fertile farmland was concentrated here in both Qi and Zhou countries.

At this time of spring, the wind blows from the south. If the disease in Huainan is allowed to develop, the fertile fields in Huaibei will also be in danger.

But the trouble is, the other side is Zhou State! This is not the territory that obeys Chen Chu’s orders.
  The only good news is that among the wheat samples collected by Shi Dalang, the farther west, the milder the disease.

Among several wheat samples, the one taken from Huoqiu in Jiushili, Shouchun West showed that the wheat ears were healthy, indicating that the disease had not yet completely gotten out of control.

Thinking about it, this is also the reason why no disease has been found in Yingzhou and Caizhou to the west of Shouzhou.

Especially Langshan County in the west of Caizhou, where a large amount of farmland is concentrated in Luliuwei Farm, which can be called the granary of Huaibei!
  Don't let the disease spread.

After thinking carefully, Chen Chu summoned the officials who lived in various houses in the village. After everyone was gathered, Chen Chu took a map of Huaibei and spread it on the table. He used charcoal to draw a map of Shouzhou along the Huaihe River. He drew a line diagonally and said in a serious voice: "Starting from tomorrow, the prefecture and county levels will organize manpower to harvest all the crops within the line and burn them uniformly."

"." You Shiguang looked stunned, but did not question it.

But when Xu Zhiyuan heard this, he became anxious and said hurriedly: "Principal! This move of yours, at least covers ten miles north of the Huai River, how much fertile land will be destroyed! The villagers have worked hard for half a year, and we are just looking at it again. It will take more than a month to harvest.”

"Burning diseased crops is to preserve more fertile land!" Chen Chu interrupted.

Ximen Chong, who worked in the Shouzhou government office, gave Xu Zhiyuan a wink and told him not to contradict the principal, but Xu Zhiyuan got angry and said with his head raised: "But in these tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, some diseases are serious and some diseases are mild. If They were all burned down, which saved the crops in the other counties in Shouzhou, but the people of Lu'an have suffered a lot this year!"

"There is no time to distinguish! Xu Zhiyuan, remember, Huaibei is one! In order to ensure the food rations of millions of people in Huaibei, not to mention the sacrifice of thousands of acres of fertile land along the Huaihe River, it is worth sacrificing the autumn grain of the entire Lu'an County! As long as Huaibei is Without chaos, no one would starve to death in Lu’an County!”

At the end of the sentence, Chen Chu became angry. He slapped the charcoal on the table and said, "This is a military order! If you understand it, you must implement it. If you don't understand it, you must implement it! If you can do it, do it. If you can't do it, I will replace you!"

Chen Chu didn't get angry easily, but this sudden attack shocked Xu Zhiyuan.

But Lu'an County was the first place where he took office. When he first came here, everywhere was devastated by the Huaibei Rebellion. At that time, he followed the county magistrate, Tang Jing'an, who had been transferred to Suzhou Prefecture, and organized manpower to open up wasteland and clear land. He personally welcomed the folks who moved to Tongshan.

He was even beaten up by the Huaiyuan squire next door for trying to help the people of this county.
  When Tang Jing'an was transferred to Suzhou, Xu Zhiyuan, who held the position of county magistrate and had the power of temporary county magistrate, promised him, and also promised in person to the villagers who saw off Tang Jing'an, that in three years, Lu'an County would be transformed into a paradise without the worry of hunger and despair.

At this moment, I suddenly heard that the principal was going to burn down tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland that was about to have a good harvest. I felt so uncomfortable that I held back tears.

In order to avoid making a fool of himself in front of everyone, he muttered "I'm going to go to the latrine" and ran out.

Chen Chu had no time to take care of Xu Zhiyuan's injured little mind. After glancing at the important people, he continued: "Da Lang, arrange for the soldiers to accompany the government officials at the prefecture and county levels to carry out this matter. If you encounter anyone who is uncooperative, arrest them first!"

Then he turned to Shi Dalang and said: "Boss Shi, you send the boat from the base camp up the river and take my order to the Caizhou Agricultural Research Institute to ship the bacterium subtilis liquid. At the same time, let Commander Yao of the Zhenhuai Army select [-] good deeds in the army. The brothers who do farm work are on standby! Load up another six thousand shi of grain and transport it back. Go immediately."

"Yes!" Boss Shi took the order and left with his fists clasped.

Chen Chu finally said to You Shiguang: "Prefect You, when you destroy crops, remember to inform the people in advance how much fertile land will be destroyed. The government will use a discount of [-]% of last year's per mu output to make up for the food of each family." You Shiguang then understood what Chen Chu was doing. Boss Shi was even asked to transport six thousand shi of grain back. A rough estimate is that at least [-] acres of crops will be destroyed this time.

Last year, Lu'an County planted new wheat seeds from Huaibei. One acre of land could produce more than [-] kilograms of wheat. After a [-]% discount, [-] dan could almost cover the people's losses.

Six thousand stones is not a small amount!

Destroying thousands of acres of farmland requires courage, but taking out six thousand dan of grain to compensate the people at once is so ambitious!

You Shiguang straightened his clothes, bowed and said: "The King of Chu is a great righteous man! I will thank the King of Chu on behalf of all the people in the government."

Chen Chu waved his hands slightly tiredly and said, "Go ahead, everyone, do your part. It's been a little harder lately."

After a while, everyone in the room dispersed, leaving only Ximen Chong who stayed put.

"What's wrong? If you don't leave, why are you waiting for me to take care of the food?" Chen Chu said, rubbing his brows.

Ximen Chong smiled and stepped forward: "Principal, don't be angry with Zhiyuan, he is such a straight-tempered person. Just now he didn't know that the principal had made plans for the villagers. If he knew that the principal had brought food compensation for the people of Lu'an , I will definitely regret contradicting the principal. Don’t take it to your heart."

Chen Chu shook his head and said, "I'm not angry with him. As a parent of a place, I have to be responsible for the people of the place. It's just that he only sees the folks in Lu'an, but I need to focus on the entire Huaibei."

"Hehe, of course his belly cannot be compared with the principal's."

"Stop flattering me. You also go and talk to Zhiyuan. Tomorrow he will organize people to burn the fields and ask him not to hold me back! Otherwise, I won't look at Xu Tongzhi's face."

"Yes!"

The next day, February [-]rd.

News of an explosion spread along the Huaibei coast of Lu'an County.

Hundreds of government officials and civilians were organized at the prefecture and county levels to harvest and burn the newly-eared wheat fields.

For a time, people panic.

Crops are the lifeblood of the people!
  But when the prefectural and county government officials informed everyone that they would be compensated with [-]% off food in three days, the people surprisingly did not object too fiercely.
  You know, this is just a verbal promise!
  Chinese farmers rarely suffer losses when dealing with the government, so the word caution is engraved in their bones.

If it had been like a few years ago, if they had no food, they would definitely not be willing to have their crops destroyed.

But now, the Huaibei Department’s reputation of “walking the talk” in recent years has taken effect.

They also learned that the King of Chu was now sitting in Lu'an, and most people chose to cooperate.
  Even if I feel anxious and doubtful, I will comfort myself by saying, "The government officials may trick us, but the King of Chu will not."

Even if some people did not cooperate, they were quickly arrested by the soldiers brought by Dalang and temporarily imprisoned.

There is no room for hesitation at this time, nor can we be pedantic about 'legal principles'.

Thunder measures must be used.

Starting from the [-]rd, the month-long rain finally stopped, but the crops were so wet that after harvesting they had to be filled into caves where porcelain was fired before they could be completely burned.

If a disease like scab is harvested without burning, the bacteria will still continue to spread with the wind, and it will also contaminate the soil.

In just a few days, the Huaibei coast was filled with thick black smoke from smoldering damp crops.

On the [-]th, Jiang Shuquan and Shi Dalang personally escorted six thousand stones of grain to Lu'an County.

Food began to be distributed, and people's morale suddenly became calm.

Also accompanying the ship was Chen Jingan, who had learned the news. When Chen Jingan approached Chen Chu, the latter was standing next to an employee of the Agricultural Research Institute, watching his explanation.

The man mixed the bacteria liquid with water and said to the soldiers: "Mix the bacteria liquid at a ratio of fifty to one. That is, one scoop of bacteria liquid and fifty scoops of water. Then pour it into a watering can. "

As he spoke, he carried a two-foot-tall, one-foot-wide copper kettle made of copper skin on his back. He held the pressure rod in one hand and the long nozzle in the other.

Each time the pressure lever is pressed down, a stream of atomized dilute bacterial solution will be sprayed out from the nozzle.

The crowd of onlookers marveled, and the employee of the Agricultural Research Institute explained with a little complacency: "Just like me, spraying all the crops ten miles away from the water can prevent the crops from being infected with scab."

Others only thought this watering can was magical, but Chen Chu knew how much effort it took to make these watering cans.

It took half a year to install the Eucommia gum gasket for sealing in the pressure rod. In the end, Mao'er's uncle Qin Yongtai organized coppersmiths, leatherworkers, and bowsmiths from Tokyo to overcome the difficulties one by one.

Chen Chu noticed someone approaching and turned around to see it was Chen Jingan. He couldn't help pointing to the watering can and explained: "Mr. Yanagawa, the crops have scab, and there is no other way but to burn them. The remaining healthy crops were sprayed with this fungus from the Agricultural Research Institute Liquid can reduce the chance of contracting the disease with a high probability.”

Chen Jing'an nodded and said, "So, the disease is under control?"

Chen Chu shook his head, looked at Huainan across the river, and said: "The disease originated on the other side. If the disease in Huainan is not eliminated, our crops in Huaibei will always be threatened. It will rain all month long, and it will only heat up in March. This is the time when scab, which likes dampness and heat, has a high incidence. Huainan is like a disease. If the disease is not removed, we will not be able to live in peace!"

Although Chen Jing'an doesn't understand farming, he knows the importance of food security. Hearing this, he couldn't help but look at Huainan, "What are Yuan Zhang going to do?"

"I have ordered my eldest son and his team to organize three hundred soldiers who are familiar with farming. Lu An will be left to my husband for the time being. I plan to return to Caizhou and take people to Huainan."

"." Chen Jing'an couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this. He looked at the whimsical Chen Chu without saying a word for a long time.

Chen Chu said, "To save Huainan now is to save yourself. Sihai Commercial Bank has already buried many hidden piles on Huainan West Road. Let's disguise ourselves, sir, so you don't have to worry about safety issues. It just so happens that I can also use this to get up close." Observe the geographical situation of Huainan and make plans for the future.”

"Then Yuan Zhang be careful."

Seeing that Chen Chu had already said this, Chen Jingyan stopped trying to persuade him and instead said, "You might as well go back to your home."

"My family!" Chen Chu couldn't help being startled. He turned around and saw an indescribable strange expression on Chen Jingan's face. He guessed that there was nothing serious at home, so he couldn't help but calm down, "Sir, what's wrong with my family?"

"Ahem, I don't know what to say." Chen Jing'an, who always spoke clearly and coherently, scratched his head and organized himself before saying, "Two days before I left for Shouzhou, Your Highness came to Caizhou."

"I know that. Is there anything wrong?"

"No. After your highness came to Caizhou, he stayed in a post house, but during the day he would go to your house and wait all day. He said he wanted to see your princess and asked her what happened, but she didn't say anything."

"."

(End of this chapter)