Traveling through time and space and becoming a deposed prince, he just wants to survive!

Chapter 387: The Year of War 3

In Heyang, Yan Ruxiang accidentally discovered something extremely strange.

The war was raging, and the people were already living in hardship and food was scarce due to the war. Now they were desperately catching insects in the fields.

"Hey folks, what use are you making of catching these bugs?"

Yan Ruxiang, wearing armor, stood in the field surrounded by his followers.

His eyes swept over everyone, and his majestic aura made people dare not look directly at him.

An old man heard Yan Ruxiang's question, looked up, and saw Yan Ruxiang's clothes and the formation of his entourage. He knew in his heart that this was an important figure and a military general.

He lowered his head tremblingly and replied, "General, the number of locusts this year is terrifying. If we don't catch them, they will eat up all the newly grown seedlings."

"Locusts?" Yan Ruxiang calculated quickly in his mind. Although locusts had appeared in previous years, they had never appeared so early.

"General, you don't know us in Heyang. This year is really strange. It never gets warm this early in the year. Although the temperature in Heyang is usually higher than other places, this year's temperature is ridiculously high."

As the old man spoke, perhaps he was tired from catching insects just now, and sweat spots appeared on his face.

After hearing what the old man said, Yan Ruxiang also felt hot.

It's only May, how could it be so hot? Yan Ruxiang wanted to tear off his armor, but his chest felt a little stuffy, but the armor was so tightly fastened that it was not so easy to untie.

Obviously, the appearance of so many locusts this season is abnormal.

"Buzz buzz buzz..." The locusts flying and jumping all over the sky made the people who worked all year round feel frightened.

"Old man, do you think there will be a disaster if we continue like this?"

Yan Ruxiang still wanted to know more, so he continued to ask the old man.

"To be honest, when this happens in previous years, the harvest isn't very good. This year, there are even more locusts than last time. I'm afraid it's bad for the crops. I hope there won't be a major disaster..."

The old man did not directly say that there would be a locust plague, but his words seemed to imply that there might be a locust plague, but he just didn't want to admit it.

"General Yan, if there is a locust plague this year, it will definitely not just be here. I'm afraid the entire Qin area will suffer."

Deng Liu was once a skilled farmer and knew a lot about farmland. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but feel worried.

"Is there really no way to deal with this kind of insect?"

Yan Ruxiang frowned and asked anxiously.

"Locusts that appear at this time can only be caught. If they are more mature, some county governments will burn them."

Deng Liu truthfully said that the purpose of using fire was to create a vacuum zone so that the flying locusts would have nowhere to land and might even be burned to death.

However, this so-called burning is a large-scale burning in one county after another. Whether it is rice fields or forests, they must be burned completely. Only in this way can it be effective.

"What happens after the fire? What happens to the people?"

What Yan Ruxiang was most worried about was the common people. Once there was no harvest, these people would starve or even starve to death.

Deng Liu didn't dare to respond. He knew that Yan Ruxiang knew the result in her heart, and saying more would only add to her sadness.

A similar situation occurred in Bingzhou, across the river.

Mr. Zhao could guess this would happen even with his toes.

He convened several major chambers of commerce, hoping that they could do something to help the people.

That is to exchange dried locusts for protein cookies. The families don't need to pay, just contribute manpower and labor.

Moreover, the people who go to purchase the goods can only be those sent by Dingzhou to supervise. This year, three kilograms of dried locusts can be exchanged for one kilogram of protein biscuits.

Of course, those who don’t want to exchange the protein cookies can also purchase them directly with money.

In principle, it is still a barter, because in a year of real disaster, food is much more important than money.

In recent years, protein biscuits in Luancheng have become a scarce commodity.

The most basic food biscuits are made by adding some seasonings to bean bran and baking them.

Of course, there are also high-end biscuits developed later, with prices varying.

But in a year of great disaster, having basic food to keep people from starving to death is the most reliable guarantee.

The news quickly spread from Bingzhou to both sides of the Yellow River.

Heyang is no exception. Some people came here to make acquisitions, but these people were not sent by Dingzhou.

The condition they offered was five kilograms of locusts in exchange for one kilogram of biscuits.

Even so, some people are still willing to do this. After all, in their eyes, these locusts are worthless.

When Yan Ruxiang learned about this, he found it unbelievable.

"Deng Liu, send someone to investigate and find out who is so kind as to do this, exchanging rare delicacies for these filthy things."

"Yes, General."

After receiving the order, Deng Liu sent Yan Dongsheng, who had been promoted to centurion, to investigate the matter.

Yan Dongsheng brought more than ten people with him, disguised themselves, and followed the transportation route of these buyers all the way to Hejin Town on the east bank.

Someone here is buying locusts in large quantities.

"Hey, shopkeeper, why are you buying locusts here?"

Yan Dongsheng walked forward and started chatting with the person who was in charge of the acquisition.

"Hey, big brother, we're from Dingzhou. Locusts are rampant this year, and we're expecting another famine. We're here to teach the locals how to trap locusts with bamboo cages and pottery jars, and to buy the locusts and provide them as food relief."

The person who spoke was a young man who looked a little disabled.

“How does acquisition work here?”

Yan Dongsheng continued to ask.

"Our family's elders are kind-hearted. Three pounds of locusts can be exchanged for one pound of biscuits."

Yan Dongsheng had never eaten the biscuits the shopkeeper was talking about. He only saw a sack behind him filled with a lot of small, but very solid objects.

"Can I see your cookies?"

Yan Dongsheng asked cautiously, fearing to upset the other party.

Seeing that Yan Dongsheng seemed to know nothing about biscuits, the people in the shop thought so too. After all, this was not Dingzhou, and ordinary people could not afford to eat these.

"Hey, big brother, the ones behind me are compressed biscuits. You can eat them directly, but don't eat too much, or you'll get bloated. Don't underestimate this small piece. After boiling it in water, it can fill a strong man up."

As he spoke, he took out a piece, broke it, gave one piece to Yan Dongsheng, and gave another piece to the person behind him.

"This is the dry food we brought with us when we were soldiers. It's convenient to cook during a war, or when the fireman is not around, so we can solve the problem of eating by ourselves."

After hearing what the shop owner said, Yan Dongsheng suddenly remembered that when Shan Ning's troops came, these people had these things in their bags, but he didn't think much about it at the time.

I didn’t expect that these seemingly insignificant things can actually be used as treasures of dry food.