There is a drought in Xianyang, and even the river water level is much lower than in previous years.

It is impossible to rely entirely on river irrigation to alleviate the drought!

"I hope there will be drenching rain soon to alleviate the drought, otherwise the people will suffer!"

Huang Yuan said with emotion.

"It's not a disaster at all. Every household has a surplus of food, and the court will provide food relief. Hungry will definitely not happen!"

The reason why Ying Feiyu asked various places to build granaries and store large amounts of grain was to cope with such emergencies.

"Okay, since the test is successful, let's hurry up and let the craftsmen produce more, and we can help the people irrigate as much land as possible!"

"yes!"

The water pump could run smoothly, and Ying Feiyu immediately ordered its manufacture to help the people irrigate in the shortest possible time.

Then he returned to the palace and reported the matter to Ying Zheng!

Fusu happened to be there too!

"My father and my son led professors from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to conduct a careful investigation in various parts of Xianyang, and found that there are indeed many locust eggs in the land. Once they all hatch, a locust plague is very likely to occur!"

After Fusu finished his report, he handed over the records he had made previously.

"It seems that Feiyu's concerns are correct!"

After Ying Zheng read the record, he frowned and sighed softly.

"Father, the water pump has been tested successfully. Irrigation can start in a few days. The soil is moist, which should prevent some locust eggs from hatching!"

Ying Feiyu said.

"That's just part of it. There is still a high possibility that a locust plague will occur, so we have to prepare in advance!"

Ying Zheng did not relax because of this.

The drought has been going on for a long time, and those locust eggs are probably about to hatch.

If it weren't for the rain falling from the sky, a drenching rain would have no effect at all!

"Send someone to call Zhang Han, Wang Bi, Chun Yuyue and others over!"

"yes!"

The guards outside the imperial study received the order and went to do it immediately.

Within half an hour, all the confidants appeared in the imperial study room!

His Majesty has been worried about the drought recently. Even after the morning court, they did not dare to go back to sleep peacefully. They were all on duty at their respective yamen and kept on call!

"The results of the investigation by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences have come out, you should take a look first!"

After all the veterans arrived, Ying Zheng directly handed them the data sent by Fusu.

The old guys looked at it carefully and their expressions changed.

"If all the locust eggs hatch in such a dense density, it will definitely cause a locust plague!"

"If it doesn't rain, there's nothing anyone can do!"

"What we can do now is to appeal to the people to store all the food at home to prevent it from being eaten by locusts...!"

Facing the locust plague, Wang Ben and others had no good solution but to try to avoid greater losses.

"Yes! I will notify officials in various places later so that everyone can be prepared! Especially the Xianyang area!"

Ying Zheng nodded.

The imperial court has sufficient food reserves so that it can stay calm in the face of the locust plague!

If this had happened a few years ago, when the national treasury was empty and people had no food in their homes, it would have been really troublesome!

…

The locust plague is a natural disaster. In the past, even if the court discovered it, it would not dare to announce it for fear of causing panic.

But things are different now, times are different.

The imperial court dared to openly announce the possible locust plague through newspapers so that the people could prepare in advance!

After the old guys finished their discussions, local government officials received telegrams from the court, asking them to take precautions in advance.

This drought is mainly concentrated in the Xianyang area. The reason why other counties are notified is to let them be careful.

After all, locusts have wings, so no one knows where they will fly!

The next day's newspaper also made the incident a front-page headline, reminding people to take precautions.

"Is there a possibility of a locust plague in Xianyang? Isn't it?"

When the people saw this news, they subconsciously looked up at the sky. Where could there be any sign of locusts?

"I don't care if he does it or not. Let's hide the food at home first. If the locust plague really happens, we won't have any losses!"

The seeds have not been sown yet, so even if a locust plague occurs, the crops will not be destroyed.

They just need to store the food they have at home!

"With drought and locust plague, will food prices rise? Should we buy more and reserve them?"

Some people are beginning to worry about food prices. After all, this has happened before.

Whenever there is a disaster, some people try to make a fortune by raising the price of food so high that they can make huge profits!

"If you don't think so, food prices will naturally not rise! If everyone reserves up like you do, then food prices will really rise!"

"Yes, every household has stored a lot of food now, so why buy it?"

"That's right! Even if we finish eating what we have in hand, the imperial court still has so much stored in it, and we will definitely use it to stabilize the price of grain, and we will not let those black-hearted grain merchants succeed...!"

The people's comments reached Ying Zheng's ears through the Black Ice Platform, which made him very satisfied.

If it were in the past, whenever there was a natural disaster, someone would definitely instigate it, saying that the emperor was immoral and so on.

But this time it didn’t!

The people's attitude towards the locust plague was very calm, and they also had great trust in the court!

"Drought plus locust plague, I don't know what the people who are farming are thinking! Will there be any complaints?"

Most of the people in Xianyang City are factory workers or street vendors. They do not farm, so drought and locust plagues have little to do with them.

But they don’t know what the people who rely on farming for a living think!

So, Ying Zheng changed into casual clothes, took Fusu, Ying Feiyu, Wang Ben and others with him and went to the private sector to conduct research in person!

I drove to a small village outside the city and randomly asked a farmer on the road, "Did you know that a locust plague may occur due to drought?"

"I know, it was mentioned in today's newspaper, wasn't it?"

The farmer nodded firmly and looked at them up and down with a strange look.

"Then what do you think about this matter?"

Fusu asked immediately.

"Opinion? What opinion can there be? A certain family has so much food that they are not afraid of drought or locusts!"

The farmer said confidently.

"Aren't you afraid that you will miss the spring plowing and lose your harvest?"

"Haha, let's just think of it as a year's rest! We have been farming all our lives, and we just use this drought as an excuse!"

There is food at home, and the people are not panic at all.

“Then this year’s income will be gone!”

"There are many factories recruiting workers in the city. You can earn some money by just finding a job!"

Nowadays, Xianyang is developing rapidly and workers are being recruited everywhere.

As long as you are not afraid of hard work, you will definitely have no problem making money to support your family!

After receiving the people's answers, Ying Zheng looked much more relaxed.

Then I asked several households and the answers were almost the same!

There are even a few who are looking forward to the arrival of the locust plague.
Chapter completed!