All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 327: Locust Plague is about to break out
"What's going on here?"

Looking at Fang Yiai being carried back by the servants, Chen Ran said with a smile, "Didn't you say you were going home after skipping school? Why is your face so swollen?"

"My son is so naughty, I am sorry for causing trouble for you, Taoist Priest."

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and greeted him, "My child is ignorant, I hope you will forgive me."

Looking at Fang Yiai whose face was beaten into a pig's head, Chen Ran laughed again, "It's normal for young people to not like studying and prefer to play, but it should not happen again. If this happens again, please ask Prime Minister Fang to take the person away himself."

Fang Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him repeatedly.

Immediately, he kicked Fang Yiai to the ground and shouted, "Why don't you quickly thank Master for his forgiveness?"

Fang Yiai, who had obviously been badly taught a lesson at home, kept gasping for breath as he walked forward and bowed deeply.

"Since you don't want to feed the pigs, go feed the chickens." Chen Ran waved his hand. "There's something wrong with the water mill. Go over and help grind the feed."

When Fang Yiai walked towards the mill, Fang Xuanling asked in detail, "I heard that the Taoist priest has many chickens here?"

"Yeah." Chen Ran nodded, "Almost over ten thousand."

"By the beginning of next year, when the locust plague breaks out, there will be tens of thousands of them."

Fang Xuanling'（‵□′）'

His smile suddenly stopped. "What did you say, Taoist priest? Locust plague?!"

"The drought this year is severe, and locusts are multiplying in large numbers." Chen Ran responded, "The winter is not cold, so too many insect eggs will not be frozen to death. When the flowers bloom in spring next year, there will naturally be a locust plague."

Fang Xuanling's forehead was covered with sweat. "Master, don't joke around. This is a serious matter!"

"I never joke with men."

Chen Ran simply waved his hand and said, "If you don't believe me, go to the river and dig up the soil to see how many locust eggs there are."

Fang Xuanling stumbled to the river bank, and after a long time hurriedly returned to Chang'an City.

As the sky gradually darkened, the mighty cavalry team arrived at Lanqiao Posthouse.

Li Er actually managed to leave the city before dark!
When Li Er found Chen Ran, his first question was, "Will there really be a locust plague next spring?"

'That's what the history books record.'

Chen Ran, who was eating from a ceramic bowl, motioned for them to sit down. "I have been traveling around these days and checked the density of locust eggs in many places."

"The density is very high, and the winter is not cold. When spring comes and the flowers bloom, these locust eggs will hatch, and there will naturally be a locust plague."

Li Er was breathing heavily and his eyes were red.

The locust plague in the farming era was a truly fatal event.

And for Li Er, it's not just a disaster.

This is an ignorant age, and many people believe that there is a god above their heads.

A locust plague broke out not long after Li Er ascended the throne, which would be used by someone with ulterior motives as a weapon to attack him.

Especially those academic tycoons who specialize in playing with words, their brilliant writing can cause drastic consequences.

After a long silence, Li Er asked hoarsely, "Is there any way to solve it?"

"There must be a way, but it's very troublesome."

Li Er breathed a sigh of relief, he knew that Taoist Chen must have a solution.

"Compared to the people suffering from the disaster and the loss of crops, any trouble is nothing."

The best way, of course, is to use pesticides.

Chen Ran can exchange it from the system mall, but the quantity is too small. Facing the locust plague that has affected the entire Guanzhong area, it is completely a drop in the bucket.

“The best way is biological control.”

"The spiders in the ground can eat the eggs. When the locusts emerge, they can be eaten by poultry such as chickens, ducks, geese, and frogs. As long as there are enough locusts, they can eat all of them."

This made everyone laugh bitterly, but Fang Xuanling responded, "Master, the people are poor, how can they raise many poultry? I think there are not as many chickens in the whole Lantian County as here."

"The chickens I raise reproduce very quickly and don't get sick." Chen Ran shrugged. "If we wait a few more years, until every household in every place raises chickens, then things will be simple."

"Let's talk about the present first." Li Er brought the topic back. "Xuanling, go and make arrangements to gather all the poultry from the counties in Guanzhong."

"and many more."

Chen Ran interrupted Li Er and said, "Don't give orders if you don't understand. Large-scale concentration of poultry will cause the spread of plague. Don't let the poultry die before the locust plague even starts."

Li Er was not convinced and said, "You have tens of thousands of chickens here, why don't you have chicken plague?"

"I've said before, the chickens I raise don't get sick." Chen Ran responded, "The chickens I raise grow fast, while those raised in other places grow slowly. It's no use trying to catch up now."

"Then what else can be done?"

“Do you know neem?”

When asked by Chen Ran, only Sun Simiao knew: "Is it neem medicine?"

"Yes." Chen Ran nodded. "The bark, leaves, fruit and flowers of neem all have insecticidal effects. Hurry up and make insecticides and spray them all over the river beach. It can effectively kill a large number of locusts."

Sun Simiao stroked his beard and said, "I never thought that Chinaberry has such an effect."

Fang Xuanling wrote quickly, and as he wrote he instructed his followers to "hurry up and send an official document to all counties, asking them to turn all the bark, leaves, fruits and flowers of the neem tree into medicine."

The neem trees growing everywhere probably never imagined that they would be stripped clean from head to toe because of the locusts.

"Another thing is." Chen Ran thought about it and said, "Organophosphorus."

Everyone had a lot of question marks in their heads; they had never heard of this thing.

"It's a compound containing phosphorus. It involves chemistry and is very troublesome. Even if you use traditional methods to make it, it's extremely difficult."

Chen Ran warned solemnly, "This thing is extremely effective in killing insects, but it's poisonous!"

Organophosphorus pesticides in the modern world are basically insecticides, the most famous of which is dichlorvos~~~
"There is phosphate ore, and it can be made using traditional methods."

"However, whether it is produced, transported or used, there is a great risk of poisoning. You should think carefully before using it." "Dangerous?"

Li Er smiled for the first time. "No matter how dangerous it is, it can be as dangerous as starving people to death. Compared with being eaten by locusts and starving to death, being poisoned is nothing!"

Chen Ran thought about it carefully and finally decided, "In that case, I will take my students to make this thing, just in time to teach them the relevant chemical knowledge. Others must not interfere, otherwise something bad will happen."

There is definitely relevant knowledge. As for the necessary catalysts and some equipment, Chen Ran can grit his teeth and buy them from the system mall.

As for the rest, we'll just have to use all the traditional methods.

When a dynasty has strong control, many things can be done very smoothly.

Like this time, Li Er's imperial edict was conveyed through Fang Xuanling, and all places with chinaberry trees took action one after another. In a very short time, all the chinaberry trees that could be found were stripped bare.

From bark to leaves, from fruits to flowers, nothing is left out.

This is control and organizational ability.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen's will sometimes could not even extend beyond Beijing.

Neem definitely has an insecticidal effect, but compared to the huge locust plague that swept across Guanzhong, relying solely on Neem is definitely not enough.

Just like in the industrial age, to really do big things you still need industrial products, not natural products.

Chen Ran led his students to make organophosphorus pesticides.

Although in terms of effectiveness and safety, it cannot be compared with the chemical products in the modern world.

But the insects of this era have no drug resistance.

The final product is mainly composed of malathion and dichlorvos.

It can not only deal with locusts, but also kill all pests on a large scale.

Teaching is also carried out during the production process, imparting basic chemical knowledge, etc.

This group of students was the first group of people to come into contact with industrial chemistry in this era.

What is more surprising is that Fang Yiai, who had no interest in other subjects, developed a strong interest in chemical syntheses.

He even secretly prepared the potion himself.

"I don't know what to say about your hobby."

Looking at Fang Yiai who was caught in the act, Chen Ran scratched his head. "If I really teach you these things, if you have bad intentions, it will be a big disaster."

Fang Yiai quickly explained, "Master, I really like making these things, and I have absolutely no bad intentions."

You don't have bad intentions. In history, you participated in a rebellion.

“How can I educate you?”

Chen Ran also had a headache.

He simply asked, "You are not a child who has not shed hair anymore, do you have any wishes?"

Hearing this, the young Fang Yiai blushed and responded shyly, "I want to marry the princess~~~"

Chen Ran' (﹀＿﹀)'

You deserve it!

"Marrying the princess is an ambition, but before you can achieve your ambition, you have to kill a bald guy named Bian Ji first!"

Before the large-scale spraying of pesticides, Li Er once again found Chen Ran to talk about the matter.

"You mean, we should wait until the locusts start to appear before we start to kill them?" Chen Ran raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Er. "Are you trying to use the locusts to make a fuss, and then quickly put them out after someone jumps out, as a counterattack to achieve your own political goals?"

Li Er's beard was shaking.

Although the guy in front of him was wearing a Taoist robe, he looked like he was wearing a yellow robe and was well versed in political warfare.

I was just giving the beginning, but he actually told me his subsequent procedures.

"There are many people who oppose me, and they will do everything they can to cause trouble for me."

Li Er carefully chose his words: "I want to do things for the people of the world and cannot be hindered by them."

"Hey~~~"

Chen Ran smiled and asked, "Why are you playing word games in front of me? How could I not know what you are thinking?"
I've done your job, and I know it very well.

"I understand. It's a struggle for power."

Before Huang Chao's killing spree, the power and influence of the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty were extremely terrifying, and had a great impact on the imperial power.

In essence, Li Er was just competing for power with the aristocratic families.

"I don't care about anything else."

Chen Ran simply stated, "These things I give, whether it's corn, cotton or anything else, are absolutely not allowed to be distributed to the aristocratic families."

"If I knew that these aristocratic families used my things to make money, I would turn hostile."

Li Er almost couldn't suppress his joy. You want to turn against the aristocratic world? Great!

"I gave you the things." Chen Ran looked at him with a smile, "If anything goes wrong, I will only look for you."

Li Er's smile was suppressed before it could even appear.

"It's settled now." Li Er stood up and was about to leave. "Get ready. Once the matter in Chang'an is settled, you will immediately kill the locusts."

"Kill a few more."

Chen Ran shouted lightly, "Otherwise it won't be enough to establish your authority."

"Why do I need you to teach me how to do things?"

(End of this chapter)