Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 35: Controlling the Locust Plague, a Half-Step Winner
For the current Han people;

——The inspiring effect of this great victory on people's hearts actually far exceeds the specific benefits.

In the current situation of constant natural disasters, nothing can boost morale better than a big victory.

This is exactly what Gu Xi wanted.

As soon as the battle ended, he ordered people to spread the news throughout the world.

When the news spread completely.

Both the government and the public were shocked!

The Han Dynasty's government today is very different from what it was during the time of Gu Sheng and Gu Kang.

Years of regency have created a clear gap between Gu Xi and other ministers, and no one cares how much more merit Gu Xi can achieve.

After all, no matter how much merit he has achieved, Gu Xi can only go so far, and it will not affect their interests.

Now that they heard of the great victory, they were naturally overjoyed.

As for Liu Hu and Deng Sui.

As long as Gu Xi is safe, it will be a good thing for the Han Dynasty, let alone a great victory.

As for the public reaction, it was much more intense.

Many people attributed the credit for this great victory to Gu Xi's Luoshui sacrifice.

Under this situation.

Some rumors about the court's superstitions were also self-defeating.

In addition, the imperial court’s disaster relief efforts never stopped!
Amidst these rumors, the hearts of the Han people returned!
This is a very obvious change.

Even if natural disasters continue.

But as long as the haze in people's hearts gradually dissipates, for the current Han Dynasty, this series of natural disasters will not be able to shake the foundation of the Han Dynasty.

The most important thing is that Gu Xi’s methods are not over yet.

After noticing the change in public opinion, Gu Xi immediately began to arrange a series of artificial auspicious events.

There are various rumors such as words appearing on ancient monuments, divine birds delivering letters, white pheasants suddenly appearing in the world, and unicorns appearing in the world.

He didn't even try to act it out.

Just let people spread it.

The power of rumors has always been like a tide hidden in the dark.

It seems invisible, but it can create huge waves at critical moments and influence the direction of the situation.

Taking advantage of the momentum of this great victory.

These rumors spread to all parts of the Han Dynasty at an alarming speed.

"What? A white pheasant appeared in the forest? And finally walked into the capital? Oh, this is a call from Daxing!"

"Have you heard? A huge rock descended from the summit of Mount Tai, with words written on it, saying that the natural disasters that befell our Han Dynasty were merely tests from heaven, and that if we could survive them, we would prosper forever."

"The Jingxing appears in the night sky? Is this true?"

"."

In the end, there was no need for Gu Xi to make any arrangements. Once the rumor spread, the people themselves would create many miracles and pass them on.

came back.
They're all back!

The great man who once had great national prestige seems to have really returned!
Even though there are still sorcerers who want to spread rumors, they still cannot stop this trend. There have even been cases where people got angry and directly beat up sorcerers.

And Gu's reputation actually skyrocketed in this favorable situation.

All this made Gu Yi dumbfounded.

Why does it feel like Gu Xi's attitude towards the concepts of ghosts and gods is even more disdainful than Gu Kang and Gu Sheng's?
If only this could continue to be passed down.

How far ahead can the Gu family's children really be in terms of their thinking?

Moreover, for people with high political skills, there is a high probability that this will have unexpected effects.

This was indeed completely beyond Gu Yi's expectations.

The entire Han Dynasty temple is waiting for Gu Xi's return.

Especially Liu Hu.

Wang Sheng's sudden death by drowning made Liu Hu very sad.

He has had a deep affection for this wet nurse since he was a child.

Now that Wang Sheng is dead, his dependence on Gu Xi has become even deeper, and he is always waiting for Gu Xi's return.

However, Gu Xi did not plan to return to the court directly.

Now the people of the Han Dynasty have made up their minds.

He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to completely pull the big man out of this dire situation.

Disaster relief!

He no longer intended to stay in the court and oversee the overall situation.

The disaster relief strategies for various places have been basically determined.

The next step is to focus on the details.

Disaster relief is extremely profitable.

Although Gu Xi has been keeping an eye on this matter, human nature always seems too weak in the face of interests.

Now the government is stable and people's hearts are gradually warming.

If we don't take this opportunity to launch comprehensive action.

If the big man wants to truly and completely survive this disaster, it will take him an extremely long time.

He first went to Bingzhou and Liangzhou, the prefectures and counties that were most severely affected by the disaster.

Personally supervised the progress of officials' disaster relief.

He will use his current reputation to appease the local people, and then make more detailed changes to the disaster relief plan through actual investigation.

The effect is amazing.

Gu Xi's reputation is too high.

Today, he can even be said to have surpassed Gu Kang.

As regent, he has the power of life and death and dismissal over officials from all over the country.

Officials from all over the country feared him like a tiger.

When people heard that Gu Xi had arrived in person, no one dared to do anything about the disaster relief.

Countless people are grateful to Gu Xi.

Gu Xi really became that ray of light, breaking through the haze that had shrouded the entire Han Dynasty for many years.

However, things are not destined to always go smoothly.

Natural disasters will not change in the slightest due to human intervention.

——The fourth year of Yongchu.

Locust plagues still occurred in various places.

In fact, this is what a locust plague is like. As long as a locust plague occurs in a place, the locusts of that year will leave behind countless eggs.

Come back next year.

This is a difficult problem that is difficult to deal with in this era.

Gu Xi personally rushed to the disaster site to observe, and asked people to take all the books left by Gu Kang and began to study them carefully.

There is no need to say much about Gu Kang's talent in farming.

Under Gu Yi's education.

His farming skills are overwhelming for the current era.

Gu Kang naturally also left behind some methods to deal with locust plagues.

After careful study.

Decided to turn over the soil!
This is the method left by Gu Kang, which is different from most methods in the current era.

It means turning the soil on a large scale when locusts lay eggs.

And this time the soil will be turned deeper.

Bury all insect eggs underground to make it more difficult for them to hatch, and replace the crops traditionally grown in the area.

This is the experience Gu Kang discovered after years of paying attention to farming.

Although Gu Xi didn't know whether he could solve such a large locust plague, since things had come to this point, why should he worry?

The biggest characteristic of this woman, Deng Sui, is her great courage.

She is not like ordinary women who would panic and hesitate when facing big things.

After receiving Gu Xi's letter.

She didn't hesitate at all and agreed to it directly, handing over the full authority to Gu Xi.

Of course, it was impossible for Gu Xi to implement this matter all over the world at once.

Not to mention whether the big man can withstand such consumption.

If this matter is useless, it will deal a heavy blow to the public morale that has just recovered.

He simply chose to conduct the experiment in states and counties where the locust plague was most severe.

——Jizhou!
That’s right, Jizhou was the area most severely affected by the locust plague.

Jizhou is a major grain-producing province with a dense population.

And because of the existence of the Gu family, the population of Jizhou today is actually much larger than in history.

Its agricultural development far exceeds that of other states and counties.

It is precisely because of this that the locust plague that affected the entire country dealt the greatest blow to the entire Jizhou.

It has also been the headquarters of the Gu family for many years.

If it is carried out in Jizhou, the people will definitely give enough support.

This is the most important reason.

This matter is destined to be earth-shattering.

Just like Gu Kang managed the river in the past, Gu Xi wanted to use human power to fight against natural disasters.

The national strength left by generations of ancestors gave Gu Xi full confidence.

In the autumn of the fourth year of Yongchu, Gu Xi personally started this grand project in Jizhou that was destined to go down in history.

He ordered local governments to organize the people.

He personally supervises the work and sets standards.

Locust eggs are usually about an inch underground. In the current feudal era, it is impossible to achieve completely standardized engineering.

Gu Xi could only ask the people to turn the soil deeper as much as possible.

The Gu family's talents in farming are known throughout the world.

Not to mention that Gu Xi's reputation has already spread throughout the world.

People in various places have suffered from disasters for a long time.

Faced with this policy, there is no reason to refuse at all.

What’s more, Gu Xi took the lead in going to the fields?

The entire Jizhou began to move.

Even the big families in various places are cooperating with this matter.

Natural disasters do not discriminate against people.

Compared with normal people, even these big families who own more land are more afraid of disasters.

The only difference is that they can still survive.

But the people cannot survive.

Gu Yi has been watching all this silently.

In fact, he didn't know whether this measure would work.

According to original history, natural disasters continued to occur throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty during this period.

Don’t say anything else.

The locust plague alone lasted for a full six years.

The heritage left by the previous emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty was almost drained.

Although the Han Dynasty is much stronger today than in its past, the increase in population has also increased food consumption.

He wasn't sure whether Gu Xi could end all this early.

Although Gu Xi was in charge of everything in Jizhou from outside.

But inside the Han Dynasty temple, the movement did not stop.

October.

News came from coastal states and counties.

It is said that pirates attacked the city and robbed the people.

There is naturally no need to trouble Gu Xi with such matters.

Deng Sui quickly formulated a strategy and sent generals such as Wang Zong and Fa Xiong to lead the army to destroy the bandits, winning victory after victory.

At the same time, Deng Sui was supervising disaster relief in other states and counties.

Nor has it given up on recruiting talents.

Zhang Heng and others successively came to power.

Liu Hu has also changed now, perhaps because those people with evil intentions have been dealt with, or perhaps because of Gu Xi's original promise.

When he gradually calmed down and observed Deng Sui from another perspective.

He actually discovered that Deng Sui was not what he had thought before.

Whether it is from the perspective of governing the country;
Or in other aspects;
Deng Sui was completely different from the Empress Dowager Dou.

And the most important thing is that as he began to work harder, Deng Sui gradually reduced her preaching to him.

This is definitely a major change.

Even if the emperor has no power, he is still the emperor.

When the emperor and the regent queen dowager gradually get together, it will have a certain impact on the entire court.

The whole big man seemed to have changed.

Although Jizhou has a vast territory, the arable land is limited.

For someone of Gu Xi's status, it doesn't take much time to accomplish something.

Just after the soil is turned over.

Gu Xi conducted another series of investigations.

The people were asked to plant crops that were completely different from previous years.

We used to grow millet, now we grow beans!

In the past, we planted beans, now we plant millet!
Although doing so may affect production.

But for the Han Dynasty at present, stopping the locust plague is the top priority.

——In the fifth year of Yongchu, it was the time of spring plowing.

Gu Xi and his accompanying officials inspected the entire Jizhou area.

Looking at the people working in the fields, the officials all felt a little heavy-hearted.

Their looks and expressions are completely different.

Years of natural disasters have already pushed them into a desperate situation, and they all look a little thin.

The same is true for the tenant farmers of the large families.

But their faces were filled with anticipation.

Obviously, everyone is looking forward to this year's harvest.

Gu's efforts to control the locust plague gave them high hope.

This is the purest expectation.

It is also the strength that faith brings to them.

"Grandmaster..." Following behind Gu Xi, Yuan Chang couldn't help but sigh deeply, "If there's another locust plague this year, what should we do?"

Yuan Chang is Yuan An's third son and the current Sikong. He has an upright character and is highly regarded by Gu Xi.

In fact, in the original history, he had already died by this time.

The reason was because of his discord with Deng Sui.

But now because of Gu Xi's existence.

He perfectly served as a buffer between these ministers and Deng Sui, which is why he is still alive.

"What else can we do?" Gu Xi said calmly, "The only thing we can do is try another method and continue to deal with the disaster."

Hearing this, Yuan Chang fell silent. After sighing deeply, he spoke again:

"I wonder how long God will test me, a great man."

Even the most talented people cannot escape the limitations of the times.

This was obviously the case with Yuan Chang.

Hearing this, Gu Xi gradually stopped.

He looked at the farmers busy in the fields, saw the expectant expressions on their faces, and then looked up at the sky.

How could he not feel pressure?

It can be said that he carries almost all the burdens.

But for Gu Xi, he just had his own persistence.

We must not let the big man make mistakes in his hands!

After a moment of silence, Gu Xi suddenly spoke, as if muttering to himself, "If we are really playing chess with God..."

"Then I want to be a little better than God."

He paused, turned to look at the officials who were stunned, and continued with great determination:
"I absolutely cannot let the big man fall into my hands."

"Absolutely not!"

After saying that, Gu Xi stepped forward again.

Looking at Gu Xi's back, the ministers were all stunned.

The eyes of the world are focused here.

Regarding the Gu family's children's control of the locust plague, the reactions of people all over the world were almost the same.

———all have great expectations.

As spring plowing comes to an end, crops are beginning to grow in various places.

The news I least want to hear still comes.

Among the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, locust plagues broke out in nine provinces.

And Jizhou is also among them.

However, compared with the locust plagues in other states and counties and the locust plague in Jizhou last year, the locust plague in Jizhou this year is much smaller.

Gu Xi simply asked the people in various places to hunt and kill according to the old law.
The locust plague was suppressed!

Although there are still some remnants that have caused damage to crops, it is far from reaching the level of a disaster.

When this incident came out, the whole world was shocked!
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"In the fourth year of Yongchu, there was a great famine in Bingliang, and the roads were blocked with corpses of starving people.

When Grand Tutor Gu Xi returned from suppressing the rebellion, he did not go to Luoyang to report the victory, but instead led a hundred cavalrymen to Bingzhou to supervise the relief efforts.

In the summer of that year, locusts swarmed in Ji, Yan, Yu, Qing, and Xu counties, covering the sky with their wings flapping like thunder, and darkness lasted for three days.

Xi remembered the old rules left by Marquis Wencheng, so he supervised the people of Jizhou to dig the ground and seal the locusts underground.

He personally held a plow in the suburbs of Julu, and the calluses on his back were bleeding, staining the plow handle.

When the common people saw the purple robes stained with dust, they all wept and worked hard.

The following year, locusts swarmed all over the country, and only in Ji Province could one occasionally see flying shadows among the fields. Compared with other counties, only one in ten could survive.

The emperor once sighed, "Gu Gong cut his back to save the people. This is a blessing for the country."

——"Book of the Later Han Dynasty. Biography of Gu Xi"

(End of this chapter)