After traveling through time, I was raised by a little brat

After rushing to several villages non-stop, we've visited every village in Liu County, east, west, south, and north. These villages face various problems, but the most pressing one is the locust plague next year. An elder in one village also clearly stated that a locust plague will occur next year.

When Tang Wenshu heard the word "locust plague," he immediately thought of the crops. There was a high possibility of a total loss. Then, the villagers would have nothing to eat. And the relief grain in Liu County might not be enough.

If they waited too long to request food from the court, Liu County would have been completely devastated by starvation. This would have led to a plague, and ultimately the court would have surrounded Liu County, isolated it, and burned it down.

She knew that in ancient times, there was no better solution to the plague. But what was even worse was that after the locusts had devoured Liu County, they would continue to wreak havoc southward, and the entire Yangzhou would be plunged into disaster.

The more Tang Wenshu thought about it, the more frightened she became. When she returned to the county government office, she couldn't wait to jump off the donkey cart, ran in hurriedly, and shouted loudly: "Brother! Brother!" Her panic-stricken appearance frightened the county officials, who were worried that something had happened to this young lady.

"What's wrong with Shushu?" Tang Qi hugged her tightly and comforted her gently, "Don't be afraid, I'm here for you."

"Brother, there's a locust plague!" Tang Wenshu's voice trembled with fear. Now, in front of her family, she finally dared to reveal her true fear. Previously, when facing the villagers, she had always feigned composure. She was not only the magistrate of Liu County, but also the face of the entire county. As the local leader, if she showed fear and ran away, what would the villagers do? They would be thrown into panic.

The officials who had rushed over to check on the situation after hearing Miss Tang calling out "Big Brother" felt a little awkward when they saw the two hugging each other, and they all turned around to leave. However, when they heard Tang Wenshu mention the word "locust plague," everyone was stunned.

Immediately afterwards, someone shouted in horror: "Oh my God! Is the locust plague coming again?" One of the officials was so scared that his face turned pale and he ran out without hesitation, as if the locust plague was already at hand.

"Stop him!" Tang Qi shouted. Kuang Tie, who was standing at the door, quickly took action and grabbed the official who was running desperately. It turned out that the official was none other than Lu Jiaoyu.

This calmed Lu down. He said in a trembling voice, "Sir! Let's flee quickly. The locust plague is terrible. I've seen it before. The ground is covered with starving corpses, leaving no grass behind."

Eight years ago, Lu Shengying was a scholar in Yuzhou, intently studying for his imperial examinations at home in the countryside. Unlike Yangzhou, Yuzhou only grows a single crop of rice, and late August is harvest time. However, just as the rice was about to turn from green to yellow, a disaster struck: a locust swarm.

That day, Lu Shengying was immersed in a book, oblivious to the passage of time. Realizing it was getting late, he prepared to close the window, light a lamp, and continue reading when he was surprised to find the sky outside had grown unusually dark. Puzzled, he gazed into the distance, only to see a dense swarm of locusts descending, seemingly overwhelming the bright summer day, reduced to a shroud of darkness.

At first, he thought he was seeing things, but soon realized that these were not ordinary dark clouds, but swarms of locusts. Fear instantly surged in his heart, and he remembered the horror stories he had heard about locusts, and knew that they would eat all the food they could find.

Those villagers who, unwilling to abandon their crops, rushed to drive away the locusts met a tragic fate. They were surrounded by the swarms, bitten and mauled. Faced with such a massive swarm, the villagers were powerless to fight back. They fled terrified into their homes, shutting their doors and windows tightly for protection. But this was only a temporary refuge, as once the locusts devoured their crops, the villagers would face starvation.

At that time, Lu Shengying's parents died in the fields. His brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were driven back into the house by his parents, thus escaping the disaster. However, the family had long since run out of food, and the whole family could only hope for a good harvest that year.

Later, because the village could no longer make a living, they had to embark on a migration and eventually became refugees. During the migration, his nephew was sold. Although he suspected that this was most likely for the purpose of exchanging children for food, he was powerless to stop it.

Soon after, his brother and sister-in-law also passed away from illness. He was now completely alone in the world. Fortunately, they arrived safely in Yangzhou. With his status as a scholar, he was assigned to the county government as a private legal advisor, a position he held until his current position as a teacher.

"Locusts are indeed very scary, but there are ways to deal with them." Tang Qi said confidently. Even Tang Wenshu beside him widened his eyes, looking at him curiously, waiting for what to say next.

Tang Qi smiled slightly and continued to explain, "Locusts are actually edible. If a locust plague really occurs, we can have the government issue a notice to encourage the people to catch locusts and use them as a source of food. This will not only solve the problem of food shortages, but also reduce the number of locusts."

Tang Qi then proposed another method: "Also, we can raise poultry like chickens and ducks to deal with locusts. These poultry like to eat locusts and can effectively control their numbers. Another method is to dig ditches and use fire attacks. Locusts will be attracted to the flames and then burned to death. As more locusts are burned to death, the fire will grow stronger, attracting more locusts to fly there."

Tang Qi spoke eloquently, and Tang Wenshu was unconsciously drawn to him. She secretly marveled at her elder brother's incredible abilities! She had only learned about these situations from reading related novels in her previous life, but she had never expected that her elder brother, an ancient person, knew all of them, and even knew them in greater detail than she did.

Finally, Tang Qi concluded, "The most important thing is to try to eliminate the insects while they're still in their egg stage. As the saying goes, 'Prevention is better than cure.' Nipping the danger in the bud is the most effective way."

After listening to Tang Qi's explanation, the officials of Liu County suddenly realized that the locusts were not invincible. Lu Shengying, in particular, said with regret, "If I had known these methods back then, those innocent villagers wouldn't have died tragically." Yet, his face was now filled with fighting spirit and determination, as if he saw the hope of revenge. "Sir, if a locust plague does ever break out, please send me to the worst-affected areas. I will personally slay as many locusts as possible and avenge the deaths of the villagers!"

Tang Qi agreed without hesitation and encouraged him, "Well done, Lu Shengying! If that day ever comes, I will definitely let you lead the fight against the locusts and bring peace to the people."

Then, Tang Qi turned to look at Tang Wenshu, and smiled to comfort her: "See, sister, the locusts are not as scary as you think. But even so, we still need to remind father and make him fully prepared. After all, it is very likely that this situation will not only occur in Liu County, Yangzhou."

Tang Wenshu nodded. With his elder brother around, the locust plague was no longer scary.