In the face of the possible rise of locust plagues, Zhao Bing was helpless. After all, he had no experience in this area except those "indiscriminate and left-minded". As he knew, locust plagues were effectively controlled in Chinese history. After the founding of New China, the country spent a lot of effort to find out the source of locusts. Later, through various methods such as water conservancy and land reclamation, these places were completely changed to be unsuitable for locust laying eggs. In addition, the promotion of medicine and equipment gradually made locust plagues something that modern young people "have heard of but seen".

However, Zhao Bing also knew that locust plagues had been raging for thousands of years in history, and there must be strategies for governance in all dynasties. Even if these methods cannot completely eliminate locust plagues, they can definitely curb the expansion and spread of locust plagues. So he ordered his secretary to review history books, visit the people, and sort out a piece of relevant information on locust plagues as soon as possible for his reference, at least to give him a sensory understanding.

At the same time, Zhao Bing also asked the three provinces to come up with plans to control locusts, and the Ministry of Revenue took the lead. All departments cooperated to implement the locust plague as soon as possible, and strive to control the locust plague within a certain range and reduce losses. In addition, we must do a good job in disposing of the disaster after the failure of the disaster, provide timely relief to the victims, preventing the formation of a wave of refugees, causing the spread of the disaster and causing unrest.

Although the secretary and supervisor had few staff, they were smart and capable. Zhao Bing gave the oral instructions, and the personnel of several departments divided the work and cooperated immediately, and they devoted themselves to finding historical materials and visiting relevant personnel. It took only one or two nights to sort out a piece of information, which was delivered to him first than the provincial and ministers.

Zhao Bing has seen it and is quite satisfied. The records of locust plagues in history are quite detailed, but they are relatively simple in terms of how to manage them. He can understand this. After all, their knowledge and experience are also limited, and it is impossible to obtain first-hand information and personal experience, so it is just excerpted historical materials and narratives of witnesses, but these are enough for the present.

According to the information they presented: As an agricultural power with a long agricultural civilization, the ancestors of the Chinese had long recorded locust plagues and began to explore ways to control them. The earliest records of locust plagues appeared in the "Book of Songs: Katyx" chapter "The feathers of the sacred are scattered, and the descendants are striking." In the ancient saying "Katyx" is called locusts.

The first clear records of locust plagues appeared in historical materials, which appeared in "The Fifth Year of Duke Huan", "Autumn, severe drought, and katy." In the Spring and Autumn Period, historical books had the practice of "no disasters are written", so historians recorded them in history, which can infer that the locusts at that time had become a major disaster. In that era when the records and statistics were not yet perfect, there were twelve records of locust plagues.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the development of agricultural civilization has been an attitude of increasing importance to locust plagues throughout the dynasties, and has more detailed records of locust plagues and their management methods in history books. Judging from historical books, almost all historical books have detailed records of locust plagues, and they are developing in an increasingly detailed direction.

During the Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, national turmoil was lacking in historical books, but related records of locust plagues can still be seen in historical books of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Song Book: Five Elements Records": In the fourth year of Yongjia, Emperor Huai of Jin, "the big locusts were from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the Qin, Yong, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred, from the sacred,

Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the government system has become more and more sound, and the records and control of locust plagues have become more detailed and strong. "Old Book of Tang·Five Elements": "In June of the second year of Zhenguan, the capital was drought and locust food was eaten." In the Tang Dynasty, great efforts were put into control of locust plagues, and locusts were used as food for the year of disasters, which also began in the Tang Dynasty.

But Zhao Bing also discovered a historical dividing line. Before the Tang Dynasty, there were some records of locust plagues, but methods of controlling locust plagues were rare. And this line can also be used as the boundary between two theories. The ancients in the past thought that everything in the world was the punishment of the dissatisfaction of the heavens to the lower realm, and could only be attributed to the punishment of the heavens, and locusts were descended from the sky.

Influenced by this view, there was always a voice in ancient society that believed that the lack of morality angered the heavens and caused disasters to come to heaven. Therefore, people wanted to impress the heavens through sacrifices and eliminate disasters. Therefore, whenever a locust plague occurs, the people often worship the "locust gods", hoping that the disasters will disappear and ties their destiny to ghosts and gods.

So, as the emperor who ruled the people of the world, what would their approach be? Therefore, rulers usually regard locust plagues as punishment from God. If they want to avoid locust plagues, they can only eliminate them by reviewing their own poor governance, and even issue self-criticism to eliminate disasters and seek refuge. Therefore, they adopted the destiny of letting locust plagues sit idly, and responded passively to fight against disasters, only working hard to relieve disaster victims, and not thinking about how to control locust plagues.

However, such practices did not weaken the locust plague at all, but instead caused serious damage to agricultural production and people's lives. Historical records also state: "Taizong caught locusts in the garden and cursed them, "They took grain as their life, and you harmed them, which is to harm our people. The people have made mistakes, and I am giving them one person. If you are spiritual, you should eat me and not harm our people." Then he swallowed them." But he was still in the stage of hatred and did not take effective measures.

However, Li Shimin's move set a precedent for eating locusts. The custom of eating locusts was formed in the Tang Dynasty. Locusts became delicacies all year round, and were gifted when visiting each other. Zhao Bing also believed that in ancient society where food was scarce, locusts could indeed be regarded as good nutritional products. The crude protein content of locusts was very high, and the nutritional value was equivalent to that of fish. In the locust area, the people drowned the excess locusts and dried them and stored them, which could also be prepared for emergencies.

The real opening of the imperial court to control locusts was during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. In the court, a drama of Yao Chong's words and fighting corrupt scholars was staged. Lu Huaishen said, "Locusts are natural disasters, how can they be controlled by human affairs?... and they kill too many insects, which hurts harmony." His views seem ridiculous now, but they were the mainstream at that time. Otherwise, in that era when the emperor was supreme, how could the locust have the same name as the locust?

Yao Chong was not an ordinary person, and directly mocked the court, "If he could be avoided by cultivating virtue, would he not have virtue?" Then he pointed out that "the Shandong locusts in Wei Dynasty were reluctant to be eliminated, and they ate each other." Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was persuaded to carry out locust control, and he achieved the result of "trapping more than one million stones of locusts". In the fifth year of Kaiyuan, a locust catcher was set up to specialize in the control of locusts.

The time for locust control this time can be said to be a sign of history. From then on, the ruling class of locust plague control was no longer a passive response, believing that locust plague is a natural disaster and that it cannot be violated, but began to actively respond to locust plague from top to bottom. The thinking changed, and with the wisdom of the ancestors, it was too easy to do things. Policies for locust control emerged one after another, with remarkable results, and locust control work entered a new era.

Since entering this dynasty, the records of locust plagues have gradually increased. The main reasons are not only the chaos in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, but also the census and records of locust plagues have been more detailed. From the founding of the country to the present, more than 70 locust plagues have been recorded, both large and small. With the development of history, the changes in attitude towards locust plagues and the accumulation of management experience have also led to the continuous progress of locust control policies.

In Zhao Bing's view, the methods of locust control found by the secretary's supervisor are very general. The main methods are rewarding locusts, legislating locusts to catch, and promoting locust control. Among them, they believe that the policy of rewarding locusts to catch is the most effective.

In terms of locust control methods, for the ancients, in an era without science, using human power to kill locusts became the best choice, but in Zhao Bing's opinion, there are many things to pay attention to.

One is the method of cutting off children and grandchildren. The ancients believed that locusts "can be passed on to life, and one stone can reach a thousand stones, so it is particularly urgent to dig out the eggs in the winter months." To put it bluntly, it is to dig locust eggs, and this egg dig is not just a casual dig. According to the description, digging eggs should be: "It is easy to find when winter is sunny and rainy, so be sure to search and dig, and set a sign at the end of the dig to see. I have seen no children in spring, and I should still look at them again in early summer to prevent missing." In other words, the matter of eliminating evil must be done several times, otherwise the reproduction ability of locusts is tens of thousands to tens of thousands of times.

The second is to bury locusts alive. A more effective method is to first dig a ditch with men, women, young and old, then dig a ditch with two feet deep and wide, and make a pit about a trench about a meter apart in the ditch to bury it. Put some food in the ditch to lure the locusts to eat. After the locusts come, they will start to irrigate. The locusts will definitely not jump out. In this way, all the locusts will be buried alive after several round trips.

Third, Zhao Bing seems to be the most scientific. Yao Chong invented this method. Yao Chong discovered that "locusts fly by the wall, and they must go to the fire at night." It also took advantage of the characteristics of locusts' light-catching. Therefore, Yao Chong suggested to build a large number of simple shacks, and then attract a large number of locusts with a bonfire, and then burn them collectively. Although this trick is effective, it is quite costly and often easily leads to the destruction of farmland. It can be said that it is a last resort. However, the effect is said to be very good, and this method is also used in modern times, but it is already an improved version, and the bonfire is replaced by electric lights.

In addition, the biological control method is also mentioned, and there is a successful experience in releasing ducks to control locusts: (locusts) have not yet been discharged, and ducks can eat them. Hundreds of ducks flocks enter the rice bed, and the locusts are gone in an instant. It is also a method of catching locusts in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition to ducks, birds also record the resistance to locusts. During the Kaiyuan Locust plague in the Beizhou locust in the Tang Dynasty, when the locusts were coming, tens of thousands of white birds suddenly flew over and swept the locusts. Local officials immediately thanked God and formed a tradition - when there was a locust plague, they would ask the gods to bless them and quickly come and have some birds.
Chapter completed!