They didn't have a good rest all night, but were all resisting the slap of the locusts crawling in from all gaps in the kitchen. They were making noise all night until dawn the next day, and the movement gradually became smaller.

At dawn, they found that the terrifying rustling sounds disappeared, and there were no locusts crawling on the windows. There were no grasshoppers in the gaps that could crawl in.

Gu Yezhou carefully opened a gap in the kitchen door and took a look. The terrifying locusts outside were gone, as if they had never been here!

He opened the door and went out, walked to the corridor, and looked out. The whole village was quiet and the sky was clear, and there was no grasshopper. Yesterday's overwhelming locust was gone.

Looking into the distance, the rice fields outside the village were clean, and the rice swaying in the wind disappeared out of thin air, leaving only bare poles standing in the rice fields. It was really desolate.

Gu Yezhou turned around and said, "Close the door of rice! Go out and take a look."

"I'll go too!" Ning Sanmei said anxiously, jogging and running downstairs as Gu Yezhou ran downstairs.

Boss Ning and others were going to go, but they were pulled by Ning Sanmei's mother. The old lady cursed in a low voice: "Why are you watching the fun? Why don't you think of a solution quickly!"

"What are you thinking?" Boss Ning said in confusion.

Ning's mother thrust into the several rooms where the rice was put in, and her voice was soft: "Those rice! The harvest was awful this year, and the harvest was even less. It wasn't enough for our family to fill the gaps. If we pay the rent to the teacher, what food do we have left?"

"What mother means..."

"I was a mess yesterday, and the gentleman didn't care about counting it, so while he was not here, we hurriedly hid some rice first. When he counted it, we could pay less rent!"

"This..." Boss Ning scratched his head, "Not very good."

"Not good?" Ning's mother glared and said, "This is our food for more than a year! We must persist until next autumn harvest! Without food, do you eat the northwest wind? Do you want to starve me to death?"

"No, mom." Ning Laoer also spoke for his brother, "Isn't there any kudzu root, bracken, shepherd's purse, etc. on the mountain? You can dig wild vegetables to eat. Why did you starve to death?"

"What do you know? You haven't tasted the days of real hunger!" Ning's mother's eyes were full of desolation, "Thinking back then, your grandpa and grandma, they starved to death. They gave me all the only grain. I was still young at that time. But I remember that it was also a severe drought for several years, and the crops were roasted to death in the fields. Nothing was fruitful. Everyone digged bracken and kudzu root, but for a few years, the bracken and kudzu roots all over the mountain would always be dug out. As a result, the bracken and kudzu roots were dug out, so they could only dig grass roots. The grass roots were gone, so they ate the bark and eat the leaves! But the severe drought, the trees on the mountain were also yellow, so what green leaves were there to eat? Even the leaves were robbed, and many people died, and the village was almost dead! Your grandparents, they just couldn't defecate with leaves, and they swelled alive! Alas!"

Ning's father also sighed and said, "Yes, I remember the famine in the early years. There are dead people on the roadside, and some of them are hungry and they can't help but eat dead flesh! You have never seen it, I have seen it with my own eyes."

Ning's mother said again: "Yes, this year's situation is even worse than the severe drought in the early years. If it is a severe drought for several years, it will really starve to death! So, if we don't prepare some food earlier, we will really start to famine. You guys will wait to starve to death!"

Boss Ning and Boss Ning looked at each other. They were both shocked by the scene their mother said and asked in a low voice: "What should we do?"

"Hurry up and carry some loads of rice and hide it somewhere. When the gentleman comes, he will say that there is only so much!"

Several people nodded, and Boss Ning asked again: "Where is the best place to hide? The rice picking is not a needle."

"Hidden in the vegetable cellar! Mr. cannot go to inspect the vegetable cellar."

In the past, every household in the village had their own vegetable fields to grow vegetables to eat. So every household had a vegetable cellar. However, in the past two years, it was difficult for people to drink water. There was still excess water there to water the vegetables. So the vegetables were dead. So the vegetable cellar was empty.

Ning's vegetable cellar was next to the cattle shed under the stilt house. When Ning's mother said this, they all nodded and said yes. So the family immediately started to do it. Ning's mother was not very thighs and feet were too tight, so she let the air at the intersection, and the others began to transfer rice.

They transferred several large tracts of rice into the cellar, and they all chose the best rice ears to make. Then they put a pair of manure buckets on the cover of the cellar. Seeing that there were no flaws, they felt relieved.

———————————————

Ning Sanmei chased downstairs, Gu Yezhou walked quickly in front, and she followed closely behind. The rice fields in the villages and houses that passed were all left with bare poles, which was even more shocking.

She bit her red lips, speeded up her pace to catch up with Gu Yezhou, and said with a blushing face: "Sir..., I'm sorry..."

Gu Yezhou stopped and looked back at her.

Ning Sanmei's eyes were a little red: "If it weren't for your persistence, I'm afraid that our rice would be gone... Yesterday I tried my best to stop you. I'm so stupid..."

Gu Yezhou sighed: "It's a pity that I can't control the others. I watched all the rice fields in the fields be eaten up by locusts, but there was no way. Alas!"

When Gu Yezhou and Ning Sanmei came to the entrance of the village, they understood why the village was quiet, because almost all the villagers sat in their bare rice fields, looking at the bare poles and crying. Both adults and children were.

The terraced fields all over the mountains were gone, and there was no trace of rice left in the dry fields. Of course, the locusts that took away all this were gone except for a small number of those killed on the ground.

Mori was standing at the entrance of the village, looking at everything in front of him with a pale face. Two other wealthy families in the village, Old Master Long and Ma Mazi, stood behind him. Behind him were their children. Mo Huaixiang was squatting on the ground, and she had no strength to stand up.

Gu Yezhou walked to her and stood up, looking at everything in front of him. Although his warning had been verified and his rice had been collected, he was still not happy at all. Seeing so much food disappear, no matter who it was, he would not be in a good mood.

Mo Huaixiang turned around and saw him, and smiled bitterly: "Sir, you are right, but unfortunately, we didn't listen to you..."

Gu Yezhou shook his head and sighed.

Morrie was silent, looked at Old Master Long and Ma Mazi, tilted his head, then turned around and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Old Master Long and Ma Mazi followed closely, and the three of them returned to Morizheng's stilt house and sat down in the main hall. No one spoke for a while.

Morrie spoke first and said, "Brothers, this plague of locusts is a disaster from the sky. Our village is suffering from disaster. What's the point of not curing you?"

Ma Mazi smiled faintly: "It's okay, my family's food is enough to eat for more than ten years. What are you afraid of? You two families have more food, so don't be afraid."

Old Master Long smiled and looked at him: "You didn't understand Li Zheng's words. Li Zheng was about to say what we were going to do with our rent? And, what should I do with the court's land tax?"

"Why do you want to ask?" Ma Mazi touched her chin, "Of course, no grain of rice can be missing! I was thinking about how to collect the rent. Now I have just been plagued by locusts, and there is no grain in the field. It is impossible to collect rent from the field. However, the tenant should still have some food at home, so it is better to take the initiative and collect the food quickly."

Old Master Long smiled and beat him up without a smile, saying, "But what about the court's land tax? The summer is collected, and the autumn is the one? The court only talks about disaster relief, but does not say tax exemption. Is this what I am worried about?"

Morrie nodded: "Yes! This is what I am worried about. Now, Huang Chao's rebels are very fierce. Even Chang'an has occupied it. The emperor doesn't know where to go. When the court is using troops, is there still less military ration? This time it is said to be disaster relief, but the food allocated is not enough for the people to get stuck in the teeth, which is enough to show how tight the food of the court is. In this case, I am afraid that the court will not reduce the land tax in our disaster area. It would be a blessing if it does not increase."

Old Master Long said, "Yes, this is completely possible. Moreover, this time the locusts flew from another place and flew to another place, which means that many places must have suffered disasters. If there are too many disasters, the court will not reduce the exemption. After all, there are too many."

Ma Mazi said: "You should go to the county town to inquire about it first, and report the disaster in our village to the county. Request tax reduction and exemption."

"I'm just planning to ask you two to come. I want to discuss with you. Don't collect rent first. Wait until I go to the county town and then decide when I get the result. What do you think?"

Old Master Long and Ma Mazi looked at each other, and both hesitated.

Morri was thinking about it and said, "In addition to asking you to delay the rent collection, there is another thing to discuss with you. This time the village was hit by the disaster, and all the rice was gone. Anyway, the food of our three families is enough for more than ten years, and it is not bad for this year. So, for the sake of the same village, those farmers who are in trouble at home should not collect rent this year. Is it OK?"

"That's not possible!" Ma Mazi glared and said, "It is natural to collect rent from tenants! The rules left by our ancestors: If the entire field is destroyed by floods, we deserve to not collect rent. However, if there are heavy drought, rain, strong winds, and grain production is reduced, the rent will still be collected! Although there was no such thing as locust plague in the past, and I don't know what my ancestors thought about it, but my idea is that if the fields are not damaged, we should pay the rent! There is nothing to say! If the locust plague is affected, the tenants deserve the luck!"
Chapter completed!