Li Xiaofei couldn't hold it in any longer, so he stuck his head out of the river and took a few breaths. His scalp felt a little itchy. He stretched out his hand and picked off more than ten migratory locusts. When he saw again, the original grassland by the river was gone.

There were locusts everywhere on the ground and in the water. There were more locusts in the sky, covering the sky, and they kept falling down together with some black residue.

Murong Ling also emerged from the water: "Let's go!"

The two of them ran to Zhangjia Village, all wet. Along the road, there were brave people beating gongs and drums to scare away the locusts. Some people found firewood and lit them to smoke out the locusts. More people hid in the doors and windows of their homes.

Close it tightly and get under the quilt and stay there.

Li Xiaofei and Murong Ling watched these people desperately trying to drive away the locusts, but only a very small number of them were killed by smoke, and more were still gnawing on the grass and the few crops without restraint.

The two of them still did not join these brave people, but quickly ran back home. Fortunately, Zhu Xuehua and Hong Rui closed the doors and windows tightly and hid under the quilt. Murong Ling pulled Li Xiaofei and jumped up to the bamboo building.

Go down from the bamboo building to the inner room.

As soon as the four people met, Murong Ling urged them to leave the place quickly before the two girls asked them to change clothes.

Li Xiaofei disagreed: "This place has been hit by a disaster. How can the people in this village and city survive? I can't leave them."

Hong Rui and Zhu Xuehua also felt that Li Xiaofei was right, so they also asked Murong Ling to stay.

Murong Ling asked back: "You have food or medicine in your hands. After the locusts pass, famine and plague will follow. What's the use of staying here?"

Li Xiaofei also responded tit for tat: "Aren't you a direct disciple of Divine Doctor Li? We will follow you to find medicine."

Murong Ling smiled bitterly: "The medicine is not here. In a while, people will not have food to eat, and the medicine will be useless. If we go back to Luoyang now to collect food, it may still be too late!"

The four of them were silent for a while, then Li Xiaofei held Murong Ling's hand: "Murong, take them to Luoyang, I'll stay!"

Murong Ling looked at Zhu Xuehua and Hong Rui: "Let's go."

Hong Rui hugged Li Xiaofei and said, "I won't leave, you two can go."

Li Xiaofei turned around anxiously: "Sister, you are pregnant. You have to go to Luoyang. There are many people in the palace to take care of you."

Murong Ling glanced at the room: "Whether you stay or not, you and your wife can have a good reunion. The things accumulated in this yard are enough to last for a year."

Murong Ling took out a cyan bottle from her arms and handed it to Li Xiaofei: "It's for life-saving!"

Li Xiaofei caught it with both hands, Murong Ling pulled Zhu Xuehua and turned around to leave. Zhu Xuehua turned back with tears in her eyes: "Sister, Brother Li, take care of me!"

After Murong Ling left with Zhu Xuehua, Li Xiaofei also ran to Shouxian County to discuss countermeasures with the prefect Xiao An. Master Xiao An was leading a group of scholars to kneel outside the City God's Temple to recite the Sutra of Filial Piety. They were covered with locusts. People in the city

The people also knelt on the ground and prayed to God to end this disaster.

Li Xiaofei stepped forward to pull Xiao An away, but was stopped by everyone: "Don't offend the gods. Kneel down and beg the gods for forgiveness."

Li Xiaofei was pinned down to his knees by a group of people. He couldn't get up even if he wanted to get up. He could only be kneeled together in the crowd.

The locusts that were blocking out the sun were still flying around in the sky, and some began to eat people's clothes. In the evening, the people kneeling on the ground were all naked, and some of the people who were reciting the Filial Piety Scripture began to faint.

The voices on the ground were hoarse. At this moment, all the locusts on the ground flew up and gathered in the sky. Lightning and thunder began in the distance, and the sky became dark. Countless locusts turned into a large invisible area.

The black clouds flew towards the east.

"Apparition!"

"Master Xiao's sincerity moved me for three days! We are saved!"

"No, it was the people's piety that moved God and saved us!" Xiao An retorted.

Everyone cheered and cheered, and surrounded the dying Xiao An back to the government office.

Li Xiaofei stood speechless. It was obvious that the locusts had nothing to eat before they flew away. At this time, they became everyone's achievement.

After a few days, Li Xiaofei went to Xiao An again to discuss preparing food for disaster relief, but Xiao An blocked it by saying that the court was prepared.

Li Xiaofei had no choice but to find Meng Wuwu and Huang Banxian, but the business of these two people became even more prosperous. It turned out that there were many locusts scattered that had not flown away, attracting the birds that had previously been hiding in the forest and did not dare to come out. Now it really happened.

The birds died for food. The people who caught the birds were very busy and got more and more money. No one cared that Shouxian County had just suffered a locust plague. It was Xiao An, the prefect of Shouxian County, who led the people to drive out the locusts.

The locusts saved the lives of a county, and the imperial court issued a commendation.

Li Xiaofei noticed that many locust corpses began to turn black and moldy. The black residue that had fallen was washed into the river by the rain, and the water also had a strange smell. Li Xiaofei returned to Zhangjiacun and dug a new well, but it was too late.

Many people collapsed at home feeling weak, sweating, vomiting and diarrhea.

Overnight, the strong smell of decoction wafted over Shouxian County. Every family fell ill. Now there was no way to catch birds. Most of the money was spent on buying medicinal materials that had increased in price. In the end, both people and money were lost. It was very difficult.

Soon, mourning victims were everywhere in Shouxian County, and many new graves were piled up outside the city.

Emergency reports of disasters from all over the country arrived in Jinling like a snowflake. When Emperor Liu Xuan asked about it at first, Xiaoshan and others only said that it was a minor illness caused by the locust plague in a few counties, and the imperial court could allocate money and food for disaster relief. Later, many people fell on the ground at the gate of Jinling City.

Unable to hide it anymore, Liu Xuan read the three-foot-high memorial and tried his best not to tremble. He looked at the ministers with red eyes as if nothing had happened, picked up the memorial and read it one by one:

"On the third day of the fifth lunar month, there was a plague in Shouxian County. Countless people died, including three thousand in every household."

"April 25, locust plague in Chuzhou, no harvest"

"On May 13th, there was a flood in Yuzhang, tens of thousands of people died, and there was no harvest."

"On May 18th, there was a flood in Jingzhou, ten counties were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people died, and there was no harvest."

"On the first day of June, the drought in Xuzhou lasted for three months and the harvest was impossible."

"On the third day of June, there was a severe drought in Fuyang, Liyang, Changshan, and Fanyang, and there was no harvest."

"On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, there was a severe drought in Yecheng, Yunzhong, Shuozhou, and Chang'an, and there was no harvest."

The ministers knelt on the ground and listened quietly, waiting for the court meeting to end.

Liu Xuan read half of the memorial and threw the rest of the memorial down: "You have all been officials for several generations. When the country is in crisis, no one is willing to save the country! The imperial court has supported the family for three hundred years. How can the family serve the country?"

Yuan Kang was the first to raise his head to answer the question: "The locust plague is spreading all over the world. It must be because the imperial court has lost its morals and offended heaven, thus causing disaster. Your majesty immediately punishes the sinner and leads all officials to fast for five days and burn incense and pray."

May God forgive you"

Qin Tianjian Zhou Fang also raised his head to answer the question: "I looked at the sky at night and saw that the Emperor's Star was dim and unclear, and there was a disaster star invading the Central Plains. This is a sign that the ruler has lost his virtue!"

Liu Xuan almost fell off the throne. It was obvious that these aristocratic families just sat back and watched the disaster spread and refused to provide relief, but now it was the emperor's fault. Before Liu Xuan could speak, Xiao Shan also spoke: "Since your Majesty ascended the throne, you have been in a prosperous age.

, but there are no heirs so far, so Taizu Taizong and other ancestors have spirits in heaven to warn your majesty of disasters, and your majesty avoids disasters because of your virtuous conduct!"

This was clearly an attempt to force the palace, and Liu Xuan couldn't help it at this time: "Everyone is guilty, and I am guilty. But if you sit back and watch the world suffer and refuse to give any money for disaster relief, do you think you are a virtuous person? Huang Yi

Where are the guards? The door of this palace is locked today. If you are unwilling to donate money for disaster relief, I will burn with you!"

More than a hundred guards in yellow clothes immediately rushed out, drew their swords and surrounded the ministers. Xiao Shan laughed and said, "Your Majesty is an extremely smart emperor. You should know that without this aristocratic family, there would be no Daliang. Your Majesty wants to hold the minister hostage."

This will be recorded in the history books as an eternal infamy!"

Liu Xuan didn't care about all this at this time. For the first time in the three years since he ascended the throne, he showed the majesty of the emperor: "I don't care about the reputation behind me. I can tolerate you who are greedy for money and power. I can tolerate your attacks on me because I have no heirs.

But now the people of the world are suffering from a catastrophe that has not been seen in a hundred years, and you can remain indifferent. I can't bear it! What I did today, I also prepared for the worst. To be honest with you, I have established King Liu Jian of Han as the crown prince.

The edict was sent to various places. You will be able to come out of the hall soon. I believe you can also see it in Jinling City! If anything happens to me, King Han will avenge me after he succeeds to the throne! "

At this moment, Xiao Shan, who had been aggressive just now, suddenly softened, and everyone else was stunned. After all, no one expected that the puppet emperor who had been in power for three years would actually send the edict establishing King Han as the crown prince under their noses.

.But all this is thanks to the substitution method they came up with. Even the spy agents of various companies have found substitutes. Naturally, these substitutes are not as good as professional people, and they are very easy to bribe. Liu Xuan has always been hiding.

The reason for this was because the family was too powerful and he didn't want to end up in a desperate situation, but now, he had no choice but to take risks and show off his cards in advance.

Some ministers have already begun to kowtow and plead guilty, begging Liu Xuan for forgiveness. Xiao Shan, Xiao Ding, Xie Rui, and Yuan Kang looked at the yellow-robed army standing with their swords drawn. They knew that if they didn't bleed today, they might be killed by this angry emperor.

In the court hall.

Four people knelt down in the front row, kowtowed and confessed their sins.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Shan, is willing to donate one million yuan to provide disaster relief!" Xiao Shan was the first to respond.

"Your Majesty Xie Rui sent out one million yuan to provide disaster relief." Xie Rui also followed suit.

The remaining ministers from 800,000 guan to 5,000 guan all expressed their opinions and signed their signatures. Liu Xuan spoke: "You are so loyal. I will immediately issue an imperial edict to sin against you. From now on, I will burn incense with you in this palace."

Pray. Qin Zhong, you take thirty internal guards with the orders signed by the adults and my edict to go door to door to collect the donations from the adults. After the King of Han leads his troops to Jinling and takes over, he will return to the palace to report! Qin Dog

Son, you take out the gold, silver and jade from my inner palace and distribute them to the guards guarding the main hall, and you also take all the inner eunuchs in the palace to guard the outside of the hall with weapons, and no one is allowed to leave!"

Everyone in the court began to tremble and did not dare to look up at Liu Xuan. When Liu Xuan saw Qin Zhong leading people out of the palace gate, he burst into tears. This cry made everyone in the palace at a loss, but they were all afraid of being killed, so they followed

started to cry.

Liu Xuan knelt in front of the throne, crying and shouting: "Forefathers and ancestors, Liu Xuan is unfilial. This great country has turned into a hell on earth. The majestic emperor is actually a puppet, staining the blood of our ancestors and ancestors!"

The ministers secretly rejoiced, thinking that Liu Xuan would do something drastic after losing his temper. Unexpectedly, Liu Xuan stood up again and pointed at the ministers in the palace: "I hope you understand that there can be no aristocratic family or emperor in this world, but not

There are no common people. The people of a saint are most important, the country is second, and the king is the least important. But you are more familiar with it than I am."

Everyone was kneeling, not daring to respond. At this time, they were all imagining that their troops or disciples could rush into the palace and rescue them.

They thought too much. Qin Zhong took the inner guards out and summoned the legitimate sons or wives of each family to enter the palace. These people did not doubt that one by one, Qin Zhong led people and imprisoned them in the sky prison, and took them down.

The jade pendant and jewelry returned to the main hall.

Qin Zhong spread out each family's jade pendants and jewelry, and the courtiers collapsed to the ground. Liu Xuan sneered: "Qin Gou'er, get a pen and paper and ask the ministers to write down the order. Qin Zhong will go there again.

Collect donations from adults”

Xiao Shan got up angrily: "Your Majesty, your behavior is different from that of a bandit. By the way, you have forgotten that King Liu Jian of Han is my son-in-law. When he comes with his troops, I'm afraid the Emperor won't be able to do it for a few days."

The emperor!"

Liu Xuan slapped the throne in half with one palm: "He Liu Jian is still a descendant of Emperor Taizu! He is the blood of my Liu family, not your Xiao family!"

This loud shout woke Xiao Shan up from his dream, and Xiao Shan had to fall back and pretend to faint. Yuan Kang cried and begged Liu Xuan: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zuo has an emergency. If he is not sent back for treatment in time, what if there is something wrong with him?"

, it will damage your majesty’s reputation in the next life.”
Chapter completed!