Chapter 541: Exterminating the Locusts

Locusts ran rampant across the lands under Liu Chengzong's rule.

What the people of Lanzhou found astonishing was that the Grand Marshal's headquarters' top priority was not exterminating the locusts at all, but rather dispatching troops in a massive mobilization to seize territory from the Ming army.

On the very night of the fifth day of the ninth month, when the locusts first struck Lanzhou, Brigade Commander Wang Wenxiu led the three battalions of Luo Rucai, Yang Chengzu, and Li Wanqing out on the march. Covering one hundred and sixty li over two days and one night, they reached Didao, where the Lintao Garrison headquarters was located, by the morning of the seventh. After a brief rest and reorganization through the day, the three battalions marched out again on the night of the seventh.

South of Lintao Prefecture lay the Taozhou Military-Civilian Command. In this territory, larger than Lintao Prefecture itself, the ruler was the Zhuoni Tusi Yang Guolong, a man with a copycat's knack.

Tusi are all fond of learning, because if a territory is not isolated enough, the emperors of the Central Plains dynasties would never permit a Tusi to exist. That isolation gave the Tusi immense security, but it also made the experience of feeling backward an indispensable part of a Tusi's life.

This turned Yang Guolong into a copycat. When the Oirat Khoshut Güshi Khan marched his troops into Qinghai, Yang Guolong had the entire Zhuoni Tusi domain convert to the Gelug school overnight. Later, after Güshi Khan was unhorsed by Zhao Kebian, and as the He-Huang region saw a bumper harvest, Yang Guolong's Zhuoni Tusi domain, again overnight, copied and pasted the Grand Marshal's headquarters' land-equalization policy and administrative divisions.

This autumn, Yang Guolong tasted the rewards. Although the land in Taozhou was not fertile enough, he could still proudly say that, thanks to "his" policies, the people of the Taozhou Military-Civilian Command were about to have enough to eat!

They were indeed about to have enough to eat. It was hard to find a patch of flat, fertile soil in Taozhou like that in Lanzhou, Jin County, or the He-Huang region. Agriculture was not well developed; the pillar of people's livelihood was animal husbandry. The area of cultivated land was not small, but the fragmented mountain fields were difficult to irrigate. With highland barley as the staple and rapeseed as a supplementary food, yields per mu were low.

Thanks to the introduction of new crops, potatoes became a new staple and were successfully brought to the tables of the native people.

The reason they had not yet eaten their fill was that Yang Guolong observed the Grand Marshal's headquarters' actions with a cautious eye. Liu Chengzong kept a very tight grip on the planting of potatoes and sweet potatoes in the headquarters' territory, explicitly stipulating that only one-tenth of the land could be used to grow these two crops.

Although Yang Guolong did not understand why, to ensure safety, he followed suit uniformly in his domain and copied this rule as well.

In truth, this was already a very bold agricultural policy. Using one-tenth of the land to plant a crop one did not understand might not sound like a large proportion, but its impact on people's lives was enough to drop those struggling on the edge of subsistence down to struggling on the edge of life and death.

Copying such a rule had its pros and cons. The advantage was reduced losses—the cold, shaded mountain land was not suited for large-scale sweet potato planting. The disadvantage was that they planted a bit too few potatoes; if they had planted more, perhaps his native people could have eaten their fill this year.

Grain brought prosperity, and Yang Guolong's pockets swelled. His first impulse was to recruit soldiers and buy horses. He had wanted to do this for a long time, but when it actually came down to it, he did not dare.

Taozhou was not small in scale. To the east were one hundred thousand peasant soldiers, and to the north was the vast Grand Marshal's headquarters. No one noticed him only because he was like an ostrich, hiding himself with all his might in the mountains. Once he started recruiting, if nothing else, the Grand Marshal's headquarters to the north would certainly take notice.

A fist the size of a sandbag surely needs an iron-headed fool to offer up his face for verification. Yang Guolong did not feel that, after expanding his army, he could take a punch from Liu Chengzong.

He never imagined that, even without expanding his army, Liu Chengzong would still throw that punch his way.

On the evening of the eighth day of the ninth month, at the Zhuoni official stockade in Taozhou, Yang Guolong met his own native soldiers, who were nearly dead from exhaustion, and learned that tens of thousands of Grand Marshal troops had moved south in force the day before. They had surged into the Lintao Garrison in a vast, mighty wave, lighting bonfires everywhere in the fields and wilds, illuminating the countryside as bright as day.

By the time he sent men out of the mountains again to scout north, they could no longer get through.

There were two main routes from Taozhou to Lintao Prefecture. One, northwest of the Taozhou official stockade, was called Anlong Pass, now occupied by the Grand Marshal's army. The other, northeast of the Zhuoni official stockade, lay within Taozhou's borders: a place called Yangsa Pass. But on the morning of the ninth, word also came that outside Yangsa Pass, Grand Marshal headquarters' senior general Li Wanqing had led his troops to set up camp. He ordered the defenders to either surrender or leave and hand over the pass defenses; otherwise, a full-scale assault would begin in three days.

It was said that Li Wanqing had a very formidable curse master with him, rendering the curse masters stationed at Yangsa Pass powerless in their incantations.

Yang Guolong just wondered to himself, I never provoked you people!

The native officer defending Yangsa Pass was Yang Guolong's nephew, who sent back a letter saying he was prepared to fight to the death. After much deliberation, Yang Guolong forbade his nephew from starting a fight and decided to personally bring wine, food, cattle, and sheep to Yangsa Pass to meet Li Wanqing.

There were only two thousand two hundred troops in all of Taozhou. If war was unavoidable, it would be better to simply surrender.

But Li Wanqing had truly not come to start a war with Taozhou. The task he had received from Wang Wenxiu was precisely to seize these two passes, to prevent anyone from causing trouble while exterminating locusts in Lintao. As for why, among countless ravines, they needed to seize these two passes, Li Wanqing did not know either.

Wang Wenxiu knew, but Wang Wenxiu could not possibly tell anyone else. He did not know the roads of Taozhou at all; he had simply discovered two passes on an old map and decided to take them first and ask questions later.

This was not even Wang Wenxiu's main direction of attack. Wang Wenxiu himself was stationed at the Lintao Garrison in Didao. He used Yang Chengzu's battalion as the vanguard to advance into Weiyuan County and launch an offensive against Shouyang Pass in Gongchang Prefecture. On the other side, he had Luo Rucai running all over the area near Didao, conveying the Grand Marshal's headquarters' locust extermination orders to the village constables by day, and setting fires in the fields at night to burn the locusts.

Locusts, like moths, are drawn to light. As long as bonfires are lit at night, the locusts will charge straight into the flames.

The order Liu Chengzong gave Wang Wenxiu was to guard the southeastern direction of Lintao Prefecture: first, to guard against government troops, and second, to seize opportunities to capture the southern part of Gongchang Prefecture.

To the northeast of Lintao Prefecture, Wei Qian'er led the main camp to garrison Jin County and went to Chankou to back up Shi Xiang, not allowing government troops to advance a single step past Chankou. At the same time, if an opportunity arose, he was to do the same as Wang Wenxiu's side and seize Anding and Huining counties when possible.

Wu Panlong arrived in Lanzhou just before dawn on the sixth day of the ninth month. Song Shouzhen was slightly slower; he gathered the village officers of Dongguan Town, organized his men, and only crossed the Yellow River before daybreak. By the time he reached Lanzhou, Liu Chengzong was already eating breakfast.

Due to the topography and terrain, the He-Huang region coped with the locust plague far better than Lintao Prefecture.

Liu Chengyun was originally in Dongguan Town, but upon receiving the news of the locust invasion sent by Liu Chengzong, he immediately bolted westward. He did not run too far, only dashing to the pox village Liu Chengzong had established during the He-Huang campaign. That was the westernmost end of Dongguan Town and also one of the narrowest points of the He-Huang Valley.

Chengyun ran there because there were trenches. Back when they fought the Ming army, many trenches were dug running north to south. Some had been channeled with river water to become irrigation ditches, while others still had not been filled in even now.

Chengyun's locust extermination philosophy was simple: he must not let the locusts fly past Dongguan Town. The fields of Dongguan Town could be sacrificed, because the land there was planted with sweet potatoes, which had ruined the soil. Now it was all planted with soil-nourishing beans. Ever since they lived at the Black Dragon King Temple Mountain, his second uncle had always said, planting broomcorn millet cannot prevent locusts, and planting beans cannot prevent drought.

Locusts do not eat beans.

And preventing the locusts from flying past Dongguan Town was simple: between the two mountains, between the two trench lines—set fires.

He had just gotten the fires going, and the various village constables were still hauling timber forward, when the locusts, having gorged themselves in Lanzhou, flew over. They directly smashed through the wall of fire he had raised between the two trench lines, extinguishing it three times before the blaze finally stabilized.

Liu Chengzong was not worried about the He-Huang region; his father, his teacher, and Chengyun were there. It was Lintao Prefecture, with only its army, that had no power to resist the locust invasion.

However, the team of village officers brought by Wu Panlong and Song Shouzhen solved this pressing crisis.

"Two days have passed. Nineteen days remain."

In the main hall of the Chengyun Hall, Liu Chengzong handed the locust-control manual he had compiled through a sleepless night to the forty village officers to pass around and read. As they read, they listened to his explanation: "Wherever locusts eat the grain, there they lay their eggs. Two locusts can produce fifty eggs three inches underground."

This was a terrifying figure. People all knew that locusts bred quickly and died quickly, but no one knew exactly how many locusts could breed, nor the precise timing.

The locusts that had flown into Lanzhou's borders at this moment numbered in the hundreds of thousands. In just twenty-one days, the locust population could swell tenfold. The only thing that could limit their numbers was food. Once there was nothing to eat, the locusts could only feed on each other until winter came and they all died off cleanly.

"Therefore, you must do three things. First, capture the locusts. Second, collect the locusts. Third, destroy the eggs."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong unfurled a map and traced his hand across the topographic map of Lintao Prefecture. "Song Shouzhen will stay in Lanzhou. Wu Panlong will take the forty village officers out to the localities to organize the common people into locust-catching teams. Twenty people make a squad; four hundred make a brigade."

"Each squad is divided into left and right wings. On the left wing, two men hold shovels to dig a trench ten feet long and four feet deep, piling the loose soil on the opposite side. Four men stand behind the trench, and two men beside it, using long brooms to sweep the locusts into the trench. When it's full, they bury them, packing the earth down firmly to crush them to death. Another two men use long-handled leather slappers to swat dead any locusts that cannot be swept in."

"On the right wing, ten men organize the women and children to catch locusts. For live locusts caught, tear off the wings, soak them to death in a light brine until they vomit black fluid, then dry them in the sun. These can be kept for personal use or sold to the authorities. Dead locusts caught can be sold directly to the authorities in exchange for grain, salt, or money—all are acceptable."

Having said this, Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed west. "The salt will be transported over very soon."

The people of Lintao Prefecture lacked nothing else. Liu Shizi figured that the common folk would most likely trade the locusts they caught for salt. This was a huge advantage for him; the Grand Marshal's headquarters had an inexhaustible supply of salt. Over sixty salt lakes had already been discovered throughout Qinghai, and only two were truly being utilized, yet that was already enough to meet the daily needs of the Grand Marshal's headquarters.

In fact, taking Chaka Salt Lake as an example, if his salt boat fleet on Qinghai Lake made a trip every day, Chaka Salt Lake's reserves would be enough to sustain a Central Plains empire from its birth to its death. But in reality, his salt boats on Qinghai Lake only made one trip a month, and not the whole fleet—just a few boats making the trip brought back enough salt to supply all the various needs of the entire Grand Marshal's headquarters.

And Chaka Salt Lake was not even the largest salt lake the Grand Marshal's headquarters possessed. Compared to those great salt lakes in Golmud, it was far too small—it was simply the closest one to the He-Huang region.

"Every brigade is to light bonfires in the fields at night to lure the locusts in and burn them to death. Song Shouzhen."

Liu Chengzong turned his head to look at Song Shouzhen. "You also have work to do in Lanzhou. Borrow baking ovens from the military households' homes and temporarily designate an area outside the city. The dead locusts sold to the authorities by the common people everywhere will be baked by you, and then ground into powder using the boat mills on the Yellow River."

Locusts can be eaten, but it depends on how.

If locusts are caught alive, they will vomit out the black fluid in their bellies as soon as they are captured. Soaking them to death in brine makes them vomit even more cleanly. Such locusts only need to be sun-dried and can be eaten any way one likes. However, locusts caught only after they have died still have contents in their stomachs, giving them a rank, fishy stench and making them inedible directly. They must be dried by fire, ground into powder, and only then can a small amount be mixed into other foods for consumption.

Even if not fed to people, but used as feed for chickens and ducks, it cannot be the main feed, or else the off-flavor will seep into the livestock's meat. If such feed must be used, it needs to be stopped seven or eight days before slaughter to allow the chickens and ducks to metabolize the taste away.

Song Shouzhen acknowledged the order with a cupped-fist salute. He knew the baking ovens Liu Chengzong referred to were the drying ovens used for bows. Every household that owned a bow had one, mainly used to protect the bows from moisture during the rainy season.

As for lighting fires to exterminate locusts, that was a good method from when Yao Chong exterminated locusts during the Tang Dynasty. At night, fires were lit to attract large numbers of locusts to land, and then a great blaze was ignited to burn them to death. This method was generally used on wasteland. As the saying goes, slash-and-burn farming—land that has been burned becomes loose, aiding reclamation, and is also beneficial for the development of wasteland.

"If you act quickly enough, you can kill them all before the new generation of locusts crawls out from underground. But I estimate you won't be able to kill them all, so catch and kill them while they still haven't grown wings. Then, throughout the entire winter, mobilize the common people to use oxen to plow the flatlands and drive flocks of sheep back and forth to trample the ground."

"Places with locust eggs are mostly wasteland, marked by honeycomb-like small holes. For eggs on riverbank rubble, scatter quicklime and pour water to boil them to death; in mountain or highland areas you can't reach, use spray cylinders to spray pesticide and poison them."

A spray cylinder is just a pump tube — fill it with kerosene and it's a flamethrower, fill it with water and it's a fire extinguisher, fill it with pesticide and it sprays insecticide.

In the Ming dynasty, the simpler pesticides for dealing with locusts were strong lye, aged vinegar, or medicinal concoctions blended from toxic herbs like Hundred-Pace Grass, Sweetflag, Japanese Star Anise, and Wild Ginger.

"Beyond this, even if we wipe out every locust in Hexi, large swarms will still pass through in the spring and autumn of next year. On one hand, we must prepare — every household must have locust-catching sacks, brooms, and leather mitts ready. On the other hand, this autumn we plant winter barley and winter wheat, harvest them next summer, and avoid the locusts' breeding season."

"Several counties in Lintao Prefecture have vacancies for county magistrate, assistant magistrate, and clerk — these will be chosen from among you forty township officers. So as you lead the locust-catching teams in each township, keep an eye on your ranks for promising talents worth promoting. Each of you pick a few trusted men, pass on the locust extermination methods, and strive to wipe the locusts out completely. Later, I'll still need you people to go to places like Gongchang Prefecture and even Guyuan."

Liu Chengzong thoroughly laid out the locust extermination methods he had distilled from his predecessors in one breath, and only then did he finally exhale in relief. He said to the crowd, "When the spring hunger gap comes after the new year, each county will open its granaries to lend grain to the common people — you won't need to worry about that. The Hehuang region will transport the grain over."

Good evening!