Chapter 12 Signs of Insect Disaster

…

Fenggu Farm alone has so much fertile land and two hundred households of tenant farmers?

Wang Shouzhe looked at the criss-crossing fields with ditches of different sizes criss-crossing them, and felt a little emotional in his heart. This is a family legacy that has been passed down for centuries.

"Our Fenggu Farm adopts the traditional winter wheat and summer paddy rotation. Now is the busy season when the winter wheat is about to mature and the summer paddy seedlings are planted." Wang Shounuo said with a hint of joy on his face, "This spring there was abundant rain but not enough rain. Flooding, strong sunlight without scorching, is very beneficial to the growth of winter wheat, and it looks like it will be a bumper harvest season.”

At this time, even Wang Shouzhe was a little happy. There was a big difference between a good harvest and a bad harvest. More grain harvests meant that the family had more development funds.

"No, no." Wang Luojing, who was like a little follower, pouted and said, "Third brother, you are wrong. This year's winter wheat harvest may not be good."

What?

Wang Shounuo's smile suddenly became stiff, and he said sternly: "Luo Jing, you little girl can't talk nonsense. Even grandpa and some experienced tenant farmers said that there is a good chance of a bumper harvest this year. At your young age, What do you know? If grandpa listens to your curse about the bad harvest, I'm afraid he will blame you again."

Being frightened by him, Wang Luojing immediately hid behind Wang Shouzhe.

"Third brother, fifth sister is still young, Tong Yanwuji, why do you have an issue with her?" Wang Shouzhe smiled and touched her head to comfort her.

"Fourth brother, you don't know something." Wang Shounuo smiled helplessly, "You don't know that our fifth sister is very young, but we are very weird. We like to play with all kinds of bugs all day long. When I was two or three years old, I could squat in the yard and look at ants for several days. A while ago, she asked me to help her catch some grass or the king of insects. If she didn't go, she would cry and roll around. It took me four or five days to search all over the mountains and fields. I caught two and were covered in mosquito bites.”

"It's the King of Lacewings. It's recorded in the ancient book Insect Classic." Wang Luojing poked half of her head out from behind Wang Shouzhe and seriously corrected Wang Shounuo, "Brother, you are so embarrassed. There is nothing in your handsome head." Empty. Although the Xuanwu family was founded on martial arts, its culture and knowledge are also the foundation of a family's inheritance."

Especially the second half of the sentence, which is to imitate Wang Shouzhe's words to blame them, to bury Wang Shounuo.

No, Wang Shounuo's face turned dark, and he could only say sadly: "Yes, yes, I don't know. Next time you beg me, I won't help you catch bugs."

"I ask the fourth brother to help. The fourth brother is ten thousand times more powerful than you." Wang Luojing pulled Wang Shouzhe's lapel, as if she had found a supporter, and she was full of confidence.

This made Wang Shouzhe smile. It looked like he was really weird, but he was just reserved in front of him. Wang Shounuo was so angry that he almost fainted.

"Okay, okay, Luo Jing, tell me, why did the harvest fail this year despite the good weather?" Wang Shouzhe asked casually, "Don't be afraid, it doesn't matter even if you are wrong."

With Wang Shouzhe's support, Wang Luojing became more courageous: "Last year's winter was too warm and there was only a light snowfall."

Wang Shounuo immediately rolled his eyes: "Although auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, it is just a saying. If it doesn't snow, the harvest will definitely be bad this year?"

"It's different." Wang Luojing said very seriously, "Last year was a warm winter, and this spring the rain was really good. But it has not rained for more than ten days recently, and the weather is dry and hot."

"Luo Jing." Wang Shounuo said nonchalantly, "We have opened the gate to release water in the Fenggu tributary, so the winter wheat will not be short of water. And the sunshine is good, which will help the wheat grains grow full."

"It can also help honey bugs grow." Wang Luojing rolled her eyes.

Honey bug?

Wang Shounuo shuddered and said with some hesitation: "Honey bugs are inevitable. Honey bugs appear every year. It is normal to cause some reduction in production... What's more, last winter, we also released some honey bugs in the farmland. Pesticide powder.”

But when he said this, his confidence was a little lacking. Honey bugs are the natural enemy of winter wheat. A small-scale outbreak is fine, but at most it will reduce food production. If it occurs on a large scale, it will be a disaster.

According to Wang's records, the most serious one was the honey bug disaster seventy-three years ago. The disaster spread throughout Longzuo County. The winter wheat production was reduced by 80%, and the price of grain soared in a short period of time. Some aristocratic families could still rely on their grain reserves. maintain. But many free people with weak assets were in dire straits, and there were many people selling their sons and daughters.

What's even more frightening is that the insect plague lasted until the third year, and even some aristocratic families couldn't bear it anymore. If it weren't for the Zifu Academy's intervention, it would transfer a large amount of grain to Longzuo County and refine a large amount of ancient insect-killing powder. I am afraid that the entire Longzuo County will starve to death and become deserted.

For a moment, Wang Shouzhe frowned: "Luo Jing, is there any way you can prove what you said?"

Fenggu Farm and Xingsheng Farm are the two major grain production bases of the Wang family. If an aphid outbreak really occurs, it will be even worse for the Wang family today.

"Brother, please check a few more grained wheat ears and try." Wang Luojing's expression was also a little solemn.

Wang Shounuo felt a little uneasy after being told that. He walked to the field and randomly picked up a wheat ear and turned it over. He saw some green dots on the wheat ear that had just begun to grout.

I turned over several wheat ears one after another, some were more and some were less, but there was no doubt that they were all honey worms.

Wang Shouzhe is at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. His physical fitness and eyesight are far beyond that of ordinary people. At a glance, he found that those green dots were all small, plump bugs. He was slightly surprised. They seemed to be aphids, right?

Wang Shouzhe had little accumulated knowledge in this area and could only barely guess that it was some kind of aphid. He is not interested in agriculture, and those apps with powerful algorithms will naturally not push this content.

"There are indeed more honey bugs this year than in previous years." Wang Shounuo said doubtfully, "But it's not necessarily a pest disaster, right? Mixing plant ash juice with some insecticide powder can cure it. At most, the yield will be slightly lower than last year. .”

"Brother!" Wang Luojing paused and said, "I have already said that there is a big problem with the climate. There are too many last year's insect eggs left in the soil. As soon as tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, as late as three or four days, a large number of honey bugs will break through the soil. And when it comes out, it is very likely that a second wave will break out in seven or eight days."

"Come here," Wang Shouzhe said to several tenant farmers who were working not far away. "Pull out this small piece of wheat and turn up the soil."

"This... Young Master Shounuo..." The tenant farmers shrank their heads and looked at Wang Shounuo with suspicion, not daring and somewhat reluctant to take action. This wheat will be harvested in about ten days, and it will be all white grain.

"Listen to the patriarch." Wang Shounuo did not dare to offend Wang Shouzhe, so he stepped forward to pull out the wheat himself.

Several tenant farmers also carried hoes and began to turn over the soil.

In a short time, the small piece of wheat was pulled out, and the land was turned over.

"This..." Wang Shounuo carefully inspected the roots of the pulled out wheat, his face gradually becoming serious and shocked, "How could it be like this? How could it be like this?"

There are many white dots on those roots, which is shocking. And it is found on most wheat roots, it’s just a matter of quantity.

There are also those turned-up soil. If you look carefully, you will find a lot of white fine dots.

Wang Shounuo's heart thumped, and an ominous premonition suddenly arose: "Quick, go and call grandpa over."

"Quickly, inform grandpa, and inform all tenant farmers, to quickly soak the accumulated plant ash." Wang Shounuo studied agriculture with his grandpa for two years, and he has some basic skills.

The tenant farmers began to get busy.

In a short while, Wang Xiaozhi, the fourth old man, had come to join them. His face was extremely embarrassed: "How could this be? How come there are so many honey insect eggs growing in the land? After last year's autumn harvest, it was obviously as usual. After the world was deeply plowed, insecticide powder was spread, is there something wrong with those insecticide powders?"

"Grandpa, it was a warm winter last year..." Wang Luojing reminded carefully from the side.

"Little girl, my grandfather has been farming all his life, can you understand better?" Wang Xiaozhi scolded angrily, as if he had been stepped on, "Ten years ago it was a warm winter, and the climate was exactly the same as this year. As a result, Longzuo had a good harvest and the warehouse was full of food. ! In my opinion, the problem is with the insect killer powder. Damn Qian's Trading Company must be selling fake insect killer powder. Fortunately, I took advantage of the low price and stocked up a large amount of insect killer powder!"

As they talked to each other, Wang Shouzhe remembered some scattered knowledge, and couldn't help but frown and said: "Qian's Trading Company is located all over Longzuo. It always pays attention to goodwill. For example, the sale of fake insecticide powder caused an insect disaster in Longzuo. I'm afraid I can't afford such a consequence. Is it possible that aphids, no, honey bugs have fought against insect killers again and again, and some highly resistant honey bugs have survived, gradually forming large areas? resistance?"

Although Wang Shouzhe had no contact with agriculture in his previous life, he also knew that both bacteria, viruses and living things would continue to undergo genetic mutation and evolution. This evolution was almost irregular, but most of them would be eliminated naturally.

It is reasonable for some honey bugs that have evolved towards drug resistance to survive repeated confrontations with insect pest control and gradually multiply.

But Wang Xiaozhi couldn't understand what biological evolution was at all, so he just frowned and said, "Shouzhe, don't talk nonsense here. The insect killer powder worked fine before, so why doesn't it work this year?"

"Grandpa, I think what the fourth brother said makes sense." Wang Luojing said, "Grandpa, you have forgotten that I have been hearing your complaints in the past few years. It seems that the insect killer powder is becoming less and less effective. Why are there honey bugs every year? "

Wang Xiaozhi's face froze, and his face became increasingly ugly. In recent years, especially since the harvest ten years ago, there has been a gradual increase in the number of honey bugs, but overall it is still within the tolerable range, so it is nothing more than an annoyance.

Wang Shouzhe is almost certain that aphids with strong resistance to pesticides have multiplied and spread. The warm winter last season also allowed most of the eggs to survive, and this year's climate is suitable for the growth of aphids, which is why this scene happened.

This wave of trouble is serious. Even Wang Shouzhe can't help but feel his scalp numb. He has no ability to prepare new "pesticides"...

It happened that the house was leaking and it rained all night! Under this disaster, life will become more difficult for the Wang family, right?

"Fourth brother." Wang Luojing pulled Wang Shouzhe aside and whispered, "I have a way to deal with the honey bug, but I'm afraid of grandpa and don't dare to say it!"

What?

Wang Shouzhe was stunned and looked at her in disbelief.

…