Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress-Chapter 1974 - 1982: Millennium Festival (Part 2)

Among them, the most widely implemented was the method of consumption.

Locusts could be used in medicine and had medicinal value:

According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, locusts can be used alone or in combination to treat various diseases, such as tetanus, pediatric wind attack, fever, asthma relief, distension, cormorant fever, frostbite, bronchitis, and prevention of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Ten locusts can be boiled into soup for consumption, or fried and ground into powder for oral use, five locusts per dose. For frostbite, the fried powder mixed with sesame oil can be applied to the affected area.

Cai Wei ordered the Imperial Medical Institute to widely promote this method, encouraging and rallying the people not to waste the locusts, which were a great resource both for consumption and medicinal use. She also encouraged local officials to rally the people to include locusts in their dishes, as insects contain a lot of protein, which is very beneficial for the human body.

However, the common people were afraid of offending the "locust god," and felt very scared to eat locusts themselves. But when they heard that even the Empress Dowager’s barbecue restaurant offered locust dishes, and they were quite famous and expensive, they felt less averse.

Anything sold at the Empress Dowager’s residence must be excellent, so everyone followed the locust recipe shared from the Empress Dowager’s residence, skewering the caught locusts on tree branches, brushing them with oil, and grilling them over charcoal fire; they turned out to be extremely delicious!

Thus, besides poultry like chicken, duck, and goose scrambling to eat locusts, the common people also began to consume this delicacy in large quantities.

Poor locusts barely had time to multiply and become rampant before they were almost completely eaten by the united people of Great Jin.

Locusts are pure green food and are rich in protein, tasty and delicious. Whether steamed, boiled, fried, or made into sauce, they are very delicious, and some even became addicted. Subsequently, locusts developed into a delicacy like fish and shrimp, and many townspeople would go out to the suburbs specifically to catch locusts for a feast.

Gradually, the common people’s awe and fear of the locust god diminished significantly. Locusts were no longer a cause for panic, but rather they would reflexively salivate at the mention of locusts.

In such an atmosphere, the locust plague was naturally eradicated without trace.

...

In November, Nangong Yi issued a decree to open warehouses and distribute grain to several prefectures and mansions that had lost their harvest. He had stockpiled and purchased grain for two years, which now found its purpose. Those people who were left with no harvest had grain to eat for the winter. In less affected areas, although they didn’t distribute grain, they directly waived their corvée taxes, thus easing the burden on the populace. In unaffected areas, taxes remained the same, and the state didn’t impose additional corvée taxes because it had suffered a disaster. For this, the people revered the Emperor even more, like a deity.

This rare centennial drought was finally endured under the relentless efforts of Nangong Yi and Cai Wei. Although they expended considerable energy and money, seeing the people safely through the disaster—without a single death or a whole family forced to leave—made them feel that the dedication over the past two years was worthwhile. All their efforts and hardships paid off!

During the New Year, due to Great Jin’s disaster this year, Nangong Yi decreed to reduce expenses and save costs, so the New Year celebration activities were much less than in previous years, and even the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month wasn’t allowed to be held.

Despite this, the people were very content. Having suffered such a great disaster year, they were still able to eat well and dress warmly, which was not easy. As long as they were alive, they would have plenty of time to enjoy life in the future. Why care about missing a festival this year?

During this time, the Queen Zhao Gui of the Xianbei Empire had given birth, and fortunately she finally succeeded in having a son. King Helan Hao of the Xianbei Empire was overjoyed, and the child was decreed to be the Prince even before completing his first month. Zhao Gui finally achieved her wish and was naturally extremely happy.