1976: The "Human-locust War" on Hongze Lake

1976 In the autumn, shortly after the Tangshan earthquake, a serious natural disaster occurred along Hongze Lake, one of the five largest freshwater lakes in China: locusts suddenly fell from the sky and quickly swallowed up crops in the field. Standing in the field, you can even hear the sound of locusts eating crops. As a result, a massive "human locust war" was launched on the north bank of Hongze Lake.

? Most elderly people will still remember how horrible locusts, as the first worm in the world, are when they become disasters. The locusts mentioned here are what people usually call "grasshoppers". Many data show that many countries in the world are starving because of the outbreak of locust plague, and may even shake the political foundation of the country. Grasshoppers can generally be divided into two categories: one is vegetarian, that is, they only eat crops; The other is a meat eater who eats all the meat. In foreign countries, when locusts come, vegetarian locusts can eat up the leaves, stems and fruits of crops in less than half an hour; Carnivorous locusts can surround people in an instant, leaving only glistening bones. It is said that there was a locust plague in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, which plunged the country into a political crisis. Li Shimin, the helpless emperor Taizong, sent locusts, announcing that locusts were the best food in the world and rich in high protein. He ate a locust raw in front of all the ministers and praised it while eating. So the whole country followed suit, and a large number of locusts became delicious on the table. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty was saved and the throne of Li Shimin, the great emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was firmly established.

People in Henan or those who have been to Henan will be full of praise for a kind of food, that is, fried grasshoppers.

In 2002, I went to Zhoukou, Henan Province to meet a professor from Tsinghua University, and once I ate fried grasshoppers. The boss said it was easy to fry grasshoppers. Wash the grasshopper and dry it, then put the oil into the pot, heat it to about 20 degrees with low fire, pour in the grasshopper, and the grasshopper will turn over several times in the oil pot and die, and fry for a few minutes. When the grasshopper turns from green to golden yellow, turn off the fire, drain the oil and take out the pan, and a delicious dish will be ready.

? Let's talk about the locust war. 1976, I happen to be 10 years old. In my impression, the whole commune can walk regardless of age; Men and women, as long as they can catch locusts In order to win this war, the brigade set up 20 large iron pots on the Hongze Lake levee with the production team as the unit. The glistening rice was transported by the grain management office, and some rabbits were caught to stew in the field, so the food for eliminating locusts was solved. Having a free lunch is a fatal temptation for farmers who have been starving for a long time. People involved in locust control are all over the fields.

? Before this action, the county revolutionary Committee specially dispatched agricultural aircraft to spray powder six or six times, which was useless. It was also useless to organize personnel to spray pesticides. In the end, we had to take the most stupid method, let everyone prepare a stick and tie the sole at one end of the stick, thus making a simple weapon to kill locusts. The operation process is simple. As long as you see the locusts flying in the air, you can try your best to suck up the milk, hold the stick high, and hit the locusts flying in, and the locusts may be buried under your feet. But it is not always successful. People who are young or too old and have diseases often fail.

? /kloc-when I was 0/0 years old, I took a bunch of children running in the fields, chasing locusts and dancing on the soles of my shoes. Unfortunately, I only need to kill eight locusts until the sun goes down. Many people, like me, ate a free white rice instead of catching many trophies.

? The battle was not ideal, and finally agricultural planes were used, and it took a week to eliminate locusts.

? Just after the second spring, locusts appeared in the field again, but the number was very small. I met some world production captains and organized members to capture locusts alive. The locusts caught together were fried in oil, crispy and brown, and very delicious. The production captain was very HuiLaiShi, personally invited the secretary of the brigade, and the secretary of the brigade personally invited the director of the commune revolutionary committee to taste this delicious food together. The production captain also played his own specialty, personally caught two big bastards in the river and made a big pot of tortoise soup, which made the director of the commune revolutionary Committee and the secretary of the brigade all smile and praised the production captain's intentions.

With the continuous development of science, locust control has also been put on the important agenda of agricultural development, and large-scale locust disasters will basically not occur. However, the small army of locusts will also harass from time to time. However, this is no longer a climate, because places that love locusts are worried about the scarcity of locust sources, and even some places are artificially raised. Fried grasshoppers have become a new growth point of local economic development.

Last September, it was the season when rice and shrimp were fat. I revisited the old place and came to the battlefield of the old locust war, only to find that everything here has changed. The vast green fields have become endless fish ponds. Not far away, it is the newly rising Hongze Lake Economic Development Zone. Both sides of Hongze Lake have become a treasure house of leisure and health, and a beautiful landscape of Hongze Lake.