CHAPTER 310: CHAPTER 307: FIGHTING MAGIC WITH MAGIC

Burning locusts, isn’t this one of the effective methods to eliminate locusts in history!

Lin Wanwan said that a guy like Xiao Chong, with a fair face and a dark heart, couldn’t possibly entrust his initiative to the illusory deities!

Sure enough, stirring up such a big commotion is just to fool the public and make everyone willingly follow the locust elimination effort!

I must say, this trick is definitely effective!

The political environment of the Tang Dynasty was relatively open, with few restrictions on divination, even setting up official positions for it, making divination popular.

Divination, gods, auspicious signs from heaven, these elements have a market even when applied to the Emperor.

Several Astrology Masters of the Great Tang, such as Yuan Tiangang, served the Emperor, and even the Emperor believed deeply, let alone most uneducated commoners!

Is this defeating magic with magic? Since the commoners fear the Locust God, Xiao Chong simply invites a bigger "god" down?

Indeed, the Huaxia Land doesn’t harbor idle gods; they not only have to solve problems for commoners, but also work for officials, going wherever needed.

That night, Lin Wanwan didn’t return to Lin Family Manor; as the heavenly worship event was about to end, she quietly left with the other noble ladies who came to watch the fun.

Lin Wanwan sent Kun Lun to deliver a message back to Lin Family Manor, while she and Hua Nong moved into a house in Xiaoxi Town, planning to gather information by going out tomorrow.

She had a hunch that Xiao Chong’s tactics wouldn’t stop there.

Sure enough, the next day, the whole Xiaoxi Town was buzzing with new gossip, centering on the two White-Feathered Chickens on the altar yesterday.

Lin Wanwan couldn’t believe that even without newspapers or new media in the Great Tang, public opinion could be manipulated like this; were all the storytellers in town’s teahouses kept by Xiao Chong?!

And those shady people, all loudly spreading rumors about the White-Feathered Chickens banishing locusts at every street corner.

Things like the Locust God being a malevolent deity, unacceptable to heavenly law, and Nuwa sending White-Feathered Divine Chickens down; also claims that the White-Feathered Divine Chickens were sent by the Jade Emperor, who governs the Three Realms, blessed by the gods, can mature in a month, will eat locusts to punish the evil deity, then sacrifice themselves, feeding the world with their own flesh and blood, etc., various versions were circulating.

This combination of mythology and entertainment, closely linked to the current locust plague, had a huge market for spread in the relatively entertainment-lacking Great Tang, not to mention the obvious behind-the-scenes instigation.

If these rumors weren’t intentionally spread by Xiao Chong, Lin Wanwan wouldn’t believe it!

By the time Lin Wanwan heard the news, she no longer knew what the original version was like. However, she roughly understood Xiao Chong’s intentions.

To deal with locusts, one method is burning, another is using poultry and birds. Burning is a tactic that breaks jars along with mice, and there’s not enough poultry available.

Only the fast-growing White Feathered Chickens can both eat pests in the fields and provide meat for the commoners, offsetting burned grain losses, achieving two goals with one stroke.

Under the guise of introducing auspicious signs during the locust disaster, the benefits of the White Feathered Chickens go to the commoners, Lin Wanwan reaps the profits, and Xiao Chong and the County Government bear the risks.

Of course, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. If they can indeed eliminate the locusts and successfully promote the White Feathered Chickens, Xiao Chong will significantly enhance his political capital, smoothing his future career path.

The people of Mao County will certainly be grateful, as these chickens can be market-ready in just over forty days, solving many hunger issues for the populace! Ordinary chickens need at least a year to reach the same weight!

In modern society, White Feathered Meat Chickens are the world’s largest consumed poultry due to factors like economy, health, and safety.

In the food-scarce Great Tang, White Feathered Chickens are definitely a powerful weapon, and currently, only Lin Wanwan controls this weapon.

Breeding chickens have a limited lifespan and need to be renewed after a year. This means it’s a monopolistic business, and Lin Wanwan can essentially control pricing.

The pedigree breeding chickens must be bought back from the modern world, as Lin Wanwan doesn’t have the ability to replicate this breeding technology in the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, Shengnong Group spent ten years and over a billion to secretly develop this breeding technology in remote mountains, gathering countless researchers; only through their collective effort was success achieved.

In the Tang Dynasty, money might not be hard for Lin Wanwan, but finding so many talents is the key! Therefore, if the Great Tang wants a constant supply of White Feathered Meat Chickens, it can only rely on herself.

Thinking of this, Lin Wanwan suddenly felt a bit unsettled.

No, the benefits are too great, the risk will equally amplify, she feels that she and the small Lin Family Manor might not bear it.

A moment ago, she thought Xiao Chong was bearing all the risks, but now she feels a bit unsure.

After talking with Xiao Chong last time, Lin Wanwan actually wasn’t that enthusiastic about promoting the White Feathered Chickens anymore.

This time, through the locust disaster, Xiao Chong introduced the White Feathered Meat Chickens, which, though it helps avoid demon rumors for Lin Wanwan among the commoners, surely can’t be kept from the local gentry and rich lords for long.

Even without the "demon talk" looming over, the benefits alone are enough for the old foxes to clash blades with Lin Wanwan.

So Lin Wanwan needs to ask Xiao Chong what he’s really thinking; she feels like she’s being setup again.

When Lin Wanwan arrived at the County Government, Xiao Chong wasn’t there; he performed the rituals yesterday and today he’s organizing commoners outside the city to burn locusts.

The County Government was empty, as most of the officials were sent out to busy themselves with this matter.

Currently, locust elimination is Mao County’s top priority, even ongoing cases have stalled, and the drum available for grievances from commoners has been moved inside.

Lin Wanwan sat idly in the Qinshenqing Hall at the back of the County Government, having snacks twice, yet there’s no sign of Xiao Chong returning.

So she simply entered the room she stayed in when she first lodged at the County Government, locked the door, had Hua Nong guard the outside, pretending to nap but in reality used the Space-Time Bracelet to travel back to the modern era.

These days, because of the Tang Dynasty’s locust issue, Lin Wanwan hadn’t been in the mood to return to modern times. Now that she was idle and bored, she decided to return to her villa and practice the konghou to calm her mind; otherwise, waiting would only make her more anxious.

After practicing the konghou all morning, Lin Wanwan drove to the company to check the situation.

The first batch of Japan-bound goods had already been shipped out, and can be put on sale once inside the warehouse. From Yongcheng Pier to Japan, the voyage takes just three days, quite fast.

The goods bound for Amazon were already in domestic warehouses, just waiting for clearance to be exported.

Since Lin Wanwan sourced her goods from the Great Tang, she naturally had no domestic invoices. Also, starting with import-export rights, forming a foreign trade team would be luxurious. Her volume wasn’t large, nor did she plan on benefitting from tax rebates.

Gu Jingyu’s advice to Lin Wanwan was to use international freight forwarding for exporting by proxy, a mature model already in practice with many brokers specializing in this area. Knowing Gu Jingyu was well-versed in this, Lin Wanwan naturally followed his advice.