The "Hongfan Lun" says: If punishments are too cruel, only looking to profit from the common people; greedy and insatiable, quick to raise armies for war; building cities and towns while losing the people's trust, then locust plagues will follow. You see, how accurate this is! In July of the fifth year of the Taihe era of the Northern Wei, there was a locust plague in Dunhuang, and nearly all the autumn crops were eaten. By July of the sixth year, Qingzhou and Yongzhou also suffered, as the locusts completely devoured the crops. In August, the seven states: Xuzhou, Dongxuzhou, Yanzhou, Jizhou, Pingzhou, Yuzhou, and Guangzhou, as well as the four towns of Pingyuan, Fangtou, Guang'a, and Linji, all faced locust plagues. In April of the seventh year, Xiangzhou and Yuzhou again faced locust plagues. In March of the eighth year, the three states of Jizhou, another Zhou, and Xiangzhou were hit by locusts. In April, the seven states of Jizhou, Guangzhou, Youzhou, Sizhou, Yongzhou, Qizhou, and Pingzhou all experienced locust plagues. On Yisi day in June, Xiangzhou, Qizhou, Guangzhou, and Qingzhou faced locust disasters again. On Guisi day in October of the sixteenth year, Fohan also faced locust plagues, with no crops harvested.
In the first year of the Jingming era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, in the fifth month, the six regions of Qingzhou, Qizhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Guangzhou, and South Qingzhou faced a locust plague. In the third month of the fourth year, Hezhou experienced a major locust disaster, leaving no wheat or barley behind. In May, locusts again damaged crops in Guangzhou. In June, Hezhou suffered severe locust infestations. In July, locusts plagued Donglai County. In June of the first year of the Zhengshi era, locusts severely affected Xiazhou and Sizhou. In April of the fourth year, locusts damaged jujube flowers in Qingzhou. In August, rats, locusts, and another kind of pest ravaged Jingzhou, while locusts and another pest plagued Hezhou, and locusts also affected Liangzhou and Hengnong County in Sizhou. In the first year of Yongping, in June, Liangzhou was severely affected by locusts. In May of the fifth year, locusts damaged jujube flowers in Qingzhou again. In July, the capital also suffered from locusts. In August, locusts plagued Qingzhou, Qizhou, and Guangzhou, with two-thirds of the crops destroyed. In the first year of Xiping, in June, locusts plagued Qingzhou, Qizhou, Guangzhou, and South Qingzhou. In June of the first year of Tian'an, a peculiar event took place in Yanzhou: black ants and red ants engaged in battle, with the battlefield stretching sixty paces long and being four inches wide. The red ants were all bitten to death, with the black ants claiming the north and the red ants the south. In November, Liu Yu, the governor of Yanzhou, sent people to surrender, and the court appointed General Wuyuan to receive them, defeating the rebel generals including Zhou Kai. In July 586 AD, Zhang Wanshou, the governor of Bingzhou, reported that in Jianxing County, a villager named Jia Richeg found, while raising silkworms in April, a cocoon wrapped in a silk ribbon-like substance, measuring four feet long and three inches wide and thin, with two yellow silkworm cocoons on top that resembled footprints.
In March of the year 506, in Xuzhou, silkworm moths reportedly started attacking people, injuring over a hundred people and killing more than twenty! This is really strange. Ancient texts state that when caterpillars become a plague, it means that things have developed to an abnormal extent, resulting in strange phenomena. During the reign of Emperor Taizu of Northern Wei, a large tiger appeared in Henan and stayed by the river for three months before leaving. The next year, many ants and white deer migrated to the north bank of the Yellow River. A year later, the Yellow River turned blood-red! These were all ominous signs of the Wei-Chen dynasty's downfall! Later, all the members of the Wei-Chen clan were thrown into the Yellow River, and then that place became peaceful.
In January of 532, a wolf entered the city and was captured in Xieshi. In December of 540, a leopard was caught on the Copper Jue Terrace in the North City. On a day in May of 587, a fox spirit appeared to cut people's hair while Empress Dowager Wenxuan was in power—an indication of political instability!
Starting in the spring of 547, fox spirits kept appearing in the capital to cut people's hair, which terrified the locals. On a day in June, Empress Dowager Ling summoned those who had their hair cut and had Liu Teng, the commander of the guards, whip them outside the Qianqiu Gate, just like what happened in 587. The book "Ruitu" says that if local officials treat the common people cruelly and they voice their grievances, white mice will appear.
In February of 550, a white mouse showed up at the home of a man named Zhao Wen in the capital, and he presented the mouse to the emperor. That spring, a white mouse was also caught in the Northern Garden, but it died soon after. When they examined it, they found three baby white mice inside.
In March of 551, the emperor went to the Western Palace and caught yet another white mouse. In August, an official named Zhang An from the imperial court also caught a white mouse. In May of 552, while he was hunting on Kelong Mountain, the emperor caught a white mouse; Pingcheng caught three as well. In June, Pingcheng caught two more. In August, Prince Kui of Yuzhang also caught a white mouse.
In November of the year 553 AD, someone in the capital city caught a white mouse and presented it to the emperor. In June of the year 554 AD, two white mice were caught in Zhongshan. In March of the year 555 AD, a white mouse was caught in the capital city. In November, another white mouse was caught in the capital city. In August 480 AD, someone in Weijun, Xiangzhou, caught a white mouse. This was quite a rare sight back then. In August of the year 477 AD, a white mouse was also sent from Yanmen; it's unclear if it was from the same litter, but it was definitely a fresh occurrence. By August of the year 493 AD, the capital city Luoyang also caught a white mouse. This time it was right under the emperor's feet, which made it even more peculiar. With these occurrences happening year after year, one wonders if there is some sort of omen. In May of the year 500 AD, another white mouse was caught in the capital city Luoyang. It had been over a year since the last one, and yet here we are again, truly leaving people puzzled. In June of the year 504 AD, Luoyang once again captured a white mouse. The frequency of these white mouse sightings is getting out of hand, feeling quite mysterious. In April of the year 514 AD, a white mouse was also sent from Sizhou. Why are these white mice suddenly showing up all over the place? These last few years have been nothing short of bizarre!
