Chapter 930 – Rabbit and Sheep Poison Scheme (Part 5)
The Northern Border mimicked the Central Plains in every way, not only mirroring the palace system but even copying the court regulations like it was a child doodling in a sketchbook.
Court meetings were divided into minor and major assemblies; minor ones dealt with trivial matters, while major assemblies addressed significant issues.
On this day of the major assembly, the ministers once again proposed the establishment of heirs, causing the Northern Border King’s face to darken significantly.
His sons were in their prime, young and vigorous, yet he felt himself sliding down from his peak, with the sun setting on his rule.
This feeling of impotence was rough for someone so ambitious.
In that moment, he finally understood the mindset of the Emperor of Dongqing.
He began to fret, worrying that his sons might seize his power and life when he was most vulnerable.
As usual, he rejected the proposal for heirs, but he also scolded the minister and the minister’s son who supported the idea.
Half an hour passed, and he already felt a bit worn out.
Rubbing his forehead wearily, the Northern Border King asked, “Are there still matters that you esteemed ministers wish to report? If not, you may withdraw…”
Before he could finish, Wu Libai stepped forward, interrupting the King.
“Your Majesty, I have important matters to discuss.”
In recent years, Wu Libai had been losing the Northern Border King’s trust more and more, especially after the Horse Plague incident, which nearly landed him in trouble.
After spending years in the shadows, his presence in court had gradually diminished.
Calculating carefully, this was actually his first time speaking at the major assembly this year.
Seeing that it was Wu Libai who had stepped forward, the Northern Border King suppressed his fatigue and continued to listen.
“What is it?”
Wu Libai presented the bamboo slips he had prepared.
“Your Majesty, during my visits, I discovered that herdsmen are raising a large number of rabbits and sheep at home. If this continues, these animals will inevitably consume the pasture, leaving no grass for the war horses to eat. Right now is a crucial moment for recovery; we mustn’t be careless. The various stables have recently reported that more and more war horses are breaking their legs due to rabbit holes, which indicates…”
The Northern Border King glanced over, furrowing his brow and holding back the rising anger in his heart, interrupting Wu Libai.
“Wu Libai, this is a court meeting, not your home. How can you bring such trivial matters before us?”
Wu Libai was shocked and quickly knelt on one knee, bowing in a gesture of loyalty.
“Your Majesty, this is no exaggeration! All signs indicate that the merchant caravans are conspicuously purchasing sheep skins and rabbit meat, clearly plotting against the pasture. I implore Your Majesty to order the immediate arrest of those merchants and interrogate them rigorously to uncover the hidden mastermind!”
The Northern Border King simmered with anger.
Wu Libai rarely cared for the lives of the lower-class herdsmen, and as an ambitious Northern Border King, it was even less likely he would concern himself with ordinary shepherds.
To him, it was completely normal for herdsmen to raise rabbits and sheep.
If anything was abnormal, it would be if a rabbit happened to escape, causing a wild rabbit population explosion.
But could this really be called a major issue?
As for the sheep?
The ancestors of the Northern Border lived off grazing; raising horses and sheep was simply what they did!
Was he really saying that even the tradition of shepherding was some grand conspiracy?
“You’re becoming more foolish with age!”
The Northern Border King yelled angrily, hurling the bamboo slip at Wu Libai’s forehead.
Wu Libai didn’t expect such humiliation and had no time to dodge.
The rolled bamboo slip struck him right in the face, making him see stars and causing his body to sway as he knelt.
Silence fell over the assembly as all the ministers cast sidelong glances at Wu Libai, seemingly mocking him for making a fuss over nothing.
What if there were an abundance of rabbits and sheep?
The Northern Border grasslands were vast; could these two animals really eat them all?
Even if they did wipe it out, come spring, the grasslands would still burst forth with verdant greenery.
It was unclear why Wu Libai had fumbled this chance to speak at the major assembly, bringing up such trivial matters.
“Your Majesty!” Wu Libai seemed to age a few years, his eyes reddened as he called out loudly, “If we don’t curb this now, it will surely lead to disaster!”
The Northern Border King snickered coldly, asking, “Disaster? What disaster? The pastures in the Northern Border are lush; how could a few measly animals consume it all?”
A minister chimed in, “Yes! Grass is life’s resilient and unyielding force in the grasslands. I truly don’t understand what worries Wu Libai has… I haven’t read the Central Plains’ books, but I do know a saying: ‘The man of Qi worries about the sky’—doesn’t that describe you?”
When had Wu Libai, the wise one of the Northern Border, been ridiculed this way?
When the Northern Border faced threats from the Central Plains, these people clung to him tightly.
Now that they had lived comfortably for over a decade, each of them had forgotten their past shame and began to take turns kicking him while he was down.
“‘Worrying about the sky?’ That line is too clever,” Wu Libai’s political enemy stepped forward, sharply questioning, “Wu Libai, do you really think that people can survive on sentiment alone? If you arrest the merchants, who will they sell the accumulated goods to? To you? The herdsmen barely scrape by as it is; you want to sever their livelihood with just a couple of words.”
Everyone knew that Wu Libai’s wife came from a wealthy merchant family in the Northern Border.
In the past, when he went into battles, many military supplies were funded by his wife’s family.
Years ago, Gu Xin had tricked the Northern Border nobles and merchants out of more than twenty million coins using “Heaven’s Palace Glass,” leaving his wife’s family in tatters. Now, they’d be lucky to come to Wu Libai and snatch a few coins from him, let alone support him!
This political enemy deliberately brought this up as a means to humiliate Wu Libai.
Wu Libai was nearly choked by the words, almost unable to breathe.
Under normal circumstances, he could certainly think of a strategy to counter this; however, with consecutive blows stacking up, he couldn’t remain calm.
The political enemy chuckled, leaning closer to Wu Libai and whispering, “Even if the King followed your advice, it would likely be well-intentioned but futile.”
Wu Libai suddenly turned, glaring fiercely at him.
The enemy beamed with delight, each word laced with thorns, “Are you forgetting it was you who suggested the King buy female horses at high prices from the Cangzhou stables to quickly recover strength? The royal finances are already strained; how can you still propose such ideas…”
The Northern Border Royal Court was already broke, struggling to afford military rations.
If merchants were arrested, cutting off the livelihood of the common people, that would indeed bring down the wrath of the masses.
Wu Libai was usually very clever, so how could he get so lost in such situations?
Or maybe this high-and-mighty fellow truly believed that the Northern Border’s revival was solely his achievement?
There’s a saying in the Central Plains: “Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.”
This applies not just to the Central Plains but also to the Northern Border.
If the Northern Border King lost the love of the people, the herdsmen would turn to other tribal leaders for support.
At that point, what would the Northern Border King even matter?
