Chapter 582 – Northern Border Horse Plague (Part 9)
Wei Ci unfurled the scroll with a slight smirk and a glimmer of amusement in his deep black eyes, passing the document to Feng Zhen, who was leaning against him like a limp noodle, practically using all his weight on Wei Ci.
Wei Ci poked him with a bamboo slip, drawing everyone’s attention to Feng Zhen, who quietly cursed Wei Ci for being scheming.
As Feng Zhen received the scroll and opened it, his brows quirked up slightly.
Though he lacked any prophetic abilities, he could piece together some clues from the attitudes of Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci.
“The Northern Border’s horse farm is in trouble?”
Feng Zhen wasn’t aware of the horse plague, but the contents of the scroll hinted at something amiss.
Yang Si interjected, “What—something’s wrong at the Northern Border’s horse farm?”
His gaze turned suspiciously towards Wei Ci, suddenly recalling the previous riddles Wei Ci had thrown his way.
Everyone was deeply concerned about the death of Princess An Yina, fearing the three clans of the Northern Border might use this as an excuse to attack the shaky Dongqing. Yet, Wei Ci, unwavering, displayed no worry at all, even seeming to relish the unfolding drama… Did he already know?
Yang Si grabbed the scroll from Feng Zhen and skimmed through its contents.
The more he read, the more baffled he became.
“It only says the Northern Border horse farm is under heavy guard, with no other news. Why do you all think there’s trouble? It could be a strategic move by the Northern Border to prevent enemy reconnaissance by tightening security. After all, the horse farm is crucial for them. Are you heartless enough to sneak into the Northern Border and sabotage the feed for their warhorses?”
The Northern Border relied heavily on cavalry, with a 1:2 ratio of infantry to cavalry, even leaning towards complete cavalry units.
If the cavalry lost their strong warhorses, could they even be considered cavalry anymore?
The horse farm was an important strategic asset for the three clans of the Northern Border. If something went wrong here, the cavalry’s fighting strength would be nearly nullified.
It wasn’t that Yang Si couldn’t see the potential issues; he simply found it hard to believe such coincidences could exist.
Just recently, the Northern Border was ready to sharpen their blades for Dongqing, and now their horse farm was in trouble? How ironic!
Jiang Pengji chuckled, “Jingrong, don’t joke around. The Northern Border horse farm has heavy defenses. If I had the ability to tamper with the horse feed, wouldn’t it be easier to just send someone to assassinate the Northern Border King? This is merely my guess, regardless of its truth, we should just wait and see.”
Yang Si furrowed his brows, remembering Wei Ci’s demeanor earlier, sensing this matter ran deeper.
The suspense was killing him, and Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci both had a knack for withholding information that made him want to shake them.
With a forced smile, Yang Si said, “If Liu County Magistrate is so confident, it must mean the Northern Border horse farm is indeed in trouble.”
By the time he finished speaking, the scroll had passed among the group.
They leaned more toward Yang Si’s view; it seemed the Northern Border was tightening their grip on the horse farm possibly to guard against spies.
As for the horse farm facing problems… how likely could that be?
It felt too coincidental—right when the Northern Border was preparing to march south, their cavalry was crippled.
But some coincidences were all too real.
The Northern Border King fiercely rejected Wu Libai’s suggestion to slaughter the broodmares, instead clinging to the hope that the veterinarian could manage the horse plague.
And yet, daily, warhorses were falling ill, and pregnant mares were dying in droves. The atmosphere in the Northern Border Royal Court grew increasingly tense. Previously, it was said that the incubation period of this horse plague depended on the host’s physical condition; pregnant mares and foals were the most vulnerable.
Naturally, the initial outbreak of the horse plague at the horse farm involved pregnant mares and foals.
Even though the Northern Border had been financially robust over the years, they were still shaken by this massive horse plague.
The horse farm wasn’t just vital to the Northern Border’s military, but also to their economic lifeline.
Every mare or foal lost added a significant financial blow.
Within half a month, the death toll of pregnant mares reached a staggering two thousand five hundred, with foals suffering severe casualties as well.
At this point, the Northern Border King could no longer hold out and chose to heed the advice of the “wise one,” Wu Libai, to slaughter the horses that had come into contact with the sick ones.
However, it was too late.
Besides the issues at the horse farm, ordinary horses from the herdsmen’s homes also exhibited signs of illness.
Upon receiving this news, even the Northern Border King, seasoned through storms, stood dumbfounded in place.
“Report—”
Just when it couldn’t get any worse, things took another turn for the worse.
“There’s a sick horse in the warhorse stable!”
“W-what—”
The Northern Border King’s face went pale in shock, slamming his palm on the table and rising, only to find the world blurring before him from the sudden movement.
The officials surrounded him, their expressions filled with dread, rushing to lend support to the Northern Border King’s faltering form.
If the horse plague were to remain confined to the horse farm, the Northern Border might still manage to keep it under wraps. But now, it was being carried by insects and flies, unnoticed by the common people, spreading the dreaded contagion—how could they defend against that?
When the disease also appeared among the ordinary herding horses, it became impossible to hide the news.
Chongzhou, bordering the Northern Border, was the first to hear the rumors relayed by Liu Zhi.
“Warhorses… a massive die-off?”
Liu Zhi was so astonished he could hardly speak.
The spy reported, “Yes, this news can no longer be concealed. The number of dying warhorses increases daily. It’s said that infected warhorses often face a high mortality rate. My lord, should we take precautions in Chongzhou?”
If this horse plague spread into Chongzhou, they wouldn’t even have the chance to grieve.
The Northern Border held fertile horse pastures, raising countless warhorses, while Dongqing’s warhorses came from Cangzhou.
Cangzhou, under the Meng Clan’s control, had become a troublesome spot for Liu Zhi, who had been facing off against the Meng Clan in recent years.
In Dongqing, securing warhorses meant not offending the Meng Clan.
Thus, without any chance to procure warhorses from Cangzhou, Liu Zhi relied solely on the warhorses from the Northern Border within Chongzhou.
If these precious warhorses fell ill too, they’d be left fighting on foot.
Liu Zhi deliberated, “Naturally, we must prevent sick horses from entering our territory. We should… send a confidential letter to Lan Ting.”
A large-scale die-off of Northern Border warhorses was a stroke of good fortune for Dongqing.
As the Chongzhou governor, Liu Zhi knew that if the Northern Border launched an attack on Dongqing, Chongzhou would be the first on the chopping block, highlighting the immense pressure on him.
Now, with the ancestors watching over him, the Northern Border seemed to have fallen into misfortune, making Liu Zhi struggle to stifle his laughter even in bed at night.
Of course, would the Northern Border’s bad luck end here?
No—far from it!
