Chapter 583 – Northern Border Horse Plague (Part 10)
The three clans of the Northern Border were originally scattered across the land, living as a diverse mosaic of ethnicities and tribes, herding horses by the water. Disputes and skirmishes flared up between the tribes constantly. Eventually, one particular tribe rose to prominence with the support of the last Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, unifying the major forces of the Northern Border after decades of effort.
This powerful tribe was the “Qiang,” said to be the remnants of the Qiang Shaman clan. Today, they stand as the most influential, populous, and wealthy of the three clans in the Northern Border. The structure of power within the Northern Border Royal Court is far more complicated than that of the Central Plains.
In the Central Plain royal family, if the Emperor is incompetent and lacks virtue, the common people tend to endure it. Ministers might either turn a blind eye or comply with the Emperor’s excesses. However, in the Northern Border, the situation is quite different.
If the Northern Border King lacks capability, the Elder Council of the three clans has the authority to leverage their strengths to dethrone him and appoint a new king!
Wu Libai had earlier suggested to the Northern Border King to cull the mares that had been in contact with the prized horses of Sha Lan Kingdom. But the Northern Border King held onto a false hope, allowing the horse plague enough time to spread, leading to incalculable losses for the various horse farms. Who will take responsibility for this mess?
Before the Northern Border King consolidated the horse farms, they were owned by the various prominent nobles of the Northern Border.
The nobles were willing to submit to the Royal Court’s management of the horse farms because there was profit involved. Now, with the Northern Border King’s poor decisions causing such significant losses, can these powerful nobles simply swallow their pride?
Once Liu Zhi’s message reached Xiangyang County, the internal conflicts among the three clans of the Northern Border erupted into chaos, severely damaging the authority of the royal court.
Jiang Pengji sat at the edge of the field, dressed in thicker linen clothes and wearing a sun hat.
Although there was a drought this year, the harvest from the fields was surprisingly good. Last year, after reclaiming Xiangyang County, they had opened up vast stretches of wasteland land, distributing around ten acres to each family. Having experienced the joy of abundant harvest, the common people were now busy burning straw to enrich the soil.
Jiang Pengji listened quietly to the intelligence report before looking up at the sky.
It was already close to late autumn; according to past years, the first snow should be falling soon.
Calmly, Jiang Pengji said, “There’s no need to worry. Once the first snow falls, the horse plague in the Northern Border should be contained. However, the losses already incurred cannot be recovered. Tell my father that if possible, stir up internal conflicts within the Northern Border. The Northern Border King’s policies have caused significant losses to many noble horse farms; I believe he’s also in quite a predicament now?”
During this time, Jiang Pengji had either been busy in the woodworking workshop or working in the fields, prompting the audience in the live stream to wonder if she would change careers.
Now that a secret envoy from Liu Zhi had arrived, everyone seemed energized.
[A Note of Laughter]: Hahaha—this joke could keep me laughing for a year. The three clans of the Northern Border want to invade Dongqing? Who knew heaven would frown upon them, sending them a “horse plague” to contend with. Now look, even the Northern Border King might find himself ousted!
[Mushroom Pops]: Timing, location, and people; sigh, the Northern Border’s three clans lack even the weather, yet they still have the courage to attack Dongqing. Who gave them that confidence? Liang Jingru? Now, with the horse plague upon them, their war horses are dying one after another. I checked it with my Baidu, hahaha, ancient war horses were incredibly expensive! The Northern Border horse farms are practically wiped out; how much will that cost them?
[Setting Sun Engraved in the Sky]: No, no, no—they have indeed suffered great losses of war horses, which translates to a hefty cost in silver, but you need to understand that war horses aren’t liquid currency. The losses of the Northern Border’s three clans aren’t as substantial as you think.
If Northern Border horses were sellable, the prices they fetched from others would definitely be inflated, but that doesn’t mean the horses are worth that amount.
The three clans in the Northern Border own many horse farms, and they dictate the prices. Outsiders have no idea about the actual costs of a single war horse.
[Box Snatching Today]: True, we calculate their losses based on the selling price of war horses. If we calculate it at cost price, the losses wouldn’t be as huge as imagined? But it’s still not negligible, right? After all, it’s a bloodbath.
[This Really Stimulates]: Am I the only one worried about what happens if the host decides to attack the Northern Border? How will the horse plague be dealt with?
Jiang Pengji glanced at the live stream comments. The secret envoy had already left, but she appeared lost in thought while secretly sending a message in the stream.
[Host V]: From the secret envoy’s report, I can guess how the horse plague spread—most likely related to mosquitoes and insects. The source of the horse plague stems from near the Sha Lan Kingdom, where the climate is humid and hot, with no frost or snow year-round, primarily in spring and summer. If mosquitoes and insects are the transmission source, then once the weather turns cold and frost covers the land, the horse plague will naturally be contained.
The transmission routes of the disease are just a few options. After eliminating various transmission pathways, Jiang Pengji focused on the insects commonly found on the grasslands. Although there was no decisive evidence for this assumption, she had confidence in her judgment.
If it were airborne transmission, even if the pathogen had a prolonged incubation period, the plague would explode in a matter of days, infesting the entire Northern Border grasslands. But the results showed otherwise; the plague spread outwards in a wave-like infection, not fast but not slow either.
The audience in the live stream suddenly understood.
[Crimson Starry Sky]: This horse plague feels a bit like the African horse plague, though it has a longer incubation period and a higher mortality rate.
[Storm Hero]: In any case, as long as the host is aware, that’s all that matters. Let’s quietly eat our melons and watch the show.
At that moment, a viewer suddenly raised a question.
[Warm Bell]: Ahhhhh—I just remembered, Xiao Bai is also from the Northern Border! Could it be a source of the horse plague?
Thinking about how that handsome and obedient celebrity horse might perish suddenly sent everyone into a panic.
[Host V]: Xiao Bai is doing just fine; there’s nothing to worry about.
The Beijiang Ju Bao Zhai steward had informed Jiang Pengji that he had purchased a fine, snow-white war horse as a gift for her. At the time, Jiang Pengji had asked for details and made sure Xiao Bai was alright before allowing the stableman to place Xiao Bai in Big White’s VIP stable.
The Beijiang Ju Bao Zhai steward took Xiao Bai out of the Northern Border, deliberately taking a longer route to Xiangyang County, which took him more than a month along the way.
If Xiao Bai had been sick, it would have likely died on the journey; how could it have arrived safely in Xiangyang?
In the fields, straw was burning everywhere, and Jiang Pengji stood up to put on her wooden clogs.
At that moment, Li Yun returned from his patrol, his face lit with a genuine smile, attracting many admiring glances from the young ladies.
“Lord—”
Jiang Pengji nodded, signaling it was time to leave.
Li Yun grinned, showing off his pearly whites, “I thought this year’s drought would leave us with nothing, but it turns out to be a small bountiful harvest!”
He checked the harvesting situation of various families; the grain was abundant enough to feed the entire people of Fengyi County.
Adding in the tilled fields from Cheng’an County, by next autumn, not only would the people of the county have enough provisions, but the twenty thousand troops would also have sufficient rations as well.
