Chapter 928 – The Rabbit and Sheep Poison Plan (Part Three)
【Bandit’s Intent】: Sigh, the streamer is about to go crazy, and we haven’t even seen her cursing like a sailor yet.
【Calmly Descending South Mountain】: I’d be mad too! What’s wrong with the Cangzhou Meng Clan? Have they dug their own brains out? Selling vital breeding mares to the foreign tribes for ten times the profit? They can sell them, but those tribes are gearing up to attack the Central Plains!
【Seven Stars Constellation】: I totally get why the streamer is fuming! High-quality breeding mares are like tanks and ammo; strategic resources to us! No matter how broke the country is, it wouldn’t sell to its hostile neighbors who are always itching to invade!
If the Chongzhou gentry chose to privately deal with the Northern Border nobility to pull a fast one on Jiang Pengji for family gain, what does that make the Cangzhou Meng Clan?
If the Northern Border quickly bounces back thanks to those mares and strikes the Central Plains, slaughtering our people, the Cangzhou Meng Clan will end up as historical villains!
It’s one thing for them to sit on their hands while our streamer recuperates for years with eyes set on the Northern Border, but they’re actually kicking her while she’s down?
If the world falls apart, no matter how much money the Meng Clan gathers, it’ll all just go towards making someone else rich!
【Transvestite Harm】: Thank goodness we found this out early! If we had waited two more years, the Northern Border cavalry would be at least 40% operational again!
【Met You at 21】: Suddenly remembering something! The three tribes in the Northern Border buying so many mares from the Cangzhou Meng Clan at ten times the price must be tight on cash, right? The streamer plans to march against the Northern Border next spring, but the three tribes don’t even have time to make a profit… In other words, the Northern Border is in an awkward position right now. If the streamer wins, oh boy, she’ll be rolling in it!
【Thorns Blooming】: Hahaha, I was just gonna say that—if the Northern Border gets beaten, they’re gonna be stunned!
Surprise, surprise?
Unexpected, huh?
Exciting, right?
The profits from those mares will take time to show, and Jiang Pengji doesn’t plan to give them three more years to rest and recover!
【Night Dance Flame Spirit】: Let’s not be too optimistic. The Northern Border is vast and their combat power is strong. Their strength isn’t just in cavalry; they’re also tough on the ground. Our streamer commands over one hundred thousand troops, elite soldiers trained for two or three years, which seems like a lot, but she can’t throw them all into battle. She still needs to leave some behind for defense, just in case someone tries to sneak in. In reality, only about seventy to eighty thousand can be deployed. Don’t you think that’s a bit underwhelming against the Northern Border?
The Northern Border could wipe the floor with all of Dongqing, let alone the fact that Jiang Pengji currently controls less than a third of Dongqing territory.
【Wrestler】: The old ancestor’s grandson once said, “It’s better to win quickly than to prolong the fight; prolonged wars dull sharp weapons and lead to weakness.” If the streamer gets bogged down in a war of attrition against the Northern Border, her hopes for further development will be bleak. And will nearby lords really just sit by doing nothing? At that point, she wouldn’t only face the Northern Border’s heavy military pressure but also wary backline lords that might rise up against her.
The larger the war, the more it needs a quick resolution.
Every day dragged on increases the risks.
Even great powers can’t afford prolonged wars, let alone a small lord like Jiang Pengji.
Fortunately, the Northern Border made a foolish move and grossly underestimated Jiang Pengji’s strength and ambition.
If it were any other lord, even with three more years to develop, they might not dare to poke the Northern Border’s tiger whiskers.
The Northern Border could use those few years to recover quickly and recoup their investments.
Once they catch their breath, they could regain their arrogance.
But we’re talking about Jiang Pengji here.
She started planning against the Northern Border at twelve! Would she really sit back and watch a golden opportunity slip away right in front of her?
Now it seems the net can be cast.
Jiang Pengji’s expression turned grave. “This matter is of utmost importance! We must not leak any secrets, or the Northern Border might catch wind of it early.”
She didn’t distrust the people present; it was just that the ancient world had a terrible record when it came to keeping military secrets.
How many regime changes have fallen through due to leaks throughout history?
Back in her military tent, Jiang Pengji penned a confidential letter and sent it via express courier to the capital at lightning speed.
While waiting for Wei Ci’s message, she began making preliminary preparations.
Cui Yu, following Jiang Pengji’s orders, increased trade with the Northern Border.
To win over their trust, Cui Yu, with Jiang Pengji’s approval, smuggled high-priced rice paper. Using this avenue, the Cui Family’s business reached out to the Northern Border’s power elite. While they may not have gathered monumental secrets, they collected plenty of useful intelligence.
Wei Ci received the letter and packed up swiftly to head for Chongzhou that very night.
At the same time, the news sent back by the Cui Family caravan perked up Jiang Pengji and the others.
“Tsk tsk tsk—looks like wild rabbits pack quite the punch.”
Some shepherds secretly raised rabbits, and inevitably, some escaped to become wild rabbits, embedding themselves and breeding.
Many wild rabbits made their home among the horse farm’s grasslands, digging hole after hole.
Initially, it wasn’t much of a problem, but as the rabbit holes multiplied, it was only a matter of time before horses stepped on them.
The lucky ones remained unscathed, while the unlucky ones suffered broken legs.
A fine horse that gets injured, without careful care, is unlikely to recover to its previous condition.
In other words, that horse is done for.
There were rabbits on the grasslands before, but due to predators and human activity, their numbers were kept in check.
Now the shepherds raising wild rabbits caused a surge in their population.
However, nature’s biological chain has some self-regulating abilities.
As wild rabbits proliferated, they fed more and more grassland wolves.
With an increase in grassland wolves, they needed more wild rabbits for food.
For a time, both sides maintained a delicate balance.
Wolves have always been a headache for horse farms; they are ferocious and often move in packs.
Each appearance typically caused significant casualties, inflicting great harm on the horse farms.
It’s troublesome enough that wolves are increasing, but reports of injured horses have also started coming in.
One or two incidents wouldn’t be much, but as reports piled up, the higher-ups at the horse farm took notice.
They dispatched people to investigate the sources of the injured horses, and soon pinpointed the answer—rabbit holes.
Rabbit holes are no stranger to the grassland shepherds.
“These little rascals!”
Grinding his teeth in rage, he felt his heart bleed.
The horse farm organized staff to capture rabbits, but they greatly underestimated the rabbit population; the rabbit hole issue remained unresolved.
“Did these little rascals take wrong medicine? How could there be so many?!”
The horse farm owner was dumbfounded, still failing to realize the severity of the situation.
It wasn’t until several horse farms faced the same issue that they woke up and hurriedly submitted their concerns.
The brain behind the Northern Border right now is Wu Libai.
As a core figure, a lot of matters pass through his hands, filtering things through before sending important proposals to the Northern Border King.
“How could there suddenly be so many rabbit holes at the horse farm?”
Wu Libai keenly sensed something was off.
He didn’t submit the proposal to the Northern Border King but instead took the initiative to visit various horse farms, carefully assessing the situation.
After asking around, one thought consumed his mind—
Something’s not right!
