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Chapter 774: The Fourth Kill and Planning (IV)

Right before going to the alliance assembly, Jiang Pengji assigned a top-secret task to Wei Ci.

Now that the alliance was entering its last phase, the caravan that Wei Ci sent out was finally approaching at Beijiang.

The three clans of Beijiang had taken a beating from the sudden equestrian virus. Not only was their military might affected, but their economy was also in shambles as a result.

The larger horse ranches had suffered a lot of damage and were now being subsidized by the Imperial Court with financial backup and support, but the smaller ranches and civilian farms had taken the most damage.

When the caravans entered the border of Beijiang and saw the deserted scene before them, so unlike the busy and lively streets they’d seen before, they were all shocked.

“Surely it hasn’t been that long since we left. How did Beijiang become like this?”

A good question! Not only did they want to know, but the countless bankrupt and broken farm families of Beijiang also wanted to know as well. How had things turned out like this!?

Before the equestrian virus, Beijiang had been a dangerous problem for Dongqing.

In the eyes of Beijiang, Dongqing was simply a fresh prey item that they would eventually rip apart and swallow.

After the pandemic, everything changed.

First were the deaths of their elite combat horses. There’d been a less than twenty percent survival rate. Then, the pandemic spread into regular horses.

A normal horse doesn’t have the same kind of physical attributes as a combat horse, so once the pandemic spread, the mortality rate rose to a horrifying one hundred percent!

“…You all should know that since this king took the throne, he unified the three clans of Beijiang and exponentially increased their military strength. The king wasn’t satisfied with just that and had more ambitions… He has been raising horses for years to invade Dongqing. To raise many horses within a short amount of time, he even encouraged civilian farmers to raise horses in bulks. Normal herders could purchase colts from ranches, and when they grew up they could resell them back to larger farms. Many of them profited from this trading system and inspired more and more people to raise horses…”

“Herders saw their chance to earn big money within this system and sold their cattle for horses. Some even took out loans in order to raise them…”

The old man in the caravan spat as he spoke, the husky voice in his throat adding a discreet hint of amusement at Beijiang’s misfortune.

“And now one equestrian pandemic killed off all those civilian horses they’ve raised for the last few years.”

Everyone took in a breath of cold air.

They finally understand that to many Beijiang herders, horses were their sole source of income.

An equestrian pandemic had ruined all their efforts and stolen their financial stability.

They’d worked for years with no return, only to end up owing more than they’d invested originally.

Aside from those with a little more money than the average person, many average farmers were already broke and had no money to even feed themselves. Countless more had lost their families.

Just then, someone let out a sigh. “What a pity…”

Someone didn’t agree and mocked them coldly. “How are they pitiful? It’s clear that the Beijiang crown was too greedy. If they didn’t have such ambition, why would herders have switched to raising combat horses instead of cattle? Now that they’ve been hit with the equestrian pandemic, the heavens have given them their punishment.”

In earlier times, average ranchers herded sheep and cows, not many chose to raise horses.

But because the Beijiang royalty had issued the order multiple times, the herders finally decreased the number of cattle on their farms and switched to raising horses.

If not for this, these farmers wouldn’t have fallen into this impoverished state.

This was clearly the fault of the Beijiang throne, yet it was the people who’d ended up having to take the damage.

“Keep quiet.” People quickly hushed up their fellow travelers, suddenly alert. “This is Beijiang territory. If those barbarian tribes hear us, they’ll kill us. Do you want to die?”

The caravan kept going for a while, only managing to get a very small handful of sheepskin, rabbit skin, goat meat, and rabbit meat.

“These ranchers don’t raise sheep anymore, how many dried goods can we end up getting?”

Many people frowned in distress as they saw the dried foods they’d managed to retrieve.

They’d been out for days and only managed to trade for this much. How would they split up the profits later?

“Didn’t we just say to take whatever we can take? It’s not like we’re out of buyers! We’ll just collect however much we can take. We’ll make a profit either way.”

Even then, after one full trip throughout the three tribes in Beijiang, this caravan hadn’t even managed to collect 20,000 sheets of leather.

At an earlier time, a trip around the tribes would have allowed them to collect thirty to forty thousand sheets of leather, plus way more dried rabbit and goat meat.

The caravans came in all different sizes. Like any other average group of traveling merchants, they didn’t manage to attract the attention of the government. Aside from leather, they also managed to purchase a lot of Beijiang specialties and promised to pick them up from the civilians in another two to three months.

However, despite this, the caravan’s outlook on their next round of purchases wasn’t very optimistic.

“I don’t know how many ranches we went to just for these supplies… I bet the next time we come, we won’t even be able to find a single fly here…”

They’d purchased all the items they could while they were here and had almost completely wiped out the inventories of these civilians in the process.

A merchant interrupted. “After a while, the plants in Beijiang will grow out as well, so the ranchers can start raising more rabbits and sheep… Their horses are all dead anyway and their ranches are still there, so they might as well raise a few animals that they can feed their families with.”

If they didn’t find another way to feed their families, these poor farmers and ranchers would have to resort to eating grass.

The same merchant continued, “I think rabbits are good. They’re extremely good at reproducing, and they mature very quickly.”

The growth cycle of sheep and rabbits were different. You couldn’t raise a lot of sheep within two to three months, but you sure could raise a lot of rabbits.

If they wanted to find a short-term solution to their problems, raising rabbits would be a decent option.

Beijiang’s ranches were big and filled with grass, so they wouldn’t even need to worry about feeding the rabbits they raised. How convenient!

Just then, someone pointed out a different opinion.

“If they do what you say and only raise rabbits, then we can only purchase rabbits. We’ll be losing profit just by going a single round like this.”

The head of the caravan used a displeased tone and said nonchalantly, “Those people in Wanzhou have money and like these little things… We’ll make a pass over there to trade and make twice the profit. We won’t lose anything. Even if a fly is small, it’s still meat. Collecting rabbit skin and meat might only mean collecting small money, but added up, it’s still a formidable amount of profit.”

“But…” Someone was still hesitant. “Even if Wanzhou has money, we can’t always be selling at a loss, right?”

The sounds of debating within the caravan began to fade off into the distance.

It wasn’t just that these merchants didn’t know about Wanzhou’s goal, even the people of Wanzhou were completely baffled as to what the hidden agenda was.

“What did our lord make you do? It’s almost spring plowing now. If we continue to make leather, it’ll only go bad as we hold onto it.”

Feng Jin glared at him for awhile, still unable to figure out Wei Ci’s real intention.

Of course, Wei Ci couldn’t possibly reveal the plan. It would be better if fewer people knew about it.

But if Feng Jin guessed correctly on his own, that would be a different story.

Wei Ci shook his head and said, “This is a top-secret mission and I cannot speak about it without the lord’s permission. If Huai Yu is curious, you can ask the lord directly when she returns. As for the sheepskin and rabbit skin… even though it’s spring plowing season, it’s not as if the leather we purchase will be completely useless. The entire territory of Wanzhou is already under our lord’s control, and the population of the county has increased exponentially to the point that we already have way more people than Xiangyang County. If we don’t prepare for winter next year, won’t we end up frantically working ourselves to death when the season comes? You can simply interpret this as preparing before the rain comes. We’re simply thinking a year ahead.”