Wu Liba had a bad premonition.
"Were there so many rabbit holes in the pasture in previous years?"
Wu Liba summoned the owner of the stud farm and inquired about the situation.
The horse farm owner shook his head. "Although rabbit holes have appeared in the past, there weren't many of them, and they weren't as densely packed as they are now."
The uneasiness in Wu Liba's heart intensified. Something was not right. Something must have gone wrong somewhere.
Although he was a man born in the grasslands, he had lived a good life since he was a child. He rarely came into contact with the lower-class herdsmen and didn't even have a deep understanding of the situation in the grasslands. This was because he was a wise man of the Northern Borderline's foreign tribes. He had learned the Han culture of the Central Plains and used the essence of Han culture to help the Northern Borderline prosper.
All these years, in order to help the northern borderline recover from the horse plague, Wu Liba did not have the heart to focus on anything else.
Moreover, the King of the Northern Borderline was getting older, and the princes under him were getting more and more mature. The fight for the throne was about to surface.
With two hidden dangers added together, how could Wu Liba have the energy to care about the lives of the lowly herdsmen?
If it wasn't for the fact that the number of rabbit holes had increased greatly, causing the horses in the farm to be crippled, he wouldn't have investigated to the end.
When his subordinates placed the information they had found in front of him, Wu Liba was so angry that he slammed his palm on the table, his expression ferocious.
"Who allowed these fools to act smart and raise wild rabbits?" Wu Liba was exasperated.
The guard was startled, and then he lowered his head to conceal the rage that surged in his eyes.
If the imperial court had not made a mistake in its policy and bought the Ferghana horses from Shalan, causing the entire northern borderline to be infected with the horse plague, would the low-level herdsmen be so poor that they had no money to buy rice? If they didn't rear these rabbits, who knew how many families would be forced to sell themselves as slaves?
However, the guard did not dare to say this. He had been by Wu Liba's side for a few years and knew his temperament very well.
"Master, do you know how the herdsmen lived in the past few years?" The guard reminded him carefully.
Wu Liba's expression froze.
Of course he knew!
He was even indirectly related to the current situation.
In order to cultivate more warhorses, the Royal Court of the Northern Borderline promised the herdsmen families benefits by selling them foals. Then, the government would buy them back at a high price. Because of this policy, the northern borderline was able to develop in a short period of more than ten years. It even threatened Dongqing so much that they dared not act presumptuously.
This suggestion was made by Wu Liba. It was because of it that he managed to secure his position as the Wise One and gain the King's trust.
This was true for success and also true for failure.
The herdsmen's families had invested all their resources in the war horses and had no other source of income.
The Northern Border Horse Plague broke out, and the Imperial Dynasty wasn't willing to make up for their losses, causing many families to die. Even if Wu Liba did not care about the lives of the commoners at the bottom of society, he could predict the consequences.
Wu Liba said angrily, "Even so, they shouldn't have done this."
The guard had a strange expression.
If the herdsmen did not rear rabbits in exchange for food, what else could they do?
Could it be that he didn't want to eat food and instead lay on the ground to eat withered grass?
Rabbits had a short birth cycle and were easy to raise. Ordinary herdsmen's families relied on them to survive the hungriest times.
If the Royal Court of the Northern Borderline was willing to take pity on the herdsmen and compensate them for their losses, they would not have to rear rabbits.
The herdsmen had lived on the grassland for generations, so they knew how annoying it was for rabbits to dig holes.
However, for the sake of their family, they had to do so.
The guard wisely chose to remain silent. Wu Liba said, "Continue investigating! I don't believe that the Central Plains is so lacking in rabbit meat and rabbit fur … This is clearly a conspiracy against our Beijiang, and we must capture the culprit! "
The guard obeyed the order and went to investigate.
He would not have known if he did not investigate, but after investigating a little …
Wu Liba watched with trepidation.
Almost every month, there would be caravans from different places purchasing smoked rabbit meat and tanned rabbit skin from the Beijiang herdsmen. The amount each time was not large, but when added up, it was an astronomical figure. Apart from that, they also purchased wool and mutton.
Compared to selling mutton, the herdsmen preferred to increase the size of their flocks and sell their wool.
The herdsmen did some calculations.
As long as the sheep were alive, they could continue to sell their wool, and the profits would flow steadily.
If they slaughtered the sheep, it would be a one-off transaction, and it would not be worth it.
Selling wool was more profitable than selling rabbits. Almost every family reared sheep of varying sizes, and the number of sheep increased exponentially.
The Beijiang herdsmen also had the habit of rearing sheep, so Wu Liba was not sure if this was a conspiracy.
After thinking about it, he brought a group of guards to visit the herdsmen's families in secret.
"… It seems … there's nothing wrong …"
Wu Liba rode on his horse and looked into the distance. The herdsmen herded their sheep, and the blue sky and green grass made everything seem so harmonious and serene.
"Old man, it must be tiring to watch over so many sheep."
Wu Liba was dressed like an ordinary herdsman, and he did not carry any valuable items. He looked no different from an ordinary person.
The old herdsman who herded the sheep chuckled. "It is indeed tiring. This year, the pasture is not lush, and we always have to move places."
The Beijiang people were nomadic people, and they followed the pasture when herding.
Wherever there was more pasture, they would herd the animals there to eat.
Wu Liba felt that something was wrong with the old herdsman's words, so he probed.
"With so many sheep, I wonder how much pasture they will eat. At this rate, they will soon reach another pasture … "
The old herdsman said, "That's right. They can eat too much. If we don't herd them, they will be so hungry that they will pull out the grass from the mud."
After Wu Liba heard this, a thought flashed through his mind, and he seemed to have grasped the truth.
He hurriedly asked, "Old man, where did you herd the sheep previously?"
The old herdsman pointed casually. Wu Liba thanked him, and hurriedly mounted his horse and galloped in that direction.
This season was the time when the pasture was lush.
From afar, the entire vast grassland looked like a piece of emerald jade that had fallen to the mortal world. It was lush green, and it made one feel refreshed.
However, when Wu Liba arrived at the destination pointed out by the old herdsman, he realized that the pasture there was sparse.
To make an analogy, it was like mild hair loss. Although the scalp was not exposed, it was obvious that the hair was not as lush as before.
Wu Liba rode on his horse and muttered to himself, "Sheep … Rabbit …"
The breeze on the grassland caressed the pasture, making it sway beautifully.
"Could it be … pasture?"
In an instant, he understood all the details, and his heart tightened.
Pasture was the key to rearing warhorses. The mastermind was obviously using such a roundabout method to indirectly squeeze the survival resources of warhorses!
"What a sinister plan!"
Wu Liba clenched his teeth.
Fortunately, he had discovered it early. Otherwise, if the enemy had continued secretly for another seven to eight years, the Beijiang would not be able to afford to rear warhorses.
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