Chapter 581: Horse Plague at the Northern Borders (VIII)

The pathogens of the horse plague were transmitted through insects such as mosquitoes and flies, and the immune system of the host directly affected the length of the incubation period.

The northern kingdom held the custom of sky burial in high esteem, and they let the corpses of the Ferghana horses rot on the ground, becoming the food of insects, birds, and beasts.

Ranches were not spotlessly clean, so the slaves naturally wouldn’t take any precautions against the small mosquitoes and insects.

One could imagine how terrifying it would be when the horse plague spread everywhere.

The horse dealers of Shalan conned the royal court of the northern kingdom of the huge sum of 10 million strings of coins. Fortunately, all the mares were done breeding, and thousands of mares were gradually found to be pregnant, so they managed to recover some losses. Otherwise, the royal court of the northern kingdom would have lost their shirt.

However, their bad luck did not come to an end.

About half a month later, a previously pregnant mare caught a high fever, and its whole body seemed to have swelled up by one round. It breathed heavily like a panting cow, and occasionally it burst into violent fits of cough. Its nostrils flared, and out flowed a lot of mucus that contained foamy liquid. It was obviously critically ill.

The slave who had been taking care of the pregnant horse were so scared that he hurriedly reported the matter to their superior.

The slave trembled, his body shaking like a sieve, and he kept pleading for mercy for fear that he would also be secretly disposed of.

“Could it be that the mare contracted the disease from the Ferghana horses that were here previously?” The ranch owner’s expression was dark. The mare laid on the ground of the stable, breathing heavy, but its body looked as if water had been pumped into it, and it swelled one size larger. It was so sickly that even a blind person could see that the pregnant horse was seriously ill. “Can it still be saved?”

The ranch vet grimaced and shook his head resignedly.

Ordinary, minor illnesses could still be cured, but he was really powerless when faced with cases like these where the horse was already too far gone.

The ranch owner secretly clenched his back molar teeth, and he was so upset that it seemed as if lethal venom was erupting from his gaze.

He had already lost too much money prior to the incident because of the Ferghana horses, but fortunately the percentage of mares that were impregnated could still be considered high. If they could deliver the colts successfully, the loss he suffered here in the northern kingdom could be evened out. Upon breeding them for a few years, producing more colts, and training them into powerful warhorses, the profit earned would be several times more than the previous losses.

But with the situation at the moment?

The pregnant horse that was painstakingly taken care of as if it was precious gold had fallen ill, and its condition was so serious that even the vet couldn’t do anything about it.

Upon the death of the mare, the fetus in its belly wouldn’t be able to survive too. A mare of good lineage and a colt with even more potential would be lost in one go.

Thinking of the loss, the ranch owner felt his heart breaking.

Before he could recover from the blow, a slave from another area came over to report that another pregnant mare was seriously ill.

“What —”

The ranch owner felt as if everything around him was spinning, and even his voice sounded distorted.

It took him a while to resist the urge to roar and smash things. He quickly said to the vet, “Go take a look at it!”

It was the same symptoms!

Seeing the second sick mare, the ranch owner’s heart sank, and he quickly said, “Examine all the pregnant horses.”

Clearly, the disease from the Ferghana horses had infected the mares. The mares might still be savable if the symptoms were discovered early.

However, the symptoms were mild during incubation period for this strain of horse plague, at most making the horses seem somewhat listless. Pregnant horses tend to be in low spirits to begin with, making the symptoms really difficult to determine. In the end, the veterinarian was still able to find five sick horses displaying some symptoms. They were immediately removed from the ranch and isolated.

The incident once again alarmed the entire royal court of the northern kingdom. The king of the northern kingdom roared in rage, while his subordinates silently endured his verbal attacks. Previously, Wu Liba, the Sage, had been shelved by the king of the northern kingdom for almost a year because of his objections against extravagant trends.

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The king of the northern kingdom was indeed receptive of advice. So was he ambitious, but he was still a northern brute at heart and held martial power in higher esteem.

The king was also especially disdainful of Wu Liba’s pedantic manner of speech and the noble truths the latter loved to preach, as he felt that being a good speaker was nothing impressive. Furthermore, the king liked to enjoy life and was fond of extravagant goods. By opposing the extravagant trends among the northern aristocrats, wasn’t Wu Liba controlling his daily behaviour?

For the past year, Wu Liba had been treated coldly by the king of the northern kingdom and was even reprimanded from time to time.

However, the king of the northern kingdom was still of sound mind, and he had not gone overboard with his actions, but only made Wu Liba’s job more relaxed.

At the moment, when faced with such crises, he remembered the trusty helper once more. “My dear minister, do you have a strategy?”

Wu Liba thought about it, then said in a solemn tone, “My king, in my opinion, we should be more resolute and give up on the pregnant horses!”

Upon hearing it, the king of the northern kingdom almost fell over from anger.

How could the other party suggest such a bad idea when he had asked sincerely?

Give up on all the pregnant horses?

Why don’t you ascend to heaven!

They had already lost 10 million strings of coins because of the Ferghana horses bought from Shalan. The mares were also of the best lineage of the warhorses in the northern kingdom. The price of each horse was not comparable to that of a Ferghana horse, but it was also worth 30 to 50 thousand strings of coins, or even a more expensive price. The total number of mares that were successfully impregnated exceeded 1500, and there were 2000 to 3000 mares that failed to conceive. Simply put, the huge loss as a result of slaughtering all the mares that had come into contact with the Ferghana horses would be as painful as one’s heart being dug out!

“Get lost —” Catching his breath, the king of the northern kingdom was so angry that he grabbed the things by his side and threw it at Wu Liba.

What sort of terrible idea is that?

The deaths of the 19 Ferghana horses had already caused them to lose the huge sum of 10 million strings of coins. The mares cost 40 to 50 million strings of coins in total as well, in addition to the unborn colts in their wombs fathered by the Ferghana horses. If they are all given up, the three northern tribes will suffer a loss of 70 to 80 million strings of coins!

Is there even any mediocre mare that has been kept for breeding purposes?

How many elite warhorses will the northern kingdom lost if all the mares are killed now?

Wu Liba was hit right on the head, and the neatly combed braid became a mess. He said nothing, bowed silently and left.

He also knew why the king of the royal court was so angry, as the loss was really too great.

But he had a hunch that if such action was not taken, they might suffer even greater losses in the future.

However, the king of the royal court would not agree to his suggestion, let alone the owners of the major ranches.

The king of the northern kingdom ordered the ranches to keep the news to themselves, so as to not affect the spirits of the northern warriors. At the same time, he ordered for the sick horses to be removed and treated, in an attempt to recover as much of the damage done as possible… After a period of time, his hair greyed significantly.

However, the insects that had previously eaten the corpses of the sick horses had already spread, and it was difficult to suppress the plague at this point in time.

Among the sick horses, nine out of ten died, as for the remaining one that survived, the unborn colt had also died in the uterus.

The bad news was far from over. Not only did the pregnant horses showed signs of illness, the colts in the ranches were also affected.

For several days, the ranches in the northern kingdom went on full alert at the slightest sign of sickness the horses showed, and the royal court of the northern kingdom was full of the furious roars of the raging king.

The ranches were securely guarded, and none of the news was leaked.

The spies sent by Jiang Pengji did not manage to find out about the actual situation in the ranches, but for her, such news was enough.

“The royal court of the northern kingdom has suffered a big loss this time.” Jiang Pengji smiled and handed the bamboo slip to Wei Ci, asking him to pass it on to the rest after reading it. “Not only would they lose their shirt, they may even lose the wealth their ancestors have accumulated over the generations.”