The Empress LivestreamThe Empress Livestream
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Feng Jin wasn’t someone who could easily be put off, so he responded, “Preparing for rain a year ahead? Your excuse sounds way too shallow…”
Wei Ci laughed voicelessly and airily threw out the line, “I wanted to find a less shallow excuse, but as you can see, I failed to find one.”
Feng Jin almost fell to the ground in anger. He couldn’t believe that this person was shamelessly admitting to keeping a secret!
Yet Wei Ci’s mouth was like a gourd without an opening. It was completely closed, making it impossible to pry out any useful information.
Feng Jin cruelly thought that if Wei Ci didn’t want to tell him anything, fine. He would guess by himself.
However, Feng Jin came from a well-off family that rode chariots and kept page boys beside them. He had a wide range of knowledge but lacked the practical experiences of living in the outside world. Although he thought about it for a long time, he still couldn’t make out Wei Ci’s real intention. He could only turn to Qiguan Rang and quietly ask him instead.
1
Qiguan Rang was born in the outer periphery of Dongqing. His father was a Beijiang tribal native and was therefore much more familiar with Beijiang than Feng Jin.
Feng Jin found an appropriate time to stop Qiguan Rang and casually ask him about the matter during a conversation.
Qiguan Rang pondered for a bit after hearing the question. Suddenly, his pupils shrank in shock as he frantically grabbed Feng Jin’s arm.
“You said that our lord ordered Zi Xiao to arrange for a caravan to Beijiang to purchase sheep and rabbit skin?”
Qiguan Rang’s expression stiffened up a bit as he asked the question.
Feng Jin was shocked by Qiguan Rang’s sudden action but quickly calmed himself down. He then asked, “Does Wen Zheng know what our lord’s intention is?”
Qiguan Rang forced a laugh as his spirits lowered. A look of helplessness appeared on his face.
He said bitterly, “I can make some guesses, but I’m just not sure if they’re accurate.”
Feng Jin saw Qiguan Rang’s reaction and realized that this was not a simple matter. He glanced around to see that they were alone, but he still invited Qiguan Rang into his house to discuss the matter in detail. If this matter related to the military strategy of Wanzhou against Beijiang, they couldn’t just casually discuss this in public.
“Wen Zheng, let’s not rush to a conclusion here. How about we sit down at my place and discuss this matter in detail?”
Qiguan Rang wasn’t surprised by Feng Jin’s suggestion. Feng Jin was always a reserved character. Even if they were the only two in the area, he still wouldn’t dare to let his guard down.
When they arrived at Feng Jin’s house, the two entered the study and sent the servants away.
Once they confirmed that it was safe to talk, Feng Jin turned and solemnly asked, “So what would Wen Zheng guess is going on?”
Qiguan Rang’s fan almost never left his hand. Whenever he ran into an important matter or became anxious, he would always instinctively fan himself with it.
At that time of year, it was still quite chilly. The air seemed to get colder the moment he fanned himself.
He didn’t answer Feng Jin’s question directly. Instead, he recalled an old story.
Qiguan Rang said, “I was born on the periphery of the nation. It’s a place where civilians usually make a living by raising cattle and sheep. One family owned almost a hundred sheep and was considered quite wealthy within the village. This family liked to herd the sheep down towards the foot of the hill. Huai Yu, can you guess what happened next?”
Feng Jin pictured the scene in his head. If over a hundred sheep were left in a small location… Did that mean there wouldn’t be enough food for them?
“There was no more grass to feed them?”
Qiguan Rang fanned himself even more violently and blew away all the warm air around them. Feng Jin carefully moved towards the charcoal brazier.
“They didn’t just mow the grass down, those sheep were so hungry that they completely uprooted the grass!”
1
Qiguan Rang’s face turned slightly red after he said this, clearly from anger. He continued, “There’s an old saying—the cunning rabbits always have many options. From this, we can see that rabbits not only love to eat grass, but they are also used to living in holes. They hide inside holes in the day and then seek out food at night. They dig holes to plan their attacks and protect themselves from enemies…”
3
Feng Jin slowly derived something from these words.
However, he didn’t manage to catch the source of unease he was feeling at that moment. He also didn’t realize why Qiguan Rang’s reaction was so extreme.
He thought about the possibility of putting Beijiang in an unfavorable position. Then, when he combined it with Qiguan Rang’s words, an epiphany flashed through Feng Jin’s mind. He connected the dots immediately.
“Are you saying that our lord and Zi Xiao want to make a move on Beijiang’s grasslands?”
Feng Jin was dumbfounded for a while. His mouth hung wide open from shock.
The barbarian tribes in Beijiang had been a lurking danger for a long time, ever since the wars of the 16 kingdoms, and even going much further back in history than that. The barbarians had been eyeing the Central Plains for a long time.
Their land was not fit for farming. As such, they had to rely on killing and looting travelers around their borders, making them loathsome villains.
How did Beijiang’s Qiangwu Tribe rise to power?
To put it nicely, the Qiangwu Tribe was made up of great warriors who were brutal and big. To put it less nicely, they were beasts disguised as men! They not only killed and looted, but they also kidnapped countless women from the Central Plain to bring back to their territory. These women were not only treated as food, but they were also treated like moving reproductive systems. The barbarians used these innocent young women to bear their children in order to expand their population.
During the middle stages of the era of the 16 warring kingdoms, the Qiangwu population had been only a mere 200,000. By the time they reached the end of the era, they had already expanded their population to over three million people!
From 200,000 to three million. He could only imagine the countless pained expressions of the young women forced into labor to produce so many people so quickly.
However, despite how loathsome the Beijiang barbarians were, they were trained to ride horses since they were young and had very strong combat abilities on horseback. They were also trained to retreat swiftly if they could not win a battle.
After Daxia was founded, the nation had made countless attempts to overtake Beijiang and block off their seasonal ravaging routes, with very little to no success.
Even today, there was no effective method to deal with Beijiang.
They couldn’t win in a war against, the blockades had been proven ineffective, and it was impossible for them to outsource a large army to be stationed here for a long time.
Many predecessors had worried about Beijiang’s situation, but nobody had ever thought about directly attacking Beijiang’s natural resources.
Feng Jin’s heart was beating fast. His face showed a hint of excitement.
Qiguan Rang saw his expression and fanned him a few times to wake him up.
“It’s too early to be happy!” Qiguan Rang said sternly, putting a stop to Feng Jin’s joyous mood.
Feng Jin was confused. “Why do you say that?”
Qiguan Rang let out a sigh. If this was such a great idea, why was he still frowning right now?
He should already be celebrating mindlessly like Feng Jin.
“You don’t understand… If our lord really uses this method to fight against Beijiang, she may be able to destroy the entirety of Beijiang. However, it would only become a mutual defeat.” Qiguan Rang paused after this line, not knowing where to begin his explanation. After all, Feng Jin was a pure-blooded man of the Central Plain.
Feng Jin frowned. “You said ‘a mutual defeat’?”
Qiguan Rang let out a long sigh. “That is correct. Even if we can rely on this method to destroy Beijiang, our lord will not be able to appeal to the public. Beijiang may be loathsome, but the people that conduct villainous acts are still in the minority. If we destroy the entire grassland, what will happen to the innocent civilians?”
Due to the limitations of their era, Qiguan Rang didn’t understand the concept of grassland degradation and desertification. As such, he could only make some educated guesses about what would happen.
Yet even if it was just an educated guess, he could still foresee the disaster that would fall upon Beijiang the moment this plan rolled into action.
Feng Jing was a pure Central Plain man. People of different backgrounds were destined to have different mindsets, but Qiguan Rang was a mix of both Beijiang and the Central Plain.
He’d lived around the periphery of Beijiang for a long time. While he loathed the barbaric acts of the three tribes of Beijiang, he still pitied the misfortune of the average farmers.