Everything has two sides; advantages can sometimes be weaknesses.
The Northern Barbarians are accustomed to fighting on horseback. Without their warhorses, even with their large size and brute strength, they might not be a match for the well-trained and highly capable Shenwei Army.
Ye Jingchen couldn't remember which book he had read about, but there was a kind of poisonous herb that, if accidentally ingested by a horse, could cause it to become as erratic as if it were drunk, or even die foaming at the mouth.
He first sought confirmation from the horse breeders of the Imperial Stables, and later asked all the imperial physicians in the palace, but none of them had ever heard of this herb.
Just when he had given up hope, he unexpectedly heard about the existence of this herb from the Duke of Zhenguo.
Warhorses have always been a very precious resource for Da Yuan, especially since Da Yuan has the powerful enemy, the Northern Barbarians, making warhorses even more valuable.
When the Duke of Zhenguo was explaining the terrain and environment of the northern frontier to them, he specifically mentioned that there was a poisonous plant in the wilderness that would poison warhorses if they accidentally ate it.
Zhenguo Gong warned them that if they ever saw that kind of grass in the northern border region in the future, they must eradicate it immediately.
After learning what the poisonous herb looked like from the Duke of Zhenguo, Ye Jingchen consulted the knowledgeable and highly skilled physician, Mr. Li, and learned that the herb was called "Drunken Horse Herb," which could poison not only warhorses but also cattle and sheep.
The drunken horse grass flowers and bears fruit between July and September, and reproduces in the same way as dandelions, letting the wind carry their seeds to distant places.
After learning this, Ye Jingchen immediately wrote to Wu Zemin, asking him to help collect this year's Drunken Horse Grass seeds.
On the day he arrived in Beiping County, Wu Zemin personally handed him the seeds, and he then gave these seeds to Mr. Li for experimentation.
Once he confirmed that the seeds would indeed grow into Drunken Horse Grass, he could send Ye Jingyu's caravan to the Northern Frontier to trade with the Northern Barbarians and, at the same time, scatter the seeds across their territory.
At the same time, he would also allow caravans to buy up Drunken Horse Grass at high prices from the northern barbarians, and allow them to exchange Drunken Horse Grass for salt, tea and silk, which were essential for their lives.
If you don't clear away this plant, it will multiply very quickly and grow everywhere in a short time.
The northern barbarians lived by herding and moved from place to place, with the grasslands being their only source of survival.
If the grassland is covered with Drunken Horse Grass, then cattle and sheep will have no food and will starve to death.
A place where drunken horse grass grows everywhere is also a disaster for their warhorses.
The most brilliant part of Ye Jingchen's plan is that he didn't use a conspiracy, but a legitimate one.
The rulers of the Northern Barbarians would certainly not allow the Drunken Horse Grass to spread rampantly in the wilderness, but could ordinary people resist the temptation of the Drunken Horse Grass?
If they could simply exchange poisonous weeds, which are readily available in the wasteland, for necessities like salt and tea, why would they bother raising so many cattle and sheep?
If rulers turn a blind eye, it will allow the Drunken Horse Grass to proliferate and undermine their nomadic lifestyle.
If they strictly prohibit it, it will incite conflict with ordinary people!
No matter what choice they make, the one who will benefit is Da Yuan!
After returning from Mr. Li's place, they were supposed to go for their morning training session, but Xie Chang'an was in a bit of agitation and pulled Ye Jingchen aside, insisting that he explain the plan clearly.
There's really not much to say. Given the tacit understanding between Xie Chang'an and Ye Jingchen, Xie Chang'an knew what Ye Jingchen wanted to do as soon as he introduced the Drunken Horse Grass.
But this plan is too—
Xie Chang'an couldn't think of a suitable adjective for the time being.
This was far superior to him leading the Divine Might Army deep into enemy territory, defeating the various Northern Barbarian tribes one by one, and forcing them to sign a ceasefire agreement.
If Ye Jingchen's plan is implemented for two years, the Northern Barbarians will either be destroyed or severely weakened.
However, implementing this plan comes at a great cost. Although Da Yuan's current national treasury revenue can support it, the emperor may not be willing to give it up.
Without the emperor's support, this plan would likely have failed.
You only realize how little money you have when you need it. Xie Chang'an regretted not squeezing more money out of the powerful families when he dealt with them.
"You don't need to worry about money. Although Drunken Horse Grass is poisonous, it's not a useless weed. On the contrary, it has extremely high medicinal value. As long as its value is made public, there will be plenty of pharmacies willing to buy it," Ye Jingchen said, seeing Xie Chang'an's concerns.
Unfortunately, his current identity is that of the Crown Prince of Dayuan, and he has too many things to consider.
If he were just a businessman, he could market the anesthetic, sedative, and analgesic herb, which can also treat neurasthenia and skin diseases, as a miraculous medicine that is only found in heaven and earth. In that case, the rich would naturally be willing to spend a fortune for the anesthetic herb.
However, due to his current status, he cannot do that and can only find other ways to make money.
"To implement this plan, caravans are also crucial. Which caravan would you like to partner with?" Xie Chang'an asked.
The caravans that traded with the northern barbarians were all from prestigious families.
Ye Jingchen will eventually settle scores with the powerful families, so he naturally won't cooperate with them or give them money.
Moreover, those powerful families love to play the game of balancing things out. If you cooperate with them, there's an 80% chance they'll sell you out.
“Didn’t Jingyu just take over a caravan from the Ji family? I’ll entrust this matter to his caravan,” Ye Jingchen said with a smile.
This was also part of his plan.
The powerful nobles of the Northern Barbarians were also wary of the Ji family, a behemoth, and dared not easily touch any members of the Ji family. Only by having the Ji family's merchant caravan carry out this task could the plan be executed smoothly.
Otherwise, if he just randomly sent a small merchant caravan with no background, the powerful and wealthy people of the Northern Barbarians could easily kill and rob the caravan as soon as it arrived in the Northern Barbarians. What would be the point of his open scheme then?
"The Ji family would let you use them like this?" Xie Chang'an felt that Ye Jingchen had underestimated the Ji family.
Even though the little madman was so crazy in his past life, he never laid a hand on the Ji family.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take action, but even with an army to rely on, he was powerless against the Ji family.
Within Yongzhou, the Ji family holds absolute power. Although the Little Madman has an army of 200,000, Yongzhou has millions of people.
Even if he was an emperor in his previous life, he would have kept to himself and the Ji family, and they would have had no dealings with each other.
"Given the Ji family's feelings for Ji Wushuang and Jing Yu, it wouldn't hurt to use them once, since it wouldn't be a significant loss for the Ji family anyway."
Ye Jingchen knew, of course, that the Ji family was no ordinary family, which was why he had Ye Jingyu work on improving the Ji family's favorability, all for this day.
The best time to sow Drunken Horse Grass is from March to April. We plan to start a few months later, but for now, we can send Jingyu's caravan to the Northern Barbarians to make a name for themselves, which will make it easier to carry out the subsequent plans.
Moreover, it's time to start promoting the medicinal value of *Drunken Horse Grass*.
However, this balance must be carefully managed. Ideally, an information barrier should be established so that the powerful and wealthy families know about it, while ordinary people remain unaware.
After all, the poisonous plant *Drunken Horse Grass* is toxic. The wealthy can afford its toxicity, but ordinary people cannot.
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