"Northern Wasteland Market has limitless potential. Its vast natural grasslands are, in truth, largely going to waste. The court intends to establish schools in Northern Wasteland Market and recruit local young adults to learn large-scale livestock breeding techniques."
"Those who perform exceptionally well can receive large tracts of pastureland and interest-free young cattle and sheep free of charge. In exchange, they may sell their cattle and sheep to the court at prices ten percent above market value."
Lin Yi received the court's envoy. Since the imperial decree had been overly concise, the envoy carefully explained the court's intentions to him.
"This must be something Duke Li came up with after listening to those Otherworlders' suggestions!"
"A scheme to wipe out every household..."
After pondering for a moment, Lin Yi gave his response.
This was a scheme to wipe out every household—or rather, an open plot to control a nation through commerce.
Once this strategy was put into practice, as time passed, the living space of independent herders on the grasslands would be steadily squeezed away until they were completely eliminated.
In their place would arise one large rancher after another. As for ordinary herders, they would all become employees of those ranchers.
Once the large ranches were numerous enough, the court could even simply declare that it no longer wanted livestock from independent herders, citing substandard quality to wipe out the entire group completely.
As for the benefits after eliminating them—once they controlled the major ranchers, they would have complete control over pricing. There would be no need to trade with scattered individual households.
The grasslands' greatest feature was their sheer size, which made them difficult to govern. But after such large-scale consolidation, every person would be registered and accounted for. By managing only a small number of ranchers, they