fifth form

Chapter 3051 The Discontinuous Era of Equestrianism

"The Qin Dynasty took too much with it when it collapsed. Look at the ruins of Xianyang in that direction, there's nothing left!"

The capital of the Qin Dynasty was Xianyang, and the capital of the Han Dynasty was Chang'an.

Chang'an City was located north of the Wei River, and Xianyang City was located south of the Wei River, only three kilometers apart.

What was once a prosperous place has become desolate, and has since become part of many imperial mausoleums and the Shanglin Garden.

Even the capital city turned to ashes, and countless legacies were lost between the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty.

Some of the content is still scattered among the people, but most of it has disappeared.

The horse taming technique that Liu Xuan mentioned is one of them.

During the Han Dynasty, the methods used to tame horses originated from the Beast Taming Sect, and there were also cultivators who specialized in taming horses.

The Grand Steward of the Nine Ministers was in charge of all horses in the land. Under him were officials such as the Grand Stable, Weiyang Palace, and Domestic Horses. Domestic Horses were the monks and officials who tamed wild horses into domestic horses.

In the Qin Dynasty, every soldier could tame horses and thus possess a mount that obeyed their commands. In the Han Dynasty, horse taming relied on the control of officials, thus obtaining docile and obedient mounts.

The latter is better in terms of effect, but they are vastly different in terms of efficiency.

In order to verify Liu Xuan's description of the "thousand-pound weight" and prevent Huo Qubing from making mistakes in his practice, Zhang Xuezhou went to the Imperial Stud Temple to inquire. The result he obtained made Zhang Xuezhou somewhat alarmed.

Grand Master of the Palace, Gongsun He, was a close advisor to the new emperor. He was about the same age as Zhang Xuezhou and treated Zhang Xuezhou with great courtesy.

Zhang Xuezhou sought an audience with a minor official of the Court of Imperial Stud, and ultimately met with this official.

Gongsun He pointed south, also indicating the helplessness brought about by the changing times.

The Qin Dynasty's legions were vast and numerous, with their ironclad troops intimidating all directions. In contrast, the Han Dynasty has yet to produce any large-scale legions that can be considered formidable. Whether it's the Northern Army, the Southern Army, the Western Expeditionary Army, or the Imperial Guards, none of them possess the formidable reputation of the Qin Dynasty's legions.

"It's not just about horsemanship; it applies to weapons as well," Gongsun He said. "Qin crossbows can be carried by ordinary soldiers, and there are even sophisticated hand crossbows. But what our Han Dynasty manufactures is the Yellow Crossbow. This crossbow has amazing killing power; it can take a life within 150 zhang. However, only those with superhuman strength or cultivators can use it, making it difficult to popularize on a large scale!"

"What a pity!"

“Cultivators are not made of iron armor. If there were a large-scale, instantaneous crossbow barrage, any cultivator would have to walk with their tail between their legs. They would never have been like us, making a scene and getting all humiliated over the years!”

"indeed!"

Gongsun He expressed his regret repeatedly.

Zhang Xuezhou's position doesn't offer much of a comparison, while Gongsun He's position is quite different and is often used for comparison.

The Han Dynasty's current strength and power were not achieved overnight, but rather through nearly a century of accumulation.

This immense size was enough to intimidate many nations, but the Han Dynasty could not withstand the depletion of war, and once it suffered heavy losses, it was difficult to recover.

This also led generals like Cheng Bushi to focus more on defense, while more aggressive generals like Li Guang rarely launched large-scale wars, mostly engaging in small-scale assaults with only a few thousand men.

"We stumbled upon a basic horse-taming technique among the common people. Even the strongest can imitate it through physical strength, while those with qi and blood and magical power can control it with magic. I wonder if you, sir, would be interested..."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Before Zhang Xuezhou could finish speaking, Gongsun He echoed his words.

Regardless of whether the horse training techniques Zhang Xuezhou brought were usable or effective, this was the attitude of the Imperial Stud.

The Imperial Stud would carefully study and even directly adopt any feasible proposals. Gongsun He, too, needed political achievements to maintain his position and avoid being replaced by the Empress Dowager's faction.

"This seems to have some similarities to the horse-clamping technique of Shiqu Pavilion. The horse-clamping technique only has the form but not the spirit. Only those with great strength can clamp a horse, and it requires brute force to tame it. Therefore, it is difficult to include it in the category of horse training techniques. This method not only adds a way of exerting force when driving, but also uses the limbs to strike the horse's Qihai acupoint, thus making the horse limp and unable to resist..."

Gongsun He was sincere and possessed aristocratic manners, a testament to his humility and prudence during his early years in office. Whenever he was in the Taipu Mansion, any court official who came to the Taipu Mansion would be personally received by him.

He took his position as one of the Nine Ministers very seriously, and he had a thorough understanding of the contents of the chapters concerning the Imperial Stud.

When Zhang Xuezhou, unable to obtain the thousand-pound weight, offered up what he had obtained, Gongsun He finally deciphered the relevant information.

Liu Xuan mentioned that the Thousand-Pound Drop technique is a basic skill in horse taming. This technique is indeed not complicated. Even Huo Qubing could master it after just one attempt. It is even simpler for great cultivators.

Gongsun He repeatedly compared the text with the modern language and frequently pointed out the need to correct and describe it using contemporary language.

"This is undoubtedly a Qin technique from a hundred years ago. Although it seems simple, only the elite soldiers of the Qin army could practice it at that time. The ordinary soldiers practiced it in a way similar to the horse-clamping technique, but it may have had some additional ways of exerting force in this chapter..."

After completing the comparison, Gongsun He couldn't help but wonder which mountain valley Zhang Xuezhou had obtained this chapter on horsemanship.

This kind of horsemanship is difficult to categorize into the four categories of A, B, C, and D. It is almost similar to the basic training chapters for riding horses in combat, but the universality and adaptability of this kind of skill are too wide.

Lacking the horse-training skills of the Qin elite troops, the Han Dynasty developed a different system for training and distributing horses. This system could be put to use if the Han Dynasty's soldiers needed to replace a large number of horses.

These techniques are simple to learn, easy to promote, and can quickly take effect when needed.

Gongsun He felt that this could be used as a backup plan by the Taipu Mansion. He mentioned that he would definitely report this matter to the new emperor, and his serious attitude made Zhang Xuezhou feel ashamed.

Comparing Gongsun He's performance in his position, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he himself was irresponsible and unserious in his official duties, except for a dozen or so days when he served as the Chief of the Imperial Carriage in his early years.

"I need to visit His Majesty's tomb after my next lucid period. I can't let His Majesty's funeral be too awful!"

Although the new emperor is young and vigorous, there is no guarantee that he will die one day. Zhang Xuezhou felt that it was better to be prepared for the worst when it came to building a mausoleum, and that they should take it a little more seriously.

He retrieved the horse-clamping weight that Gongsun He had corrected from the Imperial Stud's residence before strolling out of the bustling official residence.

"How about it?"

"Did the sick child's haphazard practice go wrong?"

"Everything is fine, there's no need to worry!"

Li Shaojun was quite curious, while Wei Shao'er hurriedly inquired about cultivation, wanting to verify as much as possible whether Huo Qubing had made any mistakes in his cultivation. Liu Xuan looked around the Taipu Mansion, seemingly interested in it.

Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand, indicating that there was nothing wrong with Huo Qubing's cultivation.

“I discussed this with the Imperial Stud, and Xiao Huo has only grasped the basics of cultivation in a superficial way,” Zhang Xuezhou said. “His current ability is only to tame ordinary horses. To tame a demonic horse, he needs to master the details. His acupoints are not fully opened, so there’s no way he could make a mistake in his cultivation. He can’t be too badly off after just starting out!”

"I can rest assured that!"

Wei Shao'er nodded, then picked up her shoe and gave Huo Qubing a good beating. Seeing that Huo Qubing was no longer feeling the weight and was about to float away, she reluctantly gave up the idea of ​​continuing to beat him.

"You beat me whether you trust me or not," Huo Qubing said angrily. "I was cured of my illness for three days, but you beat me eight times in a row. I can't live like this anymore. I want to become a kite!"

"If you don't want to get beaten up, learn from Dongfang Shuo his method of not being afraid of getting beaten up!"

Wei Shao'er gave Huo Qubing a piece of advice, which made him realize why he was being beaten even though he had no problems.