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Chapter 451 Preparation (I)

This Rouran horse slave had dark skin and wrinkles all over his forehead. He knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the grass, not daring to raise his head: "This slave greets the princess."

He speaks Chinese quite well, and I can hardly hear any accent.

Jiang Shaohua was in a good mood and asked casually, "What's your name? How old are you? How many years have you been at the racecourse?"

The slave knelt down and said, "I am fifty-three this year, and I have been at the horse farm for eighteen years. I have long forgotten my previous name. Now, my surname is Ma, and my name is Changqing."

Jiang Shaohua raised his eyebrows and looked at Ma Yaozong.

Ma Yaozong coughed and whispered, "There are many slaves from other ethnic groups in the horse farm. It is impossible to manage them all by relying on the Ma family alone. Grandfather selected slaves who can speak Chinese and are smart, gave them the surname Ma, and let them be managers."

Magistrate Ma has his own way of managing the horse farm. These horse slaves left their hometowns and lived in a completely unfamiliar place. They were inevitably hostile to their so-called masters. Simply suppressing them was not a solution. He simply selected some capable and ambitious horse slaves to be managers. In this way, the managers would be the ones who came forward to exploit the horse slaves, and the Ma family would not have to step forward in everything.

If the manager has second thoughts, just find a reason to kill him and replace him with someone else. It won't cause much trouble.

This Ma Changqing was the best among the stewards and was loyal to Magistrate Ma and the Ma family.

Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly and asked about the customs and habits of the Rouran people.

Ma Changqing had been instructed by Ma Yaozong long ago, so he told him everything he knew: "The Rouran are a nomadic people. No matter whether they are men or women, old or young, they can carry a knife when they are on a horse, and they are herdsmen when they get off the horse. They live by following the water and grass."

"...There are hundreds of tribes, big and small. The Khan is the leader of the largest tribe, the Prime Minister governs civil affairs, and the Imperial Master is in charge of religion."

"When a war is about to break out, all tribes have to send out troops. Part of the looted gold, silver, jewelry, cattle, sheep, women and children must be handed over to the Khan, and the other half belongs to the tribe. Therefore, all tribes are happy to fight, and it is common for them to annex each other."

"I was defeated in the war, and all the women and children were killed, and all the cattle and sheep were robbed. I was lucky enough to be bought by the Ma family and become a horse slave. In the horse farm, I can raise horses, marry a wife, and have three children. I live a rich and peaceful life. I am a member of the Daliang Ma family, and I only wish to stay in the horse farm forever."

He also expressed his loyalty while saying this.

He is indeed a smart person.

Jiang Shaohua smiled and glanced at Ma Yaozong.

Ma Yaozong understood and whispered, "Ma Changqing is loyal and capable, and is deeply appreciated by grandfather. The wife he married was not a Rouran woman, but a widow from our place whose husband had died. She was sold by her husband's family, and grandfather bought her and let her marry Ma Changqing."

In other words, the family's deeds are in the hands of County Magistrate Ma.

The details show how meticulous Magistrate Ma is in his work.

Jiang Shaohua hummed and continued to ask: "Who is the current Rouran Khan?"

Ma Changqing replied, "When I was in Rouran, the Khan was the real Khan of the Shuluo tribe. The Khan was wise and brave, and everyone loved him. However, the Khan died of illness five years ago. The current Khan is Fumingdun. I have been away from Rouran for more than ten years, so I am not very familiar with the new Khan. However, many horse slaves have come from Rouran in the past two years. I heard from the horse slaves that Fumingdun Khan was cruel and murderous, and there were frequent wars between tribes and deaths."

Therefore, the one who massacred Pengcheng was this Fumingdun Khan.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes turned cold and he said indifferently: "Ma Sheren, go find a new Rouran horse slave. This princess wants to ask Fu Mingdun Khan." Ma Yaozong bowed and left, and soon came over with a horse slave.

This horse slave was only about 30 years old, with dark skin and a face with distinct features, and he was surprisingly handsome. Moreover, this horse slave was tall and had long legs, a sharp gaze, and a strong left hand, which showed that he was a brave knight.

Unfortunately, his right sleeve was empty. Even if a knight without his right arm could mount a horse, he could no longer bend his bow and shoot arrows, or raise his sword to kill people. On the grassland, a man with a disabled body was no different from a dead person.

When the Ma family went to buy a horse slave, they wanted someone who was familiar with the temperament of war horses and knew how to raise horses. Not having a right arm was not a big deal, so they bought the one with a broken right arm.

Ma Yaozong whispered, "Princess, this horse slave was just bought into the horse farm last year. His name is Moni. He was originally the leader of a small Rouran tribe, but was later annexed by a larger tribe and all his people died. He would have been killed, but my uncle took a liking to him and bought him and brought him back."

"His right arm was broken, so he was considered a cripple on the grassland. So, we didn't spend too much money to buy him. He had a fever along the way, and it took a lot of effort to cure him. Later, he ran away twice on the road, but was caught both times."

"After entering the stable, he had nowhere to escape, so he didn't run away. He lived in the stable all day, and he was really good at taking care of the horses. He could also judge horses, so he was really capable."

Mani had a blank expression on his face, and it was unknown whether he understood the long string of words.

Jiang Shaohua looked at Mani carefully: "Have you seen Fumingdun Khan?"

Ma Yaozong immediately asked again in Rouran language.

When Mani heard the name of Fumingdun Khan, his face twitched suddenly, deep hatred flashed in his eyes, and suddenly he opened his mouth and roared.

Jiang Shaohua looked at Ma Yaozong.

Ma Yaozong quickly translated: "Muni said that Fu Mingdun is his mortal enemy."

Mani's tribe originally had 600 to 700 people and 200 cavalrymen. It was an insignificant small tribe. Because they were grazing closer to the tent of Fumingdun Khan, Fumingdun Khan sent cavalrymen to destroy the tribe. Mani's right arm was cut off and he became a slave.

Afterwards, it was bought by the Ma family and moved to Biyang Horse Farm.

Mani was too excited, Ma Yaozong immediately scolded him, and Mani shut up, his eyes were sinister and fierce. Just like an eagle with broken wings, it can no longer fly, and it is definitely not a good thing.

Jiang Shaohua said calmly: "Ask him to tell you about the situation of Fumingdun Khan's tribe. The more detailed the better."

Moni has only been at the horse farm for a year. He doesn't talk to anyone and still can't speak Daliang dialect. After Ma Yaozong asked, Moni talked for a long time with a gloomy face.

Ma Yaozong was a meticulous person. He took out a charcoal pencil and paper and wrote everything down, filling up a whole page.

Jiang Shaohua looked at the records on the paper and frowned.

Fu Mingdun was the leader of the largest tribe, with 50,000 cavalrymen under his command. There were three other large tribes, each with about 10,000 cavalrymen. The rest of the medium or small tribes had varying numbers of cavalrymen. If all of them were deployed, the cavalrymen would number more than 100,000. Mani was not sure of the exact number.

The Rouran cavalry was brave and good at fighting. Thousands of cavalry could overwhelm the Daliang army of tens of thousands. With such a large number of cavalry, it was no wonder that the border troops were unable to resist and were defeated.