I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 150: The Third Year of Yuanshuo, Huo Qubing
The third year of Yuanshuo in the Han Dynasty.

It was spring at the time. The temperature was chilly in the early morning, but it became warm in the afternoon.

Fourteen-year-old Huo Qubing stood outside the emperor's bedroom in the Weiyang Palace. He was still wearing winter clothes and was naturally sweating under the sun, but he still stood straight without even wiping the sweat from his forehead.

As the Minister of the Interior, this is his duty.

But soon, a hint of surprise appeared on Huo Qubing's slightly immature but very serious face.

He looked at Wei Qing, who was approaching step by step and was obviously coming from outside the palace, in confusion and asked:
"Marquis Changping, why are you here? His Majesty didn't summon you?"

Wei Qing was wearing a neat official uniform, and one could tell at a glance that he was not seeking an audience hastily, but had been prepared for it.

Although they were uncle and nephew, Huo Qubing was always a well-behaved child. In the palace, he never called him uncle, but always addressed him by his title.

He looked at his silly nephew and said with a smile:
"Qubing, although you are the Minister of the Interior, you are not always by His Majesty's side. How do you know His Majesty's will after your shift?"

"Your Majesty asked me to prepare for an audience at this time yesterday."

Huo Qubing nodded suddenly.

He didn't know how this happened. He lived in the same house with his uncle, but he didn't even know about the emperor's decree... But it was understandable. After all, his uncle was a general, and it was normal for his uncle to have some more secret communications with him.

Therefore, the young man quickly accepted this statement, and then looked at the sky and said:
"Shall I pass on a message for you? Your Majesty always takes a nap these days, I wonder if he is awake now."

Wei Qing was not surprised at all, and smiled and shook his head:
"No need. Your Majesty will call me when he wakes up. Do you have anything to do now? Why don't you chat with me?"

Huo Qubing looked embarrassed:
"This……"

Everyone in the palace knew what their relationship was. If His Majesty was afraid that the waiter or other eunuchs would reveal his daily life to others, then he would not allow Huo Qubing to live with his uncle Wei Qing. Even though they kept their distance in the palace, they still lived together after work at night. Logically, there was no need to avoid suspicion.

But Huo Qubing did live a hard life.

Back then, whether it was his uncle, his mother, or his aunt who has now been enthroned as queen, they were all slaves in Princess Pingyang's family. The only difference was that his uncle was a riding slave, while his mother and aunt were both female slaves - there was not much difference.

Huo Qubing was an illegitimate child of the Huo family, and he had been living as a child of Princess Pingyang since he was born. Although his aunt and uncle became his concubines one or two years after he was born, it had little to do with him. It was his mother's brothers and sisters who were wealthy, not his mother herself, so he still lived as a child of a slave in his childhood.

It was not until his uncle Wei Qing had an affair with Princess Taiping that Huo Qubing and his mother were taken to Wei Qing's house.

It was precisely because of his childhood experiences that Huo Qubing, now only fourteen years old, understood one thing early on -

Everything he got was a blessing from God, but if he was not careful, his uncle and aunt would have a bad reputation in the outside world.

Just like when he was a child, even though he had an uncle who rose from a riding slave to the position of Jianzhang Supervisor and a general, and an aunt who started out as a slave and became an important figure in the palace, he was still always ridiculed by other children in private for being an illegitimate child.

"Are you worried that chatting with me privately in the palace will cause others to gossip?"

As soon as Wei Qing saw the child's expression, he knew what was going on.

He almost watched his nephew grow up. As soon as Huo Qubing raised his butt, he knew what kind of shit he was going to do. Even his own son was no different.

The child is certainly a good one, but unfortunately he is too thoughtful and cautious at such a young age, and has lost the youthful vigor.

Huo Qubing became increasingly embarrassed, not knowing whether he should nod or shake his head.

Wei Qing slapped him on the back and was about to teach him a lesson when he saw the door to the emperor's bedroom being opened from the inside.

A monk came out from the inner room, smiled and nodded at the uncle and nephew, saying:
"Marquis Changping, Minister Huo, His Majesty orders the two of you to come in and speak."

Huo Qubing's first reaction was panic:
"Did I wake His Majesty? If so, I deserve to die."

The monk was slightly stunned.

This Minister Huo is a wonderful man. Even when he asked for forgiveness, he didn't say "we" but only "I", not letting the Marquis of Changping be associated with him at all.

After just a moment, he immediately revealed a smile even bigger than before:
"That's not the case. Your Majesty had woken up earlier, but when he heard your voices, he remembered to summon Marquis Changping to the audience. Your Majesty also specifically asked for you, Minister Huo, to come in with him."

Ask yourself... to go in together?
Could it be that what we are going to discuss today has something to do with him?

Huo Qubing looked at his uncle blankly.

His uncle Wei Qing also behaved unruly in front of him, and pouted his lips to show that he didn't know what was going on.

But since His Majesty has given the order, the two of them can only go in obediently.

After a few breaths.

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing heard the footsteps of the eunuch walking out of the door and the sound of the door closing. They looked at the empty bedroom with no one else except the emperor, and were both stunned.

His Majesty had encountered some bad things in the past and has always been suspicious. Even those he trusts rarely stay alone with him. There is always someone else around, either a eunuch or a palace maid. Even if it is a confidential matter that is not convenient for the palace servants to hear, the conversation starts with two people. These things are actually not a secret. They are not said explicitly, but everyone abides by it silently.

Although there are two of them now, doesn't Your Majesty know what their relationship is?
Can you really trust it?

Compared to Huo Qubing who was at a loss as he had never seen such a thing before, Wei Qing felt a little annoyed.

His eyelids were twitching, and he felt that His Majesty was acting very abnormally today.

In the past, perhaps because of Wei Zifu, or because of Wei Qing himself, or because of the relationship between Wei Qing and Princess Taiping, His Majesty was really good to Huo Qubing, and let him enter the palace as a waiter at the age of twelve or thirteen. This is not a high position, but it is the position closest to the emperor, and only those who are close to the emperor can take it.

To some extent, Your Majesty must have had the intention of cultivating Huo Qubing as his confidant, but he was just waiting and watching.

In the past two years, in the eyes of others, the Wei family was flourishing, and there were rumors about their nephew Huo Qubing, saying that the emperor valued him very much. Wei Qing knew very well that it was all rumors. The emperor valued Huo Qubing more because the child was smart and capable, and more importantly, he could remain low-key and cautious despite such a strong background.

Huo Qubing was certainly a good seedling that could be cultivated, but that was all. It was not that exaggerated.

But what's going on now?

Your Majesty's attitude has become more and more unpredictable recently.
Liu Che was lying on the couch just now. Since he had to pretend to be asleep when entering the tutoring class, he simply wore pajamas. He only tied his hair up casually with a hairpin after getting up. Compared with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who were dressed neatly, he looked very informal.

He saw the discomfort and confusion of the uncle and nephew, so he laughed out loud:
"Zhongqing, Qubing, what are you two standing there for? Sit down and talk!"

Wei Qing was in a state of panic. Although he and Liu Che were emperor and subject, they had a very good relationship. After all, his sister was the empress and his wife was a princess, so they were closely related to Emperor Liu Che by marriage.

Now that his nephew didn't dare to say anything, Wei Qing could only smile bitterly:
"Your Majesty, Qubing is still young. If you trust him so much, what will happen if he becomes spoiled in the future?"

"If you have anything to do, why not ask him to leave and have another attendant come in instead?"

Liu Che was originally leaning lazily, but he sat up straight when he heard this.

He stared at Wei Qing:
"Spoiled? Look at him like this, does he look like someone who can be spoiled?"

"A few days ago, when I was discussing national policy with you, I specifically called him along. But he just said yes to everything I asked him. He just knew how to hide his incompetence. If I continue to ask him to hide, will you two uncle and nephew also refuse to help me when I need him?"

Wei Qing quickly took two steps closer to help Liu Che calm down:
"How can you say that? He is the nephew of me and the Queen, and also a minister of the Han Dynasty. He is a relative and a countryman. If Your Majesty has the order, how dare he disobey!"

"Why are you hiding your incompetence? Qubing is only keeping a low profile because of me and the Queen. Your Majesty, do you want him to show off his status and act arrogantly, causing people to talk about you behind your back?"

"He is just too cautious in what he says and does. He doesn't want to be misunderstood and is afraid of hurting your wisdom. How can this be called hiding one's shortcomings?"

After all, Wei Qing had served Liu Che as the Jianzhang Supervisor and the Shizhong for nearly ten years, and he knew the emperor's temper very well.

After these words, Liu Che just patted the dragon's butt lightly, and his eyes stopped glaring. He leaned back against the couch and his anger subsided.

Liu Che snorted and said:

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"Forget it, let's talk about this later. I called you two here today because I have something serious to discuss."

"Zhongqing, you fought against the Xiongnu a few years ago, and won many victories in the battles of Longcheng, Henan, and Monan. But without you, the Han Dynasty might not have achieved such a great success."

When Wei Qing heard this, his mouth opened immediately.

He would never dare to take all the credit on himself!
But when he was about to refute, Liu Che pinned him with a look:

"Don't tell me that it's all the soldiers' credit. Other generals have also made contributions. In the Battle of Dragon City, only the army led by you attacked Dragon City and killed hundreds of enemies. The other three armies either failed or got lost. If it weren't for your triumphant return, I would have lost all my face!"

"I'm not asking you to refuse your contribution today. I asked you and Qubing to come here to tell you that I have learned something. Talking to you may be helpful."

"——It's a very useful item in war."

While Liu Che was speaking, Wei Qing had been wanting to explain, but he had no chance. But now that His Majesty actually mentioned something useful in fighting a war, he could only immediately forget what he had wanted to explain.

Although His Majesty always likes to say some overly morale-boosting words before the army sets out, he is not so fond of bragging in normal times.

So now Your Majesty must have a target in mind, it just depends on whether the arrow is strong enough.

Wei Qing didn't say anything, but his burning gaze was worth more than a thousand words.

Liu Che looked at him and then at Huo Qubing. Well, the latter was not much better. Huo Qubing never had much expression, but at this moment, the words "I love fighting" written in his eyes were almost emitting fire.

"...Then I'll just say it straight."

Liu Che pretended to cough twice solemnly and said:
"I know that the hooves of the horses in the army will be worn out during training and long-distance raids. What do you think about this?"

Wei Qing, Huo Qubing: ...? ? ?
The two of them had the same confusion in their eyes.

To put it bluntly, Your Majesty, didn't you take off your pants to fart?
Wei Qing coughed lightly:
"Your Majesty, you are in the palace, and the horses you keep are not capable of long-distance galloping, so you may not know much about this. Since the end of the Qin Dynasty, the army has had a solution to the problem of horse hoof wear, which is to put shoes on the horses."

"This kind of shoes is different from the ones people wear. The richer ones would wrap the horse's hooves with animal skins and nail them under the hooves. The poorer ones also have other ways, but they would use wood chips or something like that and drive wooden wedges into the hooves."

"But these methods can only help during training. Horse hooves are both hard and soft, and can adapt to most roads. After wearing shoes, they are no longer the horse's own hooves. The leather or wood must be thick enough to protect the horse's hooves. If the ground is muddy and slippery or the road is bumpy, or if the horse itself does not like wearing shoes, it is easy for the horse to stumble."

"So during long-distance raids, wear and tear on the horses' hooves is unavoidable."

Liu Che's face froze.

When Meng Tian asked Li Jing about this matter before, he also secretly overheard it. He thought these methods were quite earth-shattering, but he didn't expect that the army already had very similar coping methods.

He rolled his eyes:
"Oh, then if the leather and wood pieces nailed to the horse's hooves were replaced with iron pieces, would it be better?"

Your Majesty is asking about "you".

Now that all the questions had been asked, no matter how calm Huo Qubing was, he couldn't bear to listen any longer.

After bowing, he said respectfully:

"The iron sheet is strong enough to protect the horse's hooves without having to be thickened. It may take several years before it needs to be worn out and replaced."

"But your majesty, iron is precious. Although I love horses and hope that the Han can win the battle, it would be a waste to use it on horse hooves."

"The Han cavalry is more than tens of thousands. It would be very expensive to nail iron plates to each horse. If only one or two out of ten horses were nailed, the rest of the cavalry would complain. We need to think about this matter carefully."

Liu Che was not angry when he was refuted.

He was now afraid that Huo Qubing would be the same as before, saying yes to every question and not saying anything. How could he promote him?
So Liu Che raised his eyebrows and said:
"What about the other horse gear?"

"There are things that are much cheaper than iron, and they are cruder, perhaps just a straw rope hung on the horse, which can allow the cavalry to exert their full strength and stand up on the horse easily. How is such an object better than horseshoes?"

Huo Qubing lost all his usual cautious demeanor and stared blankly:

"Your Majesty, what is that?!"

The stone in Liu Che's heart fell to the ground.

Finally got hooked!
Huo Qubing, you still say that you have not hidden your incompetence!
Wei Zhongqing, you still say that your nephew is young and knows nothing!

Today I finally tried it out!!!
(End of this chapter)