The struggle of the reborn prince

As a modern soldier, Zhao Tun knows the importance of fast maneuvering and assault on the battlefield. In the era of cold weapons, without vehicles such as cars and planes, the importance of horses cannot be overestimated. Its power is comparable to that of modern light tanks and Armored vehicles are comparable.And this advantage has not completely disappeared even in the era of hot weapons. In the 30s, the Red Army's western expedition was annihilated by the cavalry of the Majia Army in the Hexi Corridor area, reflecting from the side the huge advantage of cavalry over infantry in the cold weapon era.

In the past dynasties of the wars between the infantry farming peoples of the Central Plains and the northern peoples dominated by cavalry, the advantage of the northern army lies in its mobility. When they gather together, they rush in, and when they disperse, they leave suddenly. But when it comes to it, it is impossible to guard against it. If you ask for it, you will find the essentials, but if you leave it, there will be many troubles.Zhao Tong has also studied the Song Army's wars with Liao in the early days of the founding of the country and the failures of several foreign wars with Xixia in the middle period, and found that these battles all highlighted the disadvantages of the Song Army's equipment and the strategic and tactical effectiveness of Liao and Xia. take advantage of the enemy's disadvantages.

The process of the war is basically similar. First, the Song army drove straight into the enemy's territory without encountering much resistance. Once the Song army entered the open plains, the northern army immediately cut off the Song army's retreat and supply lines, and took advantage of the cavalry movement to cut the Song army into pieces. A few paragraphs and break each one.Due to the insufficient mobility of the Song army, it was impossible to find the main force of the enemy army for a decisive battle, which made it difficult for some technical weapons of the Song army to be effective. In the end, they had to be beaten passively. Once they could not make a decisive battle, they had to withdraw their troops immediately. , and even lead to a rout.Several Northern Expeditions all ended in disastrous defeats, losing troops and land, and seeking peace after being defeated. This reflects that the Song Army had a great lack of equipment, that is, there were too few war horses available, and many major battles were defeated. This is related.

Some people say that infantry and cavalry coordination is more effective than pure cavalry, but that is also based on the need for a sufficient number of cavalry.However, whether it is to use chariots or show cavalry, it is impossible to do it without large-scale control of horse resources.As for the acquisition of such strategic resources, the farming peoples of the Central Plains have always been at a disadvantage to the nomadic peoples in the north, and this disadvantage was especially obvious in the Song Dynasty.

Then Zhao Tang looked at the mansion newspaper brought by Xi and figured it out. In order to solve the domestic shortage of horses, the government purchased horses through the tea-horse trade, but the trade volume was insufficient and the horses could not make ends meet. So he decided to restore the "land-based horse breeding" In fact, this is just a variant of the previous horse protection law. The article stipulates that each generation of the state raises one horse, the state gives one hectare of land, and the state takes two out of three, and the remaining one as a reward. Occupying a large amount of farmland to disturb the people can be regarded as a good thing for the country, at least it is a good thing for oneself.

Zhao Tong's ideal is to build an army that is completely mules and horses, and the transportation of combat troops and logistics is all done by horses, because he knows that his future battlefield will be in the northern plains, and he will face an army with strong Highly maneuverable enemy forces.If you still use the traditional infantry method to fight the enemy, even if you are equipped with firearms, it is impossible for your two legs to catch up with your four legs. In the end, you can only win a local battlefield, or it is just a rout, or even follow the enemy. Eating dirt behind the horse's buttocks, let alone annihilating the enemy's vital force.

After the successful trial production of firearms, the problem of horses has been bothering him, because he does not want to feed horses in pens like farmers raising pigs. What he wants is not only quantity, but also quality. It is different, especially for war horses, it is not just enough to feed them. Horses are naturally free, even semi-wild animals, and it is impossible to be locked up.It also needs a venue for exercise, otherwise the wildness will slowly degenerate and become a house horse with four limbs and no work. Riding this kind of horse is no different from courting death.

If you want to raise them in a free range way, you need a lot of space, and a horse needs at least 200 acres of land to run and eat well. If you want to raise a group of horses, the land you need is not a small place.This year the caravan brought back more than [-] horses for him, but they couldn't solve the problem of the field. They could only keep the best ones, and the rest had to be sold or stayed in Fuchu to pull carts.Zhao Tong made a rough calculation. Now even if all the farmland he owns is turned into a horse farm, it will not meet the demand, and there will be problems of competing with others for profit, not to mention that he still needs to use this land to create wealth. , accumulating manpower, the two have become an irreconcilable contradiction, so he has been scratching his head about it.

This time, it would be great to have this method of giving horses to the land. If you are really sleepy, someone will give you a pillow. The old man's decree will solve the problem in front of him. "Jie Xi, come with me to the stables." Zhao Tan excitedly walked around the room twice and said to Jianxi, although the policy is in place, he is a complete layman in raising horses. The farm where he lived in his previous life has already been mechanized. The above disappeared and became a rarity. A child would be more excited to see a horse-drawn cart than to be given a 'BMW'

"Second Lord, you have to go out for a walk, it's too cold." Jian Xi thought that Zhao Tang was going to ride a horse, but now it's freezing cold, so he hurriedly persuaded him for fear of freezing him.

"No, I want to ask the grooms something." Zhao Tang couldn't wait to get dressed and was about to go out.

"Second Master, it's smelly and dirty there, why don't you just call them here?" Seeing that Xi didn't like that place very much, he said with a bitter face.

"If you keep talking, I'll let you feed the horse tomorrow." Zhao Tang had already put on his clothes and was about to go out. When he saw Xi was still rubbing, he threatened.

Although Jian Xi was reluctant in every possible way, he also knew that he couldn't hold back the prince, so he had to go to the stables of the East Courtyard. Just as he went out, he met Zhao Ren and the others who were returning with a group of recruits. The training programs have been reduced, but the physical fitness has not stopped, and the New Year is approaching, and they have money to let them go out of the house in turn.Hearing that the prince asked for a stable, Xin Zhao became interested and followed along.

The stables are in the east courtyard, occupying a large area. Originally, there were only a few horses bestowed by the emperor. Later, Zhao Tun got more than 20 horses from the hands of the imperial guards who delivered the decree. 6 continued to buy dozens of horses, and the stables also continued to expand.Established a horse club, Zhao Tun donated more than 40 horses, and the caravan brought back more than 20 good horses and raised them here for the prince, several chief stewards and nurses in the mansion to ride.As soon as he entered the door, he could smell a strong horse smell, and he couldn't help covering his nose when he saw joy, but Xin Zhao was very excited.

The prince arrived suddenly, and the five people in the stable quickly put down their work and went forward to say hello, "Second Lord, if you want to go out, I'll prepare the horse for you right away," the groom said with a broad smile.

"Oh, no need, I'm just here for a walk." Zhao Tang waved his hand, went straight to the stable, touched the white horse he was riding, and stretched his hand under his chin to scratch him, "It's been a while since I rode a horse. Forgot to slip?"

"Second Master, your little horses are cleaned every day, and the fodder is served every day, and they are taken out for a walk every day," Zhang Kuan, who accompanied the visit, quickly replied.

"I see how this horse is getting fatter and fatter. Should I lose weight, or else he won't be able to run anymore?" Zhao Tun said, patting the fat horse's buttocks twice.

"Second Lord, this is the season when horses are fattening, so they look a little fatter than usual." Zhang Kuan blushed and said with a little embarrassment.

"Nonsense, it's cold now, and it's time for the horse to lose weight. It's obvious that the horse has been in the pen for a long time, and it's been fed with concentrate. It's no wonder it's not only gaining weight." Xin Zhao said with a curled lip.

"Xin Zhao, don't talk nonsense, when did you know how to feed horses again?" Zhao Tama said with a glare at him.

"Second Master, our family used to raise such a large herd of horses, of course I know." Xin Zhao said while doing a chest-expanding exercise.

"This little brother is right, but these horses are royal horses bestowed by the emperor, how dare we treat them badly, after a long time, it is inevitable that the fat will be too thick." Zhang Kuan is a real person, seeing Zhao Xin say it, I'll admit it right away.

Zhao Tang saw that the imperial horses were all living in single rooms. Their hair brushes were so shiny that they couldn't even see a blade of grass. The troughs were filled with fine materials such as bean cakes. They enjoyed the most advanced treatment. It’s unreasonable to be delicious, lazy and not fat, but he didn’t want to blame Zhang Kuan, pointing to the other end and asking: “Are all the newly bought horses over there?”

"Yes, Second Master, those horses are just bought from Liao and Xia, and they haven't been trained well yet, so you have to be careful," Zhang Kuan replied.

"Second Master, these are the best horses. You see, this horse is a Hequ horse from the Xia Kingdom, and that horse is an iron-hoofed horse from the Mongolian grasslands of the Liao Kingdom. But after two years of raising in the mansion, it will be useless if it loses its temper. Xin Zhao ran over first, pointing and saying.

"Hehe, you can still tell which is a Hequ horse and which is a Mongolian horse. It's much better than my master. I can't even tell the difference between a male and a female now." Only horses can stay wild?" He has a good habit, knows how to ask questions without shame, and never pretends to be an expert in things he doesn't know.

"Of course it is stocked. Find a place with rich water and grass. There are rolling hills, sparse trees, gentle rivers, and dense pastures. Let them feed themselves. Horses are no more stupid than humans. They usually only eat fresh grass tips. , and know how to eat different grasses in different seasons, let them go home once in ten days and a half months, and never run away, captivity will only make horses slowly die in pain, running is their nature "Xin Zhao said with blurred eyes and a look of fascination.

Zhao Tun approached a red horse and stretched out his hand to touch it, but the horse avoided vigilantly, stepped in small steps, snorted and gave a warning, "Second Master, don't???" Zhang Kuan was startled. Full of wildness, strangers will not only kick but also bite when approached.

Xin Zhao stood in front of Zhao Tun, as if he didn't feel any danger, he smiled and slowly leaned forward, whistled, the horse's ears turned a few times, and it became quiet, he took two steps forward and whispered in the horse's ear After saying something, it seemed to understand, and it swung the horse's head and rubbed against him affectionately a few times.

"I didn't expect that my brother is also an expert in handling horses. The old man has lost his eye." Zhang Kuan sighed and shook his head and said with a smile.

"Second Lord, let me ride this horse, I like it, and it likes me too," said Xin Zhao, brushing the horse's long mane.

"Hehe, it's fine, but I guess it's a mare, and I've fallen in love with the handsome guy in our house." Zhao Tun said with a grimace.

"Second Master, don't talk nonsense, this is clearly a horse, not a mare," Xin Zhao whispered coyly.

"Really? Then I'll give you this horse, how about it?" Zhao Tang said indifferently.

"Second Lord, is it true?" Zhao Xin looked at Zhao Tun in disbelief, "This horse is only six years old, and it was at that time. It has strong bones and good appearance. It is worth a hundred dollars. Second Lord is willing to give it a try. ?” He remembered that his worth was not worth the money.

"It's just Baiguan, how can you not bear it, as long as you like it" Zhao Tong said with a smile.

"From now on, you will be mine, and I will take care of you every day." Xin Zhao was so happy that he put his arms around the horse's neck and said.

Zhao Tong looked at Zhao Xin, wondering why this guy likes horses so much, so he stopped bothering him, and called a few grooms to inquire about the details of raising horses, what kind of venue is needed, how many people need to take care of them, and how to train them to be qualified The war horse??? Zhao Tang asked very detailed questions. The grooms may also lack experience in stocking, and some questions could not be answered, which made him a little disappointed. It seems that he can only recruit new talents.

Raising horses is a big deal, so regardless of the approaching Spring Festival, Zhao Tang recruited several managers back to discuss.Zhao Tang found that modern times are no different from ancient times. If the leaders pay attention, the work efficiency will be high. If the top leaders take care of themselves, things will be done faster.The most important thing now is to win the project first and get the funds and land.Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhao Tong expressed his thoughts, he was opposed by everyone. Everyone who has experienced raising horses knows that the risk is high and the benefits are low. return.If the prince's plan is followed, the weather will be smooth, the horses will be in good health, and those who are free from disease and disaster will be guaranteed to lose money.

However, the prince, who was thought to be earning little in the past, suddenly changed his mind when doing business, and he was determined not to give in on this matter, even if he offered money and people, he had to do it. Of course, he was doing it in the name of "sharing worries for the father and dedicating to the country". Daqi’s words are clear and logical, making people feel that he is really doing something great. Of course, after looking deeper, what he said is correct, that’s what happened.

Several managers took turns presenting the facts and reasoning, unable to persuade them, and moved out Huang Jingchen, but no one said it was useless. The prince was stubborn and insisted on doing it. Everyone had no choice but to follow him. It also confirmed the judgment of the stewards. The county magistrate of Xiangyi was worried about this decree. When the rich households heard that they wanted to raise horses, they even refused to open his door. After closing the door, the prince relieved his father's worries and prepared to adopt [-] horses.