Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 38 Plagiarism of Captain Yao
It is something many people know that the health of Grand Marshal and General Wei Qing is getting worse day by day.

Fifty years old is considered a prime age in later generations, but it is not considered a long life in this era. But if something really happened, I would not feel particularly sorry.

What Huo Xian can do now is to learn more from Liu Che and Wei Qing, and prepare seriously for the war that may be faced at any time.

His 800 cavalrymen are now basically trained. They are a group of spirited young men who have obtained the best resources of the Han Dynasty.

Whether it was armor, weapons or horses, they were all top-notch, and their food supplies were the envy of other armies.

As for the so-called heavy armor that Huo Xian mentioned, he did have someone make it, but he also reported this to the emperor. The later series of heavy armor were also allocated by the court, rather than being entirely paid for by Huo Xian himself.

The only difference is that Huo Xian's armor is more gorgeous and sophisticated. In addition to heavy armor, he also has two sets of chain mail and two sets of fish scale armor. Even those chain mails that look like iron wire or iron ring buckles can be worn inside heavy armor.

The lazy Huo Xian continued to train his troops while also preparing for war seriously and supervising some things from time to time.

For example, horseshoes. His 800 cavalrymen had horseshoes and Takahashi saddles were ready.

Liu Che and Wei Qing were naturally very happy about this. Although the Han Dynasty seemed to have no shortage of war horses, the losses would also be relatively large.

Horseshoes cannot completely solve the problem of war horse losses, but they can indeed reduce the losses of a lot of horses.

The Western Han Dynasty was also short of horses, and what it lacked was good and high-quality horses.

Most of the horses in the Han Dynasty today are local horses. The better war horses are Qin horses, also known as Hequ horses. Since Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the Han Dynasty has continued to import good horses from the Western Wusun, Dayuan and other countries to transform local horses.

In order to fight against the Xiongnu, envoys were sent to the Wusun Kingdom. The Wusun King Liejiaomi was willing to marry the Han Dynasty, so Liu Che sent Liu Xijun, the daughter of Liu Jian, the King of Jiangdu, to marry.

Some of the horses obtained were called Ili horses "celestial horses", but this name will probably change soon.

If Liu Che saw the Ferghana horse, Tianma would become a synonym for Ferghana horse, and Yili horse would be changed to "Xiji horse".

As for the Sanhe horse, it was bred by crossbreeding various foreign horse breeds, but there are still some Mongolian horses today.

It’s just that many people nowadays don’t pay much attention to this natural war horse that has strong adaptability, resistance to severe cold and tolerance to rough feed.

Huo Xian lazily stood up, and the eunuch said, "My Lord, the Queen has summoned you."

Huo Xian asked as he was getting dressed, "Are you in a hurry?"

The eunuch smiled and replied, "No hurry, Your Highness, wait until the prince wakes up before going."

That's good. Huo Xian brushed his teeth, rinsed his mouth, washed his face, and ate snacks with ease. His manners were more sophisticated than those of the average rich and powerful man.

"Cousin, take me for a horse ride!" As soon as they arrived at the Pepper Room, Liu Jin ran over, "Cousin, you always lie to me!"

Looking at this naughty child of seven or eight years old, Huo Xian said with disdain, "Go away, go away! You don't study all day and just want to ride horses. What are you thinking about? Children, study hard and don't always think about playing!"

Wei Zifu and Liu Ju just looked at Huo Shan. They couldn't understand how Huo Shan could be so shameless as to say such words.

Not to mention now, even when Huo Xian was seven or eight years old, he was more troublesome than Liu Jin. If there was chaos in the palace, it must have been caused by him.

Liu Ju looked at Huo Xian and said with a smile, "Xian'er, you said last month that you would take Jin'er to ride horses and hunt."

Looking at Liu Jin, whose cheeks were still puffed and eyes were wide open, Huo Xian denied it flatly, "I don't remember. Wasn't I out fighting bandits last month?"

Liu Jin got angry and reminded loudly, "Cousin, you said that before you suppressed the bandits!"

"Your Majesty won't let you leave the palace, what can I do?" Huo Xian was so thick-skinned that he could block an arrow. "If Your Majesty lets you leave the palace, I will take you to hunt bears and tigers immediately."

Wei Zifu was really worried about her grandson, so she said with disdain, "Shan'er, there are not many people in the palace who dare to deceive Jin'er, and even if they are added together, they are not even half as good as you. You don't look like a brother at all!"

Liu Ju was both angry and amused, "Jin'er just loves to make trouble with you."

This was of course due to Wei Zifu and Liu Ju's constant education, which made Liu Jin close to Huo Xian. It was also because there were many rules in the palace, and not many people dared to tease the emperor's grandson.

"The horseshoes for the Northern Army have been made, and the craftsmen have begun to install the horseshoes." Liu said, "The imperial court is probably going to send troops."

Huo Xian immediately perked up and asked, "Send troops? Fight the Xiongnu?" "Western Regions," Liu Ju said angrily, "Before, the court sent an envoy with 200,000 taels of gold and a golden horse to Dayuan to exchange for a good horse, but the king of Dayuan killed the envoy and took away the property."

Huo Xian was stunned for a moment, and asked quickly, "But is that Dayuan that Marquis Bowang mentioned?"

Liu Ju nodded. Dayuan was located in the Fergana Basin in Central Asia, which was the border area of ​​Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Liu Ju said indignantly, "Your Majesty is furious. I heard that those horses are in Ershi City. The court is already preparing. You don't go to the court all day, don't ask about the current situation, and only train the troops. Naturally, you don't know about this."

Li Guangli, this is how Li Guangli became the Second Division General.

Before the Qin Dynasty, the titles of generals were only the Great General, Front General, Rear General, Left General, and Right General. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, there were General of Chariots and Cavalry and General of Guards. Later, the titles of generals became more and more numerous, such as Xiaoqi, Louchuan, Caiguan, etc., which were basically named after the troops they led or the tasks they performed.

In history, Li Guangli led an expedition to Dayuan. He suffered heavy casualties in his first expedition and had no achievements after fighting for a year. He even wrote a letter to request a withdrawal, but was rejected by the furious Emperor Liu Che. Later, he sent more than 60,000 troops again and finally conquered Dayuan.

The battle lasted for three years, with nearly 100,000 troops directly dispatched and nearly 200,000 garrison troops ready to support them.

Looking at Liu Ju's angry expression, Huo Xian didn't know how to comment.

Because the then King of Dayuan, Wu Gua, thought the Han envoy was very rude, and when the negotiation failed, he cursed. But the Han envoy didn't think so, he came with sincerity and gold and silver, so you should offer the national treasure war horse.

Wei Zifu and Liu Ju were both observing Huo Shan's expression, because they heard rumors that His Majesty wanted to appoint Li Guangli as the general this time.

Lady Li has been very favored in recent years and has just given birth to the emperor's fifth son, Liu Bo.

Huo Xian thought about it carefully and said, "I'll ask for the fight this time."

Liu Ju breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "Xian'er, didn't His Majesty ask you to fight the Xiongnu?"

Many people knew that the emperor's training of Huo Shan was to target the Xiongnu. They also felt that Huo Shan was unnecessary in the war against the Western Regions.

A few years ago, Zhao Po Nu led 700 cavalrymen to capture Loulan and captured its king. Many people in the Han Dynasty looked down on the small countries in the Western Regions.

Huo Xian said, "Li Guangli has some abilities, but it may be difficult for him to lead an army thousands of miles away. He has never fought a war before, so it may be difficult."

Liu Ju quickly asked, "Xian'er, if you ask for a fight, will it work?"

Although Huo Shan had never fought in a war, neither Wei Zifu nor Liu Ju would doubt his ability.

It was not only because Huo Shan was taught by the emperor himself, but also because he was highly regarded by General Wei Qing, not to mention that he was the only son of Huo Qubing.

"That's hard to say." Huo Xian said after careful consideration, "If His Majesty has really made up his mind, I might not be able to get anything done if I go and ask him. I might even get scolded."

If Li Guangli won this battle and won beautifully, then Li Guangli would most likely be the next Wei Qing and would be used to balance Wei Huo.

Given how favored Lady Li is now and the fact that she had just given birth to a son, she might pose some threat to Liu Ju.

If you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries. There are some things that you have to pay attention to.

The emperor has his own considerations, while the empress and the crown prince have their own concerns.

There was precedent of deposing the crown prince in the Western Han Dynasty. For example, Liu Che's brother Liu Rong was deposed as the crown prince.

While Huo Xian was still thinking, a eunuch came hurriedly, "My Lord, His Majesty has urgently summoned you."

Huo Xian immediately stood up and said, "Aunt, cousin, you don't need to think too much about this. I'm here for you, my uncle!"

"Your Highness, His Majesty has ordered the Crown Prince to prepare all the supplies for the Champion Marquis to go to war against the Xiongnu." The eunuch immediately spoke up and continued, "I have ordered Her Highness the Queen to open the armory for the troops of Captain Yao to select weapons."

Huo Xian was stunned. "Me? When was I appointed as a lieutenant?"

Although Huo Xian had led troops for four or five years, his Jianzhang Camp Cavalry had not yet been formally organized. Huo Xian was also the Marquis of Guanjun, the Minister of the Court, and the Commandant of the Imperial Chariot, and he was ordered to train troops.

Liu Ju's focus was on other things. "Xiongnu? Why are we going to fight the Xiongnu too?"

(End of this chapter)