Chinese New Year

Chapter 1428 Horses and People

On the third day of the third month, Shao Xun had not yet left Pingyang Palace.

On this day, Ba Gong Shao Ke arrived from Zuo Guo Yuan, and the scene was extremely astonishing—

A yellow line quietly rose on the horizon, seemingly lying low and silent on the earth. But in the blink of an eye, the dust expanded rapidly like a surging torrent, rising higher and higher, spreading wider and wider, until it finally swept across the entire field of vision.

The dust was so thick that it almost blocked out the sun, obscuring even the distant mountains, leaving only a vast expanse of gray-yellow dust between heaven and earth.

Gradually, countless horses appeared in the dust, including green steeds, black steeds, chestnut steeds, and snow-white steeds, all different in shape and posture.

At this moment, the earth began to tremble slowly.

The sound of horses' hooves, like war drums, trembled the grass and trees, startled the air, and rolled across the plains and meadows like an unstoppable raging tide, sweeping across the entire land.

Among the herd of horses, several shepherds dressed in sheepskin coats could be vaguely seen, whistling sharply.

Whistles, neighs, and the clatter of hooves blended into a rugged symphony, propelling these wild creatures forward.

The lead horse was particularly robust, its hooves pounding the wind, its mane fluttering like flames in the breeze.

It leads this vast and unparalleled torrent, as if it wants to break through everything, and is extremely proud.

"That brat!" Shao Xun laughed and scolded from his high vantage point.

The soldiers of the Righteous Army gathered around, watching all this with a sense of longing.

It seems that Master Ba brought all the horses from Zuo Guoyuan with him; it's truly an overwhelming sight.

Liang Zong, the only civil official accompanying the emperor and a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate, was somewhat worried. He feared that Ba Gong's frivolous behavior might have caused damage to many crops along the way.

However, Shao Xun was not ignorant of worldly affairs. After the herd of horses gradually gathered and stopped, he beckoned the Ninth Prince and Ba Gong Shao Ke to come over.

"Slap!" A slap landed on the back of his neck. Shao Xun's face hardened. "Walking so ostentatiously all the way, covering the sky and the earth, don't you know you'll damage the crops?"

“Grandpa, I didn’t.” Shao Ke said urgently, “There are more than three thousand horses in total, divided into several groups, all traveling along the post road. I just saw an open space here, and on a whim, I let the horses run wild for a while.”

Shao Xun summoned Shao Zhen and said, "Send people to investigate along the way. If any crops are damaged, compensate them with silk."

Shao Zhen accepted the order and immediately made arrangements.

Shao Xun turned his gaze to the herd of horses trotting slowly on the grass and said, "They're all... you know—"

“Shilou horses,” Shao Ke replied. “They are at least a palm’s length taller than the horses of the Tuoba Xianbei, and their speed is more than 10% faster.”

"Yes, I've heard about it before." Shao Xun nodded and said, "You should take him to Pujin Pass East City. The Youzhou Cavalry Commander has already arrived."

"Okay," Shao Ke agreed.

"Don't run away either," Shao Xun added. "Your mother has already arrived in Chang'an ahead of time, and may have even met with Madam He in private. Don't delay her."

Shao Ke was somewhat reluctant, but had no choice but to agree.

He's getting married.

The lady was the granddaughter of He Sui, a former elder of the Kaocheng shogunate and the governor of the East Sea.

The He family was a gentry family in Donghai, but not a prestigious one. After He Sui passed away, his sons were of average talent, only reaching the rank of sixth or seventh grade official. If it weren't for the old relationship, they might not have been able to arrange marriages.

Shao Ke had never even met He Xiao Niangzi, and he was having a great time on his own with no shortage of women around him, so why would he want to find a wife to make things difficult for him? But he also knew that his little thoughts were beneath him and that he would have to face reality sooner or later.

"I heard that Shilou Ma received help from Bian Mao?" Shao Xun asked again.

"According to the old man Zuo Guoyuan, it is true." Shao Ke replied, "My third brother recommended him, and the Ministry of Personnel examined and appointed him to concurrently serve as the supervisor of the Longquan Pasture. He brought his family's horses with him and spent all his time breeding them. In the end, this kind of horse was bred."

"Defective?"

"I don't have the stamina."

Shao Xun laughed upon hearing this and said, "This is not a big problem for cavalry attached to infantry."

For the Central Plains dynasties, the most common application of cavalry was to cooperate with and cover infantry. Very few cavalrymen could independently formulate plans, command, and fight independently.

Therefore, their needs for warhorses were actually quite different from those of the steppe cavalry.

Previously, no one paid attention to this issue. They used any horse they could find without distinguishing its characteristics or breeding it. Horse administration was extremely chaotic, focusing only on quantity and not on classification.

For infantrymen, the most annoying thing is being harassed by the enemy while marching or forming ranks.

Using chariot formations is a last resort, and somewhat passive. The best approach is to send out cavalry to thoroughly defeat and drive away the enemy's harassing light cavalry, preventing them from approaching.

At this point, physical strength is not so important; explosive power and impact are the most important.

In other words, I don't need you to be able to chase the enemy for a long time. Just use your powerful instant acceleration to catch the enemy, and use the close combat advantage of long spears and halberds to make the enemy who comes to harass you pay a heavy price.

The battle is only a short while, so there's no need for great endurance or the ability to withstand roughage. That's something only poor people on the grasslands need; the Central Plains have enough food to feed them.

The correct direction for horse breeding is to categorize horses and select those with distinctive characteristics generation after generation. The more than three thousand horses brought by Shao Ke are characterized by their strong straight-line acceleration.

Actually, Guangchengyuan had bred similar horses before, but they weren't good enough. The main drawback was their extremely bad temper; they would often kick and injure their grooms and even bite. Most fatally, their genetics were unstable.

Zuo Guoyuan focused his research on developing draft horses and plow horses that were tolerant of rough feed and had high strength. Unexpectedly, he created the Shilou horse, which is fast, has strong impact, and has stable genetics. However, the bad temper still exists, and this part of the gene has not been screened out.

There's no way around it; breeding requires a bit of luck.

It's not bad that they've developed this thing after more than 30 years. Let's just make do with it.

"What kind of person is Bian Mao?" Shao Xun pulled his son aside and asked again.

"Grandpa, didn't you personally appoint him as a scholar of the Imperial Academy of Crafts?" Shao Ke asked curiously.

“Isn’t this a question for you?” Shao Xun said.

“I just recommended him…” Shao Ke said softly, “My father was granted the title of scholar, and my third brother recommended him, so he must be a great talent. I’ll just recommend him too.”

Shao Xun was both amused and exasperated.

Although the Ninth Prince is only a seventh-rank official in charge of the Imperial Garden, he is a prince and can recruit subordinate officials and recommend talented people, so the Ministry of Personnel cannot ignore him.

This rascal doesn't really know anything about himself, yet he makes recommendations blindly.

"Let's wait and see," Shao Xun sighed, then asked, "How's it going in Lishi?"

“When I have nothing to do, I’ve been to Lishi, Fangshan, and Shilou. As for the county town, it’s no different from the Central Plains,” Shao Ke said. “Even the chieftains of the Hu people, if they don’t speak, you can’t tell they’re Hu. People with braided hair (Xiongnu), shaved hair (Xianbei), or loose hair (Diqiang) are almost nowhere to be seen. There are people studying in the county school every day, and I’ve heard that many of them are children of Hu chieftains. They’ve studied rhymed books since they were young, and they speak Luoyang Mandarin quite well.”

"The countryside is quite different; there are still many people dressed like Hu people. However, according to the old man Zuo Guoyuan, it's much better than it was a dozen years ago. The largest powerful family in Xihe is the Song family. They have intermarried with the Jin family of Jiexiu and the Liu family of Kelan. By the way, there is the Shan family in Xinqin and Shangjun across the river, who have also intermarried with the Song family. They are not very particular about such things."

"You're quite good at gathering information," Shao Xun said with a smile.

"I learned it from my mother. I listen and watch more when I have nothing to do," Shao Ke said.

Shao Xun gave a thumbs-up.

He only saw one side of Bingzhou through the court, but now, through on-site inspections and inquiries with officials and princes, he has pieced together a relatively complete picture of Bingzhou.

The Shao family's vigorous management of the eleven prefectures of Bingzhou was correct.

On the one hand, they firmly controlled this strategic location; on the other hand, through the court's attention, they continuously invested various resources to carry out construction, win over the people, and change customs, gradually tackling this half-baked problem and thus solving part of the problem with the Hu people.

In his mind, although Pingyang and Hedong counties belonged to Sizhou, they were actually included in Bingzhou. Moreover, geographically speaking, these two places should have belonged to Bingzhou.

If Bingzhou is secure, then Luoyang is secure. Without Bingzhou, any talk of rebellion from Hebei is utter nonsense. For the court that established its capital in Luoyang and Bianjing, Bingzhou was the most important place, without exception.

Last year, the Crown Prince made an inspection tour, and this year he came to Hedong and Pingyang again. With 20,000 soldiers from the Right Jinwu Guard and the Right Longhu Guard stationed there, and 40,000 Huangtou Army soldiers assisting, this land, with its mountains and rivers, is very stable.

On the eighth day of the third month, after several days of debauchery in the Huiguang and Wenming Palaces, and with cannon fire almost sinking the imperial ship, Shao Xun finally returned to Wenxi. More than ten days had passed since he told Pei Lingyan that it would be "two days".

Pei Lingyan gave him a reproachful look.

Shao Xun felt a little guilty.

"If you want to control women, you might as well let Zigu serve you; that way, you'll have some restraint," she said helplessly.

Zigu let out a soft "Ah," her face slightly flushed.

Shao Xun glanced at her. This little girl was disrespectful and had a very different personality from Hua Nu.

They are similar in terms of the fullness of their breasts, their faces are somewhat alike, and their figures are about 70-80% similar to Hua Nu's when she was young. Hmm, they really do look alike.

However, Shao Xun still wasn't interested and instead said, "Let's go?"

"Aren't you staying a few more days?" Pei Lingyan asked.

“If we stay any longer, officials from Kelan and Taiyuan will arrive,” Shao Xun said. “From Pujin Pass, we will cross the river and head straight for Fengyi. Back then, Liu Cong and Liu Can built this fortified city; it was truly difficult to conquer. If the Qiuchi Di hadn’t been unable to withstand the pressure, the three cities of Pujin Pass wouldn’t have been so easy to take…”

Pei Lingyan listened quietly as Shao Xun boasted about his past achievements in front of her, and unexpectedly felt a sense of peace.

For her, being able to hear familiar voices and see familiar people every day is enough.

On March 12, the grand procession passed through the three floating bridges of Pujin Pass and arrived at the Hexi County of Fengyi Prefecture on the other side.

On the thirteenth, they continued westward. At this time, they received news that Yang Qin had defeated Tuoba Tuijin again, beheading more than 3,000 people, giving him no chance to gather his followers.

The Qifu Xianbei were very proactive. Without being urged by the court, they took the initiative to mobilize more than 5,000 cavalry to pursue and attack the Tufa tribe.

It is reported that Tuoba Tuijin has fled into the territory of the Tuyuhun Xianbei and sent out his confidants to try to gather the remaining troops and return to fight again.

After deliberation, Shao Xun ordered a halt to the pursuit and the relocation of the remaining Tuoba tribe members, along with all captured cattle, sheep, horses, and camels, eastward. Those who refused were to be slaughtered on the spot without prior notification.

On the 20th, the entire army arrived in Chang'an and joined Empress Yu Wenjun.

(End of this chapter)