Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 60 I'm Sorry
Yuanye turned into the "Tin Man" and his courage began to grow. He slept more and more soundly and felt refreshed. When he woke up the next day, he was in an even better mood and went to see his newly bought mount - a calico mare.

The "three flowers" here are not the same as the calico cat, but a kind of horse beauty makeup that was popular in the Tang Dynasty, which was to comb the horse's mane into fluffy curls, like the "five-colored horse, fur coat worth a thousand gold" in Li Bai's poem. The Japanese learned this and also dress their horses in this way, which is a way to increase the selling price of horses, similar to waxing cars today.

The calico mare that Yuanye had just bought had its mane combed into three fluffy curls, curling around its neck like waves. The horse's fur was brown-black in color, with a large patch of white hair on its face. Its eyes were big, its eyelashes were long, and its temperament was very gentle. At this moment, it was actively sticking out its tongue to roll up the hay in Aqing's hand, and only snorted occasionally.

only……

This horse has these few advantages, the rest is very ordinary.

The shoulder height is only over 120 centimeters, which is definitely a dwarf horse by the standards of later generations. In particular, its body is very solid, its short legs are very strong, and its neck is not raised high like other horses. It always lies down, which makes it look even shorter. However, its hooves are very big and round. Now wearing straw hooves, it looks even bigger and more...

Yuanye watched and realized something was wrong, so he took another closer look - why was the horse wearing straw sandals?

He went to Atsuta to shop yesterday. He was in a hurry because he was worried about something happening at home. Besides, as a modern man, he didn't understand ancient armor or the quality of horses. The quality of the goods was checked by Aman, the "know-it-all". He was only responsible for bargaining. As a result, he discovered at this time that the horse was actually weird!
The more he looked, the more puzzled he found it. He couldn't help but squat down, pull aside the straw and check the horse's hooves. After a moment, he was speechless. This calico horse actually had no horseshoes or horseshoes.

What the hell is going on?

Does the horse dealer want to save even this little bit of money?
Ah Qing was helping him soothe the horse. Seeing that he squatted down and wouldn't get up, he couldn't help but ask softly, "What's wrong? Is he injured?"

She naturally likes small animals and has a good relationship with Yuanye's second-hand donkey. Now there is a little mare at home, which she also likes. She comes to feed the horse after eating early. But when she sees Yuanye suddenly checking the horse's hooves, she is a little worried that this new friend is injured or sick.

"There were no horseshoes, so the horse dealer just put two pairs of straw sandals on it and sold it to us!" Yuanye looked at them one by one and found that there were no horseshoes. He couldn't help but curse his bad luck, but he had no choice but to start thinking about who to ask to nail the horseshoes for him - what a bad luck, he wanted to learn horse riding by himself today, but he was delayed for no reason.

Maybe it's A-man's fault. She didn't check it carefully and I'll scold her later.

"Horseshoe?" Ah Qing tilted his head and thought about this strange word. He probably guessed the meaning and said softly, "Is it the iron nailed to the horse's hoof? I seem to have heard of it, but there is no need to nail iron to it. No one does it."

"No need for horseshoes? You don't use horseshoes? Won't the horseshoes get hurt this way?" Yuanye was just thinking about how to criticize Aman, and when he heard Aqing say that out of the blue, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and started to feel strange - in time-travel novels, horseshoes are a "shocking invention". Anyone who traveled back to the Han Dynasty or before would have to use this thing to show off in front of others and get an official position first. How come when it comes to him, horses don't need horseshoes anymore?
Could it be that horseshoes have not yet been introduced to Japan?
Ah Qing is very familiar with horses. Although she cannot afford to buy a horse, she has made friends with many horses for a short time. She is the type who has never eaten pork but has seen pigs walk. After thinking carefully again, she said with certainty: "Yes, you only need to trim the horse's hooves regularly, then use fire to harden the horseshoes, and let the horse wear straw mats on weekdays, and the horse will not get hurt, so no one nails irons to the horses."

"Is this possible?" Yuanye was skeptical. This was inconsistent with modern common sense. But when he looked at the horse carefully and considered Japan's mountainous terrain, he seemed to understand a little.

In the more than one thousand years since horses were introduced to Japan, they must have evolved and become a mountain horse with a short neck, thick legs and large horseshoes. They walk on mountain roads and through forests all day long, and have developed thick feet. Perhaps they really don't need horseshoes.

That's probably the case, there's no other explanation. And if you recall the horse that Maeda Toshiie rode, it seemed that there really was grass wrapped around its hooves.

Good, I learned new knowledge after traveling through time. It turns out that horses in ancient Japan wore straw sandals. Before traveling through time, I never thought that there would be such a strange thing in the world. Looking at it this way, ancient Japan was really weird, and it was getting weirder and weirder. Even horses wore straw sandals, so fighting couldn’t be weird too, right?

Yuanye did not bring up the topic again, or he would appear to lack common sense and be different from ordinary people. Anyway, as long as the horse can be ridden, it does not matter whether it has horseshoes or not. While he was thinking about it, he began to fumble with the saddle on the horse and prepared to start learning horsemanship by himself.

There was nothing he could do about it. He had no place to find an equestrian teacher at the moment. Aman was a poor little beggar and had never ridden a horse. He could only teach himself - he had to learn it sooner or later. The average speed of a horse is nine seconds per hundred meters and it can last for a long time, which is much better than a person. Therefore, horse riding is a very important survival skill, basically like learning to drive a car in modern times.

Well, since you have to learn it sooner or later, it is definitely better to learn it earlier. It's just that the Japanese horses are really not very good, they are too short. This is the stereotype on the Internet in later generations. If he sits on a donkey at 1.80 meters, he might become a gorilla riding a donkey, which is very funny. On the contrary, it's not a big deal for the Japanese, they are short to begin with, 1.45 meters tall each, and riding a 1.23 meter horse is very coordinated and looks normal.

Ah Qing watched from the side for a while, understood what he meant, and lent a hand to help him put on the saddle, and asked softly, "Are you going out?"

"No, I want to learn how to ride a horse." Yuanye told the truth. Seeing that Ah Qing seemed quite skilled in putting on the saddle, he was moved, "Can you ride?"

Ah Qing shook his head, but after thinking about it, he said seriously: "I haven't ridden it before, but I have seen many people ride it before, maybe I can help you."

Yuanye had been teaching her to read, and she was willing to give him something in return, at least to watch over him and help him calm the horse so that he wouldn't be thrown off and break his neck - she was very confident in this aspect, as all the spiritual animals got along well with her. "Okay, let's learn together!" Yuanye thought it was not bad to learn together, since he would definitely give everyone horses in the future, and they would be useful sooner or later.

Well, now that we have armor and can ride a horse at full speed, it will be more stable and everyone can survive!

…………

Yuanye taught himself to ride a horse by accident. The calico mare he bought was very suitable for a beginner. It was very docile and would not kick its hooves. It would run if you tapped its belly lightly and would stop if you pulled the reins. It had no temper at all and never intended to throw anyone off its back. As a result, after a few days, without much help from Aqing, Yuanye could already ride steadily, trot quickly, and occasionally even crouch and charge.

Of course, they are still far behind Aman and Aqing. They are light in weight, nimble, quick in reaction, and can learn to ride horses faster. Aman can even perform circus shows, jumping off the horse and running after it, then turning over and jumping back on the horse, and even riding forward, backward, and sideways. He even dares to control the horse to jump over the fence. He is very wild.

As for Aqing, she didn't show off much, but I think she should be stronger than Aman. The calico filly obviously likes her more, and they may even be one.

I can only say that practicing martial arts since childhood is of some use. At least he is brave, not afraid of falling, and not afraid of death. In this respect, he is much better than Yuanye.

They all hid at home, working hard to prepare their armor, sharpen their swords and practice horse riding. They were all full of energy. After all, this was the correct way to survive in troubled times - check the wind direction in advance, make adequate preparations, and design seventeen or eighteen emergency plans to ensure that they can deal with any accidents. But don't wait until someone's knife is about to chop you on the head before you start a desperate fight with the enemy with red eyes and a loud roar.

That would be quite passionate and exciting, but even if you don't die, you will end up covered in scars and blood, which is really stupid.

Yuanye didn't want to be a fool, so he stayed at home to practice horse riding and put on armor to get used to the weight. He also asked Aqing to teach him some fighting skills. He only let Aman go out every day to wait and see when the fight would start. But after waiting for another four or five days, there was still no movement from Oda Nobuyuki in Suemori Castle. It seemed that he was satisfied with getting so much inheritance and being able to defend Suemori Castle. He had no intention of gathering troops to rush to Furuno Castle to kill Oda Nobunaga.

"Nothing happened?" Yuan Ye was confused. Was the fight for the throne over? Were the two brothers going to live in peace? Wasn't he worried that Oda Nobunaga would take action first?

"Nothing happened! Yesterday, that old woman Tsuchida even organized a flower-viewing party!" Ah Man said, and couldn't help but start to express his hindsight again, "Look, I told you a long time ago not to spend all the money in the house on weapons, but you refused to listen to me. Do you regret it now? I said that you should use this money to continue making money, but now it's like throwing it into the water. I don't even know how much I've lost!"

"Wait a little longer, maybe they are not ready!" Yuanye was not sure now. If the two brothers didn't start fighting quickly, he would be a bit like an idiot after being nervous for more than twenty days.

"If that doesn't work, let's use the remaining money to buy some bean cakes from the castle town of Kuno Castle, and then quickly brew another batch of soy sauce to sell to the old monk to make up for the loss!" Aman thought it was stupid to just wait like that, and began to actively suggest ways to get the money back as soon as possible. She wanted to guard the treasury and experience the feeling of sleeping in a pile of money.

Yuanye pondered for a moment, thinking that it was a little too early to resume production. At another moment, he thought that maybe he was too suspicious and was just being too nervous. Just as he was undecided, a dull bell rang suddenly, and a moment later the sound of a conch shell also rang.

He had experience this time and knew that it was the Oda family gathering their followers, so he was not as surprised as last time. However, this time seemed different. The bells rang more and more urgently, and the sounds of the conch shells formed a line, as if it was an emergency gathering. Obviously something had happened, and the enemy might even be about to attack!

He listened to the two sounds and was already thinking about which plan to activate among ABCDEFGHIJK. At the same time, he said unhappily, "Didn't you say there was no movement? What's going on now?"

We went out to scout every day, but what did we find? We have all gathered together urgently, and it is likely that the action in the distance has already started!
Ah Man looked doubtful, but instinctively retorted, "It's definitely not Susen City. There's just no movement over there. There's no mobilization at all!"

After she finished speaking, she didn't have much confidence, fearing that Suemori Castle was sending a surprise attack, which would ruin her professional reputation. So she didn't dare to say too much, and got up to rush out to see what she had done, so that she could quickly make up for her mistake. But just as she opened the door, Yayoi fell in, and lay on the ground and reported: "Sir Saburo, a Lang party wants to see you."

Yuanye also wanted to quickly determine which plan to activate, so he hurried out to greet him. The man was relatively calm, but his tone was a little hurried: "Sir Nohara, thank you for your hard work. Sir Orukibei asks you to come over."

Yuanye didn't rush to agree, and asked quickly: "Why did they gather suddenly? What happened?" If there were thousands of people coming to attack, he would be sorry, but he might have to leave first.

The young man did not hide it. After all, the Harano family's residence was here, so they must be his people. He said directly: "The Matsudaira family is attacking the two forts of Tojin and Toki. Lord Oru has been ordered to gather at the Furuno Castle and prepare for the battle!"

Yuanye was slightly stunned. They were supposed to fight among themselves, so why did the Matsudaira family show up? Why did they come to join in the fun? Are they trying to take advantage of the situation?

(End of this chapter)