Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 780
Under Yanzhi Mountain, thousands of horses are galloping.

If counted by the time of establishment, Xia Jun’s first horse farm was Yinchuan Horse Farm in Yinzhou, and it is also the most important horse farm at present, undertaking the breeding and breeding tasks of war horses, draft horses, riding horses, pack horses and other types of horses.Even in the later period, sheep breeding began again, and the development was very prosperous. Currently, there are about [-] to [-] horses.

The second ranch is Yongqingzha near Tiande Army City. It was originally a small-scale horse farm for Zhenwu Army and Tiande Army.After years of development, there are now [-] to [-] horses.

The Xishicheng Racecourse was established from scratch after the conquest of Hewei. It is adjacent to the Xia Army's fifth horse farm, Dongshicheng Racecourse, in the Tiandu Mountain area. The former has [-] horses, and the latter has about [-] horses.

Zendan Horse Farm is the fourth horse farm established by Xia Jun. The source of horses is the war capture and donations from various ministries. It developed relatively late, but because of its good conditions, it has come from behind. It currently has 15 horses, second only to Yinchuan Ranch.

The sixth horse farm is the Heishui City Horse Farm, which is located in the sandy moraine. It was established the latest and the smallest, with only more than 2 horses.

With more than 40 horses, the scale is quite large.

During the Zhenguan period of the Guo Dynasty, 70 horses were raised in Helong.But in the Xuanzong Dynasty, it did not exceed 80 at its peak, which may have been close to the limit, not the limit of the ranch, but more likely the limit of demand.

Xixia has about 50 war horses and riding horses, which are better than Marshal Shao.

The Liao Kingdom is very powerful. The number of horses in the official racecourse exceeds one million, and the number of private horses is unknown, but there should be many.

As for the Northern Song Dynasty, sometimes it was less than 20 horses, and sometimes it was more than 20, but it was probably maintained at the scale of 20 horses.Compared with the number of 40 horses raised in the Central Plains in the Han Dynasty, there were too many sheep raised on the horse farms in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is more likely that 20 horses only existed in the account books, and it is hard to say how many were actually there.

"In a few days, all the ministries donated [-] horses? Come back and ask them to settle the score!" Shao Shude was a little dissatisfied watching the herdsmen gather the horses around the pasture.

Everyone was speechless.The surrounding ministries have sent almost all the horses that can be called in an emergency, okay?There's even harness.

From the perspective of livelihood, grassland people don't like to raise more horses.If it weren't for the fact that the Uighurs are special and like to raise horses to do great things, it would be impossible for Ganzhou to mobilize so many horses in a short period of time.

Furthermore, when the Dingnan Army was first formed, so many warriors were selected from each department, not only as gifts, but also as a gift.Supreme Khan, is it really okay for you to squeeze like this?

"Okay, it's barely enough. The prefecture and the Hexi shogunate will compensate them with some grain. You can decide how much." Shao Shude said, "The Zendan Ranch will send me [-] horses. The sooner the better, I'll wait." Not enough."

Even though the ranch officials were mentally prepared, they were still struck by lightning.A total of 15 horses, [-] are taken away at once, what is left?
Of a herd of horses, only [-] to [-] percent are suitable for war horses, and the rest can only be used as draft horses, pack horses, and riding horses. In addition, there are a large number of old horses and ponies, which basically capture the essence of the racecourse.It will take a long time to recover later.

But right now it seemed that he couldn't care too much. His Majesty's attitude was very firm. Everyone didn't dare to talk nonsense. They immediately sent people to bring over the numbered horses that had been tamed. At the same time, they provided a lot of beans to deliver to the auxiliary soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Army.

After collecting the horses and supplies, the whole army got on their horses.

"Let's go!" Shao Shude drew out his sword and pointed without the rhetoric of mobilization before the battle, and the whole army responded with a loud crash.

Looking down from the sky, on the vast and magnificent grassland, more than [-] horses rushed forward happily.

The iron cavalry army had more than [-] horses for [-] people, and Hongyuan Palace's subordinates originally had only one horse per person, but now they have [-] horses, and the speed of the whole army has suddenly increased.

Shao Shude didn't care if he would be hungry after going to the Central Plains, anyway, he rushed there first.

The sound of hooves was like thunder, and the horses neighed. On the [-]th, the whole army arrived in Tianbao County.Today almost everyone switches horses twice to maintain full horsepower.

The Tianbao order received the order three days ago, and the conscripts were waiting beside the post road with a large amount of hay, Uighur beans, and millet.

Fu Yanchao, Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Dingnan Army, has also stayed here for a few days, and he even asked the auxiliary soldiers to find time to help the peasants chop up fodder.

"See Your Majesty." Fu Yanchao quickly stepped forward and saluted.

"Do you still have time for these empty gifts?" Shao Shude pushed him and said, "Hurry up and urge the sergeant to take care of the horses. If you can't take care of the horses, how can you march long distances?"

"Of order." Fu Yanchao immediately turned around and went to work.

"You are Tianbao Ling?" Shao Shude asked, looking at the middle-aged man standing in front of him.

"Report to the king, my servant..."

"Yes, that's right." Shao Shude stared, and said, "Have you done what I entrusted to you in advance?"

"It's done." Tian Baoling stopped talking nonsense this time, and replied directly: "More than 370 horses have been raised."

"Zhe Siyu, come here!" Shao Shude shouted.

"Your Majesty." Zhe Siyu trotted over.

Tian Baoling watched silently.

He was decisive in killing, and he didn't know how many bloods were stained on his hands. The famous butcher in Hexi and Qingtang area was as docile as a kitten in front of King Xia.

"Replace those horses that run out of strength." Shao Shude ordered.

"Follow orders." Zhe Siyu immediately took off with big strides like a spring on his body, sending orders around.

Today's march, some horses run empty, some carry people, some carry armor and equipment, and some carry cheese, coarse cakes, beans, and so on.

Undoubtedly, it is impossible for every horse to expend the same physical strength. Even if it is adjusted midway to distribute the pressure as evenly as possible, there will still be differences.Furthermore, horses are just like people, there are tall and short, strong and thin, some are born with good physical strength, and some are not.

Tianbao County raised [-] "new force" horses, just to replace some of the horses that had run out of strength and needed to rest for several days. This was a plan made before departure.

At the first moment of the You hour, the sky had gradually darkened. After eating and drinking, the soldiers immediately returned to their respective camps and got into their tents to rest.The auxiliary soldiers still have to continue to work, washing the horses, feeding them with water, even trimming and re-shoeing the horses, they are very busy.

Being a soldier is hard, but being an auxiliary soldier is even harder.

The soldiers rested and went to sleep, and the auxiliary soldiers still had a lot of work to do.The motivation for them to persevere, apart from the military pay and rewards they received, is probably that they will be able to make it into the ranks of soldiers one day.

Shao Shude was a little tired after running for a day, but he could still hold on. The 40-year-old has been practicing martial arts, hunting, and playing polo all year round. He can drive a strong bow and ride a strong horse. He is a standard brave warrior.

Energetic and ambitious, perhaps only such people can be favored by warriors. This is an era where aesthetics are extremely biased towards bravery and masculinity.

After a good night's sleep, early in the morning on the [-]th, everyone finished eating the hot meal prepared overnight by the people in Tianbao County, and after a short rest, they mounted their horses again.

In the evening of the same day, the whole army arrived in Guzang County, Lisuo, Liangzhou. The Tielin army escorted the princess, prince and a group of officials who had just arrived here for two days.

The various ministries, prefectures, counties, and shogunate levels in Liangzhou were fully prepared and brought [-] to [-] horses to replace those horses that had weakened in strength.Some horses that were injured or fell down during the rapid march were also replenished, and the state of the conscripted horses was maintained as much as possible.

Fu Yanchao watched silently all the way, feeling very excited.

Isn't it super fast to march 380 miles in two days with more than [-] horses?Wherever he went, fodder, beans, steamed cakes, pickles, dried meat, and cheese were prepared in advance, and the conscripted civilian husbands went into battle together to cooperate with the auxiliary soldiers to serve the horses.In the Helong area, there are many people who have dealt with horses. They are not afraid of horses like the people in the Central Plains. On the contrary, they are more or less familiar with horse nature, which is of great help.

The "true" Grassland Khan is afraid that he will not be able to achieve this level. Only those forces that have the dual attributes of farming and animal husbandry, strong financial resources, and strict local political organizations can do all this calmly, and even do better .

The concubine Zhe Fangai personally led people to bring food and wine to comfort, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted.

Shao Shude laughed loudly, got on the horse with "Kedun" in his arms, and took a quick circle. The cheers of the sergeants became more enthusiastic.

Du Rangneng, the Hexi Jiedu envoy who was approaching from a distance, smiled with his staff.Too Hu, Hu Feng is too strong!
On the thirteenth, the army left Liangzhou.

Before leaving, Shao Shude looked at the sergeant who was in good spirits and was very satisfied.

The iron cavalry has been fighting all the year round, and has made long-distance raids many times, so it can endure hard battles.They are in good spirits, Shao Shude fully understands, professional warriors, this is what they eat.But the new recruits of the Dingnan Army, which had expanded to ten thousand people, surprised him. In the end, he could only sigh that the livestock attributes of the Fan people were indeed much stronger.Their daily life is harder than that of the Han people, and they may have gotten used to it long ago.

After leaving Liangzhou, there was a long journey of [-] miles, with only some beacon towers and a few tribes in the middle, sparsely populated and very desolate.

After walking for nearly three days, they arrived at Xinquan Military City on the afternoon of the [-]th.

There are hundreds of township braves stationed in this city, and the three counties of Huizhou send people to guard it in turn.As soon as he saw the army coming, the commander Wang Quan immediately jumped off the earthen platform, shouted to the villagers to prepare meals, and at the same time led the horses over.

The Xishicheng Ranch located in Dingxi County, Huizhou sent [-] horses. The three counties of Huining, Dingxi, and Ulan also vigorously searched for horses, and even recruited most of the horses from the post station. After receiving the requisition order, they gathered together [-] horses and sent them to Xinquan Military City.

The old rule is to replace the horses that run out of strength and run thin, and to supplement the horses that are injured, sick, or dead.

The eyelids of the clerks accompanying the army jumped when they recorded, and the high-intensity and rapid march caused too much wear and tear on the horses.This trip almost made the states and counties along the way go crazy, not to mention the consumption of food and grass, and the horses contributed a lot-many horses that run away and foam at the mouth, even if they are still alive, may also be affected. Irreversible damage, this is commonly known as "running away".

Shao Shude climbed up the earthen platform and looked at the faintly visible river to the east.

Tomorrow, head [-] miles east to Wulanguan and Wulan County, and after crossing the river to Huiningguan, you can go to Huizhou City for supplies in the evening. There are also many tribes on the side, which can replace and supplement horses.

So far, they have been marching inside, and overall they have been relatively relaxed and comfortable.I just don't know where to feed him so many people and so many horses when he goes to the Central Plains and fights outside. Is it really necessary to learn from the Mongols?

If you really do that, you may never get the Central Plains.The wheat is only ripe in June, where can we get food in this season?Shao Shude thought for a while, but was too lazy to think about it anymore.There must be a way for the car to reach the mountain. If it is not possible, there are still people who can be sent (robbed) and donated (robbed).That object, he had already disliked it.

(End of this chapter)