Daqin Fusu: It is difficult to start the battle

Chapter 237
Shanglinyuan, Guanmachang.

"Uh huh huh!"

A well-built male donkey reluctantly left the mare's back.

"Donkey? Horse?" Tian Yun looked at the donkey piece in the distance full of doubts, and scratched his head involuntarily.

Not only him, but even Chen Mao who was standing beside Fusu was full of puzzlement, only Wei Liao who still stayed in Shanglin Garden and had other important matters with Fusu guessed something vaguely.

Donkeys in this period were not animals that pulled carts, but were kept as ornamentals in the homes of wealthy families.

Even in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, some people were mesmerized by the sound of a donkey braying as if they were hearing fairy music.

For example, Wang Can, one of the Seven Sons of Jian'an, loved to hear donkeys bray, so when Cao Pi was burying him, we all learned how to bray together, humming...

Fusu shook his head, dispelled those strange memories, and said with a smile: "This is the source of the famous Xiongnu horse, 駃騠!"

Chen Mao sighed secretly and said: "In your Majesty's garden, there are countless birds, beasts, exotic flowers and rare plants. Why waste the state money and be greedy for famous horses?"

Hearing Chen Mao's words, Wei Liao smiled and said nothing, Tian Yun pulled Chen Mao a little nervously, and said with an awkward smile: "Your Majesty's move must have deep meaning, teacher should be cautious..."

Fu Su waved his hands and said: "A gentleman does not reflect on water but on people. Looking at water, you can see the appearance of meeting; looking at people, you can know good and bad. The words of the master are also the heart of serving the country with fists. How can I blame it? Moreover, those who do not know are not guilty.”

"Your Majesty is wise! You have the style of an ancient sage!" Wei Liao clapped his hands in salute, and kissed his ass at the right time.

Well, cool... Fusu continued: "The Huns kept their breeding skills a secret. When Qin and Huns traded and traded back then, one 駃 騠 was worth ten horses!"

Fusu said while waving his hand to stop Chen Mao's persuasion: "Master must think that I breed 駃騠 in the pastoral garden because I am greedy for the value of this thing."

"But Master doesn't know, the Huns called the famous horse of 駃騠, and I named it a mule. Among them, the mating of a male donkey and a female horse is called a horse mule."

"Compared with donkeys and horses, mules are larger in size, stronger in durability, brisk in walking, comfortable in riding, and docile in temperament. To some extent, they are better large animals than ordinary rough horses."

"The most important thing is that these mares that breed horse mules are all prairie horses obtained from the Huns. Compared with Qin horses, they are more resistant to rough feeding. When using bloodline mules, you can reduce their concentrate, that is, the ratio of grain!"

Although prairie horses are not suitable for forming heavy cavalry, their resistance to rough feeding alone is enough to make them a female parent for breeding new horse breeds.

In later generations, in order to improve their own horse breeds that were as short as donkeys, the Japanese introduced many purebred tall horses from Europe. Therefore, with the blessing of relatively developed modern animal husbandry technology, they finally bred the so-called "Oriental Dama" qualified military horse.

But what you gain is what you lose. Although the Oriental horses are tall, they have inherited the blood of European horses. The proportion of concentrated feed in their daily diet is too high to be distributed to the army on a large scale.

Later, after the founding of New China, they learned this experience and lesson, so when introducing horse breeds, they took the initiative to lower the bloodlines of the stallions, allowing Mongolian horses to participate in breeding, and finally produced qualified military horses like Shandan horses.

Although Shandan horses may not be as good as Thoroughbreds or Shire horses, they were still valuable at that time.

It's a pity that times have changed...

But in today's Qin country, this is a very valuable experience.

Fusu divided the captured Xiongnu horses into two groups. Among them, the relatively large ones were crossed with the original Yanma to breed large, rough-feeding rough horses, and the heavy draft horses with a size of about one ton in later generations , is his ultimate goal, and it is prepared for the development of artillery technology in the future.

However, no matter how carefully the mules were bred, they would not be able to reach such a size.

As for the small ones, they are naturally used to breed horse mules. After all, compared with horses, mules have a smaller food intake and higher digestibility, which is very suitable for farming in mountainous areas, mid-level areas, field farming and short-distance transportation.

Well, it is said that mule meat is tender and delicious, and it is a typical high-protein, low-fat meat food.

After Chen Mao suddenly realized, he said with a smile: "Your Majesty wants to breed mules in large quantities like grafting sweet persimmons, and then give birth to two, and two to three, so that the capital of Guizhou can use animal power instead of human power?"

Before Fusu could speak, Wei Liao said with a smile: "Master is wrong, mules are infertile. Although there must be a lot of guys on them, for some reason, they just can't give birth. This is why the Huns can bear children." The reason why I have always held the secret of the mule."

Chen Mao looked at Wei Liao dumbfounded. He could understand that one of them couldn't give birth, but he couldn't accept that they couldn't give birth to all of them.

But he can't be blamed for this, after all, Chen Mao makes a living by farming, and occasionally teaches and educates people.

If you ask him to explain how to farm, such as when to sow grains, how to prune branches, how to weed efficiently, and postpartum care for cows, he can't stop for three days and three nights.

But for a high-value monopoly product like mules, it's normal for him, a farmer whose pockets are cleaner than his face, to not know the details.

Fusu said with a smile: "This is the magic of heaven and earth. Mules born from a donkey and a horse are not fertile. But you may not know that there are not only mules in the world who cannot reproduce, but Even among wheat and rice, there are some that cannot reproduce normally!"

Hearing what Fusu said, Chen Mao regained his energy immediately. He strode up to Fusu, opened his eyes wide and asked:

"Is Your Majesty just joking? Is there really such a thing in this world?"

Wei Liao also took a step forward and said: "Although I have never personally planted and harvested grains in the fields, wheat and rice can wait to be harvested after being sown with seeds? Seeds are produced from the ears of grains, how can they be multiplied?" What about future generations?"

As soon as he finished speaking, not only Chen Mao cast a contemptuous look at him, but even Tian Yun couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Chen Mao sighed and said, "No wonder Cao GUI once said that meat eaters are contemptible...don't distinguish between wheat and beans..."

"What?" Wei Liao was furious, the beard under his lips did not move automatically, his waist didn't feel sore, and his legs didn't tremble for a while.

Seeing that the military master and the peasant master were about to have a friendly match, Fusu coughed lightly, announcing his existence.

"The two people are more than 100 years old together! Why, are you still going to fight in front of me? Do you want me to be the referee for you!"

Wei Liao hastily cupped his hands in salute: "Your disrespect is the fault of the minister!"

Chen Mao poked his neck and said to Wei Liao, "I was wrong, please forgive me, Prime Minister Zuo!"

(End of this chapter)