Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 290
On October [-], the first snowfall in Kunzhou came as scheduled, and the sky was covered with goose-feather-like snowflakes, which soon dyed the land of Kunzhou white.

At the end of October, another blizzard swept across Kunzhou, turning Kunzhou into a snow-covered world. The temperature dropped sharply, and crystal icicles appeared on the branches, but it was not the coldest time yet. , Kunzhou will not enter the real severe cold season until the end of November and the beginning of December.

It was the fifth day of November, and a cavalry team composed of a hundred men was marching northeast along the coast. Walk along the coast.

This is also affected by the Kuroshio Current, the east coast of Kunzhou is not frozen, and the snow that falls is less than that in the hinterland, so you can barely go north on horseback.

The cold wind was bitter, and the cavalry team withstood the strong cold wind and moved forward with difficulty. The official headed by the cavalry team was Fan Ning.

A month ago, officials from the northern racecourse and Muzi transferred thousands of war horses to the eastern racecourse. The situation was not very optimistic, which really worried Fan Ning. While he was still able to ride northward on horses, Fan Ning decided to take a look for himself.

The eastern horse farm is located three hundred miles away from Tang County, but Fan Ning and his men walked for three days in this short three hundred miles. This morning, the cavalry passed through a hill and stood on the hill, far away. From a distance, I saw a row of black spots more than ten miles away, and finally saw the stables in the eastern pasture.

The eastern racecourse is about [-] miles long and nearly [-] miles wide. Although it snows here, it’s not that big. It’s just a shallow layer of snow on the ground, and many deer herds will come here to spend the winter.

The eastern horse farm is not only a place for war horses to spend the winter, but will also become a livestock base in the future. At present, the meat of Kunzhou soldiers is provided by 10,000+ deer, but in the future there must be cattle and sheep, and now there are 400 sheep And more than [-] cattle, this number is far from enough.

Fan Ning and his party arrived at the temporary official office at the eastern racecourse, and the superintendent Yang Yun hurried out to greet him. Fan Ning drank a cup of hot tea and asked Yang Yun to take him to the stable for inspection.

The Song Army built ten huge stables in the eastern racecourse, each of which housed hundreds of war horses. The horses would be released for free-range breeding during the day and returned to the stables for feeding at night.

"What do you mean in your letter that the information on the horses is not good?" Fan Ning asked after inspecting the stables.

Yang Yun sighed and said, "Another 340 horses died of illness!"

Fan Ning frowned, and more than 300 horses died, which made him very sad. He hurriedly asked: "Why are there still so many deaths? Could it be related to pasture poisoning?"

Yang Yun shook his head, "This time it has nothing to do with pasture, but the cold. The more than 5000 mares selected this time were all raised in the Central Plains. They have never experienced such severe cold. Some weak horses could not adapt to the cold and fell ill. In fact, the previous poisonous weeds have eliminated a large number of weak horses, otherwise there will be more dead horses.”

Fan Ning looked around. He felt that although the wind was strong, the temperature was not very cold. It was about the same as in the Central Plains, with a maximum of minus four or five degrees. Moreover, a stable was built, and weak horses should spend the winter in the stable. How could he die from the severe cold?He really didn't understand.

Yang Yun understood Fan Ning's doubts, and said with a wry smile: "Actually, it was caused by our inexperience. I didn't expect the cold wave to come so fast, and I didn't expect that the Kun people had to rush back to the tribe before the snow fell. We were caught off guard and moved the last batch. The horses were a little later in time, starting in mid-October, the snow fell heavily in the north, much heavier than in the south, and the climate was very cold. The last batch of horses trekked thousands of miles in the snow, and it was this group of horses that lost Thirty percent."

Fan Ning nodded, "It doesn't seem to be a problem with the eastern racecourse!"

"Yes!"

Yang Yun said with shame: "It's not a natural disaster, but we didn't do it carefully enough."

Fan Ning smiled and comforted him and said, "We are all coming to Kunzhou for the first time, it is normal to encounter various difficulties, the key is that we have to learn lessons and sum up experience, I believe the situation next year will be much better. "

"Yeah! I also believe that it will get better and better."

The two rode to the grassland. Fan Ning saw that the horses were quietly looking for pasture in the snow, so he asked, "Is there any pasture now?"

Yang Yun shook his head, "Of course there is still some pasture under the snow, but that's not the reason for letting it out, because the climate here is relatively warm, so the horses are released in the morning, and they will be driven back to the stable in the afternoon, mainly because they have been locked in the stable for a long time. It is not good for them physically and mentally, and at night they will be fed with food to fatten them up."

Speaking of this, Yang Yun smiled again: "Fan Yushi stay here for a few days before going back!"

Fan Ning looked up at the gloomy sky, shook his head and said, "There are a lot of things going on in Tang County, I'll go back tomorrow morning."

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Going back was smooth, and it was much smoother than when we came here. Three days later, Fan Ning and his party returned to Tang County. He asked the soldiers to go back to the barracks to rest. He took Xu Qing to a restaurant called Quanzhou Restaurant. The master is from Quanzhou, far away in a foreign country, so taking the name of his hometown is also a kind of consolation.

As soon as Fan Ning arrived in front of the restaurant, he heard a woman crying, followed by the sound of dishes being smashed, and the shopkeeper begged, "Master Jun, we don't sell alcohol in our shop, please let her go!"

"Shit!"

A fierce voice came from upstairs, "Don't sell too many fans in the Da Song restaurant. She is a Japanese woman. I think she is her luck. She must go to the military camp with me today."

Fan Ning's face suddenly sank. Every restaurant has more than a dozen Japanese girls as wine girls. It is common for the soldiers to come to have a drink or two. .

Although Di Qing's army is famous for its strict military discipline, these soldiers are not Di Qing's direct descendants of the Northwest Army, but the navy in the southeast coast.

Xu Qing was furious, rolled up his sleeves and was about to go upstairs, Fan Ning grabbed him, "Wait a minute!"

He pulled Xu Qingshan aside, and after a short while, he saw a high-ranking and rough officer carrying a crying Jiuji downstairs, followed by seven or eight subordinates.

They walked to the wooden houses in the southeast direction, and there were more than a hundred wooden houses that were empty, belonging to the army, and reserved for the military family to live in when they came to Kunzhou next year.

Fan Ning watched the officer take Jiu Ji away, then turned to Xu Qing and said, "Go find Di Shuai!"

Xu Qing ran away, at this time, the shopkeeper ran down from the second floor, watching Jiu Ji being kidnapped, stomping his feet anxiously.

He turned his head and saw Fan Ning, and quickly knelt down and begged, "Fan Yushi, please save that child! She is only 14 years old!"

Fanning asked calmly, "You tell me what's going on first?"

The shopkeeper sighed and said, "Qin Dutou has long taken a fancy to this wine girl, and comes here to drink every now and then, and gives her a few pennies every time, and gives her small favors. We got along well at first, but yesterday he got drunk and started fighting. Molesting Jiu Ji with his feet frightened the little lady, and today Qin Dutou came again, and Fan Yushi also saw it, and he even forcibly robbed her."

Fan Ning nodded, "Then you and I will sue Qin Dutou."

The shopkeeper's eyes showed fear, how could he dare to offend these soldiers, otherwise he would not have watched Jiu Ji being taken away.

Seeing that he was afraid, Fan Ning couldn't help snorting, "If you are afraid, the tavern will have no peace in the future!"

The shopkeeper was startled, and quickly nodded in agreement, "The villain is going to complain to Di Shuai!"

Fanning then turned around and walked quickly towards the wooden houses.

There were more than a hundred steps away from the wooden houses, and I saw Di Qing leading a large group of soldiers riding out of the barracks on horseback. Di Qing urged the horse to run at the front, holding a long sword, and his face was full of anger.

Fan Ning quickened his pace and met Di Qing and his party. Di Qing said to Fan Ning with some dissatisfaction, "Why didn't Fan Yushi stop them in time at the restaurant?"

Fan Ning said indifferently: "Purging military discipline requires an example, and I think Di Shuai also needs to find an early bird."

Although Fan Ning's words made Di Qing feel uncomfortable, Di Qing also secretly admired Fan Ning's quick response and ability to seize the opportunity. If he intervened too early, it would not have much effect.

Di Qing snorted for a while, "Where is that bastard?"

"Di Shuai go to the group of wooden houses ahead, the ones guarded by soldiers are the ones!"

Di Qing urged the horse and led his men to rush towards the wooden houses. At this time, the soldiers guarding the door had already discovered that the commander was leading a large group of cavalry. They hurriedly knocked on the door and shouted: "Captain, Di Shuai is here!"

There was a panic in the wooden house, the door opened, and an officer ran out in disheveled clothes. It was Qin Dutou who had robbed Jiu Ji. It was too late for him to escape, but he was blocked by Di Qing and the cavalry. Qin Dutou had no choice but to feel Nervously stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, "See the commander-in-chief for the humble job!"

When Di Qing saw Jiu Ji who had been stripped naked in the wooden house, he immediately flew into a rage and pointed at Qin Du's head with a horsewhip, "Tie me up! Take him back to the barracks and punish him according to military law."

Although Qin Dutou is just a Dutou, he is so arrogant. A big reason is that he is the same township as Lieutenant General Lin Rui, and the two grew up together. With Lin Rui supporting him, he has always been unscrupulous.

Qin Du was in a panic, and quickly gave his subordinates a wink, telling them to go to Lin Rui for help.

(End of this chapter)