Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 856 0851 [The great-great-great-grandson of the cornucopia]

A fleet came up the Luoshui River and docked at the southwest corner of the outer city.

Soon, draft horses, donkeys, and mules were led off the ship one after another and wholesaled to local merchants in Luoyang.

These livestock come from the Youyan area.

It has been suffering from famine, war, and natural disasters for more than ten years. Although it has become a vast area and sparsely populated, it still has a convenient advantage - you can graze!
When the Jin Kingdom ceded Youyan, the Ming Dynasty issued a decree: Local people could apply to raise livestock on the uncultivated land in Youyan's counties. Land ownership still belongs to the government, and the right to use it is temporarily transferred to the people for free, but it must be re-registered every three years. At the same time, the government provides low-interest loans, and people can borrow money based on their household registration records, specifically for the purchase of horses, donkeys, sheep and other livestock.

As soon as this order came out, people of all ethnic groups responded positively.

Even the Han people who migrated from the south took out loans to buy donkeys and sheep. The land is cultivated during the busy farming season, livestock is raised during the slack farming season, and the beans grown in wasteland are used as concentrate.

And those who knew how to raise horses and surrendered to the tribes raised horses in every household. Although the number of high-quality horses is small, there are many war horses that can be used to equip light cavalry, and there are even more draft horses that can pull carts and plows.

Now, initial results have been achieved.

The price of horses and donkeys in Hebei plummeted, and then some businessmen saw the opportunity and purchased Youyan horses and donkeys to transport to Kaifeng. Merchants in Kaifeng also purchased horses and donkeys for bulk cargo in the Central Plains, and even transported them directly to Luoyang, which had just become the capital.

As soon as these livestock entered Beijing, they immediately caused a sensation in Luoyang.

Many young people who are not short of money go to the horse market to inquire about the price of horses.

"Can this horse be sold among the public?" asked a young man.

His name is Lu Haojing, and he is one of the few tribesmen who can still stay here after the Lu family split up and migrated.

Although most of the houses, shops, and land were confiscated by the government, the floating wealth hidden in the cellar was allowed to remain.

The horse dealer explained: "Young Master can buy it, but the Jin Kingdom has been destroyed, and the grasslands have surrendered to the imperial court. How can the Ming Dynasty be short of war horses?"

The horse dealer patted the horse that Lu Haojing was interested in again: "This colt is one and a half years old. If it were placed in the former court, it could be used as a war horse. In the past few years, the court had controlled it, and the people could not buy it if they wanted to. , but now it is open for sale. If my husband doesn’t like it, I will order it from a foreign horse dealer and let them ship better horses next time.”

"Can I buy something better?" Lu Haojing's eyes lit up.

The horse dealer said: "We have to wait until next year. My husband can give me a deposit of five guan."

"Then let's buy this one first. How much does it cost?" Lu Haojing asked.

The horse dealer said: "Twenty sticks."

"It's really cheap." Lu Haojing said happily and picked two at once.

Such a good horse used to cost at least 25 guan, and even 30 guan when the border situation was tense.

Lu Haojing felt extremely comfortable when he asked his servant to take the horse home.

The imperial court moved its capital to Luoyang, and a stadium has been selected, located to the northwest of Longmen Grottoes. It is specially used to hold Cuju, polo and other competitions. It is also open to the public at ordinary times. You can enter and play after paying the ticket.

I heard that Emperor Da Ming liked polo, so Lu Haojing started practicing it long ago.

Now that he has bought two good horses, he will be even more powerful. He plans to show his skills in front of the emperor one day.

The Tiansi Prison Racecourse has also been moved here, and its location was chosen at the northern foot of Wan'an Mountain.

It was the largest horse farm in Luoyang during the Tang Dynasty, and it was next to the largest garden in Luoyang.

The garden was restored by Ju Ming and its ancient name was "Dongxi Garden". It was a royal garden in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the future, the Ming Dynasty royal family can move to Dongxi Garden to escape the summer heat, ride horses at the nearby Tiansijian Horse Farm, or go directly to Wan'an Mountain for autumn hunting.

As for the Tiansijian Horse Farm in the northwest suburbs of Kaifeng, two-thirds of it is still retained, and one-third is sold to nearby farmers.

There is also an official horse farm in Youzhou, which has been cultivating horse breeds.

This year, many of the one-year-old foals purchased and raised by the people of Youyan were eliminated by official horse farms - they were not satisfied with the results of crossbreeding.

But it is said that rich people buy horses, but ordinary people come to buy donkeys.

Before Lu Haojing led the horse far away, many citizens and farmers came to hear the news.

"How did you sell this donkey?"

"Six passes."

"What about that one?"

"Twelve strings, a good donkey. That one is more expensive, it costs fifteen strings."

"How can you sell a mule?"

"This is a horse and mule. Twenty pieces..."

Mules are very valuable!

In China, from the Tang and Song dynasties until the reform and opening up, mules were always much more expensive than draft horses and pack horses.

Especially the "horse mule".

Because the "horse mule" has many advantages for ordinary people, it inherits the size, flexibility and running ability of the horse mother, and the weight-bearing capacity and disease resistance of the donkey father. He is also docile and not picky about food.

There is a very outrageous record in the Southern Song Dynasty. A young horse and mule in Huangzhou were directly sold for one hundred guan - only slightly lower than the price of a frontier army war horse at that time (inflation was serious in the Southern Song Dynasty, and war horses were particularly expensive).

In other words, even though the Ming Dynasty’s mule-drawn chariots seemed very crude.

In terms of military costs, there is no difference from using ordinary war horses to drag.

"The officials have left the palace, come and see!"

People in Luoyang who were buying donkeys and mules stopped their transactions and ran to see the emperor.

If Kaifeng citizens knew about it, they would definitely laugh at them as bumpkins.

But I saw that both sides of Zhuque Street were already crowded with people. The nearby streets and shops were all deserted. Even the shopkeepers and waiters no longer guarded the shops, but squeezed into the crowd to stand and look out.

This was the first time the emperor officially left the palace after moving the capital.

"Long live!" "The official family, the official family..."

People waved and cheered wildly, expressing their heartfelt love for the emperor. Suppressing troubled times and reducing tax burdens are only one aspect. After the imperial court moved the capital, it was easier for the people of Luoyang to make money.

Wages have risen along with house prices, but prices of basic consumer goods have only risen slightly.

This was a very thorough preparation, with a large amount of supplies mobilized in advance and interviews with Luoyang merchants.

Lu Haojing asked his servant to lead one horse, and he got on the other horse, so that he could see the royal procession clearly. He said to the servant whose view was blocked: "The official is riding a horse, looking majestic. The carriages behind them must be made of velvet, which can reflect the sunlight from a distance!"

"Back off, back off, don't push forward!"

The guards who were escorting him stood on both sides with their long spears as if they were facing a formidable enemy, for fear that someone would take advantage of the chaos to assassinate him.

After struggling for a long time, I finally got out of the city successfully.

Then we turned around and headed east, seven or eight miles north of Longmen Grottoes, crossing the Yishui River on the stone bridge and heading straight to Dongxi Garden.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, this was the largest garden in Luoyang, and during the Northern Song Dynasty it became a royal garden. Now it has become the summer resort of the Ming Dynasty royal family, and Ju Ming plans to bring the whole family to get familiar with it.

By the way, let's take a look at the good horses that were just shipped there a few days ago.

After playing in the garden with his wife, concubines, and children for a while, Zhu Ming rode to the nearby Tiansi Prison New Horse Farm.

Knowing that the emperor was coming to inspect, Xu Fu, the minister of Taipu Temple, left the city yesterday to make preparations.

Xu Fu is Huang Tingjian's nephew. Historically, Zhang Bangchang usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. He resigned because he did not want to submit to the puppet government. He also heard that some officials changed their names to avoid Zhang Bangchang, so Xu Fu directly changed the name of the maid next to him to "Changnu".

Whenever a visitor came to his home, he would shout "Channu" to receive the visitor.

Zhang Bangchang didn't dare to do anything when he learned about this...

"Your Majesty, these are the foals born since last summer." Xu Fu pointed at several ponies and said.

Ju Ming fought in Liaodong last year and was busy when he came back early this year. He never had time to visit Tiansi Prison.

Xu Fu actually didn't know how to raise horses, so he had a horse breeder to introduce him.

"Your Majesty, this foal is only eight months old and is already over four feet tall at the shoulders," the horse breeder Li Gui said.

Ju Ming's eyes lit up: "Is he the descendant of the sweaty horse?"

Li Gui cupped his hands and said, "Exactly."

The sweat-blooded horse mentioned here is the Dawan horse from the Fergana Basin.

Today, most of the Fergana Basin is occupied by the Eastern Kara Khanate, and only a few of it belongs to the Western Kara Khanate.

The last time the Seljuq envoy came from the Eastern Kara Khanate, he presented many Dawan horses as gifts.

Unfortunately, all the male horses are gelded, and only two mares can be used for breeding.

Li Gui took out a small notebook: "This foal is numbered A1A1A2. Its third-generation ancestor is the cornucopia of divine horses, and its third-generation grandmother is a Khitan horse captured from Hezha Mengan. Its grandfather is a black horse from Gaochang. Sun Ma, the mother is a Dawan horse brought by the Seljuk envoy."

This lineage is quite complicated.

Whether it is Wusun horse or Dawan horse, they were both known as Tianma in the Han Dynasty.

As for the Khitan horse, it is one of the ancestors of the Mongolian horse. But since it was captured from Hezha Mengan, it is obviously the best Khitan horse. Otherwise, how could it be used as a heavy cavalry horse?

The three generations of our ancestors are all excellent horses!

This horse has a strong body shape, slender legs, black body, shiny shiny fur, and diamond-shaped white spots on its forehead.

Li Gui continued to read the record: "Tall body, excellent endurance, excellent speed... I don't know if it can tolerate rough feeding. I don't know if it can tolerate cold, heat, and thirst... I have a bad temper and moody... When eating in the same trough, you must It kicks and bites other foals until competing predators are driven away... It is human nature and only recognizes long-term breeders, making it difficult for strangers to approach..."

Before he finished reading these words, Ju Ming had already walked over.

The foal suddenly looked nervous, snoring and retreating. It retreats to a certain distance, digs its hooves with its hind legs, and makes a leap with its back arched, as if it wants to rush forward, kick and bite.

The official holding the horse quickly comforted him, fearing that the foal might collide with the emperor.

"What a horse!" Zhu Ming praised.

Another Dawan horse sent by the Seljuq envoy also gave birth to a foal, and the third generation ancestor was also a cornucopia.

But there seemed to be signs of improvement failure, and it was obviously much shorter than this one. The legs are slightly thicker and shorter in proportion to the body shape, which may be more powerful for carrying.

Under the comfort of the breeder, Ju Ming tried to brush the horse's fur.

I was restless at first, but gradually became emotionally stable. In the end, he gave the emperor face and ate the fine ingredients sent by the emperor himself.

Ju Ming was very happy and named the foal "Coal Ball".

Wu Zui or something, how old-fashioned?
Briquettes look cute.

While brushing and feeding, Zhu Ming listened to the report from Xu Fu, the minister of Taipusi Temple: "The Tiansi Prison here in Luoyang has only moved eighty-four horses for the time being, all of which are the best of the best... Well, this horse The legs are thick and short because of the mother. It is very powerful and has great endurance, but it runs a little slowly."

"There are more than 1,500 horses left at the Tiansi Prison in Kaifeng. There are more than 2,000 horses at the official horse farm in Youzhou. There are more than 4,000 horses at the official horse farm in Liaodong, all of which were captured from Jin Bing. As for the three There is currently no official horse racing farm in the Imperial Protectorate, but it will be demarcated and set up within this year. "

"Every year, a batch of good horses are sent from major official horse farms to be cross-bred and bred in Tiansi Prison. A few of the horses that fail to be improved are removed and sold to the public."

“The good horses bred at the two Tiansi Supervisory Horse Farms in Luoyang and Kaifeng will also be sent to major official horse farms.”

"Horse breeds with stable sexual... traits have not yet appeared. The offspring of various horse breeds are obviously random..."

Xu Fu was really a layman, and words such as "character" and "randomness" seemed unfamiliar to him. These terms all come from Zhu Guoxiang’s Farm Advising Office, and they have long been popularized by agricultural officials.

Ju Ming plans to change to a Taipusi minister.

(End of this chapter)