After rebirth, I tortured the scum and strived to become the empress

After Shen Qingjun finished speaking, she arranged for a small team of people to wait at the spot to pick up Shen Li and the others, and then took the remaining people back to the city with Liao Qilong.

As soon as he arrived at the county government office, Fang Jiwei came to report.

"My lord, as soon as you left today, many horse dealers came to the house early in the morning to wait, asking if our county government still needs horses."

"Nature needs it, and of course the more horses the better. Well, how are their horses?"

"I have seen all the sample horses they brought. Of course, the horses are not as brave and handsome as my lord's black general, nor can they compare to the more than 1000 horses my lord bought yesterday..."

After Shen Qingjun bought General Black, many retainers went to see it. They all liked General Black very much, especially Dian Qiu. When they saw General Black, their eyes were glued to it. If no one was around, they would probably drool. It can drip on the ground.

Due to his physical condition, not many horses could carry him with long arms, long legs and strong physique, so as soon as he saw the tall and strong black general, he fell immediately.

As for the more than 1000 horses that Shen Qingjun bought at the horse market, those that could be bought at the horse market were all specially selected by the horse farm owners, and they all looked better.

"I have taken a closer look. Although those horses are a little thinner, they are still in good shape and have a high attitude. As long as they are raised, they will be good horses that can go to the battlefield... And I am afraid that I will miss it, so I still I specially invited General Xu Zhong to be the eye bearer, and General Xu Zhong agreed with my opinion and said that as long as he raises it, it can be used as a war horse."

Fang Jiwei said that he is a cautious person...

"Since both you and General Xu Zhong have seen it and they both agree that horses are good, and our army is also short of horses, you can decide on your own in this matter. Why are you waiting for me?" Shen Qingjun asked curiously,

Xu Zhong is the commander of the Flying Cavalry Army. He has been a cavalryman for half his life, and then a cavalry officer for half his life. He agrees that the horse is a good horse, so Shen Qingjun will naturally not question his vision and experience.

"Here, my lord, there are too many people coming to sell horses. One or two hundred people from different owners and shopkeepers came. The number of horses for each family ranges from several thousand to two or three hundred. In total, there are too many horses to sell. , so General Xu Zhong and I dare not decide on our own..." Fang Jiwei was confused.

"There are only 200 people here? The Liu family has done something wrong!" Shen Qingjun couldn't help sighing after hearing this number.
"How many horses in total can make you so hesitant and unable to make your own decision?" she asked jokingly.

"I roughly estimate that there are more than 2 horses... However, I only saw the sample horses they brought... It is not clear how many of them are suitable for war horses in the end..."

"So many?" Shen Qingjun was also surprised, and a little angry at the same time. Although she had already learned from Liao Qilong about the Liu family's operation of selling horses from the county horse farm, she was still a little surprised and angry. Those were all horses from the public middle school. After rounding, they were It's her Shen Qingjun's horse...

After thinking for a while, he asked: "How can these horses be bought and sold? Is it possible to buy them all with gold and silver?"

It was not unnecessary for her to ask this question. Although gold and silver seem to be able to buy everything, in many cases, it is not omnipotent. When buying large quantities of precious goods, they must be bartered, or the silver goods may be mixed, just like Shen Qingjun bought the Black General. Same……

You have to give grain, salt, and cloth. These salt, grain, and cloth are hard currencies that are harder than gold and silver. Finally, gold and silver...

"A small number of shopkeepers want silk cloth, but most people here can accept gold and silver transactions!" Fang Jiwei replied.

Naturally, horse trading is not like this under normal circumstances, because horses are also valuable goods, not to mention a large number of horses are traded. But at this time, most of the horse market owners are about to be screwed by the Liu family. They have raised them all winter and reserved them last year. All the fodder has been eaten!
If they don't sell the horses in their hands, they may starve to death, let alone starve to waste... Therefore, those people just want to sell the horses now, even if they buy them at a loss, they don't dare to mention them. There are too many conditions. After all, it is better to lose money than lose everything...

"That's it... If you only want to trade in cloth or grain, don't buy it. If you can trade in gold, silver and silk, buy everything else!"

After Shen Qingjun went north to suppress the rebellion last year, he also suppressed bandits. There were only a lot of gold and silver thieves. Whether it was Zhang Yuancheng or the bandits after him, they seemed to like to hide gold and silver. At the same time, they also collected a lot of silk and cloth, but because the cloth needed to be left The soldiers made clothes, so there were not many left.

Moreover, spring is about to begin, and spring and summer clothes must be prepared for the soldiers. The existing cloth is not even enough, and more needs to be bought, so Shen Qingjun does not need cloth to buy horses.

But as for silk, not many people can use it. Most of it is used by her to make clothes or to reward retainers, so it is not necessary.

Not to mention food, even if she has the most food now, for a power, food is always in short supply, and the horses also need food to make fodder after they are bought!

Fang Jiwei also knew this, so Fang Jiwei didn't even mention the person who wanted to trade grain in front of Shen Qingjun.

"Here, my lord, there are so many horses, and they need to eat a lot of forage... Buy them all... We spend a lot of money! It's freezing cold today, and there is no fresh forage to make dry food. If the light can't go out, our reserves will be exhausted." It’s almost not enough…

Moreover, some horses must be raised with concentrated feed... Can we buy less, for example, [-] horses? "

In fact, horses eat hay, but they should not eat too much fresh grass. Unless the grass is grass on the grassland, horses will have diarrhea if they eat it.

Horses raised in the Central Plains, especially war horses, are generally fed hay, and hay is not just grass. Most of it is made of rice straw and wheat straw mixed with rice bran and wheat bran...

Of course, when there is no wheat or rice, you can also use other hay mixed with rice bran and wheat bran to make it, but more grain must be added to become a concentrate. Only in this way can the horse eat well and grow strong.

But now that it is covered with ice and snow, neither rice, wheat, nor grass can grow. Even if there is grain, horse feed cannot be made. And horses will become flatulent if they only eat grain. Once they are flatulent, they will die easily. Yes, horses are so energetic. Expensive animals...

Fang Jiwei is so worried!
"Well, as long as they are suitable, buy them all..." Shen Qingjun affirmed, "Ji Wei, don't worry, I am not impulsive, and there is a reason for this decision, because our army may be going to war soon!"

The Liu family's secret training of troops and horses has not been confirmed yet, so Shen Qingjun has not told his retainers yet, but once it is confirmed, war will be inevitable, and it must be done quickly!
"Once there is a war, the losses of horses will be great, but they are indispensable. If you buy them now, we will keep them well enough to be ready for the war in the near future." Shen Qingjun explained.

"Furthermore, you said that those horses are already a little thin, and they are still looking for buyers. This is a very bad sign. It means that those horse owners are almost exhausted and have no fodder to feed the horses. Maybe the horses will be hungry again. After a few days, they may be useless... They are all good horses, which is a pity..."

Shen Qingjun guessed it right. In fact, many shopkeepers can no longer hold on, even if spring will start soon.

"Yes, lord!" Now that Shen Qingjun has made a decision and given a reason, Fang Jiwei will not stop him. In fact, he also wants to buy it, but he is just worried about the lack of fodder.

"Actually, you don't have to worry too much. Based on the weather, I estimate that the ice and snow will melt in five or six days, or in less than ten days, and the grass will grow. We still have enough reserves. We can mix rice and wheat to make it at that time. Just fodder." As a leading general, being able to read the weather and speculate on seasonal changes is an essential quality for a coach... And Shen Qingjun knows that Fang Jiwei is a person who plans for the worst in everything...

He said he was worried about insufficient reserves, so he probably postponed the melting of ice and snow until a month later, doubled the loss of forage, and calculated that more than 2 horses were treated as super-standard war horses...

Putting aside everything else, Shen Qingjun feels that half of the more than 2 horses can be used as war horses, which is considered a lot... while the other inferior horses do not need to eat such good food...

It was precisely based on Ji Wei's understanding of the other party that Shen Qingjun made this decision... Of course, it's not that he has a bad personality. Shen Qingjun feels that his personality, which always plans for the worst in everything, is definitely a good personality for a big housekeeper, which is just right. Take charge of military logistics!
On the contrary, those careless and careless people can't take care of logistics, otherwise they will have no food the next day, and they are still there leisurely. Just thinking about that kind of situation will drive Shen Qingjun crazy.

"Then, my lord, I'm going to go find General Xu Zhong to borrow some people and go watch the horses. Otherwise, there are so many people and I wouldn't be able to finish them all..."

"Thank you Ji Wei for your hard work!"

His eyes turned to Shen Li's side, on the path.

"This road is really remote and difficult to walk. How did you, the Liao family, discover this road?"

Shen Li just came down from a cliff that could only be walked sideways, and curiously asked Liao Youcai beside him. He seemed to be chatting, but in fact he wanted to find out more information. This was also an old problem for him as a scout...

"General Shen, in fact, my Liao family discovered this trail 40 years ago... At that time, the old family owner had not created such a huge family business..."

Liao Youcai wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead. There was a strong wind in the valley, but Liao Youcai managed to get rid of the sweat on his forehead. Looking at the other people around him who didn't even sweat a drop, he sighed:

"I'm old, I'm old. I think back then, I followed the master of the house and he didn't pant or sweat two or three times..."

Then he slowly answered Shen Li's question, "Actually, it was God's will to discover the Liu family's hidden troops training!"

"My Liao family was forced to retreat by the Liu family and wanted to find a way out. The old family leader remembered the trail he used to secretly sell salt to the north when he was young... The one who followed him in the business at that time was my father. Hey! Once you get rich, you will never go back..."

"It's not God's will to trick people. In order to find a way out for the Liao family, they secretly sent me to check. It was through this inspection that I accidentally discovered that the soldiers hiding in Liujia Canyon were actually forced to do nothing."

"You are the only one who has seen this road? And only once?" Shen Li asked.

"Of course, the Liu family's spies are widely known. If there are too many people or too many times, they can be easily discovered! It's enough to make sure the road is still passable."

"So, does the Liu family have a private army? You alone can determine what is going on in that canyon? How can you be sure that the people in that canyon are soldiers? Maybe it is really a horse farm? Those people are just guards or horse slaves raising horses? "

Shen Li asked. In fact, he didn't doubt the Liao family. He had to ask questions several times for everything. It was a habit he had developed long ago when he was a scout, and even more so after he became Shen Qingjun's bodyguard.

"General Shen, you don't know this! I, Liao Youcai, have been traveling in Wuwei County with my old and young masters for more than 30 years. We don't know where it is suitable for raising horses? And there is a huge difference between army and caravan guards. How could I not tell them apart! "

Liao Youcai was a little angry. He felt that Shen Li was doubting his vision and judgment.

"Sorry, I used to be a scout. I couldn't help but inquire more about the news to judge whether it was true or not!" Shen Li apologized.

"I see, it's okay for General Shen to be careful." Although Liao Youcai said it was okay, there was still some advice in his tone.

For a moment, there was no conversation in the team, and only the clatter of footsteps and the pounding of the heartbeats of the people in front and behind were heard.

The team walked for another half an hour. Under the leadership of Liao Youcai, the group came to a cave.

Shen Li observed this cave for a long time and found no road. Instead, there was a large pool.

"I think there is no feasible way here. Did you remember it wrong? Or did we go the wrong way?" Shen Li asked Liao Youcai on the side in confusion.

"Yes, yes! General Shen, how could I remember it wrong? We are going here, but this time we need to go into the water and dive through the water..."

Liao Youcai was actually a little emotional because of Shen Li's previous question, so he didn't give directions immediately after arriving at the cave. Instead, he waited for Shen Li to ask before replying.

"General, you see, this cave is surrounded by cliffs. It seems there is no way out, but as long as you go down to the pool and dive through the water, you can reach the mountain opposite."

"Water route? Sneak there? Are we going to walk there from now on?" Shen Li asked, pointing to the mountain pool. He also felt Liao Youcai's emotions, but he didn't care, as long as he could still guide him well.

"Exactly, it's a coincidence that this underground waterway was discovered by my old master accidentally. When he was young, he came here. It was a hot day and he went down to take a bath. It happened that the old master was good at water, so he sneaked in. After fifty feet, there will be an exit."

"If it weren't for the fact that my path leads to a waterhole, and the entrance and exit are hidden halfway up the mountain, this path would have been discovered by others. After all, the place we set out from is only ten miles away from the city." There was a sense of pride in his tone. meaning.

Shen Li stood by the pool and tested the water temperature. He found that not only was it not bitter, but it was still a little warm.

"The water in this pool is not bone-chilling. Could it be hot spring water? Or underground spring water rising up, otherwise it wouldn't be warm to the touch in every season..."

"I don't know either, maybe!" Liao Youcai didn't want to answer, and he really didn't know, let alone find out why. He only knew that the Liao family made a fortune by relying on this pool of Tan water on this path, so this Tan water was the Liao family's blessing. Tan...