My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 334: King of the Grassland

"The advantage of our Han family's horse farm model is that it doesn't require a large area, and we can basically breed horses completely in a captive breeding mode."

"But the disadvantages are also very obvious - a good horse cannot run out from within the courtyard walls;"

"Especially the excellent war horses that my Han family urgently needs are very difficult to breed in captivity."

"This is also the reason why, despite having the best stallions and purebred mares, most of the horses bred in the Border Wall Gardens over the past few years were poor horses, and only a small number were war horses. On average, only one batch of war horses was selected for every three horses that were sold."

"——The captive breeding model is extremely harmful to the breeding of war horses, and has no benefits at all!"

"Furthermore, the horse farm model does not require a large area, but requires multiple amounts of grass and feed, manpower, material resources, and even financial investment."

Considering the urgent need for development in the Hetao region, Liu Rong did not waste too much time and quickly summoned his Minister of the Imperial Household: Sai Hou Zhi Buyi.

In fact, in the eyes of most people in later generations, the most basic job of the position of Taipuqing is nothing more than serving the emperor in the chariot.

To put it bluntly, he was the royal groom.

In fact, this was indeed the theoretical duty of the Taipuqing in the Han official system.

For example, the first Han Taifu appointed by Emperor Taizu Liu Bang for the Han Dynasty was Xiahou Ying, who had already worked in the county government for his "excellent driving skills" when Emperor Taizu was in his private residence in Fengpei, and was specifically responsible for driving for officials.

As the first Grand Coachman of the Han Dynasty, who was theoretically the best carriage driver in the world, how good was Xiahou Ying's driving skill?

When Emperor Taizu Gao was still the King of Han, an incident occurred.

——In the second year of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Liu Bang, who had regained control of the Three Qins from Hanzhong, gathered a coalition force of 560,000 from various routes in Guandong, and went east through Hangu Pass. In the name of Xiang Yu's murder of the Righteous Emperor Chu Huaiwang, he formally attacked the traitor who killed the emperor: King of Chu Xiang Yu.

Everyone knows what happened later.

The leader of the coalition forces, King of Han Liu Bang, won first and then lost - he first attacked Xiang Yu's capital: Pengcheng, and then was killed by Xiang Yu who was driven back from Qi. The 560,000-strong army was wiped out, and "the Sui River stopped flowing."

It was when Liu Bang suffered a defeat at Pengcheng and was fleeing westward alone from Pengcheng that Xiahou Ying first demonstrated his horse-drawn carriage driving skills.

——On the way to escape, Han Emperor Liu Bang was so anxious that he could not sit still in the carriage, fearing that he would be caught by the pursuers;

In order to reduce the weight of the carriage and make it go faster, Liu Bang kicked his eldest son, who later became Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying, and his eldest daughter, who later became Princess Lu Yuan, off the carriage without hesitation.

This incident also became the reason why most people in later generations either liked or hated Liu Bang.

Those who admire Liu Bang's actions believe that he would do anything to achieve his goals and would even abandon his own children for the sake of his empire. This is truly a very imperial act!
He deserves to rule the world!

Those who despise Liu Bang because of this incident believe that as a grassroots rebel emperor, Liu Bang was truly ruthless, mean and ungrateful.

They could even kick their own children under the carriage, which really proves the saying: the royal family is ruthless.

However, few people paid attention to this matter. The final result was: Liu Bang kicked his children out of the carriage seven times, and Xiahou Ying, who was driving the carriage, also stopped the carriage seven times and picked up the later Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying and Princess Lu Yuan Liu Le.

It doesn't sound like a big deal.

But in fact, if you just think about it carefully, you can understand how terrifying the driving skills demonstrated by Xiahou Ying in this incident are.

——Liu Bang was so anxious that he kicked his children under the car. The pursuers behind him must be not far away!
Xiahou Ying was able to stop the carriage seven times at such a critical moment to pick up Liu Ying and Liu Le;
The key point is: Xiahou Ying stopped the car seven times to pick up people, and he did not let the pursuers catch up with the carriage he was driving. He sent Liu Bang, Liu Ying, and Liu Le, father and son, to Xiayi, to the military camp of Lu Ze, the Marquis of Zhou and Lu.

No one knows how Xiahou Ying did it.

Apart from the parties involved, people only know that after Emperor Xiaohui Liu Ying ascended the throne, the founding hero and meritorious marquis he respected the most was neither the first prime minister of the Han Dynasty: Xiao He, Marquis of Yin, nor Cao Shen, Marquis of Pingyang, who followed the Xiao rules and Cao follows Cao.

He is not even his maternal uncle like Lu Ze, Lu Shizhi, etc.!
But it was Xiahou Ying, Marquis of Ruyin, who had picked him up on the carriage seven times that year.

In order to express his respect for Xiahou Ying and highlight Xiahou Ying's contributions to the Han Dynasty, Emperor Xiaohui even set up a "Xiahou Ying Mansion" directly outside the Weiyang Palace!
Although Xiahou Ying's later actions during the process of the princes and ministers jointly punishing the Lü clan did not live up to the respect of Emperor Xiaohui, this incident alone can show what the political ecology of the early Han Dynasty required of the Grand Coachman.

——First of all, you have to have superb carriage driving skills!
Even if we cannot reach the level of Xiahou Ying who picked up people seven times in a row, we should at least walk and stop when necessary during major political activities, and not walk a foot more or an inch less.

Such a pinnacle of driving skills - especially when the power source is a living thing: a horse, naturally tests the driver's experience and talent.

Of course, as a member of the "Three Dukes and Nine Ministers" at the core of the feudal dynasty's power decision-making center, Taifu naturally cannot be a simple chariot god of Akina Mountain.

In fact, the ability that the Taifu really needs to have is horse management.

As for driving skills, they are just the most basic entry threshold.

Xiahou Ying came from Fengpei and was originally a coachman in the county government. Naturally, he had no talent in horse management.

But at that time, Chinese civilization had just ended the hundreds of years of Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, the disputes at the end of Qin Dynasty, and the Chu-Han contention;
Nine out of ten houses in the world are empty, and everything is in need of reconstruction.

Liu Bang was an emperor, but he couldn't even fit eight horses of the same color in his chariot.

Although Xiao He was the prime minister, he did not even have a horse of his own and could only go to court in an ox cart.

The emperor and the prime minister were both short of horses, let alone cavalry and horse administration. It was only because of his driving skills that Xiahou Ying secured the position of the first Minister of the Imperial Household of the Han Dynasty.

But since Empress Dowager Lu came to power - especially since Emperor Taizong began to build horse gardens specifically on the border walls and vigorously developed the Han Dynasty's horse administration, the duties of the Minister of the Imperial Household became more and more like those of a real Nine Ministers, rather than a mere imperial coachman.

By the time of the previous Grand Coachman of the Han Dynasty, Liu She, Marquis of Tao, who was in charge of huge horse management funds and most of the Han Dynasty's horse gardens, the Grand Coachman had become a key position similar to the Shaofu, which could only be held by the emperor's confidants.

If Emperor Xiaojing had not died unexpectedly early, the late Emperor Liu Qi would have most likely trained a loyal Grand Master of the Imperial Household for Liu Rong after Liu She - a person who would be more loyal to the Han Dynasty and even more loyal to Liu Rong himself.

It's a pity that Emperor Xiaojing died young - at least he died earlier than the original history, which allowed Zhi Buyi, a well-known good man and moral gentleman inside and outside the court, to take advantage of the opportunity and become the Grand Coachman.

I don't doubt this Taifu~
How to say it;

His driving skills were definitely impeccable - after all, he was a Zhonglang (Zhonglang) and had worked as a ceremonial officer in Fengchang.
As for matters concerning etiquette, Zhi Buyi would not make any mistakes. But in terms of horse politics, Zhi Buyi was somewhat like the epitome of most Han officials in the present Han Dynasty.

——Zhi Buyi, indeed, does not know much about horse politics;
But now in the Han Dynasty, few people understood horse politics.

If it weren't for the existence of Han Tuidang, a surrendered Hun general named Gonggaohou, the Han Dynasty wouldn't even be able to find someone who knew how to raise horses and understand cavalry!
Therefore, even though he knew that in the Han Dynasty, apart from Han Tuidang, no one truly understood horse administration and cavalry, Liu Rong still sought out the good old man Zhi Buyi to communicate about the issues concerning horse administration.

Pick a general from among the dwarfs!

After all, he had been a royal servant for several years. No matter how much of a layman he was, Zhi Buyi must have taken intensive classes to learn some professional knowledge.

It turned out to be just as Liu Rong had expected - although Zhi Buyi did not understand, he took over the conversation in a proper manner and continued speaking along the lines of Liu Rong.

"What your Majesty said is true."

"Over the past few years, Gong Gaohou has privately said to others more than once: The horse policy of our Han family is too expensive and takes too long. It is really the dumbest method that cannot be implemented."

"If you were not a surrendered general, you would not be able to discuss the state affairs..."

As he said this, Zhi Buyi did not forget to shake his head and sigh, pretending to feel sorry for Han Tuidang.

It was as if Zhi Buyi believed that Han Tuidang was the most suitable person to be the Grand Coachman and manage horse affairs in the Han Dynasty.

At the same time, Zhi Buyi seemed to feel ashamed and helpless for having "seized the position of Grand Coachman that should have belonged to Han Tuidang"...

But in Liu Rong's eyes, Zhi Buyi's behavior further confirmed how few people in the Han Dynasty understood horse politics, and how little officials' understanding of horse politics was.

——Han Tuidang has his own opinions on the current Han Dynasty's horse management model of keeping horses in horse farms. This is a well-known fact inside and outside the court.

But the reason why Han Tuidang had been complaining for so many years but never brought the matter to the court was not because Han Tuidang was restricted by his identity as a "surrendered general" and it was inconvenient for him to express his opinions on such an important national policy.

In fact, although Han Tuidang has been cautious in the court over the past few years and has little sense of presence, when he really encounters a problem that must be spoken and no one can see it except himself, Han Tuidang will say it without any ambiguity!
As for the current horse policy of the Han Dynasty, Han Tuidang certainly knows the many disadvantages of this model.

But Han Tuidang was also clear: the reason why the Han Dynasty's horse policy now used this "stupidest method" was precisely because the Han Dynasty's horse policy, and even the entire Han Dynasty's animal husbandry, lacked an extremely important means of production.

——Pasture.

Just as farming in an agricultural civilization requires grain seeds as "initial capital" and farmland as means of production, the development of animal husbandry also requires "grain seeds" and "farmland".

The ‘grain’ is naturally the herd of livestock;
And 'farmland' refers to grassland.

The reason why the Han Dynasty is going to so much trouble - investing thousands or tens of millions of dollars and collecting hay and straw taxes from people all over the world, but leaving the economical and affordable animal husbandry model of the nomadic people on the grassland unused, is that there is no grassland.

The tens of millions of dollars invested by the Chang'an court every year, the millions of stones of hay and straw harvested every year, and the construction and training cycle of horse farms that often took more than ten years were all to make up for the Han Dynasty's inherent defect in the means of production: the shortage of grassland.

Therefore, the fact is not what Zhi Buyi believed, that "Han Tuidang was unable to speak due to his status as a surrendered general", but that Han Tuidang himself knew that the Han Dynasty's horse policy would not be solved just because he pointed out the problem.

——Pasture is something that exists or not;
Good is good, bad is bad;
Before the Christian era - at least in the Han Dynasty today, grasslands, like mines, are purely natural resources that cannot be created by human power.

Therefore, Han Tuidang just complained over the years but never brought the matter up to the court.

——It’s no use saying it!
What’s the point of just pointing out the problem?

There is no point in raising a problem without a corresponding solution.

As a "nomadic people" born and raised on the grassland, Han Tuidang knew this clearly.

As a visitor from later times, Liu Rong, who has a historical perspective of thousands of years, also understands this key point.

But apart from these two people, there are probably not many people in the Han family who can see through the essence of this problem.

——Didn’t you see that even Taifu Zhibuyi, who was chosen as the ‘general from among the dwarfs’, failed to see through the essence of this problem?
Therefore, Liu Rong was no longer interested in talking to Zhi Buyi about the second half of his sentence, which he had not yet had time to say.

——The current horse breeding model of the Han Dynasty’s horse administration does have many drawbacks;
The Han dynasty knew it was difficult but still had no choice.

As for the economical and affordable animal husbandry development direction adopted by the nomadic people on the grassland, it seems very good, but in fact, the Han Dynasty cannot copy it at all.

The main reason why animal husbandry is cheap on today's grasslands is that today's nomadic people are, as their name suggests, "nomadic" people.

To be precise, what they practiced was not the animal husbandry as stereotyped by later generations, but rather the nomadic pastoralism unique to this prehistoric era.

Nomadic and animal husbandry are only one word different, but the investment and operating costs required for the two are presented to two extremely exaggerated extremes.

Animal husbandry requires a lot of money!
Nomadic pastoralism is more like a no-cost business - walking along the grassland with cattle and sheep, eating along the way, as long as the livestock do not die on a large scale due to natural disasters or man-made disasters, it is a sure profit!
Such a model is obviously not something that the Han Dynasty today, or even any other Chinese feudal dynasty, can fully emulate.

In order to light up the "animal husbandry" technology tree for the Chinese civilization, the first thing Liu Rong has to do is to explore a set of animal husbandry models that are more suitable for the Chinese civilization and more in line with agricultural civilization.

For example: small-scale nomadism in a limited area;
For example, herders settle in a certain place and return to their residence at a fixed time every year.

For example...

"For example~"

"Enfeoffment..."

···
"Feng the grassland king~"

"Hey;"

"I'm afraid that if I'm not careful, I'll lift a stone and drop it on my own feet..."

(End of this chapter)