I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 405 My cat can do backflips
While the two were talking.

Han Ling's obsidian eyes suddenly shrank, and he pointed to the Peacock River in the distance and said nervously and excitedly:
"Second brother, look over there, are there a few black dots? Are they people riding horses? Could it be that my gentleman has returned?"

Han Shuo immediately came to his senses upon hearing this and looked in the direction Han Ling pointed.

Just as Han Ling pointed out, there were indeed a few small black dots appearing there, and they looked like a few people riding horses at a gallop.

But common sense told Han Zeng that even if these small black dots were really people, they were most likely not Liu Ju.

Because Liu Ju went with the delegation, under normal circumstances he should have returned with the delegation as well. And if nothing went wrong with the delegation, it would be impossible for only a few people to be left in the delegation.

Thinking of this, Han Zeng became nervous unconsciously.

and many more!

Could something really have gone wrong?

It's not that Han Zeng lacks confidence, it's just that there have been too many cases of Han envoys being robbed and killed in the Western Regions in recent years, and even Han Zeng, who has not yet become a Lang, has heard of them.

Liu Ju and Dongfang Yu were accompanied by less than a hundred people, and they were on the territory of the enemy country where the military exercise was about to startle. In addition, the power of Yanqi was by no means comparable to that of a small country like Loulan, so any accidents were possible...

"Han Ling, please wait here first. I'll be back soon."

The more Han Zeng thought about it, the more frightened he became. He immediately turned around and ran down from the tower, ordering his followers who were waiting below to
"Hurry up and prepare your horses. Notify the Jianzhang Cavalry that someone is coming from the direction of Yanqi State. Follow me to check it out!"

"promise!"

How dare the followers neglect it, and immediately went to do it.

But suddenly Han Ling's voice came from behind:

"Prepare a horse for me too, I want to go with you!"

How could Han Zeng's reaction be hidden from the clever Han Ling? In just a moment, she noticed Han Zeng's worry and immediately followed him.

……

Peacock River.

Liu Ju, several messengers and personal soldiers galloped on horseback. Although the sun was dazzling and the hot wind was scorching, the journey was not difficult because of the moisture from the Peacock River.

At this time, Liu Ju had already started thinking about making horseshoes.

The effect of taking out the double stirrups before was very good.

This enabled the strength of the original elite cavalry to be raised to a higher level, and the ordinary cavalry reached the elite level in a short period of time.

Of course, the big man's powerful crossbow also played an important role... Unlike bows and arrows, although crossbows also require training, and the requirements are no less than those of bows and arrows, the training time is much shorter.

This is also the reason why infantry became the most cost-effective type of soldier after the emergence of firearms in later generations.

Because firearms are easy to operate, training time is even shorter. Usually, once you have learned how to operate it and fired a dozen rounds and know how to aim, you can be sent to the battlefield to fight. The training cost is almost negligible.

The double stirrups made riding easier and using a crossbow on horseback became a reality, which effectively solved the time and cost of training cavalry.

You have to know that in the era before double stirrups, the training cost of a cavalryman of the Han Dynasty, although not as high as that of pilots in later generations, was still a treasure, especially those elite cavalrymen. Even Emperor Liu Che would grit his teeth in pain if they suffered the slightest loss.

The horseshoe is the key to protecting the warhorse.

The part of a war horse that is most easily damaged is the hoof. Once damaged, the horse cannot run and no matter how good the horse is, it can only be killed for meat.

Unfortunately, horse hooves are made of relatively fragile cuticle. The wear and tear from long-distance marches and the corrosion from mud and water can cause them to be damaged and fall off, resulting in a large number of breakages.

This is also the reason why every Han cavalryman had to be equipped with at least two horses every time he went on an expedition.

When Huo Qubing was conquering the Huns, Emperor Liu Che even equipped each of his elite cavalry with three horses to help him in long-distance raids and make up for the loss of physical strength and injuries to the horses.

In the Western Regions, horseshoes are even more important.

Liu Ju had already noticed the problem when he passed Bailongdui before. It was even more obvious during this mission to Yanqi Kingdom. Because the sun in the Western Regions was too strong, the ground temperature was often frighteningly high during the day. In order to protect the horses, people usually chose to travel at night.

Sometimes people had to travel during the day, and when walking on such surfaces, people would often wrap the horse's hooves with leather to prevent them from being burned by the hot ground.

But it is different with horseshoes. Not only can they prevent horse hooves from direct contact with the hot ground, but they can also greatly reduce the wear and tear of horse hooves in normal times.

This is experience.

This is experience that Liu Ju, who had lived in the capital for a long time, did not have before traveling through time and was just an ordinary young man who had only taken photos on horseback when he was a child!

While I was thinking about these things.

"Clack! Clack!" Suddenly, there was a chaotic sound of horse hooves coming from the front.

Liu Ju looked carefully and saw Han Zeng and Han Ling leading the way, followed by hundreds of Jianzhang cavalrymen, who were riding towards him.

Seeing this, several messengers immediately waved the small flags inserted in front of the saddles.

"It's our messenger! It's our messenger!"

Han Zeng's heart was still hanging in the air because God knew whether the messenger brought back good news or bad news.

But Liu Ju had wrapped his head and face with cloth to prevent being burned by the scorching sun while he was on the road. If he hadn't said anything, no one would have recognized him.

So it came close.

Several messengers still abided by the order to conceal their identities for Liu Ju, dismounted, saluted Han Zeng, and then presented the King of Yanqi with a letter written in Brahmi italic script and Chinese characters in duplicate:

"Sima Han, the Yanqi Kingdom requests to be a vassal of the Han Dynasty. This is the letter that the King of Yanqi entrusted us to bring back."

"Ask for submission?"

Han Zeng thought he had misheard and forgot everything else for a moment. He hurriedly took the letter and examined it carefully.

After confirming the contents of the Chinese letter, he still had a puzzled look on his face, and finally couldn't help asking:
"Isn't the purpose of this mission to invite the Kingdom of Yanqi to observe our live arrow military exercise? Why has the King of Yanqi already agreed to submit to us before we even watch the live arrow military exercise?"

"And His Highness?"

"Since the King of Yanqi has already pledged his loyalty, why are only you few back? You came back first to deliver the message, and His Highness and the delegation are still behind?"

While speaking, Han Zeng glanced at his sister Han Ling out of the corner of his eye, and then looked into the distance behind the messengers.

"Doesn't this show that our archery skills are accurate?"

At this time, Liu Ju finally untied the cloth wrapped around his head and face, and said to Han Zeng with a smile, and at the same time threw a coquettish glance at Han Ling, who had a worried look on his face and frowned.

next moment.

"!"

Han Ling's body trembled, and anger appeared on her face. Then she clenched her fists and ran towards Liu Ju.

"Han Ling, stop right there!"

Han Zeng immediately realized what Han Ling was going to do. He and his older brother Han Xing were very experienced in this kind of thing. His expression changed drastically, and seeing that it was too late to stop him, he could only shout loudly.

As he spoke, Han Ling had already arrived in front of Liu Ju.

"Han Ling..."

Liu Ju had just opened his mouth when he saw Han Ling crouch down, take a horse stance, and without giving any explanation, he used a liver-bursting punch to hit Liu Ju hard in the abdomen.

No!
Han Zengda was horrified.

This sister has really been spoiled by her father and her two brothers. When she gets angry, she dares to attack Liu Ju regardless of her status. Is there anyone in the world who can control her?

But the next moment.

Han Ling's pink fist stopped just one finger away from Liu Ju's abdomen.

Liu Ju had grabbed her wrist at some point, and then put his other hand around her waist and lifted her onto his shoulder with a slight throw.

"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, Liu Ju's palm had already landed on Han Ling's round buttocks.

"..."

Everyone was stunned.

When Han Ling was in a panic, she saw Han Zeng and the others' shocked and ambiguous looks. Her pretty face immediately turned red, and she kicked her long legs and struggled hard:

"You, why don't you let me down!"

Liu Ju laughed loudly, carrying Han Ling on his back and strode towards the Loulan Royal City:

"You are so rebellious. Today I will let you know whether my cat can do a backflip or not."

(End of this chapter)