"You're welcome, Mr. Hu, please get up." Chen Yue waved.

Hu Lianghan quickly stood up from the ground, raised his head slightly and glanced at the extremely young Marquis of Beiliang. He asked with confusion on his face: "I wonder what the Marquis's orders are when he comes to the racecourse? What do I need to do for you?"

Chenyue frowned slightly when he saw that Hu Lianghan's clothes were a little disheveled, but he still said politely: "I'm on patrol in Youzhou, and I stopped by today to see the situation at Xianping Racecourse. I'd like Sir Hu to be my guide."

When Hu Lianghan heard that he was here to inspect the racecourse, the confusion on his face finally dissipated, and he immediately said: "I don't dare to thank you for your service. It's my duty as an official. Please do it, Lord Marquis!"

Chenyue and his party followed Hu Lianghan towards the interior of the largest racecourse in Youzhou.

Hu Lianghan, who got on his horse, seemed to realize that his clothes were disheveled. He fiddled with his official uniform a few times in embarrassment and straightened his clothes. Unfortunately, he was not wearing an official hat and his hair looked a bit messy.

"Master Hu looks a little embarrassed. Is there any other place for fun in this racecourse?" Chen Yue was really curious, so he joked.

Hu Lianghan had a bitter look on his face: "I'm really sorry. I just received the news that the Marquis is here in person. The official was feeding the horses, and he had indeed put on his official uniform just now."

Chen Yue took a closer look and found that Hu Lianghan's trouser legs were indeed covered with a lot of mud, and there was also a little horse manure, exuding a slight odor. He suddenly became interested in this sixth-grade official and asked: "Is it possible that he is so big?"

Is it necessary for Mr. Hu to work on a horse farm himself?"

Hu Lianghan followed Chen Yue's gaze and seemed to see the horse manure on his trouser legs, and said with a flushed face: "It makes the Marquis laugh. For such a big horse farm, the manpower is often too busy, so most of the time I have to

Go to work."

"How many years has Mr. Hu been here?" Chenyue asked.

Hu Lianghan bowed and said: "Xiaguan has been at this Xianping Racecourse for more than 20 years. He started out as a horseman. Fortunately, the government trusted him and gave Xiaguan such a large racecourse to take care of."

Chenyue looked at Hu Lianghan, who was about forty years old, with a sense of vicissitudes of life on his angular face. He nodded with satisfaction and stopped talking.

Hu Lianghan led a group of people to a vast grassland. There were black horses galloping on the grassland. Many grooms were cruising around the horses, shouting loudly, and whipping them from time to time with their riding whips.

.

Hu Lianghan pointed at the horses from a distance and said: "Master Marquis, please see, these more than 3,000 horses were carefully bred last year to meet the standards of war horses. They will be handed over to the frontier army in one month."

"More than three thousand horses? That's a lot." Chen Yue sighed in surprise.

There are more than ten official horse farms, large and small, in Liangyou. The Xianping Horse Farm is probably the only one that produces more than 3,000 war horses a year. Even the largest horse farm in Liangzhou can only produce more than 3,000 horses.

The number of horses.

"Indeed, Xianping Racecourse is the largest racecourse in Youzhou." Hu Lianghan said with some pride: "This grassland has fertile water and grass and a vast area. It is uniquely advantageous for raising horses. Otherwise, it would not be able to support such

A large herd of war horses.”

"Are these war horses released for training every day?" Chen Yue asked, tilting his head.

"That's not necessarily the case." Hu Lianghan shook his head slightly: "In order to ensure that the horse's foot strength is maintained at its peak and avoids overuse injuries, we usually take a few days of rest during training. In the summer, we will run in the valley,

It is used to train the war horse's ability to withstand the heat, and in winter when there are heavy snowstorms, the training will be strengthened to exercise the war horse's cold resistance. The war horse thus bred can be used in combat all year round and has excellent leg strength."

Hu Lianghan spoke eloquently and kept describing various training methods for war horses. Chen Yue nodded frequently as he listened. He could tell at a glance that this sixth-grade official was an experienced horse breeder. He really deserved to stay at this racecourse.

A man of more than twenty years.

"Master Hu is very familiar with horse breeding. Okay, let me take a few mature horses to the stables, and then take me to see this year's foals." Chen Yue said with a smile.

"Yes!" Hu Lianghan bowed and replied.

Somewhere in the grassland, a large piece of land was surrounded by a wooden fence, and there were many tents in it. It was probably a place where these horse administration officials used to rest.

But there are more rows of stables, many of which are empty, and many of which contain foals, which roar from time to time. The grooms coming and going are feeding feed, and it is a busy scene.

scene.

Chen Yue kept looking at the stables on both sides. From time to time he would stop and reach out to touch the foal's head and fur, and sometimes he would pinch the foal's legs.

Hu Lianghan said with some regret as he followed Chen Yue forward: "These are all foals that have been bred for a long time. Only 60 to 70% of the 5,000 to 6,000 foals will eventually become qualified war horses. Some.

Foals become weak and die as they grow, and some are inherently deficient and find it difficult to meet the standards of war horses, so they have to give up."

"Where have all the horses that failed to meet the standards gone?" Chen Yue touched a foal with one hand and asked intently.

"Back to the Marquis, part of it will be supplied to the government for use as a cart puller, and part of it will be bought by some businessmen." Hu Lianghan replied respectfully.

Although some horses are not qualified for war horses, they are good horses for ordinary merchants. Therefore, this situation occurs in both Liangyou and Liangyou. Merchants buy the horses for their own use or sell them to the Central Plains.

Chenyue nodded, stretched out his hand to pull the fodder in the trough, took a look at it, and asked with some confusion: "Are these horses only eating ordinary forage?"

Hu Lianghan said with a wry smile: "Sometimes we will provide some grain-based concentrated feed, but the situation in Liangyou and other places must be clear to the Marquis. It is impossible to supply all the concentrated feed, so we still mainly use grass feed."

Chenyue put down the fodder in his hand, patted his dusty hands, nodded and said: "It is cold and bitter, and the land is barren. It is true that we cannot supply a large amount of concentrated fodder. Master Hu does not need to blame himself for this."

Hu Lianghan nodded aside, thinking that the Marquis of Beiliang was indeed a native of Liangzhou as rumored, and he had a relatively clear understanding of the situation in Liangyou.

Chen Yue pushed open a wooden fence door and walked into the stable. He stroked a foal along its back. The hair was extremely smooth. As Chen Yue stroked it, the foal kept shaking its head and making low noises.

A loud roar.

Chen Yue looked at the foal in front of him carefully and saw that the foal had been castrated. This has always been a method of breeding well-bred war horses. The castrated foal will grow faster and better. Chen Yue was born in a small farmer's family.
Chapter completed!