After entering Ganzhou City, Gu Yanwu first visited Tian Juemao, the governor of Gansu, and then went to the Chief Envoy Si Yamen to report to his immediate superior, the Chief Executive Ye Chengzu.
As soon as I entered my office, my buttocks were still hot when I heard an affectionate call: "Zhongqing!"
He took a closer look and saw that it was his friend Wu Weiye. He asked with great joy: "Meicun, why is it you?"
"I am now the Gansu Provincial Commissioner for Punishment. A few days ago, I heard that you were coming, and I was so happy!" Wu Weiye also had a face full of joy.
The two old friends hadn't seen each other for many years, and they chatted for a while. Gu Yanwu was a career-oriented person, so he soon talked about Ma Zheng, "Meicun, I see that Gansu has abundant water and grass and many excellent pastures. Why is Ma Zheng not flourishing?" Wu Weiye smiled and said: "Zhongqing, what you said is only half right. This horse administration is divided into civilian and animal husbandry and official animal husbandry. In Gansu, although civilian and animal husbandry have not yet flourished, official animal husbandry has. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, he established a
Xingtaipu Temple was built, and Yuanma Temple was added when the emperor became the ancestor. Each has a prison garden, the upper garden herds 10,000 horses, the middle garden herds 7,000 horses, and the lower garden 4,000 horses. The emperor reformed the horse administration, and he will be the Taipu Temple.
The temples and the Yuanma Temple were all abolished and merged into the War and Horse Bureau of the Chariot and Driving Department of the Ministry of War. Horse farms were set up directly in provinces suitable for horse breeding. There are six major horse farms in Gansu Province. After the reform, things are booming." p>
"Oh, why is this?"
"First, there were many agencies in the past, and officials' responsibilities were confused, resulting in chaotic management. After the reform, the Driving Department and Horse Racing Bureau set up a director in the big racecourse and a bookkeeper in the small racecourse to establish a unified assessment mechanism and effective management; secondly, the previous
Most of the herdsmen were forced to raise horses to replace corvee labor, professional soldiers and criminals who were exiled to the army, and they lacked motivation. Today's herdsmen are mostly hired herdsmen, who are paid monthly salary and bonuses based on performance, and they are very motivated. Thirdly, in the past, most of the herdsmen were locals.
The powerful forces invaded and occupied the army and horse pastures. After the Holy Shang Fei Xing Du was established in Gansu Province, governors, envoys, and inspectors took up positions to inspect the pastures. These powerful people had to return the occupied pastures. If there were more pastures, the official and animal husbandry would naturally prosper!" "That's it!"
Gu Yanwu became interested and asked: "I wonder where the largest military horse farm in Gansu is? How many horses are there?"
Wu Weiye smiled, "Our largest horse farm in Gansu is the Shandan Army Horse Farm. It is located in Ganzhou, at the northern foot of Lenglong Mountain in the Qilian Mountains. It has a long history. It was founded by Hussar General Huo Qubing, who raised more than 10,000 war horses. It is our
The largest racecourse in the Ming Dynasty. How about it, Zhongqing, are you interested in following me?"
"Great, Meicun! I just want to see the spectacle of thousands of horses galloping and appreciate the grace of Huo Qiqi in those days!" Gu Yanwu danced with joy. He is a man of temperament, has experienced battles, and is a truly generous and tragic man.
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Seeing that his old friend was interested, Wu Weiye immediately ordered people to prepare horses. The two of them, with only a few followers, galloped towards the Shandan Army Racecourse.
"Drive~Drive~Drive~"
"Da~da~da~"
The green grass and the sound of horse hooves make my heart tremble with joy.
"Zhongqing, I seem to feel that when Huo Piao's cavalry general Wanqi left Longxi, passed Yanzhi Mountain, Hanyang Grassland, and reached the western end of Qilian Mountain, defeated the Xiongnu tribes entrenched in Yanzhi Mountain and Damaying Grassland, and set up horse farms.
That domineering spirit!"
While Wu Weiye was riding the horse, he spoke loudly to Gu Yanwu. The great poet became interested and chanted loudly: "Taiyi is paying homage to the heavenly horse, stained with red sweat and foam. It has traveled thousands of miles with it, and now it is safe."
Dragon is a friend.
"That's great! Meicun, I'll sing a song too."
Gu Yanwu laughed loudly and chanted on his horse: "Tianma Lai, from the West Pole, wading through the quicksand, Jiuyi surrendered. Tianma Lai, coming out of the spring, with two tiger spines, turned into a ghost. Tianma Lai, there is no grass in the past, and the path is thousands of miles, and it follows
East Road. Tianma Lai, holding Xu, will be lifted up, who will expect it? Tianma Lai, open the far gate, leave the body, and pass away to Kunlun. Tianma Lai, the matchmaker of the dragon, travel to Changhe, and watch the jade platform."
"Okay! Excellent!"
Wu Weiye laughed to tears, he hadn't been so happy for a long time.
Unknowingly, we have arrived at the foot of the northern foot of Lenglong Ridge in the Qilian Mountains. In the middle of the endless green grass beach, surrounded by a fence, there are five characters "Shandan Military Horse Farm" written on the gate of the camp. Although the horse farm is under the direct management of the Ministry of War, the horse farm can be
The chief officer is no more than a sixth-rank official, one of Wu Weiye and Gu Yanwu is a third-rank official, and the other is a fourth-rank official. There is no reason not to welcome Shangguan when he comes to inspect his department.
The owner of the racecourse enthusiastically introduced the basic situation of the racecourse to them, "Wu Tixing, Gu Councilor, there are 12,000 good horses and 100 stables in this farm??"
Wu and Gu listened with great interest, and then visited the racecourse with their boss.
The manager was a talkative person. While showing the two of them around, he introduced the horse management matters of the military horse farm. He explained everything about supervision, inspection, branding, numbering, publishing, etc.
When Gu Yanwu saw the Shandan Army Horse Farm, the stables were clean and tidy, and the grooms were experienced, he couldn't help but nod his head. It seemed that the official and animal husbandry had done a good job indeed.
An old groom brought feed and water to the war horse. As soon as he put it in the manger, there was a constant "squeaking" sound, and an animal with a long tail behind its butt pounced on him mischievously.
"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, this is for the horse, your share is still behind", the old horseman chuckled.
Wu Weiye took a look and saw that it was actually a monkey. He asked strangely: "Why is there a monkey in the stable?"
"Wu Tixing didn't know that this monkey was raised by us. Jia Sixie's "Essential Art of Qi Min" records: 'A macaque is often tied to the horse's stable to make the horse fearless, ward off evil and eliminate all diseases', so in the horse's stable
Let’s raise a monkey in the shed to avoid the horse plague,” the manager said with a smile.
"Well, Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" of this dynasty also recorded: "Mother monkeys in stables are infected with horse plague." Why can foster mother monkeys avoid horse plague?" Gu Yanwu asked.
"This~"
The host couldn't answer for a while, so he pointed his eyes at the old horseman.
"Sir, it's like this. The smell emitted by the urine of female monkeys can indeed prevent and inhibit horse plague. In addition, horses, like people, will get sick if they don't exercise for a long time. The active habits of monkeys can prevent horses from standing for a long time.
Diseases caused by immobility," the old horseman said respectfully.
"That's it! It seems that raising horses is really a science!" Wu Weiye sighed.
"Old man, what is this feed made of?" Gu Yanwu was very interested in the feed for war horses.
"Master, I feed them with a mixture of soaked bean cakes, soybean meal, cornmeal and water."
"咴聿聿", in the stable next door, a tall and strong white horse screamed and struggled, but was unable to break free. It was led out by the groom and placed in a shed alone.
"Why did you lead this horse out?" Gu Yanwu asked again.
"Sir, this horse is a carefully selected stallion. Normally, stallions and their local horses are raised in separate groups, and then put together when they are in heat and bred," the old groom replied.
Gu Yanwu felt that he had gained a lot. Raising horses is really not easy, and there is a lot of knowledge involved. No wonder many households are unwilling to raise horses because they have no experience. Once the horses are raised to death, they will lose everything!