Chapter 206 Ten thousand war horses are difficult to raise? The King of Pastures is here to help!
The next day, early morning.
The rooster crows the dawn and the morning glow fills the sky.
Guangcheng Pass.
Allied camp.
Central army, big tent.
After summarizing yesterday, Xun Yu finally presented the final battle report.
Liu Bian browsed carefully and couldn't help but exclaimed: "We have captured 6,462 war horses. Are there really so many?"
Xun Yu nodded and said with a leisurely look: "Well, I personally ordered it. Regardless of the injured and dead horses, more than 5,000 horses were seized. Including the cavalry camp during the First Battle of Guangcheng Pass, the total was more than 8,000.
match."
A single Yueqi camp had nearly 4,000 horses, plus the Tunqi camp and the Bingzhou Langqi who were defeated at Goyang'ao. Such a result is reasonable.
"Um?"
Liu Bian sensed something strange from Xun Yu's tone: "Wen Ruo, we have captured so many war horses and can form a cavalry force of ten thousand people in the future. This is a good thing. Why are you looking like this?"
"Your Highness."
Xun Yu hurriedly bowed his head and said softly: "It is a good thing to capture the war horses, but one war horse can bear the rations of three people, and ten thousand war horses is equivalent to 30,000 extra mouths. I am afraid that the food and grass in our camp will not be enough."
"Didn't we already agree?"
Liu Bian's fine eyebrows furrowed slightly, and suspicion suddenly arose: "We were short of food and grass, so we asked the governor of Tang County to make the wealthy Nanyang family bleed. This is the strategy we have already discussed. Could it be that Wen Ruo has forgotten it?"
Xun Yu shook his head: "How dare I forget? It's just that we stayed at Guangcheng Pass for too long and there has been no good news. Recently, the Nanyang nobles have been quite critical, resulting in less and less food and grass being harvested."
"Isn't this a good thing?"
Liu Bian was secretly happy in his heart. If the Nanyang nobles cooperated too much, it would be difficult to do anything in the future: "In this case, wouldn't we be able to smoothly proceed with the screening of the Nanyang nobles?"
"Ah, this..."
Xun Yu hurriedly took out a letter from his arms and presented it with both hands: "Your Highness, this is a letter from the Tang County Governor. He has investigated the Kong family, which has been quite conflicted recently. I'm afraid this matter may be difficult to handle."
"oh?"
Liu Bian frowned, took the letter, and opened it to read: "Just take a look."
hiss-!
Liu Bian glanced at it, and the shocking aura attached to the words immediately made him take a breath.
Kong Ben’s wife came from the Deng family in Nanyang;
Among the three concubines of Kong Ben, there are even those from the Feng family and the Yin family;
Kong Ben’s legitimate daughter is the daughter-in-law of the Li family in Nanyang;
This daughter of Kong is the daughter-in-law of the Yin family in Nanyang;
The wife of Kong Ben’s legitimate son was the daughter of the Xu family in Nanyang;
The wife of the second son of Kong Ben was the daughter of the Fan family in Nanyang;
...
There are six or seven direct lines of the Kong family alone, plus the relationships of the collateral lines of the Kong family, the total number is at least thirty-seven or eight, and its network of relationships covers the entire Nanyang.
Although the Confucius family was a wealthy businessman who started out as a smelter and had no influence in officialdom or Confucian classics, they could exist in Nanyang for hundreds of years, and their network of relationships was indeed eye-opening.
At this moment, not to mention Liu Bian himself, even the netizens in the live broadcast room couldn't help but get excited:
"Holy shit! Is the Kong family so powerful? Are they actually related by marriage to the Deng family, Yin family, Xu family, and Li family in Nanyang?"
"Although the Kong family has moved to Nanyang since the Warring States Period, after hundreds of years of development, the relationship is too huge, right?"
"Isn't he just a blacksmith? How awesome was he in ancient times? My hair is about to explode."
"Which big shot in the history department can explain to me, isn't merchants a cheap profession? Why is the Kong family so awesome?"
"Although the influence of the Kong family does not spread throughout the Nanyang gentry, all key families are involved."
"This guy is a big villain! I'm afraid it won't be that easy to attack the Kong family."
"In the official business of salt and iron, all those who have anything to do with salt and iron are wealthy businessmen. The Mi family of Donghai seems to have made their fortune by boiling salt."
"Master Ben has hit the iron plate this time."
"Well, kick it to the iron plate +1"
"+2"
"+10086"
"..."
A complex network of relationships appeared in Liu Bian's mind.
He only felt numbness on his scalp and coldness on his backbone.
I originally thought of attacking the local tycoons, dividing their land, and giving the Nanyang nobles a wink, but I didn't expect that the Kong family who took the lead in committing crimes was actually such a huge family.
Move one hair and move the whole body!
No wonder experts say that Nanyang is a typical place with "small temples, strong winds, and shallow ponds with many toads." It is indeed not that easy to establish a firm foothold in Nanyang.
Liu Bian thought: "Teacher, the Kong family is so awesome, should we change our goals?"
The voice of the Military Advisor Alliance followed: "Don't worry, Mr. Bian, the experts have taken screenshots of the contents of the letter and will soon draw the relationship network of the Nanyang Kong family. This will help experts analyze the true strength of the Kong family."
"However, the content of this letter is still a bit sparse. There is no clear explanation of the people in his network. For example, which lineage of the Deng family in Nanyang did Kong Ben's wife come from?"
"According to the Nanyang Deng family tree sorted out by historical experts, the hereditary marquises of the Deng family, plus other families, are probably more than ten. It is not clear which lineage of the Deng family Kong Ben's wife came from. The expert's judgment
It has a huge impact.”
If you think about it carefully, it is indeed true.
If Kong Ben's wife was from the Deng clan, the most primitive clan, one can imagine how terrifying its influence would be.
But if he comes from a collateral line of the Deng family, his status is even lower than that of Deng Zhan, and his influence is almost negligible.
Of course, as a member of the Kong family, Kong Ben would not marry a poor noblewoman, but he was a merchant after all, and it might not be that easy to marry a daughter of the Deng family.
Although the Deng family is in decline, not everyone can afford it. Even if Kong Ben wanted to eat swan meat, the old man Deng Xun would probably despise him.
As the experts say.
If you don't understand how deep the influence of the Kong family is, you may really be intimidated by this behemoth.
Experts always go deep into the root causes of problems when analyzing them. How can they easily draw conclusions based on a letter alone?
"Master Ben, don't worry."
The Military Advisor Alliance reassured them again: "The Kong family is indeed a big villain. If Master Bian can knock it out, the deterrent effect on the Nanyang nobles can be imagined."
"In a sense, the existence of the Kong family is of positive significance to our strategy of attacking, pulling in, and killing some groups. We can completely classify the Nanyang gentry through the Kong family."
Liu Bian didn't know if the experts were really comforting him, but after listening to what the military advisor alliance said, Liu Bian did become calmer, and the little flame in his heart burned again.
"Your Highness."
"Your Highness?"
...
Liu Bian seemed to be stunned for a long time: "Oh, it's okay."
Xun Yu breathed a long sigh of relief and said softly: "Your Highness, the forces of the Kong family are intricately connected. If you want to attack him, I'm afraid it won't be that easy. Once the involvement is serious, I'm afraid it will be difficult to end it."
"Wen Ruo."
Liu Bian handed the letter back to Xun Yu and said with blazing eyes: "Don't rush to conclusions yet. Please reply to Governor Tang quickly and ask him to carefully sort out the specific situation of the Kong family's power."
"The contents must at least include the specific identities of the direct daughter-in-law and son-in-law of the Kong family. Whether it is the Deng family or the Yin family, is it the clan family or a branch? Different identities have different influences."
Xun Yu bowed his head and said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I have already arranged these matters, but it still takes some time."
Wang Zuo's talent is indeed great, and he has actually achieved the goal again.
Liu Bian nodded with great interest: "Wen Ruo is indeed a talented person like Wang Zuo. He can see Gu Xin at a glance."
Xun Yu bowed his head and said, "This is my duty. However, Your Highness, we can only live frugally during this period. I have already sent people to Nanyang for the good news of the victory at Dagonguan, but even so, there will be at least ten seconds in between."
day."
"and......"
At this point, Xun Yu frowned slightly and said with melancholy: "After this discussion is over, we must return to Nanyang and raise thousands of war horses. It is still a big burden for us now."
The Central Plains region has always been dominated by farming, lacking natural pastures and insufficient conditions for large-scale horse domestication. Therefore, war horses were very precious in the ancient Central Plains.
certainly!
For Liu Bian, this preciousness is not in terms of quantity, but in terms of feeding costs.
Using the land to grow grass and raise war horses is, in a sense, taking food from the people, because the cost of raising horses is really too high.
According to expert speculation, based on the yield of the soil in the late Han Dynasty, the land required to raise a horse, if used to grow grain, could feed at least twenty-five people.
Based on this calculation, the land required to support 10,000 war horses can support at least 250,000 people, accounting for almost one-tenth of the entire Nanyang population.
Even if Liu Bian had the idea of killing local tyrants and harvesting land, it would still be a big burden to feed these war horses and even take care of food, livestock and other businesses.
Liu Bian had never considered these issues, but Xun Yu was already thinking about it, and even faintly fell into sorrow. You must know that not only the horses, but also soldiers, all needed to be fed by him.
"Master Ben, don't worry."
Liu Bian's slightly frowned eyebrows attracted the attention of the military advisor alliance: "Experts have already thought of the problems that Xun Yu can think of. The food problem can be solved with hybrid rice, so there is no need to worry about this."
"As for pasture to feed war horses, experts have also provided solutions."
"oh?"
Liu Bian's interest increased and he asked urgently: "Experts actually have a way? Tell me quickly."
The Military Advisor Alliance said softly: "Master Bian must have heard of Alfalfa, right?"
"Alfalfa?"
Liu Bian's eyes suddenly brightened, and a plant flashed in his mind: "But the kind of thing that is given to livestock in the countryside?"
Military Advisor Alliance: "Yes, that's it! There are three types of alfalfa, the most famous of which is alfalfa that can be used as pasture. It is native to Iran and was introduced from the Western Regions during the Western Han Dynasty."
"It is a pity that since this plant was introduced, the ancients failed to make full use of it in the following two thousand years. It was not until modern times that it gained the reputation of the 'King of Forage'."
"Alfalfa is shaped like a clover. It is resistant to drought, has high yields and is of high quality. It can also improve the soil environment. Therefore, it is well known. It is cultivated on a large scale and can support 100,000 horses, not to mention 10,000."
Liu Bian was very excited.
I have to admit that the Military Advisor Alliance is really awesome.
To feed the population, hybrid rice technology is the foundation;
To feed war horses, all you need to do is find alfalfa and plant it in a large area.
The most important thing is that alfalfa is a plant that is drought tolerant and will not compete with hybrid rice at all.
In other words, planting alfalfa will not take away food from the people. It can be planted on dry land.
Liu Bian thought to himself: "Where can I find alfalfa? Is it available in Nanyang?"
The voice of the Military Advisor Alliance paused slightly: "Experts really don't know where it was during the Han Dynasty, but currently it is mainly in the northwest, north China, northeast, and Jianghuai areas of our country."
"According to the current geography, Nanyang belongs to Henan and Central China. Therefore, it is not certain whether it existed during the Han Dynasty. It is best to go out and find out the advice of experts."
"Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and Hao Zhao are all from Bingzhou. Master Bian can send people back to pick up their relatives to come to Nanyang. At the same time, send people to look for this kind of thing according to the map. Given the current season, it should be found soon."
"If Mr. Bian feels that it is not safe, you can send people to Guanzhong, Jizhou, Youzhou and other places to search. No matter which way people can find alfalfa, there will be no shortage of forage in the future."
Liu Bian thought to himself: "Okay! It's good to be in Nanyang."
Military Advisor Alliance: "Yes, you can also find one in Nanyang."
"Just right."
Liu Bian secretly rejoiced: "I originally came from a rural background. I used to raise mules and cows at home. I am very familiar with alfalfa. I can draw it and explain it with text."
The Military Advisor Alliance said softly: "Experts have known about Mr. Bian's family for a long time, so they directly asked you if you have heard of alfalfa."
Liu Bian nodded slowly: "That's it."
After a long silence, he suddenly nodded with a smile, which once again made Xun Yu confused: "Your Highness, are you..."
Only then did Liu Bian come to his senses and heaved a sigh of relief: "Wen Ruo, I thought there was an ancient book in Dongguan. There is a plant recorded in it that is not only resistant to drought, but also has extremely high yields. The most important thing is that it is also
Can raise war horses."
"oh?"
Xun Yu looked surprised and asked hurriedly: "There is actually a record of this thing in ancient books?"
Liu Bian nodded: "Well, it was introduced from the Western Regions. Its name is alfalfa. When it blooms, it is a purple flower. I still remember its appearance and characteristics. I will draw it for you later and send someone to find it.
"
"As long as we can find this kind of plant and sow it on suitable dry land, it can be used as a special horse farm in the future, not to mention just 10,000 horses, or even 100,000 horses. It won't be a problem."
Xun Yu had a look of disbelief on his face: "Your Highness is well-read and has a photographic memory. I really admire him very much."
Liu Bian smiled indifferently and responded cheekily: "I was born like this, and there is nothing I can do about it! Get the silk quickly, and after I have finished the painting, I will immediately send someone to copy it, and send a copy back to Nanyang first, so that County Sheriff Tang can search for it in Nanyang."
Xun Yu bowed his head and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I'll leave it to you."
Immediately.
Xun Yu stepped aside, took some clean silk, and spread it flat on Shuai Gu.
Liu Bian had certain painting skills. According to the appearance in his memory, and with the guidance of the Military Advisor Alliance, he painted the alfalfa in a short time, supplemented it with text descriptions, dried the ink, and handed it to Xun Yu: