Yang Fan and others returned to the dock in the south of Jiuyuan City. Everyone got off the boat. Yang Fan was going back to his villa. Zhang Wudian was going back to the camp of the soldiers and civilians he had brought. Tomorrow, they will go back.
The grain and grass from Shanxi have been shipped and the matter has been settled. It is time for them to return to Taiyuan to resume their duties.
"Uncle Dingyuan, I have a heartfelt request. I hope it will be convenient for you." Zhang Wudian said with some embarrassment.
He always prided himself on being noble, so it was a bit embarrassing for him to talk about personal interests with a junior like Yang Fan.
"In his seventies, Mr. Zhang worked hard all the way to carry food and grass for my army. He worked hard and achieved great results. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know."
Zhang Wudian said: "I heard that Uncle Dingyuan collected a lot of war horses from Ordos. Can you sell me 500 of them? If there are calves, I plan to buy two thousand."
Yang Fan understood immediately upon hearing this that the Zhang family planned to equip their own private army. Their family was a prominent local family, and it was normal to have one or two thousand servants. Nowadays, which big family, aristocratic family, or wealthy family in the Ming Dynasty is not like this.
"There's no problem with that. Tomorrow I'll ask Zhang Geda to take you to the pasture in the south of the Yellow River. You can choose your own horses and cattle. The price will be the same."
Zhang Wudian was overjoyed. War horses are a scarce resource.
Especially the Mongolian war horses are much better than those of the Ming Dynasty.
There are only a few producing areas for horses in the Ming Dynasty. The best ones are the horses from the Hehuang Valley, that is, those from Xining. Then there are the Hetao horses, which are Ordos horses. The third ones are horses raised by horse households in Hebei and Shandong. The worst
The one is Sichuan Horse.
The Sichuan horses in the southwest are about the same size as donkeys. The cavalry cannot wear armor when riding, otherwise they will not be able to carry the load. The majority of the cavalry in the Song Dynasty were Sichuan horses. This is because Xixia occupied the Hetao and Hehuang Valleys. The Liao Kingdom occupied Monan and Liaodong. The Great Song Dynasty
There are no horses except Sichuan horses.
The Song army had no choice but to combine crossbowmen with Sichuan horses. As a result, the Song Dynasty's cavalry only had 10% of long weapons, and the rest were mainly swords and bows. The Liao could not defeat the Jin, and the Song could not defeat the Liao and He.
In Xixia, an important reason is that horses are not good enough.
It's the same reason as today's army cannot do without good tanks.
Seeing that the world is unstable, the Zhang family plans to recruit a cavalry of their own. A cavalry regiment of 500 people is not a small force. It can move sideways in the local area.
In the past two years, Shaanxi has been in chaos. Qinshui is in southern Shanxi, and a large number of idle refugees have begun to riot. All the aristocratic families are strengthening their private armies. They dare not use sensitive shotguns and artillery, but they equip their servants with war horses.
It's still possible. The Ming Dynasty did not prohibit people from raising horses, and even encouraged them.
After all, they are a large family with thousands of people, a large landowner with a land of 100,000 acres, and Wu Bao. Without a certain number of private soldiers, they probably won't be able to sleep.
Seeing that Yang Fan agreed so happily, Zhang Wudian tried to ask: "Can you sell some of the firearms that have been eliminated in the army to my Zhang family?"
He saw that Yang Fan had many firearms here, which were very advanced. He probably no longer needed the old three-eye blunderbuss.
"This is a bit embarrassing. I have allocated all the old firearms that have been eliminated to Yan Yingyuan's 20,000 regiment for training. The war is about to begin. These firearms are still insufficient and cannot be transferred to Mr. Zhang. But I can give you a note.
, Duke Zhang sent people to Zunhua Xinghe Iron Factory to purchase 10,000 kilograms of steel ingots. Duke Zhang can make weapons, armor, and firearms by himself."
Zhang Wudian cupped his hands and said, "That's very good. I'd like to thank Uncle Dingyuan first."
Yang Fan waved his hand and said: "The Zhang family is full of loyal people who have shed blood for the Ming Dynasty and made meritorious service. A few steel ingots are not worth mentioning."
Thinking of leaving tomorrow, Zhang Fengyi was a little reluctant to leave. She took Yang Fan's arm and said, "Brother Yang, we are going back tomorrow. I don't know if there will be a chance to meet again in the future. Thank you for teaching me so much."
Military knowledge.”
Yang Fan smiled and said: "There will be. By the way, I promise you that I will have someone deliver your book to you later."
Huo looked at Zhang Fengyi with a worried look on her face. However, she didn't say anything.
Early the next morning, the Zhang family, led by Zhang Geda, broke camp and went to the horse farm in Henan.
After they selected their cattle and horses, they went directly east from the Ordos Plateau, passed through Dongsheng City, crossed the Yellow River, entered Shanxi via Pianguan, and then returned to Qinshui along Shuozhou, Xinzhou, Taiyuan, Changzhi.
Zhang Fengyi and Huo both like good horses, and they are very happy.
"Uncle Dingyuan really helped us a lot. You can't buy so many good horses in Shanxi no matter how much money you spend." Huo said with some gratitude.
Now that there is turmoil everywhere in Shanxi, she is also very anxious to strengthen her own arms.
"Yes, there are still two thousand cattle. Now that we have water for irrigating the land and enough cattle for farming, there is no problem in doubling the grain output. It is enough to feed the people who depend on our Zhang family." Zhang Wudian
said.
"Grandpa, I'm a little worried about this child Xiaoqing." Huo suddenly sighed and said.
Zhang Wudian said: "Why are you worried about her?"
"It's not like you haven't noticed that her eyes are glued to Uncle Dingyuan." Huo said worriedly.
"Haha, I thought it was something. At Xiaoqing's age, he has just started to fall in love. Uncle Dingyuan is also a young hero, with a high position and a handsome person. What's so surprising about attracting girls."
"Then you're not worried?"
"What are you worried about? Are you worried that Uncle Dingyuan will have a problem, or are you worried that Xiaoqing will have a problem? I have watched countless people. Uncle Dingyuan is young, mature and stable. He is not a person who can't manage his own feelings. Xiaoqing
Qing was promised to someone since she was a child. Although she was not married, she still had a husband. How could Uncle Dingyuan be so shameless and do such extraordinary things? Besides, Xiao Qing, a child who knows the general situation and knows how to advance and retreat, would ignore her family.
Are you acting wantonly? You just think too much."
Huo lowered his head and thought for a while, and said: "Grandpa, I am a person who has been here before. How could I not understand Xiaoqing's thoughts? She is about to reach the age of leaving the court. It is not easy for a woman in her life, so let her be a girl.
Just be happy when you can be happy. So I didn't care about her too much."
Huo looked at Zhang Fengyi who was riding a black horse and roping a horse in the racecourse. Her face was covered with sweat and her bangs were stuck to the front of her forehead. She looked excited.
"Then what are you worried about?"
"Grandpa, I haven't read much. The singing in the opera is good. As a young man, love doesn't know where it starts, and it goes deep. People are most afraid of meeting someone who will never forget it in their lives at an ignorant age. Dingyuan
I am a dragon and a phoenix among men, so outstanding and dazzling. I am afraid that she will miss Yang Fan for the rest of her life."
Zhang Wudian nodded, this is a quote from "The Romance of the West Chamber".
"Feng Yi is a child who has been grand and like Mulan since she was a child. She lost her father when she was young and practiced martial arts hard just to avenge Jian Nu. Born in such an era of troubled times, personal feelings are insignificant. A person with a mission and
A person with a sense of responsibility will bury his emotions deeply in his heart and make the right choice."