My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 514 The Three Treasures of the Cavalry
Upon hearing Kuai Yue's words, Kuai Qi had no choice but to stand up, a hint of resentment in his expression.

In his view, with Kuai Yue's strategic planning, Jiaozhou was nothing more than a fish in a jar, a bird in a cage, and would fall in no time. Shi Xie's surrender now would only diminish his uncle's achievements; wouldn't the great merit of conquering cities and capturing strongholds be far greater than this?
It's a shame that Shi Weiyan, being so cunning and treacherous, surrendered so easily, showing absolutely no backbone.

Kuai Yue, however, did not notice his nephew's inner grumbling, because his mind was on something else.

“Yuanji, when your uncle met with General Zuo before, he praised your talent and wanted you to join his staff. Your uncle was unaware of your intentions and dared not agree rashly, and General Zuo did not press you. Now that the situation in Jiaozhou has been stabilized, as long as Shi Weiyan is rational, he will not have any intention of rebelling again.”

Kuai Yue picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then continued, "I kept you by my side before to train you. Now that everything is settled, keeping you by my side would only hinder your future. I intend to personally submit a memorial to General Zuo, earnestly requesting that you be accepted into his staff. What do you think?"

Kuai Qi was quite surprised, and a look of unease appeared on his face. He asked incredulously, "General Zuo once praised me?"

Kuai Yue laughed. It seemed his nephew admired General Zuo quite a bit, even taking pride in the latter's praise. Upon reflection, this might not be a bad thing. It would instill in his nephew a sense of admiration and awe for General Zuo, thus avoiding many unnecessary troubles.

"Would your uncle lie to you?"

Kuai Yue said solemnly, "General Zuo has high expectations for you, and has even discussed with your uncle about awarding you the title of Filial and Incorruptible Official."

"Is this true?"

Kuai Qi was overjoyed. He had just turned eighteen and had just come of age two years ago.

Although his two uncles held significant positions in Jingzhou and were highly respected by Liu Biao, and wielded considerable power in the province, securing him a place as a candidate for the civil service examination was still quite a challenge.

Every year, only the Prefect of Nan Commandery and the Governor of Jing Province are qualified to recommend candidates for the position of Filial and Incorruptible Official. Nan Commandery is home to many talented individuals and powerful clans. Putting aside other factors, the Pang family, in terms of prestige and power, is not much weaker than the Kuai family. Moreover, the selection of candidates for the position of Filial and Incorruptible Official is not something that can be determined by one's family background, not to mention that Kuai Qi himself is not the biological son of Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue.

Although Kuai Yue is quite talented, he is merely talented; his talent has not reached the point of standing out, nor has he successfully promoted himself. In addition, he is young, so it seems unlikely that the opportunity to be selected as a candidate for the civil service examination in the next few years will fall to him.

Unexpectedly, Liu Feng directly granted him a spot, which naturally made him overjoyed.

According to the rules of the Eastern Han Dynasty, those recommended for the position of "filial and incorruptible" were to go to Luoyang for further study. The elite among them would be promoted to the position of "Shangshu Lang" (a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel), and their appointments to other posts would start as county magistrates. The average "filial and incorruptible" candidate would be appointed as a county magistrate.

However, now that we are in a chaotic world, the candidates from various places who are filial and incorruptible no longer go to Luoyang for further studies, but are directly employed as candidates for official positions based on their qualifications.

Although the lack of central government experience and connections significantly lowered the threshold for entering officialdom.

With the help of Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang, it will be much easier to get promoted in the future.

Looking at the events of this year, Kuai Qi was able to follow Kuai Yue in first conquering Jingnan and then invading Jiaozhou. Wasn't that all thanks to Kuai Yue?
As a clerk, Kuai Qi may not be able to achieve any great feats, but these small merits are accumulated without any risk. In the future, he will surely be promoted faster than his colleagues. This is the foundation of a prestigious family.

Given a good opportunity, Kuai Qi's chances of winning are far greater than his peers; being one step ahead naturally leads to being ahead in every step.

"Of course it's true."

Kuai Yue frowned and reprimanded, "Do you think General Zuo and Uncle Wei would play tricks on you?"

Seeing his uncle's anger, Kuai Qi quickly apologized, "Uncle, please don't be angry. I misspoke. I was just too happy to ask that question."

Kuai Yue's anger subsided, and he calmly asked, "Are you still going to General Zuo's headquarters or not?"

Kuai Qi quickly made a decision and immediately stated, "Nephew is willing to go."

"good."

A smile flashed across Kuai Yue's face: "In that case, you should prepare in advance. Once the matter in Jiaozhou is settled, I will send you to Yangzhou to report back. At that time, the Left General should keep you here."

Kuai Qi quickly thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Uncle."

"No need to thank me."

Kuai Yue shook his head, then added, "In my opinion, General Zuo values ​​practical matters more than empty talk. If you stay in General Zuo's staff, you must avoid grand pronouncements and focus on practical matters. Do more and talk less, and never complain. Do you understand?"

Kuai Qi carefully remembered Kuai Yue's words and nodded in response, "Nephew, I've got it."

"good."

Kuai Yue smiled with satisfaction and then instructed, "Make a copy of this document and send it out. Once the army is replenished, set off immediately without delay. All county officials should take up their posts as soon as possible. Send an order to Commandant Wei that I will arrive in Jiaozhi Guangbian by the middle of next month and tour the counties of Jiaozhi. Let him select five hundred elite guards to accompany me."

Cangwu Guangxin is not far from Panyu in the South China Sea, only two or three hundred li away. You can reach Panyu by traveling east along the Yu River. From there, you can take a sea route to Jiaozhi and reach Longbian City directly.

Traveling light and simply, it will only take a dozen days to reach the destination.

In order to reach Jiaozhi as soon as possible, stabilize the situation, and solidify the result of Shi Xie's surrender, Kuai Yue naturally couldn't wait for the main army to move. He wanted to select several hundred elite guards to set off first, traveling light, so as to reach Longbian in Jiaozhi as soon as possible.

Kuai Qi wanted to persuade the other party to be careful, but seeing the determination in his uncle's eyes, he knew that Kuai Yue's mind was made up and there was no way he could be persuaded. He could only reply, "Yes!"

**
Liu Feng continued to inspect the army in Shouchun, focusing on the cavalry.

At this time, the cavalry in the Cuifeng and Wanlan armies had begun to change their equipment to the three essential cavalry items, including horseshoes, stirrups, and saddles.

In fact, besides horseshoes, stirrups and saddles had already appeared long ago, but these stirrups and saddles did not belong to the three treasures of cavalry, or rather, they were the obsolete three treasures of cavalry, because these stirrups were all single-sided stirrups, which were used to make it easier for knights to mount their horses, and the same was true for saddles, which were used to improve the riding experience of knights.

The single-sided stirrups of this era came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with no uniform design; some were simply a rope tied in a knot. The same was true for saddles; the most primitive ones were nothing more than a piece of cloth or fur tied to the horse's back.

While it did have some use, it was better than nothing and did not deserve to be considered one of the three treasures of cavalry in the true feudal era.

The true three treasures of a cavalryman in the feudal era refer to the double stirrups and the high-bridged saddle. The stirrups on both sides are suitable for the rider's leg length and have at least four functions: first, they help the rider maintain balance; second, they increase the ways to control the horse; third, they distribute the body weight, reduce the pressure on the legs and hips, making the rider more comfortable and the rider and horse more coordinated.

Most importantly, the stirrups allow riders to use them more effectively, conveniently, and safely to generate power, making it possible to ride with both hands off the reins. The Takahashi saddle serves a similar function to the double stirrups, securing the rider's buttocks within the saddle while also fulfilling the four functions mentioned above.

The combination of these two factors greatly enhanced the cavalry's combat power, completely overwhelming the infantry.

"My lord, these high-bridged saddles and double stirrups are truly remarkable. With them, our cavalry will be like tigers with wings."

Zhang Liao followed Liu Feng and praised the high-bridged saddle and double stirrups: "In my humble opinion, with these two things, the cavalry's combat strength can at least double, and after practice, it is not impossible to increase it by three times."

Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction. Seeing Zhang Liao so happy, he felt quite pleased with himself.

It's important to know that producing these three essential items for cavalry is quite expensive. Stirrups and horseshoes require a large amount of refined iron. Each pair of stirrups requires three catties of refined iron, and a set of four horseshoes requires five catties of refined iron. Just these more than 10,000 sets of stirrups and horseshoes alone consumed more than 80,000 catties of refined iron. Calculated at 40 catties per set of armor, this refined iron could have been used to forge more than 2,000 sets of armor.

But good cavalry is far superior to infantry; the two sides are on completely different levels in terms of mobility.

If he weren't short of money, Liu Feng would have even considered adjusting the allocation of the Cui Feng and Wan Lan armies, adding one or three more dragon cavalry battalions to them to support the cavalry in strategic maneuver missions.

Unfortunately, there was a shortage of horses, fine iron, vehicles, and personnel, so the matter had to be temporarily shelved.

"Gongming, Demou, Yigong, what are your thoughts?"

Liu Feng turned his attention to Xu Huang, Cheng Pu, and Han Dang. Cheng Pu and Han Dang may not be as historically significant as Xu Huang, and even less so than Zhang Liao, but they were both extremely rare top-tier cavalry generals in the Jiangdong army.

Later, when Sun Quan was utterly defeated by Zhang Liao in Hefei, Cheng Pu had already died of illness, and Han Dang was also heavily wounded and did not accompany him.

With Cheng Pu and Han Dang present to command the cavalry, Zhang Liao would find it much harder to charge in so easily. Cheng Pu and Han Dang were responsible for commanding cavalry when they served under Sun Jian. Moreover, their opponents were the elite cavalry of Xiliang, Bingzhou, and Sanhe at their peak.

Among them was Zhang Liao, who followed Lü Bu to reinforce the southern battlefield. The two sides most likely clashed in the Battle of Yangrenju.

This shows that Cheng Pu and Han Dang were highly skilled in cavalry combat. Even if they were not as good as Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, they were not far behind, and at least they were capable of fighting.

Unfortunately, after the deaths of Cheng Pu and Han Dang, two cavalry generals who were guaranteed at least A-level, the Jiangdong army no longer had any cavalry generals of B-level or higher.

With Cheng Pu and Han Dang's discerning eye, they could naturally see the superiority of the three cavalry treasures and the improvements they brought.

The thought that Liu Feng was willing to hand over such a powerful weapon to them filled Cheng Pu and Han Dang, who revered Sun Jian like a god, with mixed feelings. They even had a vague idea that Liu Feng's magnanimity was no less than that of their old lord, and his abilities were even better.

"My lord, with the aid of such a powerful weapon, even an enemy three to five times our size would be no match for us."

Cheng Pu said sincerely, "Your Excellency's abilities are truly admirable."

Compared to Cheng Pu, Han Dang was even more tongue-tied, and could only nod repeatedly from the side, his rough hands gently stroking Gao Qiao's saddle, clearly showing his extreme affection for it.

"What Demou said is quite right, but we must not underestimate the enemy or be careless."

Liu Feng first agreed with Cheng Pu's statement, but then he cautioned, "You must know that with great power comes great responsibility. The cavalry is now responsible for making the final decision in the decisive battle. They must have the spirit of never regretting their death, of being invincible, and of breaking through enemy lines with bloodshed when necessary. This is far beyond what we used to be."

Not only Cheng Pu and Han Dang, but also Zhang Liao and Xu Huang bowed in agreement.

Liu Feng's approach combined kindness and severity, winning over Zhang Liao and the others.

After watching the cavalry drills for a while, Liu Feng turned to Xu Huang and asked, "Gongming, why are you silent? Today, you and I, as ruler and subject, can speak freely without restraint."

Xu Huang was naturally calm and taciturn, and had always been a man of few words but quick actions.

However, Xu Huang was too silent today. Liu Feng did not want Xu Huang to feel neglected, but he was also curious about what Xu Huang was thinking, so he took the initiative to ask.

If it were anyone else, they would probably apologize first when Liu Feng asked such a sudden question.

Xu Huang, however, seemed to have expected it all along, showing no surprise whatsoever. This was simply his personality, a kind of composure that remained unmoved even when Mount Tai collapsed before him.

Xu Huang replied earnestly, "I think horseshoes are extremely rare. With them, not only will warhorses be able to gallop more easily, but they will also not become useless if the hooves are damaged. Moreover, it is much more convenient to use weapons such as horse bows and spears on horseback now. One can even hold a spear in one hand and a round shield in the other, with the shield protecting both the rider and the horse at the same time."

Upon hearing this, Liu Feng immediately burst into laughter. Xu Huang had just described the greatest benefit of horseshoes.

Before the advent of horseshoes, cavalrymen were quite vulnerable because their horses were too prone to stumbling.

Not only do warhorses' hooves wear out quickly—hooves can naturally regenerate before they're completely worn away, but once the keratin layer is gone, it's irreversible—but without horseshoes, even a fist-sized stone can break a horse's leg.

But with horseshoes, the situation changed completely. Cavalrymen could ride with greater confidence and concentrate more on man-to-man combat.

"Gongming is absolutely right. I was just thinking that with the three treasures of stirrups, saddles, and horseshoes, the cavalry's archery ability will be greatly enhanced."

Zhang Liao also agreed, adding, "My lord, in my opinion, we can increase the intensity of training in archery and horsemanship, so that everyone can shoot."

"Indeed, if we can use cavalry to disrupt the enemy's formation first, it will certainly help the infantry formation gain an advantage."

Cheng Pu also agreed and offered suggestions.

Watching Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and other cavalry generals chatter amongst themselves, Liu Feng was secretly delighted.

After Zhang Liao and the others finished their work, Liu Feng took out a stack of silk scrolls from his bosom and handed them to Zhang Liao and the others: "Wen Yuan, Gong Ming, De Mou, Yi Gong, this silk scroll records the new tactics I have devised. You may take a look at it first."

(End of this chapter)