Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 422: The dispute between Jinling Academy and the capital

The question of whether racehorses are suitable as war horses is actually the wrong question. The question should be whether war horses can be used for racing. The answer is yes. Any breed of horse can be used for racing, it's just a matter of how fast or slow they run.

There is no rigid requirement for what kind of horse is suitable to be a war horse. A medium-sized horse with a well-proportioned body, neither too big nor too small, with a shoulder height of 1.5 to 1.7 meters and a weight of 500 to 600 kilograms is the best. There is no distinction between horse breeds. As long as they are carefully raised and trained, they can be used as war horses. Of course, Mongolian horses are definitely not suitable.
Although there are many people who praise the Mongolian horse, saying that it has great endurance, strong adaptability to climate, and can drink ice and eat snow in winter, and dig through the snow to find grass to eat, the Mongolian horse's biggest flaw is that it is too small.

The average shoulder height is only 120 to 135 cm. To put it bluntly, the donkeys in North China can grow up to meters, and the Mongolian horses are not as big as the donkeys in North China. A horse like Lu Jin, who is meters tall, can touch the ground with both feet when riding. Even the Mongols themselves changed horses as soon as they reached Central Asia during the Western Expedition.
They are short in stature and cannot carry armored cavalry. They are slow and cannot outrun tall horses. They cannot even pull artillery. As for cold resistance, the Soviet Union is colder than Mongolia, but the Soviet Union's Budyonny horses, Don horses, and Orlov horses have never been frozen to death.

Of course, it cannot be said that Mongolian horses have no advantages at all. As a means of transportation for herders' daily grazing and for survival on the Mongolian Plateau, Mongolian horses are still very useful. Another advantage is that Mongolian horses have a very high milk production, which may be the highest milk production among small and medium-sized horses. This is probably also selected and bred subconsciously by herders.

After Lu Jin and everyone discussed the new dynasty's horse policy system, they went on to discuss what horse breeds should be introduced, what local horse breeds should be improved, and where the breeding base should be located in the future.

They didn't know much about horse breeds, but Lu Jin proposed several plans. Either introduce some Turkmen horses from Khwarezm, which was the five Central Asian countries in later generations, and crossbreed them with local Gansu-Qinghai horses (Hequ horses from Gansu and Qinghai). However, this road was too long and there were hostile forces along the way. Mongolia still had a great influence in the northwest.

If this route is not feasible, then take the sea route to India. India has a kind of Curled-eared horse, also called the Marwari horse. It is tall and is an excellent war horse breed native to India. It should be the most easily available excellent horse breed now.

If all else fails, they can go to Persia by sea, or go directly to Europe and import a heavy draft horse from Europe to pull artillery. The British Shire Horse, the French Percheron Horse, and the Spanish Horse can all be considered. Lu Jin also changed the Chinese translation of the Percheron horse to "Rock Horse", which describes its sturdy body as hard as a rock.

But you definitely can't go in recent years. Now is the 1353th year of Zhizheng, in the Western calendar, the year when the Black Death broke out in Europe, and it is estimated that it will last for another three to five years.

It was this Black Death that caused an imbalance in Europe's religious population, which ultimately triggered the European Renaissance and Reformation.

When the plague broke out, religious believers flocked to church to pray, which spread the disease faster. Non-believers stayed at home in isolation and survived. After the plague, most of the devout believers died, and the more devout they were, the more they died. If it were you, would you doubt the church?
At this time, Europe was struggling to break free from the shackles of ignorance and religion in death and fear, while China was overthrowing the rule of foreign races under the tempering of iron and blood. The two sides are currently on the same starting line, but with Lu Jin here, the result will naturally be different from the original history. Lu Jin thought that this time, European forces would never be allowed to enter the Pacific again, and China should take the initiative to go out.

After Lu Jin finished chatting about Ma Zheng with everyone, the women had prepared the food, so they had a picnic together by the Yanque Lake. Zhang Yunxiu knew that Lu Jin liked to eat vegetables, so she prepared several stir-fried dishes.

There are many seasonal vegetables in May, including garlic sprouts, spinach, amaranth, water spinach, radish leaves, Chinese toon, broad beans, bitter melon, and cucumber. These vegetables are not easy to come by. It was only after Lu Jin traveled through time that he realized that vegetables in ancient times were more expensive than meat. His food was luxurious.
At lunch, Lu Jin looked at the vegetables on the table and talked about this dish with everyone, "Do you know that there is a kind of yellow sprouts?"

Upon hearing this, Tao An immediately said, "I know, but yellow sprouts are not available until the Mid-Autumn Festival. My lord, it will be difficult to eat them at this time."

Lu Jin waved his hand, "That's not what I meant. I wanted to ask, do you know where yellow sprouts come from?"

Everyone was immediately stumped by this question. Who usually pays attention to this? Yang Xian thought for a while before saying, "I am from Shanxi and have never seen yellow sprouts. It was only after I came to Jiankang to study that I learned about yellow sprouts in the south of the Yangtze River. It seems that this dish has not been around for long. I have not studied the origin of this yellow sprout in detail. Does the lord know?"

Lu Jin nodded. "When we were talking about horse politics just now, I said that through hybridization and breeding of closely related species, some creatures that do not exist in the world can be artificially created. This yellow sprout is likely to have just been born in the past few decades. In my opinion, it is likely a hybrid of cabbage and turnip, both of which are in the cruciferous family."

"This..." Everyone was stunned when they heard this. Qin Conglong immediately asked curiously, "Marshal, can this plant also be hybridized?"

"Of course." Lu Jin nodded. "Plants are also divided into male and female. Since they are divided into male and female, they can mate. Moreover, plants can also be divided into kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. The fact that they can be divided means that there is a relationship between plants.

"For example, cabbage and turnip belong to the same family, the Cruciferae family. Their flowers are both in the shape of a cross with four petals, so they can be considered cousins. A farmer planted these cousins ​​in a vegetable garden. Perhaps a gust of wind or a nectar-collecting butterfly brought turnip pollen to the cabbage flowers, and yellow sprouts were born unexpectedly."

Yang Xian was immediately surprised and asked, "Vegetables can also be divided into male and female?"

This time, before Lu Jin could speak, Zhan Ding, who had been silent, put down his chopsticks and said, "Indeed, I carefully read the Gongshu Secret Book of my lord a while ago, and it is introduced in the book on biology that animals have internal organs, limbs and bones, and plants also have roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits.

"The book says that flowers are the reproductive organs of plants, with stamens inside. Stamens with anthers and pollen are like men's white urine, while pistils without anthers. Plants use nectar as bait to attract insects to suck nectar. When insects fly through the flowers, they complete pollination for the plants, smearing the pollen of the stamens on the stigma of the pistil. The ovary under the flower will breed seeds, just like a woman's uterus. It is really magical.

"But the book also says that most plants are actually hermaphroditic, so if you don't look closely, it's hard to tell the difference between male and female."

People who had never read a biology book were dumbfounded. In the past, there were all kinds of storybooks and myths, saying that flower gods and monsters were all female. Now they were told that flowers also have males, and that pollen is male's white and turbid. This immediately overturned their three views.

Zhan Ding continued, "The book also talks about the method of hybrid breeding, and even proposes a concept that it might be possible to breed high-yield seeds by hybridizing different varieties of rice and wheat, and increase the yield of rice and wheat per mu to hundreds of catties or even thousands of catties per mu, but it does not provide a detailed introduction on how to do it, and I think Gongshu Shi should not be able to do this at present.

"My lord, when you mentioned the hybrid yellow sprouts, you must be talking about this, right?"

"Is there really such a method? Can it increase the yield of rice and wheat per mu so much?" Qin Conglong and others looked at Lu Jin in disbelief, waiting for his confirmation.

Lu Jin nodded immediately, "Indeed there is such a method, but it is more difficult than breeding horses. Guo Qi just said that Gongshu clan has not been able to do it yet. It's not that they don't know how to do it, but if they want to accomplish this, it cannot be accomplished by one family or one surname. It requires the full support of the court of a country, and they cannot change their ways in the middle. It takes decades of consistent investment to see the hope of results.

"So, although Gongshu discovered this method, it can only be recorded in books for the time being, but has not been put into practice. However, we did not have the support of the court before, but in the future, when we establish our own court, it will be different. This matter can be put on the agenda together with horse breeding."

Chen Yu stroked his beard and sighed, "No wonder Gongshuzi compared himself to a ghost or a god. His ability to create things is indeed like a supernatural power. It seems that studying things can really lead to great knowledge."

Lu Jin immediately sighed, "If Emperor Wu of Han had not promoted Confucianism alone and abolished all other schools of thought, and if the agricultural school of thought had not been passed down today, perhaps this thing would have been done long ago. How could the world still suffer from famine? This is Dong Zhongshu's fault!" Everyone fell silent when they heard this. Lu Jin wanted to scold the Confucianists again, but every time he scolded you, you could find no fault with him. If the other schools of thought had not been abolished, and if the agricultural school of thought had continued and could really increase the grain yield per mu several times, then how could so many people starve to death in the world? The Confucianists must be held responsible for this, and they cannot get rid of it at all.

Influenced by Lu Jin, people listen to those miraculous things every day. It would be a lie to say that they have not reflected on it at all. Sometimes they would wonder, could it be that Confucianism is really wrong?

After dinner, everyone took a walk by the lake to digest their food. Lu Jin looked at the scenery by Yanque Lake and suddenly said to everyone, "The scenery here is nice and the location is also very good. I want to choose a place in the east of the city, enclose one or two thousand acres of land, and build a school."

"Academy?" Li Shanchang was stunned when he heard this, and then he asked, "Jixia Academy? Isn't it just like the Imperial College today? But if we want to build an Imperial College, why do we need one or two thousand acres of land? Isn't it a bit too big?"

After Li Shanchang's words, others also realized that if they were just building an Imperial College, it would indeed take less than one or two thousand acres. Such a huge building complex could only be worthy of the word "palace". Could it be that Lu Jin wanted to build a palace but was embarrassed to say it, so he brought up the issue himself and wanted everyone to take the initiative to advise?

However, when Yang Xian, who had just been outdone by Zhan Ding, was about to ask Lu Jin to build the palace directly, Feng Guoyong was the first to understand Lu Jin's true thoughts.

If we build a school palace covering an area of ​​one or two thousand mu in the best location in Jiankang, where will we find land to build the future imperial palace? If we build the school palace now, will we still build the imperial palace?
So Feng Guoyong immediately asked, "My lord, do you not want to establish the capital in Jiankang?"

Lu Jin nodded gently, "Yes, I have this idea."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, wondering why Lu Jin suddenly came up with the idea of ​​building the capital somewhere else.

"Why?" Li Shanchang asked immediately, "Didn't the lord say that Jiankang was a place of great potential and could accomplish great things? And after my army crossed the river, it was indeed smooth sailing. If we make Jiankang our capital, we will have the natural defenses of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers to the north and the wealth of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east. If we don't make Jiankang our capital, where else can we go?"

Lu Jin shook his head and said, "Before crossing the river, I did say that Jiankang is a place where dragons and tigers are stationed, and it can accomplish great things. Moreover, Jinling itself is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Among all the states in the world, the south of the Yangtze River is the richest. If we build the capital here, it will be very comfortable indeed.

"But in my opinion, this place can be used to start a business, but it is not suitable for maintaining a business. If you want to become a king, Jiankang is indeed enough, but if you want to become an emperor, Jiankang is still a little short."

"Why?" Li Shanchang was still puzzled, "Why can't Jiankang keep its business?"

Lu Jin immediately raised his finger and retorted.

"First of all, Jiangnan is a remote corner of the country. It is difficult to rule the nine provinces with only the royal aura. If you do not plan to march north to take back Yanyun and Liaodong, and are willing to be the king of the Southern Dynasty, then you can indeed make your capital here. But looking back at history, count the dynasties that made their capital in Jiankang, is there any that can last long?"

Everyone was silent when they heard this. It is true that none of the dynasties that established their capital in Jiangnan had a long reign.
Lu Jin stretched out another finger and said.

"Secondly, the Northeast is a great threat to the Central Plains. This land is not as simple as you think. The Han Dynasty destroyed Wei's Korea, Cao Cao fought against Wuhuan, the Sui and Tang Dynasties conquered Goguryeo, and during the Song Dynasty, there were Liao and Jin here. There were also other countries such as Bohai and Buyeo. There are countless of them.

"The land of Kyushu has always belonged to China. In the past dynasties, although there have been border troubles in the northwest and north, and there have been powerful forces such as the Xiongnu, Turks, Tubo, and Xianbei, none of them have been able to shake the foundation of China. Only the northeast has caused the destruction of the Central Plains several times, and the powers here have risen and fallen repeatedly. If one is destroyed, it won't take long for another to appear. Why do you think this is so?"

"But isn't Mongolia the enemy to the north?" Tao An asked doubtfully.

"No." Lu Jin immediately retorted, "The true origin of the Mengwuer tribe is actually the Khorchin grassland, and this Khorchin grassland is located in the area traditionally known as the south and north of the desert, at the junction of the Liaohe River Basin in the northeast, and should actually be considered a force from the northeast.

"It's OK to rely on resources in the north and south of the desert to raise a group of horse bandits to plunder the south, but if there is no land in the northeast, there is no hope of rising to become a great power and competing with the Central Plains dynasty for the world.

"So the focus is on the northeast. Although there are enemies in the northwest and due north, they are just minor problems and not a cause for concern."

Feng Guoyong also asked at this time, "Where does the lord want to establish his capital?"

Lu Jin said immediately, "It would be best if we could stay in the northeast and occupy a strategic location. Yanyun in Hebei is the best place to build the capital."

Everyone was very surprised when they heard this. "They originally thought that Lu Jin wanted to go to Henan, Bianliang or Luoyang, but they didn't expect that Lu Jin wanted to go to Dadu?"

Lu Jin continued, "Third, Yanyun has been lost for hundreds of years and is severely separated from the south. Don't doubt what I say, because most of you are thinking about what is in your mind at this moment. How many of you think that Hebei is our land? How many of you are willing to establish the capital in Hebei? I'm afraid few of you are willing to go, right?
"If you are like this, what do the people in the south of the Yangtze River think? What do the people in the north who were abandoned by the former Song think?
"Although I mentioned before that promoting history education could be a way to bridge the gap between the north and the south, it would not be as quick as simply moving the capital to the north."

Lu Jin paused and said, "Fourthly, you all say that Jiangnan is rich, and if we establish our capital in Jiankang, we can use the wealth of Jiangnan nearby. However, I think this is precisely the biggest disadvantage of establishing our capital in Jiankang.

"Why? Mencius said, 'One is born in sorrow and dies in comfort!

"The poem left by the Former Song Dynasty, Beyond the mountains are green mountains, beyond the buildings are buildings, When will the singing and dancing in the West Lake stop? The warm wind makes the tourists drunk, and they mistake Hangzhou for Bianzhou, is the real reason for the fall of the Former Song Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)