Xie Ming

Chapter 404: War Horse

Regarding the Ming court's selection and supply of war horses, there is actually clear record. Since the Hongwu reign of Emperor Taizu, institutions such as horse training corps were established!

Later, in order to optimize the selection, he also partnered with the Manchus to open a horse market!
However, because the Chinese tradition is based on farming, at first, the government had no choice but to adopt the measure of raising horses. But this system is really unwise!

As the saying goes, every profession has its specialties, and horse breeding is no exception!

Soon, after several years of practical development, the officials of the Ming court came to realize this deeply and had to rack their brains to find a good strategy!

Finally, it was decided that the war horses would be tamed, handed over to the people, and the court would exercise supervisory power!

At that time, civilians who raised horses could also enjoy benefits such as court subsidies and tax reductions!

All you have to do is to supply horses to the yamen according to the quota when the time comes!
but!
As the old saying goes, everything has two sides. If we put the policy aside for a while, it will breed greed and corruption for a long time!

This war horse policy is not immune!
However, the good times did not last long. Officials from various prefectures and cities, seeing that there were horse quotas available, tampered with the indicators for counties and towns, resulting in many places occupying empty horse lists, enriching themselves at the expense of the public interest. But when it came to donating horses at the end of the year, the quality was mixed, and the numbers were filled up with shoddy work. What's worse, it was not uncommon for the donated horse quotas to be empty and the accounts to be falsified, which gradually became the norm!
No way!

In order to curb this chaotic situation, the court had to issue another decree.

All citizens are required to hand over a certain number of horses to the imperial court every year!

Otherwise, severe punishment will be imposed!

This will only make things worse!
The pressure on the people is unprecedented, but those corrupt officials can unscrupulously distribute their own quotas to others in the name of paying taxes!
After so many years, the issue of horse breeding has become a completely disgusting mess!
Even those who are rich and powerful would despise the idea of ​​training horses and sending them to the army to help on the frontier, and would try to avoid it as soon as they hear about horses!

In the end, this also led to the complete collapse of the Ming court's horse breeding industry!
In the following dynasties, horses became increasingly scarce!

Not to mention the selection and training of the best and the worst!
This phenomenon continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty.

The situation of suppressing the rebellion is urgent!

In the north, the Jiannu frequently made disturbances and harassed the northern border.

In the country, anti-civilian rebellions are also brewing in many places!

Suddenly, the demand for war horses in the Ming army increased sharply.

But when it came time to deploy the horses, I realized that by now, the court had donated a large number of horses and the situation was already very embarrassing!
With its small size and poor condition, it has no ability to charge into battle!
But now that things have come to this, it is too late to regret!

It's too late to regret!

On the other hand, the enemy Jurchens and Jiannu have been fishing and hunting for generations, making a living on horseback!
As a result, they are very familiar with horse training, selection, temperament, etc., and have inherited the tradition.

Moreover, since he is located in the north, his geographical location is better than that of the Ming court in the Central Plains, and his horses can gallop on the grassland all day long. Therefore, all his war horses are strong and healthy!

It is no wonder that such a fine horse, paired with a bannerman who is good at riding and shooting, can instantly become an elite cavalryman!

and so!
Now let’s go back to the ambush battle twenty miles north of Pingyuan. We were able to seize three hundred Jiannu war horses. Such a trophy is truly gratifying!

By evening, Xiao Lang led his troops back to Pingyuan County to station!
At night, around 20: p.m.

In the back hall of Pingyuan County Government Office!

Xiao Lang led all the generals in the combined army to hold a grand banquet to reward and celebrate their victory!
After three rounds of drinking, Xiao Jingchuan stood up, raised his glass, and said to Lang with a smile.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"You have fought hard in this battle!"

"The Jiannu Yiding cavalry was defeated at Pingyuan Pass north!"

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

"Everyone, don't worry!"

"After the banquet, I will immediately draft a victory report and send it directly to Nanjing!"

"Everyone's contribution is inseparable from you! Huh?!"

"Hahaha"

Xiao was a little drunk and spoke boldly.

When the generals heard this, their eyes lit up and they all stood up and drank together!

"Thank you, Governor!"

"Thanks"

"Thank you, General." The generals spoke up.

Hearing this, Xiao Zuo pressed his hand, motioning everyone to sit down, and then continued the conversation.

"They are all my fellow brothers, Xiao Jingchuan!"

"We won't talk about those empty formalities at the banquet!"

"Look at the outsiders!"

Xiao Zi was very happy, and the situation was very pleasant!

But at this moment during the banquet, he always felt that something was missing, and he couldn't help but glance at Hu Chen!

"Hehehe!"

"Eh?!"

"Brother Huchen, you haven't said much today!"

"You usually drink a lot, but why did you seem so quiet the other day?! Hahaha!"

"What's going on today?!"

"What are you doing twisting and turning on that stool like a married woman?!"

"Ah?!" Xiao changed the subject and suddenly confronted Hu Chen.

But after hearing this, Hu Chen was stunned.

He looked embarrassed and hesitated for a while before he managed to reply.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"General, this... this is what you said!"

"I, I, Hu Chen, usually don't... I don't always behave like this!"

"I just watched, watching everyone happy!"

"Ah?! Happy!"

"I, I" couldn't get away with it, so I just slapped the corner of the table and straightened my body.

"Ugh!"

"Okay!"

"Hey, Commander!"

"I won't say any more. I, Old Li, will punish myself by eating three bowls of rice!"

"what?!"

"I will punish myself!"

As he spoke, Hu Chen hurriedly bowed his head to the three large bowls in a row in front of him, picked up the jar of wine and drank from them!

If you want to understand why this tiger minister behaves like this today, it is not difficult to guess!
It’s just about Yuan Ping’s matter!

Although the battle was over in the evening, this tiger minister was the first to report Yuan Ping's disappearance to Governor Xiao.

But at that time, because the combined army was about to return south to Pingyuan County, Xiao was stunned, but he also talked a lot about it.

The commander-in-chief kept silent about this, and Li Huchen, the evil fellow, became even more nervous!

After all, no matter what the reason is, the fact is that I was unable to send Yuan Ping to fulfill his guardianship responsibilities!

If Xiao Lang blamed Yan Zhun for this and cursed him out to vent his anger, and then Yan Zhun found the culprit and imposed a penalty, he would feel at ease!
But in this way, if he doesn't mention it or correct it, Hu Chen will feel uneasy and worried, and he will feel very uncomfortable!
So at this moment, seeing that they were at the banquet, the governor suddenly came and stabbed him, but the black guy didn't care and just died!

At worst, one life for another!

With this thought in mind, Li Huchen slammed the table and stood up. After filling three large bowls with wine, he did not hesitate and just grabbed the bowl and started drinking!
Tons, tons, tons!
Finish the whole bowl in one breath!
Without further ado, pick up two more bowls!
At this critical juncture, many of the generals gathered around the table also knew the clues of this matter.

So at this time, no one wanted to say anything extra!

We were all rough soldiers, and whenever we had a drinking party, it was always full of bragging, chattering, shouting, and chaos!
But at this moment, the situation was so unusually quiet that it became extremely stiff and awkward!

(End of this chapter)