I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 272 Borrowing a Red Hare
"Great stuff! Really great stuff!"

Lu Bu, Liu Ye, and others drooled over the horse armor that the Zhen family had brought this time.

Although it is a defective product, its basic structure can still be seen.

The horse armor was lined with tough, thick cowhide and secured with iron plates on the outside.

When Lü Bu touched the horse armor, his first thought was how terrifying it would be if he put it on Red Hare.
With Red Hare's already robust physique, if it were covered with such horse armor, it would be an unstoppable force on the battlefield!
Liu Miao picked up a piece of the "face curtain" and weighed it in his hand for a few moments, then asked Liu Ye, "Ziyang? How about it? Can you replicate it?"

Liu Ye tapped his armor, then nodded and shook his head at Liu Miao.

"If we only consider the art of iron smelting, since the invention of the Su Iron technique, Jiangdong has become no less advanced than Hebei. Although the art of making armor is complex, it is not difficult to make it if you find a craftsman to learn from for a period of time."

"I am actually considering two other things now."

"Which two things?"

"Raw materials and uses."

Liu Ye turned the horse armor over so that Liu Miao could see inside.

"These are all leather armors made from the finest cowhide."

"Jiangdong has no shortage of iron, but it lacks livestock, especially oxen for plowing."

"It will be extremely difficult to gather enough raw materials to mass-produce this kind of armor in a short period of time."

"also……"

Liu Ye tapped the horse armor with his finger, and a crisp sound immediately followed.

"This horse armor must weigh at least fifty pounds."

“It is not easy to find a warhorse that can carry such weight and charge.”

"Although most of the warhorses in Jiangdong were obtained by our lord from Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, they obviously couldn't send the best warhorses to the south... They might not be defective, but they didn't have that many good horses."

"Therefore, it seems that forming a heavy cavalry force will not be easy!"

Liu Ye truly deserves his reputation as a genius who can tinker with such amazing gadgets as the "Thunderbolt Car" all by himself at home.

After observing for only a short while, he immediately pointed out two problems with Liu Miao.

If the problems of animal hides and warhorses cannot be solved, even if the iron smelting and forging technology in Jiangdong is perhaps on par with, or even surpasses, that of Hebei, it will still be impossible to mass-produce heavy cavalry like Yuan Shao.

"..."

"We still have to do it!"

On the battlefield of Youzhou, the power of the heavy cavalry has already been demonstrated.

As the only strategic force in modern warfare that can deliver the decisive blow, even if Liu Miao doesn't use it, it is absolutely indispensable!

Especially since the future battlefield is destined to be the Central Plains, a flat area suitable for cavalry charges, the presence or absence of heavy cavalry will have a significant impact on the war.

We absolutely must get heavy cavalry!
Now that Yuan Shao has just defeated Gongsun Zan, he still needs time to consolidate Youzhou, which gives Liu Miao time to develop.

“Animal hides… I’ll call Kongming over later and have him think of some ideas too.”

"Warhorses... if all else fails, send someone to Guanzhong or Liangzhou to buy them at a high price."

"also……"

Liu Miao suddenly glanced at Lü Bu, a look that immediately terrified Lü Bu: "I have no good horses under my command!"

"General, you are joking. If Red Hare is not a good horse, then there are probably no good horses in the world."

Even though Liu Miao didn't know much about horses, he still drooled over Lu Bu's Red Hare, which was as big as a small mountain.

Lu Bu's expression became even more unnatural: "But there's only one Red Hare!"

"Who said there's only one left?"

Liu Miao reminded Lü Bu: "General, have you forgotten the three thousand mares we just brought from Youzhou?"

"Let Red Hare work a little harder; it shouldn't take too long to raise three thousand horses!"

"..."

At this moment, Lu Bu's gaze towards Liu Miao carried a chilling intent! This was hardly the case of treating Red Hare as a stud.
This is clearly an attempt to kill Red Hare!

Three thousand mares? Wouldn't that make Red Hare so exploitative?

Even Liu Ye couldn't stand it anymore and quickly tried to dissuade Liu Miao: "My lord, it's not that bad! It really isn't that bad!"

"Moreover, a mare's pregnancy lasts a year, and a foal can only be ridden after it has grown to four years old and is fully grown. How could they possibly keep up with the war against Yuan Shao?"

Liu Ye, who adhered to the rules, ruthlessly cut off Liu Miao's unrealistic ideas and quickly kicked Liu Miao out to prevent him from coming up with any more bad ideas later.

"call!"

Liu Miao went to the courtyard to wash his face and realized that he seemed to be a little too eager for quick success.

It must be said that Yuan Shao's sudden attack on the enemy this time was quite unexpected.

Whether in terms of logistical arrangements or on-the-spot command, Yuan Shao demonstrated the qualities of a hegemonic warlord in this battle.

Especially the heavily armed cavalry that was hidden away, Liu Miao still couldn't find a way to deal with them.

Perhaps, but it's clearly not something that can be accomplished within a year, or even less.

The only solution now is to develop heavy cavalry as well!

However, the disadvantages of the South, with its scarcity of cattle and horses, were magnified at this moment, leaving Liu Miao feeling constrained and unsure of where to begin his journey...

"The South is indeed at a natural disadvantage."

Once separated from the Yangtze River, there are still waterways such as the Han River, Si River, and Huai River, and the lack of horses becomes the biggest constraint on tactics.

Their mobility was already inferior to Yuan Shao's on the Central Plains battlefield. If they were targeted by heavy cavalry, they would be doomed!
As Liu Miao pondered how to solve the two problems in forming a heavy cavalry, Zhuge Liang also entered the courtyard.

"Kongming looks quite well!"

"I am originally from Langya and have lived here since childhood, so my complexion is naturally good."

"Stop changing the subject! Kongming knows what I'm talking about!"

Liu Miao approached Zhuge Liang and gave an awkward smile—

"Aren't the new concubines I've brought you quite nice?"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The usually composed Zhuge Liang suddenly started coughing.

After Guan Jing escorted Gongsun Zan's family to Qingzhou, Liu Miao submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that his son Gongsun Xu inherit Gongsun Zan's title and appoint official positions to his other sons, thus fulfilling Gongsun Zan's entrustment.

As for the concubines who had no children, they were all given away by Liu Miao to his generals and officers.

Zhuge Liang was naturally among them.

At that time, Liu Miao wished he could give all of Gongsun Zan's concubines and daughters to Zhuge Liang.

After all, Liu Miao had said he would give Zhuge Liang an explanation.

If it weren't for Zhuge Liang's strong refusal and his elder brother Zhuge Jin's vigilant protection of him, fearing that his younger brother would be corrupted by Liu Miao... Zhuge Liang's number of wives and concubines would probably have surpassed Liu Miao's to become number one!
Unfortunately, in the end, Liu Miao could only force Gongsun Zan's daughter into Zhuge Liang's bed and instructed Zhuge Liang: "Young man, don't put all your energy into making achievements and restoring the Han Dynasty! Wouldn't it be better if you had ten or eight children with him?"

So when Liu Miao saw that Zhuge Liang looked quite well, he immediately knew that Zhuge Liang must have been slacking off!

"Kongming, why do you always make yourself so tired? Wouldn't it be better to stroll through brothels and listen to entertainment? Have you ever seen the acrobatics of Jiaozhi? Those elephants..."

Liu Miao, who was trying to "corrupt" Zhuge Liang, suddenly paused.

"elephant?"

Seeing that Liu Miao had finally shifted the topic away from him, Zhuge Liang quickly pressed on, asking, "What happened to the elephant?"

"Kong Ming."

"Ok?"

"Have you ever... worn elephant skin before?"

(End of this chapter)