Tiger Owl

Chapter 113 Jia Xu Arrives Again
The military horse farm is located in the east of Nanchang County. It is a grassland covering several thousand acres and has only 1,500 warhorses. In fact, there are 2,000 warhorses in Yuzhang County. Of these, 500 have been distributed to various armies. For example, Gan Ning's personal guard has 100 warhorses, and each captain's entourage has about 100 warhorses. In addition, there are warhorses in the scout battalion and the communications battalion.

The 1,500 horses kept here are cavalry warhorses. Three cavalry battalions of the Yuzhang Army are also stationed nearby. The feeding, training, and breeding of the warhorses all take place here.

Of course, there were many other horses in Yuzhang County, such as the horse-drawn carriages on the main streets of various county towns. Those were ordinary horses. The entire Yuzhang Army only had two thousand warhorses.

The cost of raising warhorses is very high. A warhorse needs to eat ten catties of hay and three catties of grain a day. The grain can be black beans or wheat.

A single warhorse consumes over a thousand catties of grain per year, so two thousand warhorses would consume two million catties of grain per year. And that's a small number. Jiangdong also had over three thousand warhorses, and Cao Cao had over ten thousand. The cost of raising them was extremely high.

Coincidentally, Taishi Ci was spotted at the horse farm. That morning, Gan Ning had officially designated Taishi Ci as the commander-in-chief of the southern front, so he immediately became concerned about the warhorses. Since the southern front was a land route, the warhorse camp would definitely be under his command, so Taishi Ci couldn't wait to come and see the horses.

"Why is General Ziyi suddenly interested in warhorses?" Gan Ning knew perfectly well what was going on and teased him on purpose.

Taishi Ci chuckled, "My lord cannot go back on his word."

Gan Ning chuckled and said, "I did agree to let you take the southern route, but I didn't agree to give you the cavalry battalion. Maybe I'll let the cavalry battalion take the northern route."

Taishi Ci was taken aback, then became somewhat anxious. "My lord, there are many places on the northern front where there are no official roads suitable for warhorses. How can we...?"

Halfway through his speech, Taishi Ci noticed that his lord's smile was strange. He immediately realized that he had already said that there were no warhorses on the official road, so what was the rush?
Taishi Ci scratched his head sheepishly, and the three of them burst into laughter.

At this moment, the stable manager came to pay his respects to Gan Ning and led Gan Ning and the other two to inspect the stables. Taishi Ci whispered to Zhao Yun, who was walking behind, "Brother Zilong, how many warhorses did Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteer Army have before?"

Zhao Yun slowly said, "At first there were only a few hundred horses, but the number kept increasing, reaching a maximum of three thousand, all of which were elite cavalry skilled in archery."

"Yes! It's such a pity that the Battle of Jieqiao was completely ruined by that scoundrel Qu Yi!"

Taishi Ci was a great lover of horses. The thought of his three thousand strong and elite white horses dying under a barrage of crossbow bolts filled him with hatred.

Zhao Yun was unwilling to recall the past too much. He smiled and said, "The white horse I ride is one of the remaining dozens of white horses. It has been with me for many years."

At this moment, Gan Ning stood in front of the horse manure warehouse, very interested in the mountain of horse manure. One of the demands of the soldiers today was the lack of fertilizer. Wouldn't this horse manure be just what they needed?

How much horse manure is there?

"Reporting to my lord, it's at least five or six hundred thousand catties."

Gan Ning nodded. "I'll send a fleet to transport them all away later, so they can be used as fertilizer for the military fields."

The supervisor sighed, "That's great, this horse manure has been a problem for us for a long time."

"From now on, I'll have the military households come and transport it themselves."

Gan Ning went to the stable again. He grabbed a handful of feed from the manger and examined it closely. He asked in confusion, "Why is there still wheat straw here?"

"Reporting to my lord, if the wheat straw is chopped into smaller pieces, it can be used as roughage. However, it should be mixed with cooked black beans in a ratio of about three to one. This way, the warhorses will grow stronger and less prone to illness."

"I see!" Gan Ning was amazed; he hadn't realized that wheat straw could be used to feed horses.

Gan Ning looked at the large stables and found that one section was empty. The steward quickly explained, "The five hundred warhorses over there have been sent to the military camp for training. Five hundred are sent every day, and they are rotated every three days."

Seeing the soldiers busily washing the stables, Gan Ning stopped looking and turned to leave. Just as he stepped out, a cavalryman galloped towards him. Moments later, the cavalryman dismounted, knelt on one knee, and presented Gan Ning with a note: "Military Advisor Lu has urgent business. Please return immediately, my lord!"

Gan Ning took Lu Su's note, glanced at it, and smiled at Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci, saying, "I have to go back now. Do you want to continue your tour or come back with me?" The two bowed and said, "Reporting to our lord, we would like to visit the cavalry camp as well."

Gan Ning nodded. "You guys go ahead! I'll head back first."

Gan Ning left the horse farm with his personal guards and returned to Nanchang County.

Gan Ning was in such a hurry to return because Jia Xu had arrived, bringing with him a personal letter from Cao Cao.

Upon returning to Nanchang County, Gan Ning first met with Lu Su and Jiang Wan. Lu Su immediately sent someone to the VIP guesthouse to invite Jia Xu over.

"This is a letter from Cao Cao to our lord!" Lu Su handed a letter to Gan Ning.

Gan Ning opened the letter and read it carefully, but was slightly taken aback. There were only a few sentences in the letter, all with the same meaning: if he could take Changsha Commandery, Cao Cao would be willing to appoint him as the governor of Changsha.

Gan Ning was secretly surprised. How did Cao Cao know that he was going to attack Changsha Commandery? Before the announcement this morning, only he, Lu Su, Jiang Wan, and Xu Shu knew. Even the generals did not know.

Gan Ning handed Cao Cao's letter to Lu Su, and Lu Su and Jiang Wan were also startled. Cao Cao actually had the ability to predict the future?

Lu Su pondered for a moment and said, "It must be that Cao Cao has a master by his side. He deduced from our alliance with Jiangdong that we are preparing to expand westward, and Changsha County is undoubtedly the first to be affected."

Gan Ning nodded, agreeing that it was indeed possible; it was highly likely that Guo Jia had deduced that he was Cao Cao's chief strategist.

"Did Jia Xu say why he came this time?"

"He didn't say that he would only reveal his purpose after seeing the lord."

At this moment, a servant announced from below the hall, "Cao Cao's envoy, Jia Xu, requests an audience!"

Gan Ning personally came out to greet him, clasped his hands in a fist and said with a smile, "Lord Jia, it's been a long time!"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "Not long ago, General Gan was still the magistrate of Chaisang County. In less than two years, General Gan has become the Marquis of Wuchang and the governor of three prefectures. Even the saying 'a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days' is not enough to describe it. General Gan is amazing!"

Gan Ning smiled slightly, "It's not that I'm amazing, it's that this era is amazing."

"General Gan is right!"

Jia Xu waved his hand, and three of Gan Ning's guards stepped forward, carrying a long wooden box that was at least two zhang long. They placed it on the ground, and a red silk ribbon was tied to the box.

"This is a gift from Minister Cao to General Gan. It is one of the three famous spears in his collection, named Hidden Dragon."

The guard opened the wooden box, and a 16-foot-long lance appeared before Gan Ning. It was a size larger than the lance Gan Ning was currently using, with more exquisite workmanship and superior materials. The lance head was 2.3 feet long, with a thick blade spine and an exceptionally sharp tip. The blades on both sides were also extremely sharp, gleaming with a cold metallic luster.

Although the spearhead is larger, it is perfectly balanced with the shaft, making it extremely comfortable to hold. The pommel is engraved with four ancient seal characters: 'Hidden Dragon in the Abyss'.

Gan Ning was immediately captivated by the spear, playing with it for a moment before handing it to his subordinate. He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Please thank Lord Cao for his kindness; I like it very much!"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and smiled, "I'm glad the general likes it!"

Gan Ning waved his hand, "Military Advisor Jia, please!"

(End of this chapter)