Ming East India Company

After several attempts, the Japanese troops on the island no longer dared to provoke the enemy and obediently stayed out of range to fish.

But what followed made them increasingly uneasy: the galley lingered on the shore and refused to leave, while the people who came down to survey the terrain continued to move about.

After several days of intimidation, the Japanese troops on the island unanimously believed that the Ming Dynasty navy was about to land. Three days later, at night, all the Japanese troops escaped on the few remaining ships.

Then, on their way to Busan Port, this escape fleet delivered another huge surprise to Cheng Keqin...

"Is this how you seized the island?" Bai Ye stared intently at Wang Sanshi and Pang Shipu.

Only a month after Jeju Island was captured, Baek Ye's fleet hurriedly arrived at Jeju Island.

While reviewing the battle reports, Shirano listened to the two men's reports, and his expression darkened slightly:

"Our battle report didn't seem to require you to capture Jeju Island within a specified timeframe!"

Bai Ye immediately discerned Wang Sanshi's inner thoughts.

Pang Shipu, who had been brainwashed by Wang Sanshi, also used the same excuses Wang Sanshi had used to justify himself.

Shirano pondered for a moment, then gave the order:

"You both deserve credit for this battle, and the credit for conquering the island should be shared equally."

Bai Ye knew that he couldn't suppress a subordinate as proactive and ambitious as Wang Sanshi; hard-working people were always better than salted fish.

However, conversely, one cannot reward him handsomely, because you never know when he might cause a major disaster in an attempt to gain merit.

Take this operation for example. In Shirano's view, there was absolutely no need to gamble with the risk of the oarsman running aground. A single oarsman was far more valuable than the thousands of Japanese soldiers on the island.

Therefore, Baiye rewarded him, but not in a special way, letting him share the reward with Pang Shipu. This was to tell him that he could be proactive, but he should not take risks.

After dealing with the matter of the reward, Shirono revealed the true reason for his trip...

A month ago, Shirayuki, who was leisurely handling government affairs on Ryukyu Island, received a great gift: his uncle, Bai Wencheng, presented him with a "treasure" he had acquired from Southeast Asia.

The ten purebred draft horses gave Baiye the idea of ​​establishing his own horse farm.

Throughout history, East Asian civilizations, whether Mongols, Han Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, or Jurchens, have all followed a similar path in horse breeding:

We will spare no expense to breed horses that are more resistant to roughage and have lower costs.

The horses bred in this way are of average speed, average endurance, and average strength, but they have strong digestive systems and can thrive no matter what kind of feed they eat.

Before the industrial age, this wasn't a problem, since it was acceptable to make do with whatever was available.

However, with the advent of the Age of Exploration, the horses bred by traditional East Asian civilizations could no longer keep up with the times.

The first priority was the transportation of artillery.

As the core of land and sea warfare at this time, the mobility of artillery was always a major problem.

In the era before internal combustion engines, the mobility of artillery depended almost entirely on the "horsepower" of the horses pulling it.

Because the West separated the uses of horses early on, draft horses, pack horses, and riding horses each have their own independent breeding systems.

Especially the draft horses, which are robust and often weigh over 2,000 jin (1,000 kg), roughly equivalent to the weight of three Mongolian horses.

However, the carriage is a means of transport with a very low limit. It cannot be properly controlled if there are more than six horses. Therefore, the upper limit of the carriage is 4-6 horses. With a fixed number of horses, the weight of the horses is the upper limit of the size of the cannon.

This meant that while Westerners used draft horses to carry heavy artillery to expand their territories, East Asian countries could only use light horses or even mules to carry small cannons to fight back.

The resulting strategic disadvantages are self-evident.

Hakuno obviously wouldn't sit idly by and watch this situation unfold. So, shortly after taking control of Ryukyu, Hakuno actively sought to purchase draft horse breeds, quickly introduced crossbreeding, and established his own draft horse force.

This time, Bai Wencheng finally made a breakthrough, successfully acquiring horse breeds by leveraging his connections in Haojing. He brought back ten draft horses, two males and eight females.

Now that the horses have arrived, the next step is to choose a horse farm. After looking around, Baekye chose Jeju Island.

Since the Yuan Dynasty conquered Goryeo, Jeju Island has become the front line for the conquest of Japan. The climate here is suitable and the pastures are lush, making it ideal for horses to grow.

Moreover, the island environment is isolated from the outside world, making it less likely for horses to get sick and easier to maintain a stable bloodline.

Most importantly, since the Yuan Dynasty, Koreans have regarded Jeju Island as a horse-breeding ground, thus preserving a large number of horse breeders, as well as related skilled workers such as horse castrators and horseshoe makers on the island.

It can be seamlessly integrated.

This is why Bai Ye ordered Wang Sanshi and others to change their battle strategy and seize Jeju Island as soon as possible.

……

April 6th, Jeju Island.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp scent, swept across the rolling grasslands at the foot of Hallasan Mountain. Beside the fences that once belonged to the old Korean horse ranch, the red flags of the Ryukyu Kingdom were now flying.

Feng Luzi, who had arrived at this place, stood on a high slope, looking at the ten precious draft horses in front of him with a furrowed brow.

As a high-ranking general on Ryukyu Island, Feng Luzi had long since stopped dealing with horse racing, and as the top cavalry commander on Ryukyu Island, he was now living a very comfortable life.

A month ago, Shirayuki asked him to open a new horse farm in Ryukyu, which forced the pampered Feng Luzi to board a ship to Jeju Island...

"General, the herdsmen from the old Korean tribes have all been brought here," a personal guard reported quickly as he approached.

Feng Luzi turned around and saw dozens of herdsmen dressed in Goryeo attire standing with their heads bowed, looking terrified. These men were the minor leaders of the horse herdsmen on Jeju Island. They had raised horses in Jeju for generations, were well-versed in horse behavior, and were indispensable for breeding draft horses.

Feng suppressed his anger and spoke calmly:

"You have herded horses for generations, and the Jeju horse farm has returned to peace. From now on, you only need to obey my orders and take good care of the horses. The court will surely reward you. If you dare to slack off, you will be punished according to military law."

The herdsmen knelt down and agreed. Having just endured the ravages of the Japanese army, they now saw the strict discipline and impeccable conduct of the Ryukyu army and had long since lowered their guard, wishing only to live peacefully.

The first thing Feng Luzi did after that was to completely eradicate the original horse breeds on Jeju Island.

The original horse breeds on Jeju Island were no different from those in East Asia. The Jeju horse, which was bred from Mongolian horses, also inherited the advantages and disadvantages of Mongolian horses.

For Feng Luzi, these horse breeds were of no use except for polluting the draft horse bloodline, so the first thing Taiden did was to kill or throw away the original horses on the island.