We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

In a dynasty like the Daqian, what kind of soldiers were the most capable?

Without a doubt, cavalry.

Despite their toughness, Xiao Shi and Xinhua also primarily relied on defense when facing cavalry.

In Zhou Tiancheng's strategic plan, military affairs were of paramount importance!

As Zhou Tiancheng himself said, his chances of inheriting the throne are not very high for the time being.

Therefore, he wanted to marry Zheng Ye'er as the Crown Princess, so that he could use the Zheng family's military strength to prevent the Third Prince from taking action against him.

How can we strengthen our military forces?

Increasing manpower and expanding the number of soldiers is one aspect, while providing high-quality warhorses and improving the soldiers' combat effectiveness is another!

Therefore, as soon as Guli finished speaking, Zhou Tiancheng had an idea.

He asked Guli to buy a few cups of fermented rice wine. As soon as Guli left, he turned to look at Xiao Shi and Steward Liu.

"We might be able to use this elder of Guli's. When we have our own army in the future, we will also need our own source of horses."

"We should keep the profits within the family; we need to win over this horse trader."

Manager Liu nodded, agreeing with Zhou Tiancheng's point.

Xiao Shi, being new to the area, didn't deny it.

He also quite liked warhorses and hoped to have an invincible cavalry force.

Seeing that neither of them objected, Zhou Tiancheng nodded slightly.

"Then it's settled, General Shi. We'll go with Guli to her house later, and you can propose marriage directly."

"As long as the horse trader marries his daughter to you, you can find a way to get your father-in-law to continue trading horses, and our army will have a steady supply of horses."

Xiao Shi's eyes widened suddenly. He pointed to himself and looked at Zhou Tiancheng in disbelief.

"Your Highness? You mean me? You want me to come and propose marriage? Are you serious?"

"But I prefer the gentle beauties of Jiangnan! I don't like women from the Hu region!"

Zhou Tiancheng looked confused.

"That woman from Hu is so beautiful, why don't you like her?"

Xiao Shi blushed and spoke, feeling a little embarrassed.

"They had a strong muttony smell, which I really disliked."

After saying this, Zhou Tiancheng became somewhat withdrawn.

You have genuine Hu (non-Han) blood, and you don't like Hu women anymore, but instead prefer beauties from Jiangnan?

He wanted to say a few more words of persuasion, but seeing that Guli was about to return, he immediately changed his mind.

"I don't care, Tenth General, this is the task I assigned to you!"

"I'll find you some beauties from Jiangnan later as a reward, but right now, you have to win her over!"

Xiao Shi was speechless, looking at Guli who had already walked up to him, he looked dejected.

On the contrary, Zhou Tiancheng seemed to be in high spirits.

"I was unaware that you had elders in the Great Qian Dynasty. Since there's no time like the present, and you are now my woman, I will accompany you on a visit. What do you say?"

Guli, unsuspecting, nodded happily and led the three towards the outskirts of Beijing.

After walking for about an hour and a half, or nearly three hours, the group finally arrived at a manor.

Before even going inside, Zhou Tiancheng was already quite impressed by the extravagance.

This manor was actually much larger than his Eastern Palace.

I didn't see any commonly grown crops here, only grass covering the ground. Even the farmers in the village looked lazy and listless, completely different from other farmers.

Guli tried to speak to the head of the family, asking if he was home, but was told that he had already left. Guli had no choice but to ask to see the young lady of the family instead.

Unlike the customs of the Great Qian Dynasty, the Rong Kingdom did not have the custom of female relatives avoiding male guests.

When they arrived at the largest house in the manor, a young girl had been waiting there for a long time.

Zhou Tiancheng glanced at the girl.

Ok.

Very beautiful.

She must be over 1.75 meters tall. The key point is that her figure is not the kind that is thin and weak. On the contrary, she is extremely well-proportioned and healthy, just like a female physical education teacher in a university.

Upon seeing Guli, the woman smiled and said something that Zhou Tiancheng and the others couldn't understand, then went up to Guli, hugged her, and jumped a few times.

Putting everything else aside, the size of these two women's chests alone, with each beat of their bodies, made it feel like an earthquake.

"At least the children won't go hungry anymore."

Zhou Tiancheng mentioned it briefly, then grabbed Xiao Shi's arm and pushed him forward.

Xiao Shi was extremely embarrassed.

Despite his wild appearance and fierce fighting style, he actually prefers the kind of woman who is gentle and submissive!

The woman across from him is only slightly shorter than him, how can she be considered petite and dependent?

But he still spoke up in front of Zhou Tiancheng.

"Well, we've come to propose marriage."

Guli was still happy to see her friend, but upon hearing this, she turned her head in disbelief.

The woman also stopped her previous outburst, pulled Guli to stand in front of the three of them, and carefully looked them over.

She ruled out Steward Liu at first glance.

There was no other reason. This old man, regardless of his age, just based on the fact that he didn't have a beard and his awkward demeanor, was clearly a eunuch, and he was not within her consideration.

Then her gaze fell on Zhou Tiancheng and Xiao Shi.

Zhou Tiancheng felt uncomfortable being stared at.

Ten generals are proposing marriage, why are you looking at me like that?

He stepped forward and began to introduce himself.

"This is the Tenth General, who doesn't have a name yet, but he is a fierce general in the army."

The woman nodded slightly and glanced at him with some curiosity.

"And you? Who are you?"

Her Mandarin was a bit awkward, but Zhou Tiancheng didn't mind and introduced himself.

"I am the Crown Prince of the Great Qian Dynasty."

The woman smiled and nodded.

"My name is Li Hua."

Ok?

Li Hua?

It doesn't sound like a name from the Hu people.

Zhou Tiancheng frowned.

The woman quickly offered an explanation.

"My father traveled between Daqian and Beirong all year round. For convenience, he was given a name from Daqian, Li Tao, and I was named Li Hua."

"I heard from Guli that you came here to buy horses, so what's this marriage proposal all about?"

Zhou Tiancheng was somewhat embarrassed.

After all, the marriage proposal was kept secret from Guli.

He quickly explained.

"Buying the horse was just a side trip; the main purpose of this trip was to propose marriage."

Li Hua nodded slightly.

"Let's take a look at the horses first!"

She turned around and led the group towards the back of the house.

Upon entering the courtyard, Zhou Tiancheng discovered that it was open and quite different from the architectural style of Daqian.

The key point is that there is also a pasture here, but only in the very corner is a row of stables built.

"These are all Xia horses, left behind by defeated Northern Xia soldiers. However, these horses are not considered top-tier among Xia horses, but compared to the horses of the Great Qian Dynasty, they are still outstanding."

"You might as well take a look. As Guli's good friend, I won't lie to you. At most, I'll only charge you the cost price."

Zhou Tiancheng didn't know anything about horses, so he could only look at Guli.

Guli knew her task and stepped forward to choose a horse.

But neither of them noticed that Li Hua was staring at Zhou Tiancheng the whole time!