The boundless grassland spreads like a huge painting between the sky and the earth. It seems that autumn has not touched the vast wilderness. It is still so pure and green that it is so far away that it cannot be described in words. Looking around, his eyes are full of green, unobstructed. Casting my gaze over there, I couldn't find a point to focus on. The surrounding fields were vast and boundless. This is a still ocean, which makes people feel a little blurred, and it also makes people have infinite reverie.
Yu Xiaocao rode on a pure white horse and looked far into the distance. The blue sky, white clouds, light wind, warm sun, and the exhaustion of running all the way seemed to be dispelled by the scenery in front of her. In the distance, several black dots approached quickly, and when the riders came close, Xiaocao realized that the leader was an acquaintance—Liu Dekun, Commander Liu, the commander of Prince Jing's private army. When the Japanese pirates invaded, Zhu Junyang asked Commander Liu to count the 800 private troops of the palace and go to Dongshan Village to rescue them overnight. Yu Xiaocao has met him several times.
"Master, I've worked hard all the way, and my subordinates have already arranged a place to stay, please come with me!" Commander Liu led a few of his subordinates, and saluted the masters. As soon as he looked up, he saw Director Su beside the emperor, and his heart tightened.
General Manager Su is in charge of the imperial court's secret guards, and is in charge of the emperor's safety, and rarely leaves the emperor's side. This time, he was actually sent outside the customs to inspect the racecourse, which shows that the Holy Majesty attaches great importance to the racecourse. Originally, Commander Liu, who was "delegated" to the racecourse to "raise horses", was still a little depressed, but now it all disappeared.
"Cao'er, are you tired? How about going to rest first?" Zhu Junyang has been paying attention to the news from outside the pass since he appointed Commander Liu and a few cronies to prepare the racecourse last year. If it wasn't for Gu Nian Xiaocao's hard work all the way, he would have gone directly to the racecourse.
Yu Xiaocao naturally understood his mood at this time, took a sip of Lingshi water, and swept away the fatigue on her body. She straightened her back and said energetically: "No! Let's go to the racecourse first! My little red is still there Over there, I don’t know if I still remember my master!”
In the spring, Xiaohong finally accepted the strong wind and soon became pregnant with a baby horse. Since both Fengfeng and Xiaohong are good horses for thousands of miles, the baby horse has high expectations. So, with Xiaocao's consent, the pregnant mare was transferred to a horse farm outside the pass. Xiaohong's baby horse is carefully raised as a key observation object.
After the foal was born, although Xiaocao didn't come in person, she sent people over from time to time to give her "carefully" prepared feed. It is said that the foal was well fed and strong, and had already begun to show its prominence among other foals introduced at the same time. Experienced horse masters have affirmed that it will not lose to its parents in the future.
The little girl was so understanding, Zhu Junyang showed a warm smile on his stern handsome face: "In that case, let's go to the racecourse first."
"Master, what about those three people?" Hou Xiaoliang pouted secretly towards the three burly figures in the middle of the line. The Royal Racecourse is the hope of the Ming cavalry, and foreigners with ulterior motives should not be allowed to pry into its secrets.
Zhu Junyang glanced at him approvingly. Although this guy lacks stability, he is usually quite clever. He said to Commander Liu Dekun: "You send someone to take the three guests to the place where they will settle down first. They are the master's 'visited guests', so please 'entertain' them carefully!"
Commander Liu understood, nodded and said, "I understand! Li Daming, Zhang Wenbin, you two take the distinguished guests back to rest, and serve you with good tea and food. Don't neglect the master's guests!"
The two people who had been named answered "Yes!" and invited the three of Xiao Rong to a courtyard more than ten miles away from the racecourse. This courtyard was specially built for the royal people who came to inspect it. It looks simple and low-key from the outside, but the various furnishings inside are full of luxury. This made Xiao Rong's three masters and servants firmly believe that their savior had an unusual identity.
"Your Majesty, the racecourse they are talking about is not about raising horses outside the pass?" Aqige, one of Xiao Rong's personal guards, frowned.
Another pro, Wei Dela's thorny beard trembled, and he laughed loudly: "Horse raising? There are no good stallions, and what's the use of raising poor horses for pulling carts and loads? What's the use? The stallion is directly tamed from the wild horses on the grassland. No matter how brave the horse is, it has been bred for several generations, and the bloodline is not pure... "
Aqige glared at Della Teng, who was simple-minded and well-developed limbs, ignored him, and continued to say to his master: "Look, is this Daming planning to build a cavalry to deal with people like us outside the customs?"
"It's very possible!" Xiao Rong knocked on the table unconsciously with his fingers, his thick eyebrows tightly knit into a ball.
Daming's red-clothed cannons and firearms had already shown their strength in the last battle with the Jurchen tribe. If another powerful cavalry and firearms army was created, then his brother Xiao Xuan's so-called restoration plan would become a joke That's all. Daming is already so powerful that they can't even reach the heights of flattery! If Xiao Xuan insists on going his own way again, I'm afraid that the whole tribe will become a victim of his ambition!
"How about... my subordinates go down and find out what's going on in the racecourse?" Aqig saw his master lost in thought, his brows still furrowed, and couldn't help sharing his worries.
Xiao Rong raised his hand to stop him and said, "No way! Not to mention that our lives were saved by others, just those well-trained and disciplined team holding firearms are not vegetarians! I guess, then Among the three leaders are members of the Daming royal family. Aqige, do you think the tribe has the strength to compete with Daming even if there is no civil strife?"
Now it was Aqige who frowned. In the past, the tribes outside the customs used to fight guerrilla warfare with their strong soldiers and horses, and they were able to deal with Ming's army a little bit. However, in the battle between the Kaichun Jurchen and Daming, the red-clothed cannon shot past, causing people to be turned on their backs, causing heavy casualties. Not to mention, that team is armed with firearms, and the army is full of bullets. The Jurchen ministries suffered heavy losses after that battle, and they have not been able to fight again for more than ten years.
The Jurchen united more than a dozen tribes, but all ended in disastrous defeat, let alone a small Tuhar Khan tribe? Archie shook his head slowly and sighed heavily.
"Aqige, you are considered a warrior of Tuhar Khan, but you are a coward! The most important thing for Tuhar Khan is a warrior who is brave and good at fighting and is not afraid of death! If Da Ming really wants to destroy us, I have to bite off a few pieces of it too! I, Della Citeng, am not a coward who fears death!" The stupid big man slapped his chest loudly, so what about Daming's royal family? The skinny ones are not enough for him to pinch with one finger!
Aqige glared at him angrily, and reprimanded: "Is this the time to be fierce and fierce? People must learn to recognize the reality. If you sacrifice the entire tribe, just to show off your prestige, do you think it's worth it?"
Draciton was still a little afraid of this scheming old man at ordinary times. Seeing that the other party got angry, he only dared to mutter a few words in his mouth, and stopped talking.
"My lord, from the current point of view, Da Ming can only be friendly, not forceful!" Aqige said with a bit of earnestness, for fear that his master's mind would be misled by Dela Teng.
Xiao Rong smiled wryly, and said: "Now I am like a bereaved dog. I can't protect myself. Where can I get the capital to fight recklessly with others?"
"My lord, I have a plan, I don't know if I should say it or not!" Aqige thought for a long time, and felt that the current situation of his master could only be like this.
"Let's hear it!" Xiao Rong also guessed a little bit in his heart, and nodded at him.
"Among the Han people there is an allusion of 'restraining one's salary to taste one's courage'. The king can pretend to submit to Daming, and use the power of Ming to regain the ruling power of the tribe!" Aqige secretly observed the expression of his master, and clicked.
Xiao Rong smiled wryly, and said: "Emperor Ming is not easy to fool. If we want to borrow troops from them, we can't do it without showing a certain degree of sincerity! Do you think that we can get money from the Khar Khan Ministry? Do you want to sell the property that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty is interested in?"
Aqige gritted his teeth and continued: "Isn't the Ming army short of horses? Let's pay them some tribute every year..."
"Aqige! You clearly know that Daming is planning to flatter you to build cavalry. What is the purpose of building cavalry? Of course it is to beat us! We are the ones who suffer in the end. What kind of heart do you have?" Della Tenghu With a face, he roared angrily.
Aqige glanced at him, and said: "Even if they don't have cavalry, they can still subdue all the tribes outside the customs in time, do you believe it?"
"Hmph! All I know is that if Daming's army builds a cavalry team, it will be even more powerful. It is very difficult for our tribe to continue. How do you know that Daming will not wipe out all the tribes outside the pass after the army is strong? Are you done?" Draciton walked up and down anxiously.
"But, if you don't do this, with the strength of the king and you and me, even the traitors in the ministry can't do anything, how can you compete with Daming?" Aqige also knows that this action is no different. To drink poison to quench thirst.
However, he faintly sensed that the Emperor Ming's policy towards the outside of the pass seemed to have a conciliatory intention. In the past two years, he had also increased the mutual market and strengthened the connection between the various ethnic groups outside the pass and the Central Plains. That's why this suggestion is made.
"Stop arguing! Daming has already started to build his own horse farm to raise military horses. Even if Aqige's plan is not implemented, his cavalry will still be built in a few years!" Xiao Rong felt that he was sighing today. There will be more than thirty years ahead.
Draciton muttered in a low voice: "Without a good stallion as a stallion, how can military horses be so easy to raise? It's not like Daming didn't have no cavalry before, and the cavalry composed of those bad horses is only fit to follow us and eat dirt!" "
Xiao Rong interrupted him, and sighed: "At present, the most important thing is to inquire about Daming's policy towards the outside of the customs, and the top priority is to quell the civil strife first. lest that idiot Xiao Xuan listen to the villain's words and can't wait to confront Daming. I'm afraid that by then, no matter how clever our strategy is, it will be useless!"