Yuan Nanyu's leg injury was not very serious. As the doctor said, the splint and the bone, accompanied by decoction, can be cured after a hundred days of rest.
But the difficulty lies in this "retreat". Yuan Nanyu is energetic and active by nature. He gets up early on weekdays to practice martial arts and study. In his free time, he walks the streets and alleys looking for interesting things. Let him lie on the bed for three months. The demon asked someone to watch him in turn, and finally locked him in the house.
Yuan Sikong supervised Yuan Nanyu's reading in the morning, just when Xu Hu came to pick him up to pick horses at the racecourse.
The stables in Guangning City mainly kept the horses of Yuanmao and his subordinates, only 20 to 30 horses. Most of the horses were in the outskirts of the horse farm, where there was an open area for the horses to run, and it was a place he often visited.
Yuan Mao brought him home four years ago, and he offered to raise horses. In fact, he didn't know anything about raising horses at that time, but the two of them got together because of the saying "horses have leg problems". He deliberately wanted Yuan Mao to think that he knew how to raise horses, so that he didn't look useless. Don't want him. Yuan Mao didn't know whether he believed it or didn't expose it, so he really asked him to raise horses with Xu Hu.
This raising is four years. He not only learned Xu Hu's half-life accumulation into his stomach, but also collected relevant official annals and public annals. Discuss.
In the past, Yuan Sikong had to share a ride with Xu Hu, but now he was able to ride the horse by himself. Seeing the heroic appearance of the young boy, Xu Hu felt very relieved in his heart.
When we arrived at the racecourse, it was noon, just in time for dinner.
The owner of the racecourse is Zhao Dayou, the richest businessman in Guangning. He started from scratch as a small stable handyman, and now he has a lot of money. His racecourse has raised more than 10,000 horses and horses, but only a few of them really meet the standards of war horses.
Since Sheng Ningzong lost the Hetao area, Dasheng's national strength has declined, and the imperial court has been unable to raise horses. All the large and small horse farms in the Central Plains have been turned into private businesses, but it is stipulated that a certain number of war horses must be prepared for the imperial court every year. Good horses in the Central Plains are hard to come by, and horse merchants are all wealthy.
Zhao Dayou was very happy to see Yuan Sikong, and set up a table of delicious dishes: "Sikong, let's have a full lunch and go pick out two thousand good horses for King Jingyuan in the afternoon."
Yuan Sikong nodded: "Uncle Shi, don't worry."
"Oh, the horses originally used by the Feng family's army are all Qin horses from Huaixi. I also went to see them yesterday. They are really good horses!" Zhao Dayou couldn't help giving a thumbs up, "I didn't expect that we The Liaodong horse can also gallop thousands of miles under the crotch of the Feng family army and kill the enemy everywhere, I am really honored by my ancestors."
Xu Hu complimented: "The treasurer Zhao is already honored by the ancestors, and you have added honor to the ancestors."
"Hahaha, it's also thanks to brother Xu who has taken care of me all the year round."
The dynasties of the past dynasties valued literature over merchants, and the status of merchants was actually very low, but they couldn't stand their riches, money and power were not separated from each other, so petty officials like Xu Hu had to curry favor with Zhao Dayou, and Zhao Dayou also Don't dare to neglect Xu Hu, after all, he was sent by the imperial court to manage the war horses, so it's not easy to speak lightly.
Yuan Sikong asked curiously: "Uncle Shi, what is the price for the Feng family's army to accept horses?"
"It's only slightly higher than the Liaodong Army, but I heard that King Jingyuan has benefited from the Liaodong Army with other benefits."
Yuan Sikong said worriedly: "The imperial court wanted to collect horses, so we naturally couldn't resist the order, but all the good horses were given to Datong Mansion, what if the gold thieves came here?"
Xu Hu also sighed: "That's right, I don't know what the superiors are thinking." He looked around and said in a low voice, "Although the war in Datong Mansion is tense, Wala is much more powerful than the gold thieves, but the imperial court It’s too biased, first to give up the seven prefectures in northern Liaoning, and now to give this year’s horses to the Datong Mansion, and even disregarding the lives of our Liaodong people.”
Zhao Dayou pressed his plump fingers to his lips, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Yuan Sikong was full of apprehension, Liaodong was just not at war right now, but the gold thieves were staring at each other across the river. The court's move was indeed biased, but there was nothing they could do.
After dinner, Zhao Dayou called some of the most experienced horse breeders to the racecourse to accompany them to the selection of horses.
Xu Hu is still in charge of selecting horses, and Yuan Sikong is a staff officer, whom Yuan Mao intentionally cultivated. Of course, he is also worthy of the name as a staff officer.
Soma is a technical job, and soma is a physical job. It doesn't mean that Xiong Jun is a good horse if he looks tall, or a good horse may not be suitable for fighting. War horses can't be wild and difficult to train, and they need endurance most.
For example, if a horse has a big nose, it will have big lungs, and if its lungs are big, it will be good at long-distance running. Whether the structure from the back to the hip bone is flat determines whether the horse is easy to gain weight. Whether the horse has diseases through the mouth and nose, whether the horse has strong bones and the outline of the muscles, and the hooves are even stronger. A lot of attention, too thick, too thin, too big, too small is not a good horse.
After reading and touching, let the horse run for a while to make the final decision.
There is a lot of knowledge about horse hunting, and sometimes there are differences between different origins and different breeds of horses. The old master of the racecourse and Xu Hu have raised horses for more than ten or ten years before they dare to meet horses, especially war horses. What matters is the lives of soldiers and Dasheng's country, how dare you be careless.
Half a day passed like this, and the sky faded, and it was time for them to return to the city.
When passing by the sick stable, Yuan Sikong saw a pony less than half a year old, nestling listlessly in the stable.
A person from the racecourse said: "Oh, this horse has been ill for more than a month, if it can't be cured..."
"Let me take a look." Yuan Sikong and Xu Hu walked into the stable, they looked at it for a long time, and asked carefully, but they could barely see that the horse had a problem with its spleen and stomach.
There are not a few people who can breed horses, and there are very few who can heal horses. Most people who heal horses are based on experience and use twice the amount of decoction as they would treat people. Common minor diseases or minor injuries can usually be cured. disease, prolonged illness can only be slaughtered to save food and grass.
Yuan Sikong has great regrets about this matter.
His mother is a medical girl, and her medical skills were passed down from her grandfather. When he was young, he was curious and wanted to learn medical skills from his mother, but his father refused. The so-called everything is low-grade. Only the era of high-study, abolishing hundreds of schools, and only respecting Confucianism can achieve fame. This is the best way out for readers. Later, seeing that he was smart and eager to learn, he let him learn a thing or two in his spare time. It is true that he has only scratched the surface of medical skills, but he has already understood medical principles and can cure some common minor diseases. He always felt that healing horses is not difficult. The skeletal texture, blood vessels and meridians are as clear as human beings, and many horses are not sick enough to die. In his opinion, the existing medical records of horses are not detailed enough.
It's a pity he didn't have such an opportunity.
Since ancient times, pigs have been used for meat, cattle for farming, horses for transportation and warfare, horses are the spiritual weapon of battle, the granary of action, and the wheel of trade. In ancient times, all dynasties respected horses, and most of them did not allow horse meat to be eaten. The Sheng Dynasty was even worse. Out of the desire for good horses, the imperial court encouraged the people to raise horses and strictly prohibited eating horses. Dead horses must be buried properly. It is impossible for Mao to agree.
Seeing the sickly pony, Yuan Sikong felt really sad. If it could be cured, it might give Liaodong soldiers another sharp weapon to kill the enemy.
Xu Hu saw through his thoughts and felt helpless: "I'm afraid this horse won't last for a few days, let's go back."
Yuan Sikong walked away with three steps and one turn.
—
In the next few days, Yuan Sikong spent time in the racecourse assisting Xu Hu to meet the horse. Sure enough, as Xu Hu said, the pony died of illness soon, and the horse's corpse hadn't had time to clean up.
Yuan Sikong passed by the sick stable and thought again. After all, they were about to hand over the two thousand good horses they had worked so hard to raise to Datong, and his desire for a medical horse was even greater. While Xu Hu was out for a horse race, he secretly found Zhao Dayou and begged him to give him the horse corpse.
Zhao Dayou knew what Yuan Sikong wanted to do. It was not the first time he suggested that dissecting a horse would insult a horse corpse, which was explicitly prohibited by the imperial court: "Sikong, you should die. If your father knows about it, I will How to explain."
"Uncle Shi, this racecourse is yours, don't let people see it, if you don't tell me, I don't tell you, who will know."
"Oh, you can't say that..." Zhao Dayou was very embarrassed.
Yuan Sikong's eyes were as bright as stars, shining with wisdom, "My father is a strict man, and sometimes he doesn't know how to adapt. Uncle Shi is a quick-witted person. This huge racecourse is all brought about by Uncle Shi's quick wit. Uncle Shi dies of one or two hundred horses a year, if I can learn the art of healing horses, even if I save one more horse, it will be worthless money."
Zhao Dayou's eyes blinked quickly.
If it were any other child with a downcast temple who said these words to him, he would definitely scold the brazen brat away, but Yuan Sikong is different.
As early as when Zhao Dayou found out that the child was extremely talented, he curiously asked Yuan Mao about his life experience, and Yuan Mao did indeed ask someone to investigate, this investigation is no small matter.
It is said that there was a child prodigy in Taining who lived near and far. He was five years old in poetry, six years old in prose, and nine years old in the exam.
Zhao Dayou knew that this child was not in the pool, he said that he wanted to learn how to heal horses, so it is really possible to learn it, he is a businessman, how could he not be tempted.
Seeing that Zhao Dayou was wavering, Yuan Sikong promised again: "If it happens, if someone really finds out, Sikong will be responsible for it alone, and I will never trouble Uncle Shi."
Zhao Dayou sighed heavily: "Sikong, actually, why would Uncle Shi not want you to heal the horse? Uncle Shi worked so hard to raise the horse and died of illness, I am most distressed." He dragged Yuan Sikong to a corner, He said in a low voice, "It just so happens that the horse is small in stature and quiet. I will send him away, so you can go to the sick stable to dissect it. After the dissection, Uncle Shi will find someone to take care of it."
Yuan Sikong said calmly: "After the dissection is over, I will burn the horse Peng with a fire. Wouldn't it be clean?"
Zhao Dayou was shocked: "Uh... yes, you are right, burn it, burn it clean."
"Thank you, Uncle Shi." Yuan Sikong took a step back and bowed to salute, "Uncle Shi's move, saving the horse is a small thing, and benefiting the country is a big thing."
Zhao Dayou was so happy that he could not close his mouth from ear to ear: "Okay, okay, you go quickly, I told everyone in the racecourse to stay away from there."
—
Yuan Sikong took a box of instruments for treating trauma and used it to dissect the horse. He looked at the pony, thinking that he could finally get what he wanted, his hands were shaking, one was excited, the other was a little scared.
When he was a child, he followed his mother to see many patients, and he was not afraid of blood, but after all, he had never even slaughtered a fish. The first time he used a knife, he was about to dissect a horse, and his heart was beating like a drum, but he had no time to delay , or quickly started.
While dissecting, writing and drawing, the bucket of water used to wash hands soon turned blood red.
Just when he had already disemboweled the horse and was remembering to be serious, he suddenly heard a sharp child's voice shout: "What are you doing!"
Yuan Sikong was very focused, and his heart stopped suddenly when he was frightened by this immature but powerful roar, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground.
He turned his head and saw a luxuriously dressed boy standing at the door of the stable, staring at him with wide-eyed eyes. That was the most beautiful little boy he had ever seen in his life, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a celestial being, but now he has no time to admire God's craftsmanship, and there is only one thought buzzing in his mind: he was discovered by others. !
The boy said angrily: "You are so brave, how dare you insult the horse corpse." He turned around and left, shouting, "Come on!"
Yuan Sikong jumped up from the spot, rushed out of the stable, stepped forward, and grabbed the boy by the collar with his bloody hand.