Three years ago, when Xiao Ruxun was in Myanmar, he had bought 10,000 warhorses from Arabian merchants, but he had lost most of them.
It wasn't only because of the weather, but also because of the battle. Most of the warhorses in the army were Mongolian horses, and there were less than 2,000 Arabian horses still serving in the army.
Although Arabian horses were strong and fast, they were desert breeds that could not withstand the cold and humidity. The constant losses during the march north made Xiao Ruxun's heart ache.
However, Xiao Ruxun didn't have a good choice at that time. He had no way to get warhorses from Mongolia, and the most convenient way to get them in Myanmar was Arabian horses. The warhorses that he had spent a lot of money to get only lasted for half a year. It wasn't worth it.
If he wanted to invade the grasslands in the future, he would undoubtedly need Mongolian horses. Although Mongolian horses had many disadvantages, their ability to withstand the cold and rough breeding was something that Xiao Ruxun couldn't refuse.
A conservative estimate was that Xiao Ruxun needed at least 300,000 warhorses. What did 300,000 Arabian horses mean?
It was probably the same as financial collapse.
Mongolian horses were short and did not have strong explosive power, but they were good at rough breeding, cold resistance, good physical fitness, and did not get sick easily. They were necessary for mass production, and they were better than Arabian horses in this aspect alone.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun gave up on his plan to buy warhorses from Arabia, and instead used the existing Mongolian horses that he had inherited from the Ming Army to raise and store them.
Huo Qubing's Shandan Military Horse Farm was a good place to raise horses, and Liaodong was also a good place to raise horses. The grasslands to the north of Datong could also be used for grazing. Xiao Ruxun planned to build three suitable military horse farms in these three places to raise warhorses and train powerful cavalry.
After making this decision, Xiao Ruxun began to discuss the matter with the officials.
"Before the horse policy is completed, the nine borders still need to be maintained. Officials, you can discuss this. In addition, I have decided to restart the policy of encouraging the people to raise horses. Those who raise horses will have their taxes reduced by a certain percentage and be exempted from labor. This will encourage the people to raise horses."
Xiao Ruxun stated his request. The officials looked at each other and realized that Xiao Ruxun still had the idea of invading the northern plains.
Zhao Shiqing, who was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, said tentatively, "Your Majesty, a year ago, Your Majesty led the army on a northern expedition against the Northern Barbarians and killed 300,000 Northern Barbarians. The Northern Barbarians have lost their courage. At this time of year, the Northern Barbarians do not dare to continue south. Can we postpone the policy of encouraging the people to raise horses?"
"Slowly?"
Xiao Ruxun frowned. "The weather is getting colder from the south to the north. It is cold here, and the further north we go, the colder it will be. The place where the Northern Barbarians live is colder than where we are. Once there is a snowstorm, they will not dare to attack us no matter how frightened they are.
I killed 300,000 Northern Barbarians and can intimidate the Northern Barbarians for a few years. The longer the time, the weaker the deterrent effect. If we do not take this opportunity to rebuild the horse policy and raise horses and cavalry, once the Northern Barbarians attack again, we will be exhausted again!
In my opinion, the Nine Borders Policy is the worst policy and must be abolished. The reason why it is still in place now is because there is no other alternative. Once other matters are dealt with, the dismissal of the Nine Borders is necessary. Raising horses is also necessary, and the Northern Expedition is even more necessary! Sitting back and waiting for death is not the national policy of the Daqin! "
Xiao Ruxun's tone was so strong that Zhao Shiqing was so scared that he knelt on the ground and apologized.
This policy was immediately adopted. The Cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War were ordered to discuss a countermeasure together and then submit it to Xiao Ruxun for review. The horse policy immediately became the national policy.
Later, Wang Xijue and Liu Huangshang, who was in charge of the Ministry of War, accepted the task and said that they would discuss a countermeasure as soon as possible.
Next was the proposal for the candidate of the Liaodong Inspectorate. Under the threat of Xiao Ruxun, the father and son, Li Chengliang and Li Rusong, gave in and agreed to move the Li family out of Liaodong. The Li family lived in the capital, and the families of the subordinates and generals were not allowed to leave Northern Zhili in exchange for the Li family's three Marquises and continued employment.
After the Li family left, the candidate of the Liaodong Inspectorate was very urgent. Xiao Ruxun needed a capable official who could stabilize the situation in Liaodong to lay the foundation for his plan to expand in Liaodong, so this candidate was very necessary.
In short, it was a capable official who was willing to do things and listened to orders.
At this time, someone recommended Li Sancai.
Xiao Ruxun frowned and thought for a long time before he remembered his in-laws in the original history.
Li Tingji did not wait for Xiao Ruxun to express his opinion and raised his objection.
"Li Sancai has talent, but he is not reliable. If he wants to develop Liaodong, Liaodong will be messed up by him. Your Majesty, this old subject does not recommend Li Sancai. This person has a reputation for greed, and he is also the Chancellor of the Supreme Court."
Xiao Ruxun nodded.
"Then don't use him. I don't like people who are not reliable and like to play tricks. The situation in Liaodong is related to the overall situation, and people who play tricks are unreliable."
With one sentence, Xiao Ruxun threw Li Sancai's political career into the abyss. Zhou Yao silently remembered the name and was ready to investigate him. Since Xiao Ruxun did not like him, then he would take him down.
"Then, this old subject recommends Liang Menglong."
Wang Xijue suddenly spoke.
"Liang Menglong?"
Xiao Ruxun felt the name was a little familiar.
"Yes, Liang Menglong. In the early years of the Wanli calendar of the former Ming Dynasty, he had many achievements and was a capable man. In the 11th year of the Wanli calendar, he was impeached and removed from office. He has been staying at home ever since."
Xiao Ruxun understood.
When Zhang Juzheng's henchmen were liquidated, Liang Menglong was removed from office. Obviously, Liang Menglong was a capable official during Zhang Juzheng's reform period and was later liquidated.
"Liang Menglong has been staying at home for more than 10 years and is no longer familiar with government affairs. Moreover, he is old. Can he still be an official?"
Tsai Kuo-chen expressed his objection.
"How do you know if you don't ask?"
Wang Xijue glanced at Tsai Kuo-chen and then said to Xiao Ruxun, "Your Majesty, Liang Menglong lives in Zhending, which is very close to the capital. Your Majesty, are you willing to enlist him?"
Xiao Ruxun hesitated.
"He is an old official of the former dynasty. Is he willing to be used by me?"
Wang Xijue said, "This old subject is willing to write a letter to persuade him."
"Then give it a try!"
Xiao Ruxun nodded and let Wang Xijue try to enlist Liang Menglong. Zhending was already under the control of his army, and Liang Menglong had no way to escape. He should have already known about the Daqin ruling the country. Xiao Ruxun didn't know his opinion on this matter.
But he was a survivor of Zhang Juzheng's era, and it was not easy for him to survive until now.
There must be a backup candidate.
In fact, Xiao Ruxun was quite fond of Yuan Huang, but at this time, he knew that Yuan Huang would not agree. He would definitely be willing to go out and build roads, but he would probably not be willing to be an administrative official. Then, what other reliable candidate was there?
The officials promoted by him were still young and did not have enough experience to make Xiao Ruxun believe that they could support the administration of a province, so he could only promote them from the old officials and arrange some people to follow him to learn and gain experience.
During this time, Xiao Ruxun kept exchanging a batch of young officials from Xie He who had made great contributions in the land reform to the capital, and then sent a steady stream of new people over. These young officials who had made great contributions in the land reform were already qualified to be the village head of a village. Xiao Ruxun decided to use them in Liaodong and Northern Zhili first.
His troops could directly control the places.
And Liaodong was undoubtedly the first place to be used, because the situation here was the most complicated, but also the cleanest. Everything could be started from scratch once the fire was started.
Starting from Liaodong, he would set up the township-level administrative units.
He hoped to train a group of capable officials as soon as possible, and such a group of people would be very useful to his future plans.
As for reliable backup candidates …
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