The group walked on the grass of the Courtyard Ranch. The ground was soft, and puddles of water would occasionally seep out from around their boots. It was clear that the pastures of Longxi were fertile and fertile. As a breeding ground for horses on the Beiliang Road, second only to the Xianli Ranch, Longxi had a unique climate. Since ancient times, it had been an important source of horses for every prosperous dynasty. The Dafeng Dynasty raised three hundred thousand horses around Longxi and Longxi, and set up the post of Longxi Horse Husbandry Supervisor. Liu Ze, who was said to be on par with the founding emperor of the Dafeng Dynasty, had collected one hundred and sixty thousand warhorses during his two expeditions to the north. The nobles of Northern Mang's Longguan Pass were actually the survivors of the Qin Dynasty who migrated north during the chaos of war eight hundred years ago. If one traced their roots back, they were once the citizens of the Qin Dynasty between Longxi and Tongguan.
Among the group, the manager of the Courtyard Ranch, Zhao Luyuan, was particularly nervous. There was nothing he could do. The five or six people behind him who were temporarily acting as background had official positions, such as Horned Eagle Captain Luo Hongcai. Without exception, they were all the fourteen captains of Beiliang. As for the only one who did not have an official position, he was the general of the Beiliang Army, Shi Fu, who had been the general of Liangzhou for a few years. Unfortunately, he was dragged down by the label of the previous Beiliang Governor-General. Before the new King of Liang could succeed him, Shi Fu had tactfully resigned. For some reason, he was brought up again. Zhao Luyuan did not know whether Shi Fu was going to be punished or make a comeback. Other than the young man beside him being Hsu Fengnian, the main reason for Zhao Luyuan's uneasiness was that the Courtyard Ranch had been given a critical order this time. They could only take out less than five thousand warhorses, and only six hundred A-grade warhorses. It was still a lot short of the King of Beiliang's request. However, Zhao Luyuan knew that if the King had come half a year earlier to ask for horses, he would have been able to provide eight thousand A-grade Beiliang warhorses, let alone eight thousand regardless of grade. Previously, the Governor-General of Beiliang had urgently transferred ten thousand warhorses from here. These six hundred A-grade warhorses were the last of what he had left behind with great difficulty. The "imperial envoy" from Huaiyang Pass who had come to the ranch to ask for horses had been so anxious that his eyes had turned red. He had cursed that person for doing something shady and said that what was so great about the Governor-General of Beiliang. Zhao Luyuan slapped the table and declared that he would submit to the King's Wutongin of Mount Qing Liang. However, now that Prince Liang, Hsu Fengnian, was by his side, Zhao Luyuan did not dare to say anything bad about the Beiliang Governor-General of Huaiyang Pass to his face. He could only ramble on and on about how he was incompetent and had failed to live up to his expectations. Zhao Luyuan was not stupid. Not just Beiliang, everyone in the world knew of the relationship between Protector-General Chu and the new Prince Liang. It was just that they had different surnames and were truly family.
Hsu Fengnian and Zhao Luyuan walked side by side on the grass of the ranch. Behind them was Shi Fu, who was in the prime of his life but was silent all year round. There was also Horned Eagle Commandant Luo Hongcai and the others. Among them was Longxi Commandant Zhao Rongguang, who was in charge of the security of Liangzhou's western gate. The Courtyard Ranch was vast and the scenery was beautiful. Longxi's winter was long and there was no summer. It had a unique climate of six months of frost, so it was much cooler than other places. However, other than the expressionless Hsu Fengnian, Luo Hongcai and the others appeared to be burning with anxiety. Even Shi Fu, who had retired from the army for almost two years, was frowning. Hsu Fengnian looked at the lush grass in front of him and was filled with emotion. Since Dafeng's territory extended to the Western Regions, half of the world's army and horses came from Lianglong. Many members of the imperial family, nobles, and generals raised horses here privately. They liked to use the number of horses they raised to compare their power. Li Gongde, the Beiliang Taoist Administrator who was good at making money, had suggested early on whether or not they could lift the ban on horses and sell horses below 'B' class to the officials and nobles of Great peace City and the Central Plains. This would definitely be a huge income and reduce the tax burden on Beiliang. However, Xu Xiao had directly rejected the idea. After the scholars passed away, there was no shortage of scholars who proposed the same strategy. They made a big deal out of the issue of cold horses. Without reducing the reserves of 'A', 'B', and 'C' warhorses, they could still give taxes and increase the soldiers' pay and provisions. They could make friends with the nobles of the capital and express goodwill to the Liyang Zhao clan. It could be said that there were only benefits and no disadvantages. Song Dongming's Dragon's Gate and Xu Weixiong's Wutongin didn't dare to make a decision on their own. After handing it over to Hsu Fengnian to make the decision, they also thought deeply and put the matter aside in the end.
Hsu Fengnian stopped at the top of a gently sloping hill. He raised his eyes and looked out. There was lush greenery all around.
Hsu Fengnian suddenly turned his head and smiled at Zhao Luyuan, who was almost fifty years old. "Lord Zhao, this is actually the second time we've met. Back then, This King was still young and accompanied Xu Xiao here to avoid the summer heat. I remember that at that time, Lord Zhao had just retired from the border army of Liangzhou and had just taken office at Tianjing Ranch. At that time, there were many things waiting to be done at the ranch. Lord Zhao patted his chest and promised Xu Xiao that in less than ten years, Longxi would become the largest ranch in Liyang. I don't know if Lord Zhao still remembers that you promised Xu Xiao that one day you would bring out the number one divine steed in the world to celebrate my, His Royal Highness', coming to my coming of age?"
The old man who had dealt with warhorses all his life was immediately moved. With a trembling voice, he said, "Your Highness still remembers, you still remember … How could this lowly one dare to forget? Not to mention that Tianjing Ranch has been carefully and conscientiously cultivating fine horses, for all these years, they have been entrusted to the generals and crossbowmen of the border army. As long as you see that extraordinarily handsome King of Wild Horses on the plains of the desert, after capturing it, you must send it to Tianjing Ranch. In fact, four years ago, there really was a divine steed sent to the ranch, but when Your Highness reached your coming of age, this old man mistakenly thought that Your Highness had forgotten about it. I was also afraid that people would say that I was a disgraceful official who didn't do his job properly and only knew how to flatter others. After hesitating for many days, in the end, I still didn't send it to the Prince's Mansion on Mount Qingliang. In the end, I couldn't endure the hundreds of pleas of our cavalry army's Deputy Commander Zhou and could only send it. If only I had known earlier … sigh, this old man really regrets it to death!"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "It's alright. For our Beiliang cavalry to be where it is today, the Tianjing Ranch, Xianli Ranch, and all the other ranches, big and small, have contributed greatly. Up until now, This King has only been on the battlefield a few times. If we say that he has two B-class horses to ride, it's barely enough. If he has another A-class horse, it would be a waste of natural resources. "
Probably knowing that Zhao Lvyuan was going to fight for him, Hsu Fengnian waved his hand and said, "You all go back first. I have something to discuss with General Shi."
Everyone left, leaving behind Shi Fu, who was widely acknowledged in Beiliang to have a bumpy career as an official. This person and the Youzhou Provincial Governor Hu Kui were known as the 'Twin Jade Annulus' of Liangzhou in the past. Although they were young, they were both 'old men' of the border army who had made great contributions to the military. The term 'Twin Jade Annulus' was first used to describe the two cavalry generals who first emerged in the Spring and Autumn War, Wu Qi and Xu Pu. At that time, Xu Xiao was still fighting in the Spring and Autumn War and had not yet been conferred the title of King. Therefore, the two of them were known as the 'Twin Jade Annulus' of the Xu family. Today, one of them lived in seclusion in Dunhuang City of Beimang, while the other went to Xishan to assist Chen Zhibao. Chen Zhibao left Liangzhou and entered Xishan, while at the same time, Hsu Fengnian became the hereditary King of Beiliang. This was the dividing line between Shi Fu and Hu Kui in the officialdom. Hu Kui rose again and became a high-ranking official, while Shi Fu, who was of a higher rank, was overshadowed and retired to the countryside. But strangely, both Mount Qingliang and the Huaiyang Pass Protectorate Headquarters ignored Shi Fu's resignation. Even when Chu Lushan later took up the post of General of Liangzhou, he did not explicitly inform the Liangzhou military that Shi Fu had retired from the army. Military reports would still be sent every half a day to the 'Liangzhou General' Shi Fu, who was resting at home.
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