I

  Chapter 472 470【Worship to Zhu Yuanzhang】

   Nanjing.

  Jeju Island paid tribute to three horses, which can be regarded as a demonstration of the achievements of raising horses in recent years.

   "Stand up and speak," Zhao Han said to the two officials, "What are your names?"

An official got up and replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, my minister's name is Wang Zhen, and I was born in Luzhou. My ancestors raised horses for generations. By the time of Wanli, Luzhou had no horses to raise. Thanks to your majesty's kindness, I was able to go to Jeju County." He resumed his ancestral business, and now serves as the deputy supervisor of the Jeju Horse Herding Supervisor."

Another official said: "Your Majesty, my minister's name is Liang Gui. His ancestors were Mongolians. He moved to Jeju Island in the early Ming Dynasty. Now I am a Han Chinese and have learned Chinese. I have a son, Liang Zhen, who served as a soldier under General Zhang. Pursue and kill The false King Duoduo of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was just Gouzi who led cavalry into the mountains and was lucky enough to get the body of the false King Duoduo."

  Zhao Han nodded approvingly: "You are loyal to your duties and have raised your horses well. This time when you go back, everyone will be promoted."

  The Datong Army has initially gained a firm foothold in the Liaodong Peninsula. The land there is sparsely populated, and the land is more than enough, so it is not conducive to irrigated mountain meadows, so no one wants to reclaim wasteland for farming. After all, Jeju Island is too small, and it is necessary to find a new land for raising horses, and the Liaodong Peninsula is just right.

  At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were many horse farms in Liaodong, but by the time of Hongzhi, they had been swallowed up by Jiangmen.

  Only the horse farms in the Liaodong Peninsula, especially those in Gaizhou and Fuzhou, were maintained until the Wanli period. Even the "Horse City" was specially established and became the horse trading center of the entire Liaodong. Even the Jurchens also sent war horses for sale.

  The supervisor of the Jeju Horse Herding Supervision is about to be transferred to Liaodong to open up a new horse breeding base. The vacated positions happened to be promoted by the two people in front of them.

Wang Zhen pointed to a purebred warrima and said: "Your Majesty, this is a Tianzhu horse bred in Jeju Island. The horse is already two years old, tall and powerful, and can be used for battle. A Tianzhu horse over two years old, in the Jeju Island has bred 847 horses, of which 102 male horses have been castrated as war horses."

  A horse can go to the battlefield at the age of two, which probably belongs to the juvenile period, and it is considered a real adult at the age of three.

  The 102 male horses that were castrated should all be around three years old. If the quality is not good enough to keep for breeding, and the quality reaches the level of war horses, then all eunuchs will be eunuched and sent to serve in the army.

  Zhao Han went around to the side of the horse, stroked the horse's mane and said, "It's really mighty."

  The one specially picked and dedicated to the emperor, can it not be mighty?

   This horse is only two years old, and its shoulder height has reached 1.58 meters. His fur is black and shiny, like jet black satin, except for a diamond-shaped white spot on his forehead.

  It's a pity that the two ears are too cute. They stand up high and compare their hearts to each other, destroying the majestic image in an instant.

  Wang Zhen pointed to another relatively short horse and said: "Your Majesty, this horse is also two years old. Its mother is a Hana horse, and its father is a Tianzhu horse. It is also a good horse that can go to war."

  Hanna horse, the hybrid offspring of Jeju Island native horse and Mongolian horse, is now the mainstream war horse of the dragoons.

  The Indian Mawari horse has the blood of native Indian horses, Arabian horses, and Turkmen horses.

   That is to say, the bloodline of the re-crossed horse in front of him is simply endless. The shoulder height is about 1.36 meters, and the appearance is more like a Mongolian horse, but with a little bit of Mawari horse characteristics.

  Wang Zhen pointed to the last horse and said: "This is the offspring of the Jeju native horse and the Tianzhu horse. It can... be used by the prince to ride."

  The real Jeju Tuma has a shoulder height of only about one meter, and the particularly majestic ones can reach more than 1.15 meters.

  Zhao Han can imagine the scene of breeding, a Mawari horse with a shoulder height of more than 1.5 meters, riding on a Jeju native horse with a shoulder height of only 1 meter... It is simply ravaged.

   "This thing is designed to be ridden by children?" Zhao Han asked.

Wang Zhen was a little embarrassed: "I came up on a whim, and wanted to know what kind of mixed offspring the two horses with huge differences in size would look like. There are more than ten horses in total, and this one is the best looking. Although it is still very short Very good, but the limbs are not as stubby as the Jeju native horse. There is another horse, nearly four feet high at the shoulder, taller than a dragoon horse, but the stubby limbs can only be used to pull goods. And I tried it, that horse Pulling goods is very useful, with great strength and endurance."

   Is this a genetic mutation?

   They are also descendants of Jeju Tuma and Mawari horses. One is only three feet tall, while the other is four feet tall. There is a difference of 30 centimeters.

In this regard, Zhao Han had to encourage him: "It's good to try more. Since the four-foot-tall rough horse is easy to pull goods, let it continue to be bred with Tianzhu horses. Let's see what the offspring can become, maybe we can do it." Make a good horse for towing artillery."

   "I will do my best!" Wang Zhen was immediately elated after being praised by the emperor.

   It just doesn’t sound right, why are you going all out for it? It's not for you to breed.

   After another round of admonition and encouragement, the two horse breeders Xie En left.

  Zhao Han asked someone to order a set of riding equipment, and called his eldest son over every few days: "Ju'er, this horse is yours. Start learning riding and archery skills from today."

   Zhao Kuanghuan is already seven years old, and he is suitable for riding a pony. He was delighted to see it and said, "Father, hasn't it grown up yet? Why is it so short?"

   "A dwarf among horses can only grow so tall." Zhao Han explained.

  A bodyguard who knows how to ride begins to play the role of Zhao Kuanghuan's teacher. First teach how to get on and off the horse, and then take the prince for a walk slowly. Although the shoulder height is only 1.1 meters, it is still a bit dangerous for a seven-year-old child.

   Fortunately, this horse is very docile, or lazy, and it stops in a daze while riding.

  This horse did not inherit his father's height, but he inherited his father's cute ears, which also stand tall and look inward. And the body proportion is well-proportioned, unlike ordinary pony, the four legs are often thick and short. Although this guy is short, at first glance it still has a bit of vigor, like a miniature version of a horse.

   A few days later, Zhao Kuanghuan was able to trot on horseback, and acted as the teacher's bodyguard to follow the whole process, for fear that the prince would fall and fall somewhere.

  Zhao Han also took time to practice riding, riding a few laps with his son every day. Surely it wasn't enough to fight on horseback, but it was enough to escape on horseback. He had never ridden a horse in his two lifetimes combined.

   Time flies, and it is the summer harvest time.

  There are not many wheat planters around Nanjing, and rapeseed is mainly harvested for summer grain, which is earlier than wheat. After the rapeseeds are harvested, oil is squeezed quickly after drying, and the vacated land is irrigated with water to plant late rice.

  If early rice is grown, soybean meal is used to fertilize the field. These are all ancient "chemical fertilizers".

   During the oil pressing season, the city is full of fragrance, and Zhao Han can smell it.

   Zhao Han, who has practiced a little riding skills, is not satisfied with riding a horse at home, and wants to take his family out hunting.

  He called the concubines over and said happily: "The fragrance of oil is overflowing, and the wheat is about to be harvested. In such a festive season, let's go out together and go hunting at Zijin Mountain."

  Fei Rulan said: "But we don't know how to ride horses. Why don't you go hunting? My sisters and I just happened to be out in the wild."

   "Okay, okay," Fei Rumei was quite excited, "I haven't played in the wild for a long time, and I usually have guards following me around the city."

  Pan Qimei is also very active: "When will I go out? I prepared to eat in advance, and recently I learned another kind of pastry."

  Liu Rushi smiled and said, "Why don't you call Mrs. Tian, ​​she can ride, shoot and hunt."

  Zhao Han finally remembered that there were still Chongzhen's concubines and children here, so he said, "Call those children too."

  Zhu Cihong is already fourteen years old, and now he is in middle school, and he was able to get in the top 20 of the school in the final exam. He went to a good school, with a lot of top students. It can only be said that the old Zhu's family has good genes, because Auntie Zhu's grades in the girls' school are also very good.

   "Meet Your Majesty!" Zhu Cihong led his younger siblings to pay their respects.

  They used to be called Uncle Zhao Han, but they changed their name to Your Majesty after they became sensible. It may also be taught by Concubine Tian Gui in private.

Zhao Han nodded in approval: "I haven't seen you for more than half a year. You have grown a lot. I heard that your academic performance is good. If you study hard, you will be able to be an official in the future. Since your father has been trusted by thousands of miles, I will not treat you badly." .”

   "Thank you, Your Majesty!" The princes and daughters of the former dynasty quickly expressed their gratitude.

  Zhu Cihong is really sensible. Last year, a scholar approached him quietly, and without waiting for the other party to explain his intentions, he shouted him away on the spot.

  The prince of the previous dynasty, to have the freedom he has now, is already considered very generous by Zhao Han.

   Everyone went out of the city in a carriage, but Zhao Kuanghuan insisted on riding a horse. The seven-year-old child rode a pony through the streets, trembling with excitement, which made the guards nervous.

   Go out from the southeast of the inner city of Nanjing and drive straight to Xiaolingwei.

  It was originally the place where Zhu Yuanzhang raised horses and hunted. It was also used as Zhu Yuanzhang's military training ground. In the end, his whole family was buried in that area.

  Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao, the three of them are a family, and the other concubines, princes, and princesses seem to be far more emotionally distant. When Empress Ma died, Zhu Yuanzhang wailed loudly, and Zhu Biao was also deeply saddened when he died.

   It was not until Zhao Han occupied Nanjing, Xiaolingwei, Xuanwu Lake and other areas that the ban was lifted to the people.

  Now around Xuanwu Lake, a large number of residential buildings and shops have been built, and there are painting boats and fishing boats everywhere on Xuanwu Lake. As for Xiaoling Guard, there has always been an area belonging to the Datong Army’s school grounds. After the regular divisions left Nanjing, the emperor’s personal guards would take turns practicing in the school grounds, and at the same time they also worked as a horse farm.

  The horse farm of Xiaolingwei mainly collects southern war horses, which are fed and trained before being sent to serve in the army.

   "Kowtow to His Majesty!"

  Several eunuchs rushed to worship, they used to guard the tomb here. After Zhao Han ascended the throne, most of them were expelled, but a few eunuchs remained to visit the graves of Zhu Yuanzhang, Queen Ma, and Zhu Biao.

   Zhao Han said: "Since you are here, let's go and say goodbye."

   After another walk, we finally came to Xiaoling.

  Zhao Han took his wife and children to offer incense to Zhu Yuanzhang, muttering a poem: "Ming Taizu has a spirit in the sky, and the junior Zhao Han came to worship. The king's legacy will be inherited by future generations, and you can smile nine springs!"

  After offering incense to pay his respects, Zhao Han turned around and said to Zhu Cihuang, Zhu Yuxi and the others: "This is your ancestor, come and offer a stick of incense."

  Several old eunuchs, looking at the orphans of the previous dynasty, who worshiped Zhu Yuanzhang there, all huddled in a corner and quietly wiped their tears.

   I don’t know whether they are crying for Daming, Chongzhen, or themselves.

   (There were two mistakes in the previous chapter. One was the miscalculation of silver, and the other was the age of Louis XIV. Both have been corrected. If you find a wrong number in the future, don’t make any more jokes. The physical education teacher is very sad.)

  (end of this chapter)