In the morning, the stable.

Several military households, who were in charge of raising horses, were standing by and pointing, as if discussing the wonders of the water horse.

According to historical records, the southwest war horses produced in Yunnan-Guichuan are the shortest Yunnan horses, with an average height of about 115 centimeters. Sichuan horses are taller, with an average height of about 120 centimeters. Guizhou horses are the tallest, with an average body height of about 125 cm.

The above is all about war horses, not horses and pack horses.

Guizhou war horses are divided into Wumeng horses and Shuixi horses, because of Zhu Yuanzhang's royal horse, Shuixi horses became famous in the Ming Dynasty, also known as "Shuixi Dragon Horses".

The war horse of Li Xi, the commander of Pingyi Wei, is a Dali horse, which is very finely fed, with a body height of 124 centimeters, far exceeding ordinary Yunnan horses. But standing with Wang Yuan's horse, it was not enough to see it in an instant, and the 163-centimeter-tall ghost knows how it was raised.

Combined with the legend of Wang Yuan's prancing horse and killing bandits, this horse has also become a big star of Pingyiwei, and even some soldiers came to see it.

Wang Yuan stood in front of the stable, feeding the tartary buckwheat evenly with one hand and stroking the horse's mane with the other. Although he handed over the task of raising horses to Zhou Chong, he didn't completely leave it alone, and he still had to cultivate a relationship with the horses every day.

Zhou Chong had already stepped into the stable, brushing the horses seriously, and his pious appearance was like serving his ancestors.

"Second brother, what's the name of this horse?" Zhou Chong asked while brushing.

Wang Yuan suddenly remembered Song Ling'er and said with a smile: "Some people call it 'Ah Hei'." ”

Ah Hei is Xiao Hei, and Song Ling'er is also weak, and he is not as good as Wang Yuan's civil engineering three masters. Well, the three leopard cats were thrown back to the village, stealing chickens and dogs all day long, and causing a lot of harm to the fathers and elders in the village.

Zhou Chong touched the horse's body and exclaimed: "Second brother, look at the horse's fur, it's light and smooth, like black silk." When I was learning to sing, I knew that famous horses have a resounding name. Uncle Liu Huang has Lu, Lu Fengxian has Chitu, Cao Cao...... Hey, what's the name of Cao Cao's mount? ”

"Absolute Shadow, and Claw Yellow Flying Lightning." When Wang Yuan was studying, he played a lot of Three Kingdoms games.

"It seems to be called this," Zhou Chong couldn't take it for sure, and said, "Second brother, your horse is covered in black, just like splashed ink." I think it's similar to Xiang Bawang's Wu Hu, why don't you call it Wu Hu anymore? Ahei really doesn't show his majesty. ”

"Brush your horse honestly, don't gossip." Wang Yuan smiled and was noncommittal.

Horses have small stomachs and must eat small, frequent meals.

Wang Yuan fed a handful of tartary buckwheat, and fed some grass and salt water, and today's breakfast was enough. He personally led the horse out, found a blacksmith in the city to replace the horse's horse, and repaired the horse's pedicure by the way, which is also a necessary daily maintenance item.

Pingyi Stone City is not large, and the inhabitants are mainly military families and artisan households, in addition to merchants.

"Wang Xiang's public security is good!"

"Wang Xianggong's horse is really tall."

"Xianggong Wang, my soup cake is delicious, why don't you have a bowl?"

“……”

Half a day, a night, and another morning, Wang Yuan's prestige had spread throughout Pingyi City, and it seemed that everyone in the city knew him.

Well, it's mainly about knowing horses, and it's rare to see such a tall in the southwest.

The news spread so quickly because Pingyi City was too small, with only one narrow street and a few small alleys, which was not as big as a quarter of Guizhou City.

Yesterday I brought so many bandit heads into the city, it was hard not to attract attention.

Along the way, Wang Yuan was greeted by people everywhere, and all with curious, inquiring eyes.

When he came to the blacksmith shop, Wang Yuan took out a knife and personally pedicure the horse, and then asked the blacksmith to nail the horse's shoe again. It takes a lot of effort to raise horses, and I have to get up in the middle of the night to feed the horses night grass, and now the night work can finally be handed over to Zhou Chong.

That kid is a smart man, otherwise he wouldn't have escaped, and he would have come back to join the slaves, and he would definitely not have done the stupid thing of stealing horses and running away.

The main problem is household registration, and lowly status is better than no state.

In the cities of the middle and late Ming Dynasty, many small traders belonged to the stateless homeless people, but the people were not prosecuted. But after all, they belong to the gray group, and they are discriminated against even renting a house, and when they encounter black-hearted landlords, they even charge them two or three times the rent, or temporarily raise the price, and threaten to report to the government if they don't give money.

Even if Zhou Chong stole Wang Yuan's horse and sold it, he would have to hide in Tibet to live, so it was better to commit himself to a future as a slave.

Led the horse back to the guardhouse, Qin had already gathered the caravan and gathered there to prepare to continue the journey.

Zhou Chong carried a few cloth bags, ran to Wang Yuan, and said, "Second brother, this is the tartary buckwheat, bean cake and ginger salt that Fifth Uncle Qin helped buy, it cost a total of three hundred and sixty yuan, and there is still one hundred and eighty yuan left in the broken silver you gave." ”

Wang Yuan said: "Take the one hundred and eighty yuan yourself, and give you another one hundred and twenty yuan when you go back, and it will be regarded as this month's ICBC." ”

"Thank you, second brother." Zhou Chong smiled and put the copper coin into his arms.

ICBC is salary, and Wang Yuan also has to cover food and housing, and the salary of 300 wen per month is not a lot, because the consumption level in Yunnan-Guizhou is very low.

If it is changed to Jiangnan, the consumption over there will be high. Taking the short-term farmer as an example, not only to provide ICBC (wages), but also to provide food and rice (rations), coiled silver (travel expenses), agricultural tools silver (equipment wear and tear costs), and firewood and wine silver (to drink a little wine), Lin Lin finally cost 20 yuan a day, and it is only enough for these short-term workers to support their families.

Of course, there are many short-term workers, and they get up early and stay late every day, which is more labor-intensive than long-term workers.

In principle, for a slave like Zhou Chong, Wang Yuan can not pay a salary, only provide daily food and accommodation, and occasionally give some reward money - this kind of thing, Wang Yuan really can't do it.

Zhou Chong was reluctant to put things on the horse's back, and suggested: "Second brother, it's better to buy another pack horse, which is specially used to carry the head." ”

"Yes." Wang Yuan also came to his senses.

Wang Yuan was alone before, and the official road was narrow, so it was not easy to rush with two horses. Therefore, the examination bookcase, clothes, blankets, rice and salt and other things are all carried by "Ah Hei", and they have to be unloaded first during the battle, and a war horse is used as a pack horse.

Now that two people are on the road, they need to bring more things, and they have to buy another pack horse.

There is no special horse market in Pingyi City, so it is really not easy to buy horses temporarily. Wang Yuan went to the commander Li Xi and bought a Dian horse for five taels of silver, which was very short, but with thick legs and feet, suitable for pulling carts and transporting goods.

When Zhou Chong put things on the pack horse, Li Ying led the horse and said with a smile: "You servant is good, quite clever, and diligent. ”

Wang Yuan said with emotion: "With his life experience, if he is not clever and diligent, he will starve to death. ”

At this moment, a young man in rags suddenly ran over. His clothes were in tatters, he didn't even have straw sandals on his feet, he was just wrapped in rags, and his face was bruised and bruised.

It was Tian Qiu who was reduced to sleeping in the Chase Shop.

Tian Qiu also recognized the horse directly, ran to Wang Yuan, and said, "Your Excellency is Guiyang prodigy Wang Ruoxu?" ”

"Exactly." Wang Yuan returned the salute.

Tian Qiu reported to his family and said: "Tian Qiu, a student member of Xia Sinan Mansion, is a member of Ruli." Brother Jiumu is famous, and I came to see him today. ”

"It turned out to be Brother Ru Li in person, did you encounter bandits?" Wang Yuan asked.

"It's really insulting," Tian Qiu said ashamedly, "There is no martial arts of Brother Ruoxu, and my book companion was also killed by bandits, and I escaped by jumping off a cliff." All the valuable items on his body were searched by the bandits, and his shoes and scarves were also missing when he jumped off the cliff. ”

Another unlucky guy, from Sinan Mansion to Yunnan, it is more than a thousand miles from Guiyang to Yunnan, and he is about to go out of the boundary of Guizhou, and he actually ends up like this.

Wang Yuan asked, "Brother Ru Li's examination papers, won't you also lose them?" ”

"No, the paperwork was wrapped in oiled paper and sewn into underwear, and the bandits couldn't find it." Tian Qiu couldn't help but feel a little hot, he actually sewed the paperwork into his bottoms, and the bandits really couldn't find it unless they pulled out their crotch.

Wang Yuan turned his head to Yue Zhen and said, "Brother Wenshi, you are similar to this Brother Tian, why don't you borrow him a set of clothes, shoes and hats first." ”

Yue Zhen smiled: "They are all Guizhou scholars, and they should help each other." ”

Wang Yuan took out another five taels of silver and stuffed it into Tian Qiu's hand: "Brother Ruli, please accept it." ”

Wang Yuan's silver is not much, and the rebels who attacked at night divided a few hundred taels of spoils, and a lot of them were used in the Civilization Academy, and now there are only about two hundred taels left. Ming Jin is sixteen taels, that is, twelve and a half catties, of which more than six catties are still stored in the green village.

Tian Qiu hurriedly waved at Wang Yuan and Yue Zhen: "The two brothers have generously helped each other, and now I am grateful!" ”

This person is not very old, he is sixteen years old this year, only one year older than Wang Yuan. At this age, he walked from Sinan Mansion to Kunming to take the exam, more than 3,000 miles, and it was really difficult for him, and it was lucky that he was not hacked to death or died of illness.

Tian Qiu quickly changed into new clothes, put on a scarf again, and said: "My eldest brother has been sentenced to Qujing Mansion, and when I arrive in Qujing, I will feast and thank you with all my friends." ”

It is generally judged to be the sixth grade, which is equivalent to the deputy mayor of the prefecture-level city, in charge of the Qing army (checking local military households), anti-theft, agriculture, salt, water conservancy, tuntian, horse herding, etc. Anyway, the oil and water are very rich, and Tian Qiu's eldest brother is definitely not short of silver.

"Okay, let's go." Wang Yuan said with a smile.

After the battle of killing the bandit leader, Wang Yuan has become the actual leader, and even Qin has to ask for his opinion in advance.

Wang Yuan said to go, then go.

Originally, it was very boring to be in a hurry, but it happened that Zhou Chong could sing and took the initiative to perform for free to everyone.

He sang the Dian opera of the Ming Dynasty, which was different from the Dian opera of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and the singing method was mixed with Shanxi Bangzi, Huguang and Lianghuai tunes, which should be the fusion brought by the great migration in the early Ming Dynasty.

"The sergeants were struggling and sleeping for days, and the old man was hungry and cold, and his eyes were dizzy...... Outside, General Liulang walked in, took off his battle robe and woke up the old man Linggong...... "Zhou Chong sang "Yang Family General" loudly, he relied on this in the bandits' den to mix quite comfortably.

"Good!"

The caravan porters and students cheered and some sang and played, which was much more interesting than simply rushing.