"What do you think of this thing, my lord?" Guan Ping pointed to the stirrups installed on both sides of the black horse's saddle and asked.

In fact, Liu Bei, Zhao Yun, and Chen Zhi have already noticed this thing. Liu Bei and the three glanced at each other, and Liu Bei said: "I have seen similar things in the north, but it is made of rope." It is beneficial for those who are new to horseback riding, to get on and off the horse. ”

Guan Ping was a little surprised, didn't he expect that there was already a prototype of stirrups in the Han Dynasty? Stirrups made of rope? However, Guan Ping was not discouraged and disappointed, because as Liu Bei said.

Liu Bei had seen this stirrup made of rope in the north, but it was not used on a large scale, but was used as a tool for people who were new to riding horses, and got on and off their horses.

Guan Ping also speculated that it might be more popular among the aristocracy. Because in the army, where the soldiers need stirrups made of ropes to get off their horses, even if they are new to riding horses, they can also go up with the help of the veterans, and they can go up and down freely once or twice.

And the stirrups made of rope are certainly not as good as those of iron. The rope is not a fixation, and the stirrup is an iron fixation.

"The lord can take a weapon and try it on the horse to see if there is anything different." Guan Ping said with a smile.

"Fetch my sword." Liu Bei summoned a personal soldier who was waiting outside the courtyard and took out the double sword, Liu Bei's double sword hung on the left and right sides during the battle, and took it out cross. At this moment, a personal soldier came in with a sword left and right, Liu Bei directly pulled out the sword, and then stepped on the stirrup and turned over on the horse.

Of course, Liu Bei's riding skills are very good, but he is an immortal Xiaoqiang who has been defeated countless times, but can survive. I saw Liu Bei wielding a pair of swords shining with cold light, and he made a short sprint in this courtyard, stabbing or slashing, dancing very beautifully.

Like the Guan family's swordsmanship, Liu Bei's swordsmanship also has basic routines.

These routines seem useless, but after practicing the routines for a long time, an instinctive reaction will be formed. Should I stab? How to stab, there is an instant reaction.

All in all, Liu Bei rode a horse and danced a sword very beautifully.

"How's the lord?" After Liu Bei danced for a while, he rode his horse back, turned over and dismounted. Guan Ping went up to take the reins of the horse and asked Liu Bei.

"This is different from a rope, the bottom is stable, and the feet have a place to stand on the cone, which makes it easier to control the war horse and save the effort to slash. That's good stuff. ”

Liu Bei said happily.

Immediately, Liu Bei raised his head and looked at Zhao Yun and Chen Dao, only to see that the two generals were eager to try. Liu Bei couldn't help but smile and said, "Zilong try it first." ”

Immediately, he handed one sword in his hand to Zhao Yun, and the other sword to Chen Dao. Zhao Yun immediately stepped forward, turned over on his horse, and began to sprint short distances with Liu Bei, as well as stabbing and slashing with his sword on the horse.

Generals have swords, and swordsmanship is the foundation.

Zhao Yun's swordsmanship is also very good, and it looks very sharp and good-looking.

"Not bad." Zhao Yun also showed a look of joy, then turned over and dismounted, and let Chen go up, and after the three of them got on the horse in turn and tried it, they all showed the same expression, delighted.

"This is a good thing, with it, the combat power of the cavalry will increase by thirty percent." Zhao Yun said. He always had a romantic affection for cavalry, and the stirrups were very much to his liking.

"Ping'er, you are really my lucky general." Liu Bei smiled and touched the horn on Guan Ping's head, which almost became a daily action.

Although Guan Ping was very helpless about touching his head and killing, he also reluctantly accepted it.

As for Chen Dao, this guy is basically a stuffy gourd and didn't speak.

If it weren't for the fact that Mi Wei and Mi Zhu were almost out of the same mold, Guan Ping would have wondered if Mi Wei was the old Chen Sheng next door.

Facing the happy three, Guan Ping smiled. That's the joy, it's not over yet. Guan Ping asked Liu Bei's personal soldiers to take ropes and tools, fixed the black horse, lifted the horse's legs, and said, "Lord, look." ”

Liu Bei, Zhao Yun, and Chen were shocked at this time, because they had seen stirrups made of ropes in the north and had an impression of this.

But for the installation of iron shoes on the horse's shoes, it is unheard of.

"This, Ping'er, why is this?" Liu Bei was shocked and touched the hooves of the black horse, knocked on the horseshoe, the black horse was a little tempered, made a pop in his nose, and moved the horse's legs, but it was unsuccessful and was tied.

Speaking of cavalry, speaking of horses, Zhao Yun is much more clever than Liu Bei. Zhao Yun rushed over almost like a flutter, and then touched the horseshoe very carefully, and said excitedly: "Lord, you forgot." The loss rate of thousands of miles of running war horses, how many good horses, because of stuck stones, or worn horses' hooves, were scrapped on the spot, and even elite cavalry were killed. If this iron does not harm the horse's hooves, but also protects the horse's hooves, the benefits are unimaginable. ”

Chen Zhi was also completely excited, he didn't speak, just kept pulling his beard. Liu Bei was stunned, and then reacted.

"This, this thing is good, very good." Liu Bei bent down and pointed to the horseshoe, a little incoherent.

When Guan Ping invented Mi's wine, he wasn't so excited. After all, he is a hero on horseback, although Liu Bei also attaches great importance to money, he pays more attention to how to improve the combat effectiveness of the army.

"This should not be expensive, and it can be installed on a large scale for cavalry, even in the army, and even for civilian horses." Zhao Yun bent down, looked carefully at the stirrup, and the horseshoe, and said.

"It should be done immediately." Liu Bei couldn't help nodding and said.

What is most precious in the army, horses.

Horses have a depreciation rate. A very good horse may be broken in daily training. Among them, the horse's hooves were injured, accounting for the lion's share.

In Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou in the north, a good horse only needs one gold, but in the south, a good war horse needs ten gold, and even a horse is expensive.

Liu Bei has a small cavalry army commanded by Zhao Yun, and the horses of this cavalry army are constantly being damaged, and it is embarrassing that the scale has been shrinking.

Some cavalry did not even have horses, only horses.

If the horse can't sprint, it will fall behind in the sprint, which is really embarrassing.

If you have a horseshoe, you can slow down this awkward process. Because in addition to being damaged, horses are also old.

All in all, with this horseshoe, the benefits for the cavalry are great. Even if you accumulate it, you may accumulate a large cavalry force of thousands of sizes.

After all, at present, because of Mi's wine, Xinye's future is very good. Even if the war horse is expensive, it can afford it, and the cavalry can afford to raise a thousand people at a cost.

And with cavalry and without cavalry, the difference is great. Even if it is difficult for a thousand cavalry to conduct a big battle in a formation, it is the eyes and ears of the army, the movement of the army, and the wide distribution of spies.

The message is much faster, and the war is naturally much safer. Sun Qian taught Guan Ping the art of war, and the first requirement was to send troops to the army and spread spies widely.

Even Guan Ping had heard of such a person in the Three Kingdoms, and he forgot his name. It seems to be a clan of the Wu State, leading the troops to guard the northern region of the Wu State, and his spies have been sent to Xudu. As long as Xu has military operations, he is ready, so the defense is very good.

The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first.

The army is moving, and spies are widely spread.

No matter how many or too few cavalry there are, they can play a variety of roles, which is too rare. If Zhao Yun is given a white horse to follow righteousness, Liu Bei will dare to send Zhao Yun to take a walk.

The Central Plains is a flat river, and the cavalry comes and goes like the wind.

Just when the three of them were happy, Guan Ping poured cold water on the side, and he arched his hand at Liu Bei and said, "Lord, there is actually a problem with these two things. ”

"What's the problem?" Liu Bei likes Guan Ping more and more, the more he looks at it, the more he likes it, it's really a blessing. So he hurriedly touched the horn on Guan Ping's head again and asked.

"On cavalry, on war horses, Cao Cao has more than us." Guan Ping's words were simple and shocking, but he hit the nail on the head. Liu Bei, Zhao Yun, and Chen Zhi were all smart people, and they immediately heard it, and couldn't help but be silent for a long time.

Guan Ping's worries are normal.

In the entire vast Chinese region, there are only three places that can produce good horses, Liangzhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou, these three places are connected to the outside of the Saiwai, where you can buy the horses of the grassland people, and secondly, there are indeed vast pastures that can produce war horses.

And Liangzhou is currently controlled by Ma Teng and Han Sui, and these two males, like Liu Biao, are self-defended thieves. When Cao Cao and Yuan Shao held each other's official crossings, Ma Teng and Han Sui also paid tribute to the war horses for Cao Cao to use.

And the remaining Youzhou, and Bingzhou were occupied by Yuan Shao, but at present, it seems that Yuan Shao can no longer support it, and the north must be Cao Cao's.

Then the advantage of Cao Cao's war horse and cavalry will occupy the absolute upper hand. Needless to say, compared to the south, it does not produce good horses.

At present, Cao Cao controls the flow of war horses from the north to the south, so the war horses that only sell one gold in Youzhou, Liangzhou, and Bingzhou can be sold for ten gold when they come to the south, which is a big profit.

And even if it is so expensive, because Cao Cao controls the flow of war horses in the north, there are very few horses in the south that can come. Some merchants took risks and risked their heads to sell horses in disregard of Cao Cao's decrees.

Some flow from Liangzhou into Hanzhong and Shuzhong, and then divert to Jingzhou and Yangzhou. All in all, horses are expensive and few.

In such a situation, neither Liu Biao nor Sun Quan had a large-scale cavalry army of tens of thousands, or even five thousand.

Not to mention Liu Bei, even if Liu Bei has a population of two or three hundred thousand and two or thirty thousand elite soldiers according to Guan Ping's plan, how many cavalry can he raise?

One or two thousand will reach the sky.

On the contrary, Cao Cao's cavalry may even have numbered tens of thousands. This stirrup, the horseshoe is beneficial to the cavalry, and if it spreads, it will be even more beneficial to Cao Cao.

This is the reason why Guan Ping took out the stirrup, and the horseshoe was a little hesitant. But Guan Ping finally took it out, because this matter could be handed over to Liu Bei to decide.

Is it better to take it out and use it well, or to hide it?

Liu Bei has more say than him.

Liu Bei thought about it, touched Guan Ping's general horn again, and said with a smile: "Ping'er, your worries are right, but they are not right. ”

Guan Ping was a little strange, and arched his hand and said, "Please also ask the lord for advice." ”

"There are horses in the north, and Cao Cao only needs one gold to get a good horse. There are no horses in the south, and we need ten gold to get a horse. In the same way, horses are produced in the north, so Cao Cao's cavalry can continuously replenish war horses. For example, Cao Cao had 50,000 cavalry, even if he had no horseshoe, he could maintain it at 50,000. ”

"And we, one less of our horses, one less. So having a horseshoe is more important to us. ”

Liu Bei said.

Guan Ping frowned and said, "But with the horseshoe and the reduction rate of war horses, it is possible for Cao Cao to raise 100,000 cavalry." ”

Liu Bei smiled, touched Guan Ping's horn again, and messed up Guan Ping's hair, Guan Ping was a little angry, turned his head, and didn't have Liu Da'er.

Yes, Beibei has also become Liu Da'er.

"Cao Cao can't afford to raise 100,000 cavalry." Liu Bei's voice was a little emotional, and he said: "That was when Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan were there, and he could afford to raise 100,000 cavalry, because there was a large population at that time. And now that the north has experienced many wars, Cao Cao needs to guard the Quartet, and there are many infantry troops, how can he still afford to raise 100,000 cavalry? On the contrary, if we keep a low profile, slowly collect war horses, and protect them, we may be able to raise a team of three or five thousand cavalry. ”

Guan Ping immediately understood, and couldn't help but sigh that Jiang was still old and spicy, and the traverser couldn't despise the indigenous heroes, the big-eared Liu, that is, the big-eared Liu, look at the problem and understand.

The number of cavalry raised is closely related to the strength of the country. Although Cao Cao in the north occupies a favorable time and place, a large population and a vast area.

However, after a long period of war, the population has decreased suddenly, and even some cities are empty. Under such circumstances, Cao Cao had no choice but to implement the tuntian system.

Mintun, Juntun.

High taxes were collected to ensure the supply of the army. In such a situation, Cao Cao did not have the spare strength to support more cavalry.

Because cavalry is a professional army that is completely unproductive, to support one cavalry, without counting war horses, a cavalry can support three or more infantry troops.

That's a huge expense.

Cao Cao's side may be fifty or sixty thousand is already the limit, this is still after Cao Cao annexed Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao's cavalry is only twenty or thirty thousand at most.

On the contrary, because the southern region has not experienced war, its population and economy have remained intact and even steadily rising.

The financial resources are very strong.

Jingzhou has the Jianghan Plain, which has a population of more than one million and rich people. Liu Biao occupied Jingzhou and brought 100,000 armor.

As long as the number of sailors and infantry troops is reduced, a force of 10,000 cavalry can be raised.

But Jingzhou does not produce horses. If Liu Bei occupies Jingzhou and Yizhou in the future, he establishes a horse farm for breeding war horses in Jingzhou and Yizhou, plus the war horses flowing in from Liangzhou, relying on horseshoes to reduce the loss rate of war horses, it is possible to raise a huge cavalry army of twenty or thirty thousand.

Horseshoes are more beneficial to the southern regions that do not produce horses and have few horses, but are rich.

This is the experience, the question of being well-informed. Guan Pingyuan is only ten years old, even if he adds the soul of a modern person, it is not as good as the world's heroes who have traveled south and north for countless years, Liu Bei has a comprehensive view of the problem.

"Guan Ping is taught." Guan Ping was very serious, and he bowed to Liu Bei very convincingly, with big ears, wrong, and being prepared is a cow.