Li Zicheng walked along the east shore of the West Sea, the lakeside highlands were rugged and difficult, from time to time there were stones blocking the road ahead, even the war horses were careful, the slightest carelessness, they might be tripped over a nonsensical rock sticking out of nowhere, and only at noon on the second day did they reach the Jinyintan grassland.

Golden Beach, Silver Beach is almost connected, only divided by the Mapi River and the Halijin River, this is called the Golden Beach Silver Beach, the grassland reaches the east bank of the West Sea in the west, and the east is blocked by the Sun Moon Mountain, and cannot reach the Huangshui, but it is precisely because of the existence of the Sun Moon Mountain, there is a huge terrain difference, and the grassland has a seasonal change, which greatly prolongs the grazing time.

Now it has already entered the winter, the grass on the lowland of the lakeshore, after the gnawing of the cattle and sheep and the harvest of the shepherds, there are large patches of withered yellow dwarf grass, fortunately the grass roots are still dense, the land is not exposed, as far as the eye can see, it is uneven, like a child's haircut.

On the east side of the sun and moon, from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, the grass is becoming more and more green, and it is clearly still the scene of autumn and summer.

Jintan and Yintan are the best pastures in Xiningwei, after Li Zicheng recaptured them from the Mongols, they have now become Weili's pastures, and more than ninety percent of the cattle, horses and sheep of Xiningwei are concentrated in Jinyintan, and more than 20 eliminated soldiers are led by Huang Xiaoyun, the chief flag officer, to graze here.

At this time, several shepherds came out of the dense forests in the mountains, but they were dressed as soldiers, and when they saw Li Zicheng and his cavalry, they were obviously taken aback, and immediately stopped, and when they saw the clothes on their bodies, they came over boldly, and when they saw that it was the Lord of Qianhu, they immediately kowtowed and saluted, "Subordinate Huang Xiaoyun, knock to see the Lord!" ”

"Get up," Li Zicheng pulled the reins of the horse and stopped the horse, "Is there still enough grass at this time?" ”

"Back to my lord, the grass on the lowlands is nearing the end, but there is still a lot of grass on the slopes, and it is mainly grazing in the mountains by subordinates," Huang Xiaoyun pointed to the mountain with his hand, "My lord, please see, now the cattle and sheep are all on the mountain, and they will only go to the lowlands by the lake to graze once every few days." ”

Li Zicheng looked in the direction of Huang Xiaoyun's finger, the white sheep seemed to be connected, and the wild grass in the mountains became embellishments, looking from a distance, it looked like a moving black and white ink painting, on the edge of the ink painting, there seemed to be a few yellow horses, "Xiaoyun, how is the foal?" Can you fight horses now? ”

"Back to my lord, there are more than 20 foals that are close to maturity, but ...... The brothers are not good at taming horses, and they cannot be used as war horses for the time being, and they must wait for their training to mature before they can go into battle. ”

Since they are not good at taming horses, it is useless to keep them, it is better to bring them back to Xining, and let the herdsmen help tame them, Li Zicheng said: "Xiaoyun, we are going to the fishing ground today, and we will go back tomorrow, you will send these nearly mature horses to the fishing grounds, and I will take them back to Xining by the way, and then tame them." Although he likes good horses, he also has some regrets in his heart, there are fewer and fewer war horses that can be replenished, and the tribes of the Mongols in the west are getting farther and farther away, and if they want to take action, they need to go deep into the grassland.

"Yes, my lord, my subordinates will send these horses to the fishing ground tomorrow morning."

Li Zicheng suddenly found a question, "Xiaoyun, why didn't I see the house, do you want to spend the winter in the tent?" ”

"My lord, there is no grass left in the pasture right now, and the cattle and sheep can still gnaw some grass stalks, once the climate plummets, before the snow comes, the subordinates will drive the cattle and sheep into Zhenhai Fort for the winter!"

"All these cattle and sheep are going to be driven into Zhenhai Fort?"

"Go back to my lord, the sheepfold, pasture, etc. are ready, I can go over at any time."

"Ao," since the matter of shepherding sheep has been handed over to Huang Xiaoyun, Li Zicheng will no longer care, and the front is his goal, "Xiaoyun, how far is it from the fishing ground?" ”

"Back to my lord, the fishing ground is at the mouth of the river, only forty or fifty miles away, if it goes well, it will arrive in an hour," Huang Xiaoyun finished speaking, but he squeaked and whined, and said, "My lord......"

"Xiaoyun, if you have something to say, just say it, don't look like a girl!"

Huang Xiaoyun first straightened his waist, then knelt down suddenly, and knocked on the ground with his face, "My lord, my subordinates want to return to the army!" ”

"The army?" Li Zicheng smiled slightly, and asked knowingly, "Aren't you part of the army now?" Isn't the monthly food and salary paid? ”

"My lord, that's not what I mean," Huang Xiaoyun let go, "My lord, my subordinates want to return to the soldiers." ”

"Soldiers? Soldiers may go into battle against the enemy at any time, and casualties may occur at any time," Li Zicheng said with a smile, "Do you know the discipline of soldiers?" ”

"My lord, my subordinates know," Huang Xiaoyun knelt down, "his subordinates are willing to abide by discipline and dare not violate military discipline again." ”

Li Zicheng looked at the back of Huang Xiaoyun's head, saw that he was trembling slightly, and asked, "Is this your attention, or did the brothers discuss it?" ”

"My lord, brothers...... The brothers are willing to return to the soldier sequence. Huang Xiaoyun didn't know Li Zicheng's original intention, and squeaked again.

I see!

It must be that the life of shepherding sheep is too monotonous, such soldiers are smarter than ordinary soldiers, because they are too smart, so they know that they are afraid, and if they think too much about life and death interests on the battlefield, their combat effectiveness will be reduced, but those soldiers who are simple-minded and strong-blooded are the easiest to exert their physical potential to the limit on the battlefield.

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, and suddenly his heart moved, since these people are smarter than ordinary soldiers and are willing to use their brains when encountering things, then why not...... Then the tiger raised his face and said: "Lord Ben will give you a chance, in your spare time, you will first train according to the requirements of the soldiers, and after the New Year, if you catch up with the standards of the soldiers, Lord Ben will consider your requirements." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

Li Zicheng shook the reins of his horse and ran forward, leaving Huang Xiaoyun alone on his knees at the edge of the pasture.

Although the war horse was advancing rapidly, Li Zicheng still pondered a problem on horseback, that is, the establishment of a farming area.

Sooner or later, Xiningwei will embark on his own path, food will never be a hurdle that cannot be crossed, and there is neither silver nor a stable supply for purchase, and perhaps the imperial court will impose a material blockade on Xining in the future.

If you don't want to be a thief, then you can only produce it yourself, at least to ensure that the soldiers have enough food, Xiningwei is backed by the Yellow River, Huangshui, Datong River, a river with abundant water through the border, tributaries are dense, there is no shortage of water sources, providing convenient conditions for farming.

As early as the Han Dynasty, the Huangshui Valley was included in the sphere of influence of the Central Empire, indicating that it was suitable for growing food, and that the farming people had little interest in land where crops could not grow, regardless of whether there was pasture on the land.

In other health centers near Xining, Xining is self-sufficient in food, and Xining, which has more abundant water, has no reason not to produce food.

But Xiningwei as the imperial court's horse ranch, has a history of hundreds of years, and now the sudden transformation of herdsmen into cultivators is not only a change in lifestyle, but also a change in the way of thinking, in case the people are suspicious and change, it seems that the soldiers are still needed to suppress it, just like the rebellion of Chen Youdao, the big Tusi in Beichuan, without a strong military force, it is impossible to promote the transformation of the people.

However, the history of agriculture of the Han nationality has been thousands of years, and the long-term extreme dependence on the land has made the people more docile than sheep.

On the same piece of land, agricultural output has a tens, or hundreds of times superiority over animal husbandry, and it is impossible for the people living in Xining not to know that they are only confined to the great policies of the imperial court and forced to become herdsmen.

Li Zicheng's current "return to farming" is a win-win situation for Xiningwei and the people, the people's income will increase, Xiningwei has a stable supply of food, and the only victim is the imperial court, but since the imperial court has abandoned Li Zicheng a long time ago and forced him to become a fugitive, how can he care about the feelings of the imperial court? He has gradually taken control of Xiningwei and broke with the imperial court, which is a matter of time.

However, if you want to "return grazing to farming", it is not without difficulty, the climate is getting colder, and the reclamation work may come to a complete halt at any time because of a heavy snowfall, and besides, the herdsmen have been away from farming for a long time, and they lack the necessary farm tools in their hands, and the Xining Weijiang workshop is working overtime, and it is difficult to produce enough farm tools, so it is necessary to use the help of folk blacksmith shops.

In addition, it is the war horses, the war horses raised by Xining Wei for the imperial court are all in the hands of the people, once the people turn into cultivators, it will be difficult to obtain a stable source of war horses in the future, so Li Zicheng saw those war horses that were close to adulthood raised by Huang Xiaoyun, and immediately looked like a baby.

Unconsciously, Li Zicheng has come to the southeast shore of the West Sea, a small river called the Daochuan River, blocking the way forward, at the mouth of the Daochuan River, there are more than ten small thatched huts, like a small village, different from ordinary villages, these small thatched huts are very neat, the style is also the same, like an assembly line up and down.