"Big brother, this horse is good, can you reward me." Zhao Wankui, who inspected the booty, found a chestnut horse among the captured thief horses. After repeated inspections left and right, Zhao Wankui felt very liked, so he opened his mouth to ask Zhang Mengjin on the side.

Zhang Mengjin, who was lighting the cigarette stick, looked over when he heard this, and said to Zhao Wankui with some embarrassment: "This horse is not castrated, I plan to bring it back to the village as a stallion." Otherwise, you might as well change it, it's a pity that this horse is castrated. ”

"Then forget it, I don't dare to ride a war horse that can't be castrated." When Zhao Wankui heard that he was going to make a stallion for the village, he could only give up his idea and check another black Yanqi horse next to him.

Zhang Mengjin saw that Zhao Wankui was in the herd of horses, always looking for a tall mount, and knew that his old mistake had been committed again.

Looking left and right, Zhang Mengjin pointed to a majestic Mongolian horse and said, "I said Zhao San, don't always pick a taller." I've tried that horse, it's fast, it's endurance, it's good-tempered, you can try it. ”

Zhao Wankui has a problem, he just likes to ride a relatively large horse. In the past, when they were still selling smuggled salt in various places, Zhao Wankui wanted to buy a tall horse as soon as he saw it. Later, Zhang Mengguang's safflower grew up, and Zhao Wankui's problem worsened a lot. A war horse with a shoulder height of less than four feet and three inches is not considered by him to be a good horse.

When Zhao Wankui heard his eldest brother's recommendation, he looked away. But after he only glanced at it, he immediately said with a look of disgust: "That horse is too short to ride at all, so I'll take a look at something else." ”

With that, he replaced the horse with a tall shoulder and began to check it.

Seeing Zhao San's reaction, Zhang Mengjin could only shake his head and start smoking. As the head of the leaders of Jinding Mountain, Zhang Mengjin is not so particular.

Zhang Mengjin believes that as long as the war horse is docile, runs fast and has good endurance, it is okay not to be cowardly when fighting. Even if the height of the war horse does not reach 3 feet 8 inches, as long as it is better than the average horse in other aspects. (Note 1)

In this siege battle in Heshui County, the officers and soldiers seized a large number of horses and equipment. Because Zhang Mengjin's side made a lot of contributions in this battle, it was almost because of their surprise attack that the final victory or defeat of this battle was decided.

So after some deliberations, Zhang Mengjin's troops were given the right to choose the spoils of war first. And the more than ten quite majestic war horses here are part of the trophies picked by Zhang Mengjin by exercising his priority.

Although Zhao Wankui didn't take a fancy to the Mongolian horse, Zhou Shaoteng felt that it was not bad. He led the horse out for a run and found nothing wrong. So after coming back, Zhou Shaoteng said to Zhang Mengjin: "This horse runs fast and has a good temper, I want it." Go back and bring it to the fort, and I will train it again. ”

Zhang Mengjin saw that someone knew the goods, so he was very happy to let Zhou Shaoteng take him away, turned his head and said to Zhao Wankui: "Zhao San, take a look, Lao Zhou is the person who knows the goods, you always pick those kinds of goods and suffer sooner or later." ”

Although it's not good to just pick a tall one, Zhang Mengjin's statement that he looks like a good man is still too exaggerated.

Zhou Shaoteng, who had just gotten a good horse, also accosted him on the side: "We don't want to ride horses around the streets, why do you want to pick those that look so majestic, Wan Kui." Everyone is fighting for food in the battle, this choice of mounts, or choose this kind of reliable to be more sincere. ”

Zhao Wankui has maintained this habit for a few years, so naturally he will not be persuaded by the two of them so simply. While selecting his favorite war horse, he replied to the two: "Honghua is the tallest war horse in our stockade, is it a good thing?" Meng Guang rode the saffron on weekdays to charge into battle, and there was no time when he was unreliable. Don't always talk about me, Xiucai actually likes high-headed horses. It's just that he usually stays in the stockade and rarely has the opportunity to come out to pick. ”

Zhou Shaoteng heard Zhao Wankui pull out Zhang Mengcheng as a shield, he opened his mouth and finally didn't speak again. In his memory, when Xiucai challenged horses in the past, it was true that the shoulder height of the war horse was always the priority. Although Zhang Mengcheng's requirements are not as exaggerated as Zhao Wankui's, most of the mounts Xiucai has changed in recent years are above four feet.

Zhang Mengjin also thought of his third brother's habits, and he said helplessly: "I said what kind of problems you guys have, where are so many high-headed horses for you to pick." There are no eyes on the sword and arrow in this battle, and the war horse will inevitably be killed and wounded. If you can't find such a tall war horse for a while, don't you ride a horse into battle? ”

"If my horse is shot dead in battle, I will naturally find a broken horse to make do. It's just that now that there are good horses for me to pick slowly, I naturally want to find a favorite one. Big brother, this horse, this horse, and that cyan horse, you help me watch it first, don't let others pick it up, I'll try this yellow horse first. ”

Zhao Wankui has already set a few goals, but he doesn't know which horse is the best for a while. In the end, he decided to pull the horses out and ride them all over again.

Zhang Mengjin finally gave up persuading Zhao Wankui, and promised to let him go and come back quickly.

And Zhou Shaoteng had already picked out his favorite war horse, so he told Zhang Mengjin to retreat and leave.

At this time, Zhang Mengguang walked over, looked at the surrounding war horses and said, "The horses are not bad, these are all picked up by the eldest brother before?" ”

"If you don't like it, you can pick one and pull it away. But the chestnut one can't move, and I'm going to send it back to the stockade for breeding. There are also a few horses in it, Wan Kui has not made up his mind, if you choose it, discuss it with him. ”

Zhang Mengjin knew that these horses were not as good as safflower, and most of his second brothers were not as good as them. But having a good horse is not a bad thing, so he asked Zhang Mengguang to pick it up.

"Then I'll pick one and try it later, I have something to tell you about now. It's just that I saw those thieves we caught, and there are a few of them that I look good at, and I hope that my eldest brother can give them to me. There is also a shortage of people in my hands now, anyway, the third child has to recuperate in the village, so it is better to transfer Wu Dayong back to our team. ”

In the previous battle of the security guards, the casualties of Zhang Mengguang's soldiers were also quite large. After the siege of Heshui was lifted, he was not very satisfied with the current troops under his command, and hoped that he would be able to select people to retrain.

"It seems that the third child's ability to train soldiers and horses is good, Xiang Zhong also came to me before, saying that he wanted the third child's horse Jinzhong. Even Shunjiang ran to me and said that he would borrow the one named Su He for a while. ”

Zhang Mengjin was a little strange, he just temporarily made up the people under the third child to a few leaders not long ago, why did they all come one by one to express their desire to stay.

Zhang Mengjin remembered that Wu Dayong was originally a subordinate of the second brother, but he was inconspicuous under the second brother. After the third brother said that he wanted to leave the person behind, the second brother immediately agreed after receiving the news.

After that, this little pawn was promoted to team leader by the third child, and the second brother also lamented that there were no talents under the third brother, and he didn't think about it now, but he wanted to transfer people back.

"I haven't seen Wu Dayong for a while, but now I suddenly find that he has grown a lot in various skills, and he can even recognize a lot of words. Some of the truths are also good, it seems that the third child not only taught the children to read in the cottage. Even the captain under him, the third child, also put a lot of thought into it. ”

Zhang Mengguang was a little frightened by Wu Dayong's change, and it wasn't just him. Even the soldiers under Wu Dayong, they showed good quality.

Zhang Mengcheng's earliest ability to lead troops was learned from his two elder brothers and other leaders in the cottage. He didn't actually come up with much new ideas, he just remembered to write down everything he learned from others. At the same time, I also organize and classify what I hear and see when I deal with problems on my own, and then ask experienced people for advice.

Over time, Zhang Mengcheng has accumulated a lot of experience. He also taught these experiences to his subordinates in the form of regulations. And he didn't forget to teach them to read and write, and often used to tell stories to explain some truths to them. Over time, Zhang Mengcheng's subordinates naturally changed.

After Zhang Mengjin listened to his second brother's words, he thought about the changes that had occurred in Guan Yuze and Zhang Shuangxi, and as the eldest brother, he was immediately relieved.

Zhang Mengjin could only sigh that his third brother was really a gentleman's material, and at the same time he also agreed to the second brother's request, saying: "Wu Dayong will be transferred back to your team, and I will talk to him after the third brother is there." As for the thieves we caught, since you can see them, then you can recruit them. But don't make up for it all in one go, isn't there still 200 people on the second side, and then pick some people there to make up for your team. ”

"After that, I will pick another batch from those people, and now I will use the people under the third child first." Zhang Mengguang didn't carefully inspect the two hundred soldiers last time, first, there were too many things and he didn't have time to fight, and second, the eldest brother's original plan was to talk about it after returning to Jingbian.

In this way, Zhang Mengcheng, who was recuperating from his injuries in Jinding Mountain, was transferred out of his three henchmen without his knowledge. Those who remained with him were only Xigui and Lao Liao, who were guarding him back to the cottage. I don't know what he will think when he gets the news later.

"Remember to pick a horse and leave, why don't you choose one for the third child, his original horse seems to be injured." Zhang Mengjin remembered that he saw his third brother's war horse in the security guard before, and it seemed to be a little lame because of his injuries. Now I happen to have some good horses, so I just want to choose one for him.

"Then I'll pick a good horse and send it to him, the third seems to like a relatively tall war horse." When Zhang Mengguang heard the reminder of his eldest brother, he recalled the habits and hobbies of his third brother. He remembered that Zhang Mengcheng always said that he wanted a war horse as tall as the red flower, so Zhang Mengguang also began to choose according to the height of his shoulders.

At this time, Zhao Wankui had already finished trying the yellow war horse, and he walked back and heard that he wanted to help Zhang Mengcheng choose a mount. So he said a little excitedly: "If you want to help Xiucai choose a war horse, then you have to ask me more." Actually, the yellow one next to me is good, but there are a few more that we can give a try, and as for the ones under four feet, don't waste your efforts. ”

PS: Note 1: According to the "Compilation of Liaodong Archives of the Ming Dynasty", "Twenty-one, Gaizhou Wei on sending people to buy horses to spend silver two lists" listed six military horses, all of which are three feet eight inches in height. Although this is not necessarily the average height of the Ming army's war horses, it also shows a standard for the Ming army to purchase horses.

THE ONE RULER OF THE MING DYNASTY IN THIS BOOK IS CALCULATED AT 32CM. THE HEIGHT OF A HORSE AT THE SHOULDER IS 121.6CM, AND THE HEIGHT OF A HORSE AT THE SHOULDER IS 137.6CM. In this comparison, it is indeed a very conspicuous gap.