As a modern soldier, Zhao Ta is well aware of the importance of rapid maneuver and assault on the battlefield, and in the era of cold weapons, without vehicles such as automobiles and airplanes, the importance of horses cannot be overestimated, and its power is comparable to that of modern light tanks and armored vehicles. And this advantage has not completely disappeared even in the era of hot weapons. In the thirties, the Red Army's westward expedition was annihilated by the cavalry of the Ma Jiajun in the Hexi Corridor area, which reflected the great superiority of cavalry over infantry in the era of cold weapons.

In the wars of the peasant peoples of the Central Plains who were mainly infantry in the past dynasties against the northern peoples who were mainly cavalry, the advantage of the northern army was in its mobility. Zhao also studied the Song army's wars with the Liao in the early days of the founding of the country and the defeats in several foreign wars with the Western Xia in the middle period, and found that these examples highlighted the disadvantages of the Song army's equipment and the effective use of the enemy's disadvantages in terms of strategy and tactics by the Liao and Xia.

The course of the war was basically similar, first the Song army drove straight into the enemy's territory without much resistance, and once the Song army entered the open area of the plain, the northern army immediately cut off the Song army's retreat and supply lines, and used the advantage of cavalry movement to cut the Song army into several sections and break each one. Because the Song army was not mobile enough, it was unable to find the enemy's main force for a decisive battle, which made it difficult for some of the Song army's technical weapons to play a role, and the last had to be passively beaten, and once it could not be quickly resolved, it was necessary to withdraw immediately, and the Song army often had difficulty in retreating, so that it led to a rout. Several Northern Expeditions ended in fiasco, losing division and land, and seeking peace, which reflected that the Song army had a great lack of equipment, that is, there were too few war horses available, and the defeat of many major battles was related to this.

Some people say that infantry and cavalry are more effective than cavalry, but that is also based on the need to have a sufficient number of cavalry. However, whether it is to use chariots or develop cavalry, it is simply impossible to do without a large-scale control of horse resources. For the acquisition of such strategic resources, the farming peoples of the Central Plains have always been at a disadvantage to the nomads in the north, and this disadvantage is especially obvious in the Song Dynasty.

In order to solve the problem of lack of horses in the country, the government purchased horses through the tea and horse trade, but the trade volume was insufficient, and the horses could not make ends meet, so it was decided to reinstate the 'land breeding horse law', in fact, this is just a variant of the horse protection law in the past. The text stipulates that the state raises one horse per generation, and the state gives one hectare of land, and the state takes two out of three for the fruits produced, and the remaining one is used as a reward. Although this matter will occupy a large amount of farmland and nuisance the people, it can be regarded as a good thing for the benefit of the country, at least for himself.

Zhao Ta's ideal was to establish a completely mule-horse army, and the transportation of combat troops and logistical baggage were all completed by horses, because he knew that his future battlefield would be in the northern plains, and he would face an enemy army with a high degree of mobile combat capability. If you still use the traditional infantry method to engage the enemy, even if you are equipped with firearms, it is impossible for the two legs to catch up with the four legs, and in the end you can only win a local battle, or just a crushing battle, or even you can only eat dirt behind the horse's buttocks, let alone annihilate the enemy's vitality.

After the successful trial production of firearms, the problem of horses has been bothering him, because he does not want to feed the horses in the pen like farmers raise pigs, he wants not only quantity, but also quality, and the quality of captive horses and free-range horses is not the same, especially for war horses, it is not just to let it eat enough, horses are free by nature, even semi-wild animals, it is impossible to be locked up. It also needs a field to do sports, otherwise the wildness will slowly degenerate, and it will become a four-body house horse, and riding this kind of horse is no different from looking for death.

If you want to raise it in a free-range way, you need a lot of space, and a horse needs at least fifty acres of land to run away and eat enough, and the land you need to raise a group of horses is not a small place. This year, the caravan brought back more than 200 horses for him, but it could not solve the problem of the venue, so he could only keep the best ones, and the rest had to be sold, or stay in the mansion to pull the cart. Zhao Ta made a rough calculation, even if he turned all the farmland he owned into a horse farm, it would not meet the demand, and there would be a problem of competing with others, not to mention that now he still needs to use this land to create wealth and accumulate manpower, and the two have become irreconcilable contradictions, so he has been scratching his head about this. ,

This time it would be good to have this method of herding horses on the land, and someone would send a pillow when he was really sleepy, and his father's decree solved the problem in front of him, "See Xi, go to the stable with me" Zhao Ta excitedly turned around the house twice and said to Jianxi, although the policy is there, but Zhao Ta is a complete layman for raising horses, and the farm where he was in his previous life has already achieved mechanization, although it is still called a road, but the horse has long disappeared from the top and has become a rarity, and the child is more excited to see the horse-drawn carriage than to give him a 'BMW'

"Second master, you are going to go out to walk the horse, it's too cold" Seeing Xi thought that Zhao Ta was going to ride a horse, but now that it was cold, he was afraid of freezing him, so he hurriedly persuaded.

"No, I want to ask the grooms something." Zhao Tan couldn't wait to start getting dressed and ready to go out.

"Second master, it's smelly and dirty there, can't you just call them here" Seeing that Xi didn't like that place very much, he said with a bitter face.

"If you want to be verbose again, I'll let you feed the horses tomorrow" Zhao Ta had already dressed and was about to go out, and when he saw that Xi was still rubbing, he threatened loudly.

Although he was reluctant to see Xi, he also knew that he couldn't resist the prince, so he had to follow the stable of the East Courtyard, and just went out and met Zhao Ren and a few people with a group of recruits going out and coming back, and now the New Year is coming soon, Zhao Ta let them live in the Autumn Courtyard, although the training program has been reduced, but the physical fitness has not stopped, and the New Year has also been given money to let them take turns to go out of the house. Hearing that the prince asked for a stable, Zhao Xin was also interested and came with him.

The stable is in the east courtyard, occupying a large piece of land, originally only raised a few horses given by the emperor, and later Zhao Ta from the forbidden army to get more than 20 horses, and in the past two years, dozens of horses have been bought, and the stables are also constantly expanding. Zhao Ta, who established the horse club, donated more than 40 horses, and the caravan brought back more than 20 good horses to raise here for the prince and several chief stewards and nurses in the palace to ride. As soon as he entered the door, he could smell a strong smell of horses, and he couldn't help but cover his nose when he saw Xi, but Zhao Xin was very excited.

The prince suddenly arrived, and the five people in the stable hurriedly put down their work and stepped forward to salute and say hello, "Second master, if you want to go out, I will prepare a horse for you" The horseman said with a smile.

"Oh, no need, I'm just here to go around" Zhao Ta waved his hand, walked straight to the stable, touched the white horse he was riding, and reached under his chin to tickle him, "I haven't ridden a horse for a while, haven't you forgotten to slip away?" ”

"Second master, your little horses are washed every day, and the good forage is served every day, and they have to be brought out for a walk every day," Zhang Kuan, who accompanied the visit, quickly replied.

"I see how this horse is getting fatter and fatter, should I lose weight for him, or I won't be able to run," Zhao Ta said after patting the fat horse's buttocks twice.

"Second master, this season is the time to gain weight immediately, so I look a little fatter than usual" Zhang Kuan's old face flushed and said with a little embarrassment.

"Nonsense, now it's cold, it's time for the horse to lose weight, it's clear that the horse has been in the circle for a long time, and it's fed with concentrate, it's not only strange that it grows fat" Without waiting for Zhao Ta to speak, Zhao Xin on the side pouted and said.

"Zhao Xin, don't talk about it, when will you know how to feed the horses again?" Zhao Ta glared at him and said.

"Second master, our family used to raise such a large group of horses, of course I know it," Zhao Xin said after doing a chest expansion exercise.

"What this little brother said is reasonable, but these horses are all royal horses rewarded by the emperor, how dare we treat them badly, this time has been a long time, it is inevitable that the fat is too thick" Zhang Kuan is a real person, and when he saw Zhao Xin say it, he immediately recognized it.

Zhao Ta looked at the royal horses who lived in a single room, the brushes on their bodies were shiny, and they couldn't even see a blade of grass, and the grooves were full of bean cakes and other essences, enjoying the highest level of treatment, and they were so lazy that they couldn't get fat every day, but he had no intention of blaming Zhang Kuan, pointing to the other end and asking, "Are all the newly bought horses over there?" ”

"Yes, Second Master, those are all horses that were just bought from Liao and Xia, and they haven't been trained yet, you have to be careful," Zhang Kuan replied.

"Second master, these are good horses, you see this is the Xia country Hequ horse, that is the iron hoof horse on the Mongolian grassland of the Liao country, but after two years of raising in the house, it will be wasted if it loses its temperament" Zhao Xin ran over first, pointing and saying.

"Hehe, you can still tell which is the Hequ horse and which is the Mongolian horse, much stronger than the master, I can't even tell the male and female now" Zhao Ta said with a smile, but it was the truth, "Then how can you keep the horse wild?" He is this good habit, knows how to ask questions without shame, and never knows what to do. ,

"Of course, it's free-range, find a place with abundant water and grass, where there are rolling mountains, sparse trees, gentle rivers, dense pastures, let them eat by themselves, horses are not stupider than people, they usually only eat fresh grass tips, and know how to eat different grasses in different seasons, let them go home once in ten days and half a month, and never run away, captivity will only let horses slowly die in pain, running is their nature" Zhao Xin said with a confused look in his eyes, and said with a fascination on his face.

Zhao Ta approached a red horse and stretched out his hand to touch it, but the horse vigilantly dodged it, stepped on broken steps, and issued a warning with a snort, "Second master, don't-" Zhang Kuan was startled, this horse is full of wildness, and when a living person approaches, it will not only kick people, but also bite people.

Zhao Xin stood in front of Zhao Ta, as if he didn't feel in danger, smiled and slowly leaned up, whistled, the horse's ears turned a few times, and actually quieted down, he took two steps forward and whispered something in the horse's ear, it seemed to understand, shook the horse's head and rubbed it on him a few times.

"I didn't expect that the little brother is also an expert in horses, the old man is gone," Zhang Kuan sighed, shook his head and said with a smile.

"Second master, let me ride this horse, I like it, and it likes me," Zhao Xin said with a long mane combing the horse.

"Hehe, okay, but I guess this is a mare, I like the handsome little guy in our house," Zhao said with a grimace.

"Second master, don't talk nonsense, this is clearly a horse, not a mare," Zhao Xin said in a low voice.

"Really? Then I'll give you this horse, how? Zhao Ta said nonchalantly.

"Second master, really?" Zhao Xin looked at Zhao Ta in disbelief, "This horse is only six years old, it was back then, the bones are strong, and the condition is also good, how can it be worth a hundred times, the second master is willing to do it?" He remembered that he wasn't worth the money.

"It's just a hundred times, how reluctant to do it, as long as you like it," Zhao Ta said with a smile.

"You will be mine in the future, and I will take care of you every day" Zhao Xin was overjoyed, and said with his arms around the horse's neck.

Zhao Ta looked at Zhao Xin, I don't know why this guy likes horses so much, and he no longer bothers him, so he called a few grooms to ask about the details of raising horses, what kind of space is needed, how many people need to take care of them, and how to train qualified war horses - Zhao Ta asked very carefully, and several grooms may also lack experience in free-ranging, and some questions can't be answered, which makes him a little disappointed, and it seems that he can only re-recruit talents.

Raising horses is a big deal, and Zhao Ta ignored the approach of the Spring Festival, and recruited several stewards back to discuss. Zhao Ta found that modern and ancient times are no different, the leadership attaches great importance to the work efficiency, if the leader personally grasps it, things will be done faster. The most important thing now is to get the project first and grab the funds and land. Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhao Ta said his thoughts, he was opposed by everyone, and several people who have come to raise horses know that the risk is high, the benefits are low, the horse is dead, and the compensation must be paid according to the price, if you catch up with the plague, it will be a loss. If you do it according to the prince's plan, it means that the wind and rain are smooth, the horses are in good health, and those who are free of illness and disaster will not make money.

But everyone found that the prince who only made less money in the past suddenly changed his sex, and resolutely refused to give in on this matter, even if he took money and took people, he of course was under the banner of 'sharing worries for his father and dedicating himself to the country', and he was talking about the head of the road, which made people feel that he was really doing a great thing, of course, he was right, that's what happened.

Several stewards took turns to put the facts and reasoned and couldn't persuade them, and moved out of Huang Jingchen, but it was useless for anyone to say, the prince was stubborn and insisted on doing it, and everyone had no choice but to do it from when he got things done, surprisingly smooth, and it also confirmed the judgment of the stewards, Xiangyi Zhixian was worried about this will, and the rich families heard that they were going to raise horses, and even his door was not boarded, just when he was ready to forcibly implement it, the people of the palace found the door, and the prince shared his father's worries and prepared to adopt eight hundred horses, which is really tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow.