Liu Ze and Guan Yu looked at each other and smiled, Zhang Fei was really like a fire.

The two were about to go out to have a look, but Zhang Fei came back with his head down, sat on the mat in a muffled voice, and drank a glass of wine. Liu Zeqi said: "Third brother, why did you come back in the blink of an eye?" ”

Zhang Fei said stupidly: "What horse thief? It's just a few horse-selling merchants. ”

Liu Ze's eyes lit up, he stepped on the iron shoes and had no way to find it, it didn't take any effort to get it, and he was worried about the war horse. Before he could go out, the merchants who sold horses had already entered the store, asking for wine and food, and they were about to eat.

Liu Ze stepped forward and bowed and said a few polite words. Seeing that Liu Ze was polite, the merchants also got up and returned the salute, and one of them was a middle-aged man with a slightly taller figure and a short beard: "Listen to the son's accent is from Youzhou, right?" ”

"Exactly, there are people in Zhuo County, Xiayouzhou."

A slightly shorter and slightly younger merchant next to him said: "My ancestral home is also from Jixian County, Youzhou, and I meet old people in other places, happy events, let's have a drink together." ”

Zhang Fei, who was drinking over there, suddenly said, "Hey, aren't you two Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping who sell horses?" ”

The two looked back and saluted Zhang Fei: "It turned out to be the young master of Zhuojun Zhang, it's rude." I heard that Young Master Zhang poured all his family resources into the capital to do a big deal, but he didn't want to meet here. ”

Zhang Fei smiled embarrassedly and said, "What big deal can you make, it's just a mix of food." ”

Liu Ze could hear their conversation clearly, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, weren't they the two big Zhongshan merchants who gave money and iron to horses when Liu Bei got up, and they didn't expect to meet here today.

"The two bosses and my brother are old acquaintances, please sit down."

Zhang Fei said: "In the past, our family has always bought their horses, and after coming and going, we are familiar with each other. ”

"I just want to buy some good horses, I wonder if the two bosses have any goods?" Liu Ze is most concerned about whether Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping have good horses in their hands.

When he heard that there was business to do, Zhang Shiping was very excited. "Childe can be regarded as asking, we have all kinds of horses here, and the state horse, the Xiliang horse, and the Youzhou horse, but I don't know what the son is for, is it riding or pulling a cart?"

"I want to buy a batch of horses that can be used in cavalry."

"What the boy wants is a military horse?"

"Exactly."

Zhang Shiping looked Liu Ze up and down, and said: "Gongzi doesn't know, the government implements strict control over the sale of military horses, in order to prevent military horses from falling into the hands of thieves and robbers. ”

Liu Ze said with a smile: "Boss Zhang, look at it, but that thief and rogue? ”

Zhang Shiping hurriedly said: "Don't misunderstand, Zhengxia has no other intentions, don't say that you are familiar with Young Master Zhang, even if you don't know each other, look at Gongzi's talent, gentle and elegant, it must be a legitimate business." ”

"I'm sorry, it's abrupt to ask, do some silk porcelain business under it, although the business is not big, but all the year round in Sichuan, Shu Jiangdong and other places, this year the road is difficult to say peaceful, robbers often loot in the wilderness. Although I have brave warriors under my command, but those robbers come and go without a trace, and it is extremely difficult to capture, and those whom I hate are only unscrupulous riders, who have the intention of killing thieves, but are unable to chase them, I want to buy some good horses for emergencies, but there are many horse sellers in the world and very few good horses, so I have this question. ”

"In recent years, thieves have swarmed, and you must have some precautions when walking in the rivers and lakes, but most of our business camps are mainly civilian horses, and military horses are scarce and expensive, and ordinary people can't afford them."

"Price is not an issue, as long as it is a good horse."

Zhang Shiping lowered his voice and said: "Among the horses we trafficked this time, there are fifty excellent Wuhuan horses, which are mixed in Youzhou horses due to the regulations of the government, but the quality of these horses is first-class, even exceeding the quality of the cavalry horses of officers and soldiers. ”

Liu Ze was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Okay, Boss Zhang, I want all these fifty Wuhuan horses, you just need to raise a price." ”

"I was doing business in Youzhou before, and I am grateful to be taken care of by Mr. Zhang, just give a cost price for these fifty Wuhuan horses."

Liu Ze didn't care whether the price given by Zhang Shiping was really the cost price, and immediately agreed, and went out to see the horse in a hurry.

The fifty Wuhuan horses were indeed good horses, and although they were mixed among the folk horses, a discerning person could see at a glance that these Wuhuan horses were a head taller than ordinary folk horses, and their bodies were much stronger, and their hooves were strong and powerful, and even the neighing sound was much higher. Zhang Fei immediately jumped on the back of the nearest Wuhuan horse, and the horse immediately became agitated, shaking its head and tail, and pouting its hooves, although it was a slippery horse, and there was no reins, but Zhang Fei was stunned by brute force, his legs clamped the horse's belly tightly, and his hands firmly grabbed the horse's mane, and he surrendered the Wuhuan horse stiffly.

Zhang Fei laughed and said, "Big brother, this horse is really not bad!" ”

Liu Ze also took a closer look at these Wuhuan horses, which were indeed much better than the horses they usually used, but Liu Ze had been to the Inner Mongolia prairie and had ridden horses on the grassland, and the Wuhuan horses in front of him seemed to have some shortcomings. He raised his question.

Su Shuang, who had not spoken, said with a smile: "It seems that Liu Gongzi also knows horses, indeed, although these Wuhuan horses are much better than Youzhou horses and state horses, they are not first-class horses on the grassland, they are also Wuhuan horses, and they are also divided into upper, middle and lower." These Fanyi barbarians often plundered our Han Biansai, and naturally the best quality horses would not be sold to us, just as we only traded with them with grain and cloth and not iron tools, and all we could buy in ordinary times were inferior horses and inferior horses, at best, they could only pull carts and plough the fields for people to ride, and horses for cavalry were far behind. This time, I was able to get fifty medium-good horses, partly because we had been trading with them for many years, and secondly, I quietly gave some bribes to a small leader of the Wuhuan clan, so that fifty medium-good horses were mixed among the five hundred inferior horses. ”

"We also produce horses in Youzhou and other places in Dahan, why is the quality much worse than Huma?" Liu Ze raised the question in his heart.

"Wuhuan, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other foreign tribes, living on the grassland for a long time, their horses are all domesticated from wild horses, in the breeding of horses can greatly ensure purebred. And we raise horses here, most of the good horses are filled with the army, and they are castrated as soon as they enter the barracks, and the quality of the remaining horses is naturally getting worse and worse after several generations of hybridization. ”

Zhang Fei interjected on the side: "Since it is a good horse, just stay and breed, why are they all castrated?" Why aren't those Hu people castrated? ”

"Horses are in estrus as soon as they arrive in spring, and if the army wants to fight in the spring, won't it be messed up to ride a horse in heat? Those Hu people only come to the border to plunder in autumn, when the grain is ripe, and when the horses are in estrus. Therefore, the horses of the Hu people are superior to the horses of the Han people, and this is the main reason. ”

Liu Ze asked: "Boss Su has been selling horses outside Cyprus for many years, so he must know the types, characteristics, and temperament of horses?" ”

Su Shuang said quite smugly: "Yes, this is not Su's boasting, even if you touch it blindfolded, you can feel that this horse is there." ”

"If you want to organize a cavalry, what horse is the best choice?"

"The Hu tribes in the north: Xiongnu, Xianbei, Wuhuan, their horses are all similar, we are collectively called the Northland horses, full of physical energy, endurance, fast action, suitable for long-distance running. These horses reproduce quickly, do not require much feed, and are very adaptable, allowing them to survive in the wild regardless of the cold or heat. Of course, these horses are divided into upper, middle and lower classes, and it is best to use upper and middle horses to organize cavalry. ”

"If these cavalrymen are heavily armoured and their horses are heavily armoured, I wonder if these horses can carry them?"

Su Shuang frowned and said, "The cavalry and horses are all covered with heavy armor? Neither the Hu people nor the Han cavalry have ever seen this kind of equipment, and if it is as Gongzi said, the northland horses will be overwhelmed. ”

The appearance of heavy cavalry was hundreds of years later in the European Middle Ages, and China also had heavy cavalry in full armor in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no such army in the Three Kingdoms era, and the cavalry was completely dominated by archers and lancers.

Su Shuang continued: "If you want to take on this important task, it must be the Great Wanma of the Western Regions. ”

Liu Ze's heart moved, and said: "But the legendary sweat and blood BMW? ”