Hearing a thousand war horses, Wang Xu's head was shocked, and he immediately turned around. Looking at Xu Shu, who was trotting over on a horse, he said hurriedly: "Wife, where is the horse?" Who is responsible for delivering it? ”

Hearing this, Xu Shu was not busy answering, and only after coming to Wang Xu's side, dismounting and throwing the reins to the guards who came up, did he whisper: "Not long after you left the Taishou Mansion, two people rushed to deliver the letter, and they were the guards at home. ”

"Oh? What does the letter say? Wang Xu asked.

"I didn't say much, I just talked about the situation. To the effect that this first batch of horses, a total of 1,000 horses, is in charge of Zhang Chong, one of your father's five major diners. Uncle Wang has purchased a total of 15,000 horses in Saiwai, Bingzhou, Jizhou and other places, and is currently preparing to transport them in 15 batches. ”

"So much!" As soon as Xu Shu's words fell, Wang Xu's mouth opened wide in surprise on the spot. Zhou Zhi gasped even more, completely unclear about the situation.

But Wang Xu quickly calmed down, and after thinking about it in his heart, he asked: "Fifteen thousand war horses, even if you buy a lot and have a good relationship, that one will cost at least 10,000 yuan, and it will cost 150 million yuan!" Did my father really sell all his belongings? ”

"Hmmm! Uncle Wang has sold all the land and shop property. But you're not right, it's not 10,000 dollars a horse. Because they are all excellent war horses, even if Uncle Wang has been in the horse business all the year round, has a good relationship, and has a large amount of purchases, but the price is all averaged, it still reaches 20,000 yuan per horse. That is, a total of 300 million dollars were spent. Xu Shu explained slowly.

Hearing this, Wang Xu was slightly condensed, but asked suspiciously: "Although my father is the most rich in the Wang family, it is impossible to have so much money. Besides, how could he leave a part, otherwise how could such a big group of people in the family live? So, it's even more unlikely. ”

Hearing this, Xu Shu smiled slightly, shook her head and said, "It's not Uncle Wang alone, Uncle Wang is only half." The eldest brother and the second brother together contributed one-third of the total number in their families, and the rest was money pieced together by various families. ”

"Oh...... In this case, it is normal. Hearing this, Wang Xu finally nodded. But then he continued: "But even so, my father must not have much money in his hand." What about the big group of people in the family? ”

"Huh!" Smiling slightly, Xu Shu glanced at Wang Xu narrowly, and said in a dragging voice: "Isn't this up to you!" Anyway, the letter said that after all the 15,000 horses were transported, your father, your uncle Wang Hao, and your uncle Wang Qian's three families would move over. Uncle and uncle still have a lot of assets, you don't have to worry about it, but your father is in trouble, if you add the cost of 20,000 horses to travel long distances, I am afraid that you will not be able to support so many people. ”

Hearing this, Wang Xu could only smile bitterly. At present, I am trying to reduce my expenses as much as possible, and it is really difficult to raise so many people suddenly.

As for reaching out and taking it from the treasury, it is better not to, if they take the lead in doing so, what will the officials below think? Will corruption not become common in the future? After all, he is still only an official of the imperial court, not the leader who really dominates one side, and the things in the treasury are still nominally the imperial court!

And his own food yi, Taoyang County, is in Lingling, because of the shortage of funds, he has already boasted about Haikou, saying that he will use all the income of Shiyi for military spending. Wouldn't it disappoint everyone to break his promise now?

Thinking of this, Wang Xu really had a headache, and his own prince really didn't go well.

However, when Xu Shu saw his sad face, she couldn't help but laugh "poof", glanced at him and said, "Okay!" I know that you have no problem, so I'll raise it, and even your money can be used to supplement military expenses. I'll just take care of everything in the house. ”

"Where did you get the money?" Hearing this, Wang Xu suddenly wondered.

"Stupid! Have you forgotten that I have opened quite a few workshops? Not only have Lingling and Guiyang already occupied the market, but even the first shops in Changsha and Wuling are already in preparation and will soon start production and sales. In addition, there are many merchants in other regions who are interested in these products and are currently expanding their sales channels! ”

Hearing this, Wang Xu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but when he saw Xu Shu's smug look, he couldn't help but shush disdainfully, and pouted: "It's not because of my relationship, otherwise how can you develop so fast!" ”

"Yes and what? As long as there is no violation of the law, the rational use of resources is a means in itself, isn't it? Xu Shu didn't mind at all, but retorted.

Wang Xu also knew that Xu Shu's words were true, but how could he put his face down? Immediately shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you about this." However, it is always good to be able to solve the financial dilemma for a while. ”

As he spoke, he put what he had just done behind him and asked, "How did my father escort him?" If a thousand horses go together, it will definitely attract the attention of the government. When someone investigates, they will know that I am buying horses in large quantities, which will inevitably arouse the suspicion of others, and I don't want to be too ostentatious yet. ”

"Don't worry about this! Uncle Wang had already thought of it, so the first batch of 1,000 war horses was divided into 20 groups of people to transport, and each group was only 50 horses. It shouldn't be too noticeable. Xu Shu immediately replied.

"That's good!" Hearing this, Wang Xu also breathed a sigh of relief. But after pondering for a long time, he couldn't help but sigh: "Since my father has solved the matter of horses, the top priority is to open up a horse farm, and we must let these excellent horses breed, otherwise we can only relieve the temporary urgency after all." ”

Speaking of reproduction, Wang Xu suddenly remembered something, and immediately couldn't help asking: "By the way, did my father's letter say the number of classified horses in this batch?" For example, how many, how many mares, how many geldings? ”

"Oh, yes!" Xu Shu immediately nodded. "This number of classifications, Uncle Wang still wrote it on a piece of Cai Lun paper. Among them, there are 2,000 stallions that can be used as excellent **, 4,000 excellent mares, 3,000 mares with low heritability, and 6,000 geldings. ”

Hearing this number, Wang Xu frowned: "So in this case, there are only six thousand horses that can really be used for domestication and breeding?" A mare with low heritability can't give birth to a good foal, so it can only be used as a war horse. Geldings have been castrated, and they can only be used as war horses. Why didn't the father find a way to buy a little more ** and a good mare? Increasing the intensity of reproduction is the best way! ”

"You still say, Uncle Wang has already explained. It is not easy to buy a mare that is excellent ** and suitable for breeding, and the price is very expensive, so much can be obtained, Uncle Wang has done his best! Xu Shu suddenly said angrily.

"That's just as well!" Knowing that this was the truth, Wang Xu could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.

Seeing this, Xu Shu thought about it, but opened her mouth and added: "By the way, Uncle Wang also said that he bought some slaves outside the Saiwai. They were herdsmen who became slaves after losing tribal conquests, so they were very good at breeding horses. It was purchased to facilitate the construction of a horse farm, the management and breeding of horses. ”

"Hehe, my father is meticulous and thinks about everything so thoughtfully." Saying that, Wang Xu paused slightly, and then asked, "Then when will they arrive?" ”

"It should be soon, the guard who rushed to deliver the letter said that Zhang Chong had arrived with the first batch of horses, less than fifty miles from the county seat of Quanling, and the herdsmen also followed them." Xu Shu replied.

Hearing this, Wang Xu thought about it, and then said: "Since this is the case, then we should not delay, and go back to the Taishou Mansion to prepare." When they arrive, choose the location of the racecourse. After all, these herders know horses better than we do, and it's much better to have their opinions. ”

"Hmm!" Xu Shu nodded.

"Zhou Zhi, then I'll go back first, you have to remember to watch the art of war!" After saying something, Wang Xu did not hesitate, and immediately turned his head to Zhou Zhi and admonished.

"Huh! Don't worry, boss, I won't have any problems here, you go and meet the war horse. As he spoke, Zhou Zhi's eyes rolled and he said shyly: "However, don't forget me, boss." All my 300 parts are cavalry, you have to let me pick first. ”

"Haha! Yours are indispensable! Hearing this, Wang Xu laughed twice, didn't say much, and immediately waved his hand, signaling the guards to lead himself and Xu Shu's horses over.

After neatly turning over the horse, he slammed the horse's belly and quickly rushed back to the Taishou Mansion.

found Tian Feng and Huan Su, and told the matter, the two did not dare to slack off, even if they explained the matter in their hands to the subordinate officials, they discussed with Wang Xu in the study in the backyard.

After a detailed study, the opinions are relatively unanimous. They all felt that it was best to build on the bank of the Xiangshui River in the north of Quanling County, the county capital, because of security considerations and to supply the army nearby.

It's just that the specific location has not been decided, although I found a few relatively suitable places, but I still feel that I will wait for those herdsmen to come. Instead, they discussed how to supply materials in the future, after all, raising horses is a lot of money.

It is impossible to simply graze like the herdsmen outside the country, there is not so much open flat land in the south, and there are not so many suitable water and grass, if the people's farmland is trampled down, it will be really a big deal.

Therefore, it is necessary to plant a large number of plants and trees in the enclosed horse farms, and even buy or vacate some space to provide for the needs of these horses.

In short, after some calculation, there will be a very large amount of expenditure in the future. Moreover, in order to facilitate management and accounting, Wang Xu also decided to separate the accounts of the horse farm from the army and set it up separately.

After such a discussion, half a day is fleeting. As soon as these trivial matters were discussed, and before they could talk a few words, the guards of the city had already reported that someone had come to deliver horses, and that they were already waiting at the north gate with fifty horses.

Hearing this, Wang Xu, Tian Feng and Huan Su looked at each other and smiled, and they were not verbose, and even got up and rushed to the north city gate......

When he saw Zhang Chong standing outside the city gate from a distance, Wang Xu was also faintly excited in his heart. Although he hasn't seen him for a few years, Zhang Chong doesn't seem to have changed much, and he is still the same as in his memory. It's just that I thought it was a very tall body back then, but now it feels just average.

"Uncle Chong!" Wang Xu laughed and called out from afar.

"Huh?" Hearing the call, Zhang Chong, who was facing away from the city gate, suddenly turned his head and didn't recognize Wang Xu when he saw him. It wasn't until his eyes moved to Xu Shu beside him and saw the faint smile on her face that he reacted. "Young master?"

"Uncle Chong, I haven't seen you for many years, and you are still so energetic!" Wang Xu laughed and said a word, then turned over and dismounted, and walked quickly to meet him.

Looking at Wang Xu who was walking towards him, Zhang Chong looked carefully for a long time, but couldn't help but sigh. "The young master has grown so big, he is a talent, and he is outstanding. If the lord saw it, he didn't know how happy he would be! ”

"Huh! Uncle Chong laughed. Wang Xu smiled modestly.

Hearing this, Zhang Chong didn't say much, and when he turned around and pointed to the group of horses behind him, he said: "Young master, these are the fifty horses that arrived first, and the other horses are also on the way, and it is estimated that they will arrive one after another in two or three days." ”

"Oh!" Wang Xu nodded, but he was not in a hurry to see the horse, but looked at Zhang Chong and said, "It's really Uncle Lao Chong, it's so hard!" ”

"The young master is serious, this is what our subordinates should do, how can it be hard or not." Zhang Chong immediately shook his head and said.

Wang Xu smiled and didn't say more. Glancing at the entourage, he suddenly found that in addition to the twenty guards, there were more than a dozen people dressed in coarse cloth clothes, with ruddy faces and strange hairstyles. Immediately, I couldn't help asking: "Are they the herdsmen slaves they bought?" ”