The farmland is gradually decreasing, and the hills are rolling and soft.

Chu Fan believed that the horse was reined forward, and listened to Shi Meng's narration quietly, and his mind confirmed, judged, calculated, reasoned, and deduced like a gallop......

Hehe, the decisive battle of a million-strong army is obviously bragging!

Of course, don't blame Shi Meng, he really believes it.

Chu Fan saw the introduction of the Battle of Yunxiyuan in the book, saying that "millions of corpses are ambushed, and blood is flowing", which is purely bragging and not making a draft. I also saw the record of the disappearance of the general Meng Dai in this battle, which is true.

The original site of Yunxi is narrow, and it cannot accommodate a decisive battle of a million troops.

Moreover, the efficiency of this era was low, and in order to ensure that one soldier was fighting, at least three people were needed to be responsible for the supply of baggage. As soon as the front was lengthened, the number of logistical personnel rose sharply. The people had to eat, and the mules and horses had to consume forage.

If you count them, you can gather enough for a million troops.

According to some estimates, the total number of combat troops on both sides is at most more than 200,000, and the number of short-handed troops is only tens of thousands.

These tens of thousands of people were not piled together to fight in groups, but scattered on a line of more than 100 miles from Yangwu to Yunxiyuan to Cangnan County, and experienced a lot of skirmishes.

The reason why there are often examples of tens of thousands of people defeating hundreds of thousands of people in the book is because there are not so many combatants on the other side.

Moreover, the battles are fought one by one, separated in different areas and at different times, and the gears are generally staggered. As long as one of the units is unable to resist and starts to flee, neighboring allies may also be implicated. In the end, everyone stopped fighting, and the girl ran away, forming a big rout.

From this point of view, the army of Ji was still very strong, and they retreated neatly section by section, and did not rout.

Li Guo portrayed Xiaoyao Hou as like the god of war, in fact, he relied on the local battle to drive the Ji army away, and was forced to retreat as soon as he broke into the opponent's Jianning County.

Well, it's still amazing!

Especially later, he did not hesitate to work hard and lose money to build straight roads, open mountains and fill valleys, and build bridges when encountering water, which is very forward-thinking.

So what did he do with empty rice and grain and imprisoned 3,000 prisoners of war? I am afraid that it was out of strategic considerations, such as wind criticism, let's say as a bargaining chip, and so on.

Anyone who took 3,000 prisoners of war and refused to surrender had a headache. Let it go, people will go back and be soldiers. Kill it, the impact is too bad. Sell it to pieces, no one wants to kill a suffocating slave.

Prisoners of war riots, quite normal.

Plague, too, is possible.

In the middle of winter, the plague that had already been quarantined actually crossed Yunxi to infect three villages, but it was unlikely.

There must be something strange about this!

These eleven years ago, Chu Fan was too lazy to bother, focusing on Hu Er.

There are many points of overlap between him and Niu Ding.

Living in isolation, kidnapping children, involving the netherworld, similar deaths, three incense sticks......

Chu Fan boldly speculated that Niu Ding inherited the mantle after living in Hu Er's house and became the ferryman of the River Styx, from an ordinary splash skin to a must-have splash skin. But Hu Er is a regular worker, but Niu Ding is a temporary worker, so he doesn't dare to be arrogant. At least when he whipped himself with a willow branch, he did not dare to return the favor.

The key point is that the three incense sticks may be a tool for communication with the netherworld, and when lit, they invite black and white impermanence. The folk invite the gods to send ghosts, don't they also light three incense sticks!

Dong Wei, the head catcher, should have died at the hands of black and white impermanence, not by Hu Er's curse.

The old county commander Li Guangming knew some inside information, so he said those words to Shi Meng before leaving. However, the official authority is too small to fight. Generally, when you return to your hometown, you need to bring it up yourself. It seems that he was seriously threatened and resigned at the critical juncture.

Chu Fan became more and more curious and vigilant......

Hehe, no matter what kind of charm it is, I laugh at myself and move forward!

Approaching Yunxi Racecourse, I met three groups of people coming out of it on the way, either riding or leading horses with brand-new saddle stirrups. It seems that the largest horse farm in Qingyun County is doing quite well.

Turning a hill, a large grassland of tens of thousands of acres appeared, and a wooden fence stood tall.

When the two of them came to a blue-brick mansion at the front of the grassland, a clever little man immediately came up to lead the horse. There are also four carriages parked in front of the house, presumably to buy horses.

Two women took the maid for a leisurely walk not far away, taking the trade as an outing. Farther away, in the shed, a few men were diligently washing the two horses, with saddle stirrups and reins and whips, and a few men stood beside them.

A man who looked like a steward accompanied a rich man out of the house, and when he saw Shi Meng, he was stunned for a moment, smiled and arched his hand, and said, "Shi Zhutou, rare guest, which gust of wind blew you here today? ”

Shi Meng was wearing civilian clothes today, just because he was afraid that others would misunderstand him about the case, so he smiled embarrassedly when he heard this: "Manager Lin, our family came here today to buy a horse." ”

The rich man also recognized Shi Meng, and went to the front to greet him.

Steward Lin said:

"Shi Zhutou, do you buy it yourself or the county government to buy it? Or you go to eat tea first, there are other stewards in there to greet you. I'll accompany Wang Weng first......"

"I bought ......it myself," Shi Meng saw Chu Fan shaking his head slightly, and continued: "We have to hurry, let's have tea next time...... Bother to call an old fellow over. ”

Steward Lin summoned a man in his fifties and accompanied Wang Weng to the stable.

The old guy trotted to Shi Meng's approach, nodded and finished his work, took out a mouthful of yellow teeth, and said with a smile:

"Stone catchers, small horses are expensive. The year before last, you and Zhang Tou picked up a horse for the house, and it was the little old man who greeted you. At that time, I secretly told you that there was a yellow horse that was the best, and what happened?"

Shi Meng raised his thumb and said, "Borrow your auspicious words, I will ride the horse, very good." ”

"Did you give it a name?"

"Well, no. ”

"Animals also have spirits, and they often call them by name, and they understand them...... Hehe, look at the little old man's mouth, as soon as he opens the chatterbox, he can't hold it back, and forgets to get down to business. I don't know what the stone catcher is for picking a horse today?"

"Ah, that's fine, too?"

"Of course, ask clearly to help the catcher choose. Like slaughtering horses, we don't have them here. Like a cart puller, there is also a distinction between a pack horse that carries a load. If you are pulling a guard of honor, you need to be tall and beautiful, docile and walk steadily. If you climb a mountain with a weight, a pony is better than a big horse.

According to the little old man, the head catcher is strong in martial arts, and he wants to pick a fast horse with his feet. But the endurance of running fast is not good, and the endurance of good endurance is often not fast, and it is one of a hundred miles to have both. As for the thousands of miles that travel thousands of miles a day and eight hundred miles at night, they belong to one in a thousand miles, and they are rare. The imperial court passed 800 miles of urgent documents, and changed horses at the post station every twenty miles. Otherwise, no horse would be able to cover eight hundred miles in one go. ”

Chu Fan interjected: "Pick your best fast horse." ”

Ma Gui's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he was secretly ashamed. only flattered the stone catcher, but he didn't expect that the silent scholar was the one who talked about things.

Shi Meng saw Ma Gui looking at Chu Fan and introduced:

"My cousin Chu Fan, you can do whatever he says. ”

"I've seen Gongzi Chu. Ma Gui made a gesture to Chu Fan and said, "Little Lao'er will take you to the back mountain, there is more than half a mile to go." Do you want to ride over and have a look, or will the little old man pick one and bring it over?"

"A few steps is nothing, let's walk over and see. Chu Fan smiled and nodded in return.

"Okay, then ask the two nobles to go to the back mountain with Xiao Lao'er. ”

Led by Ma Gui, take a detour from the side of the blue brick mansion to the back. I saw that on the left and right sides were dense wooden fences more than one person high, and a three-zhang wide road was left in the middle. About 100 zhang away, there is a row of wooden fences in front and a small hill behind it. It turned out that the horses in this horse farm were enclosed in two large circles and small circles of wooden fences.

Chu Fan twisted his fingers and threw a glance at Shi.

Shi Meng understood, took a few steps forward, stuffed a grain of broken silver into Ma Gui, and said: "Thanks to my brother's reminder, the yellow horse is very good to ride, and he once carried our family out of danger." ”

Ma Gui pushed it twice and didn't push it off, happily put the silver in his arms, and proudly introduced:

"There are more than 700 horses and pack horses in the right column, more than 500 fast horses in the left column, and more than 100 fine horses in the front column. Although it can't compare to the big horse farm in the north, it is a scorpion in Qingyun County, and it is the only one. Do you know why other people's horses only cost 35 taels of silver, and fast horses only cost 70 taels of silver, but our family only needs 40 taels of silver and 80 taels of silver, and the supply is still in short supply?"

Seeing that Ma Gui was selling Guanzi, Shi Meng frowned, but Chu Fan smiled and said:

"Yunxi Racecourse has a good reputation. ”

At this moment, they only heard the sound of "bang bang

Chu Fan was surprised and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Ma Gui smiled:

"Our horses are raised according to the requirements of military horses, and we send 300 horses to the border pass Yaoping every year. Without orders, not moving like a mountain. When the mountains roar and the tsunami during the war, they are most afraid of startling the horses. Even if a horse can run fast and drag a heavy cart, if it is frightened, it will overturn a person and overturn the cart, and it will not be fatal?"

Chu Fan stretched out his thumb and praised:

"Well, whenever there is calm in a big event, your horse should be worth so much money!"

When Ma Gui saw his praise, he became more and more proud, so he walked to the side:

"Let's beat the drum in the morning, and the horses will run out of the stables of their own accord. When the gongs sound at dusk, they have automatic stables. ”

"Oh, what's that point about?"

"Beat the drum to fight, Mingjin to withdraw the troops. ”

"Hahaha......" Chu Fan was overjoyed and asked:

"Seeing that my brother has a tough demeanor, he must have been in the army and participated in the Battle of Yunxiyuan. ”

"Hehe, I'm ashamed. Xiao Lao'er only fought one battle in Qinghe Township, Yangwu County, and he didn't have the ability to cut off a head, and he couldn't get on the battlefield because he was hit by an arrow in his shoulder. Over the years, I have sometimes thought that if I had fought for military merits, why would I have to raise horses again? Sometimes I think that the brothers who fought for military exploits at the beginning died in Yunxi, Cangnan, Yaoping, and Jianning in eight or nine times out of ten, and what qualifications does the little old man have to sigh? ”

Chu Fan sighed twice and asked:

"Then you have been staying in the horse farm for many years, and you are not afraid of any ghosts and ghosts?"

As soon as he heard this, Ma Gui walked away for a while. Probably stopped and waited for the two of them on the sake of receiving the money, turned to look behind him, and said in a low voice:

"Little old man, I really saw the Yin soldiers crossing the border. ”