The best places to raise horses in China are the Central and North China Plains, where the climate is humid, the soil is fertile and the grass can be grown strongest, and the terrain is flat enough for horses to gallop.

The question is, why didn't the Central Plains Dynasty raise horses here?

The Song Dynasty was so short of horses that they didn't raise horses here.

Are they not aware? No way, they know better than anyone else.

The reason for not raising horses here is actually very simple, these places are the hinterland of the Central Plains, which is the most densely populated place, and the land is used to grow crops, so naturally there is no place to raise horses.

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty did not have so many concerns, and Kublai Khan directly divided the most fertile places such as Henan and Shandong into pastures for horse breeding.

Speaking of the south, the reason why it is not suitable for keeping horses here is that the mountains lack the great plains, not because the climate is not suitable.

You must know that there are Baise horses in Lingnan, Yunnan has Yunnan horses, and some other small horse breeds that are not famous.

It's just that because of the terrain, these horse breeds are relatively short in size and are not good at long-distance running, so they can't be used as war horses.

There is also evidence that the ancient Great Unification Dynasty would garrison some cavalry in the south, and these war horses could still adapt to the climate here and live well.

There were also war years, when the cavalry from the north entered the south to fight, sometimes they could stay for several years, and I did not hear of the large-scale loss of war horses due to climate problems.

It turns out that the climate in the south is suitable for raising horses.

It's just that because of the terrain, there is a lack of enough plains to raise tall war horses.

But looking for a suitable pasture and introducing horse breeds from the north can breed war horses by themselves.

Wen Yi had this idea from the beginning.

The biggest problem in coming to the south is the cavalry, the dynasty in history is often successful in the north and the south, and there is only one Zhu Yuanzhang who wins the country in the south and the north.

A big factor in this is that the cavalry, which is more mobile and can grasp the initiative on the battlefield, will always slowly tilt the balance in favor of the side that has the initiative.

If he wants to dominate the world, he can't do without cavalry, so where do the war horses come from?

Buy?

It is a joke to build cavalry to fight the world by buying war horses, and the best way is to build your own horse farm and raise horses.

Naturally, the location of the horse farm was first considered on Dongning Island, because this is where his old nest is located, and it is convenient to take care of it.

The topography of Dongning Island is very distinctive, with a long and narrow north-south length. The plains are mainly concentrated in the western region, and the high mountains are mainly concentrated in the eastern region.

The mountains in the east act as a natural barrier to storms from the sea, turning the western plains into environmentally friendly areas for human settlement.

Therefore, it is definitely not possible to raise horses in the west, just as the Central Plains Dynasty will not open horse farms in North and Central China.

Although horse breeding is important, people and arable land are fundamental, and you can't put the cart before the horse.

The Rift Valley Plain in the eastern mountains is the most suitable place.

The terrain here is long and narrow, surrounded by high mountains, the climate is humid, the water is abundant, suitable for the growth of pasture, and it is more than 300 miles long, and there is enough space for war horses to run.

The high mountains block the cold current, so that the temperature here is generally above 178 degrees at the coldest time, and the grass can survive in winter, which can relieve the pressure of some green forage.

It can be said that this is the most suitable place for Wen Yi to think of to raise horses.

And the Western Plains alone are enough to fit a million people, and at least for a decade or two, they will not need the Rift Valley Plain.

Besides, when he had a million people in his hands, he would have already developed Luzon Island and Zhuyazhou (Hainan Island), and there was no need to reclaim the Rift Valley Plain.

This narrow plain, with a total area of 1,000 square kilometers, is enough to feed tens of thousands of horses, and if it goes well, it can provide him with thousands of war horses every year.

The formation of cavalry is not a problem at all.

Of course, it's not perfect.

For example, the plains are mostly fragmented, not as large as the plains in the west, the land is barren, and the terrain is relatively undulating.

However, these characteristics are a disadvantage for cultivating cultivated land and growing crops, and have no impact on the construction of pastures and horses.

Therefore, raising horses here was not a temporary idea of Wen Yi, and he already had a plan in this regard when he just decided to lead the displaced people south.

I didn't say it before because the time had not come, and it was useless to say it.

At this time, since the issue of grain trade and war horses was discussed, he took the opportunity to bring it up and prepare for the opening of horse farms in the future.

The crowd looked around the map several times, and the more they looked at it, the more excited they became.

When the recruit drill manual was written, the matter of cavalry had just been mentioned, and in the blink of an eye, there was a solution.

A group of military generals have already begun to discuss the details of the formation of the ranch.

The civil servants are calmer.

"Ahem." Xue Dayuan coughed dryly and said, "Don't be in a hurry to discuss the matter of the racecourse, there are still many problems to be solved first." ”

Only then did the crowd come to their senses and return to their seats.

Xie Daoyun also felt a little embarrassed by his gaffe just now, and pretended to be calm: "There are many natives on the island, the terrain here is so good, there should be natives to live, right?" ”

Wen Yi said: "Yes, there is a group of natives called Ami living here, and the number is about 6,000 people. ”

"I also don't have metal tools, I don't know how to farm, I don't know how to livestock, and I make a living by gathering and fishing."

Xie Daoyun said murderously: "Then what are you waiting for, send troops over and occupy it." ”

Wen Yi was amused, how could this girl have the appearance of a young lady at the beginning: "Don't worry, you can occupy this place at any time, let's discuss something else now." ”

Xie Daoyun said unhappily: "What can be more important than this." ”

Wen Yi said: "It's too much, the food problem, where to get the war horse, these must be discussed." ”

Xie Daoyun also realized that confronting him in front of these many people would damage his prestige, so he hurriedly responded and sat back in his place.

"Grain trading is a must, but your concerns are also very reasonable, taking out too much grain will affect our development, and taking out too little is meaningless."

"I have a solution here to solve this problem."

"There is a Linyi country in the south of Jiaozhou, although it is also a small country and widows, but the climate here is suitable, the land is fertile, and the rice can be harvested three times a year."

"And there is also a rice variety called Champa rice, which has a very short growth period and a high yield...... So there is no shortage of food here. ”

"We can exchange porcelain, salt, and glass from them for grain, and then trade it with the northern nations."

The crowd was amazed again.

Mo Jun couldn't help but say: "I've heard of Lin Yiguo, and now I know that it is such a blessed land. ”

Gan Xian said disdainfully: "Sitting on such a treasure land but still so weak, a barbarian is a barbarian." ”

With a more suitable source of food, Xue Dayuan and the others are no longer worried about whether there is enough food to eat.

Then the group began to discuss how to occupy the Rift Valley Plain, how to build and manage the horse farm, and so on.