Chapter 35 Southern Horses vs. Northern Horses
Pegasus Ranch, located in the southwest of Jingling County, equivalent to the northwest of Hubei in later generations, the two tributaries of the Yangtze River in this area, Zhangshui and Fushui, delineate a large triangular fertile plain, the two rivers gurgle through, irrigate the fertile fields on both sides, and finally merge into the river.
The climate of this area is mild, the soil is fertile, and the produce is abundant, and the fields where the Pegasus Ranch is located are particularly rich in pastures. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it encloses more than ten miles of fertile fields, and only two gorges in the east and west can be entered and exited. The shape is dangerous, forming a natural screen for the pasture.
In the distance, on the meadows, some lakes are like bright mirrors, and the turquoise water and the green pastures compete with each other, and the horses of all colors are resting in their own way, making the whole farm and pasture more colorful.
"This place is really easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the front and rear passages are guarded, even if there are 100,000 troops to attack, they are not afraid. What's more, there are so many livestock in it, and there is no shortage of grain and grass! It is really a difficult place to attack if it cannot be defeated, and it is besieged and starved to death. It's just that no matter how strong a fortress is, it is always attacked from the inside first!"
Li Jiancheng sighed.
Pegasus Ranch, where it is located, is just a narrow plain of tens of miles in size, but it supplies one-tenth of the horses of the Sui Dynasty, which is also too important.
The Central Plains Dynasty has always been the best horse-producing area, one in the Hetao area, and the other in Youzhou, Hebei. However, once the war broke out, especially when the northern nomads invaded, the horses would often run out of stock, so in order to prevent the horses from running out of stock, a pasture was built in this Xiangyang area, in order to prevent shortages.
After all, in times of war, if you don't have money, you can get off your horse, you can't form a cavalry, and if you don't have cavalry, you can have a strong combat power.
Thinking about it, Li Jiancheng couldn't help but begin to admire Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, whose reign was called the "rule of the emperor". This emperor has always been known for his diligence and frugality, and he is a well-known Ming monarch in history.
This emperor has experienced the frequent change of dynasties in the Northern Dynasties, witnessed the destruction caused by floods and droughts, and also witnessed the invasion of the northern nomads, this emperor has always had the heart of being prepared for danger in times of peace, and built five warehouses in order to deal with famine and various natural disasters; built the world's powerful Sui Dynasty government soldiers, forming the strongest army in this era; and in order to prevent the lack of war horses, he built pastures in the Xiangyang area, which was not conducive to horse breeding.
This emperor is a good emperor and a good father, and has left a deep foundation for his sons.
Even if it was the emperor of later generations, a little stupid and incompetent, the Sui Dynasty was still as stable as Mount Tai. It's a pity that I met Yang Guang, a loser, and his huge family business was also ruined alive.
Sure enough, no matter how big the family business is, it can't withstand the defeat of the son of a loser.
Li Jiancheng stepped forward and reached the exit of the canyon.
There is a city tower at the exit, the pit of three zhang wide and five zhang deep is dug out in front of the building, the mouth of the cross gorge is crossed, the following is full of spikes, must rely on the suspension bridge to pass, there is indeed a husband when the pass, the tendency of ten thousand people is difficult to cross. It is said that Shang Xiong, the owner of the Pegasus Ranch who built this castle in the first generation, was a military general at the end of the Jin Dynasty, when Liu Yu was the Jin Dynasty, changed the name of the country to Song, and the world was divided.
In order to avoid the scourge of war, Shang Xiong led his men and his clansmen to the south, and found this hidden valley by coincidence, so he lived and worked here in peace and contentment, and established a pasture.
In the 160 years from the establishment of the ranch to the unification of the world by the Sui Dynasty, the Pegasus Ranch experienced seven owners, all of whom were inherited by the Shang family and had supreme authority.
It's just that after the reign of Yang Jian and Yang Guang father and son, two generations of centralization, centralized power, and constantly suppressed the gate valve and suppressed the clan, how could it allow a separatist force to exist, and how could it allow this separatist force to control a large number of horses.
"Pegasus Ranch, it seems that it has a lot of connections!" Li Jiancheng took a deep breath and began to analyze the network.
In the era of cold weapons, horses and weapons were the most important, and whoever controlled a large number of weapons and a large number of horses held the initiative in war.
Weapons are not enough, even if the ordinary great families are smuggling, even if they are privately manufactured, they have little impact, but horses are the most important thing, equivalent to military strategic materials, except for the imperial court, other clans are not allowed to touch at all.
At least, none of the four great families dared to blatantly run a ranch or run a horse business. And Pegasus Ranch can supply so many war horses to Dasui, you can imagine how close they have with the high-level leaders of Dasui and even with Yang Guang.
"Stop, what are you doing?
The Pegasus Ranch had been peaceful for too long, and the vigilance was not strict, and it was even extremely lax, and it was not until Li Jiancheng walked to the wooden bridge in front of the mountain city that he was stopped and asked. It's just that in the tone, there is not too much guarding, but there is some curiosity.
Li Jiancheng arched his hand and said with a smile: "In Xiataiyuan, Li Jiancheng is here to worship the owner of the venue!"
"Childe wait here first, I'll inform the steward!"
After saying a few words, he hurriedly rode into the mountain city to report the news.
Li Jiancheng waited in place.
The Sui Dynasty was the era of the gate valve family, and this era was known as the four major valves. They are the Li family in Taiyuan, the Dugu family and the Yuwen family in Luoyang, and the Song family in Lingnan. In fact, it is not that these four gate lords are the most powerful, but that they have the greatest reputation, and many families are not famous, but their power is not small.
For example, the business of Pegasus Ranch is a big gate valve but it is too low-key, and the low-key is almost ignored by the world.
This kind of low-key, although there is no possibility of competing for the world, but there is no danger of extinction.
Pegasus Ranch, from the Northern Dynasty era, to the Sui Dynasty, to the later Tang Dynasty, is still strong, and many families have declined or perished halfway.
In less than a moment, I saw the general just now, leading a few people to gallop out on horseback in a hurry.
Far away, a man at the head got off the horse and said with a smile: "Shang He has seen the son below, why don't you come in and talk!"
Li Jiancheng smiled casually: "I don't dare to ask for it!"
As he spoke, he walked in, and immediately someone sent a horse over, which looked like it was one meter six or seven, quite a miracle horse.
Li Jiancheng turned over and rode on the horse, frowning slightly.
"Childe, orange born in Huainan is orange, and born in Huaibei is orange. The climate in the south is mild, the water and grass are fertile, it is easy to raise horses, it looks strong and good-looking, but it has not experienced wind and frost, it is difficult to feed, it is easy to get sick, and it is like serving the uncle, and it is destined to be the old horse;
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