The protagonist once semi-domesticated flies, and his self-confidence was so high that he tried to tame some beetles as draft animals.
Draft animals, also known as draft animals, are livestock used for servitude and can be used for farming, carrying, riding, etc. For humans, draft animals include horses, cattle, mules, donkeys, camels, etc.
Draft animals were an important strategic resource for ancient countries. As one of the main sources of power in the agricultural era, draft animals had a great impact on national security and the national economy.
There were traditional machines in ancient times both at home and abroad, and these machines often required the help of manpower or draft animals to operate. Therefore, bioenergy, represented by draft animals, was the form of power that people most relied on and used most commonly during this period.
Large draft animals such as cattle and horses can also drive vehicles, providing power and speed for military and transportation.
For primitive economies, horses were not only a means of transportation on the vast grasslands, but also a source of livelihood in harsh environments. At least 5,500 years ago, the Botai people living in today's Kazakhstan were already herding horses on horseback. Horse dung, horse milk and horse meat can provide heat for nomads in alpine zones and help them hunt other animals at a higher speed.
In China, at least in the early Neolithic Age, horses have become an important role in the northern nomadic areas besides humans. The Khitan people regard horses and oxen as national totems, and believe that their ancestors were born from the intercourse between a god riding a white horse and a fairy driving a green ox cart. Therefore, "every time the army marches and during spring and autumn sacrifices, a white horse and a green ox must be used." ".
Since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, in order to maintain political centralization and resist external challenges, Chinese dynasties have further expanded the function of horses as military draft animals. With the development of early agriculture and the improvement of logistics supply, the number of horses in the Central Plains Dynasty increased significantly, allowing them to fight against the northern tribes with multiple horses and one cart, and their impact and combat effectiveness were greatly enhanced.
Just like the significance of oil to modern warfare, the number of horses in the pre-Qin period was often the material prerequisite for princes to compete for hegemony. Because horses were the core of the war, the highest military leader was called "Da Sima". Confucius measured a country's strength by the number of horses and chariots, and called a big country a "country of a thousand chariots."
At that time, the level of Yushu (i.e., the skill of controlling cars and horses) determined the extent to which the horse's kinetic energy could be used, so "Yu" was classified as "Yu" together with etiquette, music, archery, calligraphy, and mathematics. Essential survival skills for pre-Qin scholar-officials. A skilled charioteer can even become a powerful person because of his imperial skills. According to legend, Zaofu, the charioteer of King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty, became prosperous because of his "long drive back to the Zhou Dynasty" and "thousands of miles per day", which enabled King Mu who traveled to Kunlun in the west to return to his army in time to put down the rebellion.
The reason why Qin Emperor and Han Dynasty achieved hegemony was also related to their emphasis on large draft animals as a strategic resource. The main purpose of Shang Yang's reform was "farming" and "war", so draft animals were particularly important. At that time, the severe punishment of "those who steal horses will die, and those who steal cattle will be fined" not only reflected the state's protection of official cattle resources, but also proved the urgent need for draft animals in agricultural society.
The Han Dynasty vigorously developed horse administration and was able to establish a fast and flexible cavalry unit, which shortened the speed gap with the Huns' cavalry. It also solved the problems of grain supply and baggage transportation, allowing the Han army to pursue the Huns deep into the hinterland of the desert.
The Ming Dynasty was invaded by Mongolia, so it attached great importance to horse administration, and would often shout that "the important affairs of the country lie in the army, and the great use of the army lies in the horse." Although the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to horse administration, it was abandoned during the Xuande period. The Song and Ming dynasties were successively destroyed by Mongolian and Manchu cavalry, which was not unrelated to the lack of war horses and poor quality.
In order to bring the powerful driving force of draft animals into play during the war, the Qin Dynasty implemented "cars on the same track" and "moved across the world" so that when necessary, force could be deployed everywhere as quickly as possible.
Cattle were even more important to transportation and farming than horses. Although horses can also "pull plows, drive dung carts, and create fertile fields," most of the time, these tasks are completed by cows, which are more docile and easier to maintain.
The bamboo slips "Stable Garden Law" unearthed from the Qin tomb in Suihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province show that the Qin State once evaluated the fatness and thinness of cattle of cattle farmers in order to produce a large amount of profit and use cattle for farming. Tian Shifu, who was in charge of cattle breeding, would be punished for this. rewards and punishments.
Ying Shao, a famous figure in the Eastern Han Dynasty, regarded the number of cattle as a criterion for the strength of the country, claiming that "cattle are the foundation of farming, respected by the people, and are of greatest use, and they determine the strength of the country."
When Wu Zetian was in power, she purchased cattle and sheep on a large scale to "use military resources." Her minister Zhang Tinghuang regarded farming cattle as the hub of social operation, pointing out that "the king relies on the people, the people rely on food, the food is cultivated, and the cultivated resources are cattle. If the cattle are used up, the plowing will be wasted, and if the plowing is wasted, the food will be eaten." If you go, if you eat, the people will perish."
Donkeys are also important draft animals. Starting from the Song and Ming dynasties, the structure of draft animals changed significantly. The mutual wars with the northern nomads made it difficult for the Central Plains region to obtain horses from the north. In addition, with the development of the early commodity economy, farmers were more willing to choose draft animals with higher marginal benefits. . The importance of horses in agriculture gradually gave way to other livestock such as cattle and donkeys that were easier to raise.
In the eyes of the people of the Song Dynasty, although the donkey did not have the speed and strength of the horse, it was more adaptable because it "has a single body and enough legs to drive, even on narrow roads." If there is a shortcut, the transportation efficiency is not even lower than that of a "strong chariot and a good horse". The Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" depicts a total of 91 livestock, including 49 donkeys alone.
But raising draft animals is not an easy task, unlike fossil energy. It is not only an energy provider, but also an energy consumer.
It is for this reason that most northern nomads have to be constrained by logistics and find it difficult to cross the semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral zone north of the Yellow River.
For the Central Plains dynasty, not only did it cost a huge amount of money to purchase draft animals, but the roughage used to raise draft animals was often also fuel, which would inevitably occupy land and agricultural resources.
Precisely because draft animals were too expensive, human power was often used instead of animal power throughout history. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, family members tended to live together in order to save the cost of raising cattle. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the epidemic of rinderpest, the number of cattle was reduced, forcing a large number of manpower to be used.
It can be said that it was precisely because of the large number of qualified draft animals that the civilization of the Old World developed rapidly.
As a counterexample, civilizations such as the Incas and Aztecs in the New World were constrained by the lack of qualified large-scale draft animals, and their civilization development came to a standstill, and they were eventually wiped out by foreign invaders. After China's explosive population growth in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was more economical to use cheap manpower than draft animals. Its social, economic and technological development fell into involution, and it gradually fell behind the world.
It can be seen that draft animals are even a strategic force that can determine the rise and fall of civilization. No wonder the protagonist wants to domesticate a qualified draft animal.
