"Shao Yu, 8,000 war horses have arrived today. We can continue to form cavalry!" Not wanting to talk more about whether to send troops, Yu Ji turned the topic to other places.
Sure enough, after hearing Yu Ji's words, everyone's attention was attracted. They only had a total of 6,000 cavalry before. Although they were riding two horses, the number of horses was only more than 10,000, and this was the total accumulation of the Xiang clan over the years, plus the battle on the grassland.
What's more, some were lost during the war. It is surprising that Yu Ji managed to get so many war horses at once without making any noise.
"It's just that these horses are all Yunnan horses, and there is still a gap between them and the war horses from the three places of Bingliangyou!" Yu Ji said as if she was a little embarrassed. This is all she can do for the time being, and she is really powerless to fight with the war horses in Liangyou Three Lands.
In the era of cold weapons, the role that cavalry can play is really great. If we fight to the north, facing those northern princes, if we don't have cavalry, we will be at a huge disadvantage.
And if fighting in the south, although the water system in the south is crisscrossed, the cavalry cannot fully display their strength, but having a cavalry can also gain a great advantage.
However, if you are in the south, the source of the war horses is still a problem.
Therefore, Yu Ji has been thinking of a solution to this matter. During the battle on the grassland, Wu Sangui's appearance stimulated Yu Ji's aura and reminded him of the origin of the war horse.
Wu Sangui was named King Pingxi in the Qing Dynasty and guarded Yunnan. It was the words Yunnan that made Yu Ji think that it was not impossible to find war horses in the south.
The Yunnan horse is a type of horse from Yunnan. It is a short-footed horse. Although this horse lacks explosive power, it is stable and has long endurance.
As early as the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Dian horses have been seen in history books. "Huayang Guozhi·Nanzhong Zhi" said: "The elders rumored that there is a magic horse in Dianchi Lake. If they meet each other, they will give birth to fine horses. It is commonly known as 'Dianchi Lake'." A horse can travel five hundred miles a day."
"Marco Polo's Travels" states: "The strong horses produced in the highlands of Yunnan and Guangxi, with small but strong bodies, are sold in India. However, it should be known that two or three tendons are extracted from the horses so that they cannot hit their riders with their tails."
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Nanzhong Magazine" also recorded: "The horses in central Yunnan are small in size and have strong hooves. They go up high mountains and walk on dangerous paths. They do not sweat even if they are tens of miles away, so they grow in valleys."
Mr. Jin Yong also mentioned this horse in the section of "The Deer and the Cauldron", "The Wild Horses Flying Along the Flying Road and Dominating the Sky with Kites". This section talks about Wei Xiaobao talking with Yunnan Admiral Zhang Yong, deputy general Wang Jinbao, and general Zhao Liangdong in Wu Yingxiong's mansion about the superiority of Yunnan horses and other horses.
Although Yunnan horses were mostly used as an important means of transportation for carrying goods at this time, and were rarely used as war horses, in the absence of other sources of war horses, they could only make do with this for now. After all, something is better than nothing!
Given the geographical location of the Xiang clan, although it is very difficult to obtain war horses from the north, it is still feasible to obtain a batch of Yunnan horses.
Nanzhong, where the Nanman were located, included later Yunnan Province, southwestern Sichuan Province, most of Guizhou Province, and northeastern Myanmar. There was the Yunnan horse that Yu Ji wanted in Nanzhong. Moreover, Nanzhong is connected with Jiaozhou by mountains and rivers, and Jiaozhou is now in the hands of the Xiang family.
Shortly after the grassland war ended, Yu Ji had already planned to contact the Southern Barbarians in Nanzhong. Moreover, by contacting them, they can get more than just horses. The southern barbarian land is also rich in furs and mineral resources.
However, although a small group of Nanman people admire Han culture, the vast majority are still quite conservative, unwilling to have too much contact with the Han people, and have a hostile attitude towards the Han people. Therefore, at the beginning, Yu Ji’s contact effect was not ideal.
However, after the Nanman invasion of Yizhou, the situation began to gradually change.
The battle between the Nanman and Yizhou Liu Che, although they had a slight advantage in the early stage, turned out to be miserable in the later stage. Therefore, after Yu Ji knew the news, she ordered people to contact her again and exchanged weapons and armor from the Central Plains for furs, minerals and the main target Yunnan horses from the Southern Barbarians.
Although there are some die-hard elements in the Southern Barbarians, when the war is unfavorable, they cannot stop Duan Siping, Mu Wang, Yong Qiang and others from trading with the Xiang clan to help the war.
Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made slow progress in quelling the Southern Barbarians in one fell swoop. In addition to the harsh living environment of the Southern Barbarians and the unsuitability of the Han people to fight here, a small part of the reason was also due to the fact that they came from the Xiang clan.
It can be said that Yu Ji's move was a double success. While getting what she wanted, it also caused trouble for Liu Che.
In fact, Yu Ji is the same type of person as Li Xiang. Although she is not as cheating as Li Xiang, she is constantly diverging her thinking and looking for every possibility to increase her strength.
Although Yu Ji now sets her sights on Yunnan horses, she has never given up on exploring the source of war horses in the north. Although it was impossible to get there by land, she tried it by water, or rather by sea.
If Jingzhou's waterway goes out to sea and goes all the way to the north, it will inevitably be noticed by Zhu Yuanzhang, who is in Yangzhou at this time. But Jiaozhou is different. Starting from Jiaozhou, although there is still a risk of being discovered, this risk is reduced a lot.
However, although it was possible to enter the sea from Jiaozhou, in this era, it was not so easy to build a sea-going ship that could sail long distances, and Yu Ji had received limited support before.
Therefore, although the actions on sea routes are in progress, there will still be some time before results can be achieved.
Moreover, for Yu Ji, this is not the only thing that Jiaozhou can use.
Jiaozhou includes most of present-day Guangdong Province, most of Guangxi, and northern Vietnam. Among them, Guangdong is located on the southern coast. The land is fertile and very suitable for farming. It also has the benefit of fish and salt.
Moreover, Guangdong can also be connected by sea to Southeast Asia and even more distant South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa. Guangxi's natural geographical conditions may be slightly worse than those of Guangdong in terms of arable land and fish and salt, but Guangxi's advantage is that it has a naturally dangerous land and may have slightly more resources.
Therefore, Yu Ji understands the value of this land better than others and the benefits that will be obtained after this land is developed, instead of focusing all their attention on Jingzhou like other members of the Xiang family.
If Jiaozhou is developed and utilized properly, the Xiang family's strength is enough to achieve a large enough growth in a short period of time.
In addition, in recent years, another move of Yu Ji is to occupy the city rice, and it has been successful. Although potatoes have spread throughout the Han Dynasty, it is impossible to live on just one crop, and it is impossible to eat just this one thing, and Champa rice has come into Yu Ji's sight.
Not only that, Champa rice has another huge advantage compared to potatoes, that is, it is not afraid of others stealing it. Because, if you want to plant rice, you have to consider the location. Even if this thing is leaked, many princes will not be able to grow it, especially those powerful northern princes.
