Northern horses mostly live in cold and dry grassland areas, where there is ample food, fresh air, and rich water and grass, which is suitable for the growth and development of horses.
The living conditions of horses in the south are not so good. Food is scarce and the air is humid, which is not conducive to the healthy growth of horses.
The good horses in the north are tall, have excellent endurance, strong bones, well-developed muscles, and are extremely fast, making them suitable for war horses.
The inferior horses in the south are short in size, have weak bones, have poor endurance, have loose muscles, and have dull coats, making them unsuitable for war horses.
The Xiongnu Empire, which occupied the deserts, grasslands, and Hetao, had many good horses. This advantage was unmatched by the Han Empire.
It is precisely because of this that there are stories of thousands of gold buying horse bones, and the story of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty paying ten thousand gold for a sweat-blooded horse.
Because the military village has been rich recently, the food in the kitchen has been relatively better.
The staple food is no longer the dry, hard, dark rye cake.
Now, the food in the kitchen is thin corn tortillas fried purely with corn flour.
The corn tortillas are slightly fried on both sides and paired with a bowl of broth. The taste is so delicious that even a god would not change it!
On the roof of the kitchen, curls of smoke came out, and the air was filled with an intoxicating smell of burning corn stalks.
The fragrant smell of burnt tortillas is also mixed in.
The barrel was filled with oily meat, and the huge pieces of meat flickered in and out under the stirring of the spoon.
Sparkling with alluring brilliance and exuding a charming aroma.
The corn tortillas baked into golden brown were stacked on top of each other like a hill. There were several wooden basins beside them, which contained rice sauce and pickle dumplings.
All the soldiers were extremely satisfied with the food. Not only was there enough food for everyone to eat with open stomachs, but they also drank up a bucket of broth with large slices of meat and brought another bucket.
In just a few months, the soldiers, who were originally extremely thin, with yellow and skinny faces, gradually became rosy and shiny, and became fatter and stronger.
While everyone was sipping the broth and eating the vegetables, they did not forget to sigh loudly at the captain's generosity and righteousness.
Wei Qing, who was sitting alone on the front chair, sighed quietly as he looked at the scene in front of him.
Serving as a soldier is the easiest way for him.
Anyway, he is alone, with no worries and no worries. He has enough to eat and the whole family is not hungry.
Moreover, as the emperor's brother-in-law, with his martial arts skills and some luck, maybe becoming a soldier is the best way out.
This is his idea and his purpose.
However, everyone in this world is different and thinks differently.
Wei Qing can guarantee his loyalty and patriotism, but he cannot guarantee others.
The reason why people are called people is because they can think, they can think about the pros and cons, and they can advance and retreat.
The reason why Wei Qing gave his soldiers such good treatment was because he wanted the soldiers to have the idea that a country has a family.
Soldiers may not be afraid of life and death, but death must have value.
They should always know who they are fighting for, for the motherland, for their loved ones, for everything they know well, and to defend it with their lives.
"..."
night!
Wei Qing, who had something hidden in his heart, could not sleep for a long time.
Lying on the kang, he turned over impatiently and wanted to stare for a while longer, but unfortunately he still couldn't fall asleep.
Wei Qing, who was suffering from insomnia, lifted up the blue coarse homespun quilt and pulled away a thick layer of wheat straw inside the earthen kang.
He opened his eyes and saw several wooden beams supporting the wooden beams, standing alone and abruptly above his head.
Because of the passage of time, the red patent leather on the beams has long been mottled and peeled off, revealing its original brown color.
On the other end of the kang, there is a large black cabinet, and next to the kang is a large black clay vat. The vat is covered with a wooden board, and a blue brick is pressed on the wooden board. The vat is filled with well water.
At this moment, he remembered many things.
He was a shepherd boy since he was a child and suffered a lot. When he grew up, he worked as a riding slave in Princess Pingyang's house.
Because her sister Wei Zifu was elected to the palace, her own destiny changed and she became an official.
Numerous events, like scenes from a shadow puppet show, flashed through his mind...
He gritted his teeth and sat blankly on the edge of the kang, staring at the yellow earth under his feet, lost in thought.
From a shepherd boy to a slave, to an official, and then to a captain, such changes only happened in a few short years.
Wei Qing even thought it was a dream.
"Huh, it seems that all of this is not a dream. Everything at the moment is not made up by him in his dream. This is a fact."
Wei Qing thought this after pinching himself.
After intellectually acknowledging and emotionally accepting this, a very urgent sense of urgency immediately wrapped him tightly.
Only then did he realize in panic that everything he had now depended on his sister's position in the palace.
Once the sister loses favor in the palace, it means that everything will disappear.
His family and relatives will all return to the poor days before, or even worse.
Thinking of this, Wei Qing secretly made up his mind to stand out and become the most powerful general in the Han Empire.
By that time, even if my sister is old and loses the favor of the emperor, the emperor will not dare to do anything to her with him as a backer!
"..."
The morning mist was lingering, and the bright sunshine in the morning shone down from the thin clouds, casting a light golden color on the mountains.
The warm sunshine has just spread over the mountain pass to the east, plating everything on the earth golden.
After washing his face, Wei Qing got up early and led hundreds of soldiers to start daily drills.
Wei Qing, who had benefited from the extermination of the Jianghu people and tasted the sweetness, followed Yanling's "Three No Matters Zone" and wiped out several mixed tribes in one fell swoop in the next few months.
These Zahu tribes that were wiped out by Wei Qing usually stay here, taking things by force, seeking wealth and killing people. The villagers and merchants who pass by are often harmed by the Zahu tribes.
Although Wei Qing's move was for training soldiers and seeking wealth, it could also be regarded as eliminating harm for the people!
"..."
Sweeping away these miscellaneous tribes not only accumulated a lot of wealth for Wei Qing, but also gave Wei Qing a lot of cattle, sheep, and horses.
Those high-legged horses were kept by Wei Qing as his political achievements.
As for the cattle and sheep, Wei Qing regarded them as food to improve the food supply and reward the entire army.
"..."
Time passes slowly.
On Wei Qing's side, the days of suppressing Hu Hu and training troops at the same time were interrupted not long ago by a group of people who came unexpectedly.
