Yuan Nanyu's
leg injury was not very serious. As the doctor said, full recovery could be achieved
by splinting, taking decoction of medicinal ingredients, and recuperate for 100
days.
But the difficulty laid
in this "recuperation". Yuan Nanyu was very energetic and active by
nature. He used to wake up early to practice martial arts and read books, and
in his spare time he would walk around the streets looking for fun. Letting him
rest on the bed for 3 months would kill him. The whole family expected him to
cause trouble, got people to take turns to look after him, and finally kept
him in the room.
In the morning, Yuan Sikong finished supervising Yuan Nanyu's
reading just as Xu Hu came to pick him up and take him to the horse farm to
pick horses.
The stables in Guangning City mainly kept the horses of Yuan Mao
and his subordinate generals. There were only twenty to thirty of them. Most of
them were in the horse farms on the outskirts where there were open areas for
the horses to run. It’s a place he went often.
When Yuan Mao brought him home four years ago, he volunteered to
raise horses. Actually, at that time, he knew nothing about raising horses,
just that both of them formed ties via the phrase ‘the horse has a leg disease,
therefore, he wanted Yuan Mao to think that he knew how to raise horses so that
he wouldn't look useless. After all, he couldn't get rid of the fear of
depending on someone for a living and was afraid that Yuan Mao wouldn't want
him. He did not know whether Yuan Mao believed him, or didn’t expose him, and simply
let him follow Xu Hu to raise the horses.
He raised the horses for 4 years. He not only learned Xu Hu's half-life
accumulated knowledge, but also collected relevant official records and
people's records. The more he raised them, the better he became. Xu Hu could
not read or write, so he relied on the horse-breeding skills that were handed
down from his ancestors and his experience. Now, he had to discuss many things
with him.
Last time, Yuan Sikong had to share a horse with Xu Hu, but now he
was able to ride a horse on his own. Xu Hu was very pleased to see the young
man growing up.
When he arrived at the stable, it was noon, just in time for lunch.
The owner of the horse farm was Zhao Dayou, the richest
businessman in Guangning. It was a small stable built up from scratch. Now, he was
very rich. He had over 10,000 horses of all sizes in his farm, but only a few
of them really met the standard of war horses.
Ever since Cheng Ningzong lost the Hetao region, Dasheng’s
national power declined. The imperial court could not afford to raise horses,
so all the horse farms in the Central Plains had been privatized, but they were
required to prepare a certain number of war horses for the imperial court every
year. The good horses in Central Plains were expensive and hard to find, thus
all horse traders were wealthy.
Zhao Dayou was very happy to see Yuan Sikong and set up a table
with good food: "Sikong, let's have a good lunch. In the afternoon, we'll
pick two thousand good horses for the King of Jingyuan.”
Yuan Sikong nodded, "Don't worry, Uncle."
"Aiya, the horses that the Feng family army originally used
were all Qin horses from Huaixi. I went to see them yesterday. They’re really
good horses, good horses! Zhao Dayou couldn't help but give a thumbs up,
"I never thought our Liaodong horses could gallop a thousand miles and
kill the enemy under the Feng family army. My ancestors should be really
blessed."
Xu Hu complimented, "Manager Zhao's ancestors are already
blessed, and you have added glory to them again."
"Hahaha, it’s also thanks to Brother Xu's constant care."
In the past dynasties, the imperial court valued culture over
commerce. The status of merchants was actually very low, but they couldn’t stop
them from being rich. Money and power were not separated, so a small official
like Xu Hu had to fawn on Zhao Dayou, and Zhao Dayou did not dare to neglect Xu
Hu. After all, he was sent by the imperial court to take care of the war
horses. Though he had a low status, his words did not carry a little weight.
Yuan Sikong said curiously, "Uncle, what price does the Feng
family army charge for horses?"
"It is only slightly higher than the Liaodong army, but I
heard that King of Jingyuan has offered other benefits to the Liaodong army."
Yuan Sikong said worriedly, "If the imperial court wants to
collect horses, we naturally can't disobey the decree, but if all the good
horses are given to Datong prefecture, what should we do if the Jin come over?"
Xu Hu also sighed, "That's true, I don't know what the
higher-ups are thinking." He looked around and said quietly, "Although
the war in Datong is tense and Wala is much more powerful than the Jin, the imperial
court is too biased. First, it gave up the seven states in Liaobei and now it gives
this year’s war horses to Datong. Are they still caring about the lives and
deaths of the Liaodong people?”
Zhao Dayou put his fat finger to his lips and shushed, "You
must not spread this to the public. Now there's war in Datong and no war in
Liaodong, so the imperial court should have its own plans."
Yuan Sikong's heart was full of apprehension.
There was no war in Liaodong at the moment, but the Jins were watching from
across the river and glaring with tiger eyes. The imperial court's move was
indeed biased, but there was nothing they could do about it.
After eating, Zhao Dayou called in the
most experienced horse breeders from the horse farm and accompanied them to
choose the horses.
The main job of horse selection was still
in Xu Hu's hands, with Yuan Sikong as an advisor that Yuan Mao intended to train.
Of course, he was an advisor in name only.
Horse evaluation was a technical and a
physical job. It didn’t mean that an expensive and handsome horse was a good
horse, or it was a good horse yet not suitable for warfare. A war horse couldn’t
be wild and difficult to train, and endurance was the most important.
For example, if a horse had a large nose,
it had large lungs. If it had large lungs, it would be good at running long
distances. Whether the structure from the back to the hip was smooth or not
determined whether the horse was easy to put on fat. Diseases had to be observed
through the horse’s mouth and nose. The outline of the muscles and flesh determined
whether the horse had strong bones or not. There were many things to look for
in a horse's hooves. Too thick, too thin, too big, or too small were not good
horses.
After looking and touching, they had to
let the horses run to make a final decision.
There was a lot to learn about evaluating
horses. Sometimes there were differences between horses of different origins
and breeds. The teachers at the horse farm and Xu Hu had been breeding horses
for decades before they dared to evaluate horses, especially war horses. They
carried the burden of soldiers’ lives and Dasheng’s state power, how would they
dare to be careless?
Half a day had passed just like this, and
as the skylight dimmed, it was time for them to return to the city.
As they passed by the sick horse stables,
Yuan Sikong saw a pony less than half a year old nesting in the stables
listlessly.
A man from the horse farm said, "Oh,
this horse has been sick for more than a month. If it still does not get better
..."
"I'll take a look." Yuan Sikong
and Xu Hu went into the stable. After looking at the horse for a long time and inquiring
carefully, they could only barely see that the horse had a stomach and spleen
problem.
There were plenty of horse breeders, and
there were very few who knew how to heal horses. Most of the horse healers were
based on experiences, and they used their prescriptions to measure the amount
of medicine and were usually able to cure common minor illnesses and injuries.
If they encountered dubious or hard-to-treat cases and incurable chronic illnesses,
they could only be slaughtered to conserve the rations.
Yuan Sikong had a great regret in this
matter.
His mother was a doctor, and the medical
skills were passed down from his grandfather. When he was young, he was curious
and wanted to study medicine with his mother, but his father did not allow him
to do so, as the saying goes: the worth of other pursuits is small, and the
study of books excels them all. In the era of abolishing hundred schools and Confucianism
monopoly, official rank was the best way out for scholars. Later, when he saw
that he was intelligent and studious, he allowed him to study in his spare
time. He had only learned the art of medicine on the surface, but he understood
the theory of medicine and could cure some common illnesses. He had always felt
that it was not difficult to heal horses. If he could understand their bones, muscles,
blood vessels, and meridians just like a human being, many horses would not have
to die of their illnesses. The existing horse healing books were not detailed
enough in his opinion.
Unfortunately, he did not have the
opportunity to do so.
Since ancient times, pigs have been used
for meat, cattle for farming, and horses for transportation and combat. Horses
are the weapons of combat, the mobile granary, and the vehicle of commerce.
Because of their irreplaceable role in warfare, horses were revered throughout
the dynasties and the consumption of horse meat was not allowed. In the Sheng
dynasty, the desire for good horses led the imperial court to encourage horse
breeding among the people and prohibit the eating of horses. Dead horses must
be given proper burials. Yuan Sikong had always wanted to dissect a dead horse
to study the art of treating horses, but Yuan Mao could not approve at all.
Seeing the sick pony, Yuan Sikong was really
distressed. If it could be cured, he might be able to add another efficient
weapon to the Liaodong soldiers.
Xu Hu saw through him and was also helpless:
"I'm afraid this horse won't last for a few days. Let's go back."
Yuan Sikong took three steps back and
walked away.
--
For the next few days, Yuan Sikong spent
his time at the horse farm, assisting Xu Hu with his horse evaluation. Just as
Xu Hu had said, the pony soon died of illness and there wasn’t enough time to clear
away the carcass.
Yuan Sikong passed by the sick horse
stables and was once again devising a plan. After all, they were about to send
the two thousand good horses they had worked so hard to raise to Datong, and
his desire to heal them was even greater. While Xu Hu was out running the
horses, he secretly found Zhao Dayou and begged him to give him the horse
carcass.
Zhao Dayou knew what Yuan Sikong wanted to
do. It was not the first time he had proposed it, but dissecting a horse brings
dishonor to the horse carcass: "Sikong, just give up your idea. If your
father finds out, how will I explain it?"
"Uncle, this horse farm is yours.
Just don't let anyone see it. You don't say anything and I don't say anything,
who will know about it?"
"Aiya, words must not be said like
this ..." Zhao Dayou was in a difficult position.
Yuan Sikong’s eyes were like stars and
shining with a wise light, "My father is strict and sometimes does not
know how to adapt, but Uncle is a quick-witted man. This huge horse farm came
about because of Uncle’s ‘quick-wittedness’. Uncle’s one to two hundred horses
died of diseases in a year. If I can learn the art of healing horses, even if I
can save one, it will all be gleaming silver coins."
Zhao Dayou's eyes blinked rapidly.
If another young child told him this, he would have scolded the little brat for speaking out of shame,
but Yuan Sikong was different.
When Zhao Dayou had discovered the boy's
extraordinary talent, he had asked Yuan Mao about his origins curiously, and
Yuan Mao had indeed asked someone to look into it, which was no trivial matter.
It was said that there was a child prodigy
in Taining who wrote poetry at five years old, studied literature at six years
old, took a child exam at nine years old, and became a xiucai*. The surname
was Yan.
Zhao Dayou knew that this child had a
promising future. If he said that he wanted to learn how to treat horses, then
there was a real possibility that he could do so. He’s a businessman, so how could
he not be interested?
Seeing that Zhao Dayou was already swayed,
Yuan Sikong promised, "If in the unlikely event that someone does find out
about this, Sikong will certainly bear the burden alone and will not trouble
Uncle."
Zhao Dayou sighed heavily, "Sikong,
how could Uncle not want you to heal the horses? I am most distressed when the
horses that I worked so hard to raise die of illness." He dragged Yuan
Sikong to the corner and whispered, "It's just as well that the horse is
small and there's little sign of activity, so I'll send the others away and you
can go to the sick horse stable and dissect it. After dissecting it, Uncle will
find someone to take care of it."
Yuan Sikong said calmly, "After the
dissection, I will burn the horse stable with a fire. Wouldn’t it be clean?"
Zhao Dayou stirred for a moment, "Er
... yes, you are right. Burn it, burn it clean."
"Many thanks to Uncle." Yuan
Sikong took a step back and bowed, "This measure taken by Uncle is a small
move to save a horse, but a big one to benefit the country."
Zhao Dayou was overjoyed, "Okay, okay,
you go quickly. I will tell the people in the horse farm to stay away from
there."
---
Yuan Sikong took a box of equipment for treating
trauma and used them to cut up the horse. He looked at the pony. Both of his hands
were shaking with excitement and a little fear at the thought of finally
getting what he wanted.
He had watched his mother when he was a
child, so he was not afraid of blood, but after all, he had never even
slaughtered a fish before. When he had to cut up a horse for the first time
with a knife, his heart was beating as wildly as a drum, but he had no time to
delay, so he quickly laid his hands on it.
While dissecting, writing, and drawing, a
bucket of water which was used to wash hands turned red quickly.
Just as he had disemboweled the horse and was
remembering to be serious, he suddenly heard a sharp child's voice shouting,
"What are you doing?!"
Yuan Sikong was so focused that his heart
stopped for a moment at the despite childish but imposing bellow, and the knife
in his hand fell to the ground.
He turned his head and saw a richly
dressed boy standing in the doorway of the stables. His eyes were round and
staring at him with a look of shock and anger. It was the most beautiful boy he
had ever seen in his life, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he
was a celestial figure, but he had no time to marvel at God's handiwork now.
Only one thought buzzed in his head: he had been discovered!
The boy said angrily, "How dare you
insult a horse corpse!" He twisted around and walked away, bellowing as he
did so, "Guards!"
Yuan Sikong sprang up from his spot and rushed
out of the stable. He stepped forward with big strides and grabbed the boy by
his collar with that bloody hand.
PS: tadaa, Feng Ye has finally
appeared yeeeeee
xiucai*[秀才]---or 'Bachelor' is an entry-level licentiate who had passed the exam
Edited on 23 Mar. 21 (Emzie)
Edited on 28 Jun. 21 (Ari)
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