Chapter 299 Hostages! (Thanks to the book friend 08858 for the reward!)

"sizzle"

In a remote valley in Dapo Town, Shiquan County, bursts of horse neighing could be heard from time to time...
In the valley, Ye Mingsheng, accompanied by Gu Sansi, inspected the horse stable.

Looking at the various healthy horses jumping around in the huge stable, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but nodded slightly.

Gu Sansi strictly checked these war horses that were exchanged from the Khitan. Each one was very strong and well-proportioned, with very smooth fur, and looked very energetic.

"Sansi, you did a good job this time!" Looking around at the war horses, Ye Mingsheng praised Gu Sansi with satisfaction:

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's praise, Gu Sansi bowed respectfully and said:

"I was able to complete this transaction thanks to the 1,000 taels of silver approved by the adults. Without the help of this 1,000 taels of silver, I would never have been able to do this..."

"Sir, I used this one thousand taels of silver to give some gold and silver jewelry to Yelu Peng's favorite concubine, and spent five hundred taels to buy some ancient texts for Yelu Peng's favorite minister Ke Shihuai, and another three hundred taels of silver. The remaining two hundred taels of silver are all here!"

As he spoke, Gu Sansi took out two silver notes worth one hundred taels from his arms and handed them to Ye Mingsheng with both hands.

After taking a look at the banknote and then at Gu Sansi, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"You have accomplished such a great thing for me, I will definitely reward you handsomely. Just take this money. It is a bit too crowded for your family to live in that small courtyard in the east of the city. I will have someone find a big house for your family in a good location in the city!"

Gu Sansi, who was not well-off, did not pretend to be polite to Ye Mingsheng after hearing Ye Mingsheng's arrangement. He said directly:
"Thank you for the reward, sir!"

After saying this, he put the banknote back into his arms, and then Gu Sansi said to Ye Mingsheng in a somewhat mysterious tone:

"Sir, in addition to these 1,000 war horses, I have also got you a good thing during this negotiation with the Khitans!"

"What is it?" Ye Mingsheng asked curiously:
Ye Mingsheng knew very well that Gu Sansi, his first and only strategist, had a calm personality. Since he said that he wanted to give him a good thing, then this thing would definitely not be an ordinary item...

Gu Sansi smiled slightly when he heard this, and asked someone to lead out a tall, shiny black horse, which slowly walked towards Ye Mingsheng.

This big black horse is fat and strong, with its head held high and eyes full of crystal light. It looks very heroic at first glance. Its long limbs are very strong, its hooves are big and round, every part of its body is so reasonable, and every muscle is full of explosive power. People can't help but fall in love with it at first sight.

Although these war horses in the horse pen are also very good, they pale in comparison with this big dark horse and are not on the same level at all.

"Sir, after Yelu Kang knew that you were a military general under the persuasion of Ke Shihuai, he arranged this war horse for you as a small gift." Pointing at the big black horse, Gu Sansi introduced it to Ye Mingsheng with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng immediately walked in front of the dark horses and looked at them quietly. As a man, Ye Mingsheng naturally liked the thrilling feeling of adrenaline rush brought by the flying speed.

And now as a cavalry general, a good horse can undoubtedly set off Ye Mingsheng's agile and brave temperament as a military officer. Therefore, the more Ye Mingsheng looked at this big black horse, the more he liked it. He wished he could ride it around the valley twice right away...
In addition to looking majestic, this horse also seems to be very human. When it was being led by the followers just now, it almost looked up with its nose in the air, with an arrogant attitude.

But when Ye Mingsheng took the reins from his follower, the horse seemed to understand something. It was not only very docile, but also rubbed Ye Mingsheng's face with its head affectionately.

"Good horse, good horse!"

After saying it twice, Ye Mingsheng, who was excited to see the prey, could no longer contain his joy. He jumped on the horse and patted the horse's butt gently. The big black horse was very obedient and carried Ye Mingsheng away into the distance.

"call···········"

Feeling the wind whistling in his ears, Ye Mingsheng, who was riding on horseback and enjoying the excitement, had a more and more intense smile on his face.

After riding for a whole incense stick of time, Ye Mingsheng realized that he had important things to do, so he reluctantly got off the big black horse.

"Tell Yelu Kang that I like his gift very much!" Ye Mingsheng, who got the BMW, smiled and said to Gu Sansi:

"As long as you like it, my Lord. This horse doesn't have a name yet, so you might as well give it a name!" Seeing that Ye Mingsheng liked this horse so much, Gu Sansi also said with a smile:

“No name? Then call it... Black Cloud!”

Recalling the feeling of riding it just now, which was like flying in the clouds, Ye Mingsheng, who had the answer in his mind, immediately said:
"What a good name!" Gu Sansi echoed.
After getting the BMW Black Cloud, Ye Mingsheng, who was in a good mood, spent about an hour inspecting the stable. Although Ye Mingsheng was very satisfied with the thousand war horses, he shook his head helplessly when he saw the castrated genitals of the war horses.

Horses are animals. Although they have been strictly trained and can be used for combat, they still retain their most primitive wildness. If a male horse in estrus is not castrated, it will be very irritable, have a strong sense of resistance, and be very aggressive. It is not uncommon for them to kick people to death. If a cavalryman rides such a warhorse to fight, he is undoubtedly seeking death!
Therefore, there was no other way, as almost all the war horses of this era were castrated.

Although this ensures the reliability of the war horses and makes them docile and usable, it also has a major disadvantage, which is that these castrated war horses lose their fertility. They cannot make mares pregnant and produce the next generation, passing on their excellent genes...
Seeing the regretful expression on Ye Mingsheng's face, Gu Sansi pondered for a moment and asked tentatively:
"Sir, do you want to build a horse farm?"

Seeing that Gu Sansi had guessed his thoughts, Ye Mingsheng did not deny it and sighed helplessly:
"Yes, without your own stable, relying solely on purchased horses is like floating on the ground without roots, controlled by others. If they say they will not sell you when they want, then they will not sell you. It is safer to control your own destiny!"

"Over the past few months, I have been preparing to set up a horse farm, and have also found some excellent studs, but unfortunately I am not very satisfied with any of them! With only the current studs, the best they can produce are pack horses, which are far from meeting the requirements of war horses..."

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng thought of the horse Black Cloud that he had just obtained, and he felt very regretful. Although Black Cloud was handsome and looked like a king among the horses, it was a pity that Black Cloud was castrated, otherwise Black Cloud would be the best choice as a stud!
After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Gu Sansi thought for a moment and said to Ye Mingsheng: "Sir, let me find a way to deal with the matter of the stud!"

"Oh? Do you have any ideas?" Seeing Gu Sansi taking charge of the matter, Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised.

If war horses are the lifeblood of nomadic people, then this excellent breeding stock is the lifeblood of their lives.

If the price is right, the Khitans may sell you war horses, but even if you offer a sky-high price, the Khitans will not sell their stud horses to you. If not, Ye Mingsheng would not have such a headache, as he would have found some purebred horses that satisfied him long ago.

"There is no specific solution yet, but we should give it a try!" Gu San thought for a moment and explained:

Ye Mingsheng didn't take it too seriously and just said, "Just do your best, don't force yourself!"

After finishing the inspection of this batch of Khitan horses, Ye Mingsheng asked Gu Sansi to hand over these one thousand Khitan horses to the one who was about to go to Xiangshuiyuan to replace Guo Zhiping.

After returning to the general's mansion in Fengzhou overnight, Ye Mingsheng met with Guo Zhiping, listened to Guo Zhiping's report on the current situation of the cavalry battalion, and learned about some practical difficulties encountered in the cavalry battalion's future development and operations.

With Ye Mingsheng's full support, Guo Zhiping's cavalry battalion had no shortage of personnel, weapons, and funds. With these one thousand Khitan horses, the cavalry battalion's demand for war horses was greatly alleviated.

The only thing the cavalry battalion lacks now is time!
Although the soldiers that Ye Mingsheng added to the cavalry battalion had high individual qualities and were the best of other troops, there were only so many war horses. In order to quickly form combat effectiveness for his cavalry troops and turn them into an invincible fist, Ye Mingsheng concentrated all his efforts on developing the cavalry battalion and highly concentrated the war horse resources in his hands and provided them to the cavalry battalion.

This leads to the fact that war horses are very rare in other troops. Without war horses, soldiers naturally cannot receive training in horsemanship and cavalry tactics.
Therefore, most of these additional soldiers are new to the cavalry and need to start with the most basic horse riding skills and then receive training in cavalry tactics.

According to Guo Zhiping, this process will last at least three to five months, which means that although Ye Mingsheng has expanded the cavalry team to the cavalry battalion, if he wants all 2,500 cavalrymen in the cavalry battalion to be put into battle, he will have to wait until at least March or April next year.

Ye Mingsheng felt a little disappointed when he realized this, but based on Guo Zhiping's explanation, he also understood that this was an inevitable process that could not be avoided.

After thinking it over in his mind, Ye Mingsheng asked Guo Zhiping, who was looking respectful in front of him, "If a war breaks out within three months, how many people in the cavalry battalion can be deployed to fight?"

"Marshal, if you're asking how many people are needed, all members of our cavalry battalion can participate, but if it's cavalry, it should be around 1,500!"

Although 1,500 people were 40% short of the 2,500 people Ye Mingsheng had expected, looking at Guo Zhiping's embarrassed expression, Ye Mingsheng understood that this should be the limit. Even if he forced Guo Zhiping, he probably wouldn't be able to get more, so he could only nod reluctantly.

After finishing his business, Ye Mingsheng emphasized to Guo Zhiping once again his trust in him and told him not to have any psychological burden, as he was his strongest backing...

Guo Zhiping was moved by Ye Mingsheng's encouragement and was very understanding. He asked Ye Mingsheng for a large house in Fengzhou City, saying that he wanted to move his father, wife, children and relatives to Fengzhou.

Although Ye Mingsheng believed that Guo Zhiping was loyal to him, after all, apart from him, Ye, no one in the whole of Liaoyang would give him such great power and resources to let him freely display his talents as a bandit who surrendered!
But if these "hostages" are here, Ye Mingsheng will naturally be able to rest easier, right?

Although he was somewhat tempted by Guo Zhiping's proposal, Ye Mingsheng naturally could not show it too obviously. He could not immediately agree to it as soon as someone asked him to, so after hypocritically rejecting Guo Zhiping's proposal twice.

Ye Mingsheng pretended to be reluctant and agreed to Guo Zhiping's request, and said that he would definitely properly settle Guo Zhiping's family so that Guo Zhiping would not have to worry about anything.

Guo Zhiping was very grateful for Ye Mingsheng's arrangement. He thanked Ye Mingsheng for his grace. He let Guo Zhiping stay in the general's mansion. After having a home-cooked meal, Ye Mingsheng sent him away.

After solving Guo Zhiping's problem, although it was still early, Ye Mingsheng, who had been busy as a dog during this period, decided to take a break and give himself a short half-day vacation. He slipped out of the general's mansion and went to a teahouse on the street to drink tea, listen to crosstalk, storytelling, watch a drama, and relax.

In this era without mobile phones, televisions, and the Internet, storytelling, crosstalk, drama, etc. were already the best entertainment facilities for the working people of that era. Although it cannot be compared with the flourishing of various arts in later generations, Ye Mingsheng found it quite interesting after experiencing it personally.

Especially in a teahouse that is bustling with people, in a secluded location, ordering a pot of tea, and some fine pastries, while drinking tea and eating pastries, listening to the storyteller in the teahouse talking about everything under the sun and commenting on the past and present, it can be said that it is a unique experience, and one can truly feel the strong atmosphere of fireworks that makes people feel very comfortable.

In addition to teahouses, restaurants and entertainment venues, Fengzhou of course also has brothels, such places of entertainment where people can have fun and vent their desires.

But Ye Mingsheng was a bit of a mysophobe. Compared to prostitutes, he preferred decent women. Plus, he was afraid of getting infected with some unclean diseases. So Ye Mingsheng still declined visits to places of prostitution...
(End of this chapter)