After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 717 - 707: Dividing the Horses

As soon as they entered the study, Chen Wu lifted his robe and knelt down. Zhao Hanzhang, who was walking ahead, was startled and quickly turned back to support him, "Oh dear, General Chen, what are you doing?"

Chen Wu insisted on kneeling, his expression solemn, indicating that over the past year, he and the Qihu Army were conquered by Zhao Hanzhang’s charisma. He and the Qihu Army were willing to submit to Zhao Hanzhang and would only follow her orders in the future.

He hoped Zhao Hanzhang would accept him and the Qihu Army.

Zhao Hanzhang was stunned; she thought it would take another year to conquer the Qihu Army, but she didn’t expect him to suddenly propose surrendering.

Zhao Hanzhang’s heart stirred, and she immediately understood why he chose this moment.

It was for the horses that had just returned.

To be honest, she hadn’t planned to keep any horses for the Qihu Army. Naturally, such good things were kept for her own people first. Her personally led Zhao Family Army, Erlang, and Beigong Chun all needed horses. Even Zhao Ju didn’t get any this time, nor did Xun Xiu and others from the Yu State Army. Naturally, it wasn’t the turn of the Qihu Army, who were still considered semi-outsiders.

But now...

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and helped him up, accepting him, and then asked, "I remember your army doesn’t have many horses, and most are only draft horses."

Chen Wu nodded repeatedly, indicating yes, the Qihu Army had only six rideable horses, the rest were cows and draft horses, and everyone relied on their legs to fight.

They were so poor that they couldn’t afford horses; even their armor possession rate was less than thirty percent, and their weapons and equipment were the weakest among Luoyang’s armies.

But despite such circumstances, when they fought in war games using wooden spears and sticks against Zhao Erlang’s Zhao Family Army, they still managed to suppress them.

However, to save Zhao Erlang’s face, the self-described smooth Chen Wu deliberately selected soldiers with less strength and weaker physical build to fight against them, and intentionally held back, so both sides barely managed to draw.

Zhao Hanzhang naturally knew the power of the Qihu Army and didn’t believe that Zhao Erlang’s infantry could truly defeat the Qihu Army on a real battlefield.

It must be noted that after the complete fall of the Central Plains, the Qihu Army alone conducted guerrilla warfare in the north, never surrendering, and repeatedly blocking Shi Le and Liu Cong among others. After the fall of the Western Jin, the peaceful transition of power in the South for the Eastern Jin owed much to the Qihu Army.

And the Qihu Army was not limited to Chen Wu’s branch. In areas like Jizhou and Youzhou, Qihu Armies emerged from Bingzhou, gathering refugees, and fighting the barbarians with crude weapons. In later generations, the Qihu Army was acclaimed as the fiercest and strongest peasant force in history.

Chen Wu’s Qihu Army endured the longest, his struggle with Shi Le around Peng Pass lasted nearly ten years, and Shi Le never managed to conquer Peng Pass.

It was only after his death that Chen Chuan led the Qihu Army to surrender to Shi Le, but this was Chen Chuan’s personal choice, and the Qihu Army as a whole didn’t want to surrender.

With such a strong and resilient force now in Zhao Hanzhang’s hands, she naturally wanted to make them even stronger.

However, the Qihu Army’s most outstanding feature was their infantry combat, and Zhao Hanzhang didn’t intend to favor them in the allocation of horses.

When Chen Wu heard that Zhao Hanzhang only intended to allocate him twenty horses, he felt a slight disappointment. But before the disappointment could fully settle in, Zhao Hanzhang began discussing their weaponry and armor.

Chen Wu’s eyes lit up, and he looked at her excitedly.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Since it’s rare for General Chen to come, why not stay a few more days so we can together inspect the armory? Your army’s damaged weapons should also be replaced."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"I’ll have the weapons workshop start crafting some armor. Without battles during winter, it’s a good time to equip more. Who knows if the Xiongnu will invade in the coming year."

Chen Wu: "Yes, yes, yes."

Compared to horses, weapons and armor are undoubtedly more important.

Chen Wu had ambitions to form a cavalry unit. Who in the world doesn’t want an invincible cavalry?

But he also understood where the Qihu Army’s strengths lay, and for the army to survive, he had to maintain those strengths. If he could make it irreplaceable, then the army could continue for a long time.

The ferocity and death-defying spirit of the Qihu Army’s infantry were the reasons for their consistent victories. If weapons could be optimized and armor added, the Qihu Army would become even more formidable.

Think about it, if he could carve a bloody path while barefoot and in rags with a dull knife, then with shoes, armor, and sharp weapons, he would be unstoppable.

When Chen Wu followed Zhao Hanzhang out of the study, he couldn’t hide the grin on his face, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.

Seeing this, Beigong Chun’s heart sank, and he couldn’t help but glance at Xie Shi, thinking that the lord wouldn’t have given all the horses to the Qihu Army this time, would he?

That was naturally impossible.

This time, apart from the colts which won’t go on the battlefield, Beigong Chun received the most horses, followed by Zhao Hanzhang and Zhao Erlang.

Of course, she also wanted to build an invincible cavalry within the Zhao Family Army, but she knew the Xiliang Army under Beigong Chun still had the best cavalry.

So with good horses, he was given priority.

Beigong Chun left satisfied, and Chen Wu was also very content, running to catch up with Beigong Chun.

Although he temporarily abandoned the idea of forming a cavalry, the Qihu Army would certainly need one in the future, so he first wanted to establish a good relationship with Beigong Chun, whom he could consult during training.

Beigong Chun was also willing to befriend Chen Wu, and the two went shoulder to shoulder to a tavern for drinks.

Xie Shi, however, stayed behind. Once they left, he said to Zhao Hanzhang, "The lord should really have a fierce cavalry within the Zhao Family Army."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Indeed."

"Do you think that you should personally lead this cavalry, or entrust it to someone else?"

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow, asking, "What does Mr. Xie think?"

"I think the lord is busy with affairs and can’t train daily. It might be better to entrust this task to the Little General," Xie Shi suggested. "The commander of the Zhao Family Army is you, and whether it’s Zhao Ju, Qiu Wu, or the Little General, they are all your subordinate generals. It’s better to let the Little General train the cavalry."

Zhao Erlang hadn’t recognized many characters over the past two years, but his skills had improved day by day. Probably due to increased physical activity, the fifteen-year-old lad was strong and robust, with strength exceeding even some like Zeng Yue.

Even in mounted combat, he could tie with Zhao Hanzhang and go dozens of rounds under Beigong Chun.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at Ji Yuan.

Ji Yuan, after a brief thought, nodded, "That’s a good idea."

Thus, Zhao Hanzhang agreed.

Xie Shi then smoothly added, "There are still too few horses in the army. To form a cavalry, we need to buy more horses."

With that, Xie Shi looked intently at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang: ...

She rubbed her forehead and looked towards Fan Ying, "How much more money can we take out from the warehouse?"

Fan Ying said, "Mr. Ming advised us to reserve one million as a contingency fund. According to this year’s accounts submitted from various places, there is still a shortfall of eight million."

After pausing, she added, "But excluding the funds that have already been decided on, there are three million five hundred eighty thousand coins available."

It sounds like a lot, but Zhao Hanzhang, who was used to converting money into silver, thought it was only over three thousand taels of silver.

How many horses can be bought with that?

Zhao Hanzhang looked down. Theoretically, many horses could be bought at the reported unit price, but the travel costs exceeded the value of the horses.

Zhao Hanzhang tapped the table and asked, "I remember Wu Erlang mentioned yesterday that the Xianbei did not favor our new currency, preferring our barter with glass, textiles, and porcelain?"

"Yes," Ji Yuan nodded, "and also salt and iron."

Zhao Hanzhang: "Forget about salt and iron. We’re already short ourselves. There’s a strict prohibition against trading iron, copper, and salt with the barbarians."

Everyone acknowledged this.

Zhao Hanzhang continued, "We need not think about salt and iron, as we don’t have enough for ourselves. It’s strictly forbidden to trade them with others. Instead, we can allocate some money from the warehouse for transportation costs. Let’s have the workshops expedite their work, and when the Jinyang Army departs, Wu Erlang should go with them."

So, Wu Erlang would not have to go elsewhere for the time being but should focus on direct trade between Jinyang and Luoyang.

Once Wu Erlang and his team returned to Luoyang, they would swiftly depart for the next place.