Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 728: The Holy Mule and Horse Empire

TL: Rui88

Alda’s support for the royal family was upgraded, and it was not just out of retaliation against Jars.

As Hansel Abbott returned to the north by land, a fleet also sailed north from Port West, carrying various types of horses raised by the Ordo royal family.

The royal family operated several large horse farms on its directly administered lands, and the horses produced there continuously supported the royal family’s military strength.

The Northwest Bay was now facing the threat of the orc army head-on. During the last invasion, the flexible mobility of the orc cavalry had left a deep impression on Paul.

Although the Alda army, with its far superior discipline and weaponry, had managed to block the invaders outside the Northwest Bay, they were still in a passive defensive position overall.

Orc cavalry still roamed freely on the northern lands of Ordo outside the Northwest Bay, and the Alda army, lacking long-range projection capabilities, could only watch helplessly as these atrocities occurred before their eyes.

Thus, building a strong horse administration and a powerful cavalry was put on the agenda.

King Rodney XVIII strongly agreed with the Northwest Bay’s plan. When Hansel conveyed Paul’s wishes to him, the king pondered for a moment and then appointed a special person to accompany Hansel to the royal horse farms to select horses.

At first, Rodney XVIII was a little worried, not that the Northwest Bay would become too powerful and threaten him, but because he was also building a new army and needed a large number of horses himself.

However, the number mentioned by Hansel dispelled the king’s doubts. The first batch of horses the Northwest Bay wanted to buy was only about a thousand, a number that was not significant to the royal family.

He even began to worry about Paul. “A cavalry of this size cannot compete with the orcs!”

“Your Majesty, the Marquis knows you are building an army and that horses are in short supply, which is why he did not ask for a large number. The key is that this first batch of horses the Marquis wants is for breeding, not for immediate use by the cavalry.”

“Breeding?” When Rodney XVIII heard this, he became interested. “I’ve heard of it. You mean, like what farmers do when they cultivate crops?”

“Yes,” Hansel nodded. “It’s just that there is a Father Anderson in the Northwest Bay who has made some major discoveries regarding biological inheritance. Compared to the previous so-called ‘breeding,’ which was completely based on luck and was chaotic and disorganized, he has found some patterns. As long as these patterns are followed, desired plants or animals can be cultivated.”

Hansel described Father Anderson’s famous pea experiment to the king, as well as the laws of segregation and independent assortment derived from it. The pea experiment was quite famous in the Northwest Bay; at Paul’s request, the content and conclusions of this experiment were quickly added to the biology textbooks of the newly opened courses in various schools. Hansel was also very familiar with it because the agricultural sector he supervised had already begun to cultivate high-yield crops with Anderson’s help.

If it worked for plants, it would certainly work for animals.

Rodney XVIII recalled that a long time ago, he had received a letter from Paul, the contents of which seemed to be about these things. In the letter, Paul had strongly hoped that he would issue a decree banning consanguineous marriage. But at that time, he was extremely busy, so he handed over the matter of banning consanguineous marriage to his ministers.

“You mean, all kinds of beneficial… so-called ‘traits’ can be combined in the next generation through crossbreeding, so that the… what was it… genetic factors are fused?” The king was very surprised.

“Yes, Your Majesty, your understanding is very accurate. Imagine, if there was a horse that possessed the advantages of being tall, strong, obedient, and hardworking, and could also endure hunger and not be a picky eater, what a perfect horse that would be! Not even the Lord of Light created such a creature!” Hansel began to paint a grand picture for the king. “If the kingdom’s warriors could ride such horses, wouldn’t the orcs be nothing but a bunch of scarecrows for us to trample!”

The king excitedly slammed the table. “Tell that Father Anderson to do a good job. If he succeeds, I will ennoble… no, I will grant him a title of nobility!”

And so, a large number of horses were sent to the newly established horse farms in the Northwest Bay.

Previously, the Northwest Bay did not have large-scale horse farms. The horses kept in the stables of nobles and knights were all purchased from outside at great expense. After both agriculture and commerce began to flourish, the demand for animal power in the Northwest Bay skyrocketed. Merchants were not just sailing ships to do business, and the increasingly popular new types of agricultural machinery also required a large number of cattle and horses. As a result, a large number of livestock were purchased in the Northwest Bay every year, and many people with a keen eye made a fortune in this business.

However, the horses purchased privately were mostly riding horses for travel, draft horses for pulling carts, or pack horses for carrying goods. The number of true warhorses was extremely small, existing only on a small scale in the armed forces of the local lords.

Thus, the Alda Administration Council established the Department of Animal Husbandry, which specialized in horse administration, to uniformly manage the livestock resources under its jurisdiction and formulated a long-term development plan. The first phase of this plan was personally named by Paul as the “Holy Mule and Horse Empire” plan.

One of the main goals of the “Holy Mule and Horse Empire” plan was to build large horse farms and breed various types of horses, including warhorses, on a large scale to meet the growing demand for animal power in the Northwest Bay and to provide a guarantee for the construction of a large-scale cavalry force.

In addition to quantity, quality also had to be improved. The key to this was horse breed improvement under the guidance of Anderson’s laws of inheritance.

However, horse breed improvement was a long-term process that would take a considerable amount of time. Paul, who was eager to launch a cavalry offensive against the orcs, was growing impatient.

Then, something like a pie falling from the sky happened.

The “Holy Mule and Horse Empire” plan could not succeed without public participation, so it was made public. Soon after, a spellcaster from Horn Bay, through Ladi Sertia, met with Paul. He was one of the group of mages who had come to the Northwest Bay for refuge with Seviya Acitini.

Under his magical ability, Paul witnessed the entire life cycle of a blade of grass from sprouting to withering—all within six hours.

To put it simply, this mage could accelerate the growth rate of living things, or in other words, shorten their life cycle.

“Lord Grayman, I must be honest. Casting this on animals is much more troublesome than on plants, and the larger the animal, the more difficult it is, especially for something as large as a horse.”

“The success rate is also an issue. Right now, I’m only confident with grass.”

“However, if you support my research, I am fully confident that I can improve it.”

The mage was honest, proactively disclosing some of the difficulties.

“I will support your research!” Paul was exceptionally pleased.

He finally felt that taking the risk to shelter this group of spellcaster refugees had paid off.