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In Xiakou, as the New Year approaches, the construction of the city was suspended. The villagers got a few dou of rice and returned home to prepare for the New Year.

After two months of building the city, the outline of the new city has appeared. The city is more than twenty miles in circumference. The city wall has been repaired one meter high and covered by heavy snow. It is like a giant snake with a white back. It stretches into the gray twilight smoke far away. The bumpy ground is filled with snow and turns into a white flat ground.

In the distance, Huanghu Mountain was also covered with thick snow, as if it was covered with white clothes, and the branches turned into bloated silver bars.

The dock was extremely lively. Some of the ships on the dock had been removed, and a wide pier was empty, enough for Qianshijiang boats to dock. More than a thousand soldiers had put the entire pier in martial law and no idlers were allowed to approach. Dozens of Tao guys stood in front of the remaining carriages, looking anxiously at the river, as if waiting for something.

Liu Jing, Liu Hu, Wei Yan, Gan Ning, Liao Hua and other groups of senior military officials gathered in a pavilion on the dock. Everyone's eyes were shining and full of expectations.

Liu Jing had a calm expression and was waiting patiently for the arrival of the Tao fleet. He was actually a little worried, worried that the Tao fleet would be intercepted by the Jingzhou navy halfway because the large ship was transporting its important strategic materials.

On the side, Tao Zheng was very excited, but he was even more worried. After all, this was the farthest business trip for the Tao family in decades, and it cost a lot. It was a special dowry from his sister Tao Zhan. If something unexpected happened, it would be the heaviest blow to the Tao family's reputation.

The entire dock was quiet, and everyone was looking forward to the arrival of the fleet. At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "It's coming."

Then many people shouted, "Come here."

Liu Jing also saw that under the sunset, a fleet of many large ships was sailing towards the dock. Liu Jing immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Well, fortunately, it was not intercepted by the Jingzhou navy, otherwise the Jingzhou civil war would really break out.

Tao Zheng ran to the dock excitedly and shouted loudly: "Prepare to pick up the boat."

Dozens of Tao guys ran up. As the first big ship slowly landed on the dock, the boat boards boarded on the dock. The dock was cheering. Liu Jing couldn't help but walk in front of the big ship quickly. Liu Hu and Gan Ning had already run on the big ship first, and they were even more impatient.

A group of war horses were led out and walked off the big ship dashed. Liu Jing's eyes lit up. Jiangxia also had many horses, most of which were horses and ordinary animal powers, while the horses in front of him were completely different. This was a real war horse, from the Hexi Corridor.

Even the war horses in Liu Biao's army were obviously much inferior, which made Liu Jing think of the Xiahou Yuan cavalry he saw in Runan. The momentum of running like a mountain can only be achieved by this kind of war horse.

He slowly walked to the group of war horses and gently stroked each war horse, as if he was stroking the most beautiful women. They were tall and strong, with well-proportioned limbs, and their fur was shiny, shining under the sunset, their long tails were flying in the wind, and their high horse necks were covered with brushed manes, all of which were young war horses.

The big ships docked one by one, and groups of war horses walked out of the boat, and soon filled the dock. The war horses were all covered with horse bridles, most of whom were docile and obviously had good training.

More than a thousand soldiers waiting on the dock rushed forward, each leading a horse, and their expression seemed to welcome the arrival of their wives, and they loved the war horse in front of them.

The Tao family bought these more than a thousand war horses from Liangzhou at a high price, walked from Sichuan Long Road to Hanzhong, from Hanzhong to Shangyong, and then to Nanyang. After a lot of hard work, they arrived at the Tao family's manor in Bishui one by one, and finally shipped from Bishui to Xiakou. There were as many as fifty grooms alone who were responsible for taking care of the horses.

The amount of expenses and bribes alone was as high as more than 1,000 kilograms of gold. The bribes to Yang Song, the number one counselor under Zhang Lu, Hanzhong, alone reached five kilograms of gold, and he was able to successfully pass through the entire Hanzhong area.

This is also the largest business the Tao family has done in the past two years. As Tao Zhan’s special dowry, according to Kuai Liang, this will indeed become a major event that has caused a sensation in the world. I wonder how many officials along the way will be severely punished by Cao Cao for this incident.

At this time, Liu Hu led an extremely majestic black war horse forward and said with a smile: "Shou, I want this war horse, it likes me."

Seeing that he was so excited that he was like a child, Liu Jing shook his head, stepped forward and patted the war horse and said with a smile: "Although such a horse is good, you are a general. What should you do with a war horse? It's better to give it to others."

Unexpectedly, the war horse seemed to understand Liu Jing's words, and with a long neigh, his two front hooves raised high, and everyone next to him hurriedly dodged away.

Liu Hu hugged the war horse's neck and coaxed and patted it. Soon, the war horse calmed down and arched Liu Hu's big face with his mouth, obediently following him.

"See not"

Liu Hu said with a grievance: "He is my brother, can I give it to others?"

Everyone around couldn't help laughing, only Liu Jing was his brother.

Liu Jing was just joking with him. If he really didn't give him a war horse, he wouldn't have let him come with him. Seeing Liu Hu's aggrieved look, he smiled and said, "Then take your brother and don't let it get angry anymore."

Liu Hu was overjoyed and walked towards the open space. Although the horse harness was not fully equipped, he was impatient to try the horse.

At this time, Liu Jing heard someone calling him in the distance. When he turned around, he saw Tao Li and a man walking towards him quickly. Seeing the man, he looked tall, with thick eyebrows and deep eyes, high cheekbones, and a big beard under his jaw. He was obviously not a Han person, but rather like a Hu from the Western Regions.

Liu Jing came forward and bowed, "Thank you for your hard work this time."

This horse trading was completely planned by Taoli, including transporting from Bishui to Jiangxia, which was also personally led by Taoli. It can be said that he worked hard. Although Taoli was also an experienced businessman, this time, he also felt extremely difficult and dangerous.

It is precisely because Liu Jing was full of gratitude to him and his etiquette was particularly comprehensive. Tao Li also loved his niece, and he smiled at Liu Jing and said, "In fact, I feel very accomplished when I can complete the task successfully. Moreover, this time the Tao family has opened up a new business road. In the future, we will be able to transport many goods from the Western Regions to Jingzhou smoothly."

He pulled the Hu people behind him up to introduce to Liu Jing: "This is the chief of Qiang Zhi in Ganzhou, named A. This batch of war horses are sold by his father. This time he came to Jingzhou specially to buy some goods from Jingzhou back."

He also introduced Liu Jing to the chieftain Zhia, "This is Liu Shou of Jiangxia and the nephew of the Muslim in Jingzhou."

A Quan's name is Nangong. After hearing Tao Li's introduction to Liu Jing, he knew that he was good at fighting and was a brave general. When he saw Liu Jing's tall and mighty appearance, he quickly knelt down and bowed, "Nangong pays homage to Liu Shou"

He can speak fluent Chinese, and although he looks older, he is as if he is about ten years old. He can speak with a clear voice when he opens his mouth, and obviously he is in his early twenties.

Liu Jing hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Young Chief, please come up, there is no need to be too polite."

Nangong stood up, turned around and waved his hand, "Take it up"

Several of his Qiang followers led a white horse, tall, strong and balanced limbs, snow-white all over, without a single hair, and a circle of white hair around each of the four hooves. Anyone who can tell a horse could see that this was a rare horse.

Nangong patted the war horse and smiled and said, "This war horse is called Feiying. It is a Dayuan horse in the Western Regions. It is also quite famous in Xiliang. Today, when we first met, this war horse was dedicated to guarding."

Liu Jing walked forward and held the war horse, reached out and pressed it hard on the horse's back. When he pressed it, he didn't say a thousand pounds, but four pounds had the force, but the war horse did not move at all.

"Good horse"

Liu Jing couldn't help but exclaim. Although the horse's appearance was good, he valued the ability to bear weight more. With their weight, weapons and other debris, it would be at least pounds, so the requirements for war horses are very high, and ordinary horses cannot afford it.

Liu Jing turned around and ordered his personal soldiers: "Get a saber to kill the horse."

The personal soldiers quickly took out a sabre, which was fully equipped with heavy armored infantry, which was a unique weapon in Jingzhou.

Liu Jing handed the saber to Nangong Xiao and said, "Thank you for the great gift from the young chief. I can't give it back. This saber to express my feelings."

Nangong had never seen such a long sword, one twelve feet long, with a short handle and a long blade, which was extremely strong. He waved it lightly twice, and couldn't put it down and said happily: "Good weapons, thank you for your gift."

Seeing that it was getting late, Liu Jing smiled at the soldiers and said, "Take the war horses back to the camp, feed them well, and return to Wuchang early tomorrow morning."

The soldiers were extremely happy and led the war horses toward the camp.

.........

At night, Liu Jing came to the horse camp. This was a tent specially built for war horses. There were more than one roof in total, and more than a thousand war horses were placed in these tents.

The war horse was very quiet. The groom poured buckets of freshly steamed black beans into the feeding trough from time to time, and the next sink was filled with clear water.

Most horses in Jingzhou are fed with wheat straw, but this batch of military horses have high requirements. Ordinary wheat straw cannot raise good horses, so they must use high-quality food. If there is no grass in Jingzhou, they can only use black beans.

Therefore, raising cavalry is expensive, and on average, six families need to raise one cavalry, not to mention other military branches.

If the Tao family had not fully supported it, Jiangxia County alone would not have been able to support more than a thousand cavalry.

In the tent, Liu Jing happened to meet Tao Li, and he was also visiting the war horse with his hands behind his back.

"It's so late, won't the second uncle rest yet?"

Taoli shook his head and smiled, "I was excited, but I couldn't sleep."

"I didn't get troubled when I came here, right?" Liu Jing asked with a smile.

"There are always difficulties, but if you use money to open the way, you will be safe. More importantly, you will be divided into more than a dozen batches, but it did not attract the attention of the defenders."

Speaking of this, Taoli smiled contemptuously and said, "Actually, many people know it, but for the sake of money, they all pretend to be deaf and dumb."

"I heard that Hanzhong is the best, right?"

Taoli nodded and smiled, "We have Yang Song's token in Hanzhong. Once it goes well, all the defenders along the way think it is Yang Song's business, and no one dares to stop it."

Liu Jing nodded, remembering Taoli's words, he stepped forward to observe the group of war horses. The war horses were equipped with saddles, but they were all straight saddles, and had ropes to put their feet on, and there were small kicks to get on the horse on one side.

Although Liu Jing knew about bridge-shaped saddles and stirrups, they could not be used now. Cao's cavalry was far stronger than the south. Once it was spread, it would make Cao's army more wings.

However, you can consider using horseshoes. Liu Jing noticed that the four hooves of the war horses are wrapped in animal skins. Although this can protect the horseshoes, it is very inconvenient to walk and is easy to fall off. From the perspective of protecting the horns of the war horses, horseshoes can be used.

This batch of war horses is of great significance to Liu Jing. With this batch of war horses, he can build a powerful cavalry, which will have great advantages whether it attacks the enemy formation or raids from a long distance. It can be said that the combat effectiveness of the Jiangxia Army has leaped to a new level because of this cavalry.
Chapter completed!