Chapter 68

This cannot be said.

Therefore, Wang Ju vaguely mentioned the general trend.

"Since you have become a disciple of Zhang Zai, you must have heard about the matter of Xue Xiang overseeing the horse administration, right?" Cheng Kan sighed slightly. At the time, he had warned Zhang Zai, but Zhang Zai was an honest man and had no idea about the cunning of this young man, who soon became his treasure.

Wang Ju nodded.

"Ouyang Gong intends to set up horse stables in Lansi and Erzhou, but horses have their own soil preferences and cannot be raised in Hedong. Therefore, this official plans to buy horse societies in Xixia to purchase horses, and also in Hedong to buy horses from the Khitans. This way, the stables in the two states will have horses to raise."

Wang Ju also knew some of this history.

Fan Xiang died, and Xue Xiang replaced him as the Transport Commissioner of Shaanxi, a very capable financial official, ranking among the top ten in the Song Dynasty.

The transport commissioner of Shaanxi was responsible for military expenses, salt, and horses.

The Song Dynasty established many stables in Hedong, Hebei, Kaifeng, and Shaanxi, specifically for raising horses. The largest stable in Shaanxi was in Shayuan, between the Wei River and the Beiluo River, in the Tongzhou area north of Huazhou. It covered a large area, eighty miles east to west and thirty miles north to south. This place was once an important horse-raising area during the Han and Tang dynasties.

The idea was good, but times and conditions had changed. For example, Dafeichuan, which was once a marshy and excellent pasture, had now become a degraded environment with frequent droughts and floods.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty lacked horses, so the sources of horses were diverse, including horses from Sichuan, Xixia, Khitans, Tubo, Uyghurs, and even Dali and Guangnan. These horses came from all over, and it was difficult to raise them all in Shayuan.

Corrupt officials or those who were inactive, even those who withheld feed, deliberately let the horses die to profit from dead horses, as horse meat, hides, tails, and manes could all be sold for money.

Large landowners also continuously encroached on the pastures, reducing the area of the stables.

Therefore, when Xue Xiang went to investigate, he was shocked and immediately submitted a report. Raising horses in Shayuan occupied a thousand acres of land and cost forty million coins annually, but only produced three hundred foals. Using such a large area of land, it cost more than a hundred strings of coins to get one foal.

The court was shaken by the report, and Xue Xiang submitted a plan. Instead of letting large landowners encroach on the land, it would be better to rent the idle land to the people, allowing the government to collect some rent. He also suggested that merchants from Qin Prefecture come to the capital, providing them with travel expenses and capital, then buy horses at the border, and set up horse markets in Weizhou and Deshun Army, giving them salt vouchers.

This plan had several benefits. The actual cost to the court would not be high, as merchants seeking profit would have to transport the salt to various places in Shaanxi, expanding the market for salt and countering the impact of Xixia's blue salt. The court was not short of salt but needed a way to sell it, so it could obtain a large number of warhorses at a low cost.

Secondly, the horses from the Western Rong would not suffer from soil incompatibility, reducing the death rate of warhorses. Thirdly, there were many wastelands in Qin and Wei, which could be developed into pastures without encroaching on good farmland.

This was a good suggestion, so Emperor Zhenzong issued an edict, appointing Xue Xiang to oversee the horse stables and horse purchases in the region, and to set up horse markets in Yuanzhou, Weizhou, and Deshun Army. The officials in Tongzhou and Fengxiang Prefecture were also ordered to recommend suitable candidates.

Xue Xiang submitted another report. Originally, there were nine horse markets in the northwest, but Emperor Zhenzong said that although buying horses from the barbarians brought horses, it also brought the barbarians, who could spy on the enemy, so only one market in Qin Prefecture remained, mostly operated by Han merchants. The court spent about fifty to sixty thousand coins for each horse from them, but these merchants, to profit, sold weak and sick horses to the government, which were only about four feet two inches tall. Therefore, he requested that the court allow the use of salt vouchers to recruit barbarian merchants to obtain better horses.

The court again approved.

So, Wang Anshi and Cai Jing were harsh on merchants, as they sometimes acted unethically, such as adulterating military rations with sand and mud.

It was originally a good thing.

But there were too many people involved. At that time, Ouyang Xiu was transferred from the Kaifeng Prefect to the Chief of the Horse Stables. When he discovered the problem, he felt ashamed and submitted a report. During the Tang Dynasty, the horse pastures extended from Longyou, Jincheng, Pingliang, and Tianshui to the river bends, and internally to Qi, You, Jing, and Ning, and east to Yinchuan and Xia, and further east to Loufan. Now, these areas were lost to the barbarians and could not be recovered. Only in Hedong, between Lansi and Shizhou, were there many wastelands, and the grasslands along the Fen River were extensive, suitable for raising horses. This was the old land of the Tang Loufan stables. Based on this, the old lands of Loufan, Yuanchi, and Tianchi could still be obtained. He had previously traveled east of Weisheng and to Liaozhou and Pingding Army, where the land was mostly idle and open. The land in Hedong was excellent for water and grass, and the climate was cold, suitable for horses. In Jingxi, between Tang and Ru, there were also many wastelands. He requested that the Hedong and Jingxi transport commissioners send officials to assess the land, and if it was suitable for stables, the stables in Hebei could be abolished.

Ouyang Xiu's suggestion was better, though it was a bit like hindsight.

But another person, Song Qi, was amusing.

He had previously served as the Chief of the Horse Stables, and when Xue Xiang exposed the problem, he also felt ashamed and wrote a report.

"I previously served as the Chief of the Horse Stables and said that if the stables bought fifty to sixty thousand mares, they could produce fifty to sixty thousand foals a year, and within five years, they could produce 250,000 foals. Even if 20% died, 200,000 foals would remain, and half of them could be used as warhorses, totaling 100,000. This would allow us to compete with the barbarians."

It seemed he was not raising horses but breeding sows, and even sows might not have such a high reproduction rate...

However, Wang Ju did not fully agree with Xue Xiang's suggestion.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Sir Cheng, in my opinion, Mr. Xue's actions may not be appropriate."

"Oh?"

"Sir Cheng, Mr. Xue is still raising horses, but what is the goal of raising horses? It is to build a powerful cavalry. The reason horses are not well-raised is that corrupt merchants and officials collude to sell inferior horses to the court. Officials embezzle funds, leading to the poor raising of horses and even their death. Moreover, a large amount of good farmland is occupied. Even if moved to Weizhou, these problems will not change. It would be better to directly hand these horses over to the army."

"The court will always lack horses."

"Our dynasty has lost Lingzhou, the Hetao region, and the Hehuang area, which has already determined our lack of horses," Wang Ju said decisively.

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, even if the Hehuang area was occupied, a powerful cavalry was never truly organized. The horse administration had lost its focus.

"Ouyang Gong's suggestion is similar. If the court is serious about raising horses in Hedong, it would be better to let the people raise them for profit. This would save the court a lot of redundant expenses, and the people, seeking profit, would try to raise good horses."

Wang Ju thought Cheng Kan had set up the horse society to cooperate with Ouyang Xiu and left.

Watching Wang Ju leave, Lady Cheng said, "Sir, why didn't you tell the truth? This young man is clever and might come up with better ideas."

"What does he know?" Cheng Kan said.

"But his two points made you think deeply."

Cheng Kan opened his mouth but had no words to respond.

The horse society was part of Cheng Kan's grand plan.

Xixia was not small, but it was poor, mostly desert and steppe. Therefore, many goods such as cloth, tea, copper, iron, and even grain had to be supplied by the Song Dynasty. Once the supply was cut off, a crisis would immediately arise. For example, during the Qingli War between the Song and Xixia, coarse silk that was worth one string of coins in the Song Dynasty rose to over eight strings in Xixia.

After Muzang Epeng encroached on the Quye River, the Song Dynasty cut off the market, and especially after Xue Xiang took charge of the transport affairs in Shaanxi, the circulation of blue salt was also blocked, causing prices in Xixia to rise again.

The people of Xixia suffered, and the people of Hengshan suffered even more.

There was a historical event. Li Jiqian gained power with the support of some tribes in the Yinchuan and Xia regions, including the Yeli tribe, which supported Li Jiqian and married their daughter to him. When the Song army arrived, they fled south into the desert, retreated, and then returned, dragging the Song army into a stalemate, eventually forcing the Song army to recognize his control over the Yinchuan and Xia regions.

These Qiang people were the Hengshan Qiang.

But after Yeli Yuzi was killed, the Hengshan Qiang's status in Xixia declined.

Disappointed and impoverished, many Hengshan Qiang became dissatisfied with Xixia.

Therefore, a Hengshan leader, Qingni Huace, wrote a secret letter to Cheng Kan, expressing his willingness to lead his tribe and even some other tribes to join the Song Dynasty and cooperate with the Song army to take Lingxia, establishing a great and lasting foundation.

Cheng Kan was delighted upon receiving the letter. Even a fool knew that if handled properly, this would be a great opportunity for achievement.

Zhu Huan's horse buying also gave Cheng Kan an idea.

Hengshan was poor, lacking clothes and food. Using some grain, he could entice the Hengshan tribes to sell their private horses to the Song Dynasty.

But if the Song Dynasty continued to prohibit trade, what would be the reaction in Xixia?

If Xixia banned it, more tribes would become dissatisfied.

A great opportunity!

But Cheng Kan now faced three choices.

The first choice was to support Qingni Huace with supplies and weapons, allowing him to attack Lingxia. This would not be a real attack, but it would cause significant damage to Xixia and increase the division among the Hengshan tribes.

The second choice was to shelter Qingni Huace, allowing him to lead his tribes to the Song Dynasty. This was easy, as they were near the border. If possible, Qingni Huace could bring tens of thousands of people to the Song Dynasty. The Hengshan Qiang were powerful, and if they all fled to the Song Dynasty, there would be no more Hengshan Qiang. Even the remaining Qiang people would be more closely watched by Xixia, creating more opportunities for manipulation.

The third choice was a radical idea. Cooperating with Qingni Huace, he would decisively attack Hengshan. It would be impossible to occupy the entire Hengshan, but occupying a third of it would create a strategic advantage, severely threatening Lingxia. How much initiative would the Song Dynasty gain then?

The opportunity had come, but Cheng Kan was at a loss.

In fact, the greatest opportunity had been missed.

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