Chapter 246 Xuan Liang Sells Horses
In the West Camp of Mount Li, Yan Xing, Lu Chang and other captured and surrendered soldiers returned one after another.

They thought they would experience a bloody battle, but in the end, their temporarily mobilized army was monitored by Wen Pin's troops during its march and stationing.

Later, Wen Pin led his troops back to Jingzhou, and they were supervised by the Guanzhong soldiers again.

Although they participated in the house-raiding operation in Taiyuan, they gained very little and only a few dozen people were freed.

Lu Chang and the surrendered soldiers from Jingzhou are processing wood. Lu Chang is currently supervising various tasks and does not do physical labor.

From time to time, he glanced at the wooden house in the distance. Inside the wooden house, Xuan Liang was demonstrating the boat mold with a group of shipbuilders.

Xuan Liang was holding a large flat-bottomed boat in his hand and frowning as he thought. He knew how to fight naval battles and knew what kind of boat to use in what environment.

But that was only in the south, not Guanzhong.

The requirements for boats in the Yellow River basin are not high, but the conditions of the Wei River and Fen River are different. It is somewhat difficult to build a ship type suitable for navigation on both rivers.

Only a small number of shipbuilding craftsmen from Jingzhou came, but Black Bear sent many ship models.

Xuan Liang was not clear about the water conditions of the Wei and Fen rivers, nor did he know the changes in wind direction with the four seasons; but there was one thing he could roughly determine, that is, the sails on the Wei and Fen rivers could only play an auxiliary role.

The Wei River is silted up, so flat-bottomed boats can navigate easily; the Fen River is turbulent and fast-moving, so large flat-bottomed boats are not stable.

Among the ship models sent by Black Bear, there are also new types of vehicles and ships.

An old craftsman was quite fond of the new boat and said, "Captain, it will take some time for the wood from Guanzhong to dry in the shade. Next spring and summer will be a good time to build a boat."

The old craftsman put the boats on the table and said, "We might as well build more small boats this year. This will help meet the public's needs and can also be sold to the people and the government. The carpenters selected from Guanzhong will also be skilled and will be helpful in building large ships next year. We will build all the boat models sent by the Duke of Zhenbei. Although there is a shortage of wood, we can still travel back and forth between the Wei River and the Fen River."

Xuan Liang nodded: "Okay, Commander Qu also said that this is just a ship model, it reflects his ideas and thoughts. He doesn't know how to build a ship, you can improve it when you build the ship, and it won't be a problem to build more experimental ship models."

The old craftsman picked up the boat again and said, "Other boats are easy to deal with. Once we build one, we can figure out the process and materials. We need to build more of this kind of boat. Please ask the commander to explain it to Lord Zhenbei."

"can."

Xuan Liang was also very interested in vehicles and ships. It would have been a very interesting thing if he had had a vehicle and ship when he followed General Qu to negotiate the Central Plains.

Now he misses the experiences and life when the fleet traveled around the Central Plains, went to Hebei, and broke through the Jianghuai area.

Guanzhong lacked the technical accumulation related to shipbuilding, so this group of craftsmen came with the assistance of Liu Qi.

However, the scale of the aid was limited, because the official and large-scale controlled shipbuilding forces in Jingzhou had been building huge ships that could accommodate thousands of people for Huang Zu since last year; Liu Qi also wanted to expand the Fu Bo navy, so it was difficult for Jingzhou's shipbuilding craftsmen to be idle.

After Xuan Liang discussed and negotiated the shipbuilding plan with these new craftsmen, he personally took them to the barracks.

Unlike the densely packed and dark prisoner and surrendered soldier camps, the craftsmen's camp was a two-story quadrangular earthen building built with planks.

When Xuanliang finished his work and returned to his office, he saw a clerk holding a business card and handing it to him: "Captain, this man said he is an old friend of yours."

"Old man?"

Xuan Liang felt something was wrong, so he picked up the business card, glanced at it, and asked, "Are there any letters?"

The clerk immediately handed it over and whispered, "It's a merchant from Changsha County."

Xuan Liang read the letter on paper, his face gloomy: "Go and bring him here."

"Yes."

After the official left, Xuan Liang looked at the guards on duty at the door and said, "If I take the cup, you two must not hesitate and kill the person immediately."

"Here!"

The two guards agreed without hesitation and stood guard on both sides of the wooden door.

Xuan Liang entered the wooden house, put the various ship models on the table into a wooden box, and sat in front of the charcoal brazier waiting.

Soon, the official led the two men to the wooden house.

This was a master and servant. The merchant took the gift box from the servant and entered the wooden house, smiling: "Mr. Gong, do you recognize my old friend?"

Xuan Liang's eyes fell on the other person's face: "How do you know I'm here?"

The merchant handed the gift box to his clerk. When the clerk saw Xuan Liang nod, he stepped back and left the wooden house with the gift box.

The businessman shook his sleeves, sat on the stool next to Xuan Liang, and stopped smiling: "I heard a little bit about it."

Xuan Liang looked him up and down and said, "Su Fang, why don't you serve Lord Xu?"

"Lord Xu heard that Hei Zhenbei had captured a lot of cattle and horses in his great victory over the Xiongnu, so he wants to buy 300 good horses."

Su Fang took out a stack of papers from his bosom and handed them over, saying in distress: "There are many horses among the people in Guanzhong, but the height of the horses is less than five feet and five inches. What use are these inferior horses to you, Your Excellency?"

During the Western Han Dynasty, there were restrictions on the height of horses leaving the country, and the limit was five feet and nine inches; when the horses seized from the Xiongnu were distributed this time, inferior horses were given priority.

Five feet five feet is a benchmark. Only those who are taller than this and shorter than six feet will be assigned to various places to serve as public horses.

Jiangdong is not so short of horses, but what it lacks are tall and strong horses and war horses.

Xuan Liang flipped open the handwritten letter Xu Kun had written to him, and then looked at Su Fang who was looking expectant: "Don't you know that Liu Fubo and Hei Zhenbei are allies?"

"Lord Xu can offer a high price!"

Su Fang pointed to the south and said, "We can transport rice from the Xiang River to Nanxiang. Hei Zhenbei will give us horses, and we will provide Xiang rice to Hei Zhenbei." After a pause, Su Fang said, "I also heard that you are responsible for supervising the construction of boats. As far as I know, many boat builders in Jingzhou are actually idle and have nothing to do. If you can introduce me to Hei Zhenbei, I will send you 20 boat builders."

The people of Jingzhou intend to control the outflow of shipbuilding power... Xuan Liang can fully understand this. Even if Su Fang is lying, he believes that this is a possibility.

Xuan Liang thought: "You should know that good horses are very valuable nowadays. Liu Yuzhou and Liu Fubo each have strong cavalry under their command. If Sun Kuaiji wants to compete with them, he will have to pay a lot of money."

Su Fang smiled indifferently: "Sun Huiji and Lord Xu are worried about this, so they asked me to buy horses. If I can trade Hunan rice for good horses, it won't be a big deal if I use up all the Hunan rice."

"It's not for me to decide whether a horse is good enough to be over six feet tall."

Xuan Liang pondered: "I still have more than 500 horses of 5 feet 8 inches and 9 inches. How much Hunan rice are you willing to exchange for them?"

"Two hundred koku?"

"Give me five hundred shi. If I can accomplish this, I will look good and can also ask for credit from Commander Qu."

Xuan Liang folded Xu Kun's letter and put it away, then continued, "I have 537 horses, which is equivalent to 500. You give me 250,000 dan of Hunan rice, and you transport the rice to Nanxiang. I will be responsible for transporting the horses to Xiakou in Jiangxia. I guarantee that at least 500 horses will be alive when they arrive at Xiakou."

Su Fang nodded, "It's still not enough. In addition to the 250,000 dan of Hunan rice, I can also dispatch about 700,000 dan of rice. Before I came, Xu Junhou and Zhou Gongjin determined that Guanzhong was short of food. They wanted to use one million dan of rice to exchange for 3,000 horses; at least 2,500 horses are needed."

Su Fang was also nearly 40 years old. He looked at Xuan Liang and said, "Everyone knows that Sun Kuaiji wants to attack Jiangxia, but Liu Yuzhou has only 5,000 cavalrymen and Liu Fubo has only 3,000 cavalrymen. This battle will be difficult to fight."

Xuan Liang just smiled after hearing this, he knew what Su Fang meant.

The purpose of attacking Huang Zu of Jiangxia was revenge on one hand, but the main purpose was to establish prestige.

If Sun Quan wanted to stimulate the fighting enthusiasm of the generals and soldiers in Jiangdong, he had to show a generous attitude of rewarding them.

If you want to get a generous reward, you must conquer Jiangxia City and then capture a few more cities.

Ordinary townships and villages could hardly satisfy the appetite of the Jiangdong Army.

The prerequisite for landing and plundering is to defeat the Jiangxia navy.

This problem did not exist before, because the Jiangxia navy was severely damaged by Sun Ce and Huang Zu's navy was still being rebuilt.

Considering the morale of the Jiangdong army, it would not be a problem to defeat the Jiangxia navy again.

But the problem is, Liu Bei and Liu Qi obtained 8,000 cavalry in total... This number is an overwhelming advantage for the Jiangdong army.

Even if they break through and annihilate the Jiangxia navy, what is the use?

Do they dare to divide their forces to raid Jiangxia? Do they dare to fight another field battle?
If they cannot gain the confidence to counterattack and fight against the cavalry... considering the style of the Jiangdong Army, since it is destined to be difficult to rob, there is no need to risk their lives, and a strong attack on the Jiangxia Navy will become meaningless.

The Soviet side was aware of these problems, and he did not expect to fool Xuan Liang.

Seeing that the other party could dispatch a million dan of rice, Xuan Liang was a little puzzled: "Are the people of Changsha willing to provide rice?"

"Lord Xu is willing to spend money. Our navy can go in and out of Dongting Lake just like going home. Changsha people dare not refuse to sell."

Su Fang looked at Xuan Liang and said, "I will try my best to collect more rice. I hope you can help me too. Give me 2,500 horses on the books. I can get 2,300 or 2,200 horses if I am still alive."

Seeing Xuan Liang in deep thought, Su Fang said, "If it is really difficult, the height of the horse can be lower, but not lower than 5 feet 5 inches. If it is lower than this, I will not be able to explain to Xu Junhou and Zhou Gongjin."

"I will give you three thousand three hundred horses, the height of which is from five feet seven inches to nine inches."

Xuan Liang stared at Su Fang and said, "Give me two million shi of rice. I don't care how much you can earn, and I don't want to know how much Xu Junhou spent. Give me two million shi of rice, so that I can gain merit from General Qu. If someone retaliates against you, you can come to Guanzhong. With me here, you can choose an official position of six hundred shi or one thousand shi."

Seeing Su Fang silent, Xuan Liang continued, "My family's general Qu once said to Lord Xu that when Sun Kuaiji conquered Jiangxia and won, that was when Lord Xu died. Qu had no grudges against Lord Xu, so how could he curse him for no reason? Please think about it carefully. If you agree, I will ask Qu to write a letter."

If the Soviets wanted to transfer rice from the rear to Nanxiang, they had to obtain a heavyweight token.

Seeing Su Fang's intention, Xuan Liang said: "For every 100,000 dan of rice transported, you transport 165 horses, 15 of which are lost."

Su Fang shook his head, "No, the agreement has been reached, so what use am I? The payment will be made in three installments. First, I will give you 700,000 dan of rice, and you will give me 1,000 horses. Then I will give you 700,000 dan of rice, and you will give me 1,000 horses. Finally, I will give you 800,000 dan of rice, and you will give me 1,300 horses."

Su Fang's voice was a little hoarse: "In the end, you and I will negotiate in person. If I don't come, for the sake of these 800,000 shi of rice, you can take care of my family for me."

"can."

Xuan Liang agreed and looked outside the door: "Who is coming with you?"

"We shouldn't move Zhou Gongjin's people lightly. What he lacks is horses, and it's not him or Sun Huiji who will pay for the rice."

Su Fang was from Changsha, so he continued, "I've also heard that Hei Zhenbei wanted to spend 50,000 gold to buy rice. The people of Jingxiang were worried that Hei Zhenbei would become too powerful, so they joined forces to push up the price of rice. Even if I don't tell you about this, you can find out. So selling horses to Xu Junhou is just a matter of each family getting what they need."

Xuan Liang nodded slowly and lowered his voice: "Lord Xu has obtained so many horses, but are you going to go north to serve the court?"

Both of them followed Xu Kun and were aware that Xu Kun's position was somewhat awkward.

In his early years, the eldest nephew Xu Kun and the eldest nephew Sun Ben were Sun Jian's right-hand men. The experiences of the two brothers Sun Ben in recent years have been a bit of a tragedy for Xu Kun's family.

Su Fang shook his head and replied in a low voice: "I heard that Sun Huiji intends to marry the princess's daughter as a concubine."

A cousin marries his cousin's daughter to strengthen their relationship.

Xuan Liang smiled after hearing this: "Things have come to this point. It seems that Sun Huiji has no other options. What does Lord Xu think?"

"I don't know."

(End of this chapter)