(All rights reserved. Reproduction is prohibited!) First published in Adventurer's Paradise.ezla.com.tw)
The scorching sun hung high in the sky. At this time, even the most busy farmer would take a break to avoid the heat. However, at this time, the young man who was covering the straw was busy turning over the hot side with an iron fork in order to dry it and make it into raw material for weaving straw mats.
The young man in his twenties had a face that did not match this laborer. His eyes were bright like stars, his lips were thick and plump, and the sweat on his face made him look even more handsome. From time to time, he would pick up the towel draped around his neck to wipe his sweat. Unexpectedly, a gourd fell from the sky and smashed towards his head.
The young man was obviously quite skilled. He smiled and somersaulted forward when the gourd was about to touch his head. His right hand, which was not holding the iron fork, grabbed the gourd. Then, he turned around and saw a man with a mustache walking over with a smile.
“... Wow! It was iced plum juice, Zan! Thank you for the good stuff…Mm... Take it!" The young man pulled out the cork and took a swig, then stuffed the cork back into the gourd and threw it to the young man called Ah Zan. The clothes on Ah Zan's body were bright and beautiful. Compared to the young man, it was like heaven and earth. Looking at the accessories and the weapon at his waist, they were all expensive. At a glance, it was obvious that he was the descendant of a famous family.
"I went to your house just now. Your mother said that you were drying straw…I thought the weather was hot, so I went back and took a gourd of iced plum juice to quench your thirst.”
The young man called Xuande threw down his pitchfork and went to rest under the tree with Azan. Xuande picked up a towel to wipe his face and leaned against the tree trunk comfortably.
A warm breeze blew, and the dried leaves on the branches slowly fell. Seeing this, Ah Zan sighed and said,"I'm going back to Beiping tomorrow!”
When his good friend suddenly told him that he was leaving, Liu De asked in astonishment,""What happened? Did something happen to your family? Otherwise, why would she leave halfway through her studies?”
Without answering Xuande, Ah Zan simply continued,""Xuande, have you thought about how you want to walk your own path in the future?”
Hearing Ah Zan's question, Liu Bei replied in surprise,""Future? My own path? Ah Zan, don't joke around. I'm just a village kid who weaves straw mats when I'm idle and does odd jobs when I'm busy. It's too late to worry about my livelihood every day. How can I have time to think about my future and way out? He was lucky to be able to flip through books when he had nothing to do.”
Seeing Xuande's reaction, Ah Zan nodded and said,"“... Xuande, I know your family is not well off, but you can't stay in this small village forever. A man's ambition is to conquer the world. Now that the Yellow Turban is in chaos, it's time for you and me to make a name for ourselves. You're from the descendants of King Jing of Zhongshan in the Han Dynasty. How can you spend your life making straw mats?”
"Sigh... How could he still have the ambition to do something like work when he couldn't even eat his fill? To achieve success? How could it be done without some silver…On the other hand, Zan, you come from the Gongsun family of Beiping. The horse farm that you have run for generations has become a national family business that everyone knows about. You can take this opportunity to expand the power of your Gongsun family. If you want to rule the world, you have more hope than me!”
Gongsun Zan's eyes lit up as he replied,""Xuande! Since you can understand the current situation of the world so well…What if you're worried about your mother's life? How about this? I, Gongsun Zan, will be responsible for your mother's living expenses in the future, and you will come with me to Beiping to develop!”
"To Beiping? How many times have you mentioned it? What exactly happened?”
Gongsun Zan raised his head and drank the sour plum soup in one gulp. He answered seriously,""Do you know about the Yellow Turban thieves?"
"This is no longer news. Of course I know. However…What does this have to do with Zan asking me to help you in Beiping?”
Gongsun Zan threw the gourd aside and said,""You don't know about this. The Yellow Turban bandits were currently confronting the Han army led by Lu Zhi at the southern foot of Jizhou. With Lu Zhi's available forces, the situation was not optimistic. Therefore, I have heard that the governor of Youzhou, Yuan Shu, who is the current number one family, plans to gather his troops and attack Lu Zhi from the rear while the Yellow Turban bandits are dealing with Lu Zhi with all their strength to help Lu Zhi turn the situation around.”
"To turn the situation around and help Lu Zhi?" Xuande laughed in surprise. A'zan, are you joking? Although Yuan Shu is the governor of Youzhou and a new generation of experts from the number one family, he has a very selfish desire. How could he help the imperial army to defeat the enemy for no reason? I guessed that he wouldn't do such a thankless thing... Could it be that the information you received was wrong?"
Gongsun Zan seemed satisfied with Xuande's response and smiled.""That's right! Yuan Shu was indeed a mediocre person who only saw the small benefits in front of him and did not measure the world. Moreover, his name was so resounding only because of the foundation left behind by his ancestors and his brother Yuan Shao. However, I can assure you that there is no problem with the news that Youzhou is about to send troops to attack from the rear of the Yellow Turban bandits, because all the warhorses in Youzhou are now provided by our Horse Gang.”
"Oh! So the warhorses of the number one family were provided by the Gongsun family.”
Gongsun Zan nodded and said,""Yes! As you know, the Gongsun Family originated from the Horse Gang, and the horses that our family cultivates are unparalleled in the world. Therefore, many families buy horses from us to strengthen their cavalry. The strength of the cavalry could be said to be enough to affect the outcome of the battle in the north, just like how the quality of the ships in the south was…For example, the reason why the Yuan Family's cavalry could be called the Peerless Cavalry was not because their mounts were from the Gongsun Family.”
Gongsun Zan was the young master of the Gongsun family and the only son of the family master, Gongsun Qing. Gongsun Qing was originally a nomadic horse bandit in the north of Youzhou. Later, he gathered thousands of people and established a "Horse Gang" to steal horses and rob merchants. In the first year of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was summoned by the court and granted the prefect of Beiping County. From then on, Gongsun Qing and his men took root and became a major force in the region.
After becoming an official of the imperial court, Gongsun Qing was embarrassed to continue leading the notorious "Horse Gang". In desperation, Gongsun Qing handed over his leader, Bangzi, to the right-hand man of the original "Horse Gang", Qu Potian.
Although he had handed over the management rights of the Horse Gang to Qu Potian, Gongsun Qing would not give up this piece of fat meat for nothing. In fact, he had walked from the front to the back to lead the Horse Gang. Instead, he had used his position as the prefect of Beiping to make the Horse Gang grow without fear. In the end, it had become one of the four gangs on par with Zhanlian, Caogang, and Taiping Heavenly Dao.
Gongsun Qing and the Horse Gang were different. The Yuan family, which was known as the number one family, naturally knew about it. Moreover, the Yuan family was a prominent family in Hebei Province. Most of their disciples served in the court. For the Yuan family, which claimed to be a famous family, it was naturally difficult for them to tolerate the promotion of people in the market. They even lived in their sphere of influence and did whatever they wanted. In addition, the Horse Gang, which was known to have over ten thousand troops, was the cause of the Yuan Clan's worry. As such, the clan had discussed at least ten times how to get rid of this thorn. However, the problem still existed after the intense discussion of the elders of the clan. The reason why they could not make a decision was the horse training ability of the horse gang.
Horses had always been the main tool to influence the outcome of the war north of the Yellow River. Due to the geographical environment, the north was mostly plains, mountains, and a few military mausoleums. Therefore, it was called "Southern Ships and Northern Horses", which showed the importance of horses in the north.
In a battle between two armies, the number of soldiers could determine the outcome. However, if both sides were equally strong, the difference in the number of soldiers and the quality of their armaments would often be the key to determining the outcome.
The northern army was divided into five types, from weak to strong: Infantry, archers, spearmen, cavalry, and chariot soldiers. Among the five types of soldiers, there was a difference in the level of their weapons or armor. If one ignored the chariot soldiers that were different from the four types of soldiers, the cavalry had the strongest offensive ability and flexibility, and the most advantage.
Since it was called cavalry, it meant that if the soldiers were strong but the cavalry was weak, it would not work. If the cavalry was strong, it would be useless if the soldiers were weak. The Yuan clan's cavalry became famous after the Yellow Turban rebels revolted in Jizhou. The Yuan clan's cavalry was even known as the number one " Peerless Cavalry " on the earth. The reason why their cavalry was superior to other noble families was that the Yuan clan had a wealth that could rival a country's to purchase weapons and defensive equipment that were superior to other clans, as well as a well-known strong cavalry training team. But more importantly, the northern stallions provided by Gongsun Qing had contributed greatly.
This was the main reason why Gongsun Qing had successfully established one of the four major sects, the Horse Gang. Because of his long association with horses, Gongsun Qing's unique ability to identify and train horses made the horses he trained one of the best in the country. Furthermore, he had become the trainer of three of the "Five Famous Horses in the World". Because of this, the Yuan Family, who were famous for their cavalry, could not make a decision to deal with Gongsun Qing. Once the two sides fell out and Gongsun Qing, the horse master, joined another family, the Peerless Cavalry would no longer be Peerless, and the reputation of the number one family might change hands.
"So... Was it because Yuan Shu planned to take action, so he needed a large number of horses…And you've already bought it from Ah Zan?"
Gongsun Zan exhaled and said," Not only that, that bastard Yuan Shu went to see my father and talked about it for a long time. In the end, he actually hoped that the Horse Gang would help the Yuan Family send troops and provide horses to deal with this battle!”
"Uncle Gongsun is not an ordinary person," Xuande replied nonchalantly."He knew that something was amiss…" You didn't agree, did you?"
Gongsun Zan smiled slyly and said,""Xuande, you guessed wrong this time. Father hesitated for a while and then promised to tell Uncle Qu that he would provide horses and horses to the Yuan family from now on. He also promised to send troops to respond!”
"How could this be?" Xuande raised his eyebrows.”
Gongsun Zan laughed and replied,""Because of this, Yuan Shu will not suspect that the Horse Gang is not a threat for the time being, but we will take advantage of this to make other arrangements…Dominate Youzhou!"
Xuande was stunned. At this moment, he instantly understood the intention of the Gongsun family.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]