Chapter 314: Embryo Transfer and Horse Administration

In theory, the donor cow and the recipient cow should ideally be in heat at the same time, as this increases the embryo survival rate. So early this morning, after the Emperor brought over the liquid nitrogen tank, Wang Gude, who had long been prepared, selected all the water buffalo cows currently in heat.

The next step was thawing.

Wang Gude took Huo Xiong to the laboratory. The two first changed into isolation suits, then they removed the thin tube containing the embryo from the liquid nitrogen and immersed the tube into 35°C warm water.

Twenty minutes later, the thawed embryo would also be diluted several times with a 0.3-molar sucrose solution... This was done to remove the glycerin from the cells.

The final step was assessing embryo viability. Once the two had finished examining the embryos under a microscope, the preliminary preparations were complete.

Thanks to the advanced chromosome identification techniques of later generations, the probability of these selected embryos producing female calves in the future would exceed 95%. So, science and technology were the true reason behind all the magic; Wang Gude and his team were actually standing on the shoulders of countless giants, enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Once the embryos were ready on this side, the farm workers on the other side had already herded the female water buffalo into the specialized restraining chute.

The chute was a very narrow wooden passage. Once a cow entered, she could not turn around and could only obediently present her rear end to undergo the procedure.

Previously, embryo transfer surgery required making an incision in the cow's abdomen. With continuous technological innovation over the years, the entire process now no longer used a knife... it had switched to using a gun.

With everything prepared, Comrade Wang Gude first positioned himself behind the cow, then with a soft shout, he sank his weight, steadied his stance, took aim at the cow's rear, and thrust a part of his own body... inside.

After the thrust, Wang Gude's eyes gazed into the distance, his face bearing an expression of savoring the moment. As the inserted part gently wriggled, accompanied by the cow's "Moo-moo" calls, the scene was intensely stimulating. The surrounding farm workers had never witnessed such a risqué spectacle; one by one, they swallowed hard, all staring dumbfounded.

In a flash, after Wang Gude wriggled a few times, he let out a low shout: "Gun!" Huo Xiong, who was assisting nearby, quickly handed over the toilet paper... no, the transfer gun.

What Wang Gude had just inserted into the cow's rear was his own arm.

This was done because he first needed to check which ovary the cow's corpus luteum was located on: a cow with a poorly developed corpus luteum could not undergo the transfer procedure.

After this, he still had to use his hand to grasp the cow's cervix. Next, he would use his other hand to take the transfer gun, then insert the gun tip into the cow's uterus and inject the embryo.

The entire surgical process had to be performed quickly and accurately to avoid tissue damage—one careless move and you'd poke through the damn thing.

Over the course of the afternoon, the two performed embryo transfer procedures on a total of over 40 cows.

Some of these cows were naturally in heat, while others had their estrous cycles adjusted through hormone injections. In short, given the farm's existing conditions, Wang Gude and his team had done their best. Now they had to await fate's verdict—if more than half the cows successfully became pregnant, then today's work could be considered a great success.

Embryo transfer was a task requiring long-term commitment. To propagate and expand a cattle breed, time had to be measured in units of decades.

In later generations, after over 50 years of domestic introduction and improvement, the number of purebred Simmental cattle was still only around 20,000 head; the remaining millions were all crossbreeds, showing just how difficult it was to increase the purebred population.

The only piece of good news for the Transmigrators here was that frozen embryos were very small in volume, so Cao Chuan could occasionally bring over a liquid nitrogen tank.

As long as they maintained a sufficient number of recipient cows ready for pregnancy here at all times, then this magical embryo transfer technique, akin to sowing beans that turn into soldiers, could continue indefinitely until the breed population was raised to over a thousand head... At that point, they could consider establishing Bases in the north and south.

This was the sparsely populated 17th century; the Transmigrators could easily enclose land and raise cattle in the Great Ming, with no fear of running out of space.

After finishing his assisting duties, Huo Xiong stayed at the farm that night. The next day, he had originally planned to go make a ruckus at the Grain Company, but unexpectedly, a call came from the horse farm asking him to head over. So, full of reluctance, Huo Xiong rode his motorcycle to the horse farm.

Speaking of horse administration, the conflicts here were numerous and dated back quite a while.

Firstly, the horse farm was not established by Huo Xiong and his fellow animal husbandry professionals. The driving force behind the horse farm's construction was actually the Military... specifically, the Army.

This, in turn, involved strategic issues.

In the view of the Army personnel, within the next three to five years, at most seven or eight years, the Imperial Army in the north of the Great Ming would inevitably experience a series of major battles, along with extensive security operations.

One obvious point was that the north of the Ming state lacked a network of waterways extending in all directions, possessing only official roads that appeared "laughable" in the eyes of the Transmigrators. Under such circumstances, cavalry units would be extremely useful, especially in the endless small-scale engagements.

Therefore, the Army had been making arrangements to establish cavalry units very early on—everyone knew that a military horse population could not be bred up in just a year or two.

However, the Army's attempt met with opposition from everyone else. The others were one thing, simply opposing for the sake of opposition... Every horse you import means a bit less Equipment for me over here. And the ones who stabbed the Army most viciously in the back were actually the Navy.

Navy professionals quickly exposed the Army's scheme: for cavalry armed with breech-loading carbines fighting Natives, the mode of warfare had long ceased to be passionate charges and saber massacres.

Even if the Imperial Army had cavalry in the future, their combat mode would be very relaxed—ride up... approach the target... dismount and shoot... leisurely pursue the routed enemy from behind and cut them down with sabers.

Yes, using breech-loading rifles against Natives followed this exact procedure. The enemy would be broken by a rain of bullets at a distance of 400 meters; there was absolutely no need for any set of military horse charges.

So-called elite cavalry, under high-tech equipment, had already been upgraded to "mounted infantry," causing the military's demand for expensive, high-quality horses to decrease.

Under this model, the military horses the Army clamored for, bred at the cost of enormous Resources, were actually quite useless—whether draft horses, inferior horses, or even donkeys and mules, as long as they could carry a man and run, the tactical objective could be achieved. The advantage of military horses was greatly diminished here.

Therefore, establishing elite cavalry units was a massive Pit... The Army's true goal was simply to show off, using the Import Quotas saved through the austerity of other Departments to go show off in the north.

... After being thus appraised by the Navy, the suddenly enlightened Transmigrators from various Departments immediately set off a wave of criticism against the Army's gang of swindlers.

And the Army group, having encountered the 17th-century art of backstabbing, saw the situation turning sour and could only temporarily cease their clamor, recording all the bastards in their ledger for future Revenge.

Originally, the matter was considered settled. But then, as luck would have it, during the preparatory meeting before the Cao Emperor's enthronement, some Brainless individual proposed the concept of "White Horse Clearing the Way."

That caused trouble. Upon hearing this, the Cao Emperor immediately declared that this was something they could have... And the Army Commander Han Bo, present at the meeting, reacted with lightning speed, promptly supplementing the Emperor's idea with an advanced enthronement concept of "twenty-four white Arabian Horses clearing the way, ridden by Silver Armor Knights."

Although Han Bo ultimately did not get his way... Grand Secretary Xia personally intervened, stubbornly reducing the number of horses to four against the Emperor's displeasure.

But after this episode, the door that had originally been shut was forcefully pried open a crack—the Army's grand cavalry plan, like Salted Fish flipping over, could actually be pursued again~!

After many twists and turns, the Army's own military horse farm was thus built in a haphazard manner, located not far from the cattle farm.

Due to a lack of support from the administrative system, this horse farm had struggled to operate since its establishment. Apart from four purebred Arabian Horses, the rest were some small Dian Horses and draft horses, making its scale very small.

Although the animal husbandry sector normally did not interfere with the horse farm's operations, the responsibility of "technical guidance" still existed, so Huo Xiong still had to make the occasional rounds.

The person in charge of the military horse farm was called Huang Xu, a muscular, dark-skinned, burly man. Before Crossing Over, this gentleman had worked as a cowboy on a western farm and had also served in the National Guard. He was a composite talent for the Army and the very foundation of their confidence in establishing the military horse farm.

Seeing Huo Xiong, Huang Xu, who had been grooming a horse, tossed the brush to a nearby farm worker and strode over.

After giving Huo Xiong a hearty slap on the shoulder, Huang Xu pulled out two Bingzhi Cigars, one for each of them.

"Whoa, not bad." Huo Xiong lit the cigar and took a deep drag: "You guys who've lived in America really do enjoy things differently, huh."

"I can't get used to domestic Cigarettes, too much phlegm." After taking a puff of his cigar, Huang Xu did not beat around the bush and got straight to the point: "I heard you did embryo transfers yesterday?"

Huo Xiong nodded: "Yeah, implanted over 40 head. No idea how effective it'll be."

"So next, we should try it on the horses too, right?" Huang Xu said, his gaze intense as he stared at Huo Xiong.

"Don't talk to me about that." Huo Xiong crossed his legs at this point, leaning his body sideways against the motorcycle seat, and said to Huang Xu with a smile: "All consumables and labor need to be approved by the meeting. I can't make that call."

Huang Xu thought, if I could handle the Cabinet Meeting, why would I be looking for you? However, he was asking for a favor now and naturally had to be polite, so he could only chuckle: "You're the head of the Animal Husbandry Corporation. How about putting in a good word or two at the meeting later?"

"Old Huang, I won't lie to you. Don't count on the Animal Husbandry Corporation for this." Huo Xiong also laid his cards on the table: "Even for cattle breeds, I have to watch President Cao... the Emperor's expression and work around his convenience. Horse breeds are even less likely. If you want to expand the herd, you have to get past the Cabinet."

"Cattle and horses both have the same strategic value!" Huang Xu said indignantly: "Those people in charge will sooner or later discover they've made a mistake!"

Huo Xiong laughed upon hearing this: "Heh heh, Old Huang, don't take this the wrong way, but as things stand now, the strategic value of horses really isn't that high."