Chapter 561: Stable Master

At the same time, as the new year began, apart from the sudden earthquake, good news also arrived: the horses that Baifeng had been thinking of day and night, looking forward to for many, many years, had finally reached the standard for riding.

The first batch of horses had fully matured, with sturdy bodies and agile forms; although they were a bit different from the tall, magnificent horses in Baifeng's ideal, they were still capable of serving as excellent warhorses.

The horses' build was not as short as the domesticated Dian horses of later generations, nor as tall as the Menggu horses, but they were of a medium build; while their explosive power was slightly less, their corresponding endurance was much better.

As the first man in Huaxia to ride on horseback, Changzhi's horsemanship was now very good, even stronger than the cavalry who had transitioned from riding oxen to riding horses.

Now, the entire Huaxia had over two hundred horses that could be ridden, but the cavalry had not kept up; more cavalry needed to be trained to ride these horses.

Furthermore, the second batch of foals was also constantly growing. The first generation of wild horses, after long-term captivity, had now had their wild nature worn away; perhaps because they had not run for a long time, their muscles had somewhat atrophied, and coupled with eating well and being safe every day, their wariness toward humans had almost dropped to zero.

By the autumn of last year, the Horse Farm had already attempted to graze the horses in batches. After confirming there was no danger, grazing had now become the norm. The horses would consciously return to the enclosure at night; raising horses was no longer a job that made people tremble with fear.

This generation of foals, because they were able to freely interact with the herdsmen, actually showed even greater potential than the previous generation.

It was only after long-term verification, with not a single incident of horses being spooked or injuring people, that Changzhi made up his mind to report this to Baifeng. Baifeng had also been paying close attention to the situation at the Horse Farm; this was an important reliance for the future of Huaxia. With horses, Xiao Town would no longer be far away, and the seven-day distance could be shortened to two days.

In the future, no matter how far away the cities were built, communication would no longer be such a great difficulty. There would be no need to wait for such a long time after sending messages by pigeon; now it was a direct combination of land and air. The air had a faster transmission speed, while horses could rapidly transfer manpower and material resources.

Changzhi had also trained a horse for Baifeng. He felt that Baifeng might like a white horse, so he carefully fed and trained the only horse in the entire herd with a whitish coat that looked relatively good, just so it could serve as Baifeng's mount.

Baifeng was very satisfied with Changzhi's actions, though he might not know that he actually preferred black horses. That white horse was indeed very conspicuous in the herd, but to be honest, it was not the best-looking one.

Baifeng led everyone to Changzhi's Horse Farm to inspect the herd. The herd did not panic because of the arrival of so many unfamiliar faces, but those Soldiers were a bit nervous.

There were no saddles on the horses, let alone stirrups. Everything had to wait until the Soldiers could successfully ride the unsaddled horses before they could be equipped; otherwise, although saddles and stirrups could make their riding more convenient, they would actually pose a higher danger if the riders were unskilled.

The Soldiers mounted the horses they were most familiar with. Under Changzhi's lead, everyone rode the horses, followed by more unridden horses, yet they were very disciplined, following Changzhi in a circle in front of Baifeng and the others.

Baifeng felt no fear at all; instead, he was eager to try and wanted to ride a horse to gallop. However, the others did not have this thought. While cavalry were certainly handsome, the horses' past record still left them with worry and fear in their hearts.

After the demonstration ended, Changzhi led the white horse over to Baifeng, then knelt on one knee: "King, this is a horse I specifically trained for you. It is the one and only white horse in the entire herd!"

The white horse also obediently lowered its head, as if declaring that it had submitted.

Baifeng was a little excited, but he still suppressed his emotions: "Good, Changzhi, you have done very well. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

Changzhi's eyes lit up, but he immediately lowered his head again: "King, this is what I should do; this is my profession and my task. I hope that I can continue to raise and train horses in the future!"

Baifeng stepped over the low fence and stroked the white horse's forehead with his hand: "Although this is your task, you have completed it excellently and deserve a reward. But the only rewards I can give you now are wealth, women, and honor. What do you want? I can also grant you Nobility, but I think when you achieve greater merit, such as training thousands of warhorses for Huaxia, I can grant you the title of Marquis. If you want it now, that is also possible."

Changzhi could not suppress his emotions; his hands holding the reins were trembling, but he still stated his greatest wish: "King, King, I want you to give me a surname."

Baifeng laughed out loud; what Changzhi wanted was no pressure at all for him: "Alright, I do have two surnames here that are very suitable for you. See which one you want."

Changzhi suddenly looked up, his breathing somewhat rapid from excitement: "King, what are they?"

Baifeng looked at the herd: "The first one is to take 'Horse' as your surname, to reflect your merit. As for the second one, there is a legend that when raising horses, one needs to keep a monkey in the herd to prevent the herd from getting the plague; therefore, this kind of monkey is also called a 'Stable Keeper'. I know of a very powerful monkey who once grazed horses by the Heavenly River for the gods of Heaven, and his official title was Stable Keeper.

But his surname is Sun, so I think a person who raises horses can also have the surname Sun. This surname is also quite good. Tell me, which one do you want to choose?"

Unexpectedly, the first thing Changzhi said was: "King? Can raising a monkey really prevent the herd from getting the plague? How about we go catch a monkey to raise in the herd?"

Baifeng was speechless. Although he did not know where this saying came from or what the principle was, this saying did indeed exist in the history of later generations. Well, even if it just served as a mascot now, that would be fine.

"That is up to you. I remember that we have a kind of monkey here with long hair, not very large in size, with golden fur and a very handsome appearance. We can catch one to raise; that kind of monkey also has a relatively docile temperament."

"Alright, let's not talk about this. What about you? Which surname do you want, or do you want to go back and think about it slowly?"

This time, Changzhi said very decisively: "King, I choose Horse!"