Chapter 562: The Experience of Riding a Horse

Baifeng smiled knowingly, patted Changzhi on the shoulder with his hand, and said, "Good. From now on, you shall take Horse as your surname, and your descendants shall use it as well."

There was no grand ceremony, and it was quite casual, but even in such a setting, the seemingly casual reward still made Changzhi so excited that he knelt and prostrated himself on the ground, his body trembling: "Thank you for the King's reward, thank you for the King's reward!"

Baifeng actually felt the surname Sun suited him better—Sun Changzhi sounded quite pleasant—but Ma Changzhi, as a homophone, sounded a bit like a prank and didn't feel quite right. However, whatever Changzhi liked was fine.

Baifeng called to Changzhi, who was still kowtowing: "Alright, get up and lead the horse. I want to ride a lap and try it out too. I didn't expect that I wouldn't be the first person to ride a horse."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Soldiers who were still on horseback instantly broke into a cold sweat. They lowered their heads and looked at each other, then simultaneously dismounted, which actually left Baifeng feeling a bit puzzled; upon reflection, he figured they must have misunderstood his meaning.

"You don't need to be nervous. I just felt a bit of regret, after all, domesticating horses has always been my pursuit. Furthermore, I was the one who asked you to ride the horses. Since you have all succeeded, I will even reward you."

The Soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the King was usually approachable, the King's dignity was absolutely not to be challenged.

Changzhi held the horse firmly. Because there were no stirrups, one had to rely on the strength of their own arms and waist to hoist themselves up. Fortunately, Baifeng was already used to riding oxen, and being tall and physically strong, he mounted the horse with a very dashing posture and did not make a fool of himself.

The white horse was indeed well-trained and very steady; it did not show any signs of impatience or restlessness because someone was riding on its back. Baifeng squeezed the horse's belly, and the white horse began to walk forward on its own. This made Changzhi, who was holding the reins, panic for a moment, but he still gripped the reins tightly to keep it from running.

After walking a few slow circles, Baifeng felt there was no problem with him riding, as he did have the foundational skills from riding oxen, so he took the reins from Changzhi's hand and began to control the horse forward himself.

Starting with a slow walk, Baifeng gradually felt it wasn't satisfying enough and began to pat the horse's rump with his hand. The horse began to accelerate into a gallop. Baifeng almost fell off due to inertia, but fortunately, he adjusted immediately.

The feeling of galloping on the Grass was truly exhilarating. That sensation of a strong wind brushing against his face was something Baifeng hadn't felt in who knows how long. Since coming to this era, he had missed the mechanized age every moment, missing the various means of transportation that could travel a thousand miles a day, while he could only use his two sturdy legs to measure the territory every day, or at most, ride a steady old ox to move forward slowly.

After Baifeng had his fill—or rather, his crotch felt like it couldn't take it anymore—he slowly pulled the reins tight and called out, "Whoa~" The horse also reined in its speed and slowly came to a stop.

Baifeng tugged the reins to turn the horse's head, then gave the horse's belly a light squeeze, and the white horse walked toward the crowd.

When he reached everyone, Changzhi hurriedly took the reins, and a Soldier nimbly stepped forward to assist Baifeng. With his feet touching the ground, Baifeng felt his crotch was a bit uncomfortable, being chafed quite severely. It seemed that saddles and stirrups needed to be arranged as soon as possible; at the very least, his own mount had to have them.

"The horse is very good, I am very satisfied, and it is trained very well. However, I can give you a few goals. Just like training oxen, to make an ox go forward, you shout 'Tai!', and to make it stop, you shout 'Zan'. Horses must also have commands so they know when to run and when to stop."

Changzhi bowed his head: "I will follow all your arrangements, King."

"To make the horse run, shout 'Jia', and to make it stop, shout 'Yu'. I believe this is not difficult for you. Once the horse forms a habit, it will know what it should do. If you squeeze its belly with your legs, doesn't it also know it should move forward?"

Changzhi was once again conquered by Baifeng's wisdom and appeared very humble.

Because Baifeng's ride just now could be described as heroic and extremely dashing, it made those onlookers who were originally a bit afraid now have very eager eyes. They had their own oxen to ride, but clearly, horses were cooler and faster. Baifeng had also personally proven that horses were not that dangerous, so they also wanted to try riding one.

Baifeng saw the eagerness in their eyes and asked Changzhi: "Is the quality of all the horses like this? Can you guarantee that after a stranger gets on, they will be just as obedient?"

Changzhi had no confidence in his heart, but feeling the fiery gazes around him, he bit the bullet and said: "Yes, all the horses are fine."

Baifeng then greeted the officials and said: "Alright then, you all go ahead and ride to experience it yourselves. As one of the most important treasures of Huaxia, you must also be familiar with horses. Take turns; just ride for a little while to get a feel for it. Also, listen to these Soldiers; don't mess around on your own. If you mess around and get into danger, you are responsible for yourselves."

Everyone nodded repeatedly and was eager to try.

The first group was naturally the heads of the various departments, but the Shaman didn't have much interest, mainly because he felt his body might not be able to take it. He was always having back pain now; he had to use a thick cushion when riding an ox to move forward slowly. If a horse ran like that, he was afraid his back would fall apart.

Xiong was the first to step out, not yielding to anyone. In fact, his feelings toward horses were still quite subtle. As the head of the Ministry of War, he naturally knew the importance of horses, but a horse had also almost destroyed his son, so he both loved and hated horses. But after watching the horse-riding demonstration for so long, he had completely let go of his few remaining prejudices and wanted to experience it himself.

Changzhi saved the strongest horse for Xiong; it looked very suitable for Xiong at a glance. Baifeng's mouth couldn't help but twitch—his own physique also matched that horse well—but Changzhi had already put his heart into saving the most special horse for him. Although his direction was a bit off, he had put in the effort, and he couldn't possibly go and cause trouble for Changzhi over such a small matter.

Xiong's speed in getting the hang of it was also very fast, just a little later than Baifeng, and then he was galloping on the horse, truly displaying the demeanor of Huaxia's number one warrior.

Xiong didn't ride for too long. Although he was still not quite satisfied, Baifeng had said to just get a feel for it, so he stopped and dismounted in moderation, returning the horse to the people at the Horse Farm.

Baifeng called Xiong to his side and asked with a smile: "How does it feel? Is there a sense of freedom?"

Xiong's face was still a bit red from excitement: "King, I don't know what freedom feels like, but anyway, it just feels like I am like the wind, with a feeling that I can go wherever I want to go. And I also feel that I am more powerful, afraid of no one. I feel very happy."

"That is the feeling of freedom."