And with strong limbs and robust sinews and bones, showing no sign of illness, it was almost certain that it was a fine horse, which was why Li Yang couldn’t help but praise it aloud.
"This is a military horse, all soldiers in the army can ride it; there’s nothing particularly remarkable about it,"
Upon hearing Li Ming’s praise and seeing that Li Ming was soone who knew and understood horses, the soldier couldn’t help but respond with a smile, his attitude clearly becoming much friendlier.
"Every soldier in the army can ride such fine horses?"
Li Ming was sowhat moved by these words and couldn’t help but ask.
"The infantry on the defense line share one horse among five n, while a cavalryman rides a single horse in daily routine, and three horses during training. They have to learn to control three horses galloping together, and also how to change and protect their horses during combat. Each person does have such fine horses to ride,"
the soldier responded with a smile. Li Ming’s eyebrows twitched and a flash of surprise crossed his face as he silently marveled at the wealth accumulated by the Great Qian Empire over the years.
It seed that the Emperor had indeed made sufficiently thorough preparations for the upcoming war.
’It’s just that I don’t know how well they have reconnoitered the situation with the Xiongnu.’
A thought flashed through Li Ming’s mind. He then noticed that the horse in front of him, like the ones usually ridden, had only a bridle and no stirrups. A glint of insight flickered in his eyes as he, along with Wang Guangyun, Liu Wu, Liu Zhuang, and Zhao Xiu who were mounting their horses alongside him, looked at the soldier and asked, "May I ask, my good sir, if all the horses in the world are tied with reins like this, without anything else?"
"Not at all, the Xiongnu are skilled riders, and their horses don’t have bridles. These reins on our horses are an innovation of His Majesty, allowing us to control the horses better,"
the guiding officer responded with a smile, then arched his eyebrows with a touch of pride: "It’s precisely because of this rope that so many of our soldiers have quickly beco adept at managing three horses."
"Is that so? Well, thank you, soldier, for clearing that up,"
Li Ming nodded with a smile on his face and politely bowed to the soldier.
"These are things that everyone in the army knows. Even if I hadn’t ntioned them, Your Excellency would have discovered them soon enough. They’re not worth ntioning; Your Excellency is a man of extensive knowledge, fad throughout the Great Qian. Such a trifle is beneath your notice,"
the guiding officer said with a shake of his head, sowhat surprised. Li Ming gave him a smile and said, "You are wrong there. In the company of three, there must be one who can be my teacher. In this life, there is so much to learn, and no matter how learned one is, it’s impossible to know everything in the world. Therefore, regardless of how much knowledge one has, one should always have an open mind to learn."
"This matter of military horses may be simple, but the soldier’s few words have indeed cleared my confusion, saving ti. And ti is life; the soldier deserves my thanks as well,"
"Furthermore, even if I have won the first place in the palace examination, it’s still a far cry from being the top scholar of Great Qian. There are so many learned people in the world; I am rely one examination hall’s top scorer; how dare I call myself the top scholar?"
Li Ming did not show arrogance or put on airs just because the other person was a re soldier; instead, he was very humble.
In any era, having a reputation is equally important. In modern tis, being famous can bring about trendous changes: ordinary people can beco rich, businessn can solidify their businesses, and politicians can climb to a higher rank. In ancient tis, reputation was even more crucial.
Being famous made it easier to succeed, and it was the sa at that ti. The trend of the future was already taking shape, and Li Ming had to start building his own image from now on to pave the way for future acclaim.
For instance, this reputation of respecting the virtuous and descending ranks to the humble needs to be spread far and wide.
Clearly, the soldier had not expected the current palace examination’s top scorer, a figure akin to a literary deity incarnate, to be so courteous to a common centurion like himself, but this made his expression fill with much respect as he responded with a bowed fist: "I am Wei Wu, Your Excellency. I have taken your words to heart."
"There’s no need for such formality. It’s just proper reasoning. Thank you, soldier, for guiding the way."
Li Ming faintly smiled, then cupped his hands in salute and began to speak.
The soldier nodded solemnly upon hearing this and then led Li Ming and the four followers to the place arranged by His Majesty.
"Giddy up~"
Li Ming spurred his horse and followed with the four followers by his side, but he could not help squinting his eyes in contemplation along the way.
He was weighing in his heart whether it would be a mistake to produce and present the stirrup and saddle to the Emperor of the Great Qian Empire right away.
Now, the soldiers had only bridles, without saddles or stirrups. If they had saddles and stirrups, the overall combat effectiveness of the cavalry would undoubtedly rise sharply.
In the history of the Eastern Nation on Earth, the appearance of the saddle and stirrup played a trendous role.
The invention of the saddle ant that cavalry could fight on horseback without causing unnecessary injury due to direct contact with the horse’s body, but maintaining a stable position on horseback for combat was still a challenging issue.
The stirrup was born to solve this problem.
To stabilize the posture, facilitating combat
Although the stirrup is small, its role cannot be overlooked. People riding on horseback, because of the horse’s galloping, would often experience a jolting motion, especially during the rapid movent in battle. Therefore, soldiers had to tightly clamp their legs around the horse’s belly to prevent themselves from being thrown off, and even to prevent falling, they had to grab onto the horse’s body with their hands.
In this way, although one could mount the horse, how could they engage in combat?
Soldiers, naturally, are not the sa as ordinary people; they have better physical fitness and a stronger sense of balance on horseback, so they could indeed fight while mounted. Nevertheless, they still had to allocate a significant portion of their energy to maintain their position on the horse, which was undoubtedly a considerable drain.
The stirrup is placed on both sides of the horse’s belly, convenient for soldiers to step on when mounting, so their feet no longer dangle in the air, considerably stabilizing their center of gravity and reducing the energy they spend. Freed from the effort of balancing their bodies, soldiers could then devote themselves more fully to the battle.
Lowering the requirents for soldiers and reducing training costs
Cavalry, as a primary force in ancient warfare, faced very high training costs when stirrups were absent. Just stabilizing the body on the horse required a long ti for training. Even so soldiers, due to poor physical fitness, might never adapt to mounted combat. Only after securing a stable position could they progress to learning how to fight on horseback. Because of the impacts during combat, an originally stable posture could still be disrupted, and in severe cases, soldiers could fall off the horse during battle. Thus, the physical requirents for cavalry were rather high.
At the sa ti, selecting and training a battalion of physically fit cavalry for the battlefield was a lengthy process.
However, the appearance of the stirrup obviously reduced these requirents.
Initially needing to maintain balance on horseback through their own force on the horse, the stirrup directly solved this problem. Thus, the requirents for cavalry soldiers could be similar to those for infantry — able to fight would suffice. With this requirent gone, training costs for cavalry naturally decreased. Additionally, fewer soldiers would fall off the horse during combat, reducing unnecessary casualties.
Besides, stirrups also prevented deformation of the body due to tightly clamping the horse’s sides, which is a significant benefit for maintaining the cavalry’s health.
The advent of the stirrup not only increased the number of cavalry but also had a promotional effect on cavalry strategy, further advancing cavalry developnt.
’Currently, the Great Qian Empire doesn’t have saddles and stirrups, yet it already has such a large scale cavalry. With saddles and stirrups, it could reach a new level, and the value of my support for the war would be even greater after a victory.’
’This world is a world of immortals and not just an ordinary ancient world. Although the saddle and stirrup are significant inventions, they are nothing compared to the practice of cultivating immortals. Bringing them out should be no problem.’
Li Ming silently thought to himself, and as the figure of the Emperor appeared before him, his expression beca respectful while his idea gradually solidified.
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