Shipin Dalizheng

The people of the Western Regions have their own way of judging horses. When they learned that speed was the most important factor in this competition, they came to a different conclusion from Rong Tang.

"Master, although the Western Kunlun warhorses are generally strong, when it comes to speed, your horses are indeed many thousand-mile-long steeds. Horses like these are already rare and fine in the world today."

The horses they chose were pretty much the same as the ones they had originally favored: Nangong Jing's Chasing Cloud, Zheng Jiuan's Lingfeng, Prince Han's favorite horse, Pokong, and Cao Shangfei, brought in by Duke Du. Of course, just four wasn't enough, so the bigger ones among the smaller ones picked out five or six more, making a total of ten.

The rest were sent to the new army camp with just one sentence. Those who occasionally saw their own horses on the road did not dare to say anything and watched Rong Tang enlist their horses into the army and use them as war horses.

Time was tight, with only two days left, so they had to hurry and familiarize themselves with the area. Once the horses were assembled, the men had to follow. Rong Tang picked and chose, finally deciding on Du Shaokang and Gu Zhongxun. Both were accomplished horsemen, so they needed some courage.

Five people with ten horses soon arrived at the Beishan camp training ground. From a distance, they could see that the West Kunlun warhorse team had already run two laps.

To avoid their attention, Rong Tang decided to wait until they left before testing the horses again. Two horse dealers from the Western Regions agreed to secretly check out the condition of the horses in West Kunlun. Rong Tang agreed and gave each of them a clairvoyance, allowing them to proceed in secret.

Amul and Suhe were shocked by this artifact when they first encountered it. They moved to the training ground, observing it carefully for half an hour. When they returned, their faces were very solemn. "Master, their horses are all very good. They are the top war horses in Western Kunlun. They are fast, have great endurance, and most importantly, have a strong killing aura. Ordinary horses with poor mental qualities will be scared to death when competing with them."

So this is the terrifying thing about war horses. The horses he selected are all top-notch horses, but except for King Han's Breaking the Sky, none of them have ever been on the battlefield. I wonder if they will be frightened by then.

Nangong Jing said: "My Zhuiyun is also okay, he has seen blood."

Zheng Jiuan said: "Ling Feng has also seen big scenes with me, so he won't be scared."

Cao Shang Fei was originally a trained warhorse, and now that he was under the control of Du Shaokang, he was very confident, "My Cao Shang Fei is no coward either."

Pokong was once the mount of King Han. He was brave and knowledgeable, but he also had a bad temper. It had not yet been decided who would ride it, and Rong Tang planned to do it himself.

Gu Zhongxun also had a horse at home, so he rode it here too. However, the two Western Regions Hu merchants did not think highly of it, saying that it might show off in Shangjing, but it might not be able to stand up in battle.

On the other hand, on Prince Yuli's side, there are strong and powerful generals, each of whom rides top-notch war horses for years. Man and horse are like one, and their minds are united. It is very difficult for them to win.

After the people from Xi Kunlun left, they entered the horse farm and asked the officials in charge about the situation.

The horse ranch manager said, "They are extremely fierce. The generals under Prince Yuli can even run while standing on horseback."

This is really not fun.

Rong Tang felt a little discouraged after hearing this. His horse was not as strong as the other one, and he did not have the horse-controlling skills as the other one. It seemed that losing was a foregone conclusion.

He couldn't help but think that if he bravely chose to fight, he might have a 50% chance of winning.

But then he thought again, if he chose the wrestling match, what if the draw resulted in a racehorse?

What is coming cannot be avoided. All difficulties must be faced. Even if you lose, you must lose like a hero.

"Don't be discouraged, we may not lose."

They each took their places at the starting line. Rong Tang dismounted Er Gouzi and turned to pull Pokong's reins. With Nangong Jing's soothing words, Pokong struggled a few times but ultimately managed to not throw him off.

Just as they were about to start riding their horses, the abandoned Ergouzi suddenly refused to go on, yelling "Huaihui" and getting angry. He rushed forward, bit Rong Tang's trouser leg, and pulled him off Pokong's back.

Rong Tang grabbed his belt tightly and cursed, "Er Gouzi, are you crazy? What's the matter with your temper? You're just an ordinary broken horse, how can you outrun him?"

Ergouzi blinked his big eyes, showing hurt, heartbreak, disbelief, exasperation, grief and indignation... and so on. How could he see so many emotions in a horse's eyes? This shouldn't be the case.

Er Gouzi was a wretch, charging left and right, bumping into everyone and shoving everyone, refusing to let Rong Tang ride another horse. He was determined to kill you if you dared to change horses. He kicked and shoved all the horses, including Zhui Yun, Po Kong, Ling Feng, and Cao Shang Fei, while cursing at them. Everyone said, "This rascal has gone crazy."

Rong Tang had no other choice but to grab him and drag him in front of the Western Regions Hu merchants to show them, "Does this scoundrel have any chance of winning?"

Amul is good at judging war horses, but Ergouzi is only a second-class war horse in terms of size and bloodline. This horse was sold to Rong Tang last year, so there is no way they were wrong.

(Note: When Western Region Hu merchants sold horses, they usually kept top-grade war horses for their own use and would not easily sell them to others.)

"My uncle's horse seems to have a bad temper, is very possessive, and is very protective of its owner."

Zheng Jiuan sneered, "Just like its owner, it picks on everyone it catches and kicks every passing dog. It's extremely annoying."

Amul pretended not to understand his sarcasm and continued, "But horses are intelligent. Your beloved horse is so angry, why not give it a chance to perform? Maybe it can break through its own limits?"

Rong Tang also thought it made sense. Since Ergouzi didn't allow him to ride other horses, he might as well give it a chance to show off. It would be embarrassing to rely on him if he lost.

After a struggle, Er Gouzi finally got his chance to show off, spinning around excitedly. Rong Tang wouldn't let him keep being the conspicuous one, so he sat back down and, with a command, all ten horses took off.

The first lap was to familiarize themselves with the venue, and no one ran fast. In addition, there was no one to control the five empty horses, so they could only run behind. After five laps, Ergouzi came in tenth place.

Rong Tang was so angry that he scolded it, "You troublemaker, you are so shameless to be ranked last?"

Ergouzi was visibly sad.

Amul had something to say, "Master, in terms of Ergou's level, it has broken the limit."

"How to say?"

"These empty horses were unmanned and initially wouldn't actively fight for first place. But after a few laps, they became familiar with the terrain. Since they were empty horses and had more energy, they were able to run to the front in just a few laps."

"Then it's also the last one!"

"But it's a second-class warhorse!"

What this means is that Ergou is currently the tail of a phoenix, but at its level, it is the head of a chicken.

That's it, and it obviously won't work. What Rong Tang wants is the possibility of victory, not the star of progress.

He stroked Er Gouzi's horse's head and said, "I know you tried your best, but we have to win, otherwise I'll lose my wife. You don't want your master to be single, do you?"

Ergouzi jumped up again, throwing a tantrum and rolling around, showing no sign of accepting the outcome.

"Okay, okay, go play."

Seeing that it was almost time for lunch, the manager of the stable brought people over with food boxes and a cart of fodder to comfort these gentlemen. No matter whether they were people or horses, they were not people he could not afford to offend.

After a short rest after dinner, Rong Tang went to the small hill on the north side of the horse farm. Zheng Changning was looking at the direction of the horse farm with a piece of grass in his mouth, bored.

Rong Tang knew that he was frustrated. His parents were estranged from him, and the family resources were almost divided up by his two eldest brothers. The little that was left was used by Prime Minister Zheng to protect himself, so he could not invest more in him.

Although Mrs. Zheng made a mistake and was not tolerated by Zheng Changzhi and his brother and the Cui family, she was the one who raised him since he was a child. Others could ignore her, but he could not.

Suddenly he said, "Can I join?"

Rong Tang blinked, "Sure!"