If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"The horse's hoof is cracked. Alas, warhorses often run long distances on rugged roads, so this is inevitable."

Niu Er carefully examined the horses and quickly came to a conclusion, but Zhou Wu noticed something amiss.

Why isn't this horse shod?

"Horseshoes? What horseshoes?"

Not only Niu Er raised the question, but the other villagers around him also looked at Zhou Wu with blank expressions. Zhou Wu immediately realized that horseshoes might not exist in this world yet.

Thinking of horseshoes, Zhou Wu then thought of stirrups and immediately looked at the horse's back.

"Sure enough, there were no stirrups either."

Amidst everyone's puzzled looks, Zhou Wu hurriedly left.

Zhou Wu left the training camp and went directly to the village's blacksmith shop.

"Old Chiang, Old Chiang."

"Sir, I'm here."

Old Jiang was not a native of Niujia Village. He had just fled to Niujia Village earlier, like all the other migrants. During Zhou Wu's inventory of skilled personnel, it was discovered that he had worked as a blacksmith. This pleased Zhou Wu, who personally arranged for him to set up a blacksmith shop. Then, he had Old Jiang select two apprentices, and they started working.

"Old Jiang, do you have any paper and pen?"

"I'll go get it for the adults."

Old Jiang turned around and went inside to get paper and pen. Zhou Wu picked up the paper and pen and drew the stirrups and horseshoes. Although they were a bit ugly, you could still make out the general idea.

"Can it be played?"

"I can, but sir, what is this thing for so I can strike with my hammer?"

In Lao Jiang's eyes, the two things Zhou Wu drew were extremely simple. However, even after working as a blacksmith for half his life, he still couldn't figure out what these two things were for.

"Old Chiang, this is called a stirrup, and this is a horseshoe. Don't underestimate these things just because they don't seem to involve any technology; they are actually very important."

"That's incredible?"

These two pieces of iron are quite something. If Chiang Kai-shek hadn't known Zhou Wu's character, he probably would have spat directly in his face.

"This horseshoe is nailed to the horse's leg. Once the horse is shod, it will never get injured from cracked hooves again. This stirrup is attached to the saddle. When riding a horse, you step on it to make the ride more stable."

Old Jiang rubbed his ears to make sure he hadn't misheard. He then turned to look at Zhou Wu, confirming that it was indeed him and the account hadn't been hacked. The question was, how did he come up with this nonsense?

"What kind of look is that? You don't believe me?"

"No, sir. Look at my clear eyes, don't they look like a college student's?"

"Uh~~~"

Anyway, whatever the leader says goes. Old Jiang didn't ask any questions and just picked up the hammer to get to work. However, this thing wouldn't be ready until tomorrow at the earliest, so Zhou Wu wasn't in a hurry and went home.

--------

Yinguang Cave, Qingyang County.

"You, you, traitor."

Silverlight Cave is one of the top three thief dens in Qingyang County, but the leader of the gang died at the hands of One-Eyed Dragon, who had only recently joined the gang. Even on his deathbed, he couldn't understand why he had kindly taken in One-Eyed Dragon and his gang, only to be betrayed by them.

"Niu Bi, take your trusted men and go kill the boss's trusted men."

"Yes."

That's right, these two are One-Eyed Dragon and Bull Pen, the second-in-commands who escaped from Flying Tiger Village. It is said that when the two escaped from Flying Tiger Village, they were like headless flies, and unexpectedly they came to Silverlight Cave by accident.

Niu Bi might not know the name of Silverlight Cave, but One-Eyed Dragon had heard of it. So the two of them went to Silverlight Cave to join their gang.

Seeing that One-Eyed Dragon possessed some martial arts skills and had robbed a considerable amount of valuable items in just over a month since joining the gang, the leader of Silverlight Cave made him the second-in-command. However, One-Eyed Dragon was not satisfied. He was the second-in-command at Flying Tiger Stronghold, and now he was still the second-in-command at Silverlight Cave. The thrill of several successful robberies fueled his boundless desires, and he vowed to become the leader, not remain the second-in-command forever.

Screams echoed throughout the entire Silverlight Cave. One-Eyed Dragon knew that they were the original loyalists of Silverlight Cave. From this day forward, Silverlight Cave would be renamed.

------

"Master Captain."

The guards at the entrance of the local militia training camp straightened their backs as soon as they saw their commander had come again.

"okay."

Zhou Wu is now very satisfied with the effectiveness of the local militia. The only problem is the horses, but that problem will be solved after today.

"Brother Wu, you've arrived."

Niu Er was also curious. This guy just came yesterday and is here again today. If you don't come, you won't see anyone for a month or two, but once you do come, you're here every day.

"Hmm, has Chiang Kai-shek arrived yet?"

"Old Jiang from the blacksmith shop? No, what's he doing here?"

Niu Er knew most of the people in the village, and the only one Zhou Wu would call Old Jiang was probably Old Jiang from the blacksmith shop.

"Then let's wait a bit longer, it should be here soon, we'll know when it arrives."

Zhou Wu wasn't in a hurry. With a few horseshoes and stirrups, he trusted Chiang Kai-shek's strength.

"Oh, sir, you're up very early."

Not long after I sat down, Old Jiang arrived, followed by two of his apprentices, each carrying a large sack on their shoulder, presumably horseshoes and stirrups.

"Niu Er, go and fetch a horse."

"Oh."

The horses arrived, and the local militia members gathered around, curious to see what their leader was up to.

"Old Chiang, let's make our move."

"Good."

The horse was firmly tethered. Old Jiang's two apprentices lifted one of the horse's legs and placed it on a wooden block. Following Zhou Wu's instructions from the previous day, Old Jiang first polished the horseshoe, then aligned it, and amidst the horrified expressions of the crowd, he hammered in the finger-thick nail, one hammer blow at a time.

However, the horse did not startle as everyone had imagined. The horse remained leisurely looking around and neighed.

"Why isn't the horse in pain? There's such a long nail, and there's no blood."

A local militiaman voiced the question that had been on everyone's mind. Everyone turned to look at their commander, Zhou Wu.

"Because a horse's hoof is like a human fingernail, does it hurt when you cut your fingernails?"

Zhou Wu didn't mind telling his fellow villagers about these common sense facts.

"I see, the commander knows a lot."

"It still has to be the regimental commander."

"As expected of our regimental commander."

Soon Chiang Kai-shek had horseshoes nailed onto all four hooves, and then added stirrups to the saddle.

"Sir, it's done."

"Who of you will give it a try?"

"I go."

"I come."

"Don't try to take it from me."

"Shut up, I'll do it myself."

Seeing the villagers scrambling and fighting over it, Niu Er spoke up directly.

"Giddy up!"

The horse ran two laps around the training ground, but Niu Er probably felt unsatisfied and rode off into the training camp.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the sound of horses' hooves gradually approached. Niu Er returned, and you could see the joy on his face from afar.

"Brother Wu, this is great! These stirrups are incredibly stable. Quick, take a look at the hooves."