Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"What! The entire Nanzhao Kingdom only has 187 warhorses available! Prefect Mu, are you joking with me?"

"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Since the twelfth year of the old calendar, the Nanzhao Horse Administration has been operating at a loss, and the cost of acquiring horses from the common people is too high."

Despite local government measures to encourage horse breeding, households are no longer willing to raise horses.

The official horse post stations, having lost their supply to the people, had already fallen into disrepair as early as the fifteenth year of the lunar calendar. I implore Your Highness to consider this."

"No matter how neglected the horse administration is, it shouldn't be that such a large country as Nanzhao has less than two hundred warhorses, right?"

"Prefect Mu, tell me honestly, where have all these warhorses gone? Did you sell them off privately for your own enrichment?"

Jiang Shangxian was furious and trembled with rage.

Shen Lang, standing to the side, continued to slide the lid of his teacup, seemingly having anticipated this situation.

Even without an intelligence system, Shen Lang could glean some insight into the high cost of settled ethnic groups raising horses from his past life's history.

It's important to know that raising horses requires an astonishing amount of feed, and they also need to be fed with refined salt, soybean cake, wheat, and other crops from time to time to ensure they don't lose weight.

These costs are undoubtedly a heavy burden for self-sufficient farmers whose economy is based on small-scale farming.

Raising horses means spending a lot of energy and time, which takes up time that would otherwise be spent farming.

Horses are relatively delicate animals. Their food and water must be kept clean and tidy, otherwise they will fall ill if they are neglected.

If a horse falls ill, a local veterinarian must be called in to treat it, which is another considerable expense.

If left untreated, the horse could die at any time, which would mean the failure of the farmer's investment and could very likely plunge an ordinary family into hardship or even bankruptcy.

Moreover, horse manure is also a major problem. It is acidic, and if used directly as fertilizer in farmland, it will damage the land, leading to soil acidification and infertility, further increasing the burden on farmers.

Therefore, horse manure is often treated as waste and cannot become a source of nutrients for farmland.

Therefore, in the context of a small-scale peasant economy, horse breeding had a serious impact on the quality of life of ordinary people.

This situation has deterred many people from raising horses, with some even preferring to pay extra taxes rather than risk financial strain.

Despite the introduction of numerous beneficial policies for horse breeding in various regions, it has been impossible to prevent the gradual neglect of horse-related affairs among the people.

From the Qin and Han dynasties until the end of the Ming dynasty, the cost of raising horses in the Central Plains was ten times or even dozens of times higher than that in the grasslands.

Even the nomadic groups beyond the Great Wall have faced the same difficulties in raising horses, and large amounts of vegetation have turned into desert due to climate change and lack of maintenance.

This has led to the grassland horses gradually becoming smaller due to a lack of sufficiently refined feed.

For example, Huang Taiji, the leader of the horse demons at the time, once privately instructed the horse breeders not to feed the Mongol warhorses black beans and bran cakes when accepting the surrender of the Mongol tribes, because even his own horses did not have enough to eat.

If the Kingdom of the Horse Demons, which exhausted hundreds of millions of people within the pass, still struggled to raise warhorses from outside the pass, then the situation must have been even more difficult for settled peoples who relied primarily on agriculture.

To be honest, Shen Lang thought that it was already quite good that Nanzhao could still produce nearly two hundred warhorses.

But where did those warhorses go?

Mu Yuanying sighed: "To be honest, Your Highness, the horse post station has a reserve of 3,900 warhorses, but unfortunately, the horse administration is neglected, and the mountains and forests in the southern border regions are treacherous."

Warhorses were of little use, and local horse stations and government offices sold them to powerful clans throughout the Nanzhao Kingdom.

Jiang Shangxian exclaimed, "How dare you sell warhorses for profit? Have you no regard for the law?"

"Your Highness, please calm your anger. There's nothing we can do about it. Besides, the regulations of the Great Chu and Nanzhao horse administration..."

Whether it's official or private horse breeding, if it affects people's livelihoods, they can dispose of the surplus horses themselves.

This action did not violate the laws of the Great Chu Dynasty; it was truly a last resort.

Jiang Shangxian was speechless, pointing at Mu Yuanying's nose but unable to utter a single word.

"Your Highness, forget it. Since it has already happened, there's no use blaming him anymore. Let's think of other ways to get the horse."

Shen Lang spoke up to stop this pointless argument.

"By the way, Prefect Mu, you just said that all the warhorses have been bought by those powerful families, right?"

Mu Yuanying: "Yes, there are many landlords and gentry in Nanzhao. It's not uncommon for each household to keep two or three horses."

Moreover, they all keep guards at home, most of whom are skilled in horsemanship, and their riding skills are even superior to those of our garrison soldiers.

Shen Lang pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, go and summon the most respected local gentry. I have something to say to them."

Mu Yuanying: "Why does the lord wish to see them?"

Shen Lang: "Since they have horses and cavalry, who else can I ask if I don't ask them for them?"

Mu Yuanying shook his head: "My lord, this is probably difficult. These powerful families all have several ancestral halls and farmers supporting them. Forcibly demanding it might backfire."

"Don't worry about that. Just call them here, and I'll find a way to make them willingly offer up their horses and men. Go quickly."

"Yes, Your Excellency obeys."

Mu Yuanying didn't know what Shen Lang was planning, but she still obeyed orders and went to find those powerful families.

An hour later, three old men who looked like they were not to be trifled with sat in front of Shen Lang.

Looking at their clothes and attitude, Shen Lang recalled the scene in "The Warlords" where the three giants of the late Qing Dynasty (Zuo, Zeng, and Li) met the three Pang brothers.

"My name is Hu Haishan. I heard that Your Excellency has summoned us. Do you have any instructions?"

Hu Haishan owned numerous estates throughout Nanzhao, employing tens of thousands of tenant farmers. He also managed various mines and had four hundred elite guards within his residence, making him arguably the most powerful clan in Nanzhao.

As for the two people beside him, they are Gao Qian and Yang Shun, both of whom are local powerful families with considerable wealth.

When they faced Shen Lang, they showed no fear whatsoever; all they felt was wariness at being suddenly summoned.

Gao Qian added, "Lord Shen has come all the way from the capital, presumably to discuss the matter of Luchuan's invasion of our territory."

We should have done our duty as hosts, but we were unfortunate enough to offend you, sir. Please forgive us.

Yang Shun also said with a smile, "Yes, Lord Shen, please forgive us if we have been negligent in any way. If you need our help, please just ask and we will do our best."

The three men had different attitudes, but Shen Lang could sense their arrogance even from several steps away.

He slowly put down the teacup he was holding and looked at the three of them.

"Since you all know why I've come, I won't beat around the bush. The Yuxi Garrison is currently in dire straits."

The army is short of food and manpower. I would like to ask a few people to generously donate to help the officers and soldiers of the garrison get through this difficult time.

"Hum..."

Hu Haishan chuckled coldly a few times.

Gao Qian and Yang Shun couldn't help but laugh.

After a moment, Hu Haishan's smile faded: "Since Lord Shen has spoken,"

"Then I cannot refuse your request. Each of the three families will contribute five hundred taels, as a small token of our appreciation for the soldiers of the garrison."

"Ha ha……"

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang also let out a few cold laughs.

"I never imagined that the so-called powerful clans of Nanzhao would be so short-sighted. No wonder you are considered inferior and unworthy of respect among the noble families and gentry of the Great Chu."

"I originally intended to discuss a major deal with you gentlemen today, but it seems unlikely that an agreement will be reached."

Hu Haishan: "My lord, it's not that we don't know how to repay kindness. You can go to various parts of Nanzhao and ask how much money we gentry have donated for defense."

Even the lost Laoshan garrison was built with donations from wealthy Nanzhao families like us. Every time Luchuan invaded, the Nanzhao gentry contributed money and grain.

What did we get in return?

Shen Lang waved his hand: "I have no time to know about your grievances with the Nanzhao government, nor do I want to know about them."

"I only wish to temporarily enlist your skilled horsemen and warhorses into the army to accompany me on the expedition to Luchuan."

Upon hearing this, all three frowned.

"What do you want to do?"

"Plundering Luchuan".

With just four casual words, the three wealthy lords once again felt that the young man before them was simply insane.