latelenovela Chapter 429 Recruiting Cavalry
Chapter 429 Recruiting Cavalry
The initial agreement was for 2,000 muskets and 50 mountain cannons in exchange for 1,500 warhorses. However, guns and cannons are inanimate objects; the number transported is fixed. Warhorses, on the other hand, are living creatures and can easily die en route. To ensure the smooth execution of the transaction, the Guan Ning Army personally funded the addition of 200 warhorses to prevent a shortage that could cause the deal to fall through. Sure enough, several dozen horses died en route. Fortunately, the Guan Ning Army had made ample preparations beforehand, and currently still had over 1,600 horses, enough for the transaction with Liu Ye. They might even be able to curry favor and make things easier in the future.
Upon learning of Liu Ye's promotion to general, Wu Xiang's smile never faded. Considering the thorough preparations made, and the fact that they had prepared over a hundred extra warhorses, it would be laborious to transport them back, and there was a risk of something going wrong en route. Why not give these hundred-plus warhorses to the Qiongzhou army? This would gain them a favor, facilitating future cooperation. Having made up his mind, he feigned generosity and said, "We were worried that too many warhorses would die from acclimatization issues on the way, so we prepared extra. Now, we have over a hundred more than planned, so we won't dispose of them separately. We'll give them all as bonuses to the Qiongzhou camp—no, to the Qionghai army—to show the sincerity of our Guan Ning army!"
Regardless of what the other party thought, the fact remained that they had gained these extra warhorses. Lu Gengyu thanked the two men, saying, "On behalf of the general, I thank you both."
Ma Wei's eyes lit up at the sight of the horses. Before the two sides could finish exchanging pleasantries, he went straight to the stable fence, stroking and examining each warhorse, checking their teeth and overall condition.
Wu Sangui raised an eyebrow: "Oh, judging by this guy's demeanor, he's an expert. What do you think of our horses? Aren't they great?"
Ma Wei did not answer immediately. Instead, he inspected more than a dozen horses in one go before nodding and replying: "They are all top-quality Mongolian horses, with neat and rosy teeth, full of flesh and fat, and most of them are five or six years old, not young horses. They will be used as soon as they arrive."
Wu Xiang said with a smile, "This brother is indeed an expert. To show our sincerity, all of our horses were carefully selected from the Mongols. We don't want foals or old horses; they are all mature, healthy horses."
Lu Gengyu knew nothing about how to judge the quality of a horse, relying entirely on its reputation. Seeing that he was satisfied, he felt relieved and said to Wu Xiang, "General Wu, the guns and cannons are all waiting to be unloaded on the ship. However, I suggest we not take the land route. Although the muskets and cannons are not heavy, much lighter than the arquebuses and cannons allocated by the Ministry of War, a large quantity will still be heavy, and transportation will ultimately be inconvenient. It would be more convenient to unload the cargo at the dock, transfer it to another ship, and then transport it by sea."
Wu Xiang and his son exchanged a glance and agreed that this argument made sense. Transporting horses didn't require many laborers, as they were all cavalry. Transporting guns and cannons back to Liaodong was different; it not only required a large number of wagons but also a large number of laborers, adding many more steps to the process.
Wu Xiang said, "But we didn't prepare any ships for this trip. Where can we find so many ships in such a hurry?" Liaodong is located inland, and its sea outlet, Lushun, is blocked by the Tartars. Normally, there is no need for cargo ships for sea transport. Even if we thought of this, we still couldn't gather many ships.
Lu Gengyu took the initiative to show goodwill: "Since the Guan Ning Army is willing to prepare more horses to prevent losses, we are also willing to show our sincerity. There is no need to unload the guns and cannons from the ships. They can be transported directly to Liaodong. We will cover all the round-trip expenses and manpower. The Guan Ning Army only needs to arrange manpower to load them at the dock."
Wu Sangui was overjoyed: "That would be perfect. However, it's not safe to go through Lushun. We can land at Dagu in Tianjin and then take the land route, which will save us a lot of travel time."
Wu Xiang smiled so much his eyes narrowed into slits: "Your department is so sincere, there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future. Please tell General Liu that if he still needs warhorses, the Guan Ning Army can provide them at any time, whether in silver or guns, we can discuss it."
Lu Gengyu smiled and said to Wu Xiang, "No problem, no problem, I'll definitely nag you about it later."
After the two sides completed the handover of the warhorses and agreed on the departure time of the cargo ship, Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui returned to their residences.
After the Wu father and son left, Ma Wei asked curiously, "Mr. Lu, why are we being so friendly to the Guan Ning Army? It's just a one-off deal anyway, and we'll go our separate ways from now on."
Lu Gengyu shook his head: "Before leaving, Mr. Sun reiterated that the general values warhorses highly, and that buying warhorses through the Guan Ning Army is our only reliable way right now. We might need to rely on them to buy horses in the future, so we should maintain a good relationship with them. Mr. Sun gave me some authority to act according to circumstances. As long as we don't suffer losses, it's fine to give them some small favors, including sending ships to help them transport guns and cannons."
"Since it's the general's wish, then I won't ask any more questions." Ma Wei was the cavalry instructor personally promised by Liu Ye. As long as the cavalry training was done well, he would definitely get a position as a centurion. Naturally, he was happy to see the continued purchase of warhorses and expansion of the cavalry.
Two days later, Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui boarded a large ship belonging to the Qionghai Navy, carrying a full load of guns and cannons, and left Dengzhou, heading towards Tianjin. Ma Wei and Lu Gengyu remained in Dengzhou to recruit men and build a cavalry.
Shandong, after all, was a place that had experienced war, unlike the long-peaceful south. Moreover, the imperial court had implemented a horse administration policy in Shandong, and many people had experience in raising horses and could ride them, so they had some basic knowledge and were easier to train. Lu Gengyu asked Lin Tianming to advertise in Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou and other places in the name of the Dengzhou-Laizhou Governor's Office, recruiting cavalrymen with high pay. After half a month, quite a few people signed up.
However, Ma Wei had very strict standards for choosing people. He himself came from the Xuanfu Night Scouts and looked down on people who were too mediocre. He also didn't want older people or those who were physically weak and just wanted to coast along. After strict screening, at least half of them were eliminated, leaving less than 400 people in the end.
Seeing this situation, Lu Gengyu was very anxious: "If you select people like this, when will we ever be able to build a cavalry? The general and Mr. Sun have high hopes for us, and we can't afford to mess things up."
Ma Wei also said with aggrieved feelings, "The rebels have committed atrocities in Shandong these past few years, and too many people have died. We can only recruit from the three eastern prefectures, so it's already good enough that we can select these people. If I'm not strict, I'll really be letting the general down! He wants cavalrymen who can fight tough battles. If I recruit those old men and sickly people who can barely walk, we can't count on them for fighting, and we'll have to treat their illnesses and care for them in their old age! Besides, many young and strong men have moved to Qiongzhou Prefecture, which further reduces the pool of candidates..."