The military display ended, and the infantry and cavalry returned to their respective camps. Huan Wen rewarded all the officers and soldiers who had participated. Such exercises were held on the first of every month. Whenever that day came, regardless of heat or cold, clear skies or gloom, wind, frost, rain, or snow, Huan Wen would appear on the reviewing platform on time.
After Huan Wen returned to the Grand General's residence, Chen Caozhi asked the armor officer to take him around the Western Headquarters Armory. Xie Xuan accompanied Chen Caozhi as well.
The armor officer led Clerk Chen and Clerk Xie to the southwestern corner of the Inner City, where the Western Headquarters Armory stood. It held vast quantities of military equipment: long weapons such as striking poles, dagger-axes, spears, and halberds; short weapons such as sabers and swords; ranged weapons such as crossbows and bows; protective equipment such as helmets, armor, and shields; and weapons for attack and defense, chopping and hacking, pounding and smashing, including hammers, iron claws, staves, battle-axes, axes, and hook shields. There were also large numbers of pointed-roof siege carts, flying ladders, fire carts, catapults, battering rams, toad carts, wall-scaling carts, parapet-hooking carts, striking poles, mobile furnaces, cloth screens, and other military apparatus. At the River Mouth where Gushu Creek entered the river, there was also a naval shipyard that built warships-
Chen Caozhi saw that most of the Western Headquarters cavalry were equipped with single stirrups, solely to make mounting and dismounting easier. Yet paired stirrups were essential to bringing out the cavalry's fighting strength. He asked the armor officer why all the horses were not fitted with paired stirrups. The answer was economy.
Iron goods were scarce in Eastern Jin, but whatever else they economized on, they should not skimp on stirrups.