Horsemanship Lost to Time

"The Qin Dynasty took too much with it when it collapsed. Look at the ruins of Xianyang in that direction—everything is gone!"

The capital of the Qin Dynasty was Xianyang, and the capital of the Great Han Dynasty was Chang'an City.

Chang'an City was located north of the Wei River, and Xianyang was located south of the Wei River, only three kilometers apart.

What was once a prosperous place has become desolate, and has since become part of many imperial mausoleums and the Shanglin Garden.

Even the capital city turned to ashes, and countless legacies were lost between the Qin Dynasty and the Great Han Dynasty.

Some of the content still circulates among the people, but most of it has disappeared.

The horse taming technique that Liu Xuan mentioned is one of them.

During the Great Han Dynasty, the methods used to tame horses originated from the Beast Taming Sect, and there were also cultivators who specialized in taming horses.

The Grand Steward of the Nine Ministers was in charge of all horses in the land. Under him were officials such as the Grand Stable, the Weiyang, and the Domestic Horses. The Domestic Horses were the monks and officials who tamed wild horses into domestic horses.

In the Qin Dynasty, every soldier could tame horses, thus possessing a mount that obeyed their commands. In the Great Han Dynasty, horse taming relied on the control of officials, resulting in docile and obedient mounts.

The latter is better in terms of effect, but they are vastly different in terms of efficiency.

In order to verify Liu Xuan's description of the "thousand-pound weight" and prevent Huo Qubing from making mistakes in his practice, Zhang Xuezhou went to the Imperial Stud Temple to inquire. The result he obtained made Zhang Xuezhou somewhat alarmed.

Grand Master of the Palace, Gongsun He, was a close advisor to the new emperor. He was about the same age as Zhang Xuezhou and treated Zhang Xuezhou with great courtesy.

Zhang Xuezhou sought an audience with a minor official in the Court of Imperial Stud, and ultimately met with this official.

Gongsun He pointed south, also signifying the helplessness brought about by the changing times.

The Qin Dynasty's legions were vast and numerous, their iron-clad troops intimidating all sides. In contrast, the Great Han Dynasty has yet to produce any large-scale legions that can be considered formidable, whether it be the Northern Army, the Southern Army, the Western Expeditionary Army, or the Imperial Guards. None of them possess the formidable reputation of the Qin Dynasty's legions.

"It's not just about horsemanship; it applies to everything related to weaponry," Gongsun He said. "Qin crossbows could be carried by ordinary soldiers, and there were even sophisticated hand crossbows. But our Great Han manufactures the Great Yellow Crossbow, which has astonishing killing power, capable of taking a life within 150 zhang. However, only those with superhuman strength or cultivators can wield it, making it difficult to popularize on a large scale!"

"What a pity!"

"Cultivators are not made of iron armor. If there were a large-scale, instantaneous crossbow barrage, any cultivator would have to walk with their tail between their legs. They've never been like us, getting all humiliated and defeated over the years!"

"That's right!"

Gongsun He's voices of regret continued.

Zhang Xuezhou's position doesn't offer much of a comparison, while Gongsun He's position is quite different and is often used for comparison.

The Great Han Dynasty's current strength and power were not achieved overnight, but rather through nearly a century of accumulation.

This immense size was enough to intimidate many nations, but the Great Han Dynasty could not withstand the depletion of war; once it suffered heavy losses, it was difficult to recover.

This led generals like Cheng Bushi to focus more on defense, while more aggressive generals like Li Guang rarely launched large-scale wars, mostly engaging in small-scale offensives involving a few thousand men.

"We stumbled upon a fairly basic horse-taming technique among the common people. Even the physically strong can imitate it through sheer strength, while those with Qi and Blood and blood and Law Power can command it with Technique Method. I wonder if you, sir, would be interested..."

Yes, yes, yes!

Before Zhang Xuezhou could finish speaking, Gongsun He echoed his words.

Regardless of whether the horse training techniques Zhang Xuezhou brought were usable or effective, this was the attitude of the Imperial Stud.

As long as the content is feasible, the Imperial Stud will study it carefully and even adopt it directly.

Gongsun He also needed political achievements to maintain his position, lest he be replaced by the Empress Dowager's faction.

"This seems to bear some resemblance to the horse-clamping technique of Shiqu Pavilion. The horse-clamping technique only has the form but lacks the spirit. Only those with great strength can clamp a horse, and it requires brute force to tame it. Therefore, it is difficult to include it in the category of horse training techniques. This method not only adds a way of exerting force when driving, but also directly impacts the horse's Qihai acupoint when exerting force with the limbs, thus making the horse limp and unable to resist..."

Gongsun He was sincere and possessed aristocratic manners, a testament to his humility and prudence during his early years in office. Whenever he was in the Taipu Mansion, any court official who came to the Taipu Mansion would be personally received by him.

He took his position as one of the Nine Ministers very seriously, and he had a thorough understanding of the contents of the chapters concerning the Imperial Stud.

When Zhang Xuezhou, unable to obtain the thousand-pound weight, offered up what he had obtained, Gongsun He finally deciphered the relevant information.

Liu Xuan mentioned that the Thousand-Pound Drop technique is a basic skill in horse taming. This technique is indeed not complicated; even Huo Qubing could master it after just one attempt. It is even simpler for advanced cultivators.

Gongsun He repeatedly compared the text with the modern language and frequently pointed out the need to correct and describe it using contemporary language.

"This is undoubtedly a Qin technique from a hundred years ago. Although it seems simple, only the elite soldiers of the Qin army could practice it at that time. The technique practiced by ordinary soldiers was similar to the horse-clamping technique, but it might have had some additional power exertion methods in this chapter..."

After completing the comparison, Gongsun He couldn't help but wonder which mountain valley Zhang Xuezhou had obtained this chapter on horsemanship.

This kind of horsemanship is difficult to categorize into the four categories of skills: A, B, C, and D. It is almost similar to the basic training chapters on riding horses for combat, but the universality and adaptability of this skill are too broad.

Lacking the horse-training skills of the Qin elite troops, the Great Han Dynasty developed a different system for training and distributing horses. This system could be put to use if the Great Han Dynasty's soldiers needed to replace horses in large numbers.

These techniques are simple to learn, easy to promote, and can quickly prove effective when needed.

Gongsun He felt this could be a contingency plan prepared by the Imperial Stud. He mentioned that he would definitely report this matter to the new emperor, and his serious attitude made Zhang Xuezhou feel ashamed.

Comparing Gongsun He's performance in his position, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he himself was irresponsible and unserious in his official duties, except for a dozen or so days when he was the Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office in his early years.

"I need to visit His Majesty's tomb after my next lucid period; we can't let His Majesty's funeral be too gruesome!"

Although the new emperor is young and vigorous, there's no guarantee he won't die someday. Zhang Xuezhou felt that it was better to be prepared for anything when it came to building a mausoleum, and that they should take it a little more seriously.

He retrieved the horse-clamping weight that Gongsun He had corrected from the Imperial Stud's residence before strolling out of the bustling official residence.

"How about it?"

"Did the sick child's haphazard practice go wrong?"

"Everything is fine, no need to worry!"

Li Shaojun was quite curious, while Wei Shao'er hurriedly inquired about cultivation, wanting to verify as much as possible whether Huo Qubing had made any mistakes in his cultivation. Liu Xuan looked around the Taipu Mansion, seemingly somewhat interested in it.

Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand, indicating that there was nothing wrong with Huo Qubing's cultivation.

"I discussed this with the Imperial Stud, and it seems that Xiao Huo has only grasped the basics of the cultivation in a superficial way," Zhang Xuezhou said. "His current ability is only enough to tame ordinary horses. To tame a demonic horse, he needs to master the details. His acupoints aren't fully open yet, so there's no way he could make mistakes in his cultivation. He can't be too badly off after just starting out!"

"Then I'm relieved!"

Wei Shao'er nodded, then picked up her shoe and gave Huo Qubing a good beating. Seeing that Huo Qubing was no longer feeling the weight and was about to float away, she reluctantly gave up the idea of continuing to beat him.

"You'll beat me whether you trust me or not," Huo Qubing said angrily. "I've been healthy for three days, and you've beaten me eight times in a row! I can't take this anymore! I'm going to become a kite!"

"If you don't want to get beaten up, learn from Dongfang Shuo his method of not being afraid of getting beaten up!"

Wei Shao'er gave Huo Qubing a piece of advice, which made him realize why he was being beaten even though he had no problems.