Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 22 Buying Horses
This is how Jia Qiong's education journey began. The school was closed every five days, and there were also winter and summer vacations. It was very similar to the schools of later generations.

Within two days, Jia Qiong had completely adapted to it, and she had become familiar with several of her peers from the Wang family and had a harmonious relationship.

Of course, he is still closer to Wang Yuyan and his sister.

Every morning, the teacher will check the homework one by one, point out any errors and omissions, and then assign new homework to everyone.

Then they will give unified lectures on the subject, or talk about poetry and prose, or teach elegant collections of history books, or teach the Four Books and Five Classics.

Even if it is a boring Four Books and Five Classics, he will explain each article clearly in detail.

Quoting from classics and quoting extensively, making people listen with gusto.

It is estimated that each of the great people in this era is much better than the so-called masters of Chinese studies in later generations.

Jia Qiong feels that she can gain something from every class.

Three days later, during the holiday, Jia Qiong asked Wang Yi to accompany him to the horse market to buy horses.

Walking more than two hours to and from get out of class every day is indeed a waste of time.

Early in the morning, while the weather was relatively cool, Jia Qiong and others took Tian Li to the horse market.

This is the place where horses are sold in Chang'an City, and horse dealers from all over the country gather here.

Tian Li is the main force this time. Although Jia Qiong has read a few books on Soma, his experience is still far behind. This time he can learn a little bit.

Niuma Market was originally located in Chang'an West City, but residents living nearby were very dissatisfied because of the unpleasant smell.

Later, it moved to Hanjiaji outside the city, not far to the west of the city.

There are two main sources of horses in Dachu. One is raised by the people in the territory themselves.

However, due to geographical and horse breed issues, most of these are ordinary draft horses and draft horses.

Strong horses that can go on the battlefield are mainly obtained from foreign races through trade.

The main breeds are Mongolian horses, Hequ horses, and Western Region horses.

The Mongolian horse has a short body, a large head, a short neck, a strong body, a broad chest, a long mane, and thick skin and thick hair.

Although it looks ugly, it has strong adaptability, load-bearing ability, and endurance.

It can withstand snowstorms on the grassland, and it can also kick the head of a fox wolf with its hoof.

The tamed Mongolian horse has always been an excellent military horse and is the basis for the Mongolian cavalry to dominate the Eurasian continent.

Although Dachu and the Mongols are hostile, each year the two sides open mutual trade on the border.

Da Chu would exchange salt, wine, tea, iron pots, cloth and other necessities for the survival of the grassland people in exchange for war horses.

However, in order to prevent the Mongols from breeding horses themselves, the horses they traded were all castrated stallions, which were sterile.

Jia Qiong's goal is not Mongolian horses, but Western Region horses.

Mongolian horses are still a bit short and not powerful and handsome enough to ride.

Although the horses from the Western Regions are more delicate and have less endurance, they are tall, powerful and faster.

Generally speaking, rich people still prefer horses from the Western Regions, but of course the price is much more expensive.

The horses from the Western Regions were brought all the way from the Western Regions by merchants. The journey was not only hard but also dangerous.

Therefore, the price of horses in the Western Regions has always been high, and their numbers are scarce. The most common ones cost 700 taels of silver.

A slightly better one costs about a thousand taels, which is equivalent to a million-level luxury car in later generations.

Sometimes, businessmen would smuggle in a few purebred horses from the Western Regions, and such horses would often be sold at sky-high prices.

Another advantage of Western Horses is that because of their scarcity, male horses are not castrated, and sometimes there are smuggled mares.

Jia Qiong and four other people arrived at Hanjiaji in the palace's carriage. The first thing they saw were several rows of simple thatched huts.

However, there are quite a few cattle sellers here, but not many horses.

Moreover, most of the horse sellers were small traders with only one or two horses. A few people walked around and looked around, but Tian Li didn't catch a single horse.In Tian Li's words, the horses here are barely capable of pulling a cart, and they definitely cannot be used as war horses.

After being directed by someone, they came to a racecourse two miles away, where they saw many good horses.

There are Mongolian horses, Guanzhong horses, Hequ horses, Yunnan horses, and Western Region horses. The entire ranch is divided into several areas and occupied by different horse dealers.

With Tian Li there, they quickly picked three horses.

There are two horses from the Western Regions for riding, one pure black, one red, and a Hequ horse that can both ride and pull a cart.

These two Western Region horses are just adults. Although they are not purebred horses, they are tall, with shiny coats and slender limbs.

Tian Li said that they should be the descendants of Wusun horses, and they are the two best horses in the entire racecourse.

Of course, the price of these two horses is really not cheap. They cost a total of 500 taels of silver.

This greatly exceeded Jia Qiong's original budget. If Tian Li hadn't followed, Jia Qiong and the others would have really not dared to take action.

When Jia Qiong started to choose his own horse, he chose a horse from the Western Regions that looked very good.

The horse dealer also praised him for his good eyesight and selected the best purebred Dawan horse in his hands.

But Tian Li took a quick look and knew that the horse was too old.

Although he seems to be in good condition now and his bloodline is very pure.

But I am about to enter my old age, and I will have to retire after riding for only two years.

If Jia Qiong spent 3000 taels of silver to buy it, then he would be a pure victim.

With such a good horse, Jia Qiong and the others naturally couldn't wait to start learning riding skills.

Xu Shan and Jia Qiong started practicing directly with the Western Region horses, and Wang Yi practiced with the Hequ horses first.

With the teacher Tian Li, they all learned very quickly.

They basically mastered several movements such as hitting the waves, leaning forward, controlling the reins, pressing the waves, and pushing the waves in half a day, but they are not yet proficient.

As long as you practice more and become familiar with the horse's nature, you can slowly let go of the speed.

Xu Shan is indeed a born warrior and the fastest to learn.

On his way back to the city, he could already trot on his horse, while Jia Qiong and Wang Yi could only press the bridle and walk slowly.

Even so, the two of them were already very excited.

Wang Yi yelled that when he went back, he would also ask his father for money to buy a good horse.

After being able to ride a horse, it will be much easier for Jia Qiong to go to and from school.

It takes an hour to walk, but only ten minutes to ride a horse, and that’s without letting up on the speed.

The days went by, Xu Shan concentrated on learning to ride and shoot, and Jia Qiong focused on her studies. In the blink of an eye, it was July.

The weather became extremely hot, the entire Guanzhong land was like a steamer, and the Wang family private school also had a full 30-day holiday.

Some time ago, Xuan Zhenzi came to Wang Hun and thanked him for his help in publishing the Book of Saviors.

It happened that Jia Qiong was also there, so Xuan Zhenzi invited them to visit Qingyun Temple.

Qingyun Temple is located 35 miles west of Chang'an City and at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains.

Xuan Zhenzi said that it was an excellent place to escape the summer heat, and it was cool and comfortable even in the hot summer.

The weather has been really hot and dry these past few days, making it difficult to calm down.

Jia Qiong discussed with her aunt about staying at Qingyun Temple for a few days as a way to escape the summer heat, and Shen Biyun happily agreed.

Jia Qiong went to the palace again to contact Wang Hun and his wife. Wang Hun was too busy to go, so Mrs. Wang planned to take Wang Yuyan and her brother with her.

(End of this chapter)