Chapter 3 - Horses

Li Chiqi and Hong Huangnan looked at each other, not daring to speak anymore. They had both experienced Nick’s crazed state. After his fit passed, he led them to the pasture office.

The Mopanling Pasture looked natural, but it had actually undergone a massive transformation. Most of the hillside pastures had undergone water and soil conservation projects. Stone-paved drainage ditches could be seen descending from the mountain ridges, emptying into the artificial river at the foot of the mountain. This ensured that the topsoil on the mountain was not eroded by water, while also conserving water and fertilizer. The water drained from the mountain was collected in a reservoir at the foot of the hillside for the horses to drink—horses have a high demand for water.

The soil of the pasture had been improved, and the lush green grass, which looked purely natural, was actually mostly high-quality pasture grass planted artificially. A reservoir and an artificial river channel had been built at the foot of the mountain to store rainwater and regulate the ecosystem. The Mopanling Pasture project was a huge investment, the third-largest agricultural infrastructure project after the Meitaiyang transformation and the school field transformation, undertaken by the Agricultural Committee. The huge cost of raising horses had once caused controversy within the Executive Committee—in the long run, Lin’gao was not a suitable place for large-scale horse breeding.

However, the urgent need for horses in the military and agriculture finally led to the approval of the Mopanling Pasture project. After all, without a large enough pasture, it would be difficult to expand the horse population. The original pasture on the banks of the Wenlan River was limited in size and had little potential for expansion in the rapidly developing plains. In contrast, the mountainous area had a relatively cool climate, and the land and hydrological conditions were suitable for developing animal husbandry.

The pasture office was located in a wooden house not far from the stables. The windows were open, and a fresh scent of grass mixed with the smell of horse manure filled the room. If you sniffed carefully, you could also smell a hint of disinfectant. The office’s decoration was very rough, with natural wood-paneled walls, stone-paved floors, and a very old-style plain wooden desk, along with many file cabinets. The cabinets were labeled: Stallion Evaluation Forms, Pedigrees, Breeding Records…

In modern horse breeding, the cultivation and maintenance of horse breeds are the focus of the work—especially when the local horse breeds are of poor quality and in urgent need of improvement. Nick was not very familiar with these things. He was very knowledgeable about horse pedigrees and could talk about them eloquently, but this was just armchair theorizing from a riding club and had little to do with practical operation. Now, the main work in this area was being done by Yang Baogui, and Nick was studying hard.

“Sit.” Nick took off his work clothes and threw them into a laundry basket on the side. He invited them to sit down. Yang Baogui was familiar with the place and sat down as soon as he entered. Nick poured two large glasses of cold boiled water for them from a glass pitcher. Li Chiqi thought that the level of hospitality here was one of the worst among all the departments of the Council of Elders. Even the most stingy department would offer a cup of tea. Offices and workshops in the industrial and commercial sectors always had various drinks available for open supply.

“What’s the matter today? Need to borrow a horse?” Nick asked directly.

“Yes, you know Xun Suji, right? From the food factory…”

Nick nodded repeatedly. “Oh, I know. I’ve gotten scraps from the food factory for feed.”

“He’s getting married,” Li Chiqi said. “His wife is a native. This is the first time an Elder has married a native. The Executive Committee wants to make it a grand affair, so they approved him to use the Red Flag carriage to welcome the bride. The carriage team is now under my management, so I need to borrow two horses for the wedding carriage tomorrow.”

Most people would not refuse such a thing that adds to the splendor, but Li Chiqi knew that Nick might not be one of them.

“What does Xun Suji’s marriage have to do with me?” Nick said indifferently, as expected. “Let the bride ride in a sedan chair—don’t they all ride in sedan chairs in this time and place?”

“We’re all Elders. You have to give him some face for his wedding and let him use a carriage.”

“If it’s for military, agricultural, or foreign affairs use, of course, there’s no problem with using a horse—that’s the bigger picture. What’s so important about a wedding? Will he not get married without a carriage?”

“Well—” Li Chiqi was at a loss for words. That was also a valid point. But the matter of the wedding carriage had already been decided and couldn’t be changed just because he disagreed.

“Don’t worry, it’s just two horses pulling a carriage for a short trip. It’s not a heavy load,” Li Chiqi said, trying to persuade him. After much persuasion and many assurances, he finally got the horses he needed.

Hong Huangnan was secretly speechless. With Comrade Nick’s attitude, his plan to sell carriages would have to find another source for horses. He would have to discuss this matter thoroughly with Guo Yi, Si Kaide, and the others.

Yang Baogui was not surprised and said with a smile, “When this batch of horses from the government troops arrives, the use of horses won’t be so tight.”

“The natives have always been reckless in using horses. The new horses won’t be usable without three or four months of conditioning,” Nick said. “How many horses will come this time?”

“The numbers have been reported,” Hong Huangnan said. He had memorized these numbers. “107 horses, 71 mules, and 51 donkeys.”

“That’s all?” Nick was disappointed. “After the Battle of Chengmai, more than a hundred horses were sent over! And now we’ve taken their main base and still only get a hundred or so?”

Hong Huangnan said, “I heard the soldiers ate a lot of them. Actually, they hadn’t reached the point of having to kill horses for food. I think it was purely for the meat.”

Nick was heartbroken. After a long while, he said, “Should I send a few grooms from here to help drive the horses? Is the supply of water and grass on the road guaranteed?”

“I’ve asked the artillery team to help drive the horses. They’ve all been trained here, so you can rest assured, right?” Hong Huangnan said with a smile. “Don’t worry about the water and grass feed. I’m a logistics staff officer. How could I not handle this basic work?”

Yang Baogui asked, “Are there many sick and injured horses?”

“Not many. The sick and injured ones were eaten by the soldiers long ago,” Hong Huangnan didn’t say that some of them had been sent to the meat processing plant. He asked, “How many horses do we have now?”

“We have a total of 196 horses, including the new foals born this year,” Nick said. “24 donkeys and 10 mules. The mules are both captured and newly born. After they are conditioned, they will be handed over to the farms for their own use.”

The entire Mopanling was now home to all the horses, donkeys, and mules under the control of the transmigrator group. According to the relevant regulations drafted by the People’s Committee for Agriculture and approved by the Council of Elders, all horses, donkeys, and mules obtained through various channels were not to be retained by any department or individual and were to be first transferred to the Mopanling Pasture. Only after treatment, restorative feeding, and assessment of their breeding value could they be classified for use.

Hearing that Hong Huangnan and the others were going to Guangzhou to promote carriages, Nick talked about the issue of horse supply. He was very curious about how they would supply horses for the carriages in Guangzhou, a place that did not produce horses. Hong Huangnan then talked about Si Kaide’s idea: to buy Guangxi horses and Dian horses locally.

“These two types of horses should both be of the Dian horse breed from the southwest. They are as small as donkeys, and their carrying capacity is not even as good as a good donkey,” Nick said disapprovingly. “Besides being possibly useful for mountain troops, I really don’t see their value.”

Hong Huangnan was determined to stick to his plan of selling carriages and had already thought of a corresponding reason: “Mongolian horses are not easy to get. Besides, you wouldn’t be willing to sell the Mongolian horses that we went through so much trouble to get to the wealthy households to pull carriages, would you?”

“That’s true,” Nick nodded. “When you buy Dian horses in Guangzhou, I’ll send a professional horse breeder to be stationed there.”

“Thank you so much. But you should hurry up and send the horses to us first. Otherwise, the groom, Xun Suji, will be waiting anxiously,” Hong Huangnan said. Everyone laughed.

Many years later, when “new-style marriage” had become one of the most common forms of wedding among the common people, those old people who had first witnessed an “Australian wedding” in Lin’gao would still relish telling their impatient children and grandchildren about the various events of that day. For such a poor and remote place, the brand-new wedding style was a real eye-opener for them.

That afternoon, Mo Xiao’an wore a full white summer uniform of the US Navy, borrowed from Le Lin—the collar insignia and rank had been removed. The reason for borrowing the American one was that the US military’s was the most magnificent, with glittering decorations, to avoid the natives thinking it was funeral attire. In the past, there had been similar misunderstandings when the Elders wore white undershirts and white shirts in the summer. Now, the naturalized citizens and some of the natives who had frequent contact with the Elders already knew that the Australians did not shy away from wearing white.

Xun Suji wore a flower on his chest and held a bouquet of fresh flowers. Accompanied by Mo Xiao’an, he rode in the Red Flag carriage to the Liu Family Village to welcome the bride. The roads were lined with onlookers. Both natives and naturalized citizens wanted to see what this “new-style marriage” looked like. The Red Flag carriage, drawn by two horses and decorated with red ribbons and colored streamers, galloped proudly on the public road. The wedding procession was led by a column of garrison soldiers—all wearing new-style uniforms, looking both majestic and spirited.

The dragon and lion dance team from the Propaganda Department, personally led by Ji Denggao, created a great spectacle in the Liu Family Village. Amidst the deafening sound of gongs and drums, Zhang Yu gave a stuttering live commentary:

“The procession has entered the square in front of the Liu Family Village… The garrison soldiers are in formation… Chief Xun, with a smile on his face, gets out of the carriage and waves to the relatives and friends attending the wedding and the crowd in the square…”

The bride did not wear the traditional phoenix coronet and robe of rank, but a “Hanfu” designed by the Huaxia Society—of course, it was again the work of Zheng Shangjie’s own hands—a bright red satin Hanfu wedding dress. She wore a 21st-century “Hanfu” phoenix coronet on her head, looking unique. The scholars among the Liu family and the guests were all discussing—was this the attire of the Great Song Dynasty?

Despite their doubts, no one in Lin’gao dared to question the Elders anymore. Seeing the procession of carriages coming to welcome the bride, with such an extraordinary display of grandeur, everyone was envious. All the prominent landlords with marriageable daughters began to make their own plans.

Amidst the joyful and noisy crowd, the first batch of trade and intelligence personnel heading to the mainland had quietly arrived at the Foreign Intelligence Bureau to receive their mission orders for their respective regions. According to the plan, they would go to multiple locations on the mainland to officially launch the mainland strategy.