Song Dynasty Iron Armored Army

Chapter 22 I Have a Little Donkey
Chai Gang, with his two assistants, had just eaten a bowl of tofu nao from the breakfast shop. When he came back, he saw a lot of people gathered around a group of donkeys.

Chai Gang also leaned over to take a look and was amused. This is a typical black-headed donkey. This kind of donkey is tall and big. It is ten or twenty centimeters taller than a prairie horse. It has a thick and strong body with a broad and deep chest. , thick limbs, strong hooves.Adult big donkeys can weigh up to a thousand catties, and small ones can weigh six to seven hundred catties. They are heavy donkeys with strong endurance and strong disease resistance. They are good at doing farm work.

Some time ago, Chaigang purchased dozens of donkeys, some of which were used to produce mules with prairie horses, and the rest were used for purebred breeding.But Chai Jin said that it is just a joke to want to breed just a few dozen donkeys. If you want to build a donkey breeding farm, you must have at least [-] breeding donkeys, and then drive the surrounding people to vigorously breed them.

Why was it difficult for horses to develop in the Northern Song Dynasty? It was because the cost of raising horses in agricultural areas was high, and their practicability was far lower than that of mules and donkeys.But the donkey is different. It can be used to pull carts, pull mills, plow the land, carry things, and go to the market. It is a kind of animal that the people like to see the most. They even talk about donkeys when they curse, such as you donkey What.

With his hands behind his back, Chai Gang came to the side of the cattle pen, pinched the donkey's mouth and looked at the teeth.The man who sold the donkey was not happy anymore. This man was dressed in a strong suit, with a short knife pinned to his waist, and cast his eyes at Chai Gang, saying: "It's not for sale, don't look at it."

Chai Gang didn't look at him directly, but took a closer look at the donkey. He looked like a doctor of Chinese medicine, and checked whether the mouth and nose were clean. If the mouth and nose were clean, it meant that the donkey was not sick.Second, look at the coat color. If the coat color is good, it means that the donkey has balanced nutrition and health.Thirdly, look at the limbs. Only the strong and powerful limbs are the working donkeys. This kind of donkey is resistant to roughage and easy to feed.

The more you look at it, the more you like it. This batch of good products must be bought.

Chai Gang said: "Whoever said you want to buy it for free, go and call your seller over here."

Seeing that he was a big customer, the guy didn't dare to neglect, a young man in his twenties came over soon, cupped his hands and said, "Xiao Ke Zeng Mi, I don't know how many donkeys the guest officer wants."

Chai Gang said: "It turns out that Zeng was the owner of the house. My farm plans to raise donkeys for a business. A thousand or eight hundred donkeys is a small amount. How much can you sell?"

"Haha, that's a coincidence, let's talk in the guest room."

The horse market has a guest room for the big clients of the transaction. Zeng Mi brought Chai Gang to the guest room, served tea, the two drank for a while, and then got down to business.

Zeng Mi smiled and said: "There are five or six villages near me, and more than 3000 households are engaged in raising donkeys. It is not a problem to produce about [-] donkeys every year. It is not a problem if you want more than a thousand donkeys. It's just that the price we Is it an estimate or a single calculation?"

The so-called estimate means that this group of donkeys is optimistic, and all donkeys are worth ten taels of silver, no matter the size, and the price is calculated on a head-by-head basis.

Chai Gang said: "You donkeys are worth five or six taels for small ones, and more than ten taels for big ones. It's hard to estimate. It's better to count the money one by one. I have to check each one."

"Okay, cool, let's start now." Zeng Mi was very straightforward in his work. At that time, he arranged for the clerk to hold the ledger, the number of each donkey, and negotiate the price.

The quality is pretty good, but the price is also disturbing, not a bit cheaper than what retail investors charge.The expensive ones are sixteen or seven taels of silver, and the cheap ones are five or six taels of silver. Most of them are two or three-year-old female donkeys. The fifty donkeys cost about 550 taels of silver.

Zeng Mi was very happy, and immediately took Chai Gang to chat: "I said, big brother, where are you from, why do you need so many donkeys?"

"In Chaijiazhuang, there are not many people in our land, and there are not many cattle for farming. The people prefer donkeys to work, so we bought a lot of them." Chai Gang said.

Zeng Mi thought for a while and said, "Then next time I get a thousand heads, will you all want them all?"

Chai was also bragging just now, he can't settle for a thousand heads, but Chai Jin asked him to accept five hundred heads, but he doesn't have that authority.

Chai Gang said with a smile: "You have been doing this all year round and you know the livestock. If it is suitable, I will buy it. But if the quality is not good, I won't take it if you get it. What we want is that it can work and reproduce. Donkeys, after all, you don’t buy butchers and sell them. In this way, don’t buy more next time. Bring about [-] donkeys. It’s still the rule this time. One donkey counts for money. I’ll take the ones that are suitable. How about you keep it and sell it?"

Zeng Mi said: "Well, next time I will go directly to Chaijiazhuang, and the market fee will be reduced, that's great."

"It couldn't be better. Just go to Chai's house and find me, Chai Gang. If I'm not here, you can also find the housekeeper, Chai An." Chai Gang arranged.

"I'll come over in about ten days, and bring over [-] breeding female donkeys, and we'll hand over the money at that time." Zeng Mi and Chai Gang parted ways, and took people back.

Chai Gang was very happy. The quality of these donkeys was good, so he rushed back immediately and entered the isolated pen. They had to brush their hair and remove insects. After [-] days of observation, they could enter the black donkey farm. The donkey farm is located four miles away to the east of the horse farm. , rebuilt from a deserted beach, it also covers an area of ​​[-] mu.

As soon as Chai passed the racecourse, he saw [-] horses coming in mighty force, and they were temporarily isolating the stables. The person in charge of the horse farm came over and said, "Gangzi, donkey, please arrange for your subordinates to deliver it. There are [-] new horses. , I need you to test it."

Chai Gang saw that the horses were sent by the previous group, and he also knew that these people had been recruited by the owner, so he immediately led the veterinarian to examine the horses.Shi Xiu assisted from the side. The horses were numbered, and they were checked and inspected one by one according to the account books.Of the [-] horses, only two lost weight a bit. I suspect that there are worms in their stomachs. The other horses are fat and strong, healthy and disease-free, but to be on the safe side, isolation is still necessary. The [-]-day isolation period can only be entered. Racecourse, mix with the horses from last time.

In the evening, Chai entered the house.Chai Jin hosted a banquet for Shi Xiu, Chai Gang, and the person in charge of the donkey farm and horse farm.

Chai Jin was very happy, and specially arranged for the kitchen to cook some side dishes, and everyone lined up on both sides to drink some wine.

Chai Jin picked up his wine glass and said, "Brother Shi Xiu, thank you for your hard work. You came back very quickly this trip, less than half a month back and forth."

Shi Xiu cupped his hands and said: "My brother made thorough arrangements, and he is familiar with the people. He traded with the Liao people when he arrived at the place, without any delay. The horses this time are basically three-year-old mares, and there are only five stallions. .That is to say, mass production and breeding will be possible next year.”

"Dabashi, how are you doing? Has there been any progress recently?" Chai Jin asked.

Chai Gang said: "The Majiaji market is a small place, so it is difficult to make big progress. A few days ago, 52 cows were purchased one after another and sent to the temporary farm. Today, [-] black-headed donkeys were purchased. The quality is very high. Very good, the vendor said he would send two hundred more in a few days."

(End of this chapter)