Gao Yanei said from the side, "Brother, there are many Sima Zhizhong in front of the palace who are as skilled in riding as him, and their tricks are even more fancy than his. If you want to see it, I will call some good riders over some other day. I guarantee you will be satisfied."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. Every Spring Festival, my father would arrange a circus for the emperor. The riders were all chosen from the imperial guards, and they were all excellent riders. But then again, although this thing looks good, it's useless. It's better not to learn it, brother."
"Young Master, it's always good to learn more. It's always good to have some knowledge." Zhang Shixun commented on the matter.
Gao Yanei did not comment, but the others nodded in agreement.
Coach Lin finished his performance and urged his horse back to the crowd.
Zhang Shixun went up to him, gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Coach Lin's riding skills are truly extraordinary and eye-opening. I admire you, brother."
"No, no! Practice makes perfect." Instructor Lin dismounted, untied the reins, and patted the horse's neck. "No, young master, you don't need to learn from me. These riding techniques are just gimmicks to please the eyes and ears. They are not very useful. Just watch them, there is no need to imitate them deliberately."
"See, I was right, even he himself said it's of no use." Gao Yanei said complacently.
Zhang Shixun ignored him and said to Coach Lin, "Coach, you are too modest. Your riding skills are indeed superb, and your white horse is also a rare and good horse."
Hearing Zhang Shixun's praise for his horse, Instructor Lin smiled, a rare moment. "Master Zhang, you have a keen eye. This horse is truly a fine one, and very understanding of human nature. I even treat it like a family member. To be honest, before I became an instructor here, I was also in the Palace Guard. Whenever I was on duty, it would go to the palace gate and wait for me to get off duty."
"Aren't you afraid of being taken away?" Gao Yanei walked around the white horse with envy on his face.
"Don't be afraid. If you encounter an unruly person approaching it on the road, it will neigh, raise its hooves and whip its tail, scaring people away."
Upon hearing this, Gao Yanei reached out to touch the white horse's mane. As soon as he raised his hand, the white horse snorted, shook its head and dodged to the side.
"It's very spiritual." Zhang Shixun exclaimed.
"Friends around here call it the 'filial horse'." Coach Lin said as he stroked the white horse's mane, his affection for it evident in his words.
"Old Lin, if you didn't have this horse, would you dare to use all those fancy things?" He Ji asked with a smile.
"He Yanei, I wouldn't dare to do that even if you kill me. You come from a family of military generals, and you should know that horses also understand human nature. With just a slight movement from you, the horse will know what its master wants it to do." Coach Lin patted the horse's butt, and the white horse snorted and walked away leisurely.
"We in the Song Dynasty are in need of horses. It's so hard to get a good one." He Ji sighed as he looked at the white horse going away, and said, "A few days ago, I went to the Qiji Courtyard with my father, but we couldn't find a single horse that I liked."
Gao Yanei said, "Qi Ji Yuan is where the royal family and ministers raise horses. Even a good horse would become useless after being raised there for a year or two. Your father is a veteran soldier. How can he find a horse at Qi Ji Yuan?"
Old Huang also said, "We should go to Tiansi Prison to look for horses. There are tens of thousands of them at Moutuogang."
He Ji shook his head: "Although there are many horses in Moutuogang, there are no good horses."
"Why?" Gao Yanei asked.
"Let General Tong pick it up." He Ji said with a wry smile.
"It seems that this is a preparation for the expedition to Liao." Gao Yanei said.
He Ji said: "If this battle goes smoothly, we will be able to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and realize the unfinished work of Taizu and Taizong."
Gao Yanei reached out and touched He Ji's forehead, saying, "He Dalang, do you have a fever?"
He Ji pushed his hand aside and asked, "What do you mean, Yanei?"
Gao Yanei said slowly, "Can Tong Guan, that eunuch, take back Yanyun? Don't dream!"
Although Gao Yanei has quite a few dandy habits and appears to be a bit thick-skinned, he is not stupid.
On the way back, Zhang Shixun asked him, "Nei, what does General Gao think of the Maritime Alliance?"
"What else can I say? From Taizu to Taizong and then to the Emperor, they all dreamed of taking back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. Signing an alliance with the Jin Kingdom was nothing more than based on this dream. However, relying on that eunuch Tong Guan to lead the army, coupled with that unlearned Cai You, my father is very pessimistic about this."
"General Gao means that this battle is doomed to fail?"
"Definitely."
The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were a pain in the hearts of successive emperors of the Song Dynasty. Without the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun as a northern barrier, the heartland of the Central Plains would have been directly exposed to the iron hoofs of the barbarians.
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin built a "Fengzhuangku" in the palace and accumulated wealth bit by bit, hoping to redeem the Yanyun land. Even if he could not redeem it, he could use it as military pay.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, he was less patient and started to act without saying a word. He launched two northern expeditions, but suffered two disastrous defeats, killing hundreds of thousands of elite troops and almost using up all the money in the treasury.
What's even more tragic is that after the failure of his last Northern Expedition, Emperor Taizong of Song was hit by two arrows in the thigh while fleeing. He later became ill and the arrow wounds recurred every year.
Afterwards, the Song Dynasty shifted from offensive to defensive strategy, and in fact had psychologically given up on recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
When Zhao Ji became emperor, the rise of the Jin Dynasty and the decline of the Liao Dynasty seemed to provide an opportunity for the Song Dynasty to recover Yanyun. The ambitious Zhao Ji thought that the opportunity had come, so he kept sending people to contact the Jin Dynasty, which led to the formation of the Maritime Alliance.
The Song and Jin countries signed an alliance to attack the Liao Dynasty, which seemed to be a win-win situation for both sides, but in fact it laid the groundwork for the tragedy that followed.
The Song army was rotten to the core and could not even defeat the Liao army, which was still struggling.
After coming out of the Tianwu Army's military training ground, Gao Yanei kept praising Zhang Shixun all the way, saying that he was a natural born general, which made Zhang Shixun feel embarrassed.
When they reached Zhouqiao, Gao Yanei reined in his horse and asked, "Brother, I'm going home. Are you going home too?"
"Where is your home?"
"My home is in Taipingqiao, not far from here."
"Oh! Let's say goodbye here. I will visit General Gao another day." Zhang Shixun got off the horse and returned the reins to Gao Wu.
"You can keep this horse. It will be convenient for you to go out." Gao Yanei was very generous.
"No, I don't have time to raise it. I have to go to the Tianwu Army to practice horseback archery these days. Please go to the Palace Front Office to get a plaque for me."
"That's no problem. Leave it to me. I'll send someone to deliver it to you tomorrow morning."
"Okay!" Zhang Shixun casually clasped his fists and turned to walk home.
Zhang Shixun spent several days in the martial arts training ground. Later, in order not to waste time, he even ate and drank in the martial arts training ground.
One day, Zhang Shixun was dragging his tired body home. When he was about to reach Jinqian Lane, a sedan chair came towards him.
"Sir." A sweet voice came from the sedan chair.
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