Chapter 836 Asking for Advice

After practicing in the mine all night, Gu Fei got up early and was energetic. She changed into neat men's clothes and tied her hair into a men's style.

Lian'er came over with breakfast, and was busy packing some dry food for Gu Fei. Some of it was cooked in the kitchen overnight, and the rest of the dried meat and other things were always kept in the kitchen.

After breakfast, Gu Feibian and Qin'er went out. Two carriages were parked outside. A guard stood outside and cupped his hands to Gu Fei, "On the order of the prince, I am taking the princess to the racecourse."

Gu Fei nodded, "Just lead the way."

The guard got into the car in front, and Gu Fei and Qin'er got into the car behind.

The racecourse is more than two hundred miles away from Ping'an City. I changed horses at the inn along the way and didn't even stop for lunch. I didn't arrive at the racecourse until Shen.

The horse farm is at the foot of a mountain. It looks quite large. It is already autumn. The grass on the ground is half green and half yellow. You can see horses grazing leisurely on the grass.

The guard took Gu Fei to a row of houses on the roadside.

The person in charge is a swarthy middle-aged man named Hei.

The guard showed the token and said, "This is the black steward. Bring the horses over and leave them to him."

Then he said to the black steward: "This is the Crown Princess."

The black steward quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

Gu Fei helped him up and said, "You're welcome, Black Steward. I have many questions to ask you."

Steward Black cupped his hand and said, "The Crown Princess, please come in."

Gu Fei sent the guards away, "You don't have to worry about us anymore. You can go back to the palace."

"Take that carriage back with you too."

The guard drove the carriage away.

Gu Fei and Steward Black entered the house together.

A woman was cooking in the kitchen. She came out to take a look but said nothing.

The black steward smiled honestly, "It's my mother-in-law. Country people don't know the rules."

After entering the room and sitting down, Gu Fei said: "Your Majesty sent me to purchase a batch of military horses. I would like to ask the black steward where should I buy horses?"

Steward Black thought for a moment, "Military horses are generally used for two purposes, one is for cavalry to ride on, the other is for pulling baggage."

"Nowadays, the army uses Yili horses from the Western Regions. These horses have strong hides and can be used for riding and pulling heavy loads."

Gu Fei said hurriedly, "Wait a minute."

She took out a map from a bag that Qin'er carried and put it on the table. Then she took out a pen and paper, "Please point out to me where this horse property is, and I'll mark it."

Steward Black stared at the map for a long time, "I haven't been here either, but I have heard of the place name."

He pointed to Yili marked on the map, "It's probably in this area."

Gu Fei quickly took a note and wrote it down.

The black steward thought for a while and then said: "There is another kind of horse from the Tatars. It is shorter than the Ili horse. This horse can also be used as a military horse."

"The place where this horse was born is in Mobei. Let me think about it, what is its name?"

He picked his head and said, "The name is too long, I just remember it as something like Wu Zhu."

Gu Fei looked at the map and searched around Mobei, "Well, there is such a place."

She wrote it down carefully on paper.

The black steward smiled sheepishly, "It's probably these two types. Nowadays, most of the horses in the imperial court's horse farm are Ili horses."

"However, the best of these horses is the Dawan horse. I heard that the prince's horse is a bloody horse from Dawan."

Gu Fei nodded slightly. She knew this. In history, the emperor of a certain dynasty first exchanged gold for the Dawan horse, but failed to get it, and finally launched a war.