Why is it hard to raise horses? Knights are important!
Historically, some Central Plains dynasties were greatly reduced in cavalry strength due to improper domestication of horses, and were at a disadvantage in battles with nomads, and were even forced to cede land due to defeat, which is deeply regrettable.
Since ancient times, the kings and subjects of the Central Plains Dynasty have suffered greatly from the invasion of nomadic people, especially those living in the border areas, who have been frequently forced to leave their homes and be displaced by wars.
Why, then, did the mighty Central Plains Dynasty appear to be powerless to resist the northern nomads? The only answer is - cavalry. The nomadic cavalry was known for their great fighting power, they lived on horseback all year round, and the large grasslands of the north provided an excellent environment for their horses to gallop, graze, and train.
Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the cavalry units of the nomads was extremely strong, and the combat effectiveness of one cavalry could even exceed that of several infantrymen. On the battlefield, with its high flexibility and speed, cavalry can easily stampede, intimidate and other attacks on infantry, and can quickly transfer military supplies, greatly improving combat efficiency.
Of course, I have to admit that the infantry combat capability of the Central Plains Dynasty is very strong, but compared with the cavalry of the northern nomads, there is a huge gap. Therefore, it is only natural that the Central Plains dynasties of all dynasties were wary of the northern nomads.
Since cavalry was so important, why didn't the Central Plains Dynasty invest a lot of resources and energy in training cavalry troops who were brave and good at fighting? However, raising horses is not an easy task.
You know, to have an elite cavalry unit, you must have high-quality war horses. However, horse breeding has always plagued the Central Plains Dynasty. Why did this seemingly simple task of raising horses become the heart disease of the Central Plains Dynasty?
The reason is very simple, and it is mainly divided into two factors, internal and external. The Central Plains Dynasty lacked a good environment for raising horses. First of all, there is a lack of space for raising horses. Just like dog-owning families know that raising a dog is a physical job, you need to take the dog out for a walk often to make sure it has enough exercise, otherwise the dog will get sick easily.
The same is true for horses, as we all know, horses have a strong need for exercise, if the horse's daily activity cannot keep up, it is easy to cause its ligaments and joints to lose elasticity, which in turn leads to the horse is easy to get injured and various body functions gradually decline.
In order to produce high-quality horses with strong physique and suitable for combat, it is necessary to have a large, flat terrain breeding ground to ensure that the horse has a moderate amount of exercise. However, in ancient China, there were not many suitable places to raise horses.
The weather in the south is hot and humid, horses are prone to heat stroke and illness, and the south is hilly, so horses are suitable for living in plain areas. In addition, horses bred in the south are short and thin, making them unsuitable for warhorses.
In contrast, the northern savannah and the Hetao plain are more suitable for horse breeding. However, these "resorts" are perennially under the influence of northern nomads, which limits the conditions for horse breeding.
1.The areas under the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty were mostly unsuitable for horse breeding. Due to the lack of a vast field suitable for horses to run, horses can only be kept in captivity, so that they lose their wildness and ferocity, so how can they become high-quality war horses?
Even with high-quality horses, how to train elite cavalry troops? 2.The Central Plains Dynasty has long been an agrarian civilization, and the renewal of rice and wheat varieties is a common occurrence.
However, quality horse breeds have always been scarce. High-quality horse breeds are the key to ensuring military strength, and their strategic significance is self-evident. Therefore, successive dynasties of the Central Plains have devoted themselves to the introduction of high-quality horse breeds.
When we were in middle school, we learned that Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty went to the Western Regions and brought back many strange treasures, including the well-known sweat and blood horse. We see it all the time"Horses step on swifts"The prototype is these high-quality horses imported from the Western Regions.
At the same time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to repel the Xiongnu many times, which was inseparable from his elite cavalry troops. The rulers of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the management and training of war horses, and actively introduced Mongolian horses and Uighur horses to deal with the invasion of Turkic and other ethnic minorities.
However, the Anshi Rebellion made the Tang Dynasty's national strength decline and political turmoil, and there were no enough resources to introduce high-quality horses, coupled with the serious loss of war horse resources, excellent war horses became more and more scarce.
During the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Southern Song Dynasty was forced to retreat to Hangzhou, and the quality of the horses bred by the Central Plains Dynasty could not be compared with the quality horses of the northern nomads.
In all dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty has solved the problem of scarcity of horse breeds by introducing high-quality horses from other places. Due to the limitations of the climate and horse breeding sites, it was difficult for the Central Plains Dynasty to breed high-quality horse breeds.
Therefore, it is impossible to train elite cavalry units without high-quality horse breeds.
The Central Plains Dynasty has always struggled with how to train a strong cavalry, mainly because of its innate inadequacy. The harsh climate and unsuitable breeding grounds became obstacles to the training of strong cavalry.
In addition, although the population has a strong ability to grow agriculture, there is a lack of effective technology and ability to raise horses. Horses are wild animals that are wild and untamable, they are tall and have hard hooves, and the slightest carelessness can have serious consequences.
In addition, horses are fiery by nature and require specialized skills and knowledge to tame. Therefore, the common people of the Central Plains Dynasty lacked experience and technology in horse taming, which led to a high possibility of injury in the process of horse taming, which in turn led to few people willing to invest in raising horses.
Horse training is a technical job, the input cost is high, it is difficult to breed high-quality horses, and the cost performance of horse breeding is low. It was difficult for the people of the Central Plains Dynasty to spend a lot of time and energy on horse taming, so how could they master the skill of horse breeding?
Raising horses is expensive and an unaffordable burden for most people. Horses are herbivores and eat enormously, and an elite cavalry unit needs the equivalent of five soldiers.
To make matters worse, the Central Plains Dynasty lacked the vast steppes of the northern nomads. Therefore, how to get enough food to feed the horses is a headache.
In order for the horses to maintain a strong physique and adapt to the harsh combat environment, ordinary food could not meet the demand.
In some cases, the horse's feed was even more upscale than the diet of the common people. In order to maintain the health of the horse, in addition to the normal diet, it is necessary to additionally feed the "supper".
In this way, raising horses would place a significant financial and energetic burden on the court and the people. In addition, horses, like other animals, have their own ** period. Depending on factors such as the horse's genetics, physique, and diet, the ** period may vary, but it will not exceed a maximum of 8 years.
During this period, horses can fight valiantly for their masters, and can even decide the outcome of a war. However, the combat capability of the old horse is not as good as before, and he is not even able to go to the battlefield.
As a result, raising horses carries a greater burden.
Although people work hard, spend a lot of energy and financial resources to take care of war horses, but the service life of war horses is usually only a few years, and the cost performance is not high. In contrast, raising cattle and sheep is more practical.
Cattle can be used for farming and as a means of transportation, and the slaughter of cattle and sheep can be used both for celebration and to provide meat for health. Although beef and lamb are loved by many people, horse meat is not so popular because horse meat is not in line with most people's diet.
In addition, cow manure and sheep manure can be used as fertilizer for multiple purposes, while horse manure is not suitable for large quantities in farmland. On the battlefield, in order to protect the horses and prolong their service life, the managers will put on various protective equipment for the horses when they are in battle, such as the protective equipment of the horse's hooves and torso.
Raising horses has always been the heart disease of the Central Plains Dynasty. The huge expenses for the maintenance of war horses and the production of armor often overwhelmed the court and the common people, which made it extremely difficult to raise war horses and maintain them.
To make matters worse, the return on raising horses is very low, making horse breeding a thankless task. In contrast, the northern nomads were naturally very easy for them to raise horses because of the endless steppes and fertile plains, where the herders lived on grass and were good at riding and archery.
However, despite these difficulties, horse breeding was still an important issue for the Central Plains Dynasty, as breeding high-quality horse breeds, reducing the financial burden on the imperial court, finding suitable horse breeding sites, and scarce high-quality horse breeds were all issues that needed to be solved.
Although the Central Plains Dynasty is difficult to get rid of the dilemma of not being able to raise horses due to the lack of objective conditions, this does not mean that they will choose to give up. Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty and the pacification of the nomads by the Tang Dynasty through peace are all man-made examples, proving that even if you encounter difficulties, as long as you are willing to work hard, you can find a solution.
Although they could not raise horses, some Central Plains dynasties still actively created conditions to minimize the harm caused by nomadic invasions to the common people, and their efforts are commendable.