Chapter 1142 - 177: Harvest Season and the Growth of the Flying Horse Herd

Chapter 1142: Chapter 177: Harvest Season and the Growth of the Flying Horse Herd

At the same time, Hesse Territory didn’t charge them any fees, and even provided Extraordinary Grass for free.

It wasn’t that Su Li had asked them for a favor.

It was that the two sides signed an agreement for a fair exchange: Hesse Territory would provide pasture and Extraordinary Grass, and they would provide breeding stock. That is, any new foals their Flying Horses produced would all belong to Hesse Territory.

In effect, Hesse Territory was investing a sum of current wealth and fodder in exchange for more Flying Horses in the future.

And the Church Knights also obtained Flying Horse mounts that were stronger and had greater endurance.

This round was a win–win for both sides.

Edmond explained with a smile: "Among the remaining ones, besides those for the Church Knight Order, there’s one Flying Horse and two foals that we bought from a caravan."

"Bought?" Su Li raised an eyebrow; he really hadn’t thought along those lines. After all, he was the type to have ’farming’ carved into his bones—always thinking in terms of self-sufficiency.

With Edmond suddenly producing a trade like this, it really was a bit beyond his expectations.

Edmond rubbed his hands, red from the cold, and his voice sounded very clear in the winter wind: "My lord, those three Flying Horses were brought by the Dwarf ’Iron Wheel’ caravan. They came from Nun, taking the mountain route, and lost quite a few pack animals along the way."

He paused for a moment, recalling the scene. "Early last month, the caravan leader Hoffman reached White Castle. He said that at the horse market in Nun, an Imperial Knight who’d gone bankrupt urgently needed money and sold off his mount and its two foals for a pittance. The caravan spotted the opportunity and traded a batch of fine Dwarf Ironware and Firearms for them, planning to haul them to Arabi and sell them for a good price."

"But when they crossed the Gray Mountain Range, they ran into a blizzard and a Giant attack." Edmond’s voice was very level. "The adult Flying Horse, in order to protect the foals, had its wings grazed by the Giants’ stone clubs, and the caravan lost men and pack horses. They didn’t dare take the mountain road again, and could only detour via the Blood-red Plateau, hoping to offload the goods quickly and recover their costs."

"I inspected the goods in the castle courtyard," Edmond went on. "The adult Flying Horse was chestnut-colored, with an excellent frame. The injury to the left wing wasn’t serious but needed rest. The two foals, one gray and one white, were a bit thin, and had been badly scared, but their bloodline was unquestionable. Hoffman’s asking price was very high—he wanted 1,000 Golden Crowns."

"Our Pasture happened to have a budget allocation on hand, so we decided on our own authority to buy this batch of Flying Horses, to improve our breeding stock and herds. That’s also one of the Pasture’s key tasks: to improve the Territory’s horse breeds and supply more high-quality warhorses."

Su Li clicked his tongue and asked, "1,000 Golden Crowns? That’s really not cheap."

No wonder they’re Advanced Mounts—one of them is worth more than how many serfs?

Edmond looked at Su Li and answered with a smile: "Even though the Territory’s finances are already very abundant, we still don’t squander money. A price of 1,000 Golden Crowns really was too high, so I didn’t agree. I told him that Hesse Territory had just taken in fresh Extraordinary Grass and Moonlight Alfalfa hay, as well as the new Vanilla pods and Lilac buds from Hot Spring Town. All of these are hard currency within the Empire, worth their weight in Gold."

"We haggled for two days." Edmond’s tone didn’t ripple at all. "In the end we settled on this: we’d pay one hundred Golden Crowns in cash, plus fifty bundles of Moonlight Alfalfa hay, ten pounds of Vanilla pods, and ten pounds of Lilac buds. He was in a hurry to leave, and also afraid that if he lingered, Beastmen or Green Skins might show up. With the castle guards watching them load the goods, the caravan left the plateau that very afternoon."

"Those three foals and the mare," Edmond concluded, "are all at Range Fault Peak Pasture now, under the care of our best Shepherds. The wing injury is almost healed, and the foals are starting to put on flesh. On this deal, we didn’t lose out."

"And more importantly, our spending thousands of crowns to buy horses this time has spread the Territory’s name far and wide. Many caravans have said they’re willing to sell us even more advanced mounts. Perhaps by next spring, when the caravans return one after another, our Territory will be able to acquire more Flying Horses and other powerful Advanced Mounts."