Yin Shuhuai could not set off on his first journey to western Liaoning after arriving in Youzhou because Goguryeo, located to the northeast of the province, launched a sudden raid on Xuantu Commandery. The local governor led five thousand defensive troops to hold the massive Goguryeo army outside the city walls while sending fast horses back to call for help. Upon hearing the news, Shentu Yang hurriedly marshaled his troops to crush the rebellion in Xuantu.

“Is Goguryeo out of its mind? Who picks a fight in the dead of winter?” Jiang Yang, who was among the officers called up by Shentu Yang, complained loudly. Even so, he had to pack up his division and follow the main army to Xuantu.

No one knew what Shentu Yang was thinking, but of the fifty thousand troops he mobilized for this campaign, ten thousand actually belonged to the Northern Army led by Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang suspected the worst, thinking Shentu Yang wanted to use the war to grind down the strength of the Northern Army. However, a general’s duty is to fight. Even though Jiang Yang felt uneasy and suspected Shentu Yang harbored bad intentions, the Emperor himself had spoken, so Jiang Yang braced himself and accepted the imperial decree.

“You have nothing to worry about. Having Shentu Yang take ten thousand Northern Army troops to Xuantu was my idea. I want you all to test out the new saddles and stirrups made by the Palace Directorate through real combat,” Yin Shuhuai said, gesturing for Zhuang Wuwei to bring forward a cantle saddle.

The Yin Dynasty did have saddles, but the saddles of this era were merely soft, decorative pads rather than the rigid, high-backed cantle saddles used by later cavalry. Even the stirrups were just single loops hanging on the left side of the saddle, meant solely to help the rider mount the horse, serving no other practical purpose.

According to archaeological findings, the earliest high-backed cantle saddles in China appeared toward the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This type of rigid saddle, padded high at both the front and back, could clamp the rider’s waist and hips tightly, ensuring that the cavalryman would not shift back and forth due to momentum when the horse bolted or reared at high speeds.

Furthermore, the earliest physical evidence of double stirrups was discovered in the tomb of Feng Sufu from the Northern Yan during the Sixteen Kingdoms period gilded bronze-wrapped wooden stirrups.

The appearance of these double stirrups was also a direct result of the cantle saddle. Once the saddle secured the rider’s body to the horse’s back, the rider needed to press both feet into stirrups to maintain lower-body balance. This allowed cavalrymen to stay flexible and agile even when their horses were galloping at full speed, ensuring they would not be thrown off whether they were drawing bows to shoot arrows or swinging swords to slash enemies.

It is fair to say that the invention of the cantle saddle and double stirrups vastly improved the combat effectiveness of cavalry.

Although Jiang Yang’s military talent could not compare to a naturally gifted powerhouse like Shentu Yang, he was still a veteran of a hundred battles. He naturally saw the extraordinary value of the cantle saddle and double stirrups at a single glance on the battlefield, this was practically giving cavalrymen a second life, if not more.

Overjoyed, Jiang Yang could not resist grabbing the cantle saddle and hugging it tightly to his chest. “Your Majesty is indeed a natural genius. With this item, the men of my Northern Army will surely be unstoppable.”

Looking at how fiercely protective Jiang Yang was being over the gear, Yin Shuhuai could not help but smile.

The Northern Army was originally the central imperial guard, made up of the most elite soldiers handpicked from across the entire Yin Dynasty, so their fighting capacity went without saying. If they had not run into the border army led by an unreasonably fierce powerhouse like Shentu Yang during the rebellion, they would never have suffered such a crushing defeat against any other army.

To this day, Jiang Yang brooded over that loss, though he accepted it fair and square. So when Yin Shuhuai ordered him to lead ten thousand Northern Army troops to fight Goguryeo under Shentu Yang, Jiang Yang had his doubts but was not entirely against it. In fact, after receiving the cantle saddle and double stirrups gifted by the Emperor, Jiang Yang was actually looking forward to fighting side-by-side with Shentu Yang.

Yin Shuhuai smiled and said, “While this gear is excellent, the production cost is also high. The Palace Directorate began making the cantle saddles and double stirrups in secret last year, and they have only managed to accumulate fifty thousand sets so far.”

Yin Shuhuai had first noticed last year, while riding with Shentu Yang, that the cavalry of this era did not use high-backed saddles or double stirrups. Therefore, upon returning to the palace, he ordered the Palace Directorate to manufacture them in secret, planning to bring them out at the right moment to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

However, Yin Shuhuai did not expect this opportunity to arrive so quickly. Just as the court had moved its capital to Youzhou, Goguryeo launched a massive invasion on the Youzhou border.

Yin Shuhuai did not care to find out why Goguryeo chose to attack Xuantu Commandery in the winter; he simply wanted to take this opportunity to roll out the cantle saddles and double stirrups. First, it would boost his soldiers’ fighting capacity; second, it would leave the troops with the impression that their Emperor truly understood military affairs and knew how to deploy his forces. Combined with the military academy he was about to open, this would deepen his personal influence within the army.

With all this in mind, Yin Shuhuai planned to distribute ten thousand sets of the cantle saddles to the Northern Army, while giving the other forty thousand sets to Shentu Yang’s Yan Army. The reason for this distribution ratio was that Yin Shuhuai did not entirely trust the fighting capacity of the Northern Army mostly because since he took the throne, the Northern Army had not won a single battle they participated in to crush rebellions.

To say nothing of the time Jiang Yang led the army to attack Shangdang, which ended in his defeat and severe injury before Chancellor Huo Yan bailed him out; the time Chancellor Huo Yan personally led the army to attack Sishui Pass was even worse, costing Yin Shuhuai a former chancellor.

With these lessons right before his eyes, Yin Shuhuai honestly did not dare to place high hopes on the Northern Army. Yet he knew that a true battle-hardened force is forged in the fires of war. Now that the court had moved its capital to Youzhou, even if it was just to keep the playing field level strategically, Yin Shuhuai could not let the court feed an army that could not fight for nothing—and he had no use for an army that could not fight.

Therefore, after weighing his options, Yin Shuhuai could only ask Shentu Yang to help him whip the Northern Army into shape.

Shentu Yang could take it or leave it, but after Yin Shuhuai promised him a little sweetener, Shentu Yang happily accepted the task of helping the Emperor train the Northern Army. However, he had one condition: Jiang Yang and the Northern Army had to follow his orders without question on the battlefield. “The reason my Yan Army wins battles is strict discipline. I have no use for insubordinate soldiers.”

Shentu Yang put the harsh truth out there first. He could help the Emperor train the Northern Army, but the Northern Army soldiers had to behave. If Jiang Yang dared to disobey orders on the battlefield, Shentu Yang would arrest him on the spot and handle him by military law!

“When the time comes, Your Majesty better not misunderstand and think I am just getting rid of my rivals.” Shentu Yang’s tone was light, but his attitude was deadly serious.

War was no joke.

Yin Shuhuai certainly understood that military orders must be obeyed like a mountain. So, his goal in calling Jiang Yang to the palace this time was twofold: first, to reassure Jiang Yang so he would not worry and ensure he followed Shentu Yang’s military orders on the battlefield; second, to let the departing Northern Army soldiers try out the freshly made cantle saddles.

Yin Shuhuai even wanted the Northern Army soldiers equipped with the cantle saddles to run a drill with the Yan Army to see exactly how much this gear revered by later generations as a miracle weapon for cavalry could boost their combat performance.

However, before Yin Shuhuai could share this decision with Shentu Yang, word got out. Learning that the Emperor of Yin had rewarded his personal Northern Army with a secret weapon that boosted cavalry combat effectiveness, but gave nothing to the Yan Army that was also marching out against Goguryeo, Shentu Yang felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Filled to the brim with resentment and jealousy, he floated gloomily into the palace like a sour pickle soaked in a jar of aged vinegar.

“Your Majesty…” Shentu Yang’s eyes were bloodshot, and this time he was genuinely hurt. “Is it only the lives of the Northern Army soldiers that matter, while the lives of my Yan Army soldiers are just dirt?”

Yin Shuhuai: “…”

Jiang Yang, who was in the middle of discussing the cavalry drill with the Emperor: “…” The atmosphere suddenly became incredibly tense, making him feel like he really shouldn’t be there.