Chapter 134: Poison or Treasure?

“Are you sure there really isn’t any?” Zhao Zhen’s anger was barely contained.

“Really, there isn’t,” came the reply.

“Well, there actually is,” another voice interjected as the horse caretaker answered.

“Not you again,” the caretaker said, clearly recognizing the newcomer. “You, Cui Sheng, have let our horse breeding business fall into ruin. I took pity on you and gave you shelter. How could you cause trouble like this?”

“Fine, fine! I don’t care anymore!” The caretaker threw down his words and walked away.

Cui Sheng, whose given name was Ming, was a scholar, but since he loved horses so much, he had taken up horse breeding. If one wanted to put it grandly, it could be said he wanted to make a career out of it. Yet, like many scholars, he was not particularly successful in practical matters—and Cui Ming was no exception.

After driving away the caretaker, he hurried to explain, “It’s not that I haven’t observed how nomads raise horses before. I thought it seemed easy—just let the horses graze on the pasture and only intervene in harsh weather. I didn’t realize how much work was actually involved.” Because of such unpredictable factors, Shen Ming kept investing heavily into horse breeding, but his daily management became less meticulous. Later, when funds ran low, he began selling off land. Over several years, to sustain his horses, he dwindled his holdings from a thousand acres to just eighty.

He had thus gained a notorious reputation as a prodigal son, and it was natural that people despised him.

“You say you have good horses—where are they?” Zhao Zhen asked, his mind singularly focused on winning.

“Ah! Those horses are mine, but they are too spirited to be mixed with others. Follow me,” Cui Ming said.

As they made their way, Zhao Zhen searched intently for the horses, while Shen Shi chatted casually with Cui Ming. He mentioned having traveled to Xinjiang, where he discovered a type of grass the horses loved.

“Alfalfa,” Shen Shi exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh? You know alfalfa too?” Cui Ming was delighted to hear Shen Shi name it immediately.

Of course he knew. Alfalfa was famously known as the “King of Forage” in later ages—not only high yielding, but of excellent quality, favored by all kinds of livestock and poultry.

Newly planted alfalfa could endure severe summer droughts. After harvesting the stems and branches, it would rapidly regenerate abundant new shoots, allowing between one and thirteen cuts of hay within a growing season. The frequency and total yield depended mainly on the length of the growing season, soil adaptability, sunlight, and especially rainfall or irrigation patterns. Rich green alfalfa hay was highly nutritious, containing about 16% protein and 8% minerals, along with vitamins A, E, D, and K.

Alfalfa was rich in crude protein, carbohydrates, B vitamins, vitamin C, E, iron, and other trace nutrients. It was not only used for livestock feed but was also one of humanity’s oldest foods. People mainly consumed the young sprouts in early spring, which were highly nutritious, rich in dietary fiber, low in sugars, and very low in calories—a superb high-fiber, low-calorie food.

Cui Ming had not only been to Xinjiang but had discovered alfalfa there. Shen Shi quickly asked, “Did you bring back seeds?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Could you share some with me? I’ll pay silver,” Shen Shi said happily.

To raise fine horses, alfalfa was indispensable. Although it was a staple in later horse farms and animal husbandry, it was hard to find in ancient times. With alfalfa, one could save a lot on eggs and meat.

“No, no, though this grass is excellent, it is toxic,” Cui Ming said gloomily. This was yet another failed investment.

Though alfalfa sprouts were highly nutritious, they contained natural toxins—canavanine, a toxic alkaline amino acid—which could trigger autoimmune diseases in mammals, disrupting immune regulation so that the body mistakenly attacked its own cells, causing illness. Eating large amounts could destroy various blood cells, leading to anemia or reduced blood cell and platelet counts. Patients were thus prone to infections and bleeding, sometimes experiencing joint pain and photosensitivity.

However, modern methods have perfectly solved this problem through silage. Silage allows forage cells to continue respiration and organic decomposition, while naturally present yeasts, molds, spoilage bacteria, and acetic acid bacteria use the soluble carbohydrates to proliferate. With adequate sugar, moisture, and humidity, lactic acid bacteria grow rapidly, producing abundant lactic acid which lowers the pH. When pH drops below 4.2, the toxins disappear, and the hay becomes more palatable to livestock.

“Thank you, young master Cui, but I have a way to handle that,” Shen Shi said resolutely, growing even more eager.

Seeing Shen Shi’s enthusiasm, Cui Ming was glad but still kindly warned, “To be honest, since I took up horse breeding, I have let my family down terribly. I’ve squandered the ancestral estate. The remaining eighty acres I planted with this toxic grass.”

A once wealthy landlord with thousands of acres of fertile land now had nothing left and had to beg for food. Cui Ming couldn’t help but feel despondent.

“What? You’ve already planted eighty acres of alfalfa? Wonderful! That’s a treasure. Sell it to me—I want it.”

Shen Shi was overjoyed.

In fact, historically, the Central Plains had imported alfalfa many times but never succeeded due to the lack of detoxification methods.

Otherwise, even if it didn’t prevent invasions by nomadic tribes, the shortage of horses would not have been so severe.

After all, both eggs and meat were costly, and even the fertile Central Plains couldn’t support raising many warhorses. The cost was simply too high.

On a broader scale, the reason Asian horse breeds steadily declined and the Mongolian horse became dominant was because Mongolian horses were undemanding and inexpensive to raise.

Thus, the discovery and application of alfalfa could revolutionize the condition of horses in Asia. Calling it a monumental contribution might be an exaggeration, but it was certainly a great merit.

“Are you serious about buying?” Cui Ming only now looked at Shen Shi intently, wondering if this was a wealthy patron sent by his own family.

He knew his family had tried to discourage him from raising horses, but he simply loved watching them run free and wild on the pasture—an obsession he could not break.

Yet it seemed he was finally at the brink of abandoning this passion.

“If you truly love horses, I’m willing to transfer my horses to you,” Cui Ming said earnestly.

He could no longer hold on. The eighty acres of alfalfa were his last gamble. Little did he know that the seemingly enthusiastic herdsman who collected the seeds and sold them to him never mentioned the grass was toxic.

He was penniless, and even if he wanted to hire people to clear the fields, he didn’t have the silver.

As for clearing it himself…

Let’s just say, the alfalfa grew faster than he could remove it.