What was the most popular weapon equipment of Japan's Warring States period? Not a katana, but armor, armor with high protection. Because good armor can ensure that the warrior will not be killed easily in battle, which is equal to multiple lives. In ancient China, it has always been strictly forbidden for people to have armor, but swords are not forbidden. Because, in the cold weapon war, the significance of armor is greater than that of weapons. Even Nurhachi's uprising relied on 13 pairs of armor handed down from his ancestors, not 13 swords and 13 horses.

Warriors in armor can fearlessly rush into enemy formations to fight. If you wear a T-shirt, why don't you try one? The reason why the Manchus were able to rise up was inseparable from the importance of armor. Although Ma Lin doesn't think the Qing Dynasty is good, it is undeniable that the quality of the cotton armor in the Qing Dynasty is really good and beautiful. Compared with the extremely ugly regular clothes of the Qing Dynasty, the armor of the Eight Banners is indeed very handsome. Of course, Qing Dynasty armor was originally learned from the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, because the Japanese daimyo were too poor to make high-end armor, many samurai armor in the early Warring States period was made of bamboo and wood chips. This thing can't resist anything, it can only be used to pretend to be forced.

Only the large armor worn by the nobles has a relatively high protective power. But even the large armor worn by the nobles was a mixture of leather and iron sheets, so there was no pure iron armor. Mainly, there is a shortage of iron in Japan. There is also the fact that the Japanese figure cannot wear pure iron armor......

As mentioned earlier, because of the ban on eating meat in Japan, Japanese people are generally short in stature. More than 1.5 meters is not short, and more than 1.6 meters is considered a great man. This height is equivalent to the level of the fifth or sixth grade of primary school in later generations. If they were to wear the armor of the Ming army, which weighed dozens of catties, it was estimated that they would not be able to run.

Therefore, Marin wanted to sell a batch of European armor to the Hamo family on Sado Island, but the samurai of the ready-made European armor Hamo family was estimated to not be able to wear it. Moreover, the size is too large......

As a last resort, Ma Lin could only arrange for craftsmen to make a special batch of armor to supply to the Yumao family. To this end, Marin specially gathered hundreds of craftsmen who were good at making leather armor to gather together to create armor for the samurai of the Hamao family.

According to the height of the Japanese in this era, Marin specially made a batch of small leather armor suitable for men in their early 1.5 to 1.6 meters. In addition, they were also asked to nail a batch of iron armor pieces to the chest and other vital parts. In this way, you will be able to obtain the protection ability of Japan's highest-grade large armor.

As for what materials to use, Marin first ruled out the highest grade rhinoceros leather. That thing, the Beihai ** team is in short supply. Then, it's cowhide. There is no shortage of this thing, after all, the North Sea State imports tens of thousands of cattle from the Crimean Khanate every year, and kills thousands of them, so there is naturally no shortage of cowhides.

But cowhide is also very versatile, not only for clothing and shoes, but also for various daily necessities also need a lot of cowhide, to make armor for the devil warriors of the Yumao family, Ma Lin is a little unhappy.

So, a craftsman asked why not use shark skin to make armor?

"Sharkskin!" Marin's eyes lit up.

There are many shark skins in the North Sea Country, and the origin of these shark skins is related to the whaling policy vigorously promoted by Marin.

Why is it related to Marin's whaling policy? Because, in the eyes of fishermen, whales and sharks are the overlords of the ocean. The difference is that whales are much larger than sharks.

But whaling is dangerous, because whales have a lot of strength and can easily tow whalers' boats over. Therefore, whaling requires a certain amount of skill and skill.

Sharks, which fishermen see as small whales, have also become targets for killing. Of course, fishermen don't catch sharks for the sake of catching them. They hunt sharks purely to practice their whaling skills. After all, sharks have similar characteristics to whales, they both like to eat small fish. However, sharks are much smaller and less powerful than whales, making them ideal for novice whaling beginners.

Therefore, the shark was unfortunate to be used by the whaling ships of the North Sea Country as a target for training novices. And the whaling ship attracts sharks by killing a few fish and spilling their blood into the sea......

When you smell blood, the sharks come excitedly. But it was the whaling guns of novice whaling rookies that greeted these hapless sharks......

Although the novices are not very skilled and often let the sharks escape, in the long run, the whaling ships of the North Sea Country have also used whaling methods to kill many sharks.

However, shark meat is difficult to eat. This is mainly because sharks do not have urinary organs, and urine is percolated through the skin. Therefore, shark meat is soaked in urine all year round, and it naturally tastes unpalatable.

As a result, most of the shark meat is discarded, and no salt is wasted to marinate the salted fish. But it is a pity to throw it away like this, so fishermen in the North Sea country will soak the shark meat, bake it and dry it, and then grind it into shark meal, which is used as a feed additive for pigs and cattle.

But the shark's fins and livers were told to stay, after all, shark fins are a famous delicacy. And the cod liver oil extracted from cod liver is also a good thing.

As for the shark skin, the fishermen will also stay. Because, shark skin has an important role to play in the scabbard......

Ma Lin remembered that the Qianlong treasure knife he had heard of in his previous life was made of shark skin. Shark skin is very rough and hard, and when used to make leather goods, it feels very poor and is not soft.

However, its rough and hard characteristics make it very suitable for scabbards. After all, the scabbard can't be too soft. The rough nature of the shark skin provides a certain amount of resistance to prevent the sword from slipping out of the scabbard casually.

Of course, the reason why shark skin is listed as the designated material for the scabbard of the treasure knife in Huaxia is that in addition to its excellent quality, there is also a reason that shark skin has a very domineering alias Jiaopi! Jiao, Jiaolong! And the dragon is the most noble divine beast in China. Then, the shark skin, known as Jiaopi, is naturally worth a lot.

In addition, Ma Lin did hear that the ancient Chinese people used rhinoceros skin and Jiao skin to make armor. Marlin asked people to touch the shark skin, and sure enough, the strength exceeded that of cowhide. It's rough, but it's suitable for armor. Besides, no one wants this thing except to make a scabbard......

Therefore, Marin ordered these 100 craftsmen who knew how to make leather armor to use the shark skin in stock to make 500 small pieces of leather armor, which were used to sell the Hamo family to equip the samurai, giving them the confidence to fight against the main family of the Honma clan.

Don't look at Japan, it is also a big fishing country, it also has a tradition of whaling, and it also catches sharks, but Japan currently has backward fishing technology, and there are neither professional shark fishing nets, nor professional shark fishing hooks, nor can it use whaling forks. As a result, it is difficult for Japanese fishermen to catch whales or sharks. Therefore, it is not yet possible to form an industry. Unlike Marin's North Sea Country, because of the application of whaling fork technology, not only can a large number of whale products be obtained, but also a lot of shark by-products can be obtained.

Just like shark skin, the reason why it can become a precious leather in ancient China is because of the lack of scientific hunting methods in ancient times, which makes sharks difficult to catch, so it is naturally precious.

But in fact, in ancient times, because there were no trawlers all over the world, there were many whales and sharks in the sea. As long as there are scientific and reasonable means, there is simply no end to hunting.

Not to mention the 16th century, even after the end of World War II in the 20th century, the Japanese went to sea to hunt whales and obtained a lot of catches. It is said that in the immediate aftermath of World War II, Japan's economy collapsed and food was extremely scarce. In order to prevent the people from starving to death, MacArthur, the Japanese emperor at that time, taught Japan to use modern fishing boats and whaling techniques to hunt whales in the waters of the world to obtain a large amount of whale meat......

In this way, the Japanese survived the most difficult years after the end of World War II by relying on whaling. But then the Japanese became addicted to whaling, and whaling was banned all over the world, and whales were still being hunted. It's clear that whaling has given them too much to taste......

But now, this sweetness is naturally exclusively enjoyed by the Beihai Kingdom, which has mature whaling technology. Marin has prepared dozens of whaling fleets, ready to hunt enough whales to obtain large quantities of whale meat, whale oil and other vital supplies. Since whaling can help Japan, with a population of 60 or 70 million after the end of World War II, to survive the food shortage, Marin feels that this whale meat can completely allow the population of Beihai to get enough meat.

As for the dozens of whaling fleets formed by Marin, except for the first few teams, the other teams all started from shark hunting. Therefore, there is a large stock of shark skins in the North Sea State. Before, there was no use for shark skin, so it could only be used as a scabbard. But now, Marlin suddenly realized that shark skin seemed to be able to make leather armor......

This kind of leather armor made of shark skin can not only be sold to the Japanese Warring States Daimyo, but also sold in large quantities to the Ming Dynasty. After all, shark skin had a resounding name in the Ming Dynasty......

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty was even more tragic than Japan. Because of the long-term ban on the sea, the fishermen of the Ming Dynasty did not have many opportunities to go out to sea to fish. Therefore, the shark catch in the Ming Dynasty is very touching. As a result, shark skin has naturally become a rarity.

If Marin made the excess shark skin into leather armor or scabbards and sold them in the Ming Dynasty, the name of "Jiaopi" alone would be very bluffing. In this way, the price must not be lower......