Riding on a horse, Li Xiao missed the future very much.

Later, we had flat asphalt roads, and even the most remote rural villages had cement roads long ago.

This Lanxi is also regarded as the land of Gyeonggi at the foot of the Son of Heaven, especially Lanxi is still on the Lanwu Road, the main road leading to Shannan in Guanzhong, if this is put later, this must be a high-speed, and even maybe it can be regarded as within the Fifth Ring Road, subway, bus, light rail or something.

But now, dirt roads.

After a long drought, the road surface is not muddy, but it is all gray.

Especially although Yan Liben didn't make a big fanfare, there were dozens of people, and as soon as the car and horse left, the sand and rocks suddenly flew away.

Looking at Yan Liben's old man, he was still a high-ranking official at the vice-national level, but he was still sitting on the horse with a straight body, and his momentum really made Li Xiao a little admired.

It is said that the Tang Dynasty is still martial, which is really true. This is true even if you are a civil official. Yan Li is a well-known technical official in the Tang Dynasty, not only has painting skills, especially he is also a top master in the construction industry.

In comparison, the nobles and nobles of the Southern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties liked to ride ox carts. Since the Han Dynasty, ox carts were the most popular among the aristocracy, because high-end ox carts were more comfortable than horse-drawn carts, and the ox carts were slower and not faster than horse-drawn carts.

Therefore, many aristocrats, especially those noble women, preferred to ride ox carts.

But in the Tang Dynasty, the ox cart slowly declined, because the Tang people were still martial, and almost all the officials were used to riding horses, not martial arts, and even the ordinary noble children and family members also took the carriage. The slow ox cart is no longer welcome.

This is similar to the people who carried the chariot in the Southern Dynasties, but it is rarely seen today.

In the past, people thought that on important occasions, it was polite to ride a car and a horse to ride. Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, from the emperor to the commoners, they have all taken riding horses and chatting clothes as a courtesy. The men all rode horses on solemn occasions.

Even as far as the wind goes, many women ride horses.

The Tang people love to ride horses, and the harness is relatively developed. For example, the saddle of this era has been adjusted under the shape of the high bridge saddle in the Han and Wei dynasties, and the rear saddle bridge is inclined downward, which is more convenient for the passenger to get up and down, and it is also more suitable for the human body, which can be called the rear axle inclined saddle.

To put it bluntly, this kind of saddle is a U-shaped saddle, which is more comfortable than the V-shaped saddle of the Han Dynasty.

But for people like Li Xiao, this kind of saddle is still not very comfortable. The most important role of the saddle is, of course, to sit when riding, and to sit comfortably.

To put it simply, the saddles of ordinary motorcycles and electric vehicles in later generations are more comfortable than the current wooden axle saddles.

Although the saddle at this time was made of wood, covered with cowhide, and even decorated with gold and silver jewelry, it was still a wooden saddle.

The wooden saddle is hard, and those layers of leather will not have much shock absorption and cushioning effect, and if you run a hundred and eighty miles in one breath, people will really fall apart.

Tang's saddle, there is also a sheath under the saddle, which is called a saddle mattress in later generations, which is generally made of felt, and also made of fur, such as the emperor's saddle sheath, which is made of tiger skin.

And under the sheath, there is also a mud barrier, and the mud barrier hangs under the sheath.

In order to fix the saddle and sheath, it is necessary to draw out the belt to the horse's chest, jiri, and abdomen to tie and fix it, the belt that wraps around the horse's belly from under the saddle is called the belly belt, the belt that goes around the horse's chest from the saddle forward is called the chest, and the belt that goes around the horse's buttocks after the saddle is called the sheath.

Some people will also scatter some decorative straps on each side of the saddle, and even many Tang people will also scatter some short straps on their belts, which are called 鞢韄.

A good saddle sheath includes all the harnesses and is extremely expensive.

But today, Li Xiao looks at Yan Liben and Di Renjie, the saddles of the two Tang officials, but they are almost the same, basically they are all wooden saddle bones, covered with leather, and high bridge saddles. This saddle is about the same as the saddle given to him by his friends, and it is nothing for a short ride, and it hurts to ride a little farther.

Not yet comfortable on a vintage bike.

He took a piece of cloth and wrapped his mouth and nose to make a simple mask to protect against dust, and thought that it would be nice to have more sunglasses.

Well, it would be nice if the saddle could be improved a little more.

If you could make these two saddles that are raised high and recessed in the middle into a motorcycle saddle, it will be much more comfortable.

It's obviously smoother, and if it's made of wood to leather, with some support from animal bone or wood, then it's certainly not so hard. The multi-layer leather cushion is sure to be much more comfortable.

"What are you thinking, are you thinking that you don't know what to say after seeing Your Majesty for a while?" Yan Liben smiled and turned his head to him.

Li Xiao feels good about Old Man Yan, the dignified leader in the Gyeonggi region, a purple-robed boss, but he can still be kind to a small person like him, which is not easy.

In particular, I admired the fact that people came to see him on horseback, after all, it was a hundred and sixty miles round trip.

"Didn't think that far." Li Xiao smiled at Yan Liben, "Xiao just feels that riding a horse is quite tiring, and I admire Yan Changshi for being able to insist on riding a horse at his age, which is really commendable." ”

Yan Liben smiled, "What's this, although I am a civil servant, the old man has also been on the front line with the army several times before." ”

Di Renjie explained in a whisper on the side, saying that Yan Liben had followed Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of Tang to conquer Goguryeo before, although he had never fought with a knife, but riding a horse was really nothing.

"What? Can't get used to riding a horse? A young man like you can't ride a horse. Especially our Guan Long children, who must not learn to ride a horse. This time, if you find out that the corn is meritorious, you will definitely be rewarded, and then you may be able to get the knighthood, but you can't become a Tang noble, but you can't even ride a horse, and then you will be laughed at by Chang'an. You must know that in Chang'an, even the ladies of aristocratic families can ride horses, and even play polo on ponies. Yan Liben said with a smile.

"Hehe, maybe the kid's thinking is different from Changshi. The boy was tired from riding, and he was not thinking about how to improve his riding skills, but about how to improve the harness. For example, this saddle is a little too high and too deep, if it is good to adapt to the battlefield, but if you are riding normally, this saddle is inevitably a little unsuitable. If it is improved, for example, the wooden saddle bone is changed to only wood or animal bones as part of the support, and the leather is the mainstay, and the saddle is made of multiple layers of leather, especially to change the shape of the two ends high and deep in the middle, to change it to a more flat shape, and connect the saddle and the sheath into one, so that the saddle is more suitable for riding, wouldn't it be better? ”

Although Yan Liben is now the governor of Yongzhou, their Yan family is an engineering family, famous for engineering technology, and is good at painting, and they like the idea proposed by Li Xiao very much.

"Improving the harness, you're talking in a good direction. It's not enough to have an idea, if you can really come up with a good way to improve it, that's a credit. In particular, if you can improve the harness that is more suitable for cavalry combat, then you will definitely be rewarded. ”

Cavalry is an important branch of the army at all times, and it is often a decisive force on the battlefield. The appearance of stirrups gave the cavalry a powerful combat ability, and the saddle could also add wings to the tiger.

The more Yan Liben looked at it, the more he liked Li Xiao, this young man, his thoughts were not ordinary.