In the early morning, the gentle breeze of late spring gently blows the dewy young leaves, and the sun shrouds this fertile soil dimly, and it seems that it has not woken up either.

Ying Zheng sat at his desk, stretched and yawned.

Last night, Princess Hu Yu shouted that she wanted to play the Xuanyuan Sword again, and Ying Zheng said that he would imitate a golden sword for her and give her a high-quality flying crossbow, which finally put Princess Hu Yu to sleep.

Before Hu Yu woke up in the morning, Ying Zheng came to the study alone.

"Zhao Gao, how is the porcelain matter, how is the progress in the past few days?" Ying Zheng asked.

Zhao Gao leaned over and said: "Back to the king, the progress is very fast, it is estimated that the first batch of goods will be completed in these two days, and when they are ready, they can be sent to Qi and Yan." ”

"......So soon," Ying Zheng said in surprise.

It has only been four days since Jing Fan brought porcelain last time.

"These craftsmen on the king are treasures, more precious than anything else." Zhao Gao said with a smile.

"Hehe, yes." Ying Zheng said happily, "Today, I went to Jingyao with the widow to have a look." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Gao responded.

Ying Zheng took Zhao Gao, called Li Si, went out of the West City Gate, and came to Jingyao.

Unlike last time, the craftsmen of Jingyao were all energetic and orderly, and it was obvious that during this time, Jingfan or Li Si had trained them.

Ying Zheng told the craftsmen to be busy with their own work, leaving Jing Fan in the house.

"I've heard you're making very fast progress." Ying Zheng got straight to the point and asked directly.

Jing Fan arched his hand and said: "Back to the king, since the craftsmen have returned to Jingyao, naturally all aspects are carried out very quickly, and the quality is also guaranteed. ”

Ying Zheng nodded with satisfaction and said, "I'll take the widow to see it later." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Jing Fan said, "But Weichen wants to show the king two things first." ”

"Oh? What? Ying Zheng thought there was a new style of porcelain.

"When the king saw it, he understood." Jing Fan sold a pass, turned around and went out.

Ying Zheng shook his head with a wry smile and looked at Li Si again.

Li Si still looked casual, but his eyes fell on Zhao Gao.

After a while, Jing Fan led a few people back.

Four people carried an object similar to a loom and followed Jing Fan, and behind them, two people followed with a smaller wooden frame.

When he saw the things carried by the four people in front of him, Ying Zhengteng stood up and stared at the things they were carrying, because this was nothing else, it was a device for making flying crossbows.

"Your Majesty, the equipment for making the crossbow has been imitated, please take a look at it." Jing Fan smiled.

Ying Zheng didn't speak, walked quickly to the instrument, squatted down, and caressed and looked at it carefully.

Seeing Ying Zheng's serious appearance, Jing Fan's smile was even bigger, but he didn't bother again.

After carefully looking at every corner around the instrument, Ying Zheng looked away, looked at Jing Fan with a smile and said, "It looks good, I don't know how about the crossbow made by this ballucapult?" ”

Jing Fan turned around, took a flying crossbow from another craftsman, and handed it directly to Ying Zheng, saying, "Please take a look at it." ”

Ying Zheng took the crossbow and looked at it over and over again.

"It looks very similar, let's go, let's try." Ying Zheng said.

Ying Zheng took the flying crossbow and walked out the door, followed by Li Si, Jing Fan and others.

Jing Fan guided him to a clearing, only to see two shooting targets tied to the trees against the wall in the distance, which seemed to be the target area for testing the flying crossbow.

Ying Zheng loaded a crossbow arrow, raised his hand and aimed slightly, and the crossbow arrow flew out, extremely fast.

With a soft sound, the bolt struck a distance of about an inch or so below the bull's-eye.

"Hehe, yes, it's more accurate than a bow and arrow." Ying Zheng knows how good his archery skills are, and he is quite satisfied with this result.

"Your Majesty." Jing Fan arched his hand and said, "Xia Chen has made a total of five flying crossbow machines, and each flying crossbow machine has made two flying crossbows, and now there are a total of ten flying crossbows available, if the king wants to test, it is better to find some archers for test firing, so as to facilitate debugging." ”

Ying Zheng had a surprised expression, this crossbow machine actually built five sets and produced ten crossbows!

Without waiting for Ying Zheng to speak, Li Si said beside him: "That's fine, it's better to find some Mengjia sergeants who are guarding Jingyao, and see what the sergeants say about the flying crossbow." ”

Ying Zheng nodded and motioned for Zhao Gao to find some archers to come over.

Not long after, Zhao Gao came to the shooting range with more than 20 sergeants, and Jing Fan also sent someone to bring all the flying crossbows.

After the sergeants saluted Yingzheng, they were divided into groups of five to test-fire the flying crossbows.

Among these sergeants, some are specialized archers, and some are ordinary infantrymen, but even if they have just joined the army, their marksmanship is better than that of Yingzheng.

The firing distance is not very far, in the first round, the crossbow arrows did not deviate, they all hit the circle of the bull's-eye, but the position from the center was slightly different.

After the test firing, the sergeants handed the crossbows to the other sergeants, and after standing in the back, they whispered to each other and talked about each other.

All the sergeants test-fired, except for a few who had never touched a crossbow bolt and missed the bull's-eye.

The leading sergeant major leaned over Yingzheng and said, "Tell the king, all the sergeants have completed the test firing." ”

Ying Zheng nodded and asked, "How does the crossbow you test compare with the existing ones in the army?" ”

The sergeant major handed the flying crossbow to Zhao Gao and said: "Back to the king, the crossbow currently used in the army is superior compared to the nations, but compared to the bow and arrow, the range is shorter, the lethality is not strong, and it can only shoot straight, if the enemy's front row is blocked with a shield, the crossbow arrow will not be useful." And this kind of crossbow arrow, the arrow is longer, the speed is faster, the range will be longer, and the accuracy is more than one point stronger. ”

Ying Zheng took the flying crossbow in Zhao Hand and said, "The name of this crossbow arrow is called Flying Crossbow, how do you feel that it compares to the bow and arrow?" ”

The sergeant major pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if there is a comparison, it is better to go to the enemy with a more spacious one and compare it with a superior bow and arrow." ”

"That's a good idea." Ying Zheng said with a smile, "Let your soldiers prepare, let's go outside and compare." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." The sergeant major bowed his hand, and then led the two dozen sergeants out of the gate.

Ying Zheng took Li Si, Zhao Gao, Jing Fan and others to follow the sergeants, and Jing Fan also brought some craftsmen, some with flying crossbows, and some with arrows.

At the foot of a hillside, the sergeants made some makeshift targets, ranging from near and far.

Ying Zheng didn't let the craftsmen come forward, and all the crossbows were handed over to the sergeants, after all, this was a contest of weapons, not a contest between men.

The sergeants who took part in the test were divided into two groups, the one on the left holding a bow and arrow, and the one on the right holding a crossbow.

The sergeants guarding Jingyao were all guards of the Mengjia army, well-trained and well-equipped, and the bows and arrows they were equipped with hard bows with a long range.

The first is the comparison of accuracy, the distance between the two sides of the target is almost the same, and the size of the bullseye is almost the same.

The order to release the arrow was cast by Zhao Gao, and there were soldiers near the target who were watching the results.

With Zhao Gao's shout, two rows of arrows shot out.

The sergeants who participated in the test shot were all first-class archers, and the results were not unexpected, with both sides hitting the bull's-eye in the short shots, and the arrows reaching the bull's-eye a little earlier on the crossbow side than on the bow side.

The first round of testing was pretty much the same.

Below is a shot at a longer distance.

After the bow and arrow are fired, they are all thrown lanes, so they are always slower than the crossbow to hit the target, and the farther away from the target, the longer it will take to run.

In terms of accuracy, there is still little difference, but the sergeants who use the crossbow are using it for the first time, and these sergeants are not very familiar with the crossbow, and the longbow is indeed an inseparable companion for them.

After shooting the target, Ying Zheng ordered these sergeants to shoot on horseback, but this time, the advantage of the flying crossbow was clearly revealed.

Mounted archery requires both hands to control the horse, and drawing a bow and archery also requires both hands, and the archer needs to have a strong sense of balance and quite skilled riding and archery skills when he releases the reins with both hands when riding and shooting.

The advantage of the flying crossbow is that after the arrows are loaded, they can be fired with one hand, and the accuracy has not been greatly affected, and they can also be shot with the skill of throwing lines, and the range is not inferior to that of bows and arrows, but you must know that the best bows and arrows used by the Mengjia army are far better than the performance of ordinary bows and arrows.

After a few rounds of firing, the teams on both sides returned to their positions and counted the number of targets, bows, arrows, and crossbows. But in the process of the whole team, the state of the two teams is different.

The teams that use crossbows are in high spirits, and they are all talking about the new crossbow arrows.

Looking at the teams using bows and arrows, they breathed deeply, some shook their wrists, and some kneaded their arms, all looking tired.

Ying Zheng, Li Si and others naturally saw this scene, including the sergeant major.

Ying Zheng didn't speak, sat on the horse, and seemed to be thoughtful.

Li Si said to the sergeant major: "Ask the sergeants, which is better than the bow and arrow?" ”

The sergeant major respectfully bowed his hand and said: "Master Li, don't ask, we already have a plan in our hearts, although this bow and arrow is easy to use, it is not as light as the flying crossbow, if the brothers use the flying crossbow as easily as a bow and arrow, it must be more accurate." ”

"If it were on the battlefield, you had to choose, which one would you choose to kill?" Lees asked.

"Ballets, of course." The sergeant major replied without thinking.

"Do you think it's feasible to replace all the bows and arrows of the whole army with flying crossbows?" Lees asked again.

The sergeant major pondered for a moment, but at this moment, Ying Zheng also set his eyes on the sergeant major, as if what he was thinking about just now was the question asked by Li Si.

"In a lowly position, such a big thing, I dare not speak falsely." The sergeant major paused for a moment and said, "But if the brothers below are equipped with flying crossbows, they will surely be very happy." ”

The sergeant's voice was not loud, but it was enough for the sergeants to hear.

There were voices of approval in the back, including the sergeants who had used the bows and arrows just now, and because of their curiosity, they had not stopped communicating with the sergeants who were wielding crossbows.

Ying Zheng got off his horse, came to the front of the sergeant major, and said with a smile: "What you said, the widow has heard it, since this is the case, the widow will seriously consider this matter, however, today's matter about the flying crossbow, don't publicize it to the public for the time being, after you change the guard and go back, tell Meng Tian to enter the palace tomorrow to find the widow." ”

The sergeant major knew the importance of keeping secrets, and after saluting, he went to the ranks of the sergeants.

Ying Zheng returned to the hall of Jingyao with Li Si, Jing Fan and others with a smile on his face.

As soon as he entered the door, Ying Zheng saw the flying crossbow machine again, and he liked it even more from the bottom of his heart.

At the same time, however, he saw a similar object placed not far from the Ballista, but it was more than half the size of the Ballista.

"What is this?" Ying Zheng's attention was on the crossbow machine just now, and only now did he think of asking Jingfan.

"Back to the king, this is the instrument for making arrows." Jing Fan arched his hand and said, "It is also made according to the record of that scroll, and the arrows we shoot just now are all from such crossbow machines, these crossbow arrows are exactly the same specifications, they are more neat than handmade arrows, and they can improve the accuracy of shooting, and they are also more than artificially produced quantities, and they are replenished faster for the consumption of the army." ”

Ying Zheng's eyes lit up, and he leaned down again, taking a closer look at the crossbow machine.

Jing Fan added: "The arrows we used for the test shooting just now are also coated with the paint that the king ordered us to imitate, according to Master Li, with that paint, even if the arrow is not polished for a hundred years, it will still be extremely sharp, and it will not rust at all." ”

Ying Zheng raised his head, his eyes widened, and he had an expression of disbelief: "Is it ......?" ”

Jing Fan smiled and said, "Back to the king, those paints have also been imitated. ”

Ying Zheng pinched the back of his hand, it hurt a little, and then looked at Li Si again.

Li Si smiled knowingly, this time he did not avoid Ying Zheng's gaze.