Chapter 38: Steel - Crossbow

The crown prince did not go to war. But he is very familiar with logistics. The prince has been involved in government affairs since he was a child and has dealt with many things to support front-line operations. How could he not have known the revolutionary significance of the production of chain mail. The prince even felt that the production of chain mail could be put on the front line. Bring enough steel and wire drawers for the front-line fighters. Just weave it yourself.

Of course, from the perspective of internal and external checks and balances, it is absolutely impossible. But to create other armors, you need a professional blacksmith, at least an apprentice, such a person, Daming is rare. And chain mail is not something that ordinary people can produce, but in Nanjing, almost half of them are craftsmen who can produce this.

The prince has almost seen an inexhaustible supply of chain mail.

Even if this chain mail is in many ways, it is not as good as the armor, cotton armor, and new armor. Having armor and not having armor are completely different concepts.

It seemed that it was because He Xi gave too many surprises, and everyone was silent for a while. After a long while, the prince said, "Brother He, what other surprises are there for us to see." Let's take it out together. ”

He Xi said: "There is only one left." He Xi asked people to bring up the last weapon.

A crossbow, to be precise, a steel - a crossbow.

The prince personally started and looked carefully.

The body of the crossbow is steel, and the bowstring is also wire. The crossbow body is attached to a piece of hardwood. There is also a runner next to it, which is a winder. Under He Xi's guidance, the prince stirred the winder, stretched the steel-crossbow open, and let go of the arrow after loading the arrow. With a "crash", the crossbow arrow broke through the air and pierced into a big tree until it was featherless.

The prince smiled: "Not bad. ”

Compared with the two armors before He Xi, this bow and crossbow was not so pleasantly surprised.

Although the strength of the bow and crossbow is good, compared to the divine arm crossbow, the enemy crossbow is like that. It is estimated that it is between the middle and the middle. The only surprise was the winder, which saved the soldier some effort. But compared to the power of firearms, it is much worse.

It's not that He Xi doesn't work hard, it's really the ancient Chinese bow and crossbow, especially the bow and crossbow of the Song Dynasty, which is simply the pinnacle. It's almost to the limit.

He Xi said: "Your Highness, do you know how this bow and crossbow are made?" ”

The prince gave He Xi a face and said, "Please also ask Brother He to solve his doubts for the foolish brother?" "Actually, as the crown prince, he doesn't care too much about technical details.

He Xi said: "Directly beat the steel ingot into a steel bar and fix it on it. As for the wire strings, they are no different from the wires of chain mail. As long as there are enough raw materials, enough craftsmen, it is not difficult to produce hundreds of handfuls per day? ”

"What?" Fu Youde was taken aback, he couldn't hold back any longer. A few steps forward, take the bow and crossbow in hand, take a closer look, and do not need a winder, force the bow and crossbow away, and watch the crossbow body slightly deformed, then let go. Said: "What a hard bow." ”

Seeing this, He Xi couldn't help but say, "Yingchuan Hou Shenyong." ”

It's amazing.

Making a bow and crossbow was He Xi's choice in order to make up for the inventory. After all, in the arsenal of the Ming Dynasty, nearly 10,000 bows and crossbows have been sent. He Xi didn't fill in at all. I feel a little irresponsible. But it was also said earlier that the production of bows and crossbows is not the same as the production of other weapons. The accumulation of raw materials alone will take several years, and now if you want to produce, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

So He Xi thought of the steel-crossbow.

After just forging the steel bow and arrow, He Xi found a problem, no one could pull it away. It's too hard. It doesn't matter if it's the bow, it's the bowstring. Only then did I rack my brains and add a winder. I also dispelled the idea of making bows and arrows, and just made them into crossbow arrows.

And Fu Youde pulled it away abruptly, which shows how high Fu Youde's force value is.

Fu Youde smiled all over his face and said, "Secretary He, can you replace all the armor allocated this time with this?" ”

There is also a reason why Fu Youde is condescending.

As mentioned earlier, the bow and crossbow did not perform well in the south because it would open the glue. Once the glue is opened, the bowstring is soft, and it is not as good as a burning stick. And gunpowder is also susceptible to moisture in the south. It can be overcome, but there is always a problem.

Now, Fu Youde saw a weapon that was particularly suitable for the south.

It's steel - a crossbow.

It is an iron-wood structure, and even if there are too many problems and too much water vapor, it is only easy to rust.

The problem of rust is relatively easy to solve. The soldiers will take care of their weapons. Secondly, even if it is rusty, it will not be unusable all of a sudden. It's just that the replacement frequency is higher. Fu Youde's southern expedition is imminent, and every day he thinks about the southern expedition, and when he sees this, he can't care about the thorn just now.

He Xi said: "This has just been produced, and I'm afraid it won't be much for a while." ”

The prince said: "Marquis Yingchuan, before you leave Beijing, you will be allowed to take away as much as you can produce, but now everything has been decided." Temporary changes are not possible. However, please rest assured that the Marquis of Yingchuan will go to Bingming's father, and the second batch of materials sent to the front line can add some new armor and armor. ”

Fu Youde said: "The front-line soldiers of the Ministers have thanked His Royal Highness the Prince. ”

The group had lunch outside the city. The prince said, "Brother He, come back to the palace with me." ”

He Xi said: "Your Highness, there are still many things to do here. These are samples that have just been produced. There is no mass production yet. And my promise to the craftsmen has not been fulfilled. ”

The prince said; "Didn't you accept a disciple, the master has something to do, the disciple obeys him, let him be the ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau. You leave the matter to him, but it really can't be done, I'll send a few capable people to help one or two. ”

"Father misses you. You've been out for a while, and my father asked me to take you back. ”

The prince can see that in fact, the most difficult things have passed.

The new weapons he created may not work in other ways. But all have one feature. That is the convenience of production. Particularly convenient for production. The rest of the organization and production do not need He Xi to preside over it. A lot of people will do it.

After all, before the Ming Dynasty, the organization of hundreds of thousands of weapons production was not without manpower.

arranging He Xi's disciples on this does not mean that his prince wants to steal merit. The real reason is from the emperor.

He Xi was taken aback, he didn't teach Ge Tiangong anything at all. It's just a master-apprentice title. The prince gave it to a seven-rank official. This is too much, He Xi said: "Your Highness, Ge Tiangong is still young and can't do anything. How can you be entrusted with such a task? ”

The prince smiled slightly and said, "Why can't you?" He is your disciple, and when he sees Lone, he will also call his uncle. How can Lone not give a meeting gift, just a seven-product ambassador. And what's it? What won't, as long as you do things honestly, be upright, and don't let the little ones be deceived. ”

What else could He Xi say, he could only bow down and say, "Thank you, His Royal Highness the Prince." ”

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In the Qianqing Palace.

The two pairs of armor were propped up on the wooden shelf, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at it carefully, flicked it with his fingers a few times, and then pulled out the sword beside him with his backhand, a standard stabbing action. There was a crisp sound of "ding", and nothing changed on the steel armor.

Zhu Yuanzhang returned the sword to the sheath, and looked at it again, the steel-crossbow on the table, without a winder, opened the bow with his bare hands, although it was not as full as Fu You's, but it was also pulled eighty percent. The face does not change color, and the heart does not beat, as if plucking the strings of the piano.

He Xi watched it below, if he hadn't let the people around him try it one by one. I can't believe it at the moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang is in his fifties. The force value is actually not weak. It's just that he is in the palace, and he hasn't shown his skills for many years. At the beginning of that year, when Zhu Yuanzhang was still Zhu Gongzi, he was also the master who took the lead and charged into battle.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "He Xi, you did a good job. There's just one thing I don't understand. You didn't do anything in the Ordnance Bureau either. Most of these inventions were made by the craftsmen themselves. But before that, why can't it be made? What do you mean by technology? ”

This is also where Zhu Yuanzhang is confused.

He looked at the records of almost all his words and deeds after He Xi went out. He Xi didn't do much, why did he change so much at once?

He Xi pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, there is a saying: 'If you really pass on a word, you will falsely pass on ten thousand books.'" In many things, the truth is simple. Because between heaven and earth, the road is simple. As long as you don't understand it, you will make things very complicated. The most important thing for craftsmen is the principle of steelmaking. As for the following, it is just the impact of material progress on technology. ”

"A lot of the technology is already there. It is used in many places, and the reason why this new armor cannot be made is not because of the lack of talent of the craftsmen, but because there are no raw materials. There is only enough steel. Because the properties of steel are much better than pig iron. It is what it should be. ”

"Materials are the foundation of all technology. There is no development of materials science. All imperial examinations are false. ”

"The minister only wants to improve the steelmaking method, and the rest is just to follow the trend."

Many of these words are He Xi's exclamations in this practice.

Before that, he knew the importance of the material. But I never thought it would be so important. Steel cannot be produced on a large scale. A lot of the technology simply doesn't work. Among the various steelmaking methods, craftsmen are required to hammer them. Although the number of times has decreased. However, with the formation of thinking inertia, it is difficult for this kind of large-scale hydraulic forging to appear.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said, "Is this why you must promote large-scale steelmaking before?" ”

He Xi said: "Your Majesty has seen thousands of miles. That's what it means. ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Not bad. I originally believed your words, but there was only one thing, maybe I should let you know that I sent someone to check on Guo Huan, the political envoy of Zhejiang, and found that this person was able to do things, honest and self-controlled, and was by no means a corrupt minister. What do you say? ”

"What?" He Xi's face changed suddenly. "It can't be. ”