"Oh, what's that?"

Hearing Li Yang's words, Emperor Jianming, who was sitting on the yellow cloth chair, raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked him.

"These two things, the minister is willing to call them 'saddle' and 'stirrups', and they also need to be made on the spot for His Majesty the Emperor."

Li Ming arched his hand with a straight face, Emperor Jianming looked surprised, and then looked Li Ming up and down in surprise, and still felt that a dignified head of the current dynasty would not be idle and have nothing to do, and say some on this occasion———— unless he didn't want his future.

However, a person who takes the initiative to cater to him does not want his own future?

The emperor smiled at the corner of his mouth, thought about it, waved his hand, and said to the left and right: "Help Li Ming make this ...... Saddle, stirrups. ”

"Yes."

The attendants on the left and right immediately stood up and respectfully clenched their fists, then walked up to Li Ming and arched his hand with a smile: "Lord Li, please." ”

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be."

Li Ming smiled and waved his hand, followed his gaze left and right, put his eyes on a small tree, and suddenly his eyes froze: "Is there an axe?" ”

"Yes."

The other hungry soldiers standing beside him were also curious, and when they heard Li Ming's request, two sergeants with big axes in their hands immediately stepped forward and handed the axes in their hands to the two attendants who walked out.

"Thank you."

With Li Yang's current strength, he can break the tree with his bare hands, but it is not easy to make things without an axe———— before entering here, in order to show respect, he and the four followers around him did not carry weapons.

He bowed his hand to the two sergeants, who thanked them politely, and then returned to their original positions, watching Li Yang command the two attendants to come to the trees.

"And cut it down."

Li Ming pointed to the trees and said to the sergeant beside him with a smile.

Although there are soldiers hidden in the hunting ground, there is no shortage of trees, and this one in front of you is an ordinary tree.

———— the weapon was not handed over to Li Ming, because the emperor was here, to ensure that there would be no accidents, neither the handover nor Li Ming wanted to stick to this matter, and let the entourage work, it was best.

"Okay."

The two entourages were also strong and strong, and after listening to Li Ming's words, they didn't say much and cut down hard.

Li Ming stood aside with a smile, but the history of the development of the saddle on the earth rose in his mind.

In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a prototype of the saddle - the Xiongnu saddle, the development of the Xiongnu saddle was faster than that of Donghu, the saddle body of the Xiongnu saddle was simple and low, and the front and rear saddle bridges had not yet appeared, similar to the cushion. There is also a low saddle in the Qin Dynasty, the representative is the pottery war horse of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit No. 2 of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the saddle of the sculpture on the horseback is a saddle pad, there are three leather belly belts on the cushion to fix the horse mat on the horse's back, the leather belly belt has buckles, all on the left side of the horse's belly, the horse's buttocks are sheathed, the horse's head is covered, and it is made of limestone blocks woven with bronze castings and copper wires.

In the late Western Han Dynasty, a concave high saddle appeared. The saddle with the front and rear bridges convex appeared in the two Jin and North Korean Beidonghu tribes, and the two ends of the saddle changed from flat to high, which limited the forward and backward sliding tendency of the rider's body and provided longitudinal stability, so it was called "two-bridge vertical saddle".

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the shape of the Turkic saddle had a new change, the front saddle bridge was high and upright, and the rear saddle bridge was inclined downward, which was called "rear saddle bridge inclined saddle". This style of saddle, which is convenient for riders to get on and off, is a great step forward in the development of saddles.

In the Yuan Dynasty, there were lower battle saddles on the rear axle and gentle living saddles on the front and rear axles, and the saddles at this time were more varied. The saddle of the Ming Dynasty was simple in workmanship and few ornaments, commonly known as the simple saddle.

The saddle of the Qing Dynasty was richly decorated, and the workmanship was fine, including the saddle, the pannier saddle, the saddle and the happy saddle, and the cloisonné saddle (also known as enamel) also appeared in the Qing Dynasty. Modern saddles have inherited the basic shapes and decorative patterns of saddles of previous dynasties.

Characteristics of Mongolian horse harness making skills

Mongolian saddles are divided into the following categories:

According to the use: there are living saddles, ceremonial saddles, racing saddles and saddles with official seals.

Horse saddles used in daily life such as saddles, pack saddles, saddles, hunting, and grazing. The saddle used when attending ceremonial activities, the saddle is exquisitely made, there are gold, silver, copper, lacquer, etc., such as the leather saddle of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the decoration of the saddle is simple, all made of wood, there are two kinds of saddles, one is hollowed out in the middle, and the items are placed. One is to hook the item with hooks on both sides.

According to the place of human habitation, it can be divided into Ordos saddle, Chahar saddle, Oirat, Korqin saddle, Kazakh saddle, Turka saddle, Uzhumuqin saddle, Balhu saddle and so on. The saddle of the Bal Tiger has a low front and rear saddle, a wide base, and a lot of silver ornaments, and the pattern is delicate. The stirrup is larger than elsewhere, and in some places, even within a clan, there are slight differences in the saddle, while the Abaga saddle is mainly used for nomadic herding. The Kazakh saddle, also known as the military saddle, is used in the Inner Mongolia region and the XJ region, with a small front sheath and a wide back sheath.

In a sense, the saddle was invented in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the saddle is one of the harnesses, a kind of sitting position made of a wooden frame wrapped in leather, stuffed with soft objects, and shaped to fit the rider's buttocks, with both front and rear convex. An instrument placed on the back of a mule and a horse for a man to sit on. High at both ends and low in the middle. The saddle and stirrup were the most important inventions of the complete harness after the horse's chew and bridle.

In the days without stirrups, people had to ride on the back of a bare horse, and only by grasping the reins or mane and clamping the horse's belly with their legs to keep themselves from falling off while the horse was galloping.

However, this method is very unreliable, first of all, it is easy to get tired after a long time of riding, and at the same time, it is difficult to use a bow and arrow effectively on the back of a running horse, and in close combat, the rider cannot use the sword and spear as he pleases, and the slash or assassination misses, and the collision of the blades of both sides can cause the rider to slide off the horse at any time.

Therefore, the training of cavalry was extremely difficult, the scale was difficult to shape, and the combat effectiveness was not as good as that of later generations.

It was not until the saddle was formed that the cavalry was able to develop on a large scale, and the combat effectiveness increased significantly.

Before the end of the world, the saddle had also been made very modern, but how to make it was not very clear to Li Ming.

However, he can't do complex saddles, and simple ones can't be done?

Moreover, there are many skilled craftsmen, he only needs to provide an idea, and someone will continue to improve the solution.

Thinking in his heart, between the efforts of the two waiters, a super simple version of the saddle making method gradually appeared in Li Ming's mind.

After a short time, the trees were cut down, and Li Yang instructed them to roughly cut the wood into planks, and then use rope to splice and wrap the three planks together.

"Now the conditions are simple, I can only make a simple version, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

Li Ming checked that there was nothing wrong with the stirrup, and then said to the stunned Emperor Jianming and said apologetically: "The saddles are made of wood, they can not only be used to provide support when riding, but also to protect the horses."

"Therefore, when choosing wood, choose wood that is easy to process and durable. Then, depending on the size and shape of the saddle, a saw is used to cut the shape of the saddle before cutting the wood, and the shape of the saddle needs to be drawn and planned. The wood is then carved into the desired shape using a saw, and after the production is complete, it needs to be oiled and lacquered to protect the surface of the wood. ”

"The size of the saddle also needs to be customized according to the horse, but this flexible saddle is easy to use."

After Li Ming finished speaking, he asked people to find some pieces of iron, smashed them into the shape of a square ring on the spot, tied them with thick ropes, and tied them to the saddle together.

"This is the stirrup, that is, a flat-bottomed ring, the specific shape does not have to be fixed, to avoid hurting the foot, it is generally best to fix it with a belt, but now it can also be displayed with hemp rope, hanging on both sides of the saddle on the saddle of riding animals (mainly horses, but also including mules and other equines), for the rider to place his feet, but also to assist the rider up and down. With stirrups, it is easier for the rider to sit firmly in the saddle and it is easier to control the horse, thus being able to free his hands and make various movements on the horse, which can be used with the saddle when it works wonders. ”

When Li Ming finished doing this, he explained to His Majesty Emperor Jianming, who had begun to grow more and more solemn, and then took this simple version of the saddle stirrup and placed it on the horse's back, and tied it to the horse's waist with a rope.

"Are there any cavalry trained people in the field who can only ride horses?"

After Li Ming put the saddle stirrup away, he turned around and looked around, and asked.

"Uh, me."

The two attendants, who had been tired for a long time, were stunned for a moment, and then walked out silently, Li Ming immediately smiled and beckoned, and asked them to sit on it themselves, put their feet in the saddle, and sit on the stirrups to ride the horse.

"How do you feel now?"

After getting on the horse alone, Li Ming looked at the guard with an air on his face and asked with a smile.

"Hey, don't really say it, this thing looks so simple and so easy to use, I actually feel much more stable right away."

The waiter's face was surprised, he first rode two steps stiffly, and then found that he could rely on the saddle stirrup and the reins in his hand to be very stable on the horse's back, and suddenly his expression relaxed, and after running around like this, the other party could even hold the reins with one hand and wave the other with a weapon, and suddenly said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, this is the role of the saddle stirrup, which allows a novice to quickly learn to ride a horse, and after much less training than a cavalryman without a saddle stirrup, he can use weapons on horses, make all kinds of combat moves, and engage people."

Li Ming immediately turned around respectfully and knelt on the ground to the emperor, and raised his voice to speak: "With this thing, soldiers can save a lot of physical strength by riding horses, and can devote more energy to fighting, quickly erasing the gap with those nomads who grew up on horseback, and even gain an advantage in cavalry battles!" ”

"Please also ask Your Majesty to promote it in the whole army, once a soldier occurs, this thing can fight for two more chances of victory for our army!"

In many cases, the odds of winning are already the difference between life and death!

In fact, there is no need for Li Ming to say, the emperor and the surrounding soldiers who have been training and fighting all day can see the problem, the posture of the attendants riding a horse for the first time can not be faked, they can see it at a glance, and this short circle of distance, can actually be so free, the difference has made their faces tremble.

An ordinary cavalryman, from not being able to ride a horse to training to learning to ride a horse, and being able to attack and fight on horseback skillfully, even for up to three years!

However, at this time, looking at the unbridled squires on the horses, the generals came to a ridiculous conclusion in their hearts: with this thing, the recruits may only need ......

"Your Majesty, a certain family asks to get on the horse and give it a try."

Emperor Jianming, who knew the soldiers, couldn't help but stand up, but an old general on the side couldn't help but stand up from the military formation, and said with an excited expression.

"Go ahead."

Emperor Jianming silently removed his ass from the stool and sat back again, and said silently.

"Yes."

The old general said loudly, followed by getting on the horse to clear the use of Li Ming's saddle stirrup, and after getting on the horse, he tried it again, and was even more surprised.

The experience was far more real and apt than it looked, and the old general was already pleasantly surprised by the effect of the saddle stirrups.

"Your Majesty, these two things are really the most precious treasures in the army!"

After the old general rode around, he was very happy to bow down to Emperor Jianming and replied: "The minister rode up, and he could feel that it was eighty percent less than normal horseback riding. ”

Emperor Jianming raised his eyebrows, but suddenly a few generals couldn't wait to run out: "Your Majesty, the young general begs me to give it a try!" ”

"Don't try it, I'll try it myself."

Emperor Jianming waved his hand lightly, and the two little generals hurriedly responded, and then His Majesty the Emperor jumped up from the chair under Li Ming's surprised gaze, and his body fell on the horse elegantly and vigorously, and sat directly on the simple saddle and stirrups.

"Sigh Rule~"

As soon as Emperor Jianming pulled the horse rope, the horse suddenly ran, his feet were inserted in the stirrups so that his whole body had a point of strength, and his buttocks sat on the saddle, so that his body had a stable point, which reduced the strength consumed on his horse by eighty, and he could be more relaxed and free.

"Well, this thing is wonderful!"

The emperor who thought that Li Ming was just offering a saddle stirrup to win favor fell to the ground in surprise, isn't it such a practical thing that a pragmatic emperor values most?

What's more, it's something that directly increases the combat effectiveness of the cavalry!

"Your Majesty Xie praised, it is Li Ming's honor to be able to help my Daqian cavalry make it easier on the battlefield."

Li Ming suppressed his astonishment at Emperor Jianming's martial arts that were so good, bowed down, and replied humbly.

"Aiqing can have this heart, I am very relieved, but with this heart and this merit, then I should be rewarded!"

Emperor Jianming looked at Li Ming with a hearty smile, and then looked at Li Ming with a bright look in his eyes: "I give you a chance, do you want to be a general, or do you want to engage in political affairs!" ”

"All at your majesty's command!" (End of chapter)