He Xi said: "Why is this so? The south is humid and iron tools are easy to rust, so a large number of ordnance must be built. And aren't firearms more susceptible to moisture? That's why bows and crossbows are used instead."
Fu Zhong laughed after hearing this and thought He Xi was innocent and cute, and said: "You only know that gunpowder is easily affected by moisture, but you don't know that crossbows are more delicate than gunpowder." He picked up a half-finished bow and said: "Make it.
The six materials of the bow are stem, horn, tendon, glue, silk, and lacquer. The stem is considered to be far; the horn is considered to be diseased; the tendon is considered to be deep; and the glue is considered to be harmonious.
If it's made of silk, it's thought to be solid; if it's made of lacquer, it's thought to be exposed to frost and dew. But it's hot in the south, and when the bow goes to the humid areas in the south, it's easy for the glue to break and the bowstring to become weak."
"If the gunpowder gets damp, there must be gunpowder that doesn't get damp. And the worst thing is, just bake it to dry. But the bow and arrow are glued and weak. There is nothing you can do. You can only fight the enemy hand-to-hand."
Then Fu Zhong didn't care about the fruits of the craftsmen's labor at all. He opened the semi-finished bow body and found several layers inside, including a layer of wood, a layer of horns and other patches, as well as glue, paint and other things.
This is why it is said that compound bows were used in ancient China.
A truly strong bow cannot be used just by getting a long wooden stick somewhere.
He Xi took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, Brother Fu, for your advice."
Fu Zhong was a little bored. He came here today, originally to warn He Xi, but now he has also warned him, and now he will not leave immediately. He can only follow He Xi to visit. Nothing here is new to Fu Zhong
. He said boredly: "It doesn't matter. I actually only have a few words to say. Everyone in the army knows this. In fact, it is the officers who really value bows and arrows in the army. Ordinary soldiers can just use firearms."
Although He Xi felt a little uncomfortable after hearing this, it was consistent with his understanding. The Ming Dynasty was a dynasty with a mix of cold weapons and hot weapons. Cold weapons had not completely left the scene, but hot weapons had begun to quietly enter the scene.
He Xi understood almost everything, except for the last point. He Xi asked foreman Ge, "Mr. Ge, do you get paid for working here?"
Foreman Ge said: "Your Majesty, you are joking. We are all craftsmen. We serve the imperial court here, so naturally we don't get paid. However, Your Majesty cares about the people. As long as we do well, we will be rewarded."
He Xi was stunned and rewarded him with money.
He Xi couldn't believe it, for nothing. He Xi's understanding of the craftsman household system in the Ming Dynasty was all about allowing craftsmen to serve the country for free. The craftsmen were exploited at every level, making their lives miserable.
I just never imagined that craftsmen would receive rewards for their work without being paid.
He Xi said: "How much is the reward? Does everyone have it?"
Foreman Ge said: "Of course everyone has it. Although it's not much, it's enough to make ends meet."
He Xi recalled the craftsmen he saw along the way. Although his clothes were shabby, the overall condition of this era was not limited to craftsmen. Even the clothes of the eunuchs and maids in the palace would have patches in inconspicuous places, but they could not be seen at a glance.
.
This is already decent.
This is determined by the productivity of this era.
You can see the craftsmen's physiques and facial expressions. Although they are not very good, they are definitely not in trouble.
He Xi deeply felt that there were many differences between the Hongwu period and the Ming Dynasty that followed.
It’s not just that today’s military nobles and civil servants are humble, it’s also because the Hongwu system is flexible and can be adjusted, rather than the rigid rigidity of later generations. Just like the fact that this craftsman is rewarded with silver, it seems very simple. But it is different from the Ming Dynasty and later Ming Dynasty.
The craftsman system is completely different.
And when He Xi thought about it now, he was also very strange. After the Hanlin Academy finished repairing the books, the emperor was rewarded with silver. When the major work was completed, the emperor was rewarded with silver. Why were the craftsmen not rewarded for their work? It was obviously something that had happened before.
The city of Nanjing developed slowly after Zhu Yuanzhang took over. In the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, they both intended to suppress Jinling. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was called Jiqing. When it was in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, there were actually not many people. Now it is hundreds of people.
In this metropolis with tens of thousands of people, many of the people are wealthy households that Zhu Yuanzhang moved from various places, including military family members and a large number of craftsmen.
Craftsmen are needed to build city walls, craftsmen are needed to build palaces, craftsmen are needed to make weapons, and so on.
In this era, craftsmen shouldered a large workload, and even the main task of these craftsmen was to work for the government, and they had no opportunity or time to do private work in private. If the court did not give money, these craftsmen would have to rebel.
How could Zhu Yuanzhang, who started out as a rebel, make such a mistake?
Naturally, adjustments need to be made. It’s just that the craftsmen received not monthly salary or annual salary, but similar to project wages. Obviously in Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes, craftsmen served the court for a few months a year and worked on their own the rest of the time. This system is perfect
.Today, giving more reward money is just a temporary measure because the court has too many projects.
This matter is not big or small.
But the impact on He Xi was very big.
It made him truly feel the vitality of the newly born country of Ming Dynasty. He also felt that it was an emerging country with a vast world and great potential, and there were not so many rules and regulations at all.
An idea suddenly came to his mind.
"How can it be a good idea for a flying general to meet Emperor Gao?"
Is this also a high emperor?
He Xi had been in the palace before, and he was more concerned with protecting himself. After all, he had just come into contact with Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation in later generations was more than just a cruel one, such as killing heroes and burning the celebration building.
He Xi mostly wanted to protect himself, but now his career ambitions are ready to start.
His tongue was slightly dry, and his whole body was a little excited. He restrained his mind and ignored the fact that some god in the world chose him and let him come into this world. He couldn't live up to such an opportunity.
However, everything must be done well from this one thing.
Prove to Zhu Yuanzhang the power of modern technology.
It's just that for a while, He Xi couldn't figure out how to solve these problems. Now that he knew everything he needed to know, it was time to go back and check the information.
He Xi looked at the sky and said: "Let's stop here today." He turned around and said to Fu Zhong: "Brother Fu, you have helped me a lot today. Let's do this. I'll treat you and ask Brother Fu to show your respect."
."
Fu Zhong suddenly became interested and said: "Okay. I just came back from Peiping and will be marching south in a few days. I heard that your Majesty will build a new thirty-sixth floor in Nanjing. Everyone.
They are all top-notch craftsmanship, and I have never tasted them. But, have you brought any money?"
He Xi was stunned and subconsciously touched the cell phone hidden in the inner pocket of her clothes.
Can Daming pay via mobile phone?
He Xi really didn't bring any of Ming Dynasty's money. Without him, he would have been in the palace all the time, so he would have whatever he wanted. Ming Dynasty's money was of no use to He Xi at all. How could he bring it with him?
It was extremely embarrassing for a while.
Fu Zhong said: "Then wait until Nanzheng comes back and you invite me." After that, he left.
After He Xi returned to the palace, he checked the information on his mobile phone and computer. It was a pity that he had not paid attention to these contents before. After all, who would know that he was about to travel through time?
So after hiding the computer, he picked up a gold pen and analyzed it on paper.
Things have priorities. As Fu Zhong said, the most important issue is the armor, and other issues can be pushed aside. Even in He Xi's opinion, if he can complete the armor, other issues will be postponed.
It's okay to take it slow.
After all, as the founding king of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang's prestige was at its peak. Just because Nanjing's treasury was vacant for a period of time, nothing big happened.
And armor is the most important of the so-called armaments. Since ancient times, the court has not banned bows, arrows, swords and guns. Only armor, as long as it is hidden, is a death penalty.
So armor comes first.
But He Xi reviewed the armor craftsmanship in his mind and shook his head.
One pair of armor requires more than one hundred armor leaves. One hundred thousand pairs, there are more than ten million armor leaves. Although there are many blacksmiths, it is impossible to create so many armor leaves in a short period of time.
possible.
Not to mention the numerous weaving, riveting and other processes.
Don't know when it will be.
He Xi secretly thought: "It is necessary to change the armor and greatly reduce the number of armor pieces. Let's learn from plate armor."
He Xi had not thought about making a real plate armor. He just wanted to greatly reduce the blades of the Ming armor. In He Xi's opinion, it was best to reduce it to a dozen or even less. In this way, plus
The hydraulic forging machine can greatly reduce the working hours. If possible, enough armor can be replenished within three months.
It's just that there is very little information that He Xi can find. Many of them are very simple phrases or conceptual things. Finding principles, concepts, or professional terms from every corner of the computer is not enough for He Xi to design
Come up with a complete set of solutions.
He Xi got up and walked around, feeling a little irritable. He suddenly thought of it, turned on the computer again, and found an article or material. It said the Anshan Iron and Steel Constitution and various explanations.
In fact, if he hadn't dug it out, he wouldn't have been able to remember when this thing was in his computer, whether he was looking up information for an essay before the college entrance examination, or in a politics class in college. Now this article gave him a lot of inspiration
Inspire.
Only now did he understand that what he brought from the lower reaches of history was not scientific and technological knowledge, but the crystallization of the wisdom of countless people over the past six hundred years.
Now he can't do such a high-level combination of two, one, and three. But it is still possible to mobilize the masses and hold a Zhuge Liang meeting. After all, the real solution to the problem is the local experts of this era. Not him who came from later generations and is not a machine.
College students majoring in metallurgy.
Thinking of this, He Xi finally found his direction. He ate in a hurry in the palace, not forgetting to ask Xu Baoer to bring a thousand gold coins, and hurried out again.