The prince has never been on the battlefield, 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 frontline operations. How could he not know the revolutionary significance of chain armor production. The prince even felt that,
You can put the production of chain mail on the front line. Bring enough steel materials and wire drawing machines to the front line soldiers. You can just weave it yourself.
Of course, from the perspective of internal and external checks and balances, it is absolutely impossible. But to build other armors, you need professional blacksmiths, at least apprentices. Such people are rare in the Ming Dynasty. And chain armor allows not just ordinary people to produce it.
, and nearly half of the city of Nanjing are craftsmen, who can produce this.
The prince could almost see the inexhaustible supply of chain mail.
Even though this chain armor is not as good as Zha armor, cotton armor, and new-style armor in many aspects, having armor and not having armor are completely different concepts.
It seemed that because He Xi's surprise was too great, everyone was silent for a while. After a while, the prince said: "Brother He, do you have any more surprises for us? Bring them out together."
He Xi said: "There is only one thing left." He Xi asked someone to bring up the last weapon.
A crossbow, to be precise, a steel crossbow.
The prince took matters into his own hands and looked at it carefully.
The crossbow body is made of steel, and the bowstring is also steel wire. The crossbow body is fixed on a piece of hardwood. There is a runner next to it, which is a stringer. Under He Xi's guidance, the prince stirred the stringer and braced the steel crossbow.
Open, load the arrow, and let go. With a "collapse" sound, the crossbow arrow shot out of the air and stuck in a big tree until it was featherless.
The prince smiled and said: "Not bad."
Compared with He Xi's previous two armors, this crossbow seems less surprising.
Although the power of the crossbow is good, compared to the divine arm crossbow, it can only defeat the enemy. It is probably between the two. The only surprising thing is the winding device, which can save the soldiers some effort. But it is not as powerful as the firearm.
In comparison, there is a huge difference.
It’s not that He Xi didn’t work hard, but the ancient Chinese crossbows, especially the crossbows from the Song Dynasty, were at their peak. They were almost at their limit.
He Xi said: "Your Highness, does he know how this crossbow is made?"
The prince gave He Xi a favor and said, "Brother He, please help clear up Brother Yu's doubts?" In fact, as the prince, he didn't care too much about technical details.
He Xi said: "Just beat the steel ingots into steel bars and fix them on it. As for the steel wire strings, they are no different from the steel wires of chainmail. As long as there are enough raw materials and enough craftsmen, it is not difficult to produce hundreds of them a day.
?”
"What?" Fu Youde was shocked. He couldn't bear it anymore. He took a few steps forward, took the crossbow in his hand, and looked at it carefully. Without using the stringer, he pulled the crossbow open and looked at the crossbow.
His body deformed slightly, and then he let go. He said, "What a stiff bow."
When He Xi saw this, he couldn't help but said: "The Marquis of Yingchuan is brave."
How brave.
Making crossbows was He Xi's choice to make up for the inventory. After all, nearly 10,000 bows and crossbows have been given away in the Ming Dynasty's arsenal. He Xi did not make up for it at all. I feel a little irresponsible. But as I said before, the crossbows
Production is different from other weapons production. The accumulation of raw materials alone takes several years, but if you want to produce it now, it is difficult for a skilled woman to make a meal without straw.
So He Xi thought of the steel crossbow.
After making a steel bow and arrow, He Xi discovered a problem. No one could pull it open. It was too hard. Not only the bow body, but the bow string. Then he racked his brains and added a winding device.
I gave up the idea of making bows and arrows and just made them into crossbows.
But Fu Youde pulled away abruptly, which shows how high Fu Youde's force value is.
With a smile on his face, Fu Youde said: "Secretary He, can you replace all the armors allocated this time with this kind?"
There is a reason why Fu Youde is arrogant at first and respectful at the end.
As mentioned before, the reason for the poor performance of crossbows in the south is that the glue will open. Once the glue opens and the bow string becomes loose, it is worse than burning a fire stick. Gunpowder is also prone to moisture in the south. Although it can be overcome, there are always problems.
Now Fu Youde saw a weapon that was particularly suitable for the south.
It's a steel crossbow.
It is an iron-wood structure. Even if there are too many problems and too much water vapor, it will just rust easily.
The problem of rust is relatively easy to solve. Soldiers will take care of their weapons. Secondly, even if they are rusty, they will not become unusable all of a sudden. It is just that they need to be replaced more frequently. Fu Youde is about to march to the south, and he thinks about it every day.
It was all about the Southern Expedition. When I saw this, I couldn't care less about the criticism I had just made.
He Xi said: "This has just been produced. I'm afraid we won't be able to produce much at a time."
The prince said: "Marquis Yingchuan, before you leave the capital, I will let you take away as much as you can produce, but now everything has been settled. Temporary changes are not possible. However, please don't worry, Marquis Yingchuan.
Go to Father Bingming, and some new armors and armors can be added to the second batch of supplies sent to the front line."
Fu Youde said: "On behalf of the frontline soldiers, I would like to thank His Highness the Crown 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 is still a lot to do here. These are samples that have just been produced. They have not yet been mass-produced. And my promise to the craftsmen has not yet been fulfilled."
The prince said, "Don't you accept a disciple? If the master has something to do, the disciple will do his duty and let him be the ambassador of the Arms Bureau. If you leave the matter to him, if it doesn't work, I will send a few capable people to assist you."
Two is enough.”
"Father misses you. You have been away for a while, and Father asked me to take you back."
The prince could see clearly that the most difficult things were actually over.
The new weapons created by He Xi may not be good in other aspects, but they all have one characteristic. That is, they are easy to produce. They are particularly convenient for production. He Xi does not need to preside over the rest of the organized production. Many people can do it.
After all, before the Ming Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of weapons were produced, not without manpower.
The reason why He Xi's disciples are placed here is not that the prince wants to take credit. The real reason is that it comes from the emperor.
He Xi was shocked. He didn't teach Ge Tiangong anything at all. He just gave him the title of master and apprentice. The prince just gave it to a seventh-grade official. This was too much. He Xi said: "Your Highness, Ge Tian
I am still young and know nothing. How can I be entrusted with important responsibilities?"
The prince smiled slightly and said: "Why not? He is your disciple. When he meets Gu, he will also call him uncle. How can I not give him a greeting gift? He is just a seventh-grade ambassador. What does it matter? What can't he do? As long as he is sincere.
Do things with kindness and kindness, and don't let the young people deceive you."
What else could He Xi say, he could only bow and salute and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
------
In the Qianqing Palace.
Two pairs of armor were propped up on a wooden stand. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them carefully, flicked them a few times with his fingers, and then pulled out the sword beside him with his backhand, making a standard stabbing action. There was a crisp "ding" sound, and there was nothing on the steel armor. no change.
Zhu Yuanzhang returned the sword to its sheath and looked again. He saw the steel crossbow on the table. He did not need a stringer and could draw the bow with his bare hands. Although it was not as full as Fu You's draw, it was still 80% drawable. His expression remained unchanged and his heart did not beat. It's like strumming the strings of a piano.
He Xi watched it from below. If he hadn't asked the people around him to try it one by one, he would never believe it at this moment.
Zhu Yuanzhang is over 50 years old. His military strength is actually not weak. It’s just that he has not shown his skills for many years in the palace. At the beginning of the year, when Zhu Yuanzhang was still called Young Master Zhu, he was also the leader 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. Most of these inventions were made by the craftsmen themselves. But before that, why couldn't they be made? Come out? What is the technology you are talking about reflected in?"
This is also where Zhu Yuanzhang was confused.
He read the records of almost all the words and deeds of He Xi after he went out. In fact, He Xi didn't do many things, so why did there be so many changes all at once?
He Xi pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, there is a saying: 'True transmission is one sentence, false transmission is thousands of books.' In fact, in many things, the truth is very simple. Because between heaven and earth, the road is as simple as possible. As long as those who can't understand it , will make things very complicated. The most important thing I remind craftsmen is the principle of steelmaking. As for the following, it is just the impact of material advancement on technology."
"Many technologies already exist and have applications in many places. The reason why this new armor cannot be built is not because the craftsmen are not talented enough, but because there are no raw materials. There is only enough steel. Because the properties of steel are much better than pig iron. Only now can we have what we deserve now."
"Materials are the basis of all technology. Without the development of materials science, all imperial examinations will be vain."
"I just improved the steelmaking method, and the rest is just taking advantage of the trend."
Many of these words are He Xi’s sighs during this practice.
Before that, he knew the importance of materials. But he never imagined that it would be so important. Steel cannot be produced on a large scale. Many technologies are simply impossible to use. Various steel-making methods require craftsmen to hammer with hammers. Although the number of times It has been reduced. However, due to the inertia of thinking, it is difficult for such large-scale hydraulic forging to occur.
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said: "Is this why you had to promote large-scale steelmaking before?"
He Xi said: "Your Majesty clearly sees Wanli. This is what I mean."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "That's right. I believed you. There is only one thing that I should let you know. I sent someone to investigate Guo Huan, the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province, and found that he was efficient, honest and self-responsible, and was definitely not corrupt. Minister, what do you say?"
"What?" He Xi's face suddenly changed and she said, "This is impossible." This chapter has been completed!