Zhang Ximeng was slightly startled as he held the crossbow in his hand. It was a special crossbow with a pulley... so it did not require pedaling or exerting all the strength of the body to load it. At the same time, it had considerable range and power.
It is said that this craftsman listened to someone singing the opera and told the story of Zhuge Liannu, and vowed to make a more powerful crossbow arrow than Zhuge Liannu.
According to the text of the play, Zhuge's serial crossbow is eight inches long and can fire ten arrows at a time. It is very powerful.
The craftsman decided to go in the opposite direction. He did not want to pursue quantity, but wanted accuracy and range... He also wanted easy loading and one person could operate it.
From the inception of the idea to the design and manufacture, first making a model out of wood, then casting the parts, selecting the bowstring...it took more than three years.
The most expensive part of the entire crossbow is the bowstring... In order to save effort and have sufficient range, a pulley must be used, but this pulley must not be a stupid, big, black thing like the one at the dock, it must be made delicately
meticulous.
With the use of pulleys, the bowstring will be doubled, thin enough, long enough, and tough enough... The entire manufacturing process can be described as extreme tension in the middle of conflicting indicators.
After understanding the process, Zhang Ximeng also sighed. This process is really a bit like building a tank. It requires firepower, armor, and maneuverability. If the cannon is thicker, the speed will inevitably decrease. If you want to increase the speed, you must reduce the weight...
The final result is to form a balance between the three, and then carry out large-scale industrial production at a relatively cheap price, forming a torrent of steel. It is no wonder that few countries can produce it.
The crossbow in Zhang Ximeng's hand was lost in the final steps of mass production, how to reduce costs and how to manufacture it on a large scale. Especially how to play with the bow string... From this crossbow, I thought of firearms again.
The principles here are the same, which is to find a balance among multiple different indicators and find the most cost-effective and efficient way to solve real-life difficulties.
Zhang Ximeng felt that it was necessary to have a good chat with the craftsmen, learn something from them, and then summarize the industrial development plan, and then encourage everyone to make innovations and inventions and start climbing the technological tree.
After all, Zhang Ximeng didn't have the ability to invent a steam engine on his own, so he had to be honest and start from the basics. He had been promoting the establishment of a school for so many years, and now that he has the talent, it just depends on how to use his ingenuity.
Because of thinking about these things, people discovered that Mr. Zhang no longer played with the knitting needles, but was holding a crossbow, constantly looking at it, aiming at it from time to time, and even holding it in his arms when sleeping.
The guys just laughed and said nothing.
Is it possible that it will really be your turn to take the prime minister's place on the battlefield?
Even if you go to the battlefield, it won't be your turn to take action?
Even if you are asked to take action, what can you do?
Scholars are weak in literature, we can't write articles, and you can't fight!
Then everyone was dumbfounded.
Oh my God!
Chahan Timur was actually shot by Prime Minister Zhang!
Although it was Lao Zhu's blow that really brought Chahan down, Prime Minister Zhang's foresighted arrow was also extraordinary!
Could it be that we, Prime Minister Zhang, are secretive and versatile in both civil and military affairs, but he just doesn’t bother to compete with warriors like you?
This discovery shocked everyone.
Even if Zhu Yuanzhang personally rushed to Chahan, fought with his sword, and scattered Chahan's guards, everyone was still thinking about Zhang Ximeng's arrow from the sky.
There was no way, everyone knew about Zhu Yuanzhang's fighting ability, and there seemed to be nothing else besides shouting long live.
But this Zhang Xiang thing is really shocking and makes people dissatisfied.
Zhu Yuanzhang rushed to kill him personally, and the tiger came down the mountain like thunder. Chahan Timur's men tried to rescue him, but they dragged Chahan and tried to mount their horses and escape.
However, Lao Zhu had already rushed forward and swung his sword with all his strength. With great swiftness, he decisively killed two Yuan soldiers. The others dispersed in a rush, and Chahan fell off his horse again.
At this time, Chahan was still breathing and wanted to say something, but he saw a pair of red eyes, raised his knife and chopped off Chahan's head.
This, this is not scientific?
You, Zhu Yuanzhang, are not that kind of person. Don’t you want to capture me, say something, or play a trick on me?
I am the commander-in-chief of the Yuan army and have a high status. Even if I am captured, I can still make a big fuss!
Full of doubts, Chahan died in front of the battle.
Is it a little too easy?
Maybe so, but who would have thought that in real history, Chahan died in the hands of Tian Feng and Wang Shicheng. He didn't even have a chance to go to the battlefield, so he ended up suffering and aggrieved.
It can only be said that reality has been cruelly challenging shallow cognition, and it is difficult to understand the bizarre reality even if you exhaust your imagination.
For Zhu Yuanzhang, killing Chahan with his own hands and getting rid of a powerful enemy did not bring him any joy. On the contrary, he was very angry.
The extent of the Yuan army's pull exceeded pre-war expectations. Originally, Lao Zhu wanted to be the decisive force to make up for the shortcomings of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
It had the final say...but from a practical point of view, there was no need for him to take action. The two generals were enough to handle it.
And in order for him to take action, Xu Da obviously reserved space in the layout, just to show off to the emperor.
Then he went to the battlefield and bumped into Chahan Timur. This guy almost shot a hidden arrow... Isn't there any risk when the emperor goes to the battlefield?
What a joke, why did Liu Bang get injured by arrows several times?
The sword has no eyes, it is the same for everyone.
Zhu Yuanzhang's body was covered with three layers of armor. A hidden arrow might not be able to hurt him, and even if he was injured, it would not kill him... But the problem was Mr. Zhang. As a close official of the emperor, he followed closely.
What should we do if this arrow hurts Mr. Zhang?
Based on this alone, Chahan should have been cut into pieces by a thousand cuts. Just beheading him was considered an advantage!
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also secretly made up his mind that as the king of a country, he could no longer be willful. Even if he didn't care, he still had to consider the safety of his ministers around him.
Lao Zhu clutched the sharp blade in his hand, wiped the blood on his shirt, put it back into its sheath, and then issued an order calmly.
"Tell Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to hunt down the Yuan army."
After saying this, Lao Zhu rode back and gave up the pursuit. He also made up his mind to put away his armor and weapons from now on and never go to the battlefield in person again.
Of course, he will not relax in his research on the battlefield. Even if he is sitting in the Fengtian Palace, he can still perform micro-control.
"Sir... you, you have made a great contribution!" Lao Zhu said with a slight embarrassment: "This time we have to give you a good reward."
Zhang Ximeng was still in the shock of wounding Chahan, so he was distracted and did not reply immediately. Lao Zhu could only cough and said: "Sir, is there something wrong with you?"
Zhang Ximeng finally sobered up a little, and then said: "My lord, after this battle, I am afraid that the Central Plains will be even more desolate. If you want to restore people's livelihood and rebuild their homes, it cannot be done in a few words."
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and then said: "What do you think you should do, sir?"
"The first is, of course, to eliminate military chaos...Chahan Timur gathered hundreds of thousands of Yuan troops, as well as the old troops of Han and Song Dynasties. The total number of these people alone is not one million, but 800,000. In other places,
There are also many armed landlords who have formed strongholds to protect themselves, and there are also countless bandits. My lord, to be honest, from my point of view, there are not many good people left in the Central Plains."
This is not a sarcasm, but a simple fact.
It is really difficult for ordinary people to survive in such troubled times.
On the contrary, how many innocent people can survive?
Those wealthy families and powerful landlords should be arrested and beheaded one by one to ensure that no one is wronged.
One-third of the troops were defeated, one-third were bandits, and another third were occupied by powerful landlords.
This is the situation in places such as Kaifeng.
In places like Runing, Xinyang, including Yingzhou, some militias can also be organized.
But in the core of the battlefield this time, Guide, Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, and even Luoyang and other places, except for the old, weak, sick and disabled who can't leave, it's hard to even organize a militia.
"In addition to the wars, there are floods... The Yellow River is still flooding. The huge Yellow River area is thousands of miles of red land. It is saline and desertified. Many places are no longer suitable for survival. The fertile soil of the Central Plains is actually like this. How much effort does it take?
How long will it take to recover? It’s really incalculable.”
"In addition to restoring people's livelihood, we also need to drive north to the Yuan Dynasty and regain most of the capital... This mobilization of hundreds of thousands of soldiers has damaged the vitality of the imperial court, and there must be time to recover... Although Chahan is dead, Boluo Tiemu
My son is still alive, and Yuan Ting is still strong on the grassland. To be honest, we have inherited a mess caused by internal and external troubles. It will not be easy to get out of it!"
Zhang Ximeng's brief summary is enough to make people feel frightened and their scalp numb.
It is indeed difficult.
Zhu Yuanzhang also realized that although the Zhongyuan surname was Zhu, it was still far from the Central Plains he wanted.
"Thousands of things, all kinds of things...In the end, they are all human affairs."
Lao Zhu suddenly said: "We don't care how Mr. plans for major events in the Central Plains, but we have one thing that must be put first."
Zhang Ximeng hesitated slightly, "My lord, what do you think?"
"It's not a high opinion." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "We want to learn from Gou Jian."
"Gou Jian?"
"right!"
Lao Zhu suddenly laughed and said: "The restoration of the Central Plains depends on people first, so we plan to follow Gou Jian's example and encourage childbirth... As long as you have one more child, you will be allocated an extra field, and this field will be exempted from land tax and corvee until the age of twenty."
Regardless of whether they are boys or girls, they are all the same! If a family has more than five babies, they will be exempted from the corvee!"
Zhang Ximeng was slightly surprised, "Lord, has this passed? Taxation and corvee cannot be easily changed!"
"No!" Lao Zhu said stubbornly: "If there is a problem with the tax corvee, it can still be corrected. People are the foundation and everything! If there is no one left, what else can we talk about?"
Zhu Yuanzhang took another breath and suddenly laughed and said: "Let's have another idea. If this man is not married for twenty years, he will be fined! Households are fined two stones of rice. As for officials...the penalty is salary. The higher the official position, the greater the fine.