When it comes to this repeating hand crossbow, Yun Zheng has resentment in his heart, not least because of the slowness and difficulty of making this sharp weapon. It would take a skilled craftsman at least three days to make one if there are sufficient raw materials.
And this "sufficient raw materials" itself is no joke. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare the wood for making a crossbow, not to mention the preparation of crossbow strings and other items. It is not an easy task. In the end, this company
The structure of the crossbow is complex, and even the crossbow arrows are specially made, which further increases the difficulty of production.
However, as the commander-in-chief of an army and the successor of a military family, Yunzheng wanted a weapon that was simple to make, powerful and low-priced. The price-performance ratio he required was quite high, just like the AKs of later generations of prostitutes. Not only was it better
It needs to be cheaper and faster to make. If you compare the tank of the Hut and the Mustache, you will know that the product of the Mustache is naturally good, but it is difficult to make, the output cannot be increased, and it will eventually be replaced by the Maozi.
flooded by a sea of tanks
Yunzheng originally planned to communicate with Dongfang Wuqing, a master of equipment, in the hope of simplifying the structure of the repeating hand crossbow and reducing the production cost. Of course, the most important thing is that Yunzheng planned to talk to her about the issues of standardization and assembly lines. Unfortunately,
That night, Marshal Yun touched the wrong door and hit Miss Wuqing in the chest. As a result, he ran away the next day, and the original plan naturally came to nothing.
Yunzheng's standardization and assembly lines are naturally not as good as those of later Ford brothers, but the principles are similar, and he actually has experience in China. This experience comes from what he considers the first empire of China - the Qin Empire.
The Qin State was able to destroy the Six Kingdoms, not to mention its institutional superiority, geographical advantages and Qin Shihuang's own talents and strategies, but also in terms of weaponry manufacturing. Qin State had one advantage that made it sure of victory.
In the late Warring States period, with the development of iron weapons, the bronze weapons of the Central Plains that had dominated for hundreds of years began to gradually decline. However, at this stage, copper weapons were still the main force of short-term soldiers. Especially in the Qin Dynasty, inheriting the remnants of the Warring States period, they still
Bronze weapons were mostly used, and the shape and production technology of bronze weapons continued to develop.
Later generations unearthed a large number of bronze weapons such as bronze swords, bronze berylliums, bronze geese, bronze halberds, bronze spears, crossbows, arrowheads, and bronze weapons in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses pit of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum in Lishan, Shaanxi Province. At the end of the Warring States Period, bronze was slowly withdrawing from history, and iron
, is opening a new era, and the 40,000 weapons unearthed from the pits of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are almost all made of bronze. Is the Qin army, which unified China by force, really an army with backward equipment?
Of course not. Although iron weapons have appeared in the late Warring States Period, they have not been widely used by other countries, and the metal technology is not yet mature. At this moment, the smelting and casting technology (including metal technology) of China's ancient bronze weapons is at its final and final stage.
The Peak of Glory As we all know, although high-tin bronze weapons are hard, they are easy to break when chopped. The weapon craftsmen of the Qin State solved this metal craftsmanship problem and greatly improved the flexibility of the bronze soldiers. Therefore, the powerful Qin army relied on
These bronze swords, powerful crossbows and sharp spears made of bronze destroyed the six kingdoms and unified China, creating the last strong voice of ancient bronze weapons.
However, there is another reason why Qin used bronze instead of iron, which is the issue of standardized production.
Bronze weapons are mostly cast, rather than forged and cast like iron, which allows the weapons produced to be more standard and faster to manufacture. In fact, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, China already had a strict standardized production system, which only related to
In the weapons manufacturing industry, which is the lifeline of the country, the Qin State is particularly outstanding. The Qin State has precise standardized management regulations and individual responsibilities. The bronze weapon products also have unified and strict size and production quality standards.
In the Spring and Autumn Period classic "Book of Rites? Yue Ling" (written around 620 B.C.), there is a saying that "the name of a worker is used to test his sincerity. If the worker is improper, he must be punished and his punishment will be punished."
Records (this record can also be found in "Meng Dong Ji", Volume 10 of "Lu Shi Chun Qiu"), that is to say, the names of craftsmen or workshops are engraved on the products produced, and the official position of "Da Gong Yin" in the government responsible for quality is set up.
The purpose is to test the quality. If the quality is not good, you will be punished and punished.
The names of manufacturing managers, factories and craftsmen were engraved on the bodies of a large number of beryllium, Ge, halberds, spears and other weapons unearthed from the Qin Terracotta Warriors pit in later generations. The bronze sword unearthed from the Qin Terracotta Warriors pit had a vernier caliper measurement error of less than one on the 8 facets of the sword body.
There are 19 complete bronze swords that have been unearthed. The swords are like this. These bronze swords have a dense structure, the sword body is bright and smooth, and the polishing marks on the blade are fine and textured. They come and go without interlacing, and they are all perpendicular to the middle ridge of the sword body.
, they have been sleeping under the loess for more than 2,200 years, and they are still as bright as new and extremely sharp when they are unearthed. In addition, many pieces of bronze beryllium found in the Qin Terracotta Warriors pit, although they were produced more than ten years apart, their shapes and sizes are exactly the same.
Consistently, these are amazing
What confuses later generations of experts is that it is possible for some talented craftsmen to produce several such weapons, but the actual situation is that the tens of thousands of weapons in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses pit are almost all of the same quality. According to Sima Qian's records, the Qin Army's
The number exceeds 1 million. Not only that, this army is highly specialized and equipped with extremely complex weapon systems. In Europe at about the same period, Alexander's army was about 50,000, and the Roman legion at its strongest was only a few hundred thousand.
Providing weapons for an army of 1 million is a terrible task. During the ten years of the Unification War, Qin's weapons workshops must have been the busiest place in the world. They must operate at full capacity, day and night. The question is, how
How can we not only ensure standards but also mass produce? In addition to casting, there are also "chemistry, line, and manufacturing"
The so-called "hua, line, system" refers to: standardization, assembly line, responsibility system
In the simplest terms, standardization is a well-known problem in later generations. Qin Shihuang had a very strong "hobby" for standardization. He seemed to want to standardize everything that could be standardized, whether it was weights and measures, writing, or pavement.
The width, the style of the car, and even the dress of the person, whatever he thinks can be unified, must be unified. Obviously, weapons are no exception. The Qin people are likely to fix the technical standards of the preferred weapons, and the state will issue these technical standards through decrees.
This is to ensure that all soldiers use the best weapons at that time, and to facilitate the recombination and reuse of some complex weapons after damage on the battlefield, such as crossbows.
Assembly line, needless to say, the Qin State also has an assembly line. Craftsmen often only make a certain part of the weapon, and the rest is completed by other craftsmen. Finally, it is specially assembled by people. Because there is standardized production in the first place, this matter is not done in the Qin State.
Calculate difficult
Responsibility system The ultimate source of Qin's strong national power is one word: legal responsibility system is the embodiment of law. The Qin Dynasty's weapon casting not only had a strict division of labor, but also guaranteed the quality of weapon casting in the form of legislation, from the shape and size of the weapon to the processing of each process;
There are strict regulations from the inscription of weapons to even the painting process of wooden handles of weapons. Violators will be punished by law at any time. In addition, another important factor is that the Qin Dynasty had a large number of skilled and experienced outstanding craftsmen.
It inherited and developed the traditional bronze precision casting technology, and created the standardization achievements of ancient weapon craftsmanship and the chromium salt oxidation treatment technology on the surface of weapons. This was an important invention and creation in the history of ancient science and technology in China and the world. If there had been a patent protection convention at that time,
Standardized technology is naturally a major invention patent of the Chinese ancestors, and the countless laws that have been followed throughout the lives of the Qin people are the root of all this.
Yun Zheng has always believed that the Qin and Han Dynasties can be regarded as the first empire of China; the Sui and Tang Dynasties can be regarded as the second empire of China. He yearns for the Qin Dynasty and the domineering power of "the Qin Emperor swept the Liuhe, looked at He Xiongzai and wielded his sword to defeat the floating clouds, and all the princes came to the west".
Yunzheng is not a little yearning for the standardization and assembly line that made Qinhuang one of his hegemonies.
It's just that the Wei Dynasty has already entered the age of iron forging weapons. Without casting, standardization is much more difficult. But Yun Zheng always feels that it is a bit more difficult, but it is not completely impossible to think of.
The materials used in Dongfang Wuqing's repeating hand crossbow were very good, and the effect was good, but it also greatly increased the manufacturing cost. Yunzheng inherited the memories in his mind, so he was not unfamiliar with crossbows. He thought this
The weapon can be simplified and then mass-produced. The structure of the crossbow can be divided into three parts: arm, bow, and machine. The "arm" is generally made of wood; the "bow" is transverse to the front of the arm; and the "machine" is installed behind the arm.
The most important part of the crossbow is the "machine". The crossbow machine is generally made of copper and is installed in the "guo" (box-shaped) of the crossbow. In front of it is the "teeth" (hook) for hanging the string, and behind the "teeth" there is a "
"Wangshan" (the front sight used for aiming); the "Wangshan" of the repeating hand crossbow is engraved with a scale, which is equivalent to the rear sight on modern firearms. It is convenient to adjust the angle of the crossbow launch according to the target distance and improve the hit rate of the shot.
There is a "hanging knife" (i.e. trigger) below the Tongguo, which is used to fire arrows. When the crossbow is fired, first open the string, hold it on the "teeth" of the crossbow machine, and install the arrow in the arrow trough on the "arm"
Inside, after aiming through the "Wangshan", pull the "hanging knife" to retract the "teeth" and decouple the string, and use the kinetic energy formed by the rapid rebound of the open bow string to shoot the arrow out at high speed
The crossbow of the repeating hand crossbow uses a composite bow made of multi-layer bamboo and wood chips. It is shaped like a shoulder pole, so it is commonly known as a "crossbow pole."
There is a groove-shaped arrow path on the front of the arm, so that the fired arrow can go straight forward. When launching, first place the arrow on the arrow path, pull the bowstring back, hang it on the hook, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.
, the arrow is shot out on the crossbow with the bow held horizontally. By pulling the trigger to release the taut bow string to shoot the crossbow arrow, when re-tightening the bow string, the front end of the crossbow must be placed on the ground and then stepped on with your feet.
, and then tighten the bowstring back with both hands or with the help of a crank. The square arrows or crossbow arrows fired by the crossbow have a shorter range than ordinary arrows. The square arrows can remain stable during flight and have a sharp point.
stainless steel arrow
Yunzheng believes that Dongfang Wuqing's repeating hand crossbow is the first to be standardized with its special crossbow arrows. The crossbow arrows are only made to fit the special "magazine". In fact, the arrows are no different from ordinary crossbow arrows.
The body is made of wood, which naturally facilitates standardized mass production. Not only the crossbow arrows, but also all the wooden parts are actually convenient for mass production. The main thing to find a solution is the iron part. The crossbow machine is the key. The things inside are the most precise, especially the
After the genius Dongfang Wuqing improved it, the crossbow can be supplied with arrows one by one from the arrow clip, so there are naturally a lot more things inside. However, Yunzheng didn't find it too troublesome, so he came up with a stupid solution: all parts were made separately.
As long as it is a small part, as big as the arrow clip itself or as small as an iron hook inside, a craftsman will be arranged to make it separately. Finally, these various parts will be specially assembled by a group of craftsmen to form the Qin Dynasty.
Although that kind of standardization and assembly line is not as fast as casting weapons, it is definitely much better than now. On the other hand, in this way, many craftsmen can only make one part for such a precise first-hand crossbow, so the possibility of leaks is also low.
This reduced Yi Yunzheng's love for crossbows countless times. In order to keep the secret of the repeating hand crossbow, he was willing to put more thought into it. Not to mention the power of Qin Nu, he just said that he was familiar with the Three Kingdoms.
The power of the first to die also made him yearn for it.
"Shao ordered Qu Yi to ascend first with 800 soldiers, supported by thousands of strong crossbows. Shao Zi formed a formation with tens of thousands of infantry in Houyi. He had been in Liangzhou for a long time, and learned Qiang fighting at dawn, and the soldiers were all sharp." Battle of Jieqiao
, these eight hundred "first ascenders" were led by Yuan Shao's general Qu Yi (don't look down on him who was ignored in the novel, his performance in the early stage was more eye-catching than the so-called "Hejian Four Generals", but later he was killed by Yuan Shao because he was arrogant)
He actually defeated Gongsun Zan's "more than ten thousand" cavalry, including the elite "white horse Yi Cong"!
"Zan saw that his troops were few, so he released his cavalry and the rebel soldiers who wanted to fall. All the rebel soldiers lay immobile. Before they had reached dozens of steps, they all rose up at the same time, raised dust and shouted, and clashed straight forward. The strong crossbows and thunders fired, and those who were hit were bound to fall.
", it is written very clearly in the history books that these 800 people were "acquainted with Qiang fighting", that is, they were familiar with "cavalry fighting". When Gongsun Zan's cavalry rushed towards them, they hid "under the banners" and "did not reach dozens of steps" together.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty rushed out and shot down Gongsun Zan's "controlling strings" across the north with thousands of "powerful crossbows", Li Ling, grandson of Li Guang, led five thousand soldiers, "all Jingchu warriors and swordsmen with extraordinary talents", deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu, and fought with
They encountered the main cavalry of the Huns that was sixteen times their own. As a result, they persisted for ten days, fought thousands of miles, and killed tens of thousands of enemies! But in the end, Li Ling was captured with all his arrows. Before being captured, he said: Give each of my soldiers three
With just one arrow, we can hold on to the border of the Han Dynasty. Unfortunately, they don’t have a single arrow! It is said that they shot a total of 500,000 arrows! From this we can see that the "strong crossbow" can be used to kill the "control string" that lacks heavy armor.
"Terror" is used to describe it. By the way, when Yuan Shao had high hopes for Zhang He's "Horsemen", when they faced the 2,000 cavalry defeated by Qu Yi, they had no power to fight back. In the end, it was Qu Yi who came to save Yuan Shao, so Yun Zheng
There is a point of view that crossbowmen, especially crossbow cavalry, are basically the nemesis of light cavalry. As the Yun family army mainly fought against the Liao Dynasty, Yunzheng had special expectations for the mass production of such weapons.
Just as his mind was wandering and he was beginning to outline a beautiful blueprint, Cao Chuan's frightened and angry voice sounded: "What are you doing! Attack the officers and soldiers! Do you really want to rebel?"
----------Separation line----------Don't talk about the crossbow too much, brother, Yunzheng will be of great use in the future, brother here is just to lay the groundwork.
