Things like kites have been around for a long time.
According to legend, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Mo Zhai, the founder of the Mohist family, used wood to make wooden birds, which took three years to complete. "Mozi made the wooden kite in three years, and the kite was destroyed in one day." He was the ancestor of kites.
Later, Mo Zhai taught the skills of making kites to students in the Gongshu Class. The Gongshu Class improved the materials of the kites, abandoning the heavy wood and replacing it with lighter bamboo. The bamboo was split and smoothed, and then bent with fire to make it.
The bird looked like a magpie and was called a "wooden magpie". It flew in the air for three days and "tasted like a wooden kite, riding on it to get a glimpse of the Song Dynasty."
However, it later turned out that this was just a legend and not credible.
The first documented use of kites in the military occurred during the conflict between Chu and Han. The Han general Han Xin attacked Weiyang Palace and used kites to measure the distance of the tunnel under Weiyang Palace...
Since then, kites have been used as a kind of ordnance, widely used in wars, and are often seen in historical records. Until the Southern and Northern Dynasties, this kind of ordnance that was precious and important in the past was no longer restricted to the army, but gradually flowed into the folk and became the palace
, entertainment items for the common people.
…
Hearing that Fang Erlang was going to build a kite, many of the skilled craftsmen in the gun bureau put down their work and followed Liu Shi outside in a swarm.
Bamboo strips and paper were all common items, and hemp ropes were also available. There was no shortage of anything in the gun bureau, and soon there was a pile in the yard.
An old craftsman with a white beard stood up and said with a smile: "I am good at making kites, so please take a look, Lord Marquis!"
Fang Jun said hurriedly: "Slow down, take your time, the kite to be tied this time is different from the past. Wait a moment, get a pen and paper, I will draw a sketch, and you will operate according to the drawing."
Everyone got excited.
Who doesn't know that Fang Erlang is extremely talented and full of fantastic ideas?
Whether it is glass, cement, gunpowder, or firearms, they all came from the brain of this genius, and they have become popular all over the world.
Now that you are interested in flying a kite, it must be different from the past.
As everyone was looking forward to it, Fang Jun drew a sketch, and it was really just a sketch, very sloppy... But for these most outstanding craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty, they only needed to figure it out a little, and they knew what it meant.
The old craftsman held the sketch and was a little confused: "Can such a big kite... fly?"
Fang Jun couldn't explain to him that whether a kite can fly into the sky does not depend on its size, but on whether it can maintain the balance of the kite and make it use the buoyancy of the air evenly. Even if it is an iron lump weighing several tons, as long as it is well balanced
, can still fly...
He could only say, "We won't know until we make it whether it can fly or not."
"Here!"
Seeing Fang Jun's confidence, the craftsmen also excitedly divided their work. Some cut bamboo strips, some baked the cut bamboo strips over fire, and then bent them into the required shape, some cut paper, and some prepared paste...
The kite designed by Fang Jun is very simple, it is a common centipede kite in later generations.
But now, it is very novel...
Today's kites are extremely rare. Because the production is cumbersome and requires balance, it is impossible for ordinary farmers to make them. However, craftsmen with some skills are under the control of the government and cannot give up their jobs to build kites at will.
Therefore, kites are only the playthings of the rich and powerful.
Ordinary kites are just made of bamboo strips into shapes such as swallows, birds, and eagles. Centipede kites are made by connecting dozens of round kites together to form a long shape that looks like a centipede.
Never seen before.
But it's just a rare style, and there aren't many technical problems.
Fang Jun rubbed his chin and thought for a while, feeling that it was a bit normal, so he sent a few soldiers back to the city, found a paper-making shop, and hired a paper-making craftsman.
Paper is precious these days, and the bamboo paper developed by Fang Jun will also become popular. In the past, papermakers were top-notch craftsmen. Their main business was to make paper chariots and horses for funerals...
…
But Fang Jun doesn't pay attention to this taboo.
The paper maker was called in and Fang Jun ordered him to make a dragon head.
The dragon is the totem of the emperor, but before the Song Dynasty, the control of dragons was not strict. There was never the situation in the Ming and Qing Dynasties where it was "intending to rebel" or "kill the nine tribes", as long as it was not used blatantly.
"Five-clawed Golden Dragon" is basically fine.
It's even easier to make a dragon-headed kite, because this kite has no claws. Strictly speaking, a dragon without claws is a python...
Paper-making craftsmen are all crafts passed down from their ancestors. They have never done anything else in their lives. They are just looking for a field to immerse themselves in. There is nothing to say about their craftsmanship.
Although the faucet has not been pierced, according to the faucet pattern drawn by Fang Jun, a pair of rough hands dexterously manipulated the thin bamboo strips to make it look like something. When it was past noon, a huge faucet appeared.
After the binding was completed, it was placed on the ground, flat and stable.
After pasting the paper on it and leaving it there, Fang Jun sent someone to find a scholar who was good at painting. He painted it with watercolors of various colors, and a vivid faucet was completed.
Fang Jun looked at the sun and saw that it was already late, so he sent someone to Lishan Farm to see if the school had finished and picked up the two young men.
Then, Fang Jun ordered someone to bring a small horse basket, sat on it and tied the rope to the kite himself.
This is the most important step in building a kite. If the ropes holding the kite cannot be stressed at one point, the entire kite will not be able to maintain balance and will naturally not be able to fly.
The craftsmen of the Gun and Artillery Bureau were all driven away by Liu Shi. After tying the kite, they quickly went back to work...
By the time the two sons were picked up, the dragon-headed centipede kite was basically completed.
It was just that Liu Shi was a little worried and hesitantly said: "This kite is really ingenious, but... well... Mr. Hou, after all, it was made by a craftsman, so this thing is taboo for him!"
What does a tie maker do?
Specialized in making artifacts for funerals...
Fang Jun waved his hand: "This kind of thing, whether you believe it or not, you don't have it. If you use it as a ghost weapon, it is a ghost weapon. If you use it for fun, it has nothing to do with it."
Liu Shi could only shut up.
Several carriages stopped in the courtyard of the Gun Bureau's office, and a large group of children jumped out of the carriages and yelled in front of Fang Jun.
Some are big and small, some are as young as Fang Jun's two sons who have just started to walk a steady path, and some are as old as Di Renjie and Li Jingye are already half-grown-up. They are all children who chose to go to Lishan Fang's School, and most of them are old friends.
.
Fang Jun looked at it from beginning to end, what a guy, it was simply Datang's "all-star lineup".
In addition to Di Renjie, Li Jingye, and King Luo Bin, Li Chengqian's eldest son Li Xiang, Cen Changqian, whose parents died and was raised by his uncle Cen Wenwen, and Jiang Liben, who was also known as "the left prime minister Xuanwei desert, the right prime minister famous for painting" when Yan Liben was the right prime minister.
Ke...
In the next few decades, half of the powerful officials in the Tang Dynasty will be here.
The special girls are all second and third generations...
But fortunately, even though there are some rebellious kings like Li Jingye among them, they are mostly capable, and they are not playboys who rely on their ancestors' merits to cause trouble.
"Wow……"
When a group of boys saw the long kite visiting the ground and the vivid dragon head, they all exclaimed.
Fang Shu and Fang You hurriedly ran to Fang Jun on their short legs, hugged Fang Jun's legs on the left and right, stared at the ground and flew a kite, cheering.
Li Jingye is a tough-headed boy. He looks more like his uncle Li Jingye's rough-and-tumble attitude than his father Li Zhen's heroic demeanor. The boy wiped his nose and looked up at Fang Jun with his gaudy little face: "
Second uncle, second uncle, is this a kite? It’s so big, can it fly?”
Di Renjie was much more obedient. He came up to Fang Jun and said in a certain voice: "The kite made by the second uncle of the Fang family must be able to fly!"
He originally wanted to call Fang Jun "teacher", but Fang Jun refused.
However, his father Di Zhisun went to other places to take up a post two years ago, so he left Di Renjie in Beijing. Fang Jun sent Di Renjie to study in Chongwen Hall. They had a very good relationship with each other and were very close to Fang Jun.
King Luo Bin stepped forward and stretched out his hand to pull at the dragon's head. Then he looked at the more than thirty waist pieces of the centipede kite on the ground. He shook his head with a look of doubt on his face: "It's so long, it probably won't be able to fly!"
Fang Jun was speechless.
Come on, this kid is indeed in the same group as Li Jingye. They have been very suspicious and rebellious since they were young...
"You still don't believe me, okay, it's a mule or a horse, let's take it out for a ride! Let's go, Le Youyuan, fly a kite!"
Fang Jun shouted, and the crowd responded.
"Let's go! Fly a kite!"
A group of boys scrambled to get on the carriage. Only one person loaded the kite into another carriage and followed behind, heading for Leyouyuan in a mighty manner.