Chapter 375: Qianjin Canal, the power of the continuous trebuchet
The sound of "bang-bang-bang" kept ringing one after another, as if it hit the heart of everyone present. The sound was also very loud, deafening, and from time to time, bursts of dust were splashed into the Qianjin Canal not far away.
, but fortunately it is just some dirt and dust, which has little impact. It is not like there will be so much pollution in later generations that is unacceptable to the body and mind...
The Qianjin Canal system is located in the northwest of Luoyang City. It uses the Gu and Xian rivers as sources, and uses the Qianjin Canal to store water. The Qianjin Canal diverts water eastward into Luoyang City, and excavates Wulong Canal, Dailong Canal, Changfengou and other drainage canals to distribute and release floods.
Water. It has multiple functions of water storage, water diversion and drainage.
The Luoyang Basin has a long history of water conservancy development, and the relatively primitive water conservancy irrigation in Luoyang may have emerged in the Xia and Shang dynasties.
"Warring States Policy·Eastern Zhou Policy" records: "The Eastern Zhou Dynasty wanted to grow rice, but the Western Zhou Dynasty did not enter the water; the Western Zhou Dynasty launched the water, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty replanted rice." It can be seen that during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the upstream of the river controlled the water volume of the downstream, and it also reflected this phenomenon.
Agricultural production in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty of the region relied on Luoshui River and water conservancy and irrigation in the region were relatively developed.
Luoyang City in the Han and Wei Dynasties was built on the site of the Western Zhou Dynasty and was gradually built to meet the needs of social development after the expansion of the late Spring and Autumn Period, the Qin Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Cao Wei Dynasty and other eras. With the dynasty
Over the years, water conservancy facilities in the area have also been destroyed and rebuilt many times.
The Qianjintun water conservancy system collects water and controls the upstream water volume of the Ershui River. As a weir and dam facility, Qianjintun faces huge flood discharge needs, so its drainage includes both natural flood discharge channels and artificial drainage channels.
Affected by artificial interception, the south flow channels of Gushui and Xishui are abandoned. However, in years with heavy rainfall, the old south flow channel of Ershui will be used as a natural flood discharge channel.
The Valley River passed south of the King's City of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and poured into the Luoshui River. Its course was approximately the same as the Jianhe River today.
At first, it may be because the river was narrow and shallow, unlike today's Jianhe, which is nearly a hundred meters wide and tens of meters deep. The flow often stopped during the dry season, so it was called "Death Valley" at that time. Now it is midsummer, but it is full of water.
During this period, the amount of water was not small,
In addition, "Shui Jing Zhu" quoted from "Di Ji": "The Luoshui River passes from the northeast to the north and merges with Jian and Qian. It is the two rivers that enter the Qianjin Canal from the east, so there is no place for it."
In the south of the reservoir formed by Qianjin Tuan, there is an old waterway leading to Luoshui, which serves as the tail channel of the reservoir's overflow channel to prepare for flood discharge, ensure the safety of Qianjin Tuan, and protect Luoyang City from flood disasters.
In addition to natural flood discharge channels, in order to ensure the smooth flow of waterways, the overflow projects during the construction of the Qianjin Canal system mostly take into account the flood discharge function. As the name suggests, the drainage channels are designed to discharge floods, mainly including Wulong Canal, Dailong Canal (Kowloon Canal) and Changfen Canal.
Wait for the drainage ditch.
Due to their different locations, Wulong Canal and Dailong Canal are mainly used to discharge Qianjin Canal floods and extend the service life of Qianjin Canal water storage project; Changfen Canal carries the flood discharge pressure of Qianjin Canal.
Luoyang's urban water supply mainly relies on Gushui and Xishui. Although the two rivers are far away from the city, their altitudes are mostly above 150 meters, which can realize artesian water diversion.
The head of the water diversion canal of Qianjintun is in the "Hugou" northwest of the Imperial City of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. This is the mouth of the valley where the mountainous area enters the plain. The river channel of the valley water is not determined, and the riverbed has a large longitudinal drop. It is easy to obtain the height difference and it is convenient to divert water.
The location of its water intake hub is chosen close to the "valley mouth" where the river enters the plain from the valley. At this location, the river bed changes from narrow to wide, and the slope changes from steep to gentle.
Arranging the water intake hub here not only facilitates the control of water flow according to the situation, but also facilitates construction. "Hugou" can also be called Gushui dock, which is the head facility of the Qianjintun Project that leads the valley into the canal.
The location downstream of the top of the bank is roughly at the 210-meter contour, which is conducive to water intake and sand prevention, and is a dam-free water intake.
Qianjin Hall is different from "Hugou" in that a weir was built on the lower reaches of the Han River to intercept and store water, so Qianjin Hall is a dam water diversion project.
Qianjin Pi intercepts the Danshui and collects the Gushui and Danshui to form a small reservoir, Qianjinpi, to store water sources.
A water transmission channel, the Qianjin Canal, was excavated east of the overflow weir to transport the Qianjin water stored in the valley eastward to the city of Luoyang in the Han and Wei dynasties. Drainage facilities were also built at the water dam to borrow water from the Qianjin canal.
Therefore, building drainage channels can not only regulate the water supply to Luoyang City, but also alleviate the erosion of the Qianjin Tuan weir top during flood periods.
At this time, the main siege equipment included rams, ladders, catapults, hook carts, etc. Compared with other siege equipment, catapults were more powerful and could be launched over long distances, reducing soldier casualties.
The old trebuchet has a single shot and can only throw one stone at a time, and the impact of the trebuchet is not great. As long as the defender hangs wet cowhide on the city wall, the stone thrown by the trebuchet will be blocked and the impact will be blocked.
The force will also be greatly weakened.
At the same time, the throwing distance of the old trebuchet is not very far. A stone of 20 kilograms, which is more than 40 kilograms, requires dozens of people to pull the rope and very hard to throw it. The efficiency of stone throwing is very low.
The old trebuchet has low efficiency, short throwing distance, small impact, and requires a lot of manpower.
The rotating continuous trebuchet was created. The new trebuchet mechanically drives a large wheel, and the stones tied with ropes rotate with the big wheel.
When the rotation speed of the wheel reaches the maximum, the rope tied with the stone will fall out along the tangent direction of the circumference at the highest point of the wheel.
Then, the stones fly out at high speed to attack the target, like flying stones, flying out one after another, leaving the defender with no time to dodge or resist.
After a stick of incense, the continuous trebuchet shots stopped. Cao Shuang and Ma Jun just stepped forward to check the power of the trebuchet. They saw that the earthen wall as high as a person had been smashed and had no defensive function.
Allow several people to pass through side by side,
This is limited to an earthen wall that is only as tall as one person and is not wide and thick. If it faces a tall city wall, it will not have such an effect, but it can also effectively kill enemy soldiers on the city wall and cause certain damage to the female wall.
After all, continuous shots are faster than single shots, and the firing gap is short, which can catch people even more off guard.
Cao Shuang carefully observed the marks on the city wall and the ground and said: "The power of this continuous trebuchet is much stronger than that of a single-shot trebuchet. It is not only more efficient, but also more labor-saving.
Moreover, the impact of throwing stones is greater, and more importantly, they can be thrown farther. It is really a rare siege weapon. You have done great service to our great Wei Dynasty!"
Ma Jun said humbly: "The Prime Minister has given me the reward. As a craftsman of the Wei Dynasty, this is what I should do."
Cao Shuang looked at the rushing water in the Qianjin Canal and continued: "Since you have merit, you should be rewarded. If you are not rewarded for your merits and not punished for your mistakes, then the rewards and punishments are unclear. Ordinary craftsmen and soldiers will each be rewarded with five thousand coins."
, ten kilograms of meat, and each person will be promoted to one level. Your Majesty will reward those like this 20,000 yuan, and twenty kilograms of meat, each person will be promoted to two levels."