The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 715 God of Craftsman
Qiuchi Pavilion.The wind is next to the Xiaoting curtain.The frosty leaves have not faded or fallen.Half startled crow and magpie.

Self-laughing and ignorant.It seems to be neglected by the world.A lazy heart and lazy feet.It's easy to teach and stay idle.

——"Yi Jinmen Qiu Xing" Su Shi

……

After finishing the military supplies such as military uniforms and bedding, Bai Fu focused on the defense equipment and soldiers' weapons.

Tong Yan, the servant of the household department, got another batch of money from nowhere, and allocated all of it to Bai Fu.Bai Fu was overjoyed.

Bai Fuxin said: "Tong Shilang is picking, but he doesn't lose the chain at the critical moment. He is worthy of being the iron-clad servant of the household department."

On this day, Bai Fu came to the Ordnance Supervision Department of the Ministry of War to supervise the Tang army's equipment and ordnance preparations.The craftsmen of the Ordnance Superintendent are busy making bows and arrows.

Bai Fu picked up the carving bow, shot several arrows, and said to the officials of Kubu Langzhong: "The shafts of these arrows are soft, the feathers at the tail are of different thickness, and the front and back of the arrows are not balanced. Once the distance exceeds a hundred steps, the arrows will be accurate will be greatly reduced.”

Ordnance Inspector Wai Lang said: "My lord is very true. My lord is very skilled in archery, and the deviation will only appear after a hundred paces. An ordinary archer will already deviate after fifty paces.

The main reason for the problems is the rush of work: insufficient drying time for the arrow shafts; uneven application of glue to bond the goose feathers and arrow shafts; insufficient time for polishing the arrowheads, resulting in slightly uneven weights of the triangular arrow clusters...

To tell you the truth, this was already a surprise.If the adults hadn't transferred this batch of money from the Ministry of Households in time, we would not have the materials to start work. "

Bai Fu frowned and asked, "How could this be?"

Ordnance Inspector Wailang said: "Since the Kaiyuan period, although the Tang army expanded its borders, the wars were all outside the territory. There were no large-scale wars in the territory. Especially in the Tianbao period, the Tang Dynasty was peaceful and the military equipment was relaxed.

According to the Ministry of War's combat readiness regulations, the vehicles, equipment, ordnance and other combat readiness stored in the driving department and the treasury department are only used by 50 Tang troops for three years.If the hoarding time is too long, the ordnance will also age and be damaged.

After the An Lushan rebellion, the two sides fought for several years, and the two sides invested more than one million troops.The combat equipment hoarded by the driving department and the treasury department was not enough for the Tang army to use.After the rebels invaded Chang'an and Luoyang, they looted all the military supplies hoarded by the Ministry of War.

Today, weapons are scarce, craftsmen are short of manpower, and the ordnance supervisor is working at full capacity, rushing to work day and night, which is not enough to guarantee the supply of the army.

The manufacture of weapons involves the secrets of military aircraft, and it cannot be outsourced to workshops such as private blacksmiths and carpenters, which has caused the Ministry of War to be stretched. "

……

After the inspection by the Ministry of Military Ordnance Surveillance, the problems exposed were several times more serious than expected, and Bai Fu only felt dizzy, restless and depressed.

The next day was a ten-day holiday.Early in the morning, Bai Fu came to the palace to visit Princess Qingluan.

Seeing that Bai Fu was worried about military affairs, Princess Qingluan was like a bird in spring, chirping, thinking of ways to make Bai Fu happy.

Princess Qingluan showed Bai Fu a dressing table in the bedroom.This dressing table is made of golden nanmu, which is exquisite and luxurious.There is a mirror table in the middle of the dressing table, and there are two floors under the table, both of which are equipped with doors.

Princess Qingluan smiled slightly, pressed the button, and the wooden door on the first floor of the dressing table opened, and a small wooden beauty in a palace costume walked out of the wooden door, delivering towels, combs and other toiletries.After Princess Qingluan took it, the maid puppet automatically returned to the wooden door.

Princess Qingluan pressed the second machine expansion, and the maid puppets on the second floor came out of the wooden door carrying facial makeup powder, eyebrow flowers and other supplies. After Princess Qingluan put on her makeup, she automatically returned to the original place. place.

Princess Qingluan clapped her hands and said with a smile: "Brother Fu, this dressing table is very interesting. These palace puppets are like a clumsy little maid."

Bai Fu exclaimed: "This thing is so ingenious, who made it?"

Princess Qingluan said: "This dressing table was originally dedicated to the grandpa's royal concubine, Queen Wang's birthday. After Queen Wang was deposed as a commoner, this dressing table was circulated among the concubines in the harem. A few days ago, I accidentally Found out, asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to come over.

I have inquired that the craftsman who made the dressing table is called Ma Daifeng.

During the Kaiyuan period, the imperial court summoned skilled craftsmen from all over the country to build a luxury carriage for the emperor's grandfather using six horses.

Ma Daifeng, a native of Xinxian County, Donghai County (now LYG City), rushed to Chang'an in response to the imperial edict.He first made various ceremonial guards and dharma rides for the emperor's grandfather to go out.Immediately afterwards, Ma Daifeng repaired and remodeled many instruments and instruments, such as the compass car, Ji Ligu, and Xiangfengniao, which had been damaged in the palace for many years and piled up in the warehouse, making these old objects more exquisite than before. , The emperor's grandfather and courtiers were amazed. "

Bai Fu fiddled with the dressing table a few times, the more he studied it, the more he felt that the structure of the dresser was ingenious and the idea was peculiar.With a thought in his mind, Bai Fu asked eagerly, "How high is Ma Daifeng's current official position, where is he?"

Princess Qingluan replied: "After these exquisite utensils were made, Ma Daifeng reported them to Grandpa Huang, hoping to get an official position because of this.

Although Grandpa Huang couldn't put it down, he thought that these utensils could only be regarded as ingenious tricks and could not be considered elegant, so he didn't summon Ma Daifeng, but only rewarded him with some gold and silver, but didn't confer any official position on him.

He was not promoted to rank, but was only regarded as a skilled carpenter.Ma Daifeng felt ashamed of this and complained about his bad luck, so he left Chang'an and disappeared without a trace. "

Bai Fu secretly sighed, skilled craftsmen like Ma Daifeng produced a large number of utensils for the royal family, but only won the smiles of the emperors and concubines, but did not receive due attention, and even deliberately suppressed them.

Throughout history, there are countless such things that do not pay attention to talents, which eventually led to the loss of many stunts and cheats.

If these skilled craftsmen were reused and ordered to manufacture equipment for farming, irrigation, and military affairs, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty would be another scene.

Thousands of miles of horse-drawn carts, reckless.This is not only the tragedy of the talented individual, but also the tragedy of the Tang Empire.

……

Drinking tea with Princess Qingluan, admiring flowers, playing the piano and painting, after a day, Bai Fu felt much more relaxed and his mind became more open.

Back at the Bashu Guild Hall, Bai Fu called Huang Zhen and Xiong Badou, and asked both black and white to go out and find Ma Daifeng's whereabouts.At the same time, skilled craftsmen from the people were recruited to work for the Ordnance Supervision.

A few days later, Bai Fu found out the whereabouts of Ma Daifeng, who lived in seclusion in Xihe Mountain in Hanzhong.

Bai Fu drove lightly, drove hundreds of miles with his entourage, and visited the door in person.

Ma Daifeng is not bored in retiring from the world, and has no intention of going out of the mountain, but Bai Fu visits the thatched cottage three times, and sincerely invites him to help him.

Ma Daifeng was moved by Bai Fu's sincerity, and held a banquet for Bai Fu and his party.

When you come to the banquet hall in Ma Daifeng, there is a "mountain of wine" in the middle of the banquet.

Jiushan stands on a wooden plate with a diameter of four feet and five inches, and a big turtle supports the plate underneath.All organs are hidden in the belly of the big turtle.

The wine mountain is about three feet high, and the peaks are layered on top of each other, which is beautiful and beautiful.The middle of the wine mountain is empty, and the capacity can hold three buckets of wine.Wine pools are arranged around the wine mountain, and there are fairy mountains around the pool.There are lotus flowers all over the wine pool, which is made of iron.The lotus is in full bloom, and the lotus leaves are stretched out. It can be used as a plate, on which are filled with dried meat, meat sauce and various fruits.

There are double-layer pavilions on the top of Jiushan Mountain, and the doors of the pavilions will open automatically.There is a gold-plated panlong on the mountainside on the south side of Jiushan, and the dragon's body is hidden in the mountain.

The golden dragon opened his mouth and could spit out fine wine.There is a big lotus leaf under the golden dragon, and a wine glass is placed on it.When the dragon's mouth is only [-]% full, no more wine is poured in, and a glass of wine needs to be taken immediately.

If the guest drinks slowly, the door of the pavilion will automatically open, and a doll dressed in elegant clothes, wearing a horned hat, and holding a copper plate will walk out of the door.

After the drinker finishes drinking, put the wine glass back on the lotus leaf. After the golden dragon automatically pours the wine, the drinking doll will return to the pavilion, and the gate will automatically close.

If there are still people who drink too slowly, the drunk doll will come out again, holding a copper coin to urge again.Until the end of the banquet, nothing went wrong.

The wine pourer made by Ma Daifeng is also wonderful.Wine glasses that can tilt automatically are placed around the wine mountain.When there is no wine in the glass, the glass is tilted; when half a glass of wine is filled, the glass will be level; when it is full, the glass will automatically tip over and pour the wine into the pool.This is designed according to the "Sit Utensil" set up in the Confucian Temple, and it is intended to remind the gentleman to be full and full.

The manufacturing of Jiushan, from conception, design drawings, measurement data, to material selection, is full of novelty, imagination and wisdom.

Bai Fu and his party were eye-opening and full of praise.

After drinking for three rounds, Ma Daifeng stood up, bowed deeply to Bai Fu, held up the wine lord, and said: "Uncle Liu Huang visited the thatched cottage three times, Prime Minister Zhuge's kindness is hard to refuse.

Ma is a grassroots man with little talent and learning, but he is highly regarded by Prime Minister Bai and enjoys the favor of Mr. Wolong. He is really ashamed and ashamed.

If Ma shirks again, this old face will really not know where to put it.From today onwards, Ma and his disciples are willing to follow Master Bai through thick and thin, and will do whatever they want! "

(End of this chapter)