I am a nobleman in Spring and Autumn

Chapter 546 Short-sighted?

Mo Di made the hand crossbow and bed crossbow, and immediately won the favor of Xiang Wu, but Xiang Wu had no intention of introducing Mo Di to Chu Wangning, and even wanted to hide it from other lords.

The crossbow appeared a long time ago, and it seems that it was invented by a Chu countryman named Qin. However, the crossbow invented by Qin is relatively primitive and relatively small in size. It was originally intended to be used for assassination.

Zhiyao was the one who actually mass-produced crossbows and installed them on the battlefield.

Zhishi's crossbows were not very high-end at the beginning, and the trigger and other parts were improved later, and more crossbows appeared in more detailed construction.

The range of some crossbows is actually shorter than the arrows shot by bows, and they are classified as ordinary hand crossbows.

A medium-sized crossbow called a stepping crossbow, with a range of about two hundred steps.

Some crossbows need to use the feet to prop up the bowstring, and the shooting range can reach more than four hundred steps, which are called sticking crossbows.

Further up is the bed crossbow and cart crossbow, but there are subdivisions of the two. The general bed crossbow and cart crossbow have a range of about 250 steps, and the super-heavy bed crossbow and cart crossbow have a range of up to 420 steps.

As for accuracy?After a certain range is exceeded, whether it can be shot depends entirely on Mongolia, and there is a saying of "effective range", which means that when the hit rate can be guaranteed, it mainly depends on human operation.

The hand crossbow made by Mo Di has a range of about [-] steps, which is actually longer than Yuan Guo's light crossbow. The problem is that the effective range is very short, only about [-] steps.

As for the bed crossbow, Mo Di made improvements on the original basis, adding a winch structure, which increased the speed of loading arrows, but the shooting range was still shorter than the ordinary bed crossbow in the original country.

There was no way around it, because the Mo family was only a small family, and it took a relatively short period of time to get the support of Song State in terms of national power. Mo Di's ability to imitate the bed crossbow in the same way was very powerful.

Mo Di still had the intention to optimize it, but the state of Song fell too fast, so he didn't give him more time.

"I don't know when to introduce the King of Chu?" Mo Di had asked Xiang Wu the same question at least ten times.

Xiang Wu is trying to operate the bed crossbow, and thinks that the winch is simply a good thing, not only can be used in the bed crossbow, but can also be used in many other aspects of people's livelihood.

That's normal.

Historically, winches were first used in the military industry, and then popularized to the common people. For example, people erected a simplified version of the winch above the well to fetch water, and it has been used for 2000 years.

Once again, Mo Di didn't get a reply from Xiang Wu, and thought of some reminders from his tribe, he decided to bid farewell to Xiang Wu.

What the Mo family has to do is not supported by the resources of a family at all. If you want to make a small fuss, you don't need to come to Chu country to seek refuge, you can stay at home and take your time.

When it comes to things like scientific and technological progress, the resources that need to be consumed are usually not small, and trial and error again and again during the period is simply not affordable for ordinary people.

Mo Zhai didn't know Xiang's status in Chu, let alone how powerful Xiang was. What he wanted was to devote himself to Chu's national defense construction, and then use his own creations on the battlefield to prove that Mo was not behind at all. .

To prove the greatness of the Mo family, Mo Di not only needs resources, but also needs other people to participate. new inspiration.

After Xiang Wu finished reading, he told his followers: "Take it away first."

Hearing that sentence, how could Mo Di not know what it meant.

Xiang didn't ask Mo to hand over the technology. He made it clear that he wanted to take the real thing for imitation. If he couldn't imitate, he might ask for technology. Once Mo didn't hand over the technology, something else might happen.

"Wu is already in contact with Zuo Yin, and will soon introduce you to the king." Xiang Wu said to Mo Di.

If Xiang Wu hadn't sent the bed crossbow away, maybe Mo Di would have believed it.

Xiang Wu asked, "I don't know if Mr. Can make something else?"

Mo Di said calmly, "Naturally."

Xiang Wu showed an overjoyed expression, and asked, "Is it possible to build a cannon cart?"

This cannon is of course the one next to the stone.

Xiang Wu's target is Yuan Guo's catapult.

Chu State is imitating many things from the original country, and some simple gadgets have been imitated. After comparing and verifying each other, some of them exceed the genuine ones, and most of them have worse performance than the genuine ones.

What they imitate are all gadgets, mostly tools.

In terms of military industry, the first thing Chu imitated was the hand crossbow. Because many parts could not be standardized like the original country, the quality of the crossbows produced was different, and the failure rate was a bit scary.

The State of Chu decided to settle for the next best thing, and simply chose a very simple hand crossbow. Its shape was similar to that of Europa's medieval crossbow, and it would not have much lethality when fired more than [-] steps away.

Although it seems relatively poor, the most important thing is that you don't need to be like an archer. It takes a long time to learn to form effective combat power, and there is no limit to the number of shots an archer can make.

Archers actually need training?To be honest, archers are not easy to practice, it usually takes about three years, and it is extremely dependent on talent to shoot accurately.

The so-called training of archers is not only about mastering archery skills, but also related to obeying the command and shooting the arrows with a certain trajectory.

For example, when throwing a shot, you should know what the elevation angle is, whether you can shoot arrows extremely fast, whether the hit rate of the flat shot meets the requirements, not to mention the strength control over the long distance.

The Chu State knew very well that it would never be able to defeat the Yuan State with conventional tactics. The public clan and the local lords had reached a consensus, so they could only continue to expand the recruiting class, trying to replace quality with quantity.

In this way, a sufficient number of crossbows could be manufactured and then deployed to farmers or slaves, and they could be used on the battlefield without much training.

Of course, not all farmers or slaves were equipped with crossbows, and they would definitely be allocated other weapons. Chu State followed the example of Yuan State and made a large number of knives, and began to use iron weapons in large quantities.

Because the state of Chu lagged behind the original state in terms of iron smelting and forging technology, the knives they forged were relatively thick, and looked like a modern large-backed sword, weighing more than three catties.

Due to the lack of mastery of metal formula and excellent forging technology in Chu State, their iron weapons still have brittle weaknesses, but the elites of the public clan and local lords still use bronze weapons.

And it is also because the technology of iron smelting is not good enough, Chu State did not manufacture iron armor in large quantities like Yuan State, their best armor is still bronze armor and leather armor, and the number of leather armor is the largest, and then there is a large batch of bamboo armor. .

Did the Mo family master the iron smelting formula?They have only been involved in technology since this generation, and most of them are related to carpentry. How can they master technology similar to that of the original country.

Therefore, under Xiang Wu's constant questioning, Mo Di would answer no matter what, but in fact he would not.

Why did Mo Di do that?He knew that it was difficult to escape Xiang's control, and if he was found out sneaking away, he would either be killed or imprisoned.

Then, Mo Di wanted to make more noise. Being able to be satisfied shows that Xiang's strength is sufficient, and if he can't escape, it may be a temporary shelter; To recruit people?The movement is big enough, the more people know about it, and the resources involved are sufficient, Mo Di actually doesn't have to work for Chu Wangning.

Things went as Mo Di expected, with the investment of more and more resources, the Xiang family couldn't support it at all. One day, Xiang Wu brought a stranger to Zhuangzi.

"This is the head of the Liang family." Xiang Wu introduced.

Liang Lv seemed to be an unsmiling person, he didn't say hello to Mo Di, first he walked among the many finished instruments, looked around, and also operated some instruments himself.

"Most ordnance committees are far inferior to the original army." Liang Lv expressed his opinion.

Mo Di did not refute, and said truthfully: "Yuan country is a powerful country in the world, and it has been ahead for more than [-] years, and the Mo family is only catching up."

Only then did Liang Lv have a smile on his face, but he quickly returned to his expressionless expression, and said, "With this, it is difficult to fight against the Yuan army. I wonder if the Mo family has different equipment from the Yuan army, which can be used in the battlefield?"

Mo Di nodded to one of his clansmen.

The clansman entered the house and took out a crossbow.

This crossbow machine looks quite different from other crossbows. It has more boxes and a device for pulling up and down. The appearance looks a bit weird.

Mo Di invited the two of them to come to an archery target, operated the crossbow to continuously pull the handle-like device up and down on the target, each time a short arrow could be shot, and the archery target about ten steps away quickly plunged into it. Full of crossbow bolts.

This is obviously a Liannu!
Xiang Wu and Liang Lv were obviously stunned.

"The range of this crossbow..." Xiang Wu paused as he spoke, and then continued after thinking: "How far can it reach?"

Mo Di went over and took off the short arrows from the archery target, and then took off the arrow case of the crossbow. He carefully inspected the used short arrows, discarded them if they were slightly bent, and put the ones that looked good into the arrow case again. among.

Xiang Wu and Liang Lv, who watched the whole process, were not stupid. They understood that this kind of crossbow had higher requirements for arrows, so they frowned.

At present, except for the original state-owned special equipment for processing arrow shafts, other countries are still making arrows by hand, not to mention the slow speed, and it is difficult to guarantee the quality.

If Liannu had high requirements on the quality of the arrows, it would not be difficult for Yuan Country. If they wanted to mass-produce high-quality crossbow arrows in Chu State, they would definitely have to invest a lot of master craftsmen, which would definitely affect other industrial production.

Mo Di fired again, choosing targets for [-] and [-] paces respectively.

When this type of crossbow shoots a [-]-step arrow target, the arrowheads only bite into the target, but they can still be nailed to the target; if it is replaced with a [-]-step arrow target, even if ten arrows hit the target, they can still be nailed to the arrow target. There are only two on target.

If you know how to do it, you can see that the power of the crossbow has dropped a lot after about 25 steps, and it will become light and light if it exceeds [-] steps.

So, if this type of crossbow wants to shoot and kill the enemy, it can only be selected within fifteen steps?
This discovery made Xiang Wu and Liang Lv go from pleasantly surprised to a little indifferent, and they didn't even have the intention to order Mo Di to hide the Liannu.

Countries can imitate the original country, and it will be easier to imitate other countries with the technology of the original country.

Chu State could not mass-produce a large number of crossbow bolts suitable for Liannu. Yuan State's arrows were of excellent quality, so there must be no related production problems.

In that way, the Liannu made by the Mo family is easy to use, and it will definitely show up when it is used on the battlefield. If it is lost and obtained by the Yuan country, it will definitely be imitated by the Yuan country. Taking out the Liannu at that time will be a disaster for the Chu country.

Of course Mo Di knew the flaws of the Liannu, seeing the changes in the expressions of Xiang Wu and Liang Lu, he said: "It's not the only way, if there is what the Yuan country calls 'steel', the deadly range may reach thirty steps ?”

steel?However, the original country can already produce steel, but the output is still relatively low.Naturally, it is also subject to technology, and then it is related to the quality of minerals.
Iron ore can also be divided into good and bad. The quality of the iron ore in Zhuxia is actually not very good, and the quality of the coal is also relatively average. The reason is that the progress of some related technologies is relatively slow.

"If I can create this thing, then I can have another strange thing. The master of the Xiang family knows that the Xiang family cannot support himself, so the master of the Liang family is here today?" Mo Di said.

Xiang Wu and Liang Lv looked at each other, they could understand what Mo Di wanted to express, but they didn't respond at all.

When Mo Shi first arrived, he still had a chance to escape, but later on, he was highly valued, so it was obvious that there was no possibility of escape.

Mo Di wanted to make a noise to attract the attention of other families. If other families knew about the Mo family, the Dukes of Chu would not be blind or deaf.

As long as the Mo family shows their value, the Chu country is already facing the crisis of extinction. Thinking that the Xiang family will not kill all the Mo family members, they will not want the Mo family to work for the Chu country, right?
By that time, the Mo clan would have a great possibility to receive bilateral support from the Dukes of Chu and the local lords, which would be far more support than simply relying on the help of the Dukes or a few local lords.

The Xiang family and the Liang family are family friends, so Xiang Wu pulled Liang Lv into the group.

Mo Di took some things for granted, the situation in Chu State was not the same as that of other countries in the Central Plains.

Yuan Country is indeed very powerful, anyone with a discerning eye should know it at a glance.

Knowing Chu State clearly, their public clan and local lords are still jealous of each other, and there is no sign of sincere cooperation.

Under this current situation, how could it be possible for a foreign family to show value and be able to eliminate the contradiction between the Duke of Chu and the local lord?
Similar things happened more than once in Chu State. The fact that their capital was conquered by the Wu army was a manifestation of continuous internal fighting despite the deadly threat from the outside.

Xiang Wu and Liang Lv left on that day, which should have increased the resources for the Mo family, but it was far less than what Mo Di expected.

Gradually, Mo Di realized that he really didn't understand the situation of Chu State, and understood a truth, that is, the nobles of Chu State were short-sighted and completely lost sight of the big picture.

"Continuing on like this, even if things turn around, how much time will I have left?" Mo Di has been thinking about this question recently.

One day, Chuang Tzu was raided by a group of strangers.

When Mo Zhai thought he was the Duke of Chu, he had discovered something, and understood the value of the Mo family, so he couldn't help but think about how to persuade Chu Wangning to give him enough support.

Seeing the assailant and hearing what they said, the Mo family was completely dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)