Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 698 Sharp Weapon

It has been a month since the Yanshan victory, and the people in Bianliang, Tokyo are still immersed in the joy of recovering Youyan. The major newspapers are full of long and cumbersome articles about Youyan, and the people never tire of reading them. They have been talking about You Yan all day long.

At noon that day, the Huangjianzui Restaurant at the entrance of Dongdajie Street in Beijing was very lively. The lobby on the first and second floors was full of drinkers. The drinkers were all old customers. Many of them knew each other and chatted casually. readily.

At a small table by the window sat a young man wearing a gauze hat, pouring himself a drink, very leisurely, this young man was Fanning, but his appearance had changed slightly from usual, leaving A puffy beard was raised, and the eyebrows became thicker.

Of course, Fan Ning put on makeup. The Intelligence Department recently invented a human skin mask, fake beard, and fake eyebrows. Putting it on his face completely changed him. Fan Ning had no choice. There were too many people who knew him. Wherever he goes, he will be recognized and surrounded by enthusiastic people, which makes him lose the freedom and fun of going out alone.

These days, he likes to drink and eat in various restaurants. In order not to be recognized, he asked the intelligence department for a beard mask and eyebrow stickers. Now no one recognizes him, allowing him to enjoy himself again.

Of course, his guards were still there. Just opposite him, two sturdy and strong men were also drinking, but their eyes were looking around vigilantly.

Fan Ning picked up a glass of wine. Huangjianzui is an old brand of teahouses. He started a restaurant the year before last. Its wine is very mellow, with a little sweet-scented osmanthus. sake.

At this time, a burst of discussion attracted his attention.

"You Yan has taken it down, when will Datong Mansion and Yunzhou be taken down? Youyun sixteen states, we have taken Youzhou, Pingzhou, Jizhou, and Yizhou. Where else?"

Someone next to him added: "There are also Tanzhou, Shunzhou, Zhuozhou, Guizhou, Wuzhou, Xinzhou, Ruzhou, and Weizhou."

"Yingzhou, Shuozhou and Huanzhou were also taken down."

"That's right, now there is only Datong Prefecture Yunzhou left, take Datong Prefecture, and Youyun Sixteen Prefectures will be complete."

"Yunzhou is not easy to take. I heard that there are [-] elite cavalry stationed there. Our Song Dynasty is no match for the Liao army in terms of cavalry."

"No way! We raised 50 horses in Kunzhou, and took Hexi. I heard that the total number of horses in the imperial court has reached [-]. They can't even defeat [-] cavalry, right?"

"It's not about the horse, but about the cavalry. The Liao army has lived on horseback since childhood. Everyone is a master of equestrianism. The Song army's cavalry is indeed no match for them on horseback."

At this time, a middle-aged man said: "I sent a letter to the Jianyuan yesterday, and put forward my suggestion. I suggested recruiting a Qiang cavalry in the Hexi Corridor. I think it can fight against the Liao cavalry. "

"If you recruit Qiang people to join the army, you are afraid of raising tigers!"

"It doesn't matter, the war is over, just disband them."

"Let's train the Song cavalry honestly! Foreigners can't be counted on. I think the right way is to develop new weapons to deal with cavalry."

Fan Ning nodded secretly. The last one made sense, and the right way was to develop new weapons against cavalry.

Coming out of the restaurant, Fan Ning got into the carriage. He tore off the beard and eyebrow stickers, put them in a box, and restored his original appearance.

The groom asked outside: "Is Mr. Xiang going back to the palace?"

"No! Go to the Weapons Supervision Academy."

The carriage turned around slowly and headed northwest of the capital.

The Military Weapons Supervising and Crossbow Institute is a separate weapons department responsible for the research and development of bows, crossbows, catapults, and ballistas. It is located two miles northwest of the city, covering an area of ​​about [-] acres. From the outside, it looks like a very long and narrow barracks , surrounded by high walls.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate of the Nuyuan Academy. After a while, Du Qiu, the official in charge of the Nuyuan Academy, came out with two staff members.

"See Fan Xianggong for a humble job!"

Fan Ning got out of the carriage and said with a smile: "I didn't tell you in advance, I'm sorry to disturb your work."

"Where! It's our honor for Mr. Fan to come to inspect the Nuyuan Academy. Please, Mr. Fan!"

Fan Ning nodded, and followed several officials into the Nuyuan, followed by several guards.

Fan Ning went into the official office and sat down. Du Qiu asked the tea boy to serve tea. Fan Ning took a sip from the teacup and asked, "How many craftsmen are there in Nuyuan now?"

"Reporting to my lord, there are 840 craftsmen, most of whom are responsible for making bows and crossbows."

"I don't mean the manufacturing craftsman, but the research craftsman."

"There are 370 research craftsmen, 100 each for bows and crossbows, and the rest of the craftsmen are researching ballistas, trebuchets and other related weapons."

Fan Ning put down his teacup and asked with a smile, "Last time, I entrusted the Nut Academy to develop the honeycomb crossbow. How is the development going?"

"The samples have been made, but some details still need to be perfected."

Fan Ning was overjoyed, got up and said, "Then take me to see it!"

The Ballista Academy is very large, consisting of the testing ground, research institute, material warehouse, assembly ground, and government office. When Fan Ning came out of the government office, the testing ground was on the side. In the distance, a ballista was testing to launch a large fire kite.

The fire kite was successfully developed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is the earliest firearm. The fire kite made of paper carries burning gunpowder and carries out long-range fire attacks. It is usually thrown by hand or fired with a crossbow.

After a hundred years of continuous improvement, the fire kite has been able to fly three miles away to attack the enemy camp.

Now Nuyuan is experimenting with a large fire kite, which is fired from a ballista. Fan Ning was somewhat interested, and stopped and asked, "How far can this fire kite fly?"

"If launched at a high altitude, it can fly up to ten miles; if launched on flat ground, it can fly about six or seven miles, which is twice as far as the traditional fire kite."

"Has the development been successful?"

"Basically it succeeded. If Xianggong is interested, he can demonstrate it outside."

Fan Ning thought for a while and said, "Next time! Let's go to the cellular crossbow first."

Everyone came to the research institute and walked into a yard. There was a medium-sized ballista in the yard. Fanning's eyes lit up with the wheels first. They turned out to be rubber iron wheels. The wooden wheels and shafts are replaced by iron shafts, and then rubber tires are used. The folks have already succeeded, but the military supervision needs to be more convenient and strong.

The ballista is also made of pig iron. Although it is small in size, its firing power is stronger.

Du Qiu introduced: "This is our latest iron ballista. It weighs 150 catties and can shoot [-] catties of iron fire mines to a distance of [-] steps. It is currently the most powerful ballista in the world. Although it is very heavy, But a horse can pull it forward, but it is best to use a cart or boat to carry it for a long distance.”

Fan Ning stepped forward to take a closer look, and found that the iron ballista was very well made, with a winding copper rod on each side, which means that two people can operate it.

Du Qiu also explained: "Because of the small size of the iron ballista, it can only be operated by three people. Two people put on the steel wire string and one person installs the crossbow box. There are special requirements for the soldiers who string up the string. They must be very powerful and can open at least five stones." Waist crossbow, otherwise it won’t be able to be pulled open.”

"Strong soldiers can be picked, but now I want to know how to get arrows?"

As soon as Du Qiu waved his hand, a craftsman hugged an iron box. Du Qiu handed the iron box to Fan Ning, "This box contains thirty crossbow arrows, each eight inches long, and at present, jujube arrows are used. Rod, we are developing a more powerful iron crossbow, sir, please take a look!"

Fan Ning took the arrow box and saw that there was a cover on the front. He tore off the cover, and there were small holes densely arranged inside. Each small hole contained a crossbow bolt, with the arrow pointing out, six horizontally and five vertically, a total of thirty pieces.

"Then how does it work?"

"Put it on directly!"

Du Qiu put the iron arrow box into the notch of the ballista, buckled it on all sides, and said with a slight smile: "This way, you can shoot. Thirty arrows are fired at the same time, and the range can reach 350 steps. Then take the iron box and replace it with a new one." The other sword case is very simple and convenient to operate."

Fan Ning nodded slowly. This is not only a sharp weapon for defending the city, but also a sharp weapon for dealing with cavalry. It is similar to the Zhuge Liannu, but it is more advanced than the Zhuge Liannu. The modular quiver can be called a leap in technology. As long as the Song army has enough pig iron resources, it is no problem to use iron crossbows.

(End of this chapter)