Daqin Empire Advanced Manual

Chapter 10 Qin Feng
Qin Army Arms
"(Qin Jun) heard the war, stomped his feet and kicked his legs, committed a white sword, jumped into the charcoal of the furnace, and died of the former, all of them."

——"Han Feizi Seeing Qin for the First Time"

"The people of Qin donated armor and spears to attack the enemy. They held the heads on the left and the captives on the right."

——"Historical Records Biography of Zhang Yi"

"Qi's martial arts cannot meet Wei's soldiers, and Wei's soldiers cannot meet Qin's sharp fighters."

—— "Xunzi Yibing"

The development level of the Qin army can be roughly divided into three stages:
Before Shang Yang's reform, due to the special geographical environment and political environment, Qin's special martial spirit was created.In order to survive, the Qin people had to compete and fight with Rong Di for hundreds of years.In the fusion of blood and tears with Xi Rong, "the customs of miscellaneous Rong and Di", constantly summing up experience, the three arms of walking, cavalry, and chariot are basically formed.

After Shang Yang's reform, Shang Yang specifically aimed at the national characteristics of the Qin people who favored martial arts but had the courage to fight privately, and established an extremely strict and almost harsh system of joint appointments and rewards. "(Order) those who have military merits, each will be honored according to his rate; those who are private fighters will be punished according to severity." Those who kill the enemy will be rewarded heavily, and those who fight privately will be punished heavily.At the same time, we will strongly ensure the implementation of the law.This move achieved excellent results. During this period, Qin's infantry, cavalry, and sailors developed and transformed by leaps and bounds.

After the unification, the Qin army formed a relatively mature army management system and philosophy through the summary of the war in the Warring States Period.First of all, "do not attack cities without faults, and do not kill innocent people"; secondly, in terms of army governance, Qin's generals paid more attention to the importance of "ruling the army by law". On the one hand, it is guaranteed that "the system must be determined first" and "rule the army by law."

After these three stages of development, the Qin State finally formed a systematic national army based on the four arms of infantry, chariots, cavalry, and sailors, each with its own characteristics and tending to be complete.

Chariot
Chariot troops were the main force in the armies of most countries in the Central Plains during the Spring and Autumn Period.At that time, the number of chariots owned by a country was often used as the main criterion for measuring its strength.One "ride" of a chariot means 10 to [-] soldiers. Therefore, some countries called "countries of thousands of vehicles" actually have an effective force of about [-] to [-].

After entering the Warring States period, although the re-emergence of the infantry made the position structure of the chariot soldiers with many restrictions, lack of mobility, and unable to recover quickly after heavy injuries relatively reduced in the army and no longer became the core, but the chariot soldiers still had an important role in the war. Certain status.First of all, the measurement marks of a country's military strength still basically use the phrases "a thousand chariots" and "six hundred chariots"; secondly, chariots were also an indispensable part of the army's formation at that time.And "Songs of the Chu Nine Songs National Martyrs" also has a thrilling description of chariot battles during the Warring States Period: "Holding a shield in one's hand and wearing a rhinoceros armor. The wheels of the enemy and the enemy are crossed, and the swords are slashing and killing each other."

In the state of Qin, the main role of chariot soldiers also changed from being the core of the earliest war to assisting the infantry and cavalry army to fight in the plains.When attacking, it is used to rush into the enemy's formation and disrupt the enemy's battle formation; when defending, the chariot is deployed as a barrier to prevent or delay the enemy's impact; when marching, it is placed on the front and two wings, which is conducive to ensuring the safety of the troops; In an army formation dominated by infantry, chariots mainly cooperate with infantry to complete position layout and auxiliary defense.

infantry
Infantry is the main body of the Qin army. It has great flexibility and can adapt to various terrains, weather and combat forms. It is especially good for operations in complex and dangerous environments. Therefore, its division and equipment are more complicated than other arms, and its use is also more complex than other arms. widely.Especially under the background of "soldiers rely on fraud" and "soldiers never tire of fraud" in the Warring States Period, flexible infantry became more and more popular in the Warring States Period. The common records in ancient books such as "Historical Records" and "Warring States Policy" such as "(Qin You) had ten thousand chariots and fought for a million", "more than a million tigers and cardinals rode thousands of chariots and rode ten thousand horses" and other records also reflected from the side. this fact.

Entering the Warring States period, with the progress of Shang Yang's reform, the Qin State vigorously promoted the universal conscription system in counties and counties.This led to the influx of a large number of common people into the army, coupled with the catalysis of mature bronze weapon smelting technology and advanced weapon manufacturing technology represented by Qin Jian and Qin Nu, the infantry corps featuring crossbow soldiers and elite corps showed a trend of accelerated development and was formed on a large scale.Historical records: "Qi has martial arts, Wei has military soldiers, and Qin has sharp soldiers." It can be seen that Qin has very strict requirements for the selection and compilation of elite infantry.Take the military pawns of the Wei State who once shook the world and oppressed the Qin State as an example: "The military pawns of Wei took them according to their degree, and they were dressed in armor of three types. With a sword, you can win food for three days, and travel a hundred miles in the middle of the day.” That is to say, wear three layers of armor, carry a sword, hold a twelve-stone bow and crossbow, and carry fifty crossbow arrows in the negative arrow bag. Only those who can walk a hundred miles in half a day with three-day rations can be selected.

In terms of establishment, five people in the Qin Dynasty formed an army, and one leader was set up; the second five was Shishi, and one head was set; One master; 500 people, two to five hundred masters and one master.Among them, the "two or five hundred masters" are also called "thousand people", and they are already middle-ranking officers.

cavalry
Cavalry is also one of the important arms of Qin State.The people of Qin raised horses and started a family. They not only produced extraordinary masters like Zaofu, but also made contributions to Zhou because of raising horses.According to the records of "Historical Records": "Feizi lives in Quanqiu, loves horses and livestock, and is good at raising them. People in Quanqiu say that Zhou Xiaowang, Xiaowang summoned the main horse between Siwei and Wei, and the horse lived in a big way." In addition, it is located in the west. , In the long-term integration process with the Rongdi, the cavalry was compiled and trained on the basis of the Rongdi cavalry with the Central Plains' advanced crossbows and training techniques.Therefore, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Qin State formed a powerful cavalry regiment. "Han Feizi Shi Guo Pian" also records: "(Qin Yi) had five hundred leather chariots, two thousand riders, and fifty thousand infantry.

Qin knights are all strong and brave, all wearing short armor, mainly holding bows and crossbows, with a small number of spears or short swords.Not only human beings, but also Qin’s assessment of military horses is extremely strict. All military horses submitted to the chariot and cavalry troops must be "more than five feet and eight inches tall". It is regarded as ineffective in training and training and should be punished.Moreover, in the military horse assessment, if the grades fall behind, the officials in charge will also be punished or even dismissed.The pommel horses unearthed from the Terracotta Warriors Pit are exactly 1.3 meters high, which reflects the strict selection of military horses by the Qin army from the side.

The establishment of the Qin cavalry, based on the situation of the terracotta warriors unearthed from the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, is likely to be a group of four cavalry, three groups of one column, nine columns of one hundred and eight cavalry, and can be six chariots.

Navy
The water army, also known as the Lou Chuanshi, was an integral part of the armed forces of the Qin Dynasty. Its number was second only to infantry and far exceeded that of chariot soldiers and cavalry.Although the navy was only auxiliary during the Warring States period, its scale, potential and development trend should not be underestimated.

Bashu's special geographical environment gave it the opportunity to develop the navy.According to records, as early as the fifth century BC, the king of Shu built a "parrot boat" to sail on the river.After Qin Nabashu, with Bashu as the base, the navy was developed on a very grand scale.According to historical records, "Qin has 600 Taibai boats", "Sima wrongly led 50 Bashu people, [-] large ships, [-] million dendrobium meters, floating on the river to attack Chu", "(Qin) boats carried soldiers, and one boat carried [-] people. A person, with food for three months, goes into the water and floats, and travels more than three hundred miles a day."Its scale is evident.

In the unification war, especially the war against Chu and Baiyue, the Qin Navy Division also played a vital role.According to historical records, the roads in the Baiyue area are remote and long.After the Qin people creatively connected the Pearl River and Lijiang water systems, they cleverly used "ten thousand" warships to transport soldiers, food and other equipment to Baiyue, and finally included them in the Chinese territory.

Navy warships are mainly divided into two types: large-scale building ships, light and fast warships, and fighting ships, so as to facilitate the cooperation between large and small troops and light and heavy warships during water warfare.In terms of combat methods, the navy in the Warring States Period mainly adopted the method of "hooking and repelling, if you are far away, you will hook it, and if you are close, you will reject it."When the enemy is at a disadvantage, "hook" can hook the enemy's ship and prevent it from escaping; when the enemy is at an advantage, "reject" can resist the enemy's ship and prevent it from chasing.Coupled with a strong bow and crossbow, the Qin Navy has a great reputation.

Qin Jun Clothing
秦甲
In the costumes of the soldiers of the Qin Army, the armor was equipped according to the practicality of the arms, and the status of the officers and soldiers was distinguished by the form of the crown and the color of the armor.

Before the Spring and Autumn Period, the body protection equipment of soldiers was mainly leather armor. Although iron armor appeared during the Warring States Period, leather armor was still an important equipment.Compared with the other six countries, the Qin army has further developed. It is equipped with solid and precise metal armor with complete categories and precise production.Armor clothing is composed of front armor (chest and abdomen), back armor (back and waist protection), shawl (shoulder armor), basin collar (neck protection), arm armor (arm protection) and hand armor (hand protection). There are different types of arms, identities, and combat needs.

The armored garments worn by generals are not decorated with armor plates on the chest and back, but are painted with geometric and colorful patterns.There are 160 nail plates in the whole body. The nail plates are square in shape and fixed with leather strips or tendons in a "V" shape and nailed with rivets.In addition, there are shawls made of similar leather on both shoulders, and ribbon knots are exposed on the chest, back and shoulders.

In the uniform of ordinary soldiers, the armor on the chest is the top piece pressing the bottom piece, and the nail plate on the abdomen is the bottom piece pressing the top piece, so as to facilitate movement.All the nails are stacked from the middle to the sides, and the combination of the shoulder nails is the same as that of the abdomen.The nails around the shoulders, abdomen and neck are connected with armor belts, and there are nails on all the nails, the number of which varies from two to three to four, and the maximum number does not exceed six.

Qin State Weapons
Qin Jian
The Qin sword is made of bronze, with a willow-leaf-shaped body, thin, long and pointed, with a length of 81-94.8 centimeters, far exceeding the long swords of other countries during the Warring States Period (generally 50-65 centimeters in length). It is obviously easier to stab each other in a fight.The secret of the Qin sword being long but not easy to break is that its copper-tin ratio makes the hardness and toughness of the bronze sword just right.The unearthed Qin sword was also plated with chrome, which made the sword extremely sharp and anti-corrosion on the one hand.

秦铍
Beryllium is one of the famous long weapons in ancient times.The shape of beryllium is very similar to a dagger, the front of beryllium is the same as that of a dagger, with flat ridges and two edges, the cross-section of the beryllium body is hexagonal, the shape is very similar to a dagger, 30-35 cm long, and the rear end is a flat or rectangular stem. There is a round hole at the end of the stem, so that the nail can be fixed on the long handle.The long handle is a bamboo handle or wooden handle with a length of 3 to 3.5 meters.When assembled with a long handle, beryllium is an extremely sharp assassination weapon.There are two types of beryllium (that is, long handle) with bamboo and wooden handle, and beryllium itself also has two types of flat stem copper beryllium and copper beryllium.Copper beryllium was mainly popular in Chu, Zhao and other countries during the Warring States Period, while flat-stem copper beryllium was mainly popular in Qin State.

秦弩
There are two types of Qin crossbows.One is the crossbow, or the crossbow.Different from bows, Qin crossbows can only be wound with the help of pedals and the strength of the whole body.At the same time, in order to make the crossbow machine stronger, it began to install copper Guo reinforcement machine slots outside the crossbow machine.It is estimated that the shooting range of this Qin crossbow should be able to reach 300 meters, and the effective killing distance is within 150 meters, which is much higher than that of any bow at that time.In addition, the Qin crossbow is equipped with a special part "Wangshan", which is a simple sight on the Qin crossbow, so that the accuracy of the Qin army's long-range attack is guaranteed to a certain extent.

Repeater
The so-called "Liannu" means Lianyu, which means that the arrows are tied with ropes and can be recycled.The Liannu chariot was first seen in "Mozi Bei Gaolin": "Preparation is a Liannu chariot." According to records, it has "two axles and three wheels". It is "ten feet" long, and the end of the arrow is connected with a rope, which is like shooting with a bow, and can be retracted with a pulley. "Six Secret Teachings · Tiger Tao · Military Use" contains "Rhubarb Ginseng Liannu Da Fu Xu", which is this kind of chariot.The continuation crossbow on the chariot can fire arrows ten feet long, and the copper machine alone weighs one stone and thirty jun (34 kilograms in total).

秦箭
Unlike ordinary barbed arrows, the arrows of Qin crossbow arrows are triangular.After wind tunnel testing, experts found that this kind of arrow fully conforms to the principle of aerodynamics, and is not easily restricted by objective conditions such as wind speed and wind direction, which greatly improves the hit rate of Qin arrows.

Wu Gou and Shu
Wu hook (also known as golden hook), the hook body is like a curved sickle, with two parts, the body and the handle, cast at one time.The hook body is at the same head, and the cross section is jujube pit-shaped, with two opposite blades.The stalk is a solid ellipsoid, 71.2 cm long and 2.3-3.3 cm wide.Because it is popular in the Wuyue area, it is called "Wu hook", and it is also a kind of guard weapon.

Shu is actually a stick-shaped weapon with a strong primitive weapon color.Put a bronze head on one end of the ordinary wooden stick to enhance the lethality of the wooden stick.However, in the Warring States period, this simple and exquisite weapon was gradually replaced by other more practical and powerful weapons and withdrew from the war arena, and eventually became a ritual weapon that symbolized power and honor.

Siege equipment (ladders, catapults, and catapults)

According to legend, the inventor of the ladder is Gongshu Pan.The cloud ladder in the Warring States Period consists of three parts: the bottom is equipped with wheels, which can move; , and can protect the head of the ladder from being rejected and destroyed by the defenders.

The catapult came out after the "bomb", that is, the stone bullet appeared earlier, and there was "bomb" first and then "machine".According to "Fan Li's Art of War", "The flying stone weighs twelve catties, and it is fired by a machine, and it travels three hundred steps."

The Linchong Chariot is a large chariot, with 24 people pushing each cart and eight wheels. The flags and drums are erected on the cart, carrying several warriors, equipped with spears, halberds, and crossbows.The outside of the car is covered with thick leather, and by using its own height, it can be used to shoot directly into the city from the car. It can also be used to approach the city wall, destroy the female wall (stacked wall), and directly attack the defenders on the city wall.

Qin etiquette
Festival
The general term for the etiquette of offering sacrifices to gods, ghosts and ancestors. The priests offer sacrifices to the sacrificed objects to express their awe and hope to obtain the protection of the sacrificed objects. "Zuo Zhuan" has a saying that "the major events of the country are in the sacrifice and the army", which is the head of Chinese etiquette.

crown ceremony

In ancient coming-of-age ceremonies, the men's [-]-line crown ceremony and the women's [-]-line ceremonial ceremony marked the official adulthood of the saluters, and from then on they truly assumed social responsibilities, including choosing a date, precepting guests (inviting relatives and friends), divination guests (choosing by divination) Presided over by highly respected people), adding crowns (笄), taking table characters and other links.

Shoot a gift
"Shooting Art", one of the six Confucian arts, is similar to archery competitions, but it also has connotations of sports, etiquette, banquets, etc., reflecting the martial spirit of Chinese ancestors.

昏礼
The wedding, named after being held at dusk, means that yang goes from yin to yin, and that yin and yang meet.The atmosphere of the evening ceremony at that time was quite different from the lively and festive ones today, which emphasized simplicity and solemnity.The newlyweds were not dressed in bright red, but dark black dresses.There are a total of six ceremonies including Nacai, asking names, Najib, Nazheng, asking for a date, and welcoming in person, and they are symbolized by Heying (sharing a cup of wine) and prison (sharing the meat of one animal).

(End of this chapter)