Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 374
After resting in the palace for a few days, Xiang Zhuang hurriedly brought a large group of civil and military officials to the Taixue located in the south of Ziling City. After the Chu State moved its capital, the Taixue also moved to Ziling. , under the guidance and influence of Xiang Zhuang, the embryonic form of a comprehensive university of later generations has gradually taken shape.

In terms of organization and function, Taixue has also been divided into four colleges, namely Military Academy, Political Academy, Luban Academy and Zhuzi Academy.

The function of the Military Academy is to provide the army with middle and high-level officers, that is, generals. Of course, for now, the students who go out of the Military Academy are only low-level officers, and they are still far away from being promoted to generals. But in the foreseeable future, Chu The generals in the army will, without exception, be graduates of military academies.

The only function of the Institute of Political Science is to train qualified local officials for Chu State. Since Chu State has realized the centralization of power in a true sense, it can force the graduates of the Institute of Political Science to serve as grassroots officials in various places. This is beneficial to the entire Chu State In particular, the stability and development of Jingxiang and Bashu, which were newly brought under the rule of Chu State, played a great role in promoting.

Because these students have all received strict academic education, have a deep understanding of the new law, and are loyal supporters and followers of the centralized system.

In the foreseeable future, these officials trained by the Political Science Institute will become another powerful weapon of Chu State. The cornerstone of Chu's rule of the world, with this huge team of high-quality officials, Great Chu will never repeat the mistakes of Great Qin.

Zhuzi College is actually a miscellaneous college. There are professors in literature, music, philosophy and other subjects. However, few students choose Zhuzi College. Most of Taixue students choose Military Academy or Politics Academy. There are not many, and those who are willing to enter the Zhuzi Academy are even rarer.

It is said that it takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. Education is the foundation of a country. Through Taixue, if the necessary guidance is not provided, the future Great Chu Empire will be extremely powerful militarily, politically stable, and industrial and commercial. It is extremely prosperous, but I am afraid that there will not be much development in the fields of literature and philosophy.

This situation is obviously unacceptable. Xiang Zhuang does not want the Huaxia people to become a group of barbarians who only know how to expand their territories and only know how to fight and kill. , Philosophy, medicine and other disciplines can not be left behind.

But today, it is Luban College among the four colleges that Xiang Zhuang is going to inspect.

Luban Academy is actually the Academy of Sciences of later generations. It has two functions. One is to engage in invention research, and the other is to cultivate excellent craftsmen. The great man said that technology is the primary productive force. This is an undeniable truth. Will not underestimate the development of science and technology, especially military technology.

Walking into the gate of Luban Academy, Xiang Zhuang saw the bus with more than [-] students busy.

The academic system of Taixue is three years, and the national examination is also held every three years. The number of students admitted each time is about 600. That is to say, there is only one class of students in the school. Well, it was replaced by Zhuzi College, with only a dozen or so students in each session, and dozens of old masters teaching more than a dozen students, it hurts to have nothing to do.

The bus transporter is leading the students to splice two large carts together, unload the pack horses, put the shaft of the rear cart on the carriage of the front cart, and nail a large iron nail about a foot long on the special base under the shaft support , and finally covered the gap between the carriage and the ground with a spare wooden plank covered with iron, and it immediately became a wall about ten feet high!

After connecting the two wagons, the students moved dozens of big bags from the wagons and stacked them on the inside of the wagon wall, and moved two bed crossbows and placed them on the wagon cover. Standing on the sack behind the car wall, he immediately assumed a condescending defensive posture to the outside of the car wall, but it was a simulation exercise.

Xiang Zhuang's eyes lit up immediately, this is a good thing!
Seeing that the bus transporter only cared about his own work, Xiang Ta immediately said in displeasure, "My husband loses, what are you doing?"

Hearing the sound, the public transportation car looked back and saw that it was Xiang Zhuang, Xiang He and a group of ministers of civil and military affairs. They quickly put down their work and came forward. They couldn't help but said to Xiang Zhuang: "Your Majesty, what do you think of this baggage car?"

Xiang Zhuang didn't answer, but strode to the side of the two carts, and the students quickly stepped aside.

Turning around the wall made up of two carts, Xiang Zhuang said, "That's right, if the terrain is right, a hundred of these carts can be arranged into a solid military fortress within half a quarter of an hour. Even on a flat field, such a car formation can effectively block cavalry raids, yes, really good."

"My lord, look at the ladder that has been improved by Ji Zhen!"

After being affirmed and praised by Xiang Zhuang, the public transportation car was very excited, and immediately led more than ten people from Xiang Zhuang to the playground not far away, and saw a huge tower-shaped building standing on the playground. The building is about four feet high, two feet wide at the top, about four feet wide at the bottom, and more than ten feet deep at the front and back. There are more than a dozen huge wooden wheels lined up on the left and right sides of the bottom.

This giant tower looks like a well fence, but the suspension bridge hanging from the front of the well fence shows that it is a ladder.

"Ji Zhen, come here." Gongshuche waved to a student and ordered, "Talk to the king."

The student stepped forward, bowed to Xiang Zhuang cautiously, and explained: "The aerial ladder improved by the student is very different from the previous aerial ladder. Look, my lord, the structure of this aerial ladder is the same as that of the well." There is no difference, there is also an arrow tower at the top, but through the suspension bridge hanging forward under the arrow tower, the infantry can directly climb to the top of the city, so this is even more of a ladder!"

This is actually the siege tower in the western world, but in real history, it did not appear until the eighth century. The siege tower is also terrifying, because an arrow tower is added to the top of this ladder, which can accommodate at least ten archers to shoot down.

"You are Ji Zhen?" Xiang Zhuang looked at the students in front of him, and said, "You also invented the water wheel?"

The student hurriedly bowed and bowed, and said anxiously: "Don't dare to lie to the king, the water wheel was built by the students under the guidance of Principal Gongshu, so I really dare not be greedy for credit."

Xiang Zhuang smiled slightly, and said to the driver: "Husband loses, you have someone to succeed you."

The public transporter made no secret of his love for this student, saying: "This boy is much smarter than the old minister. In addition to the ladder and the water wheel, he also improved farmers' plowshares, plows, harrows and other farm tools, making the people of Chu The yields of crops such as rice, wheat and cotton have increased tremendously."

"This is a great achievement." Xiang Zhuang looked back at Xiang Ta and asked, "Zi Yi, according to Chu's law, how should I reward him?"

Now, the laws, lessons, orders, etc. promulgated one after another over the past ten years have all been merged into one law, which is the current Chu law. In the Chu law, there are provisions specifically stipulating rewards and punishments. He replied: "According to the law of Chu, Ji Zhen should bestow a five-level nobility, a hundred taels of gold, twenty pieces of brocade, and a house brother!"

Ji Zhen hurriedly kowtowed to the ground and said happily: "Student thanked my king!"

Xiang Zhuang stepped forward to help Ji Zhen up, and then turned to the bus lane: "Old man, how is the improvement of the large crossbow?"

As early as several years ago, the Gongshu Liannu had been finalized, but due to the low output due to the craftsmanship, no matter how hard the Gongshuche worked hard, it was still unable to improve the craftsmanship. Two years ago, Xiang Zhuang simply gave up the small Liannu for riding. , Let the bus transporter change its thinking and make a large-scale continuous crossbow dedicated to infantry.

This time, Xiang Zhuang came mainly for the large Liannu.

Gongshuche patted his forehead and said: "The old minister almost forgot about the business, please come here, Your Majesty."

At that moment, the public transporter brought Xiang Zhuang and his party to the other end of the playground, and asked a dozen students to push out a strangely shaped bed crossbow from a warehouse. They called it a bed crossbow because it had a bed frame and was installed on the The arrows in the arrow box are also as thick as two fingers, but it has an extra large arrow box that stands up compared to ordinary bed crossbows.

Through an aiming mechanism next to the arrow box, Gongshuche personally adjusted the shooting angle of the crossbow, aiming at a two-person-high wooden wall two hundred steps ahead, and immediately smashed it with a wooden hammer. After getting off the machine, there was a muffled sound of the urn, and five giant arrows two fingers thick burst out from the quiver, and shot towards the wooden wall two hundred steps away like lightning.

Sooner or later, the giant arrows shot through the wooden wall. Two of them deviated from the target and pierced the ground halfway. The disadvantage of the bed crossbow is that although it has a long range and strong penetration, its hit accuracy is very low.

Gongshuche felt a little embarrassed, scratched his head and said: "Uh, the accuracy is a bit low, but it can fire in bursts!"

As soon as the bus beckoned, two or a few students pushed the arrow box to the front of the crossbow bed with all their strength. After the standby arm hooked the bowstring, another dozen students pulled the iron cable connected to the hinge and pulled it backwards. Amidst the crunching sound of the arms collapsing, this large repeating crossbow was quickly tightened, which was much faster than ordinary bed crossbows tightening the capstan.

The bus smashed down the wooden hammer again, and five giant arrows roared out again. This time, the situation was a bit better. All five giant arrows hit the wooden wall two hundred paces away. It couldn't stop the giant arrow from penetrating, and it was shot through like a piece of paper. Xiang Zhuang estimated that the range of this giant crossbow was at least [-] steps!

This large repeated crossbow is cumbersome and cumbersome. It is estimated that at least two pack horses are needed to drag it when marching, and more than a dozen soldiers are required to operate it together in combat, and the accuracy is very low. The volley of the crossbow, its lethality is quite terrifying, it can be regarded as a big killer to contain the cavalry!
At that moment Xiang Zhuang asked: "Old man loses, can this large continuous crossbow be mass-produced?"

"This is fine." The bus lane said, "but the cost is very high, because the yew wood used to cut the crossbow arms must be more than 50 years old, and the requirements for bow strings are also very high."

Xiang Zhuang couldn't help showing a smile in his eyes. As long as it can be mass-produced, the higher cost is not a problem. With this weapon, the Chu army no longer has to worry about the Han cavalry.

(End of this chapter)