Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Chapter 511: National power transformation

Guo Shao got a letter from the eunuch, but it came from the hand of the imperial concubine Zhang.

He looked at the delicate and neat writing on it, and he felt very refreshing, and he thought that this family was the aunt of Cao Bin, the leader of the Southern Tang Army, so he took a look at the content immediately. Zhang said that she had a pure heart and few desires, quietness and inaction, thinking of Sanqing Temple as a monk, and took the name "Xuanzhen Immortal Master" by herself.

Guo Shao didn't know Zhang, his only impression was the relative relationship between her and Cao Bin, and he wondered how to be kind. However, in the harem, he knew too few people, and he didn't usually deal with anything in the harem, but he felt a little bit deeper. He immediately returned the memorial to the eunuch: "Leave it to my emperor's wife for disposal."

…In the imperial library, there are some things that Guo Shao uses every day. Next to the case, there are a book of "I Ching", a book of "Tang Shu" (later) compiled by the Jin Dynasty; and a volume of the official system of Da Zhou. A list of civil and military officials with a rank of five or more across the country.

There are swords, bows, crossbows and other weapons in the corner. A minister wrote a few days ago that it is not good to place weapons in the court, but Guo Shao ignored them because he liked these things.

Guo Shao hasn’t read the Book of Changes and the Book of Tang yet. The reason it is placed here is that he has always wanted to see it. There is a very strange situation. Guo Shao has been in ancient times for several years, but he actually lacks an in-depth understanding of the cultural thoughts of this era. The career of a fighter has been fighting for a long time, and he has not had much contact with these things; but now he is the emperor. Since I am the leader of the world, I always feel that I should really understand the ideas and concepts of ancient China, so I want to gradually read some classics.

In Guo Shao's idea, even if there is something to be busy every day, there will always be plenty of free time to read books. But in fact, it is often not the case. Many immediate events make the mood very irritable, and feel a little tired when I am free; and those classics are very difficult to read, so he hasn't turned a page after putting them for a long time.

Fortunately, there is no need to spend too much energy on the memorial, otherwise it will be delayed.

Guo Shao turned his head and glanced at Zuo You, who was sitting in front of the case. Zuo You was holding a brush, focused and calm, sometimes holding a pen to meditate, and sometimes writing like clouds. I admire these civilian officials, but they are very determined in the face of piles of cases.

But maybe they enjoy it. The bright and clean palace on the base of this high platform, the sun shines in from the finely carved windows, the antique and atmospheric and exquisite environment, the fragrance of inkstone is floating in the air; besides, this is the center of the country and the center of power. It is called "Heaven", which in itself gives a high meaning. People are exposed to wise thoughts, important speech that influences the world, words and deeds are elegant and polite... These are also a kind of enjoyment for people.

Guo Shao retracted his gaze, put down the brush in his hand, got up and picked up a crossbow in the corner to play with.

He is a sharpshooter, but he usually uses a bow instead of a crossbow... Although it requires a lot of strength to operate a crossbow, the technical content is very low. However, the technical content of making a crossbow is not low. The crossbow in Guo Shao's hand is a composite crossbow used by individual soldiers. The structure is more complicated and not light.

The shortcomings of crossbows are that they are expensive to manufacture and require skilled craftsmen; they are heavy and are easily damaged. Animal skin glue is also very afraid of tides. Small brown cables are not afraid of tides. They also consume crossbow arrows. Need a lot of craftsmen to make. All in all, the materials and costs are very high. A large number of troops equipped with crossbows are very expensive and logistically stressed. The advantages are also obvious: the quality of soldiers is not high, and it is easier to train crossbowmen.

...On the royal case in front of Guo Shao, there was a booklet of his. The handwriting is still not good, but now he writes more neatly.

The above records some of his military thoughts that he usually thinks: The farming dynasty dealt with the nomadic people like the Liao army, not because the national power is inferior, but the national power, population, and resources are difficult to effectively transform into force.

Just like the current Zhou army, more than 100,000 elites are elite soldiers who have been trained in decades of melee. They are naturally capable of fighting; but after the annexation of Shu, Nantang, and Nanping, the economy and population have increased several times, but the use of force has no substance. Sexual improvement. It's because elite soldiers can't swell up only by money.

If you want to use most of the population and resources to quickly transform into force, there is only one way of thinking: a strong man can form a combative army after a few months of training.

Therefore, Guo Shao focused his attention on the crossbow in front of him. This kind of weapon can realize that kind of military thought relatively inefficiently. If he has one hundred thousand elite and hundreds of thousands of combative crossbowmen in his hand, he can be constantly supplemented by soldiers. , The war potential of this country is very strong... In addition, before defeating the Liao State, we should not rush to use civil politics, and we must maintain the military system to ensure sufficient combat effectiveness.

…There is another thing that can replace the crossbow, Guo Shao’s booklet has two big characters: fire_gun.

Guo Shao didn't know how to make this thing, because he hadn't studied this kind of thing in his previous life.

But he understands what fire guns are: from the perspective of the long-term development of human weapons, hot weapons must be king. But when the short-term technology is immature, fire guns are not necessarily more effective than bows.

Even if it is built, the disadvantage of the early stage is that the range, rate of fire, and accuracy are far inferior to the bow_crossbow; the advantage is that the cost is definitely lower than the bow_crossbow, even the training cost is lower, and the short-distance armor-piercing ability may be better than the bow crossbow. .

But the thought of the resources consumed by the crossbow must be squeezed from the people, which brings social conflicts and hunger; and the art of armor building may leak in the medium to long term. Guo Shao firmly believes that fire_gun is the way out!

Guo Shao had thought about firearms several times, but he hadn't had a clue. This time, when the enemy country stole the armor-making technique, he considered it more eagerly.

Even if the opponent has plate armor one day, but I have a gun, as long as the technology is ahead, the opponent will never catch up with me.

... Guo Shao didn't know how to make a fire gun, but knew that this thing must be made without industry.

In feudal society, technological progress was very slow, and the technological gap between the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty might not be obvious... Anyway, there were shotguns in the Qi Jiguang era, and Western Europe used firearms on a large scale before the Industrial Revolution. Obviously it is not a gadget produced by industry and machine tools.

Guo Shao immediately summoned Zan Jurun, the military inspector and clerk.

When Zan Jurun followed the **** and walked into the Imperial Study Room, he didn't see Guo Shao. The **** guided him into the back room...the place behind the Imperial Study Room where the archives were originally stacked. But now it's a different situation, the walls are covered with pictures and papers. The notes were written on them, but the minister obviously couldn't lift his head and look around on the wall.

After the etiquette, Guo Shao said: "I want to hand over one to Duke Zan."

"Don't dare..." Zan Jurun hurriedly said, "Your Majesty's errand, the minister should do his best."

Guo Shao said: "I want to build a military workshop. This workshop will not build anything for the time being. As long as I try it according to my ideas, we want to develop a brand-new weapon... First of all, we must learn the lesson. This time we must keep it confidential. Secrets are easily leaked out."

Zan Jurun worshipped: "The minister should keep it in mind."

Guo Shao stood in front of a layout map of the imperial city painted with various house patterns, and pointed to a place, "Just at the northwest corner of Beiyuan, set a spot in the imperial city and repair the separation wall. Most people will never get in. Inside the imperial city."

"Here." Zan Jurun replied.

Guo Shao added: “You don’t need too many craftsmen, but you must carefully select them. Those who have no problem with their background should be listed on the book, clever and smart young craftsmen. You can bring a wife and concubine family to live in Beiyuan. In and out; there is a special reason to take leave, and you need to be escorted by someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Zan Jurun bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, what needs to be prepared for this military workshop? What kind of craftsman is it?"

Guo Shao blurted out: "Blacksmith."

Zan Jurun didn't pay attention, his expression was a little strange. Guo Shao also remembered one of his own names called "Guo Tiejiang", and stared at Zan Jurun for a moment. Zan Jurun immediately lowered his head and bent over in a respectful manner.

Guo Shao waved his hand, Zan Jurun bowed his thanks, and walked back out of the back room.

Sitting on a stool, Guo Shao looked at the surrounding drawings and pieces of paper, as well as the various files placed on the wooden frame. He rubbed his forehead and felt a little confused.

But he was still a competitive martial artist, thinking: I don't believe in evil anymore, the emperor, I have done everything, can I still be bullied by the Liao Kingdom?

Guo Shao feels that he has a mysterious power that surpasses the present and the ancient, and he is more self-expanding under the stimulation of the name of the emperor! He feels that he is omnipotent and has unlimited power, but he has been unable to exert his full power due to some inexplicable limitations. He must realize his abilities! It's like a doctor of mathematics who is unwilling to teach only elementary school mathematics, and feels depressed because his ability is useless...

He lifted the brush, easily marked a barrel on the paper, and then stopped. Of course he knows what the gun looks like, but the barrel of the gun first confuses him. What method did the ancients of later generations use to make gun barrels?

Guo Shao first ruled out the process of drilling holes in the iron rod...obviously impossible. This is not a question of how much work, it is impossible to do it. Not to mention hand-drilling, drill tools and technology are difficult to solve; even with modern machine tools, can you drill such a long pipeline on an iron rod? There must be a deviation in the middle, and there is a slight directional error~www.readwn.com~ The deeper the drill, the greater the deviation distance. I am afraid it is difficult to do it with machine tools.

There are only two methods left, casting and polishing, or forging?

Guo Shao wrote down two methods on the paper. First analyze them one by one... Casting with iron and then polishing is not good. He especially remembers the experience and lessons when making toys not long ago. Iron castings have uneven cooling and extremely many blisters. Unless it is a thick, short and airtight firecracker, the inner wall of the thing made by this method is too rough and difficult to process.

Guo Shao also doubts the pressure resistance of the forged barrel. After all, it is not a seamless barrel. Will it not withstand the pressure of gunpowder and explode?

Guo Shao thought for a long time, but he couldn't figure out exactly how the ancients made fire guns. Imagination alone is definitely not enough, he plans to try it himself...because he can’t believe too much in the systematic innovation of ancient craftsmen, because they haven’t seen anything related, they can only imagine out of thin air, and they don’t have systematic theoretical knowledge; Relying on the experience of predecessors, so the technological progress for thousands of years is a very slow process.

If it is so easy to go from concept to practicality, it would not take more than a thousand years to go from the ancient Greek "steam ball" to the steam engine.

...()

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