Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Guo Shao got a copy of the letter from the eunuch, but it was from Zhang, the Empress Dowager and Concubine of the Harem. √∟,

Seeing the delicate and neat writing on it, he felt very refreshing and pleasing to the eye. He also thought that Mrs. Zhang was the aunt of Cao Bin, the leader of the Southern Tang Army, so he read the content immediately. Mrs. Zhang said that she was pure-hearted, quiet and inactive. She wanted to become a monk in Sanqing Palace and became a Taoist, so she took the Taoist name "Xuanzhen Immortal Master".

Guo Shao didn't know Mrs. Zhang, and his only impression was that she was related to Cao Bin, so he thought he should treat her kindly. But in the harem, he knew too few people, and he didn't usually ask about the affairs of the harem, but he felt that the water was deeper. Immediately, he returned the memorial to the eunuch: "Give it to my sister-in-law for disposal."

... In the imperial study room, there are some things that Guo Shao used daily. Next to the case is a copy of "Book of Changes", a copy of "Book of Tang" compiled in the (later) Jin Dynasty;

There are also weapons such as swords, bows, and crossbows in the corner. A few days ago, a minister wrote 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 "Book of Changes" and "Book of Tang" yet, and the reason why they are placed here is that he has always wanted to read them. There is a very strange situation. Guo Shao has been in ancient times for several years, but he actually lacks a deep understanding of the culture and thought of this era. His career as a martial artist has been fighting for a long time, and he has not had much contact with these things; but now he is the emperor.

In Guo Shao's mind, even if he has something to do every day, he will always have a lot of free time to read books. But in fact, it is often not the case. A lot of things in front of him will make his mood very impatient, and he will feel a little tired when he is free; and those classics are very difficult to read, so he has not turned a page for a long time.

Fortunately, you don't have to spend too much energy processing the memorial, otherwise you will be dragged even more.

Guo Shao turned his head and glanced at Zuo You who was sitting in front of the desk. Zuo You was holding a brush, concentrating on it but looking calm, sometimes holding the brush in meditation, and sometimes writing like a cloud. I really admire these civil servants, but they are very calm in the face of piles of papers.

But maybe they're having fun. In this bright and clean palace on a high platform, the sun shines in through the exquisitely carved windows, the antique and elegant environment, the fragrance of inkstones wafts in the air; moreover, this is the center of the country and the center of power. What people come into contact with is wise thoughts, important speeches that affect the world, refined words and deeds... These are also a kind of enjoyment for people.

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

He is a sharpshooter, but he usually does not use a crossbow, but uses a bow... Although the operation of the crossbow requires a lot of strength, 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. Its structure is relatively complicated and it is not light.

The disadvantages of crossbows are: firstly, the manufacturing cost is very high, and skilled craftsmen are required; secondly, they are heavy and easily damaged. Strings made of animal leather glue are not afraid of tides, and small brown cables are not afraid of tides and are less powerful; the consumption of crossbow bolts also requires a large number of craftsmen to manufacture. In short, the materials and costs are very high, and a large number of troops equipped with crossbows are very costly and under huge logistical pressure. The advantages are also obvious: the requirements for the quality of soldiers are not high, and it is easier to train crossbowmen.

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

It records some of his military thoughts that he usually thinks about: the agrarian dynasty’s dealing with nomads like the Liao army was not because of its inferior national strength, but because it was difficult to effectively convert national strength, population, and resources into force.

Just like the current Zhou army, the more than 100,000 elite soldiers are elite soldiers who have experienced decades of melee combat, and naturally have combat effectiveness; but after successively annexing the lands of Shu, Nantang, and Nanping, the economy and population have increased several times, but there has been no substantial increase in force. It is because elite soldiers and strong generals cannot be inflated by money and food alone.

If you want to use most of the population and resources to quickly convert them into force, there is only one way of thinking: after a few months of training, strong men can form a combat-effective army.

Therefore, Guo Shao focused his eyes on the crossbow in front of him. This kind of weapon can realize that kind of military thinking relatively inefficiently. If there are hundreds of thousands of elite and hundreds of thousands of combat-capable crossbowmen in hand, and they can be constantly replenished with soldiers, the country's war potential will be very strong... In addition, before defeating the Liao Kingdom, we should not rush to use civilian politics, and we must maintain the military system to ensure sufficient combat effectiveness.

... There is another thing that can replace the crossbow. There are two big words written on Guo Shao's brochure: fire|gun.

Guo Shao didn't know how to make this thing, because he had never studied this kind of thing in his previous life.

But he understands what musketeers are: from the perspective of the long-term development of human weapons, heat|weapons must be a kingly way. But when the short-term technology is immature, fire|guns are not necessarily more effective than bow|crossbows.

Even if it is built, the shortcoming in 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 |

But when you think about the resources consumed by crossbows, they must be squeezed from the people, which will bring about social conflicts and hunger; and armor-making skills may be leaked in the medium and long term. Guo Shao firmly believes that fire | guns are the way out!

Guo Shao had thought about firearms several times, but he had no idea. This time, the enemy country stole the armor-making technique, so he thought about it even more eagerly.

Even if the opponent has a plate armor one day, but I have a musket|gun, as long as I maintain the leading technology, the opponent will never be able to catch up with me.

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

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

Guo Shao immediately summoned Zan Jurun, the military supervisor and privy secretary.

When Zan Jurun followed the eunuch into the imperial study, he didn't see Guo Shao, and the eunuch guided him into the back room...the place behind the imperial study where the archives were originally stacked. But now it is a different scene, the walls are covered with pictures and notes. There were words written on those notes, but the minister obviously couldn't raise his head and look around the wall.

After finishing the etiquette, Guo Shao said, "I want to give one to Mr. Zan to handle."

"Don't dare..." Zan Jurun hurriedly bowed, "Your Majesty's errand, I will definitely do my best."

Guo Shaodao: "I want to build a weapon workshop. This workshop will not make anything for the time being. Just try it according to my ideas. We need to develop a brand new weapon...First of all, we must learn a lesson. This time we must keep it secret, and we cannot let the secret be leaked out easily."

Zan Jurun bowed and said, "I will keep this in mind."

Guo Shao stood in front of a layout map of the imperial city with various house designs on it, and pointed to a place, "It's in the northwest corner of Beiyuan, a place in the imperial city, and the separation wall is repaired. Ordinary people will never have a chance to sneak into the imperial city."

"Here." Zan Jurun responded.

Guo Shao said again: "You don't need too many craftsmen, but you have to choose carefully. Those who have no problem with their backgrounds are required to be listed in the register. They are clever young craftsmen. You can bring a wife and family to live in Beiyuan, and it is strictly forbidden to go in and out; if you have a special reason to ask for leave, you need to be escorted by someone from the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Zan Jurun bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you need to prepare for this armory workshop, and what kind of craftsman is it?"

Guo Shao blurted out, "Blacksmith."

Zan Jurun was not paying attention, and his expression was slightly strange. Guo Shao also remembered that his name was "Guo Blacksmith", so he stared at Zan Jurun for a moment. Zan Jurun immediately bowed his head in a respectful gesture.

Guo Shao waved his hand, Zan Jurun kowtowed and thanked him, and stepped back out of the back room.

Guo Shao sat on the stool, looked at the drawings and pieces of paper around him, and various files on the wooden shelf, rubbed his forehead, and felt that his mind was a little confused.

But he is still a competitive martial artist, thinking: I don’t believe in evil anymore, I have been the emperor, how can I still be bullied by the Liao Kingdom?

Guo Shao felt that he had a mysterious power that surpassed the past and present, and he was even more self-inflated under the stimulation of the emperor's name! He feels that he is omnipotent and has unlimited power, but he has been trapped by some inexplicable limitations and has been unable to fully exert himself. He must realize his ability! It's like a doctor of mathematics who is unwilling to only teach elementary school mathematics, and will feel depressed because he thinks that his ability is useless...

He picked up the brush, easily drew a gun barrel on the paper, and then stopped. Of course he knew what the gun looked like, but first the barrel made him a little confused. What method did the ancients of later generations use to make gun barrels?

Guo Shao first ruled out the process of drilling holes in iron rods...obviously impossible. It's not a question of how much work it takes, it's simply impossible. Not to mention manual drilling, drill tools and technology are difficult to solve; even with modern machine tools, can such a long pipeline be drilled on iron rods? There must be a deviation in the middle, and there is a slight direction error. The deeper the drill is, the greater the deviation distance is. I am afraid that it is difficult to do it with a machine tool.

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

Guo Shao wrote down the two methods on paper, and analyzed them one by one... It is not enough to cast iron and then polish it. He especially remembered the experience and lessons he learned when making toys not long ago. Iron casts were unevenly cooled and had many blisters. Unless it is the kind of thick|short and non-airtight firecrackers, the inner walls of things made by this method are too rough and difficult to process.

For the forged barrel, Guo Shao also doubts its ability to withstand pressure. After all, it is not a seamless barrel. Will it explode due to the pressure of the gunpowder?

Guo Shao thought about it for a long time, but he was a little confused about how the ancients realized the manufacture of fire|guns. Imagination alone is definitely not enough, he plans to try it himself... because he dare not trust the systematic innovation of ancient craftsmen too much, because they have never seen anything related to it, they can only imagine it out of thin air, and they don't have systematic theoretical knowledge; the craftsmanship is all taught by the experience of the predecessors, so the technological progress of thousands of years is a very slow process.

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