Diqin Designer

Chapter 101 Wang Jian and his son test the stirrup

The older craftsman became excited as he spoke. He had heard his father say that he had a younger uncle, but because the winter was too cold one year and there was no firewood for heating at home, the young uncle did not survive.

If the family had had these briquettes to burn for heating, the uncle might have survived...

The other craftsmen were also silent, as were some of the guards, eunuchs and palace maids in the palace. Although they had not been frozen to death in the winter, they had heard of or seen such incidents, and some even had relatives frozen to death.

"Young Master Daren, please accept my respects from Li Fu!"

The older craftsman bowed respectfully to Li Nian. Except for the eunuch holding the wooden board and the guards protecting Li Nian, everyone else in the hall also bowed to Li Nian.

Li Nian waved his hand and said, "You don't have to do this. It's just a small thing. Whether it can be used in the world is not certain."

Ultimately, it all depends on the First Emperor's intention. If he is unwilling to mine coal and provide honeycomb coal to the people of the world, Li Nian can do nothing about it.

"When using honeycomb coal, or stone briquettes, you need to remember that if you use it indoors, you must pay attention to ventilation and not close all the doors and windows indoors, otherwise you will die!"

The craftsmen had also heard that using stone could kill people. When Li Nian mentioned this, they asked, "Excuse me, sir, why can stone kill people?"

Li Nian thought for a moment and said, "This is because the stone contains some harmful substances that are harmful to us. They will escape from the stone as it burns. If they are outside, they will be blown away by the wind. But there is no wind inside, so these harmful substances cannot be blown away. Instead, they will accumulate more and more, and eventually kill people."

Everyone nodded. One craftsman seemed to have thought of something and said with a strange expression: "Sir, since the stone contains something harmful to us, those alchemists who use the stone to make elixirs are..."

Li Nian smiled when he heard this and said, "They are all a bunch of people who are not afraid of death. They are indeed very close to becoming immortals. Maybe once they succeed in refining the elixir, they will really become immortals."

Another craftsman asked, "Sir, are there really immortals in the world?"

Other craftsmen also looked over. They might not believe what others said about whether there were immortals in the world or not, but they felt that this magical young man in Liuying Palace might really know.

This young man must have met an immortal, which is why he can come up with so many magical things.

Li Nian said: "When I say that alchemists achieve immortality, I mean that they are dead. The things they refine are all harmful. It is normal to eat dead people, and it is abnormal if they do not die. As for whether there are immortals in the world, as far as I know, there are none."

Although he inexplicably traveled to the Qin Dynasty, Li Nian still did not believe in the existence of immortals and gods. He thought that it was probably the work of some powerful and unpredictable civilization. He was a firm believer in the non-superstitious belief in immortals and gods.

Without waiting for the craftsmen to continue asking questions, Li Nian asked someone to bring a wooden board and explained how to make cement, how to make refractory bricks, and how to build a blast furnace for iron smelting...

What Li Nian said in Liuying Palace was soon sent to Ying Zheng. He read it carefully. Although he didn't understand some of the content, he could still tell the good from the bad and the advantages from the disadvantages.

After reading the stories about honeycomb coal, Ying Zheng could naturally see that this thing could become a source of financial support for the Qin Dynasty just like salt. As long as the coal mine was in his hands, it would be a steady stream of money.

"Li Nian is trying to let me know the benefits of coal so that I can have people mine it and bring convenience to the world."

After thinking for a while, Ying Zheng said, "Draft an edict!"

Immediately, a eunuch took out a bamboo slip and waited for Ying Zheng's order.

"Order the Shaofu to make 50 pairs of stirrups and horse shoes today. Anyone who participates in making the stirrups and horse shoes must not let anyone know. Anyone who violates this rule will be exterminated along with his entire clan."

"Order the Shaofu to make honeycomb coal, order the Shaofu to make refractory bricks, order the Shaofu to make cement, and order the Shaofu to send people to survey various places according to these maps and bamboo slips..." He issued several orders in succession, one of which was to mobilize salt craftsmen from Shu to inspect the places provided by Li Nian that were suitable for being used as salt fields.

A few days later, in a Qin military camp near Xianyang, Wang Jian and Wang Ben sat on a high platform, looking at the war horses that were divided into several groups in the parade ground.

Today, the father and son received an imperial edict from Ying Zheng, asking them to come here to watch a stirrup and horseshoe competition. What are stirrups and horseshoes?
Wang Ben pointed to a group of war horses and said, "Father, stirrups should be those things hanging on the left and right sides of the horses, which seem to be used for stepping."

Wang Jian nodded but did not speak. A Qin general came over and said respectfully to Wang Jian, "General, we have completed the preparations according to the king's order. We can start the competition at any time."

Wang Jian said: "Now that everything is ready, let's get started!"

He also wanted to know what Ying Zheng wanted to show them by sending him and his son.

After receiving Wang Jian's order, the Qin general ran back to the training ground.

Soon, Wang Jian and Wang Ben saw that after the Qin general shouted, the knights beside two groups of horses in the parade ground began to mount their horses. One of the groups was the horse with the stirrup that Wang Ben mentioned.

Is this to compare the speed of getting on a horse with and without stirrups?

The father and son saw that the knights riding horses with stirrups could mount their horses much faster. They stepped on the stirrups and easily climbed onto the horse's back with one push. However, for the horses without stirrups, as there were no mounting stones, many knights had to climb up by clinging to the horses and trying hard to climb up.

Wang Jian and Wang Ben fell into deep thought. Both father and son were generals who had fought in many battles. They could see the advantage of the stirrup. They could mount their horses easily without a mounting stone or the help of other people.

The two men did not speak, but continued to watch quietly. After all the knights mounted their horses, they rode their horses to the side of the parade ground.

The next moment, the war horses galloped towards each other, and the knights on horseback picked up long sticks, as if they were going to have a head-on confrontation.

No, those knights riding horses with stirrups held their weapons with both hands, while those knights riding horses without stirrups almost always controlled the horse with one hand and held the weapon with the other.

At this moment, Wang Jian and Wang Ben both understood that this small stirrup could make such a big difference. If it caught the enemy by surprise and was used on the battlefield, it would surely defeat the enemy.

The stirrup not only makes it easier for the knight to mount the horse, but also frees one of the knight's hands. An extra hand can increase the knight's combat effectiveness by more than a little.

As Wang Jian and Wang Ben thought, the knights riding horses without stirrups had to be attacked many times before they could poke others with the sticks. Some unlucky ones were even stabbed off their horses because they were controlling the horses with one hand and fighting the enemy with the other.

In contrast, the knights riding horses equipped with stirrups were quite stable on horseback and none of them fell off.

The superiority and inferiority can be seen at a glance.

The competition between the two groups of horses was over, but there were still two groups of horses in the training ground, probably competing for the horseshoes.

Horseshoes are related to horse hooves.

Following the Qin general's order again, the remaining two groups of horses, driven by knights, rushed to the same side of the parade ground. This time, it seemed that they were going to compete in speed.

After all the horses stood at the same level, they began to run to the opposite side of the parade ground. During this process, although some horses in the two groups were fast and some were slow, overall, the speed difference was not much.

This made Wang Jian and Wang Ben a little confused!
(End of this chapter)