Chapter 2: The Second Armament
The Second Master's Room: Qin Jianfang.
Before they knew it, the crowd had entered a huge workshop. Inside, over a thousand workers were busy with half of them pouring bronze and tin into molds in front of high-temperature furnaces, while the other half were hammering away at various long swords.
Everyone's eyes lit up at once, and it is worth noting that most of the good swords now have only two kinds: one is a fine steel long sword made of precious meteorite iron, and the other is an ultra-long copper sword produced in Qin State. Meteorite iron swords are extremely rare and seldom seen, with each handle worth thousands of gold, and some famous masters' meteorite iron swords, such as Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, are even harder to come by; while Qin State has strict control over weapons, the ultra-long copper sword is also rarely circulated among civilians, so now that people can see the casting process of this ultra-long copper sword with their own eyes, they cannot help but be greatly excited.
The crowd surrounded several craftsmen who were intently forging a bronze long sword, not disturbing them, just quietly watching. The craftsmen, although they saw Fusu and the others, did not know who they were, and besides, there was strict military law governing them, so they did not dare to stop work for even a moment, only continuing to focus on their work with their heads down. Fusu and the others watched for half a day, but still could not understand why the Qin sword was both sharper and longer than any other in the world.
Fu Su had no choice but to walk over to the nearby weapon rack and take down a half-finished bronze sword that had just been cast. He carefully examined it. As the saying goes, "an insider looks at the door, an outsider looks at the excitement", Fu Su looked at it for a while, shook his head in dismay, and gained nothing from it. Wu Shang and the other nine people, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought, but amidst their excitement, they also had a hint of confusion, apparently they only knew one aspect, but not the other.
Fu Su then asked with a sullen expression: "Gong Shi, why can the bronze swords of the six nations in Guandong only be within two feet and six inches (sixty centimeters) in length, while our Qin nation's bronze long sword can reach over four feet (ninety centimeters)? What is the reason for this?" Gong Shi saw Fu Su's confusion and couldn't help but proudly say: "Of course! Our country's bronze sword casting technology is the most advanced in the world, and there are secrets that have not been passed down. Young master, please take a look!" Gong Shi then began to explain to everyone.
"The key to casting the best Qin sword lies in the proportion of copper and tin. As I mentioned earlier, with a ratio of four parts copper to one part tin, the hardness and flexibility of the sword will reach its most perfect state, which is the prerequisite for the sharpness of the Qin sword. And if you want the Qin sword to exceed the ordinary standard and reach a length of more than two feet six inches, the secret lies in the shape of the sword. Please take a look: from the hilt to the tip of the sword, there is a length of two inches and two tenths, called the 'sword grid'. It can be seen that the sword grid is wider and thicker than other places, this design is to enhance the solidity of the sword body; while from the sword grid to the tip of the sword, the leaf-shaped sword body gradually narrows, with a vertical top angle between the two edges, and the sword body has eight faces. Next is an inwardly recessed 'waist', after which it gradually widens again. The waist is very important for the length of the eight-faced Qin sword, can play the role of 'wind slot', thereby enhancing the speed and power of stabbing. At the same time, where the sword body is wide, the thickness is reduced, and where the sword body is gathered, the thickness is increased, the degree of width and thickness can be said to change in opposite directions. This complex shape not only strengthens the load-bearing part of the Qin sword but also maintains a certain elasticity, while the sword body will not be too heavy, which is very beneficial for close combat. This is the secret technique that makes my Qin sword reach more than four feet long!"
"Ah! So that's how it is!" The crowd had a look of understanding: It seems that Qin Jian's manufacturing technology is indeed complicated! Fu Su then took the semi-finished ultra-long Qin sword from beside him, aimed at a nearby wooden block and slashed down with a "Ka Cha" sound. The sword cut through the wood, and a wooden block over two inches thick was so fragile under the power of the Qin sword. To think that this is not even a complete product yet! Fu Su and his entourage couldn't help but be stunned.
"What a great sword, not inferior to the ordinary meteorite long sword!" Fu Su and the others couldn't help but praise. If it weren't for Fu Su already having the "Hao Cao Sword", he would have probably tried his best to get a few of the best long swords from here. Suddenly, Fu Su thought: In history, when Jing Ke assassinated the Qin Emperor, it was said that the Qin Emperor drew out a bronze sword and struck Jing Ke with one blow, severely injuring him. This shows that the bronze sword has an advantage in close combat. Apparently, the current Qin country's ultra-long bronze swords have perfectly combined the length, hardness, and toughness of bronze swords, and their attacking power has naturally reached near perfection! Magnificent, majestic Great Qin, iron-blooded heroic army!
The crowd reluctantly browsed Qin Jian's workshop one last time before following Cui to another workshop, everyone eagerly anticipating new surprises.
Third Workshop: Crossbow Arrow Workshop.
As soon as they entered the third workshop, everyone couldn't help but feel a lot cooler. It was clear that this workshop wasn't for making those large and cumbersome weapons. Everyone looked up to see that indeed it was so: among the thousands of workers in the room, some were manufacturing crossbows while others were manufacturing arrows. The crowd immediately thought back to how the Qin crossbow was renowned for its precision, what secrets did they hide again?
Everyone immediately began to observe in the room. In the southeast corner of the room, Fu Su and his party found a row of completed crossbow products, divided into three sizes from large to small. The smaller crossbow arms and crossbows were only about 40 centimeters long and wide; the medium-sized ones were nearly one meter long and wide; while the larger ones were even more formidable, completely in the shape of a heavy-duty crossbow machine, lying there like a group of ferocious tigers, exuding an aura of coldness.
Fu Su's spirit came, picked up the smallest crossbow, and asked: "Gong Shi, such a small and exquisite crossbow can't shoot very far, right? Is it also used in our Qin state?" Gong Shi heard this and didn't dare to laugh, only respectfully said: "Indeed, it is used by our Qin state. However, this is a cavalry crossbow. Since it's inconvenient for cavalrymen to fight on horseback, they prioritize lightness and convenience. Therefore, the craftsmen created this small and exquisite cavalry crossbow for our country's cavalry use. Don't underestimate this crossbow, young master. This crossbow can be loaded with an arrow and fired single-handedly, extremely convenient. Moreover, its range can reach 150 steps (about 1 meter per step). It's incredibly powerful! Our country's cavalry also relies on this crossbow to counter the nomadic cavalry of Zhao state!"
"Oh, I see!" (Today, these four words were the most frequently used phrase by Fu Su and others. They were too naive in front of the vast and absolutely secret arms manufacturing industry of Qin State!) Fu Su, in order to cover up his own embarrassment, couldn't help but take a great interest in examining the cavalry crossbow.
After a while, Fu Su picked up the medium-sized crossbow again. This time, Fu Su didn't dare to pretend to understand anymore and asked seriously: "Master craftsman, what kind of crossbow is this? What kind of soldier uses it?" The master replied: "This crossbow is a single-shot infantry crossbow, used by our Qin state's infantry crossbowmen. This crossbow uses two feet to draw the string, with a range of up to 300 paces, making it the most lethal long-range weapon in today's world! Moreover, it has the most varied shapes, with three subcategories: single-shot crossbows, triple-shot repeating crossbows, and ten-shot repeating crossbows! However, the ones used the most are still single-shot and triple-shot crossbows!"
He nodded and learned something new. Then, pointing to the largest crossbow machine, he said: "What about this one?" The craftsman replied: "This is called a 'bed crossbow', it can only shoot once at a time, but its range can reach as far as 1,000 steps. It's usually used by heavy infantry for attacking cities and long-range battles. This type of crossbow has extremely strong penetration power, rarely seen in the world. Within 100 steps, even a thick and sturdy shield two inches thick can be shattered with one shot! Nowadays, only the old Han's crossbow manufacturing technology can slightly compare to our Great Qin!" Everyone who heard this couldn't help but take a deep breath. Fu Su thought to himself: "Wow, this is so powerful! If someone gets hit by an arrow, they'll definitely die instantly! I estimate that within 100 steps, shooting through two or three people should be no problem at all. This is truly the ultimate long-range weapon of ancient times!"
Suddenly, Fu Su discovered another strange feature of Qin's crossbow. Fu Su pointed to a protruding square metal object at the end of the crossbow arm and said: "Craftsman, what is this?" The craftsman smiled slightly and replied: "Return to the young master, this is called Wang Shan, it is used by the crossbowman when aiming and shooting arrows!" Fu Su was amazed and sweated profusely: "The weapons of Qin have actually reached such an advanced level, even with a sighting device! Is this not a dream?"
Fu Su widened his eyes and asked again, "How do you aim?" Zou smiled and said, "Young master, please look at this infantry crossbow. There are six distinct black lines on it, which are used to estimate the distance of the shot. When shooting, the crossbowman uses these six black lines to estimate the height of the bow's lift, then shoots the arrow in an arc. Finally, accurately hitting the enemy soldier. These six black lines are the aiming lines for 50 steps, 100 steps, 150 steps, 200 steps, 250 steps, and 300 steps!"
Everyone was stunned, it's so fierce! No wonder when Zhao Kuo personally led the army to break through the siege of Changping back then, it was said that the Qin army's arrows were like rain, almost every arrow hit its mark, and even Zhao Kuo himself was shot dead on the battlefield. It turns out it really is this fierce!
Watching Fu Su and others in a daze, Ji Xuan continued with a pleased expression: "Actually, this Wàng Shān has another function. Young master, please take a look, the Qin crossbow's firing mechanism is composed of seven or eight components, while the crossbows of the six nations of Guandong, such as the Han crossbow, only have half that number of components. Why? Is it because the manufacturing technology of our Qin nation's crossbows is not as good as theirs? No, the truth is this: generally speaking, when a crossbow is fired, the crossbowman has to rely on the strength of his fingers to push out the tightly drawn bowstring from the crescent-shaped holder, which requires great force. At the moment of firing, the crossbow will definitely have a large vibration, so the accuracy of the shot will be very poor. But our Qin crossbow is different - although its firing mechanism is complex, when fired, it only needs to be lightly cocked, and through its ingenious and agile firing mechanism, the arrow will be shot out with minimal vibration, making the power and accuracy of the Qin crossbow the best among the seven nations! And this Wàng Shān can also automatically return the trigger to the firing position after the arrow is fired and recocked. Because it is also connected to the ingenious firing mechanism!"
