"horseshoe?"
I heard this word coming out of Xu Yun's mouth.
Wang Zhen was stunned for a moment:
"Is that a nuclear weapon?"
Xu Yun thought for a while and took out a pen and paper from his body.
This is the pencil he made in his spare time not long ago. It is simpler than those of later generations, made of wooden strips + lead core.
Although the handwriting effect is not as clear as that of later industrial pencils, there is still no problem in emergency situations.
At least in terms of efficiency and convenience, it is much higher than the ink pen.
I saw that he first drew a schematic diagram of a horse on the paper, and then pulled an arrow outward from the horse's hoof.
It means enlarging this area.
Then he drew a simple illustration of a horseshoe at the end of the arrow and pushed the paper in front of Wang Zhen:
"Sir Captain, this thing is a horseshoe, also called a horseshoe."
“It was a smooth iron disk bent into a loop at each end to fit right under the horse’s foot.”
"It not only protects the horse's hoof, but also allows the horse's hoof to grip the ground more firmly and prevent slipping."
Wang Chen took the icon and looked at it for a few times, then thoughtfully said:
"Horseshoe, this name is quite interesting."
Seeing this, Xu Yun asked tentatively:
"Have you never seen this thing before in the military?"
Wang Zhen shook his head and his tone was very sure:
"Never seen it before."
After hearing this, Xu Yun was a little confused:
No way?
There were no horseshoes in the Song Dynasty?
This is the 12th century AD
If he remembered correctly, Rome had figured this out as early as the first century BC.
In fact, what Xu Yun didn't know was.
Since the horse hoof itself is a cuticle, somewhat similar to human nails, there is actually no obvious pain.
In the plains and grasslands with soft soil such as the Central Plains, the wear of horseshoes is not particularly serious, and it has been relatively ignored in the past dynasties.
So in history.
It was not until after the Yuan Dynasty that horseshoeing became officially popular in the local area.
Of course.
Later, a pair of horseshoes was unearthed in the ancient city of Anshan. According to dating calculation, it was probably around the 2nd century BC.
This time point is almost around the time when Lelang and other counties were established in the Western Han Dynasty. It can be said that it can be traced back to the earliest days of finished horseshoes.
But it's like some other special inventions in history.
Just because something appears early does not mean it will be accepted and applied by people at that time.
It does not mean that it can be further socialized and popularized.
Here is a very simple example:
When the Han Dynasty conquered the Xiongnu in the north, the number of horses was 70,000 to 80,000, with three to four thousand returning.
When there is no war, the losses of horses are even greater than those of soldiers.
For example, it is recorded in "Tongdian":
(Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty) There were 400,000 stable horses. At that time, the Xiongnu invaded the border area. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing sent out 100,000 horses and 140,000 private servants, Ma Fan, to pursue and defeat the Xiongnu. More than 100,000 Han horses died. Although the Xiongnu were sick and far away, the Han also had few horses and could not return.
And in these horse losses.
The vast majority of Han horses lost their fighting power due to wear and tear on their hoofs, and eventually had to be buried in the desert.
If horseshoes had really been popularized during the Western Han Dynasty, the loss of horses would never have been so great.
be honest.
China has been vast since ancient times, and it is normal, or almost inevitable, for horseshoes to be produced in some border areas.
However, they cannot be popularized on a large scale due to their occlusive nature. This is also an irrefutable fact.
There are certain things that we have invented and used, and we cannot let go of them even a single step. They are the hard work of our ancestors.
Such as traditional Chinese medicine, such as traditional festivals.
But there are some things that we are lagging behind from the perspective of the times, and there is no need to hold our necks and force them back.
If we keep claiming that everything is invented by us, then aren’t we just like stealing the country?
So in this day and age.
Some tribes in Shangougou may have horseshoes or protective gear similar to horseshoes.
But in the camp of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, horseshoes were indeed a rarity.
Of course.
Never seen it, never seen it.
But as a handsome man who could lead Taiyuan's defense in the future, Wang Zhen realized that this was another good thing almost as soon as Xu Yun finished introducing Ma Tieyi:
Most of the hoofs and feet of military horses are damaged because the hoofs and feet first softened in a cold and humid environment and were then worn away by hard rocks.
Eventually it wears out too much or develops hoof disease.
And if horseshoes could really be made and popularized,
It may be an exaggeration to say that it is expected to change the situation of the war, but there is no problem in reducing the loss of military horses by several percent.
But soon, Wang Zhen's expression calmed down again:
"Xiao Wang, although your idea is good, it has a fatal flaw."
Xu Yun blinked:
"What flaw?"
"Let me ask you, how much does the horseshoe you designed weigh per piece?"
Xu Yun thought for a while and found that most of the horseshoes in later generations were made of aluminum, with a single weight of about 1.5 kilograms.
Theoretically, the density of steel is three times that of aluminum, so a single horseshoe is approximately
"About four pounds."
Wang Zhen nodded. This number was almost what he expected:
"Each one weighs four kilograms. A horse has four hooves, and a pair of four weighs sixteen kilograms."
"Now we have more than 20,000 war horses on the western front. To cover them all would require 320,000 kilograms of fine iron."
"It is not difficult for the imperial court to come up with 320,000 kilograms of fine iron, but how long will these iron palms be enough?"
A question mark appeared on Xu Yun's face:
"Clam?"
Seeing that he was a little confused, Wang Zhen further explained:
"Take the eight colors of knives that are standard for the Forbidden Army as an example. The so-called eight colors of knives refer to the eight types of hand knives, falling knives, bent knives, moon-covering knives, halberd knives, eyebrow knives, phoenix-mouth knives and pen knives. The main equipment of the army is the hand sword."
Wang Zhen went out in casual clothes today and did not bring a knife with him, so he made a rough gesture of more than fifty centimeters:
"The hand knife is two feet long and is forged from hundreds of steel."
"Generally speaking, assuming you survive many battles, a sword can last you through three thousand-man battles before it breaks."
"A hand knife is like this, let alone a horseshoe. When horses are really used on the Western Front, the journey back and forth in a battle will not be less than five hundred miles."
“With such a scale of consumption, how long can a pair of horseshoes last?”
When Xu Yun heard this, he suddenly laughed - he knew what the problem was.
Yes.
I forgot something:
Before the invention of Bei's steel-making method in 1856, neither the East nor the West could deal with the problem of impurities in steel.
Such as sulfur, such as phosphorus.
In steel smelting, the lower the sulfur and phosphorus content, the better. If they are high, the steel will become brittle.
And an increase of one ten thousandth will have a significant impact on mechanical properties.
Modern steel contains extremely low sulfur and phosphorus. For example, ordinary steel requires a sulfur content of less than 5 parts per 10,000 and a phosphorus content of less than 4.5 parts per 10,000.
The requirements for high-quality steel are a bit stricter.
The sulfur content is less than 4 parts per 10,000 and the phosphorus content is less than 4 parts per 10,000.
High-grade steel is even higher:
It is required that sulfur should be less than 3 parts per 10,000 and phosphorus should be less than 3.5 parts per 10,000.
Although in the same period, the local skills in refining iron were almost always ahead of the West.
But this is just a horizontal comparison.
From the perspective of future generations.
To be honest, the mass production technology of steel during this period was indeed very mature, but the quality was indeed not very good.
Because there was no concept of trace elements in ancient times, desulfurization and dephosphorization operations naturally did not exist.
They only know that the iron in the north is brittle than the iron in the south, but they don’t know why.
At this time.
Craftsmen mainly rely on the difference in mechanical properties during folding and forging to "knock out" the impurity slag blocks, which is the so-called steelmaking.
Picture it this way:
In front of you and another person, there is a large maltose candy bar mixed with a lot of sand.
With your advanced technology, you can dissolve the sugar cubes, filter out the sand with a cloth, and then evaporate the water to condense the sugar cubes again.
The other person could only stretch the candy into a long strip and use tweezers to pick up the sand.
After picking one round, fold the sugar in half again and stir for a while, exposing the inner layer of sand and picking again.
Over and over again, even if he picks it a hundred times, he is still far from your level.
If you pick it a thousand times, you can probably get it to be slightly gray, but with no visible grains of sand visible to the naked eye.
If you ask him to pick again, he won't be able to do it.
These sand grains are the breaking points of steel. Although they are invisible to the naked eye, they will break when touched during use.
Therefore, Wang Zhen’s concerns are also very reasonable:
Three hundred and twenty thousand kilograms of steel is one hundred and sixty tons. This is not a small number that can be taken out casually.
There is a rumor in later generations that the annual steel output during the Song Shenzong period was as high as 150,000 tons, comparable to the total production of Europe in the 17th century.
But what about actually
This is the wrong number.
The source of this number comes from Robert Wright's "Non-Zero Sum Games: The Logic of Human Destiny":
[Like general market economies, large-scale production began to show advantages in medieval China. At that time, there were silk factories with as many as 500 looms and iron factories with thousands of workers. At the end of the 11th century, China was able to produce 150,000 tons of iron per year, while Europe as a whole could only reach such production in 1700. 】
According to the relatively detailed research "Iron Money and Iron Production in the Song Dynasty", the normal iron production in the Song Dynasty was about 50,000 tons.
The steel that is further refined is about three to four thousand tons, and will not exceed five thousand tons.
A considerable portion of the remaining iron was used to produce iron pots.
Based on this output.
If you can guarantee that the horseshoes will be replaced every few years or even once a year.
Then the imperial court bites the bullet and may actually spend such a sum of resources.
But if the shoe would crack after just a few trips, it would be impossible for the court to take advantage of it.
Actually.
The reason why horseshoes were popularized in the Yuan Dynasty is also related to the further improvement of steel smelting skills during the Yuan Dynasty.
Before the Yuan Dynasty, even in Europe, horseshoes were not common among all armies.
Looking at Wang Zhen who looked worried, Xu Yun couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Damn it.
It would be better if I were a stranger.
Then he took a deep breath, looked at Wang Zhen, and said:
"Captain Wang, to tell you the truth, there once was a blacksmith named Kobe from Fengling Yueying Sect.
"He got up at 0:00 every morning, spent decades doing in-depth research, and finally developed a technology that could further refine steel."
"This technique is not difficult and the cost is not high, but it can make steelmaking more than ten times more wear-resistant."
Bang——
Xu Yun just finished speaking.
Wang Zhen on the side couldn't hold it back. The wine glass in his hand fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.
But he didn't pay any attention to the debris under his feet, but stared straight at Xu Yun:
"Xiao Wang, is what you said true?"
Let me make it clear that I am also a fan of Kobe Bryant. This is purely teasing and has no malice.
I had a bad stomach today and had crazy diarrhea. Norfloxacin was of no use. I was given an intravenous drip in the hospital. Please reduce the number of words in the update.
Four chapters are planned to be updated on the 20th, about 25,000 words. I have saved one chapter now, and the next chapter will be very exciting.
(End of chapter)
