Piao Tianwen     "This is the Divine Arm Bow?" exclaimed gently.

He was born in a general, had a family background, and had an understanding of military-related information. The Divine Arm Bow was also a weapon that was famous in the Song Dynasty, so he naturally would not know it.

However, he only knew that there was such a powerful weapon. He could only see how powerful this weapon was from the words he had passed down from the previous dynasty.

The Divine Arm Bow was developed in the first year of Xining and was later used in the army. Its confidentiality was quite high. If the Song army was defeated, it would destroy it to avoid foreign tribes' secrets and finally annihilated with the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Gentle understanding of the Divine Arm Bow comes from the military agenda in the history of the Song Dynasty. According to the above records, the bow body is three feet and two feet long, the string is two feet long, the arrow wood feather is several inches long, and it shoots more than 340 steps, and it enters half a elm wood.

When he saw this, he was fascinated by such a magic weapon.

The most important thing for long-range weapons is their range. The range of more than 300 steps is enough to outweigh all crossbows. Except for general artillery and bed crossbows, or the Hui cannons that the Tartars once used, no other weapon can have a greater range.

The Divine Arm Bow is not a large weapon, but a single weapon. The accuracy, shooting density, and shooting frequency are far above those large weapons, so naturally they cannot be generalized.

"But..." Wen He hesitated a little, "Marty, let alone the range of this crossbow is farther than the rumors, and it is more powerful. Just talking about the former Song Dynasty military newspapers, there are few records of the divine arm bow making achievements. If the power of this bow is really as powerful as it is now, how could it be unknown and the Jin people who captured Bianjing would not pay any attention to it?"

Five thousand powerful crossbows, with three rounds of shooting at a distance of about 200 steps, destroyed three thousand elite cavalry. There is no doubt that as long as such a record occurs, it will definitely be famous all over the world.

However, although this powerful weapon of the Song Dynasty was famous, it was only a great name on paper. Its application in battle formations was rarely recorded. After the Jin people invaded Bianjing, they did not show any interest in this weapon. Even if the weapon was destroyed, the Jin people could still catch craftsmen? Although they had no brains, they still had this common sense.

"Yes, the power of this crossbow is almost as powerful as that of a crossbow. The military level of the Song Dynasty was so weak. How could it be that there was such a powerful weapon? Brother, are you too modest?" Zhengde was also very interested in this topic.

When he first saw the Divine Arm Bow, it was last year when Zeng Jian and Dong Ping entered the palace together. They didn't see anything, but Zhengde was already surprised to see these two people. Since Xie Hong went to Liaodong, these two people rarely left the Military Equipment Department. Zeng Jian didn't even go to the morning court. In this way, the two people came out together. Anyone who saw them would be surprised.

The subsequent display was even more shocking. The range of 600 meters, its strong penetration and terrifying power, as long as people who have a little knowledge of military knowledge will understand what this means, which means an overwhelming long-range strike force.

"This is not my humility. In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the crossbow making technology in the Central Plains was already very powerful, so there was a saying that Chu Jian and Qin Bow. The big yellow crossbow of the Han Dynasty also had a powerful crossbow with a range of 400 steps, and at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were further continuous crossbows..."

Xie Hong was confident that he did not make great efforts to develop firearms. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the crossbow making technology in the Central Plains has been extremely powerful, but the aliens in the grassland were not good at this.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, General Li Ling led thousands of troops into the grassland, but was surrounded by an enemy army that was ten times more than him. However, before he used up all the arrows, the Huns had no choice but to take thousands of Han troops.

The reason is that the Han army's powerful long-range power far surpassed the Huns, allowing them to be passively beaten in front of the Han crossbow.

The so-called "Prairie People's Care and Shooting" is invincible, but it only began to rise after the Mongolian Tartars invaded the Central Plains. It was promoted to the greatest extent before that. Before that, there was no such statement at all, at least there was no word "Shooting" behind it.

Just think about it, just relying on the ox horn bows of the alien race in the grassland, how can it be compared with the profound and profound tool making technology in the Central Plains? Technology is not only productivity, but also transformed into military power. Han crossbow is one of the representatives.

Xie Hong himself did not understand the crossbow making technology, but there was such a person around him. When he first met Zeng Jian, the two discussed the Divine Arm Bow. After gaining a foothold in the capital, Xie Hong proposed to Zeng Jian and Dong Ping to recreate the Divine Soldier, and the latter was naturally very excited.

Zeng Jian considered not only military applications, but also a memory of his ancestors and sages. How great were the craftsmen of the Song Dynasty, or how brilliant the Chinese skills were, were not the only few strokes in history books that could be explained. Only by reproducing their past works to the world and allowing the world to see clearly can this be considered a true support for memorial.

Xie Hong's considerations are more complicated. The improvement of firearms is not a matter of three to five years. Instead of promoting firearms with many restrictions and poor power, it is better to replace them with strong crossbows first and then fully implement them when the firearms are fully mature.

Huaxia's crossbow making technology is mature, and coupled with his details, Xie Hong has this confidence that the things he made must be stronger than the original musket. The facts also prove this. The effective range of the musket is only more than 100 meters, but the range of the divine arm bow is four times that of the musket, and within 300 meters, it can still achieve accurate shooting.

In addition, the Divine Arm Bow does not have much weather restrictions. Even if you fight in heavy rain, you can still fight with it as long as you don’t feel sorry for the loss of weapons. Because the new Divine Arm Bow is made of metal, and even the bowstrings are twisted with steel wire, and there is no such concern as ordinary bowstrings.

Unlike ordinary bows, the crossbow arm of the Divine Arm bow also has Wangshan, which can be shot accurately, especially within 300 meters, which can be called hitting wherever it is. Therefore, two rounds of volleys were shot, and one round of free shooting, which completely wiped out the three thousand cavalry of Wusu.

It is no exaggeration to say that the new divine arm bow reappeared by the Military Weapons is the strongest long-range weapon of this era. Not to mention the Mongols' ox-horn bow that could not be on the table, even if they pulled over the Spanish musket corps from Europe, they would still beat them to a loss. Just one range would have already stepped on them tightly.

The nomadic peoples invincible in the era of cold weapons? They are unparalleled in cavalry and shooting? They can only use hot weapons to restrain themselves? Let’s talk nonsense!

Not to mention that I have made improvements, even if there is no improvement, as long as the technologies lost in China can be found, Qin crossbow, big yellow crossbow, and divine arm bow, which one cannot restrain the nomadic peoples so tightly?

"In fact, the answers to both questions are the same, because they are so good. The strong crossbow has a fatal disadvantage, especially in the Song Dynasty, which is fully revealed..." After saying a lot of benefits, Xie Hong finally sighed long, as if it echoed him, and there was also a sigh around him.

Because the Tartars were shocked and did not move for a while, and the topic was very attractive, so it was not only Zhengde and gentle. Even the two eunuchs who were serving and the staff members were listening. It didn't matter if Xie Hong sighed, but he interrupted the topic and kept it in a critical moment. How could the audience not be upset?

"Brother, don't keep it a secret, continue talking, what about the next one?" Others didn't dare to urge him, but Zhengde didn't have this concern. He seemed to be listening to a storyteller. He was about to listen to the next episode, with a red face and urging him repeatedly.

"It's actually very simple, it's just that this thing is too expensive." Xie Hong's answer was extremely concise.

"It's too expensive? What's the disadvantage?" Zhengde was very confused. But Wenhe and the staff members were thinking.

"This is a big problem..." Xie Hong shook his head, with a sarcastic smile on his lips, and suddenly asked, "Second brother, what do you think of Brother Jiang's martial arts?"

"Of course it's very good. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's a hundred people." Xie Hong's question was a bit irrelevant, but Zhengde still answered.

"Do you know, according to the original rules of the Ming Dynasty, how much is Brother Jiang's annual salary?" Xie Hong asked again.

"...I don't know." Zhengde has never studied numbers, unless the numbers are related to his hobbies, but the salaries of officials are not related to his hobbies.

"Brother Jiang is a third-rank general. His monthly salary is thirty-five stones, which is 120 taels of silver a year," Xie Hong counted with his fingers. Then he nodded and asked again: "Do you know, how much does a Divine Arm Bow cost?"

Without waiting for Zhengde to answer, he immediately said: "Even if the labor is restored to its former level, a divine arm bow will cost more than a thousand taels. If it is based on the current labor standards, the cost will be about three thousand taels."

"Hiss!" Not to mention others, even Zhengde, who has never cared about financial problems, was shocked. It was indeed too expensive. Where did this thing shoot out? It was just a shot of silver to hit people!

"Then these five thousand powerful crossbows are... 15 million taels of silver? At least it was the annual income of the Ming Dynasty in the past two years?" Wen He completely understood. How could civil servants be willing to use so much money to build a long-range force?

"Well, this is not the cost of arrows and daily maintenance." Xie Hong nodded. The power of a powerful crossbow is also related to the arrows made of stainless steel. According to the principle of momentum, the force of the impact is equal to the speed multiplied by the mass. When the speed is similar, the mass of the arrow becomes the decisive factor of power.

With the concepts and habits of the old bureaucratic system, such weapons are impossible to be popularized and used. Even if they are used, they will be cut corners in many places, such as arrows..." Xie Hong sneered.

There was a saying in later generations that one of the reasons why the Manchu Tartars were powerful in riding and shooting was because they used heavy arrows. In fact, it was just that the arrows used more iron. This kind of thing that was supposed to be promoted as a certain advantage is really ridiculous.

The weapons of the Ming army were provided by the Ministry of War and had to be handed by countless scholars and officials. Therefore, the armor pieces became thinner, the arrows became lighter, and the swords became crisper. However, the weapons of the Manchu Tartars were provided by Shanxi merchants, with excellent quality and full weight. Who is strong in the Tartars or the Ming army, and it is still worth mentioning?

"The civil officials' ideas are very simple. A soldier can use less than twenty taels of silver a year, and he can still deduct it. A magic arm bow can support more than one hundred soldiers. Is it of course more than one hundred soldiers bigger? Just imagine how many soldiers can be recruited for 15 million taels of silver? Is it more than five thousand crossbowmen?"

Everyone was silent, and Zhengde's staff were all the generals, so how could they not know the truth? To some extent, scholars were very correct in ruining the country.

That's right, 15 million taels of silver can be used to recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but how can the role they play in the battlefield be compared with the 5,000 powerful crossbows? Those soldiers have to make a living. What a terrifying number will the supply transported by such a large army need to be? Moreover, how can the power of the large corps be compared with now?

"Well, fortunately, we are not short of money now, so this shortcoming is equal to not." Zhengde nodded suddenly with a proud look, then raised his arms and shouted: "The Tartars are already scared, the whole army is advancing, and take advantage of the victory to defeat the Tartars!"

"Oh!" Everyone was so upbeat that they didn't even object to the most cautious gentleness.

The flag is waving, the army slowly presses forward, and the offensive and defensive trend reverses.
Chapter completed!