In Hua Xia's Chinese chess, one of the units was the cannon, and it was the main offensive unit in Chinese chess. Two chariots, two horses, two cannons, and five small soldiers made up the entire offensive force of Chinese chess. The rest could only be used for defense. Among these offensive forces, the cannon was undoubtedly one of the most important units, as important as the chariots and horses. If the two cannons were destroyed, the offensive force would be greatly limited.
However, in the beginning of Chinese chess, there were no cannons, only cannons, which were the so-called catapults. The weapons used were throwing stones, so the word 'stone' was used. After the Song Dynasty, because of the existence of cannons, cannons replaced cannons and became a new unit in Chinese chess. In essence, they were all the same, long-range attack weapons.
From cannons to cannons, it was not just a change, but a huge increase in the power of the weapon. Cannons were catapults, so their attack range and power were far inferior to cannons. Moreover, because they could only throw stones, there was no direct shooting. The accuracy of the attack could only depend on luck. Cannons, because of the barrel, could directly aim at the target and bombard it. The accuracy and power were greatly improved, and the attack range was also greatly increased.
In the Battle of Guandu during the Three Kingdoms period, Yuan Shao built tall buildings outside the city and shot arrows at Cao Cao's camp from above, causing great losses to Cao Cao's army. Then, Cao Cao asked skilled craftsmen to make catapults to destroy the tall buildings built by Yuan Shao. However, those were just tall buildings, built with mud and wooden stakes, so they were not very strong. Therefore, the catapults could destroy them. In the face of a tall city wall, the catapults could only smash the parapets and soldiers to weaken the combat strength of the defending side. It was impossible to smash the city wall.
The cannons of later generations were very powerful, and it was not a big problem to blow a big hole in the city wall. For example, the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, after having the powerful Urban Cannon, the difficulty of the siege was greatly reduced. It was also because of such a powerful cannon that the Ottoman Empire was able to capture Constantinople, which was known as the Impregnable City. Thus, this huge empire had a new capital.
However, because the cannons of Urban fired stone shells, their destructive power was still limited. Therefore, when Mohammed attacked Constantinople, he still paid a great price.
It was said that in order to break through Constantinople, Urban's cannons fired for forty-seven days, firing a total of five thousand cannonballs. Each cannonball weighed as much as fifty thousand pounds. Nine holes were made in the city walls before the city was breached.
Therefore, Urban's cannons played an important role in the capture of Constantinople, but not all of the credit. In the process of attacking Constantinople, a large number of soldiers of the Ottoman Empire had sacrificed themselves, and many young soldiers were buried in this land forever.
As the cannons of Urban's attack frequency was relatively low, they could not fire many cannons in a night. The soldiers and civilians defending the city would urgently repair the damaged areas of the city walls. In this way, the results of Urban's cannons were greatly offset. The cannons' effect was reduced to nothing, and the advantage of the Ottoman Empire was suppressed to a certain extent.
In order to coordinate with the bombardment of Urban's cannons, the Ottoman soldiers launched charge after charge. However, because the city walls of Constantinople were too sturdy, and the repaired walls were still sturdy, the charging Ottoman soldiers suffered heavy losses.
After that, Urban's cannons continued to fire, and the soldiers continued to charge, and then bombarded again. Time and time again, the Ottoman army suffered heavy losses, but at the same time, it also caused great losses to the soldiers defending the city. Many of the soldiers not only had to fight hard, but they also had to constantly repair the city walls. After a long time, they were naturally exhausted. The Ottoman Empire's military strength was stronger, and they had enough reserve forces to take turns to fight and repair. Under such exhaustion, the defending army of Constantinople finally could not hold on. In the end, Constantinople, which was said to be indestructible, was conquered by the Ottomans.
At that time, if the Urban's cannons were replaced with modern explosive cannons, the power would be even greater. Constantinople could be breached within a day. This was definitely not a boast. In ancient times, the defending side could only rely on the city walls. As long as the city walls were breached, the defending army would have no way to defend themselves. They could only choose to retreat or be completely annihilated. For example, during World War II, after a round of bombardment by the Japanese, the cities of Hua Xia basically could not hold on for long. The reason why they could hold on for a long time was not because of the city walls, but because of their huge military strength and weapons, as well as the endless support of reinforcements. That's right, there was also the will of the soldiers. In short, in the era of cannons, the city walls had become meaningless. No city walls had the ability to defend against enemy attacks. Moreover, it would seriously affect the development of the city. Therefore, it was better to tear down all the city walls that could be torn down so as not to affect the development and prosperity of the city. Even the walls of the Tang dynasty would have to be torn down sooner or later. When the Tang dynasty was no longer a threat, these defensive walls could be torn down.
Guo Ziyi walked up to the new cannon and gently stroked it with his hand, feeling the charm of this new weapon. From time to time, he asked a few questions. He liked this new weapon very much.
"How much does it cost?"
Guo Ziyi asked.
"It's very expensive. It's more than twice as expensive as the previous cannon."
Ang Lee answered truthfully.
Weapons had been expensive since ancient times. The more advanced the weapon was, the more expensive it would be. Ordinary poor countries generally could not afford expensive weapons, so they could only choose to use the old ones that had been eliminated by others.
It was precisely because this new cannon was too expensive that it was difficult for the imperial court to approve large-scale production. No matter how fierce the request of the generals was, the department in charge of approval would always reject it. And because the Tang dynasty did not have large-scale foreign wars, the generals could not persuade the higher-ranking officials. Only when the Tang dynasty was facing a great threat would those in the imperial court support the rapid production of cannons.
For example, in the era when the Japanese were running rampant, a big country had been busy making money and did not consider the matter of weapons at all. Even if it developed advanced and powerful weapons, it would not be equipped with too many weapons, and the number of soldiers it had was pitifully small. But after it was attacked, it suddenly produced a large number of weapons on a large scale.
Guo Ziyi also understood that the imperial court was indeed reluctant to mass produce such expensive cannons, unless the Tang dynasty was facing a great threat and had to use such weapons to defend the country of the Tang dynasty.
"Good cannon, really good cannon. Forget it, let's go and see something else! What other good things do you have? Take them out! "
Guo Ziyi said as he put down the new cannon in his hand, still unsatisfied.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "There are a lot of good things. Then I'll take you to see some of them! Here is the newly developed Fire Polishing Cloth and saber-resistant clothes … "
"Fire Polishing Cloth, there really is such a thing in the world. Lao Guo, you must take a look at it, and saber-resistant clothes as well …"
Guo Ziyi said excitedly.
Huohuan cloth had a long history in the Huaxia Empire. Huohuan cloth had already appeared in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, according to Liezi. According to Tang Wen, King Mu of Zhou conquered Xirong, and Xirong presented the sword of Suan Ni and the cloth of Fire Polishing Cloth. … Fire polishing cloth, polishing must be thrown into the fire. The cloth will be the color of fire, the dirt will be the color of cloth. When it comes out of the fire, it will be bright like snow. " In this ancient book, King Mu of Zhou received the Fire Polishing Cloth from Xirong, and described the characteristics of using fire to wash it.
Zhou said, "The Western Regions presented the Fire Polishing Cloth, and Kunwu presented the Jade Cutting Knife. The Fire Polishing Cloth is dirty, and the Jade Cutting Knife is like fat. " It turned out that Xirong and Western Zhou were neighbors and had frequent contacts, so they gave the Fire Polishing Cloth to the King of Zhou to make friends. It could also be regarded as a kind of trade.
In the Han Dynasty, there were also a lot of writings about the Fire Polishing Cloth. The first volume of Xijing Miscellany recorded, "During the reign of Emperor Wu, the Western Regions presented the Auspicious Light Fur Coat, which did not get wet in the water. This' Ji Guang 'fur coat, which does not get wet when it enters the water, is made from Huo Huan cloth.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Fire Polishing Cloth was not only produced in the Western Regions, but also in the Southwest. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty? The Legend of the Western Regions said, "The Great Qin Kingdom made the Fire Polishing Cloth." The Legend of the Southwest recorded, "The Fire Polishing Cloth, the Polishing of Birds and Beasts, accumulated in the Inner Palace."
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Fire Polishing Cloth offered by the Western Regions was said to have been obtained by General Liang Ji. Fu Zi said, "When the elders were talking about the Han Dynasty, Liang Ji made the Fire Polishing Cloth. When he met the guests and drank in front of the officials, he pretended to fight for wine and lost his cup. Liang Ji pretended to be angry, so he took off his clothes and burned them. When the cloth was set on fire, it was like burning ordinary cloth. When the dirt was extinguished by the fire, it was bright and white, like water polishing cloth." Liang Ji deliberately performed the trick of burning the cloth at the banquet, leaving a deep impression. Many years later, it was still a legend among the elders.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in turmoil. The people of the Central Plains did not see the Fire Polishing Cloth for a long time, so they began to doubt it. During the Three Kingdoms period, the representative who doubted the existence of the Fire Polishing Cloth was Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei. There was a record that said, "Emperor Wen of Wei studied everything and said that there was nothing in the world that he did not know. He said that there was no knife that could cut jade, and the Fire Polishing Cloth. In the meantime, when these two things came to an end, the emperor sighed and destroyed the theory. " This showed that Cao Pi was very suspicious of the Fire Polishing Cloth. He had never seen it before, and ordinary cloth could not withstand fire. Therefore, he felt that there was no Fire Polishing Cloth in the world. In the end, when someone brought the Fire Polishing Cloth to him, Cao Pi was dumbfounded. He realized that his knowledge was shallow and that the Fire Polishing Cloth really existed in the world.
Later, Cao Pi's son, Cao Rui, still did not believe in the existence of the Fire Polishing Cloth. Later, when Cao Fang succeeded the throne, the Western Regions sent the Fire Polishing Cloth again, which was regarded as an auspicious sign by the imperial court.
In other words, Hua Xia had been able to obtain the Fire Polishing Cloth since ancient times, but it was a tribute from the Western Regions and was extremely rare. Moreover, the supply was often cut off due to war, so the Fire Polishing Cloth in Hua Xia was extremely rare. Many nobles had never seen the so-called Fire Polishing Cloth in their entire lives, so they doubted its authenticity.
When it came to the Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasty opened up a transportation route to the Western Regions. The Western Regions countries came to offer the Fire Polishing Cloth several times, and the Fire Polishing Cloth entered Hua Xia again.
However, because the small amount of Fire Polishing Cloth in Hua Xia was a tribute from the Western Regions, the people of Hua Xia did not know much about the Fire Polishing Cloth. They even thought that the Fire Polishing Cloth was a cloth woven by the gods. Thus, this very ordinary cloth was covered with a layer of mystery.
Later, sayings of fire tree bark and fire rat skin became popular. However, most people thought that the cloth woven from fire rat skin was soft and smooth, and the texture was better than that of tree bark.
From the Han Dynasty, the Wei Jin Dynasty, to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Fire Polishing Cloth had always been covered with a thick layer of mysterious cultural color. At that time, it was difficult for people to see the Fire Polishing Cloth, and they did not have the conditions to study what it was. Therefore, these mythical stories were naturally more popular.
In fact, the so-called Fire Polishing Cloth was asbestos, a very ordinary material. It was only because the Empire of Hua Xia had never mastered this technology and had to pay tribute from the Western Regions to have it. Therefore, there were a lot of legends and myths.
The reason why the cloth woven from asbestos was called the Fire Polishing Cloth was because this material had strong heat resistance and would not burn. It was very fire-resistant, and it was also an insulating and non-conductive material. It was widely used in all aspects of life.
For example, asbestos thermal insulation products, asbestos rubber products, asbestos brake products, asbestos electrical materials, and so on. However, asbestos was more harmful to people. Regular inhalation of asbestos particles would cause lesions in people's lungs, which was the so-called occupational disease of asbestos. In later society, this occupational disease caused tens of thousands of deaths every year. Gradually, it was greatly limited. Asbestos was allowed to be used only in special places. Most of the places had to be replaced with other materials to minimize the dependence on asbestos.
The reason why Ang Lee wanted to develop the heavily polluted asbestos material was that although this material was very polluting, it was also very useful. In many fields, asbestos had an irreplaceable role. It was difficult for other materials to replace it, and the price was relatively acceptable. For example, asbestos was the best insulating material for some machines. The use of other materials was always unsatisfactory. In addition, the fire extinguishing team of the Tang dynasty often had to go in and out of the fire, so the demand for asbestos clothes was also very high. With such clothes, the possibility of being burned when putting out fire was greatly reduced. It could protect the lives of these firefighters.
However, this was only a preliminary study. Next, Ang Lee would develop a more advanced fireproof material to replace asbestos. Its performance and strength would be far superior to asbestos. At least it would not be polluted, and it could resist strong heat waves. It could better protect the firefighters from being burned to death.
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