CH 103

As the fifth month drew near, the temperature started to rise. Maybe because he’d been using medicinal cuisine for too long, but Liang Feng’s appetite had not recovered. He especially didn’t want to eat any of that thick, gluey millet rice and bean porridge, so he had the kitchen make a ton of flour-based food, mainly noodles. Two of the noodles’ ancient ancestors, “soup pastry” and “water-drawn pastry,” existed in this era. “Soup pastry” was made from wide strips of wheat dough, cut into sections two inches long. “Water-drawn pastry,” slender and thin, and up to a foot in length, was closer to the noodles of the modern era. But as both of these noodles were hand-rolled, they weren’t nearly as elastic as pulled noodles – it wasn’t at all up to the standards of a true northerner like Liang Feng.

Thus, under his instruction, and after iterative improvement, the kitchen finally figured out how to make thin noodles. The cooks had evidently spent a lot of time and effort rolling and cutting the dough as thin as possible; the strings of noodles were neatly distinct. Boil it in chicken soup, sprinkle some green onion and coriander, add a few strips of chicken breast, and it makes for a scrumptious treat. UZzaFs

Pulled noodles were best made into cold noodles. Rinse the noodles with cold water, then add some sliced cucumbers, garlic sauce, and flaxseed, for a refreshing and chewy taste. Or make fried sauce from diced meat and bean paste, and mix it with noodles for a dish you could never get sick of.

These delicacies were favored by not only Liang Feng, but Liang Rong as well. Of course, the father and son’s noonmeals started to look different. Though it deviated from the style of the elite, it was simple and tasty. Occasionally adding a side dish or two, and it was enough to enjoy with relish.

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After finishing a bowl of warm chicken noodle soup, Liang Feng received a handkerchief from Lüzhu, dabbed the sweat on his forehead, and rinsed his mouth with clean water, before looking at the well-behaved child who sat at his side, and had already set down his chopsticks. Perhaps because he was satiated and satisfied by noonmeal, Liang Rong’s cute little face was adorably flushed. Liang Feng smiled, and suddenly asked, “Have you been going to the schoolhouse often, Rong-er?”

Liang Rong, lazy and comfy, from having stuffed his belly round, startled like a rabbit that had been picked up by the ears at the question. He froze on the spot. A few moments later, he lowered his head in shame, “Rong-er has been naughty; punish me as you will, Dad.” M4WqnG

“You only took a look at the schoolhouse, what is there to punish you for?” Liang Feng said smilingly. In truth, he was surprised that it had taken Liang Rong this long to go and take a peek. But at least the child was curious about school

“Now that you’ve seen it, what do you think of the estate’s schoolhouse?” He cared most about what Liang Rong thought of school.

Liang Rong hesitated for a moment before saying, “The stuff they teach in the schoolhouse is rather shallow. I can already recite the Thousand Character Classic from memory, but they’re only halfway through. Their sand trays and desks are somewhat crude too. But, there are a lot of people, I didn’t know so many people could learn together at once.”

Liang Rong’s observations were quite astute. Not only did he know how far the classes in the schoolhouse had progressed, he’d even examined the desks and sand trays inside. But an answer like that only further revealed his interest in and longing towards the schoolhouse. Whatever else he was, he was still a child. The Liang Estate was too lonely for Liang Rong. Even if he had tutors, playmates, the care and concern of his family, the lack of similar-aged companions to grow up with was one they couldn’t amend.

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However, the schoolhouse wasn’t appropriate for Liang Rong. Aside from how much the status of the schoolhouse students differed from his, the material they taught there was vastly incompatible with Liang Rong’s academic progress and future calling. This was a problem created by social stratification. Liang Rong, with his status, could only enter a private school befitting his station. 

It seemed like he’d have to consider Scholar Cui’s suggestion after all. Or perhaps he could pilfer a qualified instructor from the Cui family? After all, having a teacher with a powerful background was highly important as well. For married men, like Jiang Da and Duan Qin, their children’s education was one of their greatest concerns. If he was unable to provide it, they’d have no choice but to leave them behind to let them learn in their ancestral homes. But if there was a private school in the estate, and it if its quality was up to par, then they would bring their families here, which would naturally promote cohesion and solidarity; not to mention the supposed benefits of learning with schoolmates.

It seemed that education really was a serious issue.

Liang Feng sorted out his priorities, and said soothingly, “Once you’re six, Rong-er, I’ll find a suitable teacher for you. When the time comes, you’ll be like them, studying in your new school.” LPhetN

Liang Rong knew what his dad meant. Last time, he could still say that he wanted to stay by his father’s side, but now, the words were stuck in his throat. His dad had been getting busier and busier; on top of that, he had to worry about his schooling, and he’d read him many classics. If he acted unruly and willful because he didn’t want to leave the Liang Estate, he’d disappoint all his father’s painstaking efforts. Plus, school really did sound intriguing.

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“Do we have to let the master examine it?” The craftsman beside him wrung his hands anxiously.

“Of course we have to! Come along, let’s go together!” Liu Jian answered without hesitation.

“Eh….. I wouldn’t dare offend the master….. why don’t you go by yourself, Teacher Liu….” the craftsman frantically shook his head.

“If the master asks any questions about its manufacture, I sure can’t answer them. Come on! Move faster!” LtnrDy

Liu Jian wasn’t as unreasonable as his shidi, but when he got stubborn, he was also extremely intractable. The craftsman, hardly able to out-talk him, could only follow behind him. Shortly thereafter, they arrived at the main courtyard and saluted their master. Upon seeing the object Liu Jian was carrying, Liang Feng’s eyes lit up, “Shiyue, you’ve made the crossbow?”

“That’s right!” Liu Jian strode forth and handed him the item.

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It was a crossbow that was a little on the short side, less than three feet long, rather light, and delicate-looking too. The projectiles that went along with it weren’t arrows, but even shorter crossbow bolts that appeared to be custom-made. This was the project Liu Jian had taken up after he’d advanced the water wheel, now, it was finally bearing fruit! 

Liang Feng tested the crossbow’s draw strength and asked, “How much range does this crossbow have?” JPFo5C

“It can pierce armor at eighty paces! Although, only cloth or leather armor, not metal,” Liu Jian said at once.

That was the maximum range he could guarantee. And it was thanks to Li Xin’s recent work in trigonometry that after repeated experiments, Liu Jian was able to make some breakthroughs on the Han-dynasty crossbow. If he could further reinforce the crossbow stock, it might further its range! 

This was far more powerful than a regular crossbow. An ordinary bow’s effective killing range was generally about fifty paces, while the bows and crossbows issued by the imperial court had a range of around a hundred paces. However, arm-drawn crossbows could only be wielded by soldiers with considerable strength. It took at least a stone (around thirty kilograms) of force just to draw and arm the crossbow. And a ten-stone “great yellow crossbow” required ten stones of force; apparently, it could reach a range of four to five hundred paces!

At any rate, Liang Feng wasn’t too obsessed about the numbers. A ten-stone crossbow wasn’t an individual-served weapon anymore, and could only be used for taking pot-shots during siege or field battles. Those big guys weren’t things that the current Liang Estate could covet. Altering the arm-drawn crossbow, miniaturizing it just slightly, was already a praiseworthy feat, one that was made possible by having a brilliant mathematician like Liu Jian.  p27MbD

“Let’s try it out. Servants, bring a wooden target! And get Commander Yi here as well.” Liang Feng stood, crossbow in hand, and headed outside.

The servants handled tasks very efficiently, and soon set up a target stand eighty paces away. Liang Feng raised the bow with one arm, and was about to shoot, when the craftsman at the side hurriedly stopped him, “Master, that thing’s got a lotta recoil, it’s better to use both hands!”

Crossbows had recoil too? Liang Feng eyed his skinny wrists and mournfully switched to a two-handed hold. Oh, how low he’d fallen. Back then, he could effortlessly shoot a gun single-handed. Now, he had no choice but to do things the standard way. His stance needing no adjustment, he raised the crossbow with the same motion, practiced for over half a lifetime, that he used to wield a gun. To his surprise, the front sight on the crossbow, known as a “mountain viewer” in this era, was marked for different distances in much the same way as the sights of modern firearms.

Aiming for the red center of the target with easy familiarity, he pulled the “hanging knife” (i.e., the trigger). With a faint hum, the bolt flew forth. Bullseye! At the same time, a burning sting ran up his arms, not because the recoil was that powerful, but because his wrists were just that weak.  7iPy 6

“Amazing marksmanship, Master!” Someone was already starting with the bootlicking.

Liang Feng shook his head with a sarcastic smile. With such a large bullseye, it’d be embarrassing to miss. He had the target brought over and attentively checked it over. It really was, that at eighty paces, the bolt could only lodge itself into the target, but not pierce the wooden backing. At that distance, no matter how quickly they could reload their crossbow, they could only fire two rounds at most before clashing with the enemy. It didn’t seem worth it. 

At this time, Yi Yan came into the courtyard and instantly caught sight of the weapon that Liang Feng was holding, “Is this the new crossbow?”

“It was just upgraded by the workshops. Give it a try.” Liang Feng passed him the crossbow.  R9KnFa

Yi Yan, not one to shirk a task, took the crossbow, pulled it back, loaded a bolt, and shot at the target single-handed. He struck the center as well, but his expression didn’t change in the slightest. Obviously, that tiny bit of recoil was nothing to him. Liang Feng was almost jealous; the redness on his wrists hadn’t even faded yet. He’d likely never catch up to this youngster in terms of physical ability.  

“Its accuracy is fine, but the draw strength is a bit heavy; that’ll probably slow its firing rate,” Yi Yan concluded candidly.

Liang Feng nodded, then turned to ask the craftsman, “How much does a crossbow cost?”

“With Teacher Liu’s enhancements, it’s only five thousand coins!” the craftsman eagerly replied. WvlnON

Liang Feng came very close to asking, how much money did you say it was? Five thousand coins! The price of a bow was less than eight hundred, this was over five times as much!

“Are all hand-held crossbows made at such a cost?” Liang Feng asked, trying not to wince at the price.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Pretty much. Some of the ones with only a fifty-pace range are slightly cheaper, at around three thousand coins. A one-stone crossbow is usually about eight thousand. It’s mainly because there’s bronze in it, and because the mechanisms are so complicated that it’s impossible to make cheaper.” The craftsman, who used to in the county armory, was well acquainted with the costs of weapons development.

Alas, mighty armies really were made from money. It took ten thousand just to equip a random crossbowman. He truly wasn’t that rich.  mv4NcB

“Boyuan, are these crossbows very useful?” Liang Feng asked Yi Yan.

Yi Yan, having long since spotted their shortcomings, shook his head, “Not for infantry combat; we don’t have enough people. It’d be better to just train more bowmen. But the cavalry could use a few.”

The crossbow’s greatest advantage was that anyone could use it. Even someone who’d never practiced archery could use it without trouble. However, only when one had great human and financial resources, was there any point in establishing a crossbow squad. Otherwise, with so few crossbows, training more bowmen really was the better option. But the cavalry was different. Horseback archery was too difficult. Even someone with excellent horsemanship wasn’t necessarily able to shoot on horseback. And it just so happened that these crossbows were fairly compact and had a longer range than bows. It was perfect for dealing with light cavalry.

“Then I’ll issue you sixty for now,” Liang Feng said, gritting his teeth. The cavalry had just grown to sixty people. Since there weren’t too many of them, it wasn’t unfeasible to equip them all. Besides, the cavalry was already expensive enough to make his liver hurt, what was another hundred thousand coins? e0F4dD

“How much time does it take to make these crossbows,” Liang Feng asked.

The craftsman mulled it over, “With the metalworks producing trigger mechanisms, give me five assistants, and it’ll only take two months!”

Liang Feng, “…..”

Alright. He’d known already that these things would consume a lot of time and money. But research and development, you know, this part of the process simply couldn’t be skipped. It seemed the metalworks would need to start adopting standardized production processes. If all the trigger mechanisms could be made to the same specifications, it’d make them easier to assemble. That didn’t concern him too much, though. Precision-controlled assembly line production had existed since the Qin Dynasty; the craftsmen were no strangers to the concept. The moment they implemented it, they would see immediate results. do5YXh

He thought, then said, “Later on, I’ll have the metalworks isolated and moved deeper into the valley. You and the other craftsmen will go as well. A sentry post will be built, to keep it under strict secrecy. These crafts must not be passed to outsiders. All offenders will be killed without exception!”

The craftsman shrank back, though he knew as well that because crossbows and armors were true contraband goods; only death awaited them if they were found out.

“Nevertheless, the crossbows you’ve made are satisfactory. Each person may receive three thousand coins and two rolls of silk as their rewards. If the joined crossbow or the great yellow crossbow is improved, there will be more rewards to come!” Keep the secrets that needed to be kept, dole the rewards that needed to be doled, that much, Liang Feng understood.

Liu Jian and the craftsman said excitedly, “Many thanks, Master!” L5a0RK

With such a money-burning military factory around, he’d have to produce some more civilian gadgets to compensate for the expense. Or he could perhaps try developing vehicle suspension systems or mechanized looms? However, in this era, there was no protection of trade secrets in this day and age. If something really was produced and sold at high prices, it was most likely that it would be copied by others right away. Woodworks weren’t like ceramics, their structure was right there, making their construction nearly impossible to conceal. Ah, he had to keep thinking of other ways….