"So there are this many kinds of crossbows?"
Li Shimin stared at the strange and varied designs of crossbow mechanisms with open fascination. Then his thoughts turned to his favorite weapon of all:
"I wonder—how did bows change in later ages?"
Privately, Li Shimin felt that the standards his son used for selecting candidates in the martial examinations were probably influenced by himself.
After all, the selection criteria of the Hundred Cavalry Command were exactly like this: one need not be skilled with sword or blade, but must be able to draw a powerful bow, ride well, and excel at mounted archery.
And naturally, those standards had been set by Li Shimin personally.
The much-criticized martial examination criteria were, to Li Shimin, little more than a reminder. He had never intended to use such standards to select generals in the first place.
He and Li Jing both understood perfectly well—what use was brute strength alone?
At most, there were differences in emphasis: Li Shimin placed greater weight on seizing battlefield opportunities in the moment, while Li Jing focused more on formulating overarching military strategy.
But regardless, seeing such a dazzling array of crossbow evolutions now, Li Shimin's curiosity about how bows themselves might develop in later ages grew all the stronger.
Thus, he cast a hopeful look toward the only person present connected to the Directorate of Works:
"Lide—could new bows be crafted based on these?"
At this moment, Yan Lide was far too busy to spare even a moment for the Emperor of Tang, and could only return a helpless, apologetic glance.
Only then did Li Shimin notice that the Yan brothers' brushes were flying nonstop, striving to copy down every crossbow design displayed.
Li Jing offered some reassurance:
"Compared to these, the Tang crossbows we currently use are merely belly-drawn crossbows—rather crude."
"These diagrams are nothing short of urgent aid."
Du Ruhui also joined in:
"Everyone, compared to the various methods of crafting crossbows, as the Huainanzi says, begging for fire is inferior to taking a fire drill. More important is to emulate the scientific methods of later ages."
"As later generations put it, the evolution of the crossbow is always about remedying its weaknesses. This insight is as clear as seeing fire—by the same logic, horse breeding is about nurturing strengths."
"A simple observation, yet it strikes directly at the core. This may well be the method of undertaking affairs through science."
Li Shimin had always been receptive to such ideas. Hearing Du Ruhui speak, he nodded repeatedly, then asked:
"In Kemin's view, how does one imitate this 'science'?"
He could clearly see the power of later ages, but had yet to truly encounter what texts of physics or science actually looked like, leaving him somewhat at a loss.
Du Ruhui smiled:
"Later generations have long said that mathematics holds a status even higher than science."
"If Your Majesty opens the civil examinations, then mathematics should be given equal weight."
…
At the Chengdu prefectural office, Liu Bei laughed the moment he saw the device labeled as a windlass crossbow:
"Isn't this Lady Huang's crossbow?"
Zhuge Liang chuckled:
"It's slightly different, but the underlying idea is quite similar."
Zhuge Liang was, of course, no stranger to such devices.
The Eight-Ox Crossbow he had inherited from later ages relied on windlasses to generate force. This design paired exceptionally well with treadwheel mechanisms, and thus the massive ship-mounted ballistae used on great warships ultimately employed multiple linked windlasses, with men treading wheels to draw the strings.
Before the Jing-Xiang campaign, Zhuge Liang had even corresponded with his wife about shrinking the Eight-Ox Crossbow.
In the end, once reduced in size, the bow arms were far too easily snapped by the compound triple-bow structure, and the plan had to be abandoned.
However, the windlass mounted on handheld crossbows was retained. Such specially made bows possessed far greater power, though drawing them with the windlass naturally took more time.
Lady Huang wrote that the advantage lay in simplicity of use: three people could form a team with three windlass crossbows—two men focusing solely on winding the strings, while one handled firing.
The sole drawback was the high cost of strong bowstrings and windlasses. Equipping even a small squad would cost nearly as much as cavalry.
And if one counted daily maintenance, it was even more expensive than cavalry by a fair margin.
Thus, after studying it for some time, Zhuge Liang chose to dismantle the costly windlasses once more.
Each heavy crossbow was left with a detachable windlass slot. In this way, auxiliary troops only needed to carry the windlasses. When a heavy crossbow required drawing, they could insert the windlass, wind it, then remove it and pass it on to another crossbow.
The only pity was that letters back and forth, combined with research and discussion, consumed much time. By the time progress had been made, the Jing-Xiang campaign was already over.
Thus, for now, production continued quietly, awaiting an opportunity to deliver a great surprise to the enemy.
For this reason, the people in the Chengdu office turned their attention directly to the hand-cranked geared steel crossbow.
"A hundred-forged steel heavy crossbow…"
Zhuge Liang examined it closely with delight, murmuring to himself:
"So it was the observer who was confused."
From the Former Han onward, crossbows had never been purely wooden. Generally, the front bow arms were wood, while the rear mechanism, sights, and housing were iron or bronze.
The reason for avoiding all-metal construction lay in insufficient toughness—but the iron now being smelted was far stronger and more resilient than before. Perhaps it truly was worth attempting?
Zhuge Liang grew increasingly enthusiastic. The cost of such a weapon would be even higher, making mass deployment impossible for now.
But if he didn't at least make one to test and handle, his hands would itch unbearably.
Thus, the atmosphere in the Chengdu office grew ever more relaxed as they discussed the evolution of crossbows.
Liu Ba ventured a thought:
"If we follow the principle of leverage, then for battlefield use, the most practical should be the goat's-foot crossbow?"
Zhuge Liang smiled warmly:
"Zichu, why not explain your reasoning?"
Liu Ba recalled:
"When Kongming lectured at the Small Academy, I was present. At the time, you used a seesaw as an example to explain the concept of leverage."
"Back then, it was calculated on the spot: the longer the lever arm, the smaller the required force."
As he spoke, Liu Ba pointed at the structure of the goat's-foot crossbow:
"Isn't this string-drawing tool simply a deformed seesaw? Pulling from the front to the rear, the mechanism pushes the bowstring back. Though the lever arms change as the string moves…"
Liu Ba grew a little nervous, but after receiving an encouraging look from Zhuge Liang, he continued loudly:
"…from start to finish, the lever arm in the hand is always longer than the lever arm of the bowstring. Thus, drawing the string is more labor-saving. Compared to a windlass, it is cheaper and faster."
Liu Bei looked utterly baffled. Zhang Fei was already feeling dizzy. Fa Zheng stared intently at the diagrams, thinking hard.
Zhuge Liang burst into applause, laughing:
"Zichu, a great talent! Why not come study this field with me?"
[Lightscreen]
[That Chinese classical crossbows were not further improved was due to multiple factors.
First and foremost was the Ming dynasty's lack of emphasis on mathematics, leaving little foundation for improvement.
Second was the rapid development of firearms in the Ming—firearms were a superior replacement for crossbows, and thus there was little incentive to continue researching them.
With this, our discussion of the Tang dynasty's early western strategy officially concludes.
After all, following Xue Rengui's great victory at Yunzhou and the death of Emperor Gaozong, that woman finally stepped onto the stage.
Next time, let us turn our gaze to the sea and explore together how the Tang dynasty, in a single war, utterly shattered the backbone of the Wa state.
Until next time~]
[Server Chat Log]
Li Shiji: What about me, Li Shiji? Does I, Xu Maogong of Great Tang, really lack the face to have an episode of my own?
First granted a surname, then stripped of it—quite the first in the founding of Tang. Compared to the other two, who knows if I was better at fighting, but in terms of losing face, I was certainly unmatched.
DrBreaker: Honestly, the martial achievements of the Zhenguan era were ferocious. By comparison, poor Song…
Still, some in the Song dynasty refused to accept Erfeng's greatness—such as the famous exchange between Wanyan Gou and Qin Hui.
VoidSlap: True enough—once you mention it, I recall it now. Zhao Gou said Erfeng loved fame, said Emperor Wen of Han treated people insincerely. Qin Hui hurriedly echoed him: "Your Majesty neither loves fame nor treats people insincerely—if you exert yourself just a little, not only Tang Taizong and Han Wen, even Yao and Shun could be surpassed."
One can only say—worthy indeed of Wanyan Gou.