"The villain Wang Gui, see the lord."

Gao Yuan nodded, and the one who knelt on the ground in front of him was an old man about fifty years old, although this old man seemed inconspicuous, but he was a Wei craftsman who came to Dai County with Gao Yuan from Wei State.

This time, the plateau also brought back five or six thousand craftsmen from the Wei State, among which carpenters and metallurgists were the mainstay, and there were also many other craftsmen such as dyeing cloth and pottery. When the number of craftsmen was counted on the plateau, I learned that this Wang Gui was a famous armor casting master in Wei, and his casting workshop was the largest armor casting workshop in Wei, with nearly 600 people at most, and the armor cast in his workshop was generally used by generals or palace guards, and some senior generals also came to his casting workshop to customize armor.

This time, when he came to Daijun with Gao Yuan, Wang Gui brought more than 200 craftsmen from his own workshop, which was also the largest group of craftsmen, so he was also appointed by Gao Yuan as the ordnance supervisor, which is equivalent to the official position of a doctor, and of course his duty is to pay for supervising the manufacture of armor and weapons.

After learning that his official position was equivalent to a doctor, Wang Gui was also taken aback, because the status of craftsmen in this era is not high, only a little stronger than businessmen, although they can ensure food and clothing, but there are few people who are officials, even if they are officials, that is, low-level officials who are corporals and sergeants, at most they will be the sergeant, but they didn't expect that Gao Yuan would be a doctor as soon as he gave it.

Although there is only one level of difference between the lower doctor and the sergeant, it is from the boundary between the "scholar" and the "doctor", and after entering the doctor's level, he is eligible to participate in the government. At the beginning, Wang Gui came to Daijun with the plateau only for refuge, but he didn't expect to ascend to the sky in one step and become a doctor, so Wang Gui was also very grateful to the plateau. Today, Wang Gui was summoned by the plateau, and he was also very frightened, and he didn't know what to do when he went to the plateau to find himself.

Gao Yuan said: "Wang Gui, get up." ”

Wang Gui said: "Thank you, lord." Only then did he stand up, but he was still sincerely frightened and at a loss.

Gao Yuan smiled and said, "Wang Gui, how many years have you been making helmets?" ”

Listening to Gao Yuan's question about making armor, Wang Gui was a lot more relieved, and said busily: "Back to the lord, the villain has been an apprentice since he was thirteen years old, and he has been able to make armor independently since he was twenty years old, and he didn't stop doing it until he was forty-five years old. As he spoke, he was also thinking in his heart, is the lord going to customize the armor?

Gao Yuan nodded and said, "It's been almost forty years, it's not easy, I made a kind of armor and drew a picture, you can come and see if you can make it." As he spoke, he picked up a roll of paper on the side of the desk and handed it to Wang Gui.

Wang Gui took the drawing with both hands, opened it and saw that it was a horse with complete saddle bridles, and the horse's head, horse's strength, and torso were covered by armor, and only the limbs were exposed, so he said: "This is a vest." ”

Gao Yuan said: "Yes, this is a set of vests, but it is not a vest for pulling a cart, but a vest that can be used for riding." ”

In this era, the horse armor has appeared, but it is only used for a small number of war horses to pull carts, and the horse armor used for riding, of course, is not, after all, even the cavalry has not yet developed maturely. The Chinese Jujia cavalry army is generally believed to have appeared during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

However, due to the arrival of the plateau, the horse pedal and the double high bridge horse target appeared more than 600 years in advance, and the cavalry of the Dai army also used this set of horse furniture beyond the times, so the combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the cavalry of the same period, and it was out of the limelight on the battlefield.

However, Gao Yuan also knows that this new type of horse furniture basically does not have any technical difficulties, and it is not difficult to imitate, but it is just a layer of paper, which can be broken when stabbed. After the Qin army suffers a lot of losses, it will definitely follow the example and govern its people in its own way, and with the strength of the Qin State, it is not difficult to manufacture this new type of horse furniture on a large scale. And once the new style of horse furniture is used, it will inevitably greatly increase the strength of the Qin army's cavalry.

Although this does not mean that the cavalry of the Qin army can compete with the cavalry of the Dai army, after all, the horse club is only a condition, and the cavalry tactics are also crucial. This is not something that imitation horses can solve. But it cannot be denied that the Qin cavalry can greatly narrow the gap with the Dai army cavalry, and it is definitely impossible to defeat the Qin army as easily as in the past.

Therefore, the plateau must also take precautions and use other methods to widen the gap between the two sides again, and the establishment of a cavalry army with armor is one of the ways.

The Armored Cavalry is also known as the Heavy Cavalry, but it is one of the most powerful troops in the Cold Weapon Age, and it is used for frontal charges, which can be called the most powerful army in the Cold Weapon Age, equivalent to the ancient heavy tanks.

However, the Jujia cavalry appeared late in China, it is generally believed that it began to appear in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but it was not formed in large numbers, and generally only a few elite troops were equipped with war horses, and it began to mature in the Tang Dynasty, and the Xuanjia cavalry in the Tang Dynasty was the most powerful cavalry at that time. At the end of the Song Dynasty, it basically withdrew from the stage of history. In the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, there was basically no large-scale heavy cavalry, and there were only about five or six hundred years before and after. The heavy cavalry army has existed in Europe for nearly a thousand years, and has always been the main force on the battlefield until the advent of the firearms age, the heavy cavalry army completely declined.

One of the main reasons for the different development of the heavy cavalry armies in the East and the West is that the European horses are basically large horses, with large body size and strong gravity, so they can withstand the weight of the armor, while the Oriental horses basically belong to the Mongolian horse system, with small body size and weak gravity, and there are not many war horses that can be used to establish heavy cavalry.

However, now Daijun has a total of nearly 300,000 war horses, and it is not difficult to select some war horses with large body size and strong gravity. Therefore, by forming a heavy cavalry army and using it on the battlefield, it will be able to continue to maintain the technical superiority of the Dai army over the Qin army.

Of course, the Qin State will also imitate the heavy cavalry army, but Gao Yuan is not worried, one is that even if the Qin State will also imitate the heavy cavalry army, it will be at least one or two years later than Dai Jun, so that Dai County can maintain a technical advantage for a considerable period of time; Second, although the power of the heavy cavalry army is strong, there are also many weaknesses, and if it is used properly, it is naturally an invincible strong man on the battlefield, and if it is not used properly, the heavy cavalry army can only become a flashy trick, after all, there is no single branch of the army that can dominate the world. Therefore, as long as he can make good use of it, he is not afraid that the Qin State will also have a heavy cavalry army.

At this time, Wang Gui also finished reading the drawings and said, "Don't worry, the lord can make such a vest." ”

Gao Yuan nodded and said, "But not only do I ask for it to be made, but the weight of a set of vests cannot exceed one hundred and fifty catties, can you do it?" ”

One pound in the Warring States Period, about 260 grams in later generations, and one hundred and fifty pounds is about forty kilograms, which is almost the weight limit of a set of vests, after all, a war horse has limited gravity, not only to bear the vest, but also soldiers, armor and weapons, together, the weight is about one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty kilograms, and it has to run and fight, so it can't be heavier.

With the weight limit, Wang Gui can't help but be a little embarrassed, in fact, the armor of the war horse is not technically difficult, because the metal armor of this era is bronze armor, which is made of rectangular bronze pieces spliced one by one, and the simpler armor is to sew the bronze pieces on the cloth with thread, and a few high-grade armor is to nail the bronze pieces on the surface of the leather armor to form two layers of armor.

The same is true for the armor of the war horse, it is nothing more than a different style, it is still not a piece of splicing, and the armor of the war horse is of course best composed of leather armor nail bronze pieces, which has the strongest protection, of course, the weight will also be greatly increased, because a layer of leather armor is added, at least dozens of catties are added, generally a set of such soldier armor will reach forty or fifty catties, or even sixty catties, so whether it can reach the weight limit of no more than one hundred and twenty catties on the plateau, Wang Gui's heart is not low. He thought about it seriously again before saying, "Let the villain try it as much as possible." ”

Gao Yuan said: "Although it is covered with armor all over the body, it is not necessary to have the same armor in all places, the armor on the front of the war horse can be stronger, it is the head of the horse, the strength of the horse, the armor on the front, and the armor on the side and back can be weaker, so that the total weight can be reduced."

When Wang Gui heard this, he also nodded again and again, and said, "What the lord said is that the villain will do what the lord asks." ”

Gao Yuan also thought for a while, and then said: "That's it, I hope to see a sample as much as possible, and it doesn't matter if the weight is more than some." Then slowly think about how to lose weight. ”

Wang Guidao: "Yes, if this is the case, the villain can guarantee that within ten days, samples can be made." Show it to the lord. Because the bronze armor pieces in stock are ready-made, only according to the shape of the war horse, cut out the appropriate leather armor cover, and then piece by piece of inlaid armor pieces are made. ”

Gao Yuan's heart moved, and said: "Can you do this, you make two samples, one is a double armor based on leather armor, and the other does not use leather armor, and sew bronze armor pieces directly on the linen, I will take a look at the protective effect and weight of these two armors, and then make a decision." ”

Wang Gui said: "Of course you can, the villain will immediately recruit craftsmen to make it, and within ten days, the two samples will definitely be brought to the lord to see, but the lord must ask the lord to pull out two war horses to the villain, so that it can be made." ”

Gao Yuan smiled and said: "Don't worry, I will arrange it immediately, not only will I pull out your war horse, but also the saddle bridle will be complete, you just do it with all your heart." ”

Wang Gui saluted Gao Yuan again and said, "Lord, the villain has retired." "And then I left.