Chapter 21 Section 14 Tang Shunzhi, the Learned Soldiers, and "Wu Bian"

Tang Shunzhi was a writer of military books during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. His military book "Wu Bian" collected a lot of little-known materials and has important reference value. Tang Shunzhi, courtesy name Yingde, was born in Wujin (now Jiangsu).Born in the second year of Zhengde (AD 1507).He was the first in the post-examination. He once supervised the troops of Zhejiang Province as a doctor, and fought against the Japanese together with Hu Zongxian.He is knowledgeable and covers a wide range of subjects. He is interested in astronomy, geography, music, and mathematics. He is especially good at prose. He is known as Mr. Jingchuan.There are more than 10 kinds of works handed down such as "Mr. Jingchuan's Anthology" and "Guangyou Military Achievements".Died in the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing (AD 1560).

"Wu Bian" was not published during the author's lifetime, only the manuscript handed down.The Jiaotan Garden in Moling (now part of Nanjing) collected the original. Although people often asked for manuscripts to be printed, they were all declined by the Jiao family.In the forty-sixth year of Wanli (AD 1618), after Jinhan Nurhachi launched an army to attack the Ming Dynasty, the Jiao family agreed to publish it for the first time in the Manshan Pavilion of Wulin Xu Xiang.In the Qing Dynasty, wooden movable type books and manuscripts were handed down. The style of "Wu Bian" is slightly like "Wu Jing Zong Yao". It is divided into two episodes, the first and the second, each with six volumes and 187 chapters.The previous collection compiled the basic military theory from previous military books and other classics, divided into 54 sections, involving general selection, soldier training, strategy, formation diagram, marching operations, offensive and defensive defense, battalion system and battalion regulations, weapons and equipment, and medical care of troops and horses. Wait.The latter collection is divided into 133 chapters, most of which are examples of the use of soldiers in ancient times for reference.

The outstanding feature of "Wu Bian" is that it compiles the content that is not contained or rarely contained in other military books, mainly in the following four types.One is underwater mines.According to "Wu Bian Firearms", underwater mines are made by "the general, use a large wooden box, putty to glue the seams, place a fire inside (that is, hide the fire), use a rope to trip on the top, use three iron anchors to fall on it, and ambush it." At each port. When thieves are approaching, they will use their machines to fire the guns at the bottom of the water, making the thieves unpredictable, and the boats will be broken and the thieves will have nowhere to escape."It can be seen from the records that the underwater mine is actually a fire blunderbuss sealed in a wooden box, suspended in the water, and ignited and launched by means of a mechanical firing device. It belongs to the penetrating mine.The second is the shipwreck.This is a wheeled ship with six water wheels. The bow is flat, and there are three fire guns. The head of the gun tube protrudes out of the bow and is aimed at the front. The soldiers in the cabin immediately ignited and fired, and the projectiles of the three firecrackers shot at the enemy ship together ("Wu Bian · Zhou").The third is the formula for firing the gun in the hand.One gun, two twisted threads, three charges of powder, four horses, five throws, six strikes and three hammers (compacted gunpowder and arrows or bullets), seven arrows, eight rows of guns, and nine horns. The ringing, the single pendulum opening the gong, the ignition and the cymbal ringing, and the team of ten.The fourth is the smelting method of steel used in the manufacture of weapons.This method is valued by scholars of the history of weapons and metallurgy.

Judging from the time of publication, "Wu Bei Zhi" reprinted many important materials from "Wu Bian·Huo". Here are four examples.One is "Gunpowder Fu".The second is gunpowder made of different combinations of nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal.The third is to use the theory of monarch, minister and assistant to explain the status and function of nitrate, sulfur and charcoal in gunpowder.The fourth is the two-stage return rocket "Feikongshenshahuo" created in the late Ming Dynasty ("Wubeizhi" was reprinted and renamed "Feikongshatong", see Figure 15).From the records of "Wu Bian", we can know that our country had mastered the manufacturing and launching technology of the two-stage return rocket no later than the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing (AD 1560).Since "Wu Bei Zhi" is more widely circulated than "Wu Bian", it is often mistaken for the year when "Wu Bei Zhi" was written, which is the first year of Tianqi (1621 AD), when the above-mentioned materials were first disclosed.