Qin asked

The time when the saddle appeared is generally considered to be in the Western Han Dynasty. Although no utensils related to the shape of the saddle have been found in the cemetery related to the Western Han Dynasty, and no records of the saddle have been found in the silk paintings and brick paintings, including in the literature records, but in the Western Han Dynasty. , the number of cavalry has greatly increased.

Cavalry is very difficult to train.

Generally speaking, it is very difficult to ride a horse without a saddle, not to mention shooting arrows on the horse. Only those nomads who were born and raised on horseback can do this.Therefore, before the Han Dynasty, horses were used to drive carts, and commanders such as generals stood on the carts to command, while the role of cavalry was only for reconnaissance, outflanking, harassment, interception, sneak attack, and pursuit, and could not be the main force in combat. Not to mention taking on an entire campaign on your own.So Meng Tian's ability to ride a horse is considered pretty good...Although it was a traffic accident...

In the Western Han Dynasty, there is a record: "Next year, in the spring of the fifth year of Yuan Shuo, the general Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty ordered 1 horsemen to ride out of Gaoque." (Note [-])

No matter how powerful Wei Qing is, it is impossible to train [-] cavalry immediately, so it is very likely that the saddle has already appeared in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

But at this time, Mo Dou and Shan are surrounding Meng Tian's horse and pointing fingers. Mo Dou regards the horse's owner as nothing, and Meng Tian standing outside twitches his mouth, seriously doubting whether he has entered a den of thieves.

Mo Dou asked: "How, do you have any ideas?"

Shan was still a little scared, it was the first time he saw a horse so close, and the owner of the horse was still watching from behind, which made him a little nervous, and he couldn't think of anything for a while.

Mo Dou looked at the umbrella without speaking and was not in a hurry, and slowly guided: "You start with the cause of the problem, why do people fall off the horse so easily?"

Shan caressed the horse hair, hesitantly said: "It's because...it's smooth..."

"So what's the problem?"

Umbrella tries hard to recall what Mo Dou taught before: "How to increase friction?"

It was close, but not close, Mo Dou looked at Meng Tian who was about to bear it, and decided to stop here for the time being: "How to fix a person on a slippery place...Go, bring a piece of wood over here."

Shan nodded, and hurried to go, Mo Dou also dug out his toolbox, and searched for the shape of the saddle in his mind.

In fact, Mo Dou secretly made saddles himself, but because there was no real object comparison, it was only when Mo Dou actually saw the horse that he realized that the size of the saddle he made seemed to be a bit wrong.

Qin's horses are much smaller than Mo Dou's imagined horses.

It was only later that Mo Dou learned that the state of Qin has regulations on the size of horses. If it is too short, it is of course not acceptable. If it is too high...it is still not acceptable!

Tall horses and so on are considered defective products in Qin State...

Now finally there is a horse to serve as a template for Mo Dou, Mo Dou's eyes are shining, Meng Tian is terrified when he sees it, he feels that his horse will be boiled in a pot any moment.

...

When everything was ready, Mo Dou looked at the sky, then turned to ask Meng Tian, ​​"When are you going back?"

Meng Tian thought for a while and said, "I'm going back home for lunch in two hours."

Mo Dou nodded, four hours, the time is still a bit tight, so let's use the simplest method.

The wood is a cylinder with bark around it. Mo Dou compares it with the ruler he made, and directs the umbrella to cut off a section.

There was a regular sawing sound, and a section was chopped off in a short while. Mo Dou looked at the muscles of the umbrella with envy. It was obvious that there were not so many muscles a year ago... By the way, puberty is really good, the umbrella is so fast Just grow into a boy...

After waiting for Mo Dou's next order for a long time, Shan hesitated for a while, was the master testing him if he didn't speak?He did have an idea, though.

Umbrella gritted his teeth, cut the cylinder in half extremely boldly, then raised his head and looked at Mo Dou anxiously, of course Mo Dou would not be angry, he never expected that the umbrella would suddenly open after he was so dazed for a while. That's right.

Inventing and creating is nothing more than boldness, carefulness, and perseverance. When Shan was the first to answer his question, he felt that he was a plastic talent. I was terrified, and if I was not forced to rush, I would not dare to take the first step. Now that I finally have the courage, Mo Dou is very pleased.

Mo Dou nodded: "Very good, continue."

Umbrella breathed a sigh of relief, but moved more and more cautiously. First, he laid the semi-cylindrical body flat on the ground. After repeatedly measuring the width and length of the horse's back, Umbrella carefully planed down in the middle of the arc until the front and rear sides protruded. It stopped after seven or eight centimeters, and then turned the wood over and planed according to the width of the horse's back.

Mo Dou watched Shan's movements from the side, and Umbrella always wanted to look at Mo Dou in the middle of the journey. At this time, Mo Dou would give Shan a positive look or nod his head to encourage him.

For children like Umbrella, the encouragement education method is the most effective.

After Shan finished the last move, Mo Dou finally couldn't help but stepped forward to touch Shan's wet head: "Very well done."

Meng Tian on the side twitched the corner of his mouth again, the scene where the nine-year-old child touched someone who was more than one head taller than him, he didn't think it was strange, but unexpectedly harmonious? !

He must have waited too long, and his eyes were hallucinating.

Then Meng Tian strode forward, hung the finished saddle directly on the horse's back, sat on it impatiently, and said condescendingly to the master and apprentice below, "I'll try this thing first."

Then he walked away with a sound of 'drive'.

"and many more!"

Not done yet!No beef tendon left!The saddle is not worn! !The stirrups are not in place yet! ! !

However, Mo Dou had no time to stop, Meng Tian rode away, Mo Dou stretched out Erkang's hand and ate ashes from his nose...

"Master? What should we do next?"

Shan cautiously stepped forward and asked Mo Dou, who had a darkened face.

"It's okay," Mo Dou withdrew Erkang's hand and smiled, "He will be back."

Sure enough, after a short while, Meng Tian limped back and said while taking a breath, "It's really easy to ride, but this thing is still easy to fall off, you can think of another way? There are too many wood thorns...can you grind them for me?"

Mo Dou took over the saddle in a good mood, and continued to complete the next steps with Umbrella.

But at the moment, he is very curious about how Meng Tian's butt is...

I'm really curious...