Characteristics of dragon array

In the preface, the author tells a very mysterious fairy story about the completion of this book. When he claimed to be a teenager, he dabbled in Confucian books, studied them carefully, traveled all over the lake and looked for people in one way. One day, I met a Taoist with blue eyes and a long beard in Huang Guan's mysterious costume. I am no longer a Taoist after his name. The way of Confucius and Mencius, the teacher of humanities, Wu Mai, Sun Wu, the poor star, famous mountains and rivers. He studied under the Taoist priest and traveled for three years. In the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 13th year of Yuan Dynasty (1353), the Taoist handed him the book Fire Attack, and told him that in a few years, the son of heaven would start in Huaidian, and you would like to assist him and make contributions. Say and drift away, I don't know what to do. After Zhu Yuanzhang set out, he went to Zhu Yuanzhang to cast forty dragon artifacts according to the method described in the book, and drew a spectrum according to the picture for future use, and made a preface to discuss its beginning and end. It was signed in the 10th year of Yongle (14 12). The preface is similar to the story of Huang Shigong giving a book in Historical Records, which is obviously not credible. But the skills of gunpowder and firearms recorded in the manual were handed down by the teacher; Later generations also supplemented it on the basis of new practical experience. It is difficult to determine whether this book was written in Yongle ten years. But the firearms contained in the book are mostly limited to the level of the early Ming Dynasty; There is no record in the Collection of Wu Jing, and large military books such as Wu Bian and Wu Bei Zhi were collected in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. It can be inferred that this book was regarded as a book before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and later generations also encountered some new contents in copying.

The dragon artifact array is not divided into volumes (some are recorded as one volume), with more than 10,000 words and 47 attached drawings. The content of this book consists of three parts. First of all, it is a general discussion on fire attack: fire attack on wind, fire attack on geographical location, fire attack device system, fire attack on drugs, fire attack on soldiers. The second is to describe all kinds of firearms: (1) land fire dragon artifacts: wooden man fire horse field thunder gun, fire beast ground rolling coaster, pneumatic drill god fireball gun, octahedral whirlwind fog-spitting thunder gun, nine arrows piercing poison fire thunder gun, solo flying god rocket, magic broken array fierce fire knife card, soaring fire gourd, flying god fire dragon gun, magic dragon sword; (2) Water Dragon Artifacts: flying unicorn dragon boat, flying canopy to stop fire and attack the enemy, flying cannon with eight sides, flying lotus arrow with forty-nine arrows, flying oil tank, underwater dragon king cannon, flying armor to cross the river and fly to the sea; (3) Ambush fire dragon artifacts: invincible mine guns, mine guns that break the enemy's fire through mountains, machine guns that cross the water gods, and fire dragon guns that cross the river gods; (4) Set up camp, and set fire dragon artifacts: Shenhuo Wanquan Tiewei camp, Tian Bing refused the enemy's card, and the fire of the hundred sons was quickly fired; (5) Pirate Dragon Artifact: the fire burns in the sky without stopping the gun, and the great power fires fiercely and thunders the gun; (6) Guarding City Fire Dragon Artifacts: Wansheng God Poison Fire Screen, Rotten Bone Fire Oil God Gun, Wanhuo Sand Flying Magnetic Gun, Iron Juice God Car and Fairy Spontaneous Fork Tip; (7) Dragon attack artifacts: thunderbolt, dragon fire pipe, flying crow, poisonous fog and bong; (8) There are six kinds of end-of-roll firearms: buried fire tube, smoke-filled nozzle, fire brick, fire demon, flying nozzle and fire honeycomb. The third is to describe all kinds of gunpowder: fire dragon wins the gods, sand gods, water gods, smoke gods, gunpowder-attacking devices, fire-attacking auxiliary drugs, shenhuo prescription, poisonous fire prescription, blazing fire prescription, Fei Huo prescription, traditional prescription, rotten fire prescription, backfire prescription, miscellaneous fire-attacking prescriptions, antidote and divine medicine.

It was very powerful and played an important role in Zhu Yuanzhang's war of seizing power. Later, he was worried that this method would be lost for a long time, so he drew a picture and left it for the future, and made a preface to discuss its beginning and end. It was signed in the 10th year of Yongle (14 12). The preface is similar to the story of Huang Shigong giving a book in Historical Records, which is obviously not credible. But the skills of gunpowder and firearms recorded in the manual were handed down by the teacher; Later generations also supplemented it on the basis of new practical experience. It is difficult to determine whether this book was written in Yongle ten years. But the firearms contained in the book are mostly limited to the level of the early Ming Dynasty; There is no record in the Collection of Wu Jing, and large military books such as Wu Bian and Wu Bei Zhi were collected in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. It can be inferred that this book was regarded as a book before the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and later generations also encountered some new contents in copying.

The dragon artifact array is not divided into volumes (some are recorded as one volume), with more than 10,000 words and 47 attached drawings. The content of this book consists of three parts. First of all, it is a general discussion on fire attack: fire attack on wind, fire attack on geographical location, fire attack device system, fire attack on drugs, fire attack on soldiers. The second is to describe all kinds of firearms: (1) land fire dragon artifacts: wooden man fire horse field thunder gun, fire beast ground rolling coaster, pneumatic drill god fireball gun, octahedral whirlwind fog-spitting thunder gun, nine arrows piercing poison fire thunder gun, solo flying god rocket, magic broken array fierce fire knife card, soaring fire gourd, flying god fire dragon gun, magic dragon sword; (2) Water Dragon Artifacts: flying unicorn dragon boat, flying canopy to stop fire and attack the enemy, flying cannon with eight sides, flying lotus arrow with forty-nine arrows, flying oil tank, underwater dragon king cannon, flying armor to cross the river and fly to the sea; (3) Ambush fire dragon artifacts: invincible mine guns, mine guns that break the enemy's fire through mountains, machine guns that cross the water gods, and fire dragon guns that cross the river gods; (4) Set up camp, and set fire dragon artifacts: Shenhuo Wanquan Tiewei camp, Tian Bing refused the enemy's card, and the fire of the hundred sons was quickly fired; (5) Pirate Dragon Artifact: the fire burns in the sky without stopping the gun, and the great power fires fiercely and thunders the gun; (6) Guarding City Fire Dragon Artifacts: Wansheng God Poison Fire Screen, Rotten Bone Fire Oil God Gun, Wanhuo Sand Flying Magnetic Gun, Iron Juice God Car and Fairy Spontaneous Fork Tip; (7) Dragon attack artifacts: thunderbolt, dragon fire pipe, flying crow, poisonous fog and bong; (8) There are six kinds of end-of-roll firearms: buried fire tube, smoke-filled nozzle, fire brick, fire demon, flying nozzle and fire honeycomb. The third is to describe all kinds of gunpowder: fire dragon wins the gods, sand gods, water gods, smoke gods, gunpowder-attacking devices, fire-attacking auxiliary drugs, shenhuo prescription, poisonous fire prescription, blazing fire prescription, Fei Huo prescription, traditional prescription, rotten fire prescription, backfire prescription, miscellaneous fire-attacking prescriptions, antidote and divine medicine.

Most of the firearms recorded in this book were not recorded in the Five Classics, and there were few advanced firearms handed down in the world at that time. After catch-up, it is noted that "the magic gun, sharp bullet, wide hair and grain (wolf) machine have been handed down from generation to generation, but they are no longer recorded." There is also a description in the catalogue: "All the fragments of the dragon artifact are not found in ancient books, such as military classics. They were secretly given by different people, assisting the Emperor, surveying disasters and chaos, assisting the country and making great contributions. Be careful not to let go easily! " Therefore, the historical data of this book is of great value. Compared with the Song and Yuan Dynasties, more than 40 new types of firearms were recorded, and the types increased obviously, such as water, land, attack, defense, camping, village theft and ambush. , and burning, explosion, shooting, etc. According to performance; From land to air, water, such as rockets, flying unicorns. From the ground to the underground and underwater, such as mines and mines; From a single function to a variety of functions such as burning, frying, poisoning, etc., such as charging the fire gourd, the night fork tip of Shenwei fire, the flying cloud thunderbolt gun and so on. , can burn and hurt the enemy, but also can blind and poison the enemy with smoke poison; Artillery and rockets have developed from single shot to multiple shots. For example, the ancient philosophers can hold 100 lead bullets at a time, and can shoot continuously in eight directions. The nine-arrow poison fire thunder gun can fire nine arrows at a time, and 49 arrows can be fired at the same time, which greatly increases the lethality. Firearms, especially those combining cold weapons with hot weapons, are more distinctive. For example, the flying dragon gun is made of copper or iron, and the gun body is tubular, with lead bullets hidden inside. There are powder boxes on both sides of the gun head, and the gun head is poisoned. The enemy can hit it with lead bullets from a distance, and it will be poisoned and burned to death if it is close. If it comes near, it will stab it with a blade. One device can be used for three purposes. These firearms were also the advanced technology in the world at that time.

The gunpowder formula recorded in this book is very detailed, including the formula, the amount of materials used and the processing method. With regard to the preparation of gunpowder, it is put forward that "we should know the suitability of medicine", understand the characteristics of medicine and what kind of gunpowder is suitable under what conditions, so as to win the fire attack and "get the magic of fire attack". As for the formula of gunpowder, compared with the records in the General Theory of Wu Jing, the composition is obviously reduced, but the efficacy is enhanced, which is a great progress in ancient chemical research.

The fire dragon artifact array also discusses the relevant principles and methods of fire attack, which embodies the military thinking after a large number of firearms are equipped with troops. It believes that weather and geographical conditions are very important in the fire attack, and it is necessary to "have the right time and the right place." "If you know the sky, you will make good use of it and win every battle." "If you don't distinguish between the right place and the right place, you can't use it properly. If you don't lay down your weapons, you can only attack the enemy. " It is emphasized that we should give full play to the advantages of various firearms and "use them properly". For example, fighting devices are conducive to light loading, attacking devices are conducive to cleverness, burying devices are conducive to critical strikes, and guarding devices are conducive to long-range strikes. Special emphasis is placed on the mutual cooperation of various weapons, requiring firearms to be deployed together with cold weapons, far weapons and near weapons, and long weapons and short weapons to learn from each other's strengths. "Far, near, long and short, stacked several times, each time is an array number. When you hear a certain number, you won't get tired of fighting. Artillery, fire point, fire bomb, this remote device is also used alternately with pike and broadsword; Firearms, knives, fire cards, fire sticks, this near device and short device are also alternating with long bows and hard crossbows. " This cooperation should be "improvised" according to the changes in the battlefield situation. It is also pointed out that only good firearms can not guarantee victory, and it is necessary to "select elite soldiers and practice array methods." "Sharps, soldiers and law are indispensable. Without them, they are not comprehensive. " He also stressed that "weapons are not expensive, soldiers are not expensive, and they will be expensive but not brave." It believed that the fire attack at that time was extremely powerful and "unstoppable", so "we should not act rashly." It is necessary to be in harmony with people at the right time and place, and it is also necessary to be in harmony with people. The content of "harmony with the people" is "benevolence as the heart, righteousness as the voice of the army, knowledge as the reward and punishment, faith as the discipline, conforming to the current situation, and setting up strange soldiers to guard against the enemy." Specifically put forward eight precepts: first, stop disturbing the people; Second, stop burning camp; Third, stop burning everything; The weather is unpredictable under the temptation; Fifth, be brave and wise to stop the fire attack; Sixth, stop attacking the army with people; Seventh, stop attacking the army with people; Eighth, stop harming creatures.

The dragon artifact array recorded many advanced gunpowder and firearms manufacturing technologies that could not be made public at that time, reflecting the progress of military technology in the Ming Dynasty and retaining important military scientific and technological information. Many of its contents have been selected into later art books, such as Book of Military Preparation, Episode II of Fire Dragon Classics and so on, including fire attacking wind, fire attacking ground, fire attacking device system, fire attacking soldiers, gunpowder formula and so on. It is an independent military work devoted to firearms manufacturing technology and occupies an important position in ancient military history and military technology history.

What we can see now is the transcript of the dragon artifact array. The earliest existing codex is the Ming Codex collected by Gu Zuyu, a beginner in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. There are also many clear manuscripts. There are similarities and differences between manuscripts, and the titles of books have also changed. Some manuscripts changed their titles to The Book of the Dragon God, while others changed their titles to The Best Machine. Among these manuscripts, the most important is the manuscript of Hua Yin Guan written by Weng Xincun in the 20th year of Qing Daoguang, followed by the postscript of Weng Shu Tong, the reform master of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty. There is also a beautiful manuscript with neat fonts and beautiful drawings. There are four volumes of * * *. At the end of the third volume, there are two lines of inscriptions: "When I went to Daoism, in the same year, Wang Kuilin ordered me to build a mausoleum and teach this book when I was enlightened by Daoism.". This is a gobbledygook. Taoist wrote two books to Yan in her nineties. Its size is hard-won and precious. Don't underestimate your children and grandchildren. Secret treasure, fortunately! Wuyin March 13th Palace Girder Title. " .