Chapter 54: We Still Lack Materials
Chapter 52 of "The Great Ming in the Box" begins with suspenseful moments: Early in the morning of the next day, the sun was still dazzling.Li Daoxuan had... Donāt miss it!
Early in the morning of the next day, the sun was still dazzling.Li Daoxuan had just gotten out of bed when he saw Thirty-Two standing outside Gao Yiyiās home, scolding someone.
āLi Da, Gao Yiyi! You two useless trash who only eat without working.ā
Thirty-Two, hands on hips, pointed at their noses and yelled, āThe Deity ordered you to forge armor. More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. When bandits attacked a few days ago, you only managed to produce two sets of two-panel armor! What use does the Deity have for you? Donāt you feel ashamed eating the rice awarded by the Deity?ā
The scolding indeed made the two blacksmiths blush. Behind them stood other blacksmiths who had come to the village from Wangjia Village, Zhengjia Village, Zhuangjia Village, and other places, and they also flushed red.
After a while, Gao Yiyi finally stepped forward, lowering his head. āThisā¦ this isnāt Master Li Daās fault. The Deity ordered him to forge that strange new-style firearm. My orders were to forge the armor. Iā¦ I didnāt expect the bandits to really come, and so many at onceā¦ Soā¦ I only made two sets of two-panel armorā¦ then spent my time slowly studying how to forge various armors.ā
āThe armor platesā¦ weāve actually forged a lot already; they just havenāt been assembled into armor yet.ā
The group of new blacksmiths also apologized in agreement. āWe were also learning armor crafting from Master Li Da. We forged a huge pile of plates but havenāt assembled them.ā
Thirty-Two scolded, āStop making excuses! Plenty of plates, you say? Bring them out! Let me see!ā
Gao Yiyi rushed back into his house and soon came out holding a large winnowing basket. Inside were indeed many armor plates of various shapesāsome obviously meant for shoulders, some for arms, some for the chestā¦
Thirty-Two asked, āYou have this many? Why havenāt they been assembled?ā
Gao Yiyi scratched his head, wearing an awkward smile, unsure how to explain.
Li Da took over the response. āSteward Thirty-Two, this is indeed our fault. First, we didnāt expect the bandits to really come, and in such numbers. We thought Gaojia Village wouldnāt need armor for the time being and became negligent. Secondā¦ we lack the materials needed to assemble these plates.ā
The Village Chief had wandered over from the side. āThe Deity gave you so much iron. How can you lack materials? Is the iron insufficient?ā
Li Da shook his head. āThe iron is sufficient, but armor isnāt made entirely of iron. Think about itāif it was all iron, how heavy would that be? We wouldnāt even need to fight; the armor would crush us into the ground.ā
The Village Chief couldnāt help asking, āThen what do you use?ā
Li Da answered, āCotton.ā
Hearing this, Li Daoxuan outside the box immediately understood. āCottonāāor, more accurately, ācotton cloth.ā
He vaguely recalled reading in some material that existing unearthed armor from the Ming Dynasty had no pieces made purely of iron. They all used cotton cloth to some degree, with metal plates connected by cotton ribbons. Some armor even used more cotton than iron plates, hence the name ācotton armor.ā
Cotton armor had many advantages over traditional iron armor.
First, it was light, preventing the armor itself from crushing soldiers before battle. Second, it was cheaper, easier to maintain, less prone to decay, and had excellent insulationāespecially suitable for the cold winters of the north. Unlike traditional heavy armor which required custom fitting, it also offered strong protection against early firearms.
These were advantages lacking in traditional iron armors like plate armor, chainmail, or scale mail.
Hearing Li Daās explanation, Thirty-Twoās expression softened, his anger diminishing. āYou lack cotton cloth? Why didnāt you say so earlier? I could have arranged someone to take flour to the county town to exchange for cotton.ā
Li Da and Gao Yiyi scratched their heads awkwardly. āWe truly didnāt expect the bandits to come so quickly and in such numbersā¦ We werenāt in a hurry to mention it.ā
āUgh!ā Thirty-Two shook his head. āSuch fools!ā
Hearing them reach this point, Li Daoxuan chuckled internally. I have an old cotton jacket I donāt want anymore. Maybe I could pull out some cotton batting and give it to them?
Butā¦ after the fiber thickens by 200 times, could it still be woven into cloth?
He suddenly paused. Wait, thereās something wrong here!
Reflecting on various things heād placed into the box, he sensed the rules governing this diorama werenāt that simple. It seemed things invisible to the naked eyeāāmicroscopicā itemsādidnāt enlarge upon entering the box.
For example: the cabbage leaves he put inside. If their fibers also thickened by 200 times, the tiny people couldnāt possibly eat them. Similarly, if āmoleculesā or āatomsā inside eggs or rice enlarged, chaos would arise. If bacteria in water enlarged, could the pool water still be consumed?
Considering this, Li Daoxuan vaguely realized that microscopic entities like bacteria, molecules, or fibers likely didnāt enlarge by 200 times when placed inside.
Speculating is uselessā¦ might as well test it. Such things would be clear once tried.
Li Daoxuan opened his wardrobe, pulled out the old cotton jacket he no longer wanted, reached through a hole in the hem, grasped a clump of cotton batting inside, and forcefully tore it free.
Then, gently, he placed it in front of Gao Yiyi and the others.
Just as Thirty-Two was pondering where to buy cotton, a mass of cotton drifted down from the sky, lightly landing before Gao Yiyi.
Everyone looked: an immense ball of cotton, the size of a house!
This was clearly bestowed by the Deity.
All promptly thanked the Deity.
Thirty-Two rose after kowtowing, reached into the cotton mass half the size of a house, plucked out a handful, rolled it between his fingers, and exclaimed excitedly, āCelestial cotton! Truly divine! So white, so fine, so long!ā
Of course it is! Li Daoxuan thought, amused. This is top-grade Xin Jiang long-staple cotton! A variety introduced from the Soviet Union in 1955āa Central Asian long-fiber type. Unheard of in the Ming Dynasty. No wonder you find it so marvelous.
He observed something: the cotton fibers hadnāt thickened. They retained their original fine texture.
This proved his earlier thought: microscopic items didnāt enlarge by 200 times inside the diorama.
Despite the fiber size remaining unchanged, the entire cotton mass was huge. That meant the number of cotton fibers had multiplied!
Therefore, for microscopic items placed insideāmolecules, atoms, fibers, cellsātheir volume didnāt increase. Instead, their quantity multiplied proportionally, causing the entire object to become macroscopic.
Contemplating this, the perplexities that previously troubled him suddenly fell into place.
Thirty-Two, clutching the long-staple cotton, joyfully declared, āVillage Chief! Quickly summon all the women of the village! Anyone who knows weaving cloth now has work!ā
Seeing such a vast amount of cotton, the Village Chief was already overjoyed. āIt seems every person in our whole village can have new clothes now!ā