What transportation artifact did Zhuge Liang invent to transport grain during the Northern Expedition?

As we all know, Zhuge Liang was a fortune teller and a famous inventor during the Three Kingdoms period. His original "Eight Arrays" is called the Magic Array. At the same time, the continuous cross was invented and became an artifact on the battlefield. He invented Cattle Grazing and Maben during the Northern Expedition of Cao Wei, which are also his famous works, because he solved the problem of long-distance transportation of grain in central Sichuan.

What is the unique grain transportation tool "Bull Liu Ma" invented by Zhuge Liang?

It is recorded in the Biography of the Three Kingdoms that in the ninth year of Jianxing, Liang returned to Qishan to transport wood and livestock, and the grain was exhausted. In the spring of the twelfth year, Liang Liang learned that the masses were transported from the inclined valley, and they were transported by floating horses. According to Wu Shuo, King Sima Xuan opposed Weinan.

According to historical records, Zhuge Liang found a skilled carpenter at that time and invented the wooden ox and the flowing horse. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the description of this tool is amazing, saying that it can transport grain and eight stones, and a person can walk dozens of miles.

So, what exactly is this cow and horse? Is it really so surprising?

During the Republic of China, some scholars made textual research on this. One theory holds that the wooden ox was the "wooden ox cart" used by miners in Sichuan at that time, while Liu Ma was a long and narrow boat, known as the "fast horse".

Why are wooden cows and flowing horses designed as ugly images of "cows" and "horses"? There are two main reasons: on the one hand, it is easy to hide in the mountains in the shape of cattle or horses, but the enemy is not easy to find. On the other hand, "cattle" and "horses" can play a deceptive role when pretending to be ghosts.

Wooden cattle and horses "no pains, no cattle and horses" proved to be controlled by human beings. The clever Zhuge Liang used the magical combination of wheels and legs to create a wooden cow and a horse. That is to say, when someone pushes, the middle of the wheel moves, making the four feet move up and down; When the cattle and horses move forward, their legs touch the ground and are squeezed by the grain tray above, while the other two legs are lifted with levers, and the center of gravity moves with the cooperation of people. When he lifted his leg behind his back under the actual pressure of his wrist, Mu Niu and Ma moved a wheel with a diameter forward. In this way, in the process of repeated pressure lifting, the four legs can extend vertically and move up and down to match the hillside. It is for this reason that the detectives of Sima Pai were stunned.

Another feature of wooden cattle and six horses is "anti-theft". That is to say, in the process of transporting grain, if it is found or intercepted by the enemy, is it impossible to resist? When abandoning grain and fleeing, as long as the implementer asks the wooden cow to insert the former, the hidden part of the wheel hub will be made into tenon (there may be supporting tools for tenon, similar to hexagonal wrench, etc.). ), can prevent the wheel from turning, unable to transport the enemy. In this case, the only thing the enemy can do is to burn it.

What is the unique grain transportation tool "Bull Liu Ma" invented by Zhuge Liang? Of course, even experts can't fully explain its principle. It can be seen that its invention was "unprecedented" at that time. It has some magic power, but it is far from the magic power of The Romance of Three Kingdoms.

As for why it was not fully popularized later, it was because with the progress of the times and the attention of the court and the people to roads, the roads built became wider and flatter, and they found the wheels more practical. Faster, unicycles and unicycles widely used in rural areas were later improved and innovated. Because of the clumsiness of herding cattle and horses, they gradually withdrew from the stage of history.