Ye Meng Xiong's Qing Che (輕車)

Drawing of Ye Meng Xiong's Qing Che, from 'Deng Tan Bi Jiu (《登壇必究》)'.

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Ye Meng Xiong's cannons

Ye Meng Xiong (葉夢熊) was a talented civil official-turned-military commander-turned-Minister of Defence, as well as a gun engineer and military innovator. Many a weapon that represented the pinnacle of indigenous Chinese artillery technology was designed by him, and he was honoured as Ye Gong (葉公, lit. 'Lord Ye') due to his military achievements. Unfortunately, Ye Meng Xiong's honesty and outspoken nature as well as his hardline stance against the Mongols made him many enemies within Ming court, and he was often criticised and defamed despite his contributions, to the point that he was disheartened and went into early retirement. 

Ye Meng Xiong's undeserved bad reputation also caused him to fell into obscurity (unbeknownst to him, intentional smearing on his reputation actually persisted after his death). Sadly, his contributions was often overlooked by modern scholars in favour of more celebrated heroes like Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光) due to this reason.

Ye Gong Shen Chong Che Pao (葉公神銃車砲, lit. 'Lord Ye's divine gun with gun carriage')

Drawing of a Ye Gong Shen Chong Che Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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