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Chapter 641 The Emperor Shoots
Zhu Houzhao was so engrossed in the fun of water-powered coinage that he lingered there, delaying the rest of his itinerary.

So be it, he's the emperor, after all. Su Lu then temporarily adjusted the itinerary, deciding to only watch the cannon firing today and not the well drilling.

So the imperial carriage left the mint and went straight to the nearby West Training Ground.

"How did you end up on my territory?" Zhu Houzhao was very familiar with this place; he spent almost the entire last year training his troops here.

Su Lu smiled and said, "As the Assistant Minister of the General's Office, is it alright for me to requisition this place to test new weapons?"

"No problem, no problem! You tested it in the Leopard Chamber and there were no problems. What kind of new weapon is it?" Zhu Houzhao asked impatiently.

"It's not exactly a new weapon," Su Lu said seriously, his smile fading. "During last winter's exercises, I found the Imperial Guards' firearms utterly inadequate... The muskets frequently exploded, and the soldiers dared not aim at all; only heaven knew where the bullets would land. Even so, the reloading was ridiculously slow. I simply cannot imagine how the Yongle Emperor managed to sweep across the northern deserts and pacify Annam with this thing."

Zhu Houzhao naturally knew that Su Lu's words were true, and scratched his cheek somewhat embarrassedly: "Perhaps it was because the laws were strict and the craftsmen's skills were superb back then, but now that it has fallen into disrepair over the years, it has become like this..."

"I think so too," Su Lu nodded. "So I gathered Brother Bohu, along with the firearms craftsmen from the Armory and Ordnance Bureau, and held two Zhuge meetings to summarize the various shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty's firearms. We then discussed and devised methods to improve them one by one, and based on this, we produced prototype guns and cannons, which we said were quite effective."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhu Houzhao and said with a smile, "But whether a weapon is good or not is not up to the craftsman to decide, but up to the General."

"Haha, we definitely have to see that!" Zhu Houzhao became excited instantly, patting Su Lu on the shoulder and saying, "The country is in dire need of military force right now. If we can really improve and perfect the firearms, it will be a great achievement!"

"You'll only know once you see it," Su Lu said with a faint smile.

The gate slowly opened, and the imperial carriage went straight into the training ground.

~~
The West Training Ground was temporarily closed, and it was quiet inside. Only Tang Yin, along with the craftsmen from the Research Institute, the Weapon Bureau, and the Ordnance Bureau, were waiting for the emperor's arrival.

Amidst shouts of "Long live the Emperor!", Zhu Houzhao eagerly jumped down from the imperial carriage, walked to the long table beside the drill ground, and rubbed his hands together, saying, "Quickly show me where the new gadgets are!"

"Your Majesty, it's right there on the table." Tang Bohu hurriedly stepped forward.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at the long table and saw several standard muskets and several new muskets of completely different styles. He went straight over, picked up one of them, and examined it carefully.

The gun barrel was no longer a short, thick cast iron pipe, but a three-foot-long, thin forged iron pipe... The difference between casting and forging was so great that it was as easy to tell the difference between an eighteen-year-old girl and an eighty-year-old woman at a glance.

Cast iron pipes are rough and uneven with an unusually large diameter, while wrought iron pipes are straight and clean, smooth to the touch, and have a diameter resembling a cherry mouth.

The buttstock was no longer the straight wooden handle of the original, but a curved wooden stock that could be steadily rested against the shoulder. A shallow powder well was cut into the rear of the barrel, and an iron hook was attached to the side, with a small trigger attached below it.

The overall design was very simple, even rudimentary. But beauty is relative; compared to that old-fashioned firearm that looked like a stick, it was much more refined.

"Hmm." Zhu Houzhao weighed it in his hand and smiled, "This new gun looks quite unique. What changes have been made?"

Tang Bohu then apologized and stepped forward, pointing to the gun barrel, explaining in detail: "Your Majesty, the biggest improvement is that the gun barrel has been changed to forging. The old guns were mostly sand-cast, with numerous sand holes inside the barrel, uneven thickness, and extremely prone to bursting. Therefore, the soldiers never aimed at it, but held it at a distance like setting off firecrackers. If the enemy could still be hit by it under such circumstances, it could only be said that they were extremely unlucky."

"Following the instructions of the Prefect, we ordered craftsmen to repeatedly fold and forge fine iron, resulting in gun barrels that are tough and uniform. After thousands of test shots, not a single gun ever exploded." He continued, "Moreover, the forged gun barrels are much thinner and have smoother barrels. With the same amount of powder, both the range and accuracy are greatly improved."

"Secondly, we abandoned the fire awl and incense sticks, and used the matchlock ropes originally used for igniting cannons on the muskets." Tang Bohu said, picking up a matchlock rope and attaching it to a hook beside the medicine pool. He then demonstrated it to the emperor.
"Pull the trigger, and the clamp will fall into the powder pool, igniting the gunpowder. This way, the gunner can hold the gun with both hands, brace it against his shoulder, stabilize himself, and aim to fire."

"Brilliant! This solves the biggest flaw of the musket in one fell swoop!" Zhu Houzhao understood immediately and gave Su Lu a thumbs up, saying, "Brother, even your casual ideas are like a god farting; they're extraordinary!"

"..." Su Lu smiled modestly, "I just casually suggested an idea, and everyone implemented it. It can't be considered my contribution."

“Ah, that spark of inspiration is the most precious thing. If you don’t break through the barrier, things will remain the same even a hundred years from now.” Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, fully recognizing Su Lu’s value.

"Your Majesty is joking. How could it take that long?" Su Lu remained modest, and indeed it wouldn't take that long... Even without him, the Portuguese would have come knocking on the gates with their arquebuses in a few years.

The Ming Dynasty was very proactive in adopting new technologies and quickly learned new gun and cannon manufacturing techniques from them, achieving a comprehensive upgrade of its firearms.

Su Lu simply accelerated this process by a few years.

Tang Yin, however, was full of admiration and said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right. Lord Su is a genius, and his ingenious ideas are truly amazing... He also proposed a method of attaching a flint and steel to a firearm and igniting the powder pool by pulling the trigger. This way, there would be no need for a match cord. However, we haven't figured it out yet because we haven't had enough time to develop it."

"Take your time, take your time." Zhu Houzhao said, raising the new musket to aim as Tang Yin had taught him, then pointing at the barrel and laughing, "We've even added a sight to it."

“Yes, since we can aim, we should aim more accurately,” Tang Yin said. “We’ve added a sight and rear sight. Although it’s rudimentary, it greatly improves accuracy, and we can even shoot birds.”

"Then I must have a couple of good shots!" Zhu Houzhao said eagerly, "Hurry up and load the bullets for me." "Yes." Tang Yin picked up a small paper packet, tore open the end, and poured some gunpowder into the powder tank.

"Why is your gunpowder in individual pellets?" Zhu Houzhao noticed another interesting detail. "Did it get damp?"

"Your Majesty is truly discerning. A little water was indeed added to this gunpowder, but it wasn't because it got damp; it was intentional." Tang Yin covered the fire cap and explained, "After wetting it, we squeezed it into a thin layer of gunpowder cake, dried it, and then crushed it into granules. After sifting it through a sieve, it became what it is now."

"Why do you want to do this?" Zhu Houzhao asked, then looked up and said, "Don't rush, let me think about it first."

The crowd waited quietly for the emperor to offer his insightful opinion.

After a while, he said awkwardly, "Never mind, you can say it yourself."

"Yes." Tang Yin replied respectfully, "Don't underestimate this simple improvement, it can solve many problems of gunpowder being susceptible to moisture, easy to separate during transportation, and incomplete combustion after loading."

He paused for a moment, then boldly declared, "Moreover, the same amount of explosive will have two to three times the power of the original!"

"Is this how you mourn someone?!" Zhu Houzhao exclaimed in surprise, looking at Su Lu and asking, "Is this another idea you came up with?"

"Your subject dares not take credit this time," Su Lu hurriedly said. "This is a method from the 'Complete Essentials of Military Classics,' but I don't know why it was no longer used later."

The gunpowder maker from the ordnance bureau, who was over sixty years old, said with shame, "I've spent my whole life dealing with gunpowder at Wanggong Factory, yet I don't even know such a simple method."

"Don't even mention you, our Ordnance Bureau didn't know about this move either," the ordnance bureau's firearms sergeant sighed.

“There’s nothing surprising about it. Even the vernier calipers from the Qin and Han dynasties have been lost.” Su Lu said seriously, “Therefore, we must abandon the bad habit of masters always holding back when teaching their disciples. Even if you were a thousand-armed Guanyin, you couldn’t withstand this kind of generational secrecy. Sooner or later, you’d become a withered child!”

"Yes, we will remember your teachings, sir," the craftsmen hurriedly replied. They always did this when teaching apprentices, so it's no wonder that the techniques passed down from their ancestors couldn't be passed down.

At this moment, Tang Yin stuffed the remaining paper packet into the gun barrel, added a bullet, and pressed it down with a gun cleaning rod. He said to Zhu Houzhao, "If it were ordinary powder, the bullet would be launched before the gunpowder underneath ignites because it would be pressed too tightly. Particle gunpowder doesn't have this problem; it can ignite all at once."

"Hmm." Zhu Houzhao nodded and asked, "Your bullet isn't round either."

"Yes, that's part of the improvement. Lord Su said it would make it fly straighter and have a longer range." Tang Yin finished loading, lit the fuse, and was about to fire.

"Wait, I'll come!" Zhu Houzhao stretched out his hand.

"Ah, this..." Tang Yin hesitated and glanced at Su Lu, while Su Lu glanced at Zhang Yong.

"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable!" Zhang Yong hurriedly advised, "Firing a gun is such a dangerous thing! Just watch them shoot!"

"Get out of the way," Zhu Houzhao said, unmoved. "Haven't you heard? This kind of musket doesn't explode."

"Nobody can guarantee anything," Zhang Yong said anxiously.

“Yes, Your Majesty, it’s better to be safe than sorry!” Su Lu and the others also advised.

"Come on, this person will fall off a horse and die, drown on a boat, and even if he stays in a house, the house might collapse and crush him to death." Once Zhu Houzhao got going, not even nine oxen could pull him back.

"..." The crowd had no choice but to nervously hand over the musket to him.

Zhu Houzhao then happily took it and, following Tang Yin's method of aligning three points in a line, aimed at the bullseye fifty paces away.

Just as everyone held their breath, a spotted dove flew by. Without hesitation, Zhu Houzhao raised his gun, aimed at the bird a hundred paces away, and decisively pulled the trigger!

With a bang, a gunshot rang out, and amidst the rising white smoke, the poor bird fell straight to the ground.

"Your Majesty's gun is invincible!" Zhang Yong breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously began to flatter him.

Everyone present echoed this sentiment, praising the emperor's marksmanship.

"What a fine gun!" Zhu Houzhao exclaimed, stroking the new, dark-colored gun with delight. "Let's call it the 'Zhengde Divine Gun'!"

(End of this chapter)