Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 8 Test Firing
Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and agreed. After all, his cousin Wang Jinwu was not an outsider.

He asked Wang Jinwu to wait for a while and went to a room in the west first.

This room is where Zhu Shenzhui lives in Wangjia Village. He always stays here when he comes to Wangjia Village. The furnishings in the room are very simple, except for two cabinets and a kang.

After entering the house, Zhu Shenzui moved the cabinet against the wall away, reached out and rummaged around in the corner, and soon took out a wax-sealed bamboo tube and a deerskin bag the size of a fist.

First putting the cabinet back in its place, Zhu Shenzhui sat down and looked at the bamboo tube carefully. When he was sure that the wax seal and appearance of the bamboo tube were intact, he smiled with satisfaction. Then he opened the deerskin bag and reached in to feel around. Then he closed it, tied the two things around his waist, and returned to the yard.

"Follow!"

After greeting Wang Jinwu, the silly boy immediately followed Zhu Shenzhui happily.

The two men walked and talked as they headed out of the village. Zhu Shenzui was very familiar with the terrain near Wangjia Village. He went straight to a valley three miles away from the village. This place was very desolate. There was no water and few trees. There was only yellow soil and rocks. Few people went there, but it was the best place to test guns.

After about a quarter of an hour, we arrived at the destination.

Zhu Shenzui took Wang Jinwu into the valley. He looked at the terrain, selected a stone wall, picked up a random stone from the ground and drew a circle the size of a human head on the wall.

After finishing the painting, Zhu Shenzhui stepped back to take a look and was satisfied.

"Sixth brother, aren't you going to test the gun? What are you doing here?" Wang Jinwu couldn't wait any longer. Seeing that Zhu Shenzhui had been gesticulating for a long time but still hadn't tested the gun, he couldn't help but ask.

"You're really stupid, aren't you? Testing a gun is just like shooting an arrow. How can you do it without a target? I'm making a target!"

"Oh oh oh!" Wang Jinwu came back to his senses, touched his head and grinned embarrassedly.

Zhu Shenzhui pulled Zhu Shenzhui back a few steps, and when they were about the same distance away, they stopped and turned to look at the target that was vaguely visible on the stone wall.

This distance is about fifteen or sixteen meters. If what Zhao Da said before was correct, this distance is the effective range of his musket.

Let Wang Jinwu stand on his side. Although Zhao Da had guaranteed the gun and Zhu Shenzhui had checked it himself and thought it was fine, it was his first time to actually shoot it.

For safety's sake, it's better to be careful.

Zhu Shencui took out the gun, then peeled off the wax seal of the bamboo tube and carefully poured the gunpowder hidden in the bamboo tube into the barrel. This gunpowder was made by Zhu Shencui himself. In order to make this gunpowder, Zhu Shencui spent a lot of effort and tossed around for a long time.

Zhu Shenzhui did not know the best formula for gunpowder and could only try it a little at a time. In addition, the key to granular gunpowder lies not only in the formula, but also in the addition of water and egg white to mix and stir, and then grind it into granules after it dries.

This step sounds simple but is quite complicated to do. Zhu Shenzui experimented many times just for the last step before he finally got it right.

Moreover, after he finished making it, Zhu Shenzui never actually used this gunpowder to fire a musket, and he had no idea how powerful the gunpowder he had made was, or whether it was the same as real granular gunpowder.

Therefore, Zhu Shenchui did not dare to pour too much gunpowder, and only stopped after pouring two-thirds of it into the barrel. Then he took out a lead ball from the deerskin bag, wrapped it with rice paper and stuffed it in. He also took out a pressure strip from the slot under the barrel and used it to press the ball into the barrel. These steps seemed simple, but because it was his first time, Zhu Shenchui's movements were very unfamiliar, and it took him several minutes to finish them.

After finishing, Zhu Shenzui put gunpowder into the medicine pool, then raised his gun and aimed at the target, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

On the side, Wang Jinwu stared at Zhu Shencui fiddling with the musket with wide eyes, looking excited. He wanted to ask something but was afraid of disturbing Zhu Shencui, so he opened his mouth several times but swallowed back the words.

When Wang Jinwu saw Zhu Shenzhui aiming his gun, he was very excited and looked forward to the moment when the gun went off. But when he saw Zhu Shenzhui aiming a few times and then put the gun down, he suddenly became confused.

Just as he was about to ask what was going on, he saw Zhu Shenzhui take out a tinderbox and light the fuse. Then Wang Jinwu realized that there was this step.

The match was lit and stuck in place. Zhu Shenzhui took a deep breath and aimed the gun again. This time he used both hands. It was his first time trying the gun and he didn't know anything about it. He also used gunpowder he made himself and he was not sure about the power. It was always safer to hold the gun with both hands than with one hand.

Reciting the three points in a straight line silently in his mind, Zhu Shenzhui aimed at the target and pulled the trigger hard.

The trigger was a bit hard, and it took a little more force to pull it. The moment the trigger was pulled, the gunpowder in the powder pool was instantly ignited. There was a thunderclap, and a cloud of white smoke rose up. For a moment, Zhu Shenzhui could not see clearly where the bullet in front of him landed.

The gunshot startled Wang Jinwu who was standing nearby. He didn't expect the sound to be so loud, and it made his ears buzz.

After being shocked, Wang Jinwu was very excited. He could not wait to ask Zhu Shenzhui whether the bullet had been fired and how powerful it was. Zhu Shenzhui was unsure for a moment. The recoil was beyond his expectation. Fortunately, he held the gun steadily, otherwise, if an ordinary person was not careful, the gun would have slipped out of his hand.

After the white smoke gradually dissipated, Zhu Shenzui picked up his gun and walked quickly towards the stone wall. He wanted to see where the bullet would land and what the effect was.

When he got closer, Zhu Shenzui quickly found the landing point, which was just at the upper right corner of the circle he drew. The bullet had made a dent in the hard stone wall. The dent was deep inside and shallow outside, and the deepest part was enough to fit half a finger. It seemed that the power of this gun was quite great. What Zhao Da said was true. This distance was enough to penetrate armor.

While Zhu Shenzhui was carefully examining the effects, Wang Jinwu was also staring at the crater created by the explosion.

He opened his mouth wide, subconsciously touched his chest, with a look of disbelief, and muttered: "My goodness, this is only for hitting a rock, if it was for shooting a person, wouldn't the body be penetrated? It's so powerful?"

Zhu Shenzui was quite satisfied with the power of the musket. Being able to break a hard stone wall to such an extent, it would definitely be no problem in dealing with people.

As for the accuracy, Zhu Shenzhui's performance was not satisfactory. At a distance of only about ten meters, two shots in such a large circle only produced such a result. But for a smoothbore rifle without rifling, such accuracy was sufficient. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui was using this rifle for the first time and was not familiar with it. He would definitely be more accurate if he fired a few more shots.

"Let me try! Let me try it too!" Wang Jinwu said impatiently.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled. Since he was brought here, he must have a try. After checking the shooting effect, Zhu Shenzhui checked the condition of the musket. The quality of the fired musket was very good and it seemed that there was no problem. After feeling the feeling of firing just now, Zhu Shenzhui cleaned the chamber and then reloaded the bullets and gunpowder according to the previous steps, but this time he reduced it slightly because he felt that the gunpowder in the front seemed to be a little too much.

After finishing, Zhu Shenzhui took Wang Jinwu back to the place where the shooting took place and explained to Wang Jinwu the essentials and precautions of musket shooting. After making sure that Wang Jinwu understood, he handed the gun to him and asked him to shoot at the target.

Wang Jinwu was eager to try and couldn't wait any longer. He stood still like Zhu Shenzhui did when shooting, then raised his gun and aimed. After aiming a few times, he pulled the trigger hard and the gun fired smoothly. After the two shots, Wang Jinwu was even more excited. After the two shots, Wang Jinwu couldn't wait to run towards the target.

(End of this chapter)