Huangming

Chapter 270 Overcoming Difficulties and Fostering a Technological Path

Inside the East Warm Pavilion.

The emperor's words had just fallen.

The excitement on Sun Yuanhua's face gradually faded, replaced by solemnity.

He took a deep breath, bowed, and replied, "Your Majesty, the Western matchlock gun is actually based on the same principle as the arquebus of our Great Ming Dynasty. However, they have made many improvements in the rifling of the barrel and the trigger mechanism, making them more sophisticated. If the Ministry of Works were to devote its resources to imitating them, although it would take time, it could still be accomplished."

His tone shifted, and his voice deepened.

"But this flintlock musket may not be what Your Majesty desires."

Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly: "What makes it difficult?"

"The difficulty lies in its sinews and bones."

Sun Yuanhua gestured with his hand, his tone conveying a sense of helplessness regarding technological barriers.

"The core of the flintlock musket lies in the firing mechanism of the 'spring-flint' or 'trigger-flint', which is a hundred times more complex than the simple powder bath of the matchlock musket."

Take the firing spring for example. It needs to be repeatedly forged from a high-elasticity steel sheet. It must be able to withstand thousands of firings without deforming, and it must accurately strike the flint when the trigger is pulled. The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty's Armory Bureau had never tried this before in terms of the quenching temperature and the control of toughness of the steel sheet.

If it were a regular piece of iron, it would definitely explode; this has already happened before.

Zhang Tao added from the side: "Last year in Macau, I saw Western technicians adjusting flintlock muskets. The pitch error of the gear teeth on the trigger could not exceed half a fraction, otherwise it would misfire. Such precision work requires the work of European watchmakers, who use special small files to grind it bit by bit. But our craftsmen are used to wielding broadswords and spears; how could they have such fine skills?"

Sun Yuanhua took over the conversation, his tone becoming even more somber.

"More importantly, they have a method to making guns. The length of the barrel, the density of the rifling, the weight of the bullet, and the ratio of gunpowder are all based on mathematical formulas. But my Great Ming..."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"Without ballistic calculations or mechanical engineering drawings, it all relied on the craftsmen's experience to figure things out. It was like the blind men and the elephant; even if they managed to create something that resembled it, it might not be usable."

Mao Yuanyi sighed: "What Lord Sun said is absolutely right. A few days ago, the Armory tried to imitate a Western matchlock gun. It looked exactly like the original, but the barrel exploded during the test firing, injuring three craftsmen. The flintlock gun has an even more complex structure, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to even imitate its appearance."

Zhu Youxiao shook his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the three men, clearly disagreeing with their judgment.

Why can't it be copied?

"Just because the Ordnance Bureau had a minor accident and encountered some difficulties, are you going to back down?"

He walked up to the three of them, his voice suddenly rising several decibels, carrying an air of dominance over the world.

"We, the descendants of Yan and Huang, have never been afraid of difficulties! In ancient times, there was Yu the Great who controlled the floods, passing by his home three times without entering; in the Han Dynasty, there was Zhang Qian who opened up the Western Regions, blazing a trail through the vast desert; in the Tang Dynasty, there was Xuanzang who traveled to the west, enduring countless hardships to retrieve the true scriptures. Which of these was not a case of knowing there were tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den?"

Sun Yuanhua and the other two were intimidated by this aura and subconsciously lowered their heads.

Their performance just now did indeed show some fear of difficulty.

But the emperor continued speaking.

"No matter how difficult it is, can it defeat the Chinese people?"

"If Westerners can make it, why can't we? Their craftsmen are made of flesh and blood, are our craftsmen made of clay?"

The cutting-edge technologies that were later strangled by the United States, from atomic bombs to chips, were all a thousand times more complex than this flintlock pistol.
In the end, wasn't it still devoured by generations of Chinese people?

Now it's just a mere flintlock musket. If we can't even overcome this hurdle, how can we talk about revitalizing the Ming Dynasty and resisting the Jurchens?
The emperor's ambition filled Sun Yuanhua with mixed feelings.

Looking at the determination in Zhu Youxiao's eyes, he hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty's ambition is admirable. However, to replicate flintlock muskets, we need to invite European craftsmen to the workshop for guidance, and the steel and tools must be specially made. The initial investment will probably be considerable... In my humble opinion, perhaps 'buying is worse than making' is a safer option."

"Is it better to buy than to make?"

Zhu Youxiao raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of coldness.

"Tell me, how much silver would it cost to buy a flintlock musket from those Western barbarians?"

Sun Yuanhua was taken aback by the question. Although he knew artillery, he was not good at business. He immediately turned to look at Zhang Tao beside him.

After all, Zhang Tao had personally gone to Macau to purchase firearms and was most familiar with the prices of Western weaponry.

Zhang Tao understood and stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, Western flintlock guns are also divided into different grades. The lowest grade are mostly old guns that have been modified, and the flintlock is easy to block. Three out of ten shots will misfire, and one gun costs about twenty taels of silver. The middle grade is slightly better, but it is still not resistant to dampness, and costs around thirty taels of silver."

"And what's the best one?" Zhu Youxiao pressed, his gaze sharp as an eagle's.

"The best is the newly made 'English flintlock pistol' by the English, with a chrome-plated barrel, a precise trigger, and the ability to fire repeatedly even in the rain, but..."

Zhang Tao paused, then lowered his voice, “One weapon costs forty or fifty taels of silver. If you buy a hundred at once, you might be able to get it down to forty taels, but if you buy more, they won’t lower the price. The Western barbarians are also afraid that our dynasty will imitate them, so they have always been very strict about controlling the price of high-quality firearms.”

Forty or fifty taels!

Zhu Youxiao tapped the table heavily with his fingertips.

You should know that the annual salary of a seventh-rank county magistrate is only forty-five taels of silver, while a gun is equivalent to a county magistrate's annual salary!

He suddenly looked at Zhang Tao and changed the subject: "Do you know how much it would cost to make a flintlock musket if we made it ourselves?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Tao replied, "Your Majesty, if we could invite Western craftsmen to teach us their skills, mass-produce molds, use steel specially mined from the iron mines of Shanxi, and employ craftsmen from the military craftsmen's camp... I estimate that each mold could be made for about ten taels of silver."

The difference between ten taels and forty or fifty taels is immediately apparent.

Whether to build or buy is no longer up for debate.

"Even with our great Ming Dynasty, which is so powerful and wealthy, we cannot afford to send so much silver to the Western barbarians like this."

Zhu Youxiao's voice suddenly rose.

“Minister Sun, Minister Zhang, Minister Mao, our Celestial Empire is rich in resources and has a wealth of skilled craftsmen. Is there anything we cannot make? If word gets out that our Great Ming Dynasty has to beg Westerners to buy even a single musket, then we will have completely disgraced our ancestors!”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, his tone growing increasingly firm.

"Therefore, if we must manufacture flintlock muskets, we must also manufacture Western-style rapid-fire cannons! Not only must we manufacture them, but we must manufacture them better and in greater numbers than theirs!"

After speaking, he looked around at everyone, his tone softening slightly.

"You should come up with a plan to ensure that the Ordnance Bureau can produce a usable flintlock musket as quickly as possible."

"certainly."

Zhu Youxiao then changed the subject, revealing a more pragmatic consideration.

"The situation in Liaodong is critical right now and cannot be resolved overnight. At this stage, we should focus on improving the matchlock gun so that the army can use a suitable weapon as soon as possible."

Zhu Youxiao knew that the iteration of firearms was like climbing a ladder. If the matchlock gun was the first generation, the flintlock gun would be the second generation. What lay between them was not only technology, but also the blood and tears of countless experiments.

Reaching the top in one step is extremely difficult, but first, refining a first-generation gun into a "1.5 generation" gun by improving the rifling of the barrel, optimizing the moisture-proofing of the powder bath, and shortening the loading time are all achievable. Sun Yuanhua and his two companions were invigorated by this.

The emperor's words provided both lofty goals and pointed out the path forward, demonstrating his profound insight.

They knew that this matter was of great importance. If the innovation of firearms could be implemented, it would not only be a great achievement, but would also significantly enhance military strength and help resist the Jurchen cavalry.

"I will take your orders!"

The three bowed again, their voices several times louder than before.

Zhu Youxiao nodded in satisfaction as he looked at their spirited appearance.

"Just report the money, materials, and manpower you need, and I will cover it all. But there is one thing: you must not slack off, you must not hide anything, and you must not let the Western barbarians laugh at you."

"Your Majesty's teachings will be remembered!"

Seeing the earnest expressions on the three men's faces, Zhu Youxiao asked another question.

"Besides money and materials, what other difficulties require my intervention? Please tell me."

Sun Yuanhua pondered for a moment, then cautiously said, “Your Majesty, the imitation of flintlock muskets and thunder cannons involves many Western technologies. Although we have some knowledge of them, we still need guidance from those who are proficient in this field. In my opinion, this matter may be possible with the help of the Jesuits. Among them are many missionaries who are proficient in mathematics and mechanics, and they have many dealings with Western workshops.”

After saying this, he secretly glanced at Zhu Youxiao's expression and added, "I know that Your Majesty has many concerns about spreading the religion. I have no intention of using it to spread the word. I only hope to use its skills to help our dynasty overcome difficulties."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's expression remained unchanged.

He was indeed wary of the Jesuits. Those people had traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty ostensibly to spread Christianity, but in reality, they were not without the intention of spying on the state of the country.

But then I thought, now is the time when we need people, and getting caught up in factionalism would only lead to losing more than we gain.

"It doesn't matter."

He waved his hand, his tone resolute.

"As long as they can be used by my Great Ming, whether they are Jesuits or Western craftsmen, they can be used. They want to spread their doctrines? I will not allow it. But if they want to earn a living by using their skills, I will give them the opportunity."

"In the end, it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. As long as we can build strong ships and powerful cannons, what do a few tricks matter?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuanhua breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise; I understand."

For the next half hour, Zhu Youxiao simply opened up the topic and let the three of them talk in detail about the recent situation of the Western Barbarians.

From the sturdiness of Dutch warships to the range of Spanish cannons; from how the Portuguese organized production in their workshops to the ingenuity of Western mathematical diagrams…

Sun Yuanhua and the other two each had their own focus, and they spoke vividly about their experiences.

When talking about warships, Zhang Tao described the construction of the Dutch "sandwich ship" with great enthusiasm: "The bottom of the ship is covered with iron sheet, so it is not afraid of being hit by reefs; the deck can be equipped with twenty cannons, and there are ten cannons on each side. When they are fired, it is like thunder. Compared with it, our Fujian ships and Guangdong ships are indeed inferior."

Zhu Youxiao listened intently, gesturing the shape of a ship on the table with his fingers. Suddenly, he said, "So, does this mean that our Great Ming Dynasty not only needs to upgrade its firearms, but also its warships?"

"What your Majesty said is absolutely true!"

Mao Yuanyi interjected, "I have included illustrations of Western ships in my 'Treatise on Military Preparedness,' but I have been unable to study them in depth due to the lack of actual examples. If we can replicate their design and equip them with our improved cannons, then the Japanese pirates and Western pirates along the coast will be no threat to us in the future!"

After a long conversation, Zhu Youxiao felt that much of the fog that had been weighing on his mind had been blown away, and his vision had suddenly become clear. The previously vague blueprint for a strong nation had now taken on a clear outline.

He knew all too well that the knowledge he possessed from later generations, though vast as the stars in the sky, was mostly castles in the air.

If we were to ask the Ming Dynasty to build an aircraft carrier capable of sailing through the seas, not only would the craftsmen have never heard of such a thing, but they probably wouldn't even know about the necessary steel, engines, or the most basic principles of mechanics.

Building an aircraft carrier is nothing short of a pipe dream.

But after in-depth discussions with Sun Yuanhua, Zhang Tao, and Mao Yuanyi, he finally grasped the current state of the Ming Dynasty:
There were skilled craftsmen, but a lack of precision techniques; there were iron smelting workshops, but few effective quenching methods; there was a foundation in firearms, but no systematic theory.

With such strength, taking too big a step can easily lead to injury; the only way forward is to be grounded and move forward step by step.

As he was pondering this, an idea exploded in his mind like lightning.

"Militarily we must catch up with the West, and we cannot lag behind in civilian products."

Zhu Youxiao suddenly spoke, his eyes sparkling with excitement, his tone carrying a hint of certainty.

"Think about it, if guns and cannons can be improved, why can't spinning wheels for weaving cloth and plows for tilling the land be innovated?"

He looked at the three of them and explained further: "Take the spinning machine for example. If we can improve it by imitating Western methods and add some ingenuity, making one machine as efficient as ten old spinning wheels, and producing cloth that is fine and dense, far surpassing ordinary goods, then transporting these cloths to Southeast Asia and the West would not only earn us foreign silver, but it might even force those Western weaving workshops to close down!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuanhua and the other two were all taken aback.

They had always only known how to study military equipment and never thought that everyday items like "spinning machines" could be related to the great cause of building a strong nation.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao continued, “We should learn from the good things of the West, such as their firearms and warships, which are indeed outstanding. But after learning them, we cannot just use them as decorations. We should also think about how to surpass them. If their spinning wheels are fast, we should make faster ones; if their plows and harrows are labor-saving, we should make even more labor-saving ones.”

In this way, we can have enough to eat and wear, and also earn money to support the army. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

These words struck the three of them like a thunderbolt.

They then realized that the emperor's vision had long since expanded beyond the battlefield, reaching into a much broader world.

Sun Yuanhua murmured, “Your Majesty’s words are like the sun breaking through the clouds… I never imagined that spinning and weaving could be related to a powerful nation.”

"How can it not be related?"

Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "The people have clothes to wear, the national treasury has silver to earn, and the army has pay its soldiers. Each link is connected to the next, and none can be missing. We must not only manufacture good guns and cannons, but also weave good cloth and grow good grain. This is the true foundation of a prosperous age."

His words, seemingly casual, actually subtly incorporated the later concept of "building the nation through industry" into the context of the Ming Dynasty.

For Sun Yuanhua and the other two, this was undoubtedly a profound and insightful guidance.

It turns out that besides swords, spears, and halberds, spinning wheels and plowshares could also become powerful tools for a strong nation.

"Your Majesty has foresight; we are no match for you," the three said in unison.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and laughed, "These are all things for later. Right now, let's get the firearms issue sorted out. Go back and make preparations, and submit the detailed plans in three days. I'm waiting to see your methods."

"I will obey your orders!"

After the three men left, only Zhu Youxiao remained in the warm pavilion.

He walked to the window, gazing at the palace as dusk deepened, a smile playing on his lips.

Whether it's a flintlock musket or a spinning machine, as long as one is willing to study diligently, one can always forge a smooth path for the Ming Dynasty.

It's time to start developing the technology tree of the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)