The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Luo Dai excitedly told Li Chengye, "I originally only planned to find a few blacksmiths, and it would be good enough if I could get some iron. I didn't expect there to be more than ten blacksmith shops in Yanchang County. The iron I've collected so far, I roughly estimate, is 20,000 jin, which is more than enough!"

"Let me tell you, I also found two blacksmiths who can forge cannons and fire muskets. They are said to have escaped from the Imperial Workshops of Xi'an Prefecture," he added.

Yanchang County is located at a strategic point between Shanxi and Shaanxi, connecting the Yellow River and Yan'an Prefecture. It was a bustling commercial hub with many merchants passing through. Li Chengye was not surprised that tens of thousands of kilograms of iron could be found there. However, he was curious about another matter.

"In the past two years, northern Shaanxi has suffered severe droughts, and people there couldn't survive, so they fled to Guanzhong and Shanxi. Why are there people fleeing in the opposite direction, from Guanzhong back to northern Shaanxi?"

Luo Dai laughed and said, "Ordinary farmers flee famine because their fields yield no harvest and they can't survive. These craftsmen flee famine because they don't get paid for the work they make, and they even have to pay compensation. They work for free and still have to take responsibility, so they run away."

According to the blacksmith, he worked year-round without pay in the Imperial Workshops of Xi'an Prefecture, and was forced to work without pay. If he damaged anything, he had to compensate the worker. Having no other choice, he fled from Xi'an Prefecture to northern Shaanxi with his apprentice, because his wife's family lived there.

I've been in Yanchang for several months now, making a living entirely through my excellent ironwork skills.

Although he was highly skilled, he was ostracized by the local blacksmiths and these days he could only make a living by shoeing horses for passing caravans.

As soon as he heard we were looking for a blacksmith, he immediately asked if we would pay him, saying he would come if we paid him ten taels of silver. I told him that as long as he was willing to come, I would pay him, and he immediately started packing his tools.

Li Chengye nodded: "That's good news. Then have them come over later, I want to see them."

Soon after, the blacksmith was taken to the county government office.

The blacksmith's name was Guo Yongchang. He was originally a craftsman in the Xi'an Prefecture's Imperial Workshop. He had made muskets and cast cannons, and was also skilled in making swords and armor. However, he had never done horseshoeing before.

He brought his family and apprentice to Yanchang County, intending to seek refuge with his father-in-law.

His father-in-law was also a blacksmith, but he only allowed Guo Yongchang and his apprentice to help out at his shop, without mentioning that he should open his own business.

Guo Yongchang had no choice but to temporarily live under someone else's roof, and his days were quite difficult.

One night after drinking, he got into an argument with his father-in-law over this matter. In a fit of anger, he took on jobs on his own, which displeased his in-laws, who threatened to have all their colleagues in the city ostracize him.

So in order to get business, he started doing small jobs like horseshoes, which other blacksmiths considered trivial. And he not only did it, he also nailed them on the horses himself.

Shoeing horses is a skilled trade, and novices are easily kicked by horses. Guo Yongchang was kicked several times when he first started.

Later, having no other choice, he and his apprentice followed the example of others and tied the horse's legs with ropes before shoeing it, and only then were they able to barely manage to complete the task.

These days, by shoeing horses, he gradually opened up some connections in the city, and people began to ask him to make farm tools, axes, swords, and other such items.

Just when things were starting to look up, Li Chengye arrived.

At first, the bandits came to the blacksmith, saying they wanted to make farm tools and volunteered to do so.

He tried to cover it up, but someone revealed that he was originally from the Xi'an Prefecture's Directorate of Works and knew how to cast cannons and make muskets. Now he couldn't hide it anymore.

When he saw the gleam in the eyes of the bandit leader, he knew he couldn't escape, so he simply asked for a high price—ten taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver was a large sum in Guo Yongchang's eyes.

You have to understand that in the Imperial Workshop, even master craftsmen like them, after deducting their food rations, wouldn't earn more than two taels of silver a year. Ten taels of silver would be enough for his family to live comfortably for several years.

He heard that the band of thieves had been relatively disciplined after entering the city and had not committed any burning or killing. He figured that if the other party thought the price was too high, they would at most beat him up, but not kill him, so he didn't need to go.

To his surprise, the other party agreed immediately, so he had no choice but to obediently pack his things.

When he heard that the bandit leader wanted to see him, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. He followed the bandits to the county government office. Looking up, he saw that the bandit leader sitting at the head of the table was not old, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, about the same age as his eldest apprentice. He was imposing and dignified, wearing a full helmet and armor, with his personal guards standing on both sides in equally bright armor.

Upon seeing this, he knelt down without saying a word, kowtowed twice, and said, "Greetings, sir!"

This was the old custom he used when he was in the Imperial Workshop, to deal with inspections by his superiors.

Li Chengye sized up the craftsman in front of him: dark skin, thick, muscular arms, and old, burn scars all over his hands, clearly the work of an old hand who had been wielding a hammer and pliers for years.

"I heard you can cast cannons? I wonder what kind of cannons you can cast?" Li Chengye asked.

Guo Yongchang bowed his head respectfully and replied, "Reporting to you, sir, I have cast breech-loading cannons, 500-jin 'Three Generals' cannons, as well as 'Surging Pearl' cannons and 'Tiger Crouching' cannons."

"Have you ever cast Hongyi cannons?" Li Chengye asked again.

Upon hearing the words "Red Barbarian Cannon," Guo Yongchang was taken aback, not expecting that the bandit leader would also know about this item.

The Hongyi cannon has gained considerable fame in recent years; it was a heavy cannon modeled after the Portuguese by the Ming Dynasty.

During the Battle of Ningyuan, this cannon shot caused the Eight Banners army under Nurhaci's command to cry out in agony, suffering heavy casualties. Even Nurhaci himself was wounded by the cannon and died from his injuries after the Battle of Ningyuan.

These cannons were typically two to three meters long, with a spindle-shaped barrel that was thinner at the front and thicker at the back. They were capable of blasting iron projectiles weighing up to twelve pounds to the city wall three miles away, demonstrating astonishing power.

Its gun barrel has trunnions at its center of gravity, which can adjust the firing angle. It is also equipped with a front sight and a rear sight, which can estimate the trajectory based on the parabola, making it far more accurate than cannons such as the Franconian cannon.

The only drawback is that it is too heavy, and it is mostly used for defending city fortresses.

Currently, in the entire Ming Dynasty, only Beijing and the Guan-Ning defense line are used extensively; other cities in the north are not frequently used.

Guo Yongchang came to his senses and respectfully replied, "Your Excellency, the Xi'an Prefectural Workshop did indeed test-cast this cannon, but due to insufficient copper, it was scaled down according to the design. The range of the cannon cast was only about two li, which is not as good as the cannons cast by the Imperial Workshop in the capital and the cannon factories in the south."

Before I came to Yanchang County, Xi'an Prefecture had only cast three cannons like these, all of which were sent to Yulin for city defense.

Li Chengye asked, "How heavy were the cannons cast in Xi'an Prefecture?"

"About 1,200 jin."

A cannon weighing 1,200 jin (approximately 600 kg) would require at least five horses to pull it, which is far too heavy.

Li Chengye pondered for a moment, then asked, "If I were to ask you to cast it, could you do it?"

Guo Yongchang replied, "Sir, it can be cast! But we must first make a clay mold. Only with a clay mold can we cast the cannon. If we don't have a ready-made clay mold, I'm afraid it will be difficult to begin."

"Can you make this clay model?"

"Yes."

Li Chengye nodded, then asked, "I heard you can also make muskets? Would you be willing to make them?"

"Alright, but it takes a long time for the master to make muskets. He can only make two or three muskets a month."

"So slow!?"

"Master," Guo Yongchang explained in detail, "making a musket requires the finest iron. Usually, ten catties of pig iron and ten catties of wrought iron are needed to make one catty of refined iron. Then it must be repeatedly forged to be evenly stretched before being rolled into a tube. If the forging is uneven, there is a risk of the barrel exploding. Each step requires careful hammering, so it is extremely time-consuming. I can only make three muskets a month at the moment."

At this moment, Li Chengye recalled a technique from his later life and asked, "Could we first forge the iron material into a solid iron rod, and then drill and carve it into a pipe?"

Guo Yongchang was taken aback: "This method... I have never tried it before."

"Then you should think about it carefully." After saying that, Li Chengye called Chengen beside him to bring ten taels of silver. "Brother Luo promised you ten taels of silver for settling down, and I'll add another ten taels. As long as you follow us, you won't be shortchanged. You need to study this 'iron rod drilling' method more.

If this can improve the efficiency of gun production in the future, I will reward you further.

Guo Yongchang accepted the silver, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

Although he was still somewhat uneasy as he left, holding the silver in his arms made him feel much more at ease.