The fierce grandson of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 116 Tao Chengdao: This old minister has not failed in his mission!

Zhu Xiong Ying kept this in mind, took the plum juice handed to her by Shun, and sipped a few mouthfuls.

After resting for a while, they set off for the workshop.

Upon arriving at the firearms workshop, one sees a row of furnaces billowing thick smoke, with waves of heat hitting the face.

Chang Sheng bowed and said, "Your Highness, it's too hot inside. Shall we invite Master Tao outside for questioning?"

Zhu Xiong Ying had always wanted to see firsthand the practical methods of metallurgy and forging in the Ming Dynasty.

He shook his head and said, "No need! Master Tao, Mr. Tao, and all the craftsmen have been living and working in the workshop for the past few months to improve firearms, without even going home. What's a little while we're here?"

This is absolutely true.

Old Tao and Little Tao worked day and night to verify the correctness of their improvement ideas.

This kind of craftsmanship is truly admirable!

What the Ming Dynasty lacked most right now was practical talent, not empty talkers!

With such perseverance and determination, how could we not upgrade the Ming Dynasty's firearms, cannons, and other firearms?

As soon as he finished speaking...

Upon reaching the innermost workshop, one sees a heavy solid wood door that creaks open from the inside.

What came into view was an elderly man with half-white hair and beard, a face weathered by time, yet he was full of energy and had bright eyes!

Who else could this person be but Tao Chengdao, the "Ten Thousand Households"?

Even before returning to my hometown to pay respects to my ancestors.

Zhu Xiong Ying then decided to meet this legendary figure.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were unable to attend the event and had to let it go!

A man in shorts and sweating profusely followed closely behind; it was Tao Jingchu!

In addition, there were several young apprentices, each wearing a soft headscarf and short clothes!

Upon seeing Zhu Xiong Ying, Tao Jingchu realized what was happening and immediately whispered a few words to his father.

In an instant, Tao Chengdao's eyes gleamed, and he was about to bow and pay his respects.

Zhu Xiong Ying quickly stepped forward and helped him up, saying, "Master Tao, please get up! You are the firearms god of our Great Ming Dynasty, and a national treasure!"

"From now on, when you see me, you don't need to bother with all these formalities—"

"Your Highness is too kind to this old minister!"

Tao Chengdao shook his head, deeply moved.

Two months ago, I first heard about the Crown Prince's reform strategy from his youngest son.

This old craftsman, who had spent his entire life dealing with firearms, was so shocked that he could hardly sit still. The next day, he hurriedly went to the palace to meet the emperor.

As he described, he pointed out the key problems in his firearms manufacturing, such as frequent barrel explosions, poor airtightness, insufficient range, slow rate of fire, and cumbersome transportation.

After receiving the emperor's permission, he came to this workshop and began to study again!

They were determined to build powerful weapons and equip them to the Ming army!

After trying day and night, we have finally achieved some initial results!

Just ten days ago, he even wrote a letter to the palace explaining the matter!

Thinking of this, Tao Chengdao insisted on bowing and said, "To be honest, this old minister resigned from his official post and stayed at home, thinking that he would not achieve much in the field of firearms in this lifetime!"

"But Your Highness's methods have given this old minister hope, allowing me to improve them—"

Zhu Xiong Ying crossed his arms and shook his head, saying, "Master Tao, you flatter me! We only offered a rough idea; it's you and all the gentlemen who will actually bring it to fruition!"

"As for why we're here today, firstly, to thank everyone for their hard work, and secondly, to check on the progress and results—"

Upon hearing this, Tao Chengdao straightened his hunched back slightly and turned to the side, saying, "Alright! Your Highness, why don't you come in and take a look with us!"

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded and said, "That's exactly what we were thinking!"

Upon entering the workshop, a wave of heat mixed with the smell of gunpowder and charcoal immediately hits you.

Looking around, one can see craftsmen vying for the hammer, repeatedly polishing and refining the work.

As you go further in, you can see the sights and rear sights made according to his method!

When they arrived at the finished product area, Tao Chengdao stopped and picked up a new-style handgun from the elm wood shelf.

"Your Highness, please take a look at this first!"

Zhu Xiong Ying took a look and found that it was quite different from the official hand-made manuals he had come into contact with in the palace.

The existing hand cannons in the Ming Dynasty are mostly cast in one piece, with uneven inner walls, the powder chamber and copper tube are the same thickness, and there is no aiming device. They rely entirely on touch to ignite, and there is no accuracy within fifty paces. They are also prone to exploding!

The one in front of us, Lao Tao has clearly made many improvements according to his method!

First, there's the overall design, which is polished to be long and smooth, making it much lighter. A small copper front sight is welded to the front, and a simple, openable notch rear sight is installed near the grip.

Secondly, the gun compartment is wider, and the tapered section at the end is perfectly fitted, forming the grip area, which is also equipped with a wooden stock.

The changes here have clearly taken a lot of effort!

Tao Chengdao continued speaking, explaining, "Your Highness, the core improvements to this gun largely incorporated your suggestions!"

"The first change is the integrated process. We abandoned the traditional casting method and instead used the stacking forging method you mentioned—that is, repeatedly forging two layers of wrought iron tubes together and combining them into one. After testing it, the risk of the bore exploding was reduced by more than half! We also used a reamer to make the inner cavity smooth and uniform!"

Speaking of this...

Tao Chengdao's face flushed red, and he became even more excited, saying, "Furthermore, in this medicine room, the fire door is located at the far end of the room. With this fire shield, the gunpowder won't fly out when ignited, thus greatly increasing its power!"

"Like the official handguns of earlier years, with three qian of gunpowder, they couldn't penetrate a single layer of iron armor from fifty paces away! But this firearm, with the same amount of gunpowder, can reliably penetrate from seventy or eighty paces away—and the chance of it exploding is much smaller!"

Upon hearing this...

Regardless of whether Zhu Xiong Ying had anticipated this, he was still able to maintain a calm demeanor.

Second Uncle Chang Sheng and several other accompanying military officers couldn't help but gasp and whisper among themselves.

Where haven't these people come into contact with the Fire Sect?

With its increased power and range, it will be a deadly weapon on the battlefield!

Holding the musket in his hand, Zhu Xiong Ying did not rush to test fire, but instead praised, "Thank you for your hard work, Master Tao!"

"With this resource available, as long as we can mass-produce and equip them, how can we not enhance the combat effectiveness of our Ming army? This is a noble act that benefits the country and its people!"

But Old Tao was still not satisfied. He walked to the shelf to the side, took down a longer gun barrel, and sighed, "This old minister does not dare to accept such praise from Your Highness!"

"While there has been some progress in modifying existing handguns, the automatic fire system still has some shortcomings and will require some time to improve."

It was already unexpected that Lao Tao was able to complete the improvement experiment of the hand system in just a few months.

As for the rest, there's no need to rush; we can take our time!

Zhu Xiong Ying offered a few words of comfort.

As we walked to the table, we saw several huge blueprints on it, detailing the structure.

There were muskets and cannons.

Old Tao seemed to have become more than ten years younger, explaining the design concepts incorporated into the design with great enthusiasm.

Zhu Xiong Ying listened attentively, occasionally raising questions and discussing them in detail, subtly offering many ideas.

After the test firing was completed and he left the residence, Tao Chengdao personally saw him off, saying solemnly, "Your Highness's words today have been of great benefit to this old minister!"

"We will certainly live up to our mission and strive to achieve even greater results."

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