Chief Armaments Master of the Ming Dynasty

Evacuating Ningxiang was a difficult process.

They had finally settled down, only to be forced into exile again.

The craftsmen didn't want to leave, and neither did the soldiers.

But no way.

If you don't leave, you will die.

Lin Fan and his team of craftsmen packed all the tools and materials into bundles and loaded them onto a mule cart.

He also brought along blacksmith Sun, carpenter Zhao, and leatherworker Ma.

"Master Lin, I'm an old man, I don't want to go through all this trouble..." the blacksmith pleaded.

"Old man," Lin Fan looked at him, "when the government troops arrive, do you think they'll treat you as a law-abiding citizen, or as a traitor?"

Sun the blacksmith fell silent.

He knew Lin Fan was right.

Once the city falls, everyone associated with the "bandits" will be purged.

If you follow along, there's still a chance to survive.

Staying here means certain death.

Finally, Sun the blacksmith sighed and climbed onto the mule cart.

---

The day I left Ningxiang, the sky was overcast, as if it was about to snow.

Lin Fan looked back and saw that the small county town looked particularly dilapidated under the gray sky.

A month ago, when they captured the city, there were still many families living there.

Nowadays, many people have followed them—whether voluntarily or forced.

Very few people remained.

"Let's go," Han Jinhu urged.

Lin Fan withdrew his gaze, turned around, and followed the group.

The mule cart creaked and groaned as it rolled along the dirt road, heading north.

Ahead lies the continuous Lüliang Mountains.

Beyond the mountains lies Shaanxi.

It is my hometown.

It is also a battlefield.

---

Lüliang Mountains.

With its steep mountains and dense forests, it forms a natural barrier for western Shanxi.

Li Zicheng's troops trudged along the rugged mountain path.

The number of people was much larger than when they arrived—in addition to the original five hundred people, there were several hundred civilians brought from Ningxiang, as well as some scattered starving people and defeated soldiers gathered along the way.

The total number exceeded one thousand.

With more people, the goals also become bigger.

The consumption of food supplies has increased exponentially.

Li Zicheng had no choice but to "seize grain" along the way—attacking small villages and plundering the grain stored by wealthy households.

Every grain harvest was a small-scale battle.

Those who resist, kill them; those who surrender, spare their lives.

Lin Fan's blacksmith shop could not operate during the march.

He could only lead the craftsmen and do what they could.

They repaired damaged vehicles and weapons, cared for the wounded, and helped distribute food.

At first, Sun the blacksmith was not used to this nomadic life and sighed all day long.

But after a few days, seeing the starving people who died by the roadside and the civilians who were killed by bandits, he stopped complaining.

"In this world, just being alive is a blessing," he said to Lin Fan, his voice filled with a sense of weariness.

Lin Fan nodded without saying a word.

---

On this day, the team crossed a mountain ridge and a relatively flat valley appeared ahead.

In the valley, there is a village.

Looking into the distance, wisps of smoke rise from chimneys, suggesting that there are still people living there.

Li Zicheng sent out scouts to investigate.

The scout returned quickly, looking very grim.

"General... something's not right in the village."

"Something's not right?"

"There are people, but they're all..." The scout swallowed hard. "They're all lunatics."

Li Zicheng frowned and personally led his men into the village to investigate.

Lin Fan followed.

The village is small, with only a few dozen households.

Most of the houses are intact, and there are signs that the fields have been cultivated.

But the villagers...

Lin Fan saw a woman holding a swaddled baby, sitting at her doorstep, humming a lullaby.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out there was a stone inside the swaddling clothes.

When the woman saw them, she looked up, her eyes vacant, a silly smile on her lips.

"Who are you? Is my husband back?" she murmured. "He said he went to the county town to buy grain, and he's been gone for three years... Have you seen him?"

Lin Fan's heart felt like it had been clenched tightly by something.

Keep going.

An old man squatted against the wall, holding a twig in his hand, drawing something on the ground.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that he had drawn tombstones.

On each tombstone, the name was carved crookedly.

"This is my son, this is my daughter-in-law, this is my grandson..." the old man murmured to himself, "They're all dead, all dead..."

He raised his head and looked at Lin Fan. In his cloudy eyes, there was no sadness, only confusion.

"Who are you? Are you here to collect taxes? I have no money, nothing left but these old bones. Take them..."

Li Zicheng watched all this in silence, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Gu Jun'en sighed: "They suffered a great calamity. It was either war or famine. Their whole family died, leaving only them. They couldn't bear it and went mad."

"Are there any other living people?" Li Zicheng asked.

The scout shook his head: "We've searched them all. Just these few; the rest... are empty. Some houses even have skeletons inside; they've been dead for a long time."

Li Zicheng did not speak again.

The group silently passed through the village and continued on its way.

Lin Fan walked at the back and glanced back.

The woman was still sitting at the door, holding the stone, humming a lullaby.

The song echoed through the valley, desolate and eerie.

Like a lament for this era.

---

A few days later, the team finally crossed the Lüliang Mountains and entered Shaanxi Province.

What comes into view is the familiar loess plateau, the familiar crisscrossing gullies, and the familiar wind carrying the scent of dust and dryness.

"I'm back," Han Jinhu murmured, his tone a mix of joy and bitterness.

Lin Fan looked at this land, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

Six months ago, he escaped from here, barely escaping with his life.

Now, he's back.

With more people, more responsibility, and more...

he does not know.

But one thing is certain—this time when he returned, he was no longer the helpless refugee at the mercy of others.

He has skills, companions, and a team to rely on.

Although this team is still very weak and struggling to survive.

But at least, I'm no longer alone.

---

After entering Shaanxi, Li Zicheng ordered his troops to advance towards Bao'an County.

That was where he started his rebellion, and it was also territory he was familiar with.

Along the way, they encountered several scattered remnants of peasant armies—all of whom had survived the government army's suppression campaign and, upon hearing that "General Li Zicheng" had returned, came to join him.

The team grew bigger and bigger, like a snowball rolling downhill.

By the time they reached Bao'an County, there were already nearly two thousand people.

With more people, there are more problems.

Provisions, campsites, discipline, inner hilltops...

Every single thing caused Li Zicheng a great deal of trouble.

Liu Zongmin volunteered to take charge of training the new recruits.

He was originally a blacksmith, strong, short-tempered, and ruthless in training his soldiers.

The new recruits were driven to despair by his training, but their combat effectiveness was indeed improving rapidly.

Gu Jun'en was in charge of logistics and intelligence.

He established a simple accounting system to record the income and expenditure of grain and fodder; at the same time, he sent out a large number of scouts to find out the movements of the government troops and the news of various forces in the surrounding area.

Lin Fan was in charge of weapon manufacturing.

He established a new blacksmith shop in a secluded valley within Bao'an County—larger and with more staff than the one in Ningxiang.

Sun the blacksmith, Zhao the carpenter, Ma the leatherworker, along with Han Jinhu and dozens of young apprentices selected from the new recruits, formed a rudimentary "military workshop".

Every day, the furnace fire never goes out, and the hammering never stops.

Knives, guns, arrows, shields, muskets, thunderclaps... were produced in an endless stream.

Lin Fan did one more thing—

He found an abandoned coal mine deep in the valley.

煤。

This is a better fuel than charcoal; it generates a higher temperature and is more suitable for iron smelting.

He organized a team to reopen the coal mine and extract coal.

---

More than a month later, the blacksmith shop in Baoan Valley had been transformed into a small "armory".

It can produce twenty knives, hundreds of arrowheads, and a small number of muskets and thunderbolts every day.

Li Zicheng's two thousand men had a significantly higher rate of weaponry.

Although they were still far inferior to the government troops, at least they were no longer fighting empty-handed.

On this day, Gu Jun'en found Lin Fan.

"Master Lin, the general sent me to ask if you can build... a cannon?"

gun.

Lin Fan was stunned for a moment.

"Mr. Gu, I'm not a god." He smiled wryly. "Making cannons requires good iron, a large furnace, skilled craftsmen, and a lot of time. Our current conditions simply don't meet those requirements."

Gu Jun'en sighed, "I know. But the scouts report that the government troops have brought over several small cannons. Our muskets and thunderclaps don't have enough range to hit them. If the government troops bombard us with cannons..."

Lin Fan fell silent.

He knew Gu Jun'en was right.

Artillery is the god of war.

The peasant army was repeatedly defeated by the government army not only because of the gap in training, discipline, and logistics, but also because of the disadvantage in firearms.

Especially artillery.

The government troops had them, but the peasant armies did not.

"Mr. Gu, let me think of a way," Lin Fan finally said, "but I can't guarantee it will work."

Gu Jun'en nodded: "Just do your best."