Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Back in Linqing, Lu Chen had already seen the hand cannons, rapid-fire guns, and three-barreled guns used by the Ming army.

Those firearms required the archer to light them like firecrackers, allowing only a rough aim and no guarantee of accuracy.

In another dimension of history, the Ming Dynasty only began to imitate Portuguese matchlock guns after Zhu Wan conquered Shuangyu Port and seized a large number of them.

It wasn't until the thirty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign, when the Ministry of Works delivered the first batch of 10,000 "bird guns" that were imitations of Portuguese matchlock guns, that the Ming army officially began to be equipped in large quantities.

Now that I've come to Shuangyu in person, how can I let this thing go?

Matchlock guns don't have much of a technological barrier; skilled craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty can easily replicate them once they see a sample.

boom!

Lu Chen also tried firing a shot. With the aid of his telekinesis, he was able to completely withstand the recoil, and the gun remained very stable during the firing process.

Even so, the lead bullet failed to hit the bullseye of the target thirty meters away, missing by more than an inch.

Lu Chen knew very well that this was due to the lack of rifling. Smoothbore bullets are round and slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel, so the bullets do not spin and have extremely poor flight stability.

Thirty meters is a short distance, but it only guarantees that you hit the target; whether you hit the bullseye depends on luck.

As the gun was fired, thick smoke from the burning black powder billowed out from both the muzzle and the touch hole.

The muzzle is one thing, since there's some distance between them, but the muzzle is very close to the face. The sulfides and particulate matter in the smoke are highly irritating and make people feel very uncomfortable.

It seems that playing with guns in this era is not a pleasant thing.

Is there any way to improve this?

As a time traveler, I am naturally very familiar with the history of firearms evolution.

The firing method started with matchlock ignition, but was gradually replaced by flint ignition.

After the invention of mercury fulminate, flint was first replaced by a percussion cap, followed by the emergence of paper-cased fixed bullets and metal fixed bullets.

With the advent of metal cartridges, various modern firearms began to appear.

Besides the firing mechanism, another extremely important evolution is the rifling, especially the spiral rifling.

Only with rifling can firearms achieve the ability to accurately snipe targets at long range.

With current technology, apart from mercury fulminate which is still unavailable, flintlock ignition and rifling are achievable.

Should we break through this barrier and manufacture rifled flintlock muskets in Linqing?

After considering it for a moment, Lu Chen abandoned the idea.

Unlike darts or arrows, musket bullets are not only fast-moving but also very small in size.

If I were to encounter it myself, it would be almost impossible to intercept it with telekinesis.

It doesn't matter if they imitate matchlock guns; it won't be long before the Ming Dynasty does the same on a large scale.

Matchlock guns are cumbersome to operate and require an open flame. They are very easy to spot when close to the target, and their accuracy is abysmal when at a distance, making them almost impossible to use for assassination.

There's no need to worry too much.

During the matchlock era, rifles were the norm, and pistols were almost nonexistent. Even if someone were to forge a matchlock pistol, using the matchlock would still expose them, making it impossible to approach silently.

But flintlock muskets and rifled muskets are different.

Flintlock pistols have no rifling and do not require pre-firing; a large number of flintlock pistols appeared in the history of another dimension.

These pistols are small in size and can be concealed when approaching a target, posing a certain threat to the user.

As for rifled guns, they posed an even greater threat!

That can be used as a sniper rifle!

In another dimension of history, flintlock muskets would not appear for several more decades, and in the early days they were only luxury items among European nobles, not becoming truly widespread until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Rifled guns came much later; the technology matured during the American Revolutionary War, and large-scale deployment occurred after the Opium War.

During the First Opium War, the British army was still equipped with flintlock smoothbore muskets.

In other words, as long as Lu Chen doesn't expose this secret, no firearms that could truly pose a threat to him will appear.

Don't tell me that as long as we take good security measures, the guns will be used, and someone will definitely see them.

Compared to modern people, the ancients lacked knowledge, not stupidity.

The flint ignition mechanism is obvious and easy to understand even for non-professional craftsmen.

Rifling might keep secret for a while, but once a rifled gun gets out, it will be copied very quickly.

Lu Chen had no intention of doing something as foolish as bringing a revolutionary weapon that could threaten him to this ancient world.

However, although he gave up on upgrading the matchlock musket to a flintlock rifle, it doesn't mean that Lu Chen couldn't create his own secret firearm.

At least this method of ignition is acceptable!

Lu Chen poured another small bamboo tube of granular black powder into the muzzle, placed a small piece of silk pad on it, then loaded a lead bullet and compacted it with a scouring pad.

However, this time he did not open the touch hole at the back of the gun, pour in powdered ignition powder, or attach the lit matchlock to the breech. Instead, he simply picked up the matchlock gun and aimed the muzzle at the target thirty meters away.

At the same time, Lu Chen activated his telekinesis, causing the black powder particles inside the gun barrel to rub against each other rapidly.

If friction could generate heat to ignite black powder, one could create a unique firearm with a completely sealed rear barrel, no ignition device, and no need for a trigger.

Even if they fall into the hands of others during a battle, they will not pose any threat to themselves.

Because no one but yourself can use this gun.

Time passed second by second, and the granular gunpowder was ground into powder, but the matchlock gun in his hand still did not move.

Why isn't it lit yet?

When I first arrived in this world, I controlled a small stick to spin rapidly on dry wood, which should have been able to ignite the sawdust very quickly.

Is the ignition point of gunpowder higher than that of sawdust? That seems unlikely.

Could it be that the particles are crushed by grinding against each other, and therefore do not generate much heat?

If that's the case, then relying on telekinesis to make gunpowder spontaneously combust won't work!

Are there any other options?

Lu Chen used his telekinesis to sense the inside of the gun barrel.

Besides the black powder that had been ground into fine powder, there was also a small piece of silk padding and a round lead bullet.

The next second, the lead bullet, slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the barrel, began to spin rapidly inside the chamber.

However, a full minute passed, and the lead bullet had almost grown into a long strip, but it still failed to ignite the gunpowder.

No way, this won't work?

What exactly is the ignition point of black powder? Does it really require an open flame to ignite it?

Lu Chen was a little frustrated after failing to ignite the fire with his telekinesis twice in a row.

If all else fails, I'll make my own ammunition next time. I'll add two small pieces of flint to the gunpowder and use my telekinesis to make them collide and ignite. I refuse to believe I can't ignite this black powder.