Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

Even after the carriage brought back the contract with Earl Lehman, Lynn's anxiety had not completely subsided.

The supplies wouldn't arrive for another three days, but the sense of threat from the north was growing daily with the intelligence Leah brought back. He knew he couldn't just sit and wait.

He closed the door and focused his attention on the system interface.

Public opinion had been building up following the celebrations and recent period of stability. He immediately began searching for it.

[“Simple Preparation and Safety Guide to Black Powder (Illustrated Edition)” *1 – 150 Public Opinion Points]

[Detailed Explanation of Early Firearms Principles and Flintlock Structure (Drawings + Instructions)*1 - 300 Popularity Points]

Got it!

The price wasn't too high. Lynn didn't hesitate and redeemed it without hesitation.

The next moment, two rather heavy hardcover books quietly appeared on the table. The texture of the pages was somewhere between paper and some kind of supple leather. They were richly illustrated and written in a common language that he could understand, but the wording and illustrations clearly had an otherworldly style.

He quickly flipped through the "Guide to Black Powder," which clearly explained the purification methods, optimal ratios, mixing precautions, granulation processes, and even simple moisture-proof storage methods for sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal.

There are even comparison charts of the properties of raw materials with different purities and simple combustion test results.

"That's enough." Lynn breathed a sigh of relief.

The exchange shop's catalog was more detailed than he had imagined.

With this, as long as the raw materials are available, the production of black powder can skip the most time-consuming trial and error stage by following the instructions.

Then, he opened the book explaining firearms.

It contains not only multi-angle exploded views of the flintlock musket as a whole and its components, with detailed annotations of dimensions, material requirements and tolerances, but also schematic diagrams of the operating principle, as well as key points of a series of critical processes from drilling the barrel and grinding the inner wall to quenching the flintlock spring.

The drawings were so detailed that even Lynn, a layman, was amazed.

Lynn composed himself, put away the "Guide to Black Powder" and took the translated firearms manual to the work shed.

Hal and Rod had just finished finishing several small steam engine parts and were discussing something around the lathe.

When they saw Lynn enter, holding a roll of unfamiliar blueprints, the master and apprentice's eyes widened immediately.

"Master Hal, Rod, take a look at this." Lynn carefully spread the blueprints out on the workbench.

Hal and the others looked over, his fingers hovering above the smooth blueprint, hesitant to touch it. His breathing grew heavier.

The long iron pipe, the complex levers, springs, anvils... every component was drawn with incredible clarity, accompanied by dense annotations.

He understood some of it, such as the requirement that the barrel should have "a constant internal diameter, uniform wall thickness, and a smooth inner wall," and that the flintlock mechanism should have "uniform spring force and precise friction angle between the flint and the steel plate at the moment of firing."

But he struggled to understand many of the underlying principles, such as how igniting gunpowder generates thrust to launch a projectile.

Gunpowder... what is that? And what is a flintlock trigger?

The old blacksmith was completely baffled. Every time the lord came here, he would bring something new, but there was nothing he could figure out on his own.

"My lord... this is it again..." Hal's voice was dry.

"A new type of weapon called a flintlock musket," Lynn explained, pointing to the diagram and trying to use language they could understand. "See this iron pipe? A measured amount of gunpowder and this small lead pellet are loaded from the back and compacted. Here, this is called the flintlock mechanism. Pulling this trigger causes the flint to strike this steel plate, producing a spark that ignites the priming powder in this small powder bath. The flame travels through this small hole into the barrel, igniting the main gunpowder inside."

His finger moved along the diagram: "The gunpowder burns instantly, producing a large amount of hot gas. This gas expands, generating tremendous force that propels the lead ball, accelerating it along the smooth barrel, and finally launching it out from here. Because the barrel is straight, the force is concentrated, so the lead ball flies straight and fast, can travel a long distance, and has strong penetrating power."

Lynn said a lot in one breath, but Hal and Rod didn't understand much of it.

All they understood was that they used something called gunpowder to propel projectiles and cause damage.

This was completely beyond their comprehension.

A bow and crossbow relies on the elasticity of the bow arm and the stored power of the string, while a ballista relies on the mechanical power stored in the winch.

And here, the power actually comes from the burning of those seemingly insignificant powders?

"This...this can really work?" Rhodes, being younger and more receptive, still looked incredulous. "What kind of energy is that? How can it be so powerful?"

"Whether it works or not, we'll know once we make it and try it out." Lynn pointed to the blueprints: "This is the most difficult challenge yet. The barrel has extremely high requirements; even a slight deviation could cause it to explode and injure the user. The flintlock mechanism is even more precise, as it determines whether it can fire reliably."

He pushed the blueprints in front of Hal: "You and Rod, from now on, devote all your energy to studying this. You can put the steam engine parts aside for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

He added, "This matter is confidential and is only known to the two of you."

Hal took a deep breath, nodded emphatically, and gently stroked the lines on the drawing with his calloused hands, his eyes burning with fervent light: "Don't worry, sir, we... will definitely get it done!"

Three days later, the first batch of supplies promised by Earl Lehman arrived on time. Five carriages, escorted by twenty elite soldiers, arrived in Grayrock Town, attracting curious onlookers from many of the townspeople.

The ore unloaded from the wagons was delivered directly to a secluded house designated by Lynn.

Besides bags of Dawn coins, there were also sulfur blocks and saltpeter crystals with a unique odor, as well as several small boxes of good-quality iron ore.

Once the supplies were in the warehouse, Lynn immediately got to work.

He began the secret preparation process following the steps outlined in the "Guide to Black Powder".

The process of purifying sulfur and saltpeter is somewhat tedious, requiring repeated dissolution, filtration, and crystallization.

The charcoal used is willow charcoal, ground into an extremely fine powder.

Lynn dared not be careless in the crucial mixing process. In an open, sheltered place far from the stone house, he used a wooden shovel to mix the three powders in a golden ratio, and then carefully carried out the "granulation" process to increase stability and combustion efficiency.

Just two days later, the first batch of black powder was completed.

The quantity was small, about twenty kilograms, and it was divided into several small moisture-proof ceramic jars and sealed for preservation.

Lynn took out a small pinch and conducted a very simple combustion test when no one was around.

The blinding flames and the explosive power confirmed to him that he had succeeded.

The next step was to weaponize this gunpowder.

Lynn had already figured out how to maximize the power of gunpowder. Besides using it as a firing power source for flintlock muskets, the simplest and most convenient way was to make it into "homemade bombs".

The design of the homemade bomb was very simple.

Have the young craftsmen fire a batch of pottery jars of moderate thickness and about the size of a fist, leaving an opening for the medicine.

It is loaded with a fixed amount of black powder and fragments of iron to increase lethality, along with stones. A hemp rope soaked in grease is inserted as a fuse, and finally, it is sealed with wet mud.

Lynn named it "Thunderclap".

To make it easier to throw, he drew inspiration from the slings of this world and designed a "thunder-throwing bag": a sturdy bag made of double-layered thick cowhide, with oil-soaked, cooked cow tendon ropes attached to both sides.

When throwing, soldiers with strong arms would spin the bomb with both hands to accelerate it, and release it at the right moment, which could throw the several-pound thunderbolt more than sixty paces away.

At the same time that the gunpowder was finished, Hal also produced the first flintlock musket.