Chapter 28: What Weapons Could Ming Dynasty Smiths Make?
Chapter 26 of "The Great Ming in the Box" kicks off with action-packed scenes: A big group of villagers were eating when they saw a strange large white paper... Discover more!
A big group of villagers were eating when they saw a strange large white paper suddenly descending from the sky. They quickly picked up their rice bowls and scattered while running away, laughing as they fled: âWhat strange thing has the Great deity sent us this time? This one doesnât seem edible, ah.âThe A5 paper lay flat on the ground, with many odd patterns drawn on it. Viewed obliquely, it seemed like it might have a firearm?
Gao Yiye pointed at the paper and said: âLi Da, whatâs on that paper is meant for you to forge. Go take a look.â
Li Da saw nothing in the sky when the big paper suddenly dropped out of thin air. His whole mind went blank, and for a long moment, he couldnât react, until Thirty-Two grabbed his shoulders and shook him twice, and only then did he jolt awake.
The paper was pond-sized. Li Da stood on flat ground looking at it obliquely, but could only spot something like a firearm and a pile of parts with it; he couldnât get a full view. So he climbed onto the nearby two-zhang-high city wall and gazed down at the paperâs surface.
âHuh? In the center, that seems to be a novel firearm? The surrounding patterns are detailed diagrams of all its parts.â
Li Daoxuan chuckled darkly: âExactly! The Chassepot rifleâa fine model among early breech-loading rifles. This is its design blueprint.â
As it turned out, Li Daoxuan hadnât been idle these past days. He had constantly pondered what kind of weapons could be forged by Ming Dynasty smithsâ craft level, given that he could supply the materials himself.
He also anonymously posted a thread on his usual military history forum, asking: âFolks, if you traveled back to the Ming Dynasty, and used Ming Dynasty smithsâ craft level with modern raw materials at hand, whatâs the highest-level weapon you could make?â
Reply 1: Death Star Destroyer.
Reply 2: First, bury the first floor! Of course, itâs the AK-47. Now, any home workshop can make one; in the Ming Dynasty, they could pound it out with a hammer.
Reply 3: Donât be foolish. Just knocking out a shell casing is uselessâprecise fit isnât achieved; one shot might blow up the chamber, and you still canât solve the ammo problem. Rifled guns are the most reliable; time-travel experts all use rifles.
Reply 4: Upstairs seems to forget OP said âwith modern raw materials.â Since that includes modern stuff, we have rubber to fix gas sealing. So, why skip rifled guns and jump straight to breech-loading rifles? The Chassepot rifle is quite goodâits precision demand isnât as high as an automatic rifleâs, and Ming Dynasty smiths could truly hand-forge it.
Reply 5: Is everyone missing the point? Traveling back to the Ming Dynasty, you should buy several maids, lift their skirts, and peek at their baths. After all, bought maids canât resist their master; Iâd play all kinds of games with them.
Li Daoxuan: Dang it, itâs you again!
All replies cursed together: You jerk, get out of this military history forum!
After the chaos, Li Daoxuan noted down âChassepot rifle.â With help from the forumâs seasoned folks, he miraculously got photos of that rifle, design blueprints, and actual snapshots of parts. He printed it on an A5 paper and was ready to bring it out when the smith arrived.
Li Da stood on the city wall, looking very intently at the A5 paper below.
He looked left, he looked right, he spun around to view it. After seeing it all, sweat suddenly gushed down: âThis⌠this firearm⌠I⌠I dare not promise I can craft it.â
Li Daoxuan said: âDonât be pressured. Try hard to make it happen. Iâll give you a very long timeâyears donât matter. If you truly succeed, Iâll make your dream come true.â
For Li Da, the dream meant becoming an ordinary commoner without obligations.
That was no simple thing. When it came from Gao Yiyeâs mouth, it felt rather unreliable.
He couldnât help but shout aloud: âMiss, Third Lady, I do trust you all somewhat, but what I must do isnât ordinary business. I⌠I donât even know who the wealthy lord is, so I feel a bitâŚâ
âHasnât that big paper dropping from the sky enlightened you?â Gao Yiye shouted loudly: âTry jumping down from the city wall right now; instantly youâll know who the wealthy lord is.â
Li Da got startled: âJump down?â
Thirty-Two also laughed: âGo on, take a jump and see.â
Li Da looked downward.
This was a two-zhang-high city wall!
Whatâs he playing atâtesting my courage?
Year after year, he hammered iron, so his body was still robust. Jumping from this height, if he landed carefully, might not injure him; even if hurt, itâd likely be no worse than a broken leg. If this act could get the wealthy lord to free him from the artisan registration, it wasnât⌠impossible or not worth a gamble.
Li Da gritted his teeth. Better see that wall beneath him as the artisan registration. Escape required risking his lifeâit was a deadly deal. âIâll go all in,â he clenched harder and leaped down.
The moment he leaped, he had mentally prepared to land with a crouch and roll to dissipate the force.
However, just as he cleared the city wall, before he even began to fall, he felt something catch him. His feet stepped onto something? It was so unexpected that he couldnât maintain his balance. He fell forward, his hands landing on the invisible âground,â yet the sensation felt distinctly like touching someoneâs palm.
âHuh? Huhhuh?â
Li Da was terrified, scared stiff and unable to move.
Gao Yiye called out loudly, âYou are now on the palm of the Great Deity.â
Li Da: â!!!â
Li Daoxuan deliberately moved his hand slightly, supporting Li Da as it slowly traversed the half-sky.
Li Da felt as if he was flying through the air, though his posture was exceedingly undignified. Orz â whichever way you looked at it, it was not a proper flying stance.
Before entering the village, Thirty-Two had told him that the wealthy lord of this village was the Great Deity. At the time, Li Da had been utterly confused, unable to understand what Thirty-Two meant. But now, it seemed like, just maybe, he grasped a little bit.
Li Daoxuanâs hand slowly lowered towards the ground, then tilted slightly. Li Da slid off, landing seated on the dusty yellow earth. His face was filled with terror and panic, yet there was also a tiny spark of elation.
The elation, of course, was because his dream now had a guarantee!
As his mind cleared, he flipped over, changing from sitting on the ground to kneeling prostrate. He exclaimed loudly, âThis humble servant, this humble servant guarantees he will exert all his strength to forge the firearm you commanded. However, this thing seems rather complex; this humble servant may require a long time â as you said, perhaps one or two liang worth.â
If Li Da swung his hammer and produced a Chassepot rifle in just a few days, he would definitely be a System-possessing time traveler. Li Daoxuan, of course, knew this was impossible: âMmm, take it slow, no need to hurry. Teach Gao Yiyi how to forge armor while you slowly research this firearm! If you need any materials, have Gao Yiye report them to me. In short, whenever you succeed in forging it, that is when your dream will come true.â
Here, his tone shifted: âGao Yiye, are there any empty houses left in the village?â
Gao Yiye replied, a little embarrassed, âNo, the only inhabitable empty cottage was allocated to Third Ladyâs family.â
Li Daoxuan said, âOh! Then wait a moment.â
He took a can of Pepsi Cola from the fridge, gulped it down in a few swallowsâglug glugâlet out a burpâahh, refreshing. Then, he grabbed scissors and cut the can in half, resulting in a cylindrical cup. He cut out a small door and two small windows in it. Finally, he inverted this half-can and placed it over an empty patch of ground in the villageâŚ
Thump!
The villagers heard a tremendous bang; the earth seemed to tremble. Then, a peculiarly shaped, brightly colored small blue domed hut appeared in a corner of the village. The characters for âPepsi Colaâ were printed backwards on it, looking rather comical.
Li Daoxuan announced, âLi Da, you will live in this temporary hut for now. After a while, I will arrange better houses for everyone.â
The villagers, though they had been shocked by âdivine miraclesâ several times already, today were once again startled so badly they nearly dropped their bowls. The Great Deityâs method of constructing a house truly inspired immense, bewildered awe.
Third Lady, who had been secretly watching nearby, started kowtowing like pounding garlic, unable to stop.
âŚ
To avoid disrupting the flow of the story, it should be noted here that the massive sheet of A5 paper was retrieved that night. It was later reprinted much smaller before being placed back into the box and given to Li Tie to store in his house.
There will be many such points like this in the future. I dislike writing about these details explicitly in the story, as it fragments the narrative and wastes significant word count on explanations irrelevant to the main plot, affecting the readerâs experience. Therefore, I often omit unimportant matters and would appreciate it if readers could mentally fill in such trivial chores themselves. Spare readers these minor details.