Chapter 448: The Issue of Airtightness
Chapter 443 of "The Great Ming in the Box" starts here: Gao Yiye slowly stepped half a pace behind Li Daoxuan and stood still, just like... Discover what happens next!
Gao Yiye slowly stepped half a pace behind Li Daoxuan and stood still, just like when her female secretaries Qiu and Dong stood behind her during usual times.Shortly after, Thirty-Two, Tan Liwen, and others working in the main fortress all came upon hearing the commotion. Soon enough, Cheng Xu, Wang Er, and those stationed outside the main fortress arrived as well. The small artisansâ well grew crowded as people surrounded Li Daoxuan, presenting a truly grand spectacle.
Li Daoxuan thought to himself: All I did was trim my nails while sitting here, yet so many people have gathered to watch. This feels really awkward.
Just as he was about to complain and tell them to scatterâ
Xu Dafu, head of the firearms bureau, emerged from the crowd. His movements were exceedingly cautiousâeyes darting left and right as if stepping into a dragonâs lair or tigerâs den.
Li Daoxuan grinned at him: âXu Dafu, why are you so careful?â
Xu Dafu: âDeity, though this place enjoys your blessing, itâs full of blades, firearms, and other weaponsâall potential dangers. If I recklessly bumped into something I shouldnât, even a falling hammer could kill me.â
The crowd: ââŚâ
With someone who fears choking on water like this, reasoning was useless. Li Daoxuan asked: âSince you pushed through the crowd, was there something you wanted to say?â
Xu Dafu eagerly pulled a small sphere from his pocket and held it with both hands: âThe fire cap! Iâve finally succeeded! After repeatedly refining that strange explosives powder you gave meâthe kind that explodes when droppedâI managed to make this. Ha! When struck by a firing pin inside the gun chamber, it ignites.â
The moment he spoke, every technician present turned their attention to the object in his palm.
They examined it closely: it was tiny, only the size of a fingernail cap, and not perfectly roundâmore like a circular disc.
At that shape, a thought flashed through Li Daoxuanâs mind: This is the lower part of the âbulletââthe part where, in modern firearms, the triggered spring drives the firing pin to strike its base and thus the fire cap. Impact triggers ignition, the powder explodes, and bangâout flies the projectile.
Even as Li Daoxuan mused over the mechanics, Li Da emerged from the blacksmithâs shop carrying a firearm.
This was the very early breech-loading rifleâthe Sharps Rifleâthat Li Daoxuan had tasked him with crafting during their first meeting. After resolving the spring issue, fabricating the gun itself posed little challenge; the real difficulty lay in the ammunition.
With the fire cap now perfected, the bullet problem was essentially solved as well.
Xu Dafu referenced the Sharps Rifleâs chamber, took out a piece of paper, and began crafting a bullet on the spot.
Early breech-loading rifles used Paper-Wrapped Bulletsâessentially entirely handmade and enormous, exceeding the size of copper bullets by more than double.
The front tip enclosed a small lead ball. The middle held black powder. The tail end housed the fire cap. After stacking these segments, the paper was rolled tightly around them, compressed, and formed into a tapered bullet.
Li Da opened the chamber and loaded Xu Dafuâs fresh Paper-Wrapped Bullet. The entire process took mere secondsâa stark simplification from the laborious loading of muzzle-loaders.
Then he raised the gun and aimed at a wooden target on the opposite end wall of the artisansâ well.
He pulled the trigger. Bang! A gaping hole appeared at the center of the target.
None of the clerks grasped the significance, but Cheng Xu and Wang Er erupted in spirited applause: âFine work! Incredible craftsmanship! The loading speed knocks previous firearms out of the water. Absolutely brilliant!â
Wang Er added: âBecause rifled firearms take too long to reload, with intervals too prolonged, we dared not equip the militia units heavily. Only a few specialists get them. Slower firing forced our main force to rely on smoothbore guns. But if we replace them all with these breech-loaders someday? That loading handicap from rifling disappears instantly.â
Cheng Xu agreed: âThus, every one of our smoothbore guns can be phased out⌠replaced entirely by breech-loading rifled barrels.â
The tactical possibilities flooded both their mindsâŚ
However, just then, Song Yingxing spoke from nearby: âI notice this gun has a critical flaw.â
Everyone: â?â
Li Daoxuanâs eyes lit up: Oh, so youâve noticed?
Song Yingxing continued: âThe rifleâs rear section houses a complex mechanismâfiring pins, springs, slide barsâmaking it poorly sealed. Explosive force during firing leaks at the mechanism joints and edges. Doesnât that mean its propulsion force weakens? Didnât everyone see? The bulletâs impact seemed weaker than earlier rifled guns.â
His words dawned on them all. Trueâone glance at the target showed that shot seemed less destructive.
Song Yingxing sighed: âMy steam engine grapples with this exact issue: terrible seal. Too much pressure leaks through small openings in the machine, wasting considerable power. If airtightness gets perfected? Both this gunâs power and the engineâs efficiency would surge enormously.â
Quite sharp, Song Yingxing, Li Daoxuan admired internally.But airtightness? Impossible at this level of Ming Dynasty materials science.
The thought had barely formed when Li Daoxuan caught Song Yingxingâs strange expression shift.
âI did stumble upon a material earlier,â Song Yingxing declared unexpectedly. âOne that might resolve seal failures.â
The group urged: âGo on, tell us!â
He pointed straight at Li Daoxuan: âThe substance forming this statue of the Deity.â
Everyone: Hah!
As it turned out, while Song Yingxing had been running his finger over the Deityâs effigy earlier, an idea struck him: This pliant texture⌠Ideal for plugging gaps in mechanisms.
âHow dare you!â
Seven, eight voices booed him immediately: âWhat foul intentions motivate you? Wanting to carve our Deityâs holy image to patch a machine? A great traitor!â
Li Daoxuan laughed: âHaha! Everyone, calm down. Song Yingxing possesses an engineerâs mind; he fixes a technical problem without concerning himself with propriety. Do not blow it out of proportion!â
Smiling, he told Song Yingxing: âAnother material is actually better suited than this statue for sealing both steam engines and breechloaders. Your chemistry research just hasnât advanced enough to create itâso Iâll supply some to you directly.â
Once spoken, his consciousness instantaneously returned to his outer-world body. He reached for the pre-prepared rubber and lowered it into the artisansâ well.