Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 288 Wheel
After making the new type of musket, Yao Yuan became more interested in the design of the musket. During the cooperation, he also figured out the principles of musket making.

Although the application of yellow medicine has achieved results, Yao Yuan feels that it is not enough to just apply it this way. After all, the new musket directly changed the firing device of the original flintlock and matchlock, making the firing efficiency and convenience much stronger.

If it is only used to replace the firing method of flintlock and matchlock, it seems to be a waste of talent. Moreover, as a fireworks craftsman, although Yao Yuan is a beginner in the mechanical structure of the musket, he is an expert in the use of gunpowder. He thinks that he should be able to think of more ways to improve the firearm itself and use the advantages of yellow powder to make a completely different firearm from the current ones.

It was because of this idea that Yao Yuan accidentally saw a Five Thunder Divine Machine one day. After playing with and studying it, he suddenly came up with an idea to use the existing Five Thunder Divine Machine and yellow medicine to combine to make a new type of firearm.

With the help of Zhao Da, Yao Yuan spent more than a month and finally tinkered with this so-called plum blossom spear. From the appearance, it is a smaller version of the Five Thunder God Machine, and the shooting principle is similar. However, the firing device and the use of yellow medicine have replaced the original mode, making it more convenient.

As Yao Yuan told his story, Zhu Shenzhu finally understood how Yao Yuan made the Plum Blossom Spear. After Yao Yuan finished talking about the making of the Plum Blossom Spear, he admitted to Zhu Shenzhu that he actually referred to the Five Thunder God Machine when making the Plum Blossom Spear. He did not play a big role in changing the original structure. Instead, Zhao Da helped a lot. If it were not for Zhao Da, the Plum Blossom Spear would not have been made.

"Why didn't you report this? If Uncle Zhao hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known about this thing." Zhu Shenzhui patted the plum blossom spear with his hand and asked back.

"Sixth Master, although this thing is capable of firing, it's still too bulky in my opinion. It's not much different from the Five Thunder Divine Machine. Moreover, due to its weight, it's very difficult to aim accurately after firing. These days I have been thinking about how to modify it. How can I report to Sixth Master if the modification is not yet complete?" Yao Yuan replied embarrassedly.

Zhu Shenzhui laughed out loud. This boy was honest. What he said was indeed true. Although the Plum Blossom Spear was much lighter than the Five Thunder God Machine, it was still not light. The body and barrel of a bird gun weighed about five pounds, which was still considered light. If it was the crude thing made by the government, in order to prevent the barrel from exploding, the barrel was usually made very thick, and there was an iron hoop on the outside, and some weighed more than ten pounds.

You have to know that a tiger squat cannon is only 40 kilograms, and the weight of the bird gun is more than 10 kilograms. What does it mean? It is very difficult to operate.

Although the plum blossom spear designed and made by Yao Yuan used the workshop's most sophisticated barrels, the five barrels together weighed about twelve pounds. Adding other parts and the gun body, the overall weight was almost sixteen or seventeen pounds.

Even someone like Zhu Shenzhui who practices martial arts regularly still had some difficulty when he tried shooting just now. If it were an ordinary soldier, he might not even be able to hold the gun steadily, and it is possible that his wrist would be injured after firing a few shots.

"So what are your plans? How do you plan to continue the transformation?" Zhu Shenzhui patted the plum blossom spear beside him and asked with a smile.

Scratching his head, Yao Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "I haven't thought about this yet. I've been thinking about it for a long time these days and I think reducing the weight is the first priority. Otherwise, although it's so heavy that one person can handle it, it's still really inconvenient to use. But how to reduce the weight is a difficult problem. I asked Uncle Zhao. This barrel is already the best the workshop can make. If the barrel is thinner, there will be a risk of explosion. If the barrel is shortened, it won't work and the power will be greatly reduced."

After a pause, Yao Yuan hesitated and said, "So I thought about it and thought that we should reduce the number of barrels by two, from five to three. This way, the weight can be reduced by nearly half. But then, wouldn't the plum blossom spear become a three-barreled gun? It would be meaningless. It would be better to just make it a three-barreled gun. Why bother with so much trouble?"

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly. Yao Yuan's answer made sense. He had thought deeply about it. However, Yao Yuan's thinking was limited. It was not his fault. Zhu Shenzhui did not even think of it at first. If he had not seen the plum blossom spear made by Yao Yuan today, how could he have remembered a firearm in his memory?

Zhu Shenzhui immediately asked Yao Yuan and Zhao Da why they insisted on using five barrels? Why not just one barrel?
When this question came out, Yao Yuan and Zhao Da looked at each other in bewilderment. They even thought that Zhu Shenzhui's question seemed a little outrageous. Whether it was the three-eyed gun or the five-thunder machine, or even the plum blossom gun they had invented, didn't they all fire from one barrel? How could it be possible to maintain continuous firing with only one barrel? Even a child could understand this principle, but why did Zhu Shenzhui ask this question?

If it was said that Zhu Shenzhui did not understand at all, not only Zhao Da but even Yao Yuan would not believe it. You have to know that when Zhao Da was in Wangjia Village at the beginning, Zhu Shenzhui asked him to help make a musket privately, and the firearms produced in the workshop now were also determined by Zhu Shenzhui, even the structure and use of the firearms were also decided by Zhu Shenzhui.

The yellow medicine used in the new muskets was also invented by the Yao brothers under Zhu Shenzhui's guidance. In this case, how could Zhu Shenzhui not understand firearms? If someone else said this, they would definitely refute it without thinking, but now that the person asking the question was Zhu Shenzhui, it was naturally different.

For a moment, Zhao Da and Yao Yuan both fell into deep thought. They frowned and thought about it, but after thinking for a long time, they still couldn't figure out why Zhu Shenzhui asked such an outrageous question.

Seeing them concentrating on thinking, Zhu Shenzhu sighed inwardly, but he did not blame them. After all, sometimes people's thinking is fixed, and in many cases it is difficult to change the fixed thinking and consider the problem from another angle. Sometimes the progress of science and technology relies on a flash of inspiration, and often when the time comes, it is just a matter of a breakthrough. And now it is like this. Zhao Da and Yao Yuan have come up with the plum blossom spear, considering the technology of continuous shooting, but they have not been able to make a breakthrough under the limitation of a mere gun barrel. This layer of window paper seems hazy, but it can be broken with a poke. Zhu Shenzhui will be the one who pokes the window paper today.

Zhu Shenzhui stood up and walked around the room, his eyes suddenly falling on the sundries beside him. He saw an ordinary thing, and with a slight thought in his mind, he bent down to pick it up, and wiped off the dust in his hand.

This is a piece of loofah. Loofah is actually the thing that is picked when the skin of the loofah turns yellow and the inside is dry, and then the skin and flesh are removed, washed, dried, and the seeds are removed.

This thing is also called dry loofah naan in other places. It is usually produced in Nanzhili and is also grown in some parts of the Central Plains.

Fresh loofah can be eaten as a dish, but loofah is a traditional Chinese medicine. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, loofah can open up the meridians and internal organs, remove wind and detoxify, reduce swelling and resolve phlegm, relieve pain and kill insects, and treat various blood diseases. In addition to its medicinal uses, it is also a very good daily necessity. For example, it is more convenient to use loofah to scrub when washing.

This piece of loofah is not long, only less than one foot. It looks like it has been stored for quite some time and has been used. If my guess is correct, Zhao Da probably used it for washing in the summer. As the weather got colder, he threw it aside, and the moisture inside evaporated and became hard.

Zhu Shenzhui laughed as he held the piece of loofah in his hand. He turned around, took out the dagger from his waist, and started cutting the loofah in front of the two men.

The dagger was very sharp, and the loofah was not difficult to cut because it was dehydrated. In a few moments, Zhu Shenzui cut the loofah in his hand into pieces of about an inch long, then trimmed it simply and placed it horizontally on the table.

Although the cross-section of the loofah is dehydrated, the holes in it remain intact. There are four large holes in the center of the loofah, and the large holes are connected by the wall and the center.

After taking a look, Zhu Shenzhui was very satisfied with his craftsmanship. He smiled and asked Zhao Da if he had any separate gun barrels. Zhao Da nodded quickly and said yes. This room was originally his studio, so he naturally had gun barrels. He immediately asked Zhu Shenzhui what kind he needed.

Zhu Shenzhui said that a complete gun barrel was not necessary, and an ordinary gun barrel would do, so Zhao Dalian went to get a few gun barrels. Zhu Shenzhui picked up one of the gun barrels, smiled at the two of them, and reached out to pick up the loofah on the table.

In front of the two men, Zhu Shenzhui held a loofah in one hand and a gun barrel in the other, and then put the gun barrel into the hole of the loofah. Then, under the gaze of the two men, Zhu Shenzhui made a gesture of holding the gun handle with his right hand and pulling the trigger, and then a "pop" sound came out of his mouth.

Then, Zhu Shenzhui did not move the gun barrel, but turned the loofah to the right, allowing the gun barrel to fit into the second hole of the loofah. He then made the gesture of pulling the trigger again, and a "pop" sound came out of his mouth again.

When Zhu Shenzhui started fiddling with the loofah and the gun barrel, Zhao Da and Yao Yuan were both confused. They had no idea what Zhu Shenzhui was going to do. But when Zhu Shenzhui put the gun barrel over the hole of the loofah, made a gesture of pulling the trigger and made a simulated gunshot sound, the two were stunned and stared at Zhu Shenzhui's hand motionlessly.

When Zhu Shenzhui turned the loofah, put the gun barrel into the second hole and repeated the previous action, Zhao Da and Yao Yuan's eyes widened like bells, their faces turned red, and they made a giggle but couldn't say anything.

"This... this..." After a brief calm, Yao Yuan finally came to his senses and stood up suddenly, his eyes shining. Zhao Da was not much better, he was stunned and clenched his fists, his eyes were full of heat and anxiety.

"How is it?" Zhu Shenzhui laughed and threw the thing in his hand on the table. The two of them grabbed it without saying a word, and then imitated Zhu Shenzhui's actions and repeated them continuously. After repeating them several times, they slapped their foreheads and couldn't help but shouting "Wonderful!"

(End of this chapter)