From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 11: Matchlock

"Cthulhu Cheese" completely shattered Chen Zhou's beautiful fantasy about food on the ship.

As an ordinary member of a country of foodies, he has experienced all kinds of cooking skills, such as frying, stir-frying, and deep-frying. He has tasted the salty and fresh taste of his hometown dishes, felt the spicy and fragrant Sichuan cuisine, and also savored the light and peaceful taste of Jiangnan cuisine.

Although my wallet has limited me from trying such luxurious delicacies as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, bird's nest, shark's fin, etc., my taste has been developed without me even realizing it.

He can accept takeout food that is high in salt and oil, unhygienic pre-prepared meals from small workshops, expiring instant noodles, and even the generally recognized dark Chinese dishes such as beef belly hotpot, live pearls, and sour bamboo shoots and bean juice.

But faced with this "17th Century Sailor's Meal" whose taste, flavor and appearance were all horrible, he really found it hard to swallow.

At the same time, Chen Zhou also found it difficult to imagine what kind of weird thinking patterns European chefs had to manipulate normal ingredients into such a weird state. This was really beyond his understanding.

In order to maintain his physical and mental health, and also to take care of his taste buds, Chen Zhou had to find ways to make some slightly normal meals using limited ingredients.

He returned to the stove, took off the lid, grasped the edge of the large iron pot used for cooking, and looked inside the container in the light of the lamp.

As expected, the sailors had no habit of scrubbing the pots after meals.

There were some whitish food residues deposited at the bottom of the dark iron can, and a sour smell was emitted from the tightly closed can.

Looking at the dark walls of the can and the vomit-like leftovers, enduring the unpleasant smell, thinking about how I had robbed bird nests, eaten raw fish, swam naked, had diarrhea, and been caught in the rain today...

After doing so many things, there will always be twists and turns, and nothing will go smoothly.

I finally made it to the kitchen, turned on the light, and tried to cook something, while also helping these unfortunate guys clean up the mess.

"Damn it, I can't stand it anymore"

Chen Zhou squeezed out a curse from between his teeth, and he could hardly control the anger accumulated in his chest.

He really wanted to pull down the broken jar, smash it to pieces and throw it into the sea, then empty his mind, think of nothing and do nothing, just lie down in bed and sleep until tomorrow morning.

But he can't be willful.

Here, no one will pay for the mistakes he makes, and all choices are matched with corresponding results.

For Chen Zhou, this feeling of oppression with no tolerance for mistakes and no direction for venting is the most terrifying.

There are no longer any relatives or friends to back him up or offer him another path. There is only cruel reality, heavy responsibility, and calm choice.

No matter how angry or sad he was, he forced himself to stay calm.

Because this is survival, not a game.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Zhou calmed himself.

“There’s no need to get angry over trivial matters.

Man is made of iron and food is made of steel. You can escape this meal but not the next. We may have to spend the next twenty days on the boat. We can’t live on nothing.”

After a while, he calmed down his fluctuating emotions a little, and with some residual dissatisfaction, he angrily searched for tools to wash the pot.

Holding the oil lamp, he placed the empty wooden barrel brought from the drainage room heavily on the ground, scooped a few large spoonfuls of moss water into the pot, stirred it violently a few times, rinsed the bottom of the pot, crushed the leftovers, and poured these disgusting substances into the bucket. The first step of washing the pot was completed.

Then Chen Zhou took out an empty sack, rolled it into a ball, and rubbed off the solidified grease on the wall of the can until the inner wall of the iron can had a metallic luster and reflected the flickering flames.

Although this rough cleaning method cannot kill the bacteria lurking in the can, it at least looks much better.

Not long ago, I was still mocking sailors for using small silver bars to disinfect large barrels of water, saying that they were deceiving themselves, but now I am doing a similar thing.

In response, Chen Zhou could only shake his head and give a helpless smile.

The tin can is barely usable after being brushed to this point. Next, let's make a fire.

There were a lot of wood stored in the ship, but most of them were regular-shaped, non-rotten wooden boards. They were high-quality building materials that carpenters trimmed bit by bit with long saws and planes. They could be used to repair damaged hulls by hammering nails on them, and they could also be transported to the island to build wooden houses in the future. Chen Zhou was reluctant to burn them as firewood.

After searching around, he chose a broken table and a few rotten benches, moved them to the kitchen, used a sledgehammer to break them into short strips of wood, and stuffed them into the bottom of the stove as fuel.

The firewood is dry and there is a stable flame, so making a fire becomes much easier.

Holding the oil lamp, he used a small wooden stick dipped in grease to start the fire. After only three attempts, the flame under the stove was successfully ignited.

The bright red flame licked the bottom of the pot, illuminating the entire kitchen. It roasted Chen Zhou's face, making it feel hot, and his heart felt comfortable.

The big dog filled his stomach, walked over with his tongue hanging out and panting, sat upright on the ground, and looked at Chen Zhou curiously.

Touching the dog's head, Chen Zhou picked up a large water cup from the wooden rack, added three cups of water into the can, covered it with a lid, opened his coat to expose his chest, and comfortably warmed himself by the fire.

The fire was burning fiercely, and the heat waves caressed Chen Zhou's cheeks, making him drowsy.

The water quickly heated up, making a gurgling sound in the pot, and finally it boiled, but the sound became quieter.

Close the collar and open the lid.

White steam rose from the kitchen ceiling, giving the light of the oil lamp a velvety edge.

Chen Zhou broke the round cake into pieces and threw them into the pot little by little, watching these solid guys sink and float in the boiling water, getting softened, and finally turning into batter floating on the water. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pleasure as if he had gotten revenge.

Thinking that the noodle soup was too bland, he took a small piece of cheese and threw it into the pot.

Although I don't like the strange taste of this cheese, but compared with the greasy cured meat and salted animal offal that seem to come from hell, cheese is at least edible.

The boiling water surged like a greedy mouth, devouring the food in the pot.

The fire gradually weakened, and finally the rampant flames were restrained and the firewood retracted.

A simple one pot cheese stew is ready.

Chen Zhou waited with the lid open until the food cooled down, rinsed the long-handled spoon and cutlery, served a bowl of hot cheese stew, squatted in front of the stove, and began to eat.

The love of the descendants of Yan and Huang for cooked food is engraved in their genes.

The hot batter has a dense texture and a light cereal aroma, and the cheese adds just the right amount of salty flavor to the batter.

After being cooked in boiling water, the sour smell produced by fermentation almost disappears, and the milk flavor hidden in the cheese is released, blending with the bread, complementing each other.

While blowing the hot air in the bowl, use a small spoon to move the batter and eat it in small bites.

As his stomach and intestines were gradually filled, a warm current drove away the coldness in his body, and Chen Zhou felt the power of fullness again.

Putting down the cutlery, he looked at the tin and found that there was still some batter left in it, so he scooped it out and placed it in a large wooden cup to store for consumption in the evening.

Then came the part that chefs hate the most, which is washing pots and dishes after dinner. Chen Zhou wiped the walls of the pot according to the procedure, added a few large cups of water and a few pieces of firewood, and prepared to boil some water for drinking in the evening.

In fact, he also hated the drinking water in large buckets that was covered with green algae and moss.

Every time he scooped up a spoonful of water and looked at the green impurities in it, he would always think of Hellscream's classic line in World of Warcraft - But, Gul'dan, at what cost?

Fortunately, there is no terrible devil's blood in this water. At most, it is overflowing with bacteria and microorganisms. It is safe to boil it.

People on the boat had no control over themselves, and it was just a little dirty water, which would not endanger their lives.

Chen Zhou made a promise to himself: "Just be patient for a few more days. As long as we build a raft and reach the island, everything will be fine."

Thinking of this, he buttoned up his coat.

Although I felt that my cold symptoms had completely healed after the meal, it had just rained outside after all. If I was accidentally blown by the wind, the disease might recur, so I couldn't relax.

After blowing out the oil lamp, Chen Zhou planned to go back to Robinson's room to put on his underwear, and then continue his indoor work and organize supplies.

Time is precious and cannot be wasted.

Unexpectedly, just as he took a step, the big dog that had been sitting obediently beside him suddenly stood up and blocked his way. He raised his head, stuck out his tongue and panted heavily, without making a sound, just wagging his tail.

Although Chen Zhou likes dogs, he has never had the experience of raising a dog since he was a child. His knowledge of this creature is limited to the Internet. He was really confused by this interruption and had to ask tentatively.

"What's wrong? What are you going to do?"

He regretted it as soon as he said it, and felt that he was missing a point of wisdom.

Don't even mention that this dog can't understand human language. Even if it can understand, it should understand English. Speaking Mandarin to it is like playing the lute to a cow.

Unexpectedly, the big dog actually responded to what he said. He walked to the bucket and scratched the bucket wall with his paws. Then he turned his head and looked at Chen Zhou, as if to say, "I want to drink some water."

"Hey!"

"Can you really understand?"

Maybe it was because he had little experience, this was the first time Chen Zhou encountered such a smart dog.

He had heard that the Border Collie was the most intelligent dog breed. Although he didn't know how smart the Border Collie was, he guessed that it was probably as smart as this guy.

He took an empty wooden bowl, filled it with water and placed it in front of the big dog. Watching it lick the water quickly, Chen Zhou couldn't help feeling that he was a little careless.

Since this guy hasn't eaten anything and has been lying at the kitchen door, I know that he definitely hasn't had any soup. He just sat next to me, probably waiting to be fed water, but he never understood.

Fortunately, the dog was smart and stopped him in time, otherwise if he continued to be thirsty, he might have gotten sick.

While thinking about random things, the big dog had drunk up all the water in the bowl unknowingly. It seemed that it was still thirsty and scratched the bucket again.

So Chen Zhou gave it two bowls of water in succession. The big dog was finally satisfied. It lay lazily on the floor, wagging its tail, with its four legs up in the air, exposing its belly, squinting its eyes and looking very contented.

Lacking experience in raising dogs, Chen Zhou had no idea what the strange posture of the big dog meant.

If you think about it, after having enough food and drink, this guy probably doesn't have any important needs.

He then acted like a hands-off boss, picked up the wooden bowl, pretended not to see the big dog's behavior, and turned to go up on deck.

Storms at sea come and go quickly.

After a torrential downpour like a galloping horse, the gloomy clouds temporarily exhausted their strength, stopped, and quietly accumulated the next round of precipitation.

Looking around, the terrifying scene of thunder and lightning in the distant sky has disappeared.

A hole was torn in the gray clouds, and a broad and dazzling beam of light, like a sword from heaven, pierced the sea surface from the distant sky, dyeing the blue water golden.

Chen Zhou stood on the deck, stunned by the spectacular scenery, and admired it quietly for a long time.

"In the face of the might of heaven and earth, what are the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of an individual?"

The sunlight shone on half of his cheek, making him close his eyes. He felt a sense of emotion in his heart, and the suppressed gloomy emotions were relieved a lot.

After a moment, Chen Zhou pushed open the door of the corridor and stepped into the second to last room.

As soon as he entered the door, he was hit by the smell of gunpowder and looking around the room, Chen Zhou identified the owner of the room - a gunner.

As an important combatant on board, the gunners naturally have spacious rooms.

In addition to the tables, chairs, cabinets and beds that are available in every room, the house is also covered with deerskin carpets and hung with ox-horn-shaped gunpowder barrels and rifles.

There are two rifles, one with a shorter barrel and a slender body, and the other with a longer barrel and a broad and heavy body.

Next to the two spears, there was a thick wooden stick more than half a person's height placed against the wall. A "U"-shaped bracket was fixed on the top of the stick, which looked very much like the pole used in clothing stores to pick up clothes from high places.

Chen Zhou didn't know as little about guns as he did about dogs.

When filling out his application form after the college entrance exam, he, without much of his own opinion, chose a major that he was not interested in or liked very much at the time, based on the advice of his relatives.

But as he entered university, met roommates, and studied courses, under the influence of the campus atmosphere, he gradually changed his attitude, became interested in machinery, and gradually developed this interest into a passion.

Like most people who study mechanics, after reading textbooks and being influenced by his tutor, Chen Zhou began to spontaneously search for information to learn about automobile engines, steam locomotives, guns, lathes and other machines with great mechanical beauty, and in the process he naturally browsed the history of gun development.

He read roughly the whole process of firearms from fireworks to simple muskets, and then from muskets to matchlock guns, and finally to fully automatic firearms that shined in the military field.

His roommate who shared the same interests as him was even bolder. He even used his hands-on ability to secretly use a lathe to make a one-to-one scale revolver, and showed it off to him many times.

Chen Zhou was envious. Although he was not as brave as his roommate, he also dreamed of touching a real gun and firing a few live bullets.

Unfortunately, the military training for freshmen at the university he applied for did not include live-fire shooting, so his love for guns could only remain a fantasy.

Although Chen Zhou was excited when he saw the crossbow in the box, he did not lose his composure too much.

Now that he had seen with his own eyes the rifles mentioned in Robinson Crusoe, Chen Zhou could hardly contain his joy. He hurriedly took two steps forward and took down the two rifles from the wall. With fanatical eyes, he stroked the details of the gun body as if he had seen a beautiful woman, and observed the most important part, the trigger.

The slimmer gun is a light matchlock musket that was popular in the late 15th century.

The moment he caught it, the knowledge that he had read dozens of times emerged from Chen Zhou's mind.

In the history of firearms development, the emergence of the matchlock gun is a very important node.

Compared with the simple and unstable structure of its predecessor, the matchlock musket, the matchlock musket, which originated in the early 15th century, underwent drastic improvements and matured in the late 15th century.

The structure of the matchlock gun is very similar to that of modern firearms. It has a barrel, a buttstock and a trigger. It gets its name because it uses a lit match as a fuse to launch projectiles.

As a classic muzzle-loading gun, the matchlock gun has a serious flaw, which is its complicated operation.

Each firing and reloading requires more than forty actions, and a musketeer who is proficient in the use of the weapon can only fire one or two shots per minute.

Moreover, its range and accuracy are far inferior to modern firearms. The matchlock and gunpowder powder it uses are flammable and explosive when dry, and will become ineffective if exposed to rain or water. On windy days, the primer at the firing port will be blown away, causing the gun to be unable to fire. Therefore, it cannot be used in bad weather.

Despite its shortcomings, the matchlock still had obvious advantages over other long-range weapons of the same period, such as longbows and crossbows.

Because of its longer, thinner and better-sealed barrel, the matchlock's projectile has a faster initial velocity, and its shooting accuracy, range and power are far superior to those of bows and crossbows. It can easily penetrate a knight's heavy plate armor from dozens of meters away, making it the new darling of the battlefield.

However, the glory of the light matchlock gun did not last long, and it was replaced by the heavy matchlock gun with more advanced design, greater power and longer range. It can be said that the new generation replaces the old.

The light matchlock gun in Chen Zhou's hand is an "antique from the previous dynasty". The gun body is old and the paint is peeling, and the metal components above and below the trigger are damaged and rusted. Not only is it difficult to trust its accuracy, but there is also the risk of it falling apart at any time when firing.

　Thanks to Tang Xinhan for the reward, and thanks to everyone for the monthly tickets.

　　I also ask for your continued reading, recommendation votes, comments and reviews. Your support is my greatest motivation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)