From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 12: The Room Inside the Corridor

In the classic novel "The Three Musketeers" by the French literary giant Alexandre Dumas, the four musketeers, including the protagonist, used matchlock rifles.

However, the story of "The Three Musketeers" is set in the first half of the 17th century, when light matchlock guns had been completely eliminated. The standard equipment distributed by the King's Guard, where the protagonist D'Artagnan served, was heavy matchlock guns.

This type of gun is about one person tall from muzzle to buttstock, weighs from 8 kg to 11 kg, has a caliber of 18 to 22 mm, and is difficult to operate unless you are strong.

Because of its overly long barrel and heavy body, the heavy matchlock gun is very difficult to operate. To address this problem, it is usually equipped with a bracket to assist in aiming, which clamps the front end of the trigger in the middle of the "U"-shaped groove to share the weight of the gun body, thereby speeding up the loading speed and saving physical strength.

In addition to the stand, a fully armed musketeer also had to carry a bullet bag, a powder bottle, a primer, a matchlock, and a cleaning rod to compact the lead bullets loaded into the gun chamber.

These essential items seriously affected the performance of the musketeer in close combat.

Except on the battlefield, they usually use swords more than guns when performing security and other tasks.

Another long gun hanging in the room is a typical heavy matchlock gun. It is well maintained. The gun body, the frequently used vent, the powder pool, the trigger and the snake rod used to clamp the match are all wiped very clean, which shows how much the gunner values it.

After hanging the light musket back on the wall, Chen Zhou picked up the butt of the heavy musket, put it against his shoulder, and tried to pull the trigger to check the condition of the gun.

The trigger pries the snake rod, and the damping feeling is obvious, neither too loose nor too dull.

Obviously, this is a gun that can be used in actual combat, rather than a silver-pewter gun head with a shiny appearance.

Focusing his eyes on the mechanical sight protruding from the muzzle, Chen Zhou pretended to aim and recalled the complicated steps of using the matchlock gun.

The words I have read and the pictures I have seen are buried deep in my memory and are already very blurry when I look them up.

He vaguely remembered that the matchlock had to be loaded from the muzzle. First, the propellant and lead bullets had to be compacted and loaded into the chamber. Then the primer (gunpowder used to ignite the propellant) was loaded into the firing port. Finally, the end of the barrel was inserted into the bracket, the aiming posture was taken, the match was lit, and the trigger was pulled after aiming.

Under the action of the mechanism inside the trigger, the snake-shaped rod holding the front section of the burning fuse falls downward, contacts the gunpowder in the firing port, completes the detonation and shoots the projectile.

This set of procedures sounds dizzying just by sounding it, and the actual operation is even more complicated due to the limitation of the gun body weight.

Chen Zhou was not bragging. He believed that if someone else except himself participated in the challenge and got the matchlock gun, it would take them a week or two to figure out how to use it.

Because compared with common modern firearms, the matchlock gun has too many counter-intuitive aspects.

Especially the two aspects of muzzle-loading and separate loading of gunpowder, people who don’t know much about matchlock guns probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out even if they racked their brains.

Fortunately, Chen Zhou had a strong motivation to study when he was in college, liked to borrow books, and had a good memory, so he had the opportunity to put this knowledge to use.

Carrying the matchlock, he searched the room for the necessary equipment.

The first thing to be opened was the horn-shaped gunpowder barrel.

Looking inside the barrel, there was a layer of waterproof oil paper wrapped around it and dark gunpowder loosely filled inside, emitting a special smell of saltpeter and sulfur.

The matchlock gun at this time used black powder, a product of the classic gunpowder formula of "one sulfur, two nitrates and three carbons".

This ancient gunpowder is simple to make and has poor stability. Its temperature can reach over 1000 degrees Celsius at the moment of explosion, making it extremely destructive.

It is no exaggeration to say that if a spark falls into the gunpowder barrel, Chen Zhou will be torn into pieces by the explosion in an instant, with even the stern of the ship not being spared. At best, the walls and houses will collapse, and at worst, it will be razed to the ground.

When dealing with this kind of thing, you must remain extremely vigilant and respectful, after all, you only have one life.

Chen Zhou carefully picked up a pinch and rubbed it gently, making sure that the black powder used as primer remained dry and would not affect its use. Then he closed the lid of the barrel and opened the cabinet in the room.

The upper layer of the cabinet was stacked with the gunner's clothes and portable sundries such as daggers and belts, and the lower drawers were filled with bags of lead bullets and bottles of primers. These were the "good partners" of the matchlock gun, and Chen Zhou silently memorized their locations.

On the long table, Chen Zhou found a small barrel of wine and a large wooden cup.

The wooden cup is filled with wine all year round, and it has been marinated with flavor. The aroma of wine can be smelled from a long distance away.

"Let a drunkard be in charge of gunpowder. I don't know whether to praise you for trusting your people or scold you for being so careless..."

The smell of alcohol made Chen Zhou's nose itchy, he sneezed and put down the matchlock gun on his shoulder - his arm was sore from carrying it for a long time.

Then he opened the lids of two wooden boxes in the corner of the room.

One of the boxes contained four small barrels of gunpowder, five light muskets and a pistol, as well as three crowbars and a large bag of lead sand bullets.

Another box was filled with thin lead plates. Chen Zhou tried to move it, but was unable to move the wooden box at all.

After counting the number of lead plates in the box, he judged based on his experience that the entire box of lead plates weighed at least five or six hundred kilograms. If he wanted to transport them to the shore, he could only carry them in multiple batches, which would require a lot of effort.

"I wonder why they put so many lead plates on the ship. Are they used to make lead bullets?"

After closing the lid, Chen Zhou kicked the wooden box, thinking that the process of moving the box of lead plates would be very painful in the future, and then picked up a pistol from another box.

This gun looks quite special at first glance, and it looks like a long-barreled pistol, but it is actually a light matchlock gun with a shortened barrel.

Compared with other matchlock guns, the short-barreled matchlock gun increases portability and reduces weight, but it also sacrifices power, accuracy and range. At most, it can only hit prey within a distance of more than ten meters. For Chen Zhou, it is far less practical than the heavy matchlock gun.

Because he knew that the heavy matchlock gun had a solid foundation, and its design concept and structure were on the right track, but the tide of history had not yet advanced to that step.

However, the design concept of the short-barreled matchlock gun is completely contrary to the function pursued by firearms. It will not be long before it will be completely lost in the long river of history.

In contrast, the heavy matchlock musket treads on a sunny road.

More than a hundred years later, in the 18th century, the heavy matchlock gun would be transformed after generations of improvements. It would become the main force in war with its extremely high cost-effectiveness, and its defects would gradually shrink or even disappear.

The first problem to be solved was that the tinderbox was too cumbersome to ignite and was afraid of rain.

Just a dozen years later, a German watchmaker invented a spring-driven wheel mechanism.

This device was inspired by the toothed rotating steel wheel on a clock. It ignited the gunpowder through friction between the steel wheel and the flint on the flint clamp. It not only saved the step of lighting the matchlock, but also made it no longer afraid of rain. Therefore, it was very powerful in war and replaced some matchlock guns.

However, the revolver musket was complicated in craftsmanship, precise in structure, and expensive to manufacture. Moreover, once the steel wheel became contaminated and clogged, it could not ignite reliably. Therefore, it was only popular for more than a decade before it was phased out. The next to come was the flintlock musket invented by the French.

Chen Zhou could no longer remember the Frenchman's name, but he clearly remembered the genius innovation of the flintlock rifle.

The flintlock gun subverted the design concept of the traditional matchlock gun, moving the ignition position from directly above to the side. Sparks were generated by striking a hammer with flint and anvil next to the fire hole to ignite the gunpowder.

This firing device was later named the percussion flintlock.

The emergence of the percussion flintlock greatly simplified the shooting process, improved the ignition success rate and design accuracy, and it was easy to use, low in production cost, and conducive to mass production. It soon became the mainstream equipment of the armies of European countries.

The Frenchman then developed a more reliable and complete firing mechanism and safety mechanism, thus creating the best performing gun in the world at that time.

Until the 21st century, some retro gun enthusiasts would hold flintlock shooting competitions, which shows how popular this type of gun is.

Chen Zhou is very clear that he is not a genius and he cannot make great innovations, but he can still copy the homework of his predecessors.

When he was bored during the college summer vacation, he made models of flintlock rifles and revolvers that were popular in the American West on a whim, so he knew the structures of both types of firearms very well.

But at that time he never thought that this outdated knowledge would come in handy one day.

Now that he had plenty of time and no legal restrictions, Chen Zhou thought he could easily make a percussion flintlock by hand and convert the heavy matchlock into a flintlock, thus making it easier for him to hunt on the island.

He also knew a method of accelerated loading invented by later American gunsmiths, which was to use greased linen or deerskin to wrap the bullets and gunpowder and load them into the muzzle.

The lubricating grease reduces friction, speeds up loading, and seals the barrel, acting as a gas-tight barrier, while also improving shooting accuracy and range.

The most important thing is that this accelerated loading method has a low threshold for use and does not require any advanced technology. As long as you understand the principle, you can learn it.

If these "black technologies" can be successfully applied to the heavy matchlock gun to make up for its shortcomings, with its 22mm caliber, Chen Zhou is confident that he can knock down a wild goat or a cannibalistic native, let alone an elephant, with one shot.

But right now we cannot be blinded by the bright future. We must prioritize. Although modifying the guns is interesting, it has to be postponed compared to organizing supplies and building ships.

Picturing himself roaming the isolated island with a gun and a dog, Chen Zhou reluctantly put all the matchlocks together and stored the gunpowder separately in different corners of the house to avoid chain explosions. He counted the number before leaving the gunner's room.

The door to the corridor was open. As soon as he closed the door to the gunner's room, a gust of wind blew and Chen Zhou suddenly felt a chill in his crotch.

When he looked down, he remembered that he was supposed to go to Robinson's room to change his clothes, but he forgot about it because he was admiring the sea scenery for a while.

So he went back to Robinson's room, put on a pair of shorts and a shirt, took off the brimmed hat that blocked his vision, and came to the end of the corridor.

There are six doors in the entire corridor. Except for the entrance door, there are two doors on each side. The rooms belong to Robinson, the ship's doctor, the carpenter and the gunner respectively. From the outside to the inside, the indoor space gradually becomes larger.

As for the last door, it is in the middle of the end of the corridor, opposite the entrance door.

Even before entering the house, just by looking at the door, Chen Zhou knew that the owner must be of a high status, either the captain or the first mate.

Because compared with the simple thin wooden doors of others, this door has patterns on the upper and lower edges, the wood is thicker and more delicate, and after painting it presents an elegant dark brown color, which is obviously a level higher than the doors of senior seafarers' rooms.

Pushing open the door, a wide semicircular room came into view. Chen Zhou's eyes were dazzled by the various European aristocratic-style furniture.

A neatly woven hammock; a colorful carpet; a set of carved low cabinets; an armchair with a hollow back; a two-meter-long sailing table...

There are also well-made bookcases, cabinets, and shelves;

On the table were nautical charts, a telescope, a compass, a sundial, a nautical book, pens and ink, and some mathematical instruments.

It includes a ruler, a slide rule, a compass, a round wooden plate with various numerical symbols written on it, and another square ruler also filled with numbers.

These things are placed in the room in a staggered manner, and all the furniture has wooden blocks at the feet for fixing.

With the exquisitely framed paintings on the wall, the silver tableware covered by the shelf grilles, the brass chandelier under the ceiling, the blue and white porcelain bowl on the bedside table and the half piece of white bread in the bowl that looks very soft, the whole room is decorated with an upper-class atmosphere, as if it is not in the same world as other people's rooms.

Looking to the side, several sturdy hangers were filled with thick leather jackets, various hats, and blouses with lace cuffs.

These garments were not designed with physical work in mind, and of course, their owners didn’t have to worry about physical work either.

Repairing the ship, pumping water, keeping lookout, raising and lowering sails, and weighing and dropping anchor are all things that ordinary sailors have to consider.

"Damn it, the evil aristocracy."

The contrast between this room and the gunner's room was so drastic that it was beyond Chen Zhou's imagination.

Looking at the luxurious interior furnishings, he could not help but curse. He then sprinted to the hammock, fell back on the soft fur bedding, and closed his eyes as the hammock swayed slightly.

"Other sailors sleep on hard wooden beds, but you sleep on this?"

Chen Zhou muttered as he turned over and wrapped himself completely in the middle of the hammock.

"This is so comfortable. When I die, I must put my coffin here and swing on it to see the King of Hell."

After swinging the hammock a few times with all his might, Chen Zhou climbed up with difficulty, ready to look carefully for other good things in the room.

He had a vague feeling that the reward for successfully challenging the enemy might all depend on the owner of this room.

Opening the nearest bedside table drawer, the gold and silver coins separated into two piles by wooden boxes instantly lit up Chen Zhou's eyes, so that he could not see anything except these golden things.

He quickly picked up the two gold coins, put them in his mouth and took a bite. Seeing the clear teeth marks, a strong sense of excitement filled his chest.

This is not virtual data of hundreds of thousands or millions in the game, but real money that can be seen and touched!
Father and son, house and car, wife and children, reputation and appearance...

It can solve 99 percent of the world's problems.

Although it is small, crudely made, and the old man cast on it has a wretched face, and it has no mechanical or mathematical beauty at all, in Chen Zhou's eyes, nothing can be more charming than it!
(End of this chapter)