Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 198 This surprise came too suddenly! [Requesting monthly votes]

Most of the twenty-four inner court offices were located in the southeastern region adjacent to the imperial palace.

Therefore, the Bureau of Armory and the Imperial Horse Stable were not far apart.

Feng Jinzhong quickly got into his sedan chair to discuss the collusion with Cao Zhen, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration.

Yan Maoqing knew that these palace officials also protected each other, and that these two would definitely gossip about him behind his back when they met, and might even think of other ways to fob him off.

But he doesn't care.

This time, he still used an open strategy.

These two people like to gossip, so let them gossip.

He only wanted his 2,500 muskets; he didn't care about anything else.

If these two dare to continue making excuses for him... for their own sake, it's best not to!
Because he has now made up his mind to "let the enemy come from a hundred directions, I will only go one way", if he can't get the full amount of foreign muskets, his words just now will no longer be a bluff, and don't blame him for taking the Armory and the Imperial Horse Administration seriously!
Let's see what happens after this gets to Da Sha Zhu.

Did Da Sha Zhu actually deal with him, or with the two chief eunuchs?

Despite his considerable wealth, with 400,000 taels of silver stored in his cellar, this is all known only to Da Sha Zhu. There are probably few people in the world who are cleaner than him.

But the situation with these two chief eunuchs is much more complicated...

Of course, if they really had the ability to get Zhu Houcong to deal with Yan Maoqing, dismiss him from his post, and force him to retire and return to his hometown.

Yan Maoqing was so grateful to them that he would gladly kowtow to them four times on the spot.

I'm afraid they don't have the ability.

With these thoughts in mind, Yan Maoqing strolled around the Armory with his hands behind his back.

The young eunuch who had been accompanying Feng Jinzhong now closely followed Yan Maoqing, acting as a tour guide in name only, and carefully explaining things to him at each stop.

I must say, the Armory Bureau occupies a fairly large area.

It was several times larger than the Imperial Household Department in the palace. In addition to the offices for administrative staff such as managers, clerks, supervisors, and scribes, there were several spacious workshops where various craftsmen were busy as ants.

The sounds of hammering, shouting, and bellows were incessant.

"Ding! Ding ding! Ding! Ding ding ding! Ding!..."

These craftsmen also possessed a certain artistic flair; their blacksmithing rhythm was extremely brisk.

Especially when the two are working together, every few strokes someone will tap the iron felt in the air to guide the rhythm of the forging. It doesn't sound like forging iron, but rather like a skilled musician playing music.

They passed through the previous few firing ranges where cold weapons and armor were made.

Accompanied by a young eunuch, Yan Maoqing entered the gun range, which was located in another adjacent courtyard.

This was undoubtedly the place that Yan Maoqing was most interested in, because this was the future, this was the trend, and he also wanted to see how the craftsmen at this time could handcraft firearms without machine tools.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard a clear and melodious sound.

"Ping!"

Following the sound, Yan Maoqing saw several craftsmen squatting under a crooked old tree in the courtyard, puffing out smoke from their pipes.

Dry tobacco?

Yan Maoqing was stunned, thinking that he had time-traveled again!

As far as he knew, tobacco was only introduced to China from the Americas during the Wanli era, and then it quickly became popular.

Isn't it a bit inappropriate for someone to be smoking at this time?
However, compared to this...

What surprised Yan Maoqing the most was the source of that "ping" sound.

Guess what he saw?
He saw an elderly craftsman holding a small, flat, rectangular iron box with its lid just opened, and gently turning a small mechanism on the box with his fingers.

Then a device suddenly sprang down, generating a burst of sparks from the friction.

A spark fell into the small iron box, and with a "whoosh," a burst of fire and a cloud of black smoke appeared. As the black smoke dissipated, a small flame actually ignited inside the small iron box.

The elderly craftsman then brought his pipe to the table and began to puff away...

"Zippo?!"

At this moment, Yan Maoqing was shaken to his core, and he truly suspected that he had time-traveled once again.

If he hadn't seen the clothing of the craftsmen and the eunuchs behind them, the style of the armory building, and his own official robes as a third-rank civil official, he would have almost blurted out, "What year is it tonight?"
"Liu Dafu, you're slacking off again?!"

The eunuch behind Yan Maoqing seemed used to this; upon seeing them, he rushed forward and began to hurl insults.
"Your superior has come to inspect today, so get to work right now! Are you waiting for Eunuch Feng to reward you with a few gifts?!"

"Eunuch Zhang, I just finished my work and came out to catch my breath. I'm going back now."

The group quickly stood up, bowing and scraping as they apologized.

He stole another glance at Yan Maoqing's scarlet robe, then quickly knocked his pipe to the ground, lowered his head, and crouched down as he ran into the factory.

"Wait!"

Yan Maoqing called out to them at that moment.

"!"

The group froze, too stunned to move, not even daring to turn around.

“Yan Butang, these are all veteran craftsmen from the Armory. They’ve been there for a long time and have become a bit slick.”

The young eunuch, thinking that Yan Maoqing was going to personally question them, turned back and smiled ingratiatingly.

"Please rest assured, Minister Yan, this matter does not require your personal attention. I will report the truth to Eunuch Feng later, and I guarantee they will not dare to do it again."

However, Yan Maoqing had already bypassed the young eunuch and quickly walked to the craftsmen's side, smiling without any airs:
"Master craftsmen, may I have a look at what you used to start the fire just now?"

"Master, is this the item you're referring to?"

These craftsmen clearly had little contact with high-ranking officials like Yan Maoqing, their voices trembling as they spoke. After turning around, they didn't even dare to raise their heads, but instead tremblingly presented the small iron box with both hands.

"This is it! Thank you!"

Yan Maoqing grabbed the small iron box.

Then, with a "ping," he opened the lid like the craftsman and turned the lever.

"Snapped!"

As the mechanism snapped shut, a small mechanism holding a tiny gray stone sprang down.

The small gray stone rubbed against the inner wall of the iron box, and immediately many sparks fell into the box!
flint!

Yan Maoqing was immediately speechless.

To his surprise, his same operation did not produce any flames or black smoke inside the iron box, nor did it ignite even a small flame.

"Why?"

Yan Maoqing was puzzled.

"Master, this isn't how you use it; you're missing a step..."

The older craftsman immediately took out a small porcelain bottle from his person and carefully stepped forward to provide guidance.

"Liu Dafu, you must not be disrespectful to your superior!"

The young eunuch rushed forward again, shouting loudly.

At this moment, he felt quite afraid of Yan Maoqing, because apart from Yan Maoqing, he had never seen any other court official who could frighten his godfather like that.

This is clearly a ruthless person that even his godfather can't afford to offend. If he doesn't serve him well and causes his godfather other unnecessary troubles, then his godfather probably won't give him a good beating.

"Get out!"

Yan Maoqing suddenly shouted to stop him, pointing to the courtyard gate.
"Go wait outside the courtyard. If there's anything I need, I'll call you. Don't come in and disturb me unless I need to."

"But……"

The young eunuch naturally didn't want to go out; he still had to keep an eye on Yan Maoqing for his godfather, otherwise he might not be able to explain himself later.

"Should I summon someone from the Imperial Household Department?"

Yan Maoqing immediately glared at him and asked in a cold voice.

"No need, no need, this servant will take her leave..."

The little eunuch immediately fell silent, then gave Liu Dafu and the others a warning look before reluctantly retreating.

At this moment, Yan Maoqing laughed again, and moved closer to Liu Dafu, asking with considerable curiosity:
"Craftsman, no need for formalities, please teach me how to play."

"Yes……"

Seeing that Yan Maoqing was indeed very approachable, Liu Dafu mustered up his courage, removed the stopper from the small porcelain bottle, tapped it lightly twice with his fingers, and sprinkled some black granular powder into it.

"Just add a little gunpowder, sir, please try it again."

"Snapped!"

"Shh!"

As Yan Maoqing pressed the trigger again, the flint struck the inner wall, and sparks fell into the iron box, instantly igniting a fire and emitting black smoke.

As the black smoke dissipated, a small flame indeed ignited inside the iron box.

"This……"

Yan Maoqing's face, illuminated by the firelight, was lost in thought. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly looked excitedly at Liu Dafu.

"I see, I understand now!"

"The wick inside this box is soaked in sesame oil or tung oil. The sparks produced by flint alone cannot reach the ignition point, so it cannot be lit!"

"Therefore, a small amount of gunpowder needs to be sprinkled in, and the gunpowder is ignited first with a spark, and then the heat generated by the burning gunpowder is used to ignite the wick!"

Is this the principle?

China is an oil-poor country.

It was difficult to obtain gasoline or kerosene, which are volatile and easily ignited. The oil lamps used for lighting in rural areas mainly used sesame oil, tung oil, and animal fats.

Therefore, it was impossible for it to be able to start a fire using only flint sparks, like the later "Zippo".

But the artisans in the Armory who manufactured firearms came up with other solutions to this problem, since gunpowder was readily available to them!
Is this the wisdom of the working people?
"Ignition point?"

Liu Dafu and the other craftsmen had clearly never heard of this term before, but the fact that it was only this one obscure word didn't prevent them from understanding Yan Maoqing's words.

"Nothing can be hidden from you, sir... These are just some strange and ingenious skills, something I do for fun when I have nothing else to do. Please don't take offense, sir."

"And where did you get the pipes you were smoking earlier?"

Yan Maoqing then asked another question that had been on his mind.

"It is understandable that a man of noble status would never have seen such a lowly thing."

Liu Dafu then took out a small cloth bag from his waist and presented it with both hands.
"This thing is called leek leaf rue in the clinic, and is commonly known as wild tobacco. To put it bluntly, it is just a worthless wild grass. After drying it, you knead it into a pipe, light it, and take a few puffs. It is said that it can ward off wind and cold, heatstroke, and prevent miasma. I don't know if it is really useful, but it can at least relieve fatigue and refresh the mind."

"If you don't mind, sir, you may have a taste."

Yan Maoqing took it and smelled it carefully, confirming that it was indeed not tobacco as he knew it, but rather had a peculiar herbal aroma.

He then recalled a poem titled "Bamboo Branch Song" by Liu Yuxi, a poet from the Tang Dynasty:
The horsewhip pipe is thin and has a narrow opening.
The two lovers must keep their love a secret.

The swallow's beak must be tight when carrying mud.
The silkworm spins its silk inside its belly.

Li Bai also seems to have written similar lines in one of his poems:

Longing is like tobacco smoke, fleeting and without end, through winter and spring.

In other words, even before tobacco from the Americas was introduced to China, China already had a tradition of "smoking," with documents dating back to the Tang Dynasty.

Just as the Tang Dynasty border troops had a tradition of chewing or smoking mint leaves, it was also called tobacco at that time.

However, tobacco in China does not contain nicotine and is not addictive. It consists of herbs that can be used in medicine, and smoking it may even have medicinal effects...

It turned out to be the case.

Yan Maoqing finally felt relieved and immediately dropped the matter of tobacco, then turned to fiddling with the "lighter" in his hand and said:

"Since you were able to create this thing, didn't you ever think about using it in other places to make it play a greater role?"

"Master, you mean this self-igniting firebox?"

Seeing that Yan Maoqing was neither arrogant nor did he approve of their "ingenious skills," the other craftsmen also took out their own "lighters" to show them off.

They even created other shapes, such as cylindrical and gourd-shaped.

There was even one that was an extremely complex seven-story pagoda!
What does it mean to neglect one's proper work?

That's called neglecting one's proper duties!
These craftsmen who could make guns and cannons by hand were all classified as level nine fitters in later generations; they were all invaluable talents!

They could have used that time to invent something better, like this little thing they call a "self-igniting firebox," which already incorporates the principles and basic mechanisms of a flintlock musket.

They spend all day here making foreign muskets, why don't they know how to use them?

"Why isn't it there?"

Liu Dafu shook his head and said,
"As early as four or five years ago, we thought about using this thing on a musket, and we even copied the breech-loading cannon and moved the musket's loading port to the back."

“You all remember, right? We even made two of them, just like this self-igniting flintlock, and named them ‘self-igniting muskets’.”

"We figured this self-propelled musket would be much better than those foreign muskets with a matchlock that would misfire when it rained, right?"

"Who would have thought that after we handed it in, instead of receiving praise from the eunuch, he scolded us for being lazy and wasting the Ordnance Bureau's fine iron, fined us three months' salary, and only taught us to make foreign muskets, strictly forbidding us from having any more crooked ideas..."

"what?!"

Yan Maoqing almost jumped up upon hearing this.

This is the Ming Dynasty as it is today!

There are many hidden masters among ordinary people!
We possess the world's most intelligent and hardworking people, yet they are wasted and buried by a corrupt and incompetent court, a decadent bureaucracy, and officials who hold positions without performing their duties!
He should have thought of it earlier!
The flintlock gun, which would appear in just a few decades, was invented by the West. How could the Celestial Empire, which is best at invention and has led the world for two thousand years, fall behind?

Firearms masters like Bi Maokang and Zhao Shizhen have actually emerged long ago!

These are the humble, unassuming artisans!

They simply lacked the ability to pass the imperial examinations like Bi Maokang and Zhao Shizhen, and the opportunity to submit memorials to the court like Bi Maokang and Zhao Shizhen. Therefore, they were unable to voice their opinions or change the Ming Dynasty with their inventions!

This situation is exactly the same as the industrial survey that the country conducted before Yan Maoqing traveled through time.

While the government has not yet developed a type of invisible paint, private paint factories have already developed it and are using it on cars to evade speed limit monitoring.

The carbon fiber that the government has been unable to develop has already been mass-produced by private fishing rod factories, and anglers are using fishing rods made with materials even better than those used in the military...

Who would have thought.

His "line-up execution" tactic so easily made up for his biggest weakness.

The surprise was so sudden and overwhelming that Yan Maoqing felt a slight urge to urinate!
(End of this chapter)