My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

"impossible."

Chen Mo rejected the idea without even thinking.

"Why can't we build it?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to lose his temper, his neck stiff and his face full of resentment.

"Even if we can't build that iron tortoise and that city-destroying east wind, we'll accept that!"

Old Zhu pointed to the guns on the screen.

"But those guns! They don't look any more complicated than our muskets! Even if we can't make too many, can't we at least use the resources of the whole country to replicate a few, or even a few dozen?!"

The others nodded in agreement, clearly sharing the same thought as Lao Zhu.

If you can't build tanks and Dongfeng missiles, does that mean you can't even build the automatic rifles mentioned above?

Seeing this, Chen Mo looked both amused and exasperated, and explained.

"Old Zhu, and everyone else, things aren't as simple as you think."

"If you want to develop step by step, like with flintlock rifles, but want to jump directly to fully automatic rifles, that's just too difficult!"

Chen Mo extended his hand.

"Let's put everything else aside and start with the materials!"

Chen Mo glanced at the crowd.

"With your current smelting technology, it's difficult to even produce iron that meets a unified standard, let alone steel for making firearms."

"How is that possible!"

Old Zhu was still somewhat unconvinced.

He pointed to the other people.

"We understand they can't build it; the gap is just too big!"

"But why can't our Great Ming Dynasty build them?"

"Didn't you say before that our Ming Dynasty was only a few hundred years away from yours?"

Looking at Old Zhu's expression, Chen Mo knew that he wouldn't give up until he got an explanation.

He hesitated for a moment, then went inside. When he came out again, he was holding several dark iron rods.

The stick was quite thick, with regularly raised patterns on it.

Chen Mo threw the stick to the ground with a loud thud.

"Here you go!"

Chen Mo kicked the rebar under his feet.

"You guys can try and see if you can break this thing!"

Chen Mo paused, then pointed to the rebar on the ground and added.

"This thing, in our area, is used to reinforce the cement when building houses; it's called rebar."

"Anyone of you may now take your best knife, your best sword, or any method you deem useful and try it—"

"Could you please break this thing in half?"

The atmosphere in the courtyard changed instantly upon hearing this!

Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to disagree!

He stood up abruptly, pointed at the black iron bar on the ground, and spoke in a loud voice.

"I refuse to believe it! My precious sword can cut through a hair in an instant, yet it can't cut through this mere iron bar?! Guards! Bring me my sword!"

After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence.

Old Zhu then realized that he hadn't brought anyone with him, and turned his gaze to Zhu Di.

"Fourth brother, did you bring a knife?"

Zhu Di nodded and handed the sword he always carried with him to Old Zhu.

As he gave it to Chen Mo, he looked at him with a proud expression and said.

"This sword of mine was made by the best craftsmen of our time; it can cut through iron like mud."

"Manager Chen, you might accidentally cut through your rebar!"

Chen Mo simply smiled.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that we call this 'rebar' here; back in your country, it's a veritable legendary weapon."

"Chop away as much as you want! It's on me if you cut it in half!"

Chen Mo pointed to the threaded steel track.

Seeing Chen Mo's confident demeanor, Old Zhu muttered to himself.

"Then we'd like to give it a try and see how your materials are!"

After saying that, he took the knife, weighed it in his hand, and with all his might, shouted at the rebar on the ground.

"Cut it off!"

Before the words were even finished, a flash of light appeared!

"Clang—!!!"

A deafening clang of metal clashing rang out! Sparks flew everywhere!

Everyone quickly looked closely.

A noticeable nick appeared on the blade of the precious sword in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand!

The rebar on the ground, apart from a shallow white mark where it was struck and a little bit of surface rust chipped off, remained completely still, without even a decent groove!

Zhu Yuanzhang: ? ? ?

Zhu Di: ? !!! !

Holding his chipped sword, Zhu Yuanzhang stared dumbfounded at the undamaged black iron bar on the ground. His expression shifted from confidence to astonishment, and then to utter disbelief!

Zhu Di hurriedly took the knife, looked at the cut on it, and felt a pang of heartache.

He's had this sword for a long time.

He actually went looking for that place with this knife in his hand... ugh...

He carried this sword on his northern expedition!

They could cut through iron like mud, and chop people like vegetables!

And now...

Zhu Di glanced at the slightly damaged rebar and looked like he was about to cry.

Li Shimin, Ying Zheng, Liu Che, and others also changed color instantly.

"We...we don't believe it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face flushed red, feeling utterly humiliated. He turned to look at Li Shimin and Ying Zheng.

"You! Try your weapons too!"

Li Shimin and the others exchanged glances, their eyes then falling on the precious sword in Zhu Di's hand.

They weren't carrying any weapons, so...

"What are you going to do?"

Zhu Di panicked when he saw everyone looking at his sword.

"This sword has been with me ever since I was enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan—I mean, ever since I was enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan!"

"Over the years, I've developed a very close and deep bond with it!"

"It's fine for the old man to use it, but you guys want to..."

"Stop talking nonsense! I'll have Chen buy you an even better one later!"

Old Zhu snorted impatiently.

"What's the use of a better one? Is this still mine?"

"I have a deep emotional bond with this sword..."

"Ten of them!"

Zhu Di fell silent instantly and handed the knife to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin did not speak, but stared at the rebar for a moment and pondered.

Cutting it directly won't work, so...

"bite--!"

The same piercing sound, and the same result!

The only difference on the rebar is a white dot.

Li Shimin looked at the bent sword tip in his hand, then at the undamaged rebar below, and gasped.

"Hiss~!"

"This is an amazing artifact!"

Liu Che walked up to the rebar and muttered to himself, stroking it with his hand.

The surface of rebar is not smooth. After all, it's cheap and produced in large quantities, so how could it be finely crafted?

Others also gathered around, touching the thing with gleaming eyes.

Perhaps even the rebar itself never imagined that one day it would be valued so much, being touched and caressed so intimately.

"This thing must be very valuable, right?"

Liu Che couldn't help but ask.

"This thing is worthless!"

"Just these few pieces, here, you can buy them for a few coins... no, a few dollars, they're very cheap, they're the most common building materials."

"The most common building material, how much does it cost per piece?"

Liu Che and the others were dumbfounded.

Zhu Di, in particular, looked at his ruined sword and then at the undamaged rebar in front of him, and felt like crying.

This is fucking...

Chen Mo crossed his arms and said casually.

"Alright! Take this with you when you go back."

"Use whatever method you like, just break this thing!"

"Let's wait until we've figured this thing out before considering working on modern firearms!"

"otherwise……"

Chen Mo smiled.

"Even if you know how to build a gun, it might explode due to insufficient strength, ultimately harming your own people!"

As for whether Lao Zhu and his team can break this thing.

joke!

If this thing could be broken by manpower alone without the aid of machinery, then the gunfire at the shooting range probably would never stop.

When the time comes, tell the truth, and they will all be sent to be executed!

"Alright, sit down and eat! Otherwise, the food will get cold!"