Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

Zhu Di finally showed some consideration for Shen Lian, allowing him to rest for a while and handing over the task to Ji Gang.

Ji Gang personally led the elite Imperial Guards to infiltrate Quanzhou.

Ji Gang disguised himself as a wealthy merchant and approached Su Jing, a Song merchant who frequently traveled to the Ming Dynasty, under the guise of making friends.

The money, gifts, and respectful attitude lasted for two months.

Su Jing finally lowered his guard.

After a few glasses of fine wine...

Su Jing's eyes were already blurry, and Ji Gang took the opportunity to start gathering information.

"Brother Su's wealth is unmatched even in the Ming Dynasty. I am truly envious. I wonder how you amassed your fortune? Perhaps you could share some of your experience?"

When Su Jing was young, he worked as the technical director of the Luzon Shipyard. Later, he saved some money and used his relationship with the shipyard to buy a ship at a low price, thus officially starting his business.

Therefore, Su Jing has a deep understanding of mechanics.

After being repeatedly praised by Ji Gang, Su Jing became complacent and started boasting about "past events." He mentioned that when he was young, he worked at the Luzon Shipyard, where there was a "mother machine"—that's what the workers called it.

That machine can process iron parts with extremely high precision, with an error of no more than one-tenth the thickness of a human hair.

All the key parts in the factory were made by that machine tool.

Ji Gang, barely suppressing his excitement, asked, "Who built that mother machine?"

Su Jing thought for a long time and said, "I can't remember who it was, but it should be Lü Te."

Ji Gang then asked, "Who exactly is Lü Te?"

Su Jing shook his head: "He is not holy, far from it. In the Song Dynasty, there are only three True Lords who can be called holy. Lü Te has been dead for many years."

True Lord?

What is this called?

How come the Song people, who were so obsessed with Taoist practices, did not experience a decline in national strength?

Oh no, could they have actually succeeded in cultivating it?

Ji Gang received a large amount of information in a short period of time, which he couldn't digest all at once, so he pretended to be drunk and left.

After Ji Gang returned, he handed the intelligence over to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di summoned Zheng He. Zheng He had been captured by the Song Dynasty and had close contact with the Song navy. Zhu Di asked him, "Did you hear the name 'Lü Te' while you were on the Shenlong?"

Zheng He thought for a moment and replied, "No. But I heard something else on the Shenlong."

He recalled that when the officers on the Shenlong were chatting, they mentioned a word—"standardization".

When they talked about the newly launched warships, they said, "All the parts are standardized, and if they break, we just take them from the warehouse."

Zheng He didn't pay attention at the time, but looking back now, this word may be more important than the steam engine itself.

He reported to Zhu Di: "Your Majesty, I believe that 'standardization' is what Su Jing called 'interchangeability.' The Great Song Dynasty did not build a steam engine, but rather a machine that 'can build a steam engine.' Lü Te may be the inventor of this machine."

Zhu Di asked, "Can we build that machine?"

This is a good question.

Even the Ming Dynasty's steam engines lacked precision, so the precision requirements for machines capable of producing steam engines must be even higher.

So, to manufacture such a master machine, would we need a more precise grandmother machine?

A grandmother's machine requires a great-grandmother's machine to make.

So here's the question: how did the first machine in the Song Dynasty come about?

It couldn't have fallen from the sky, could it?

After pondering for a long time, Zheng He tentatively said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid simply imitating the machines of the Song Dynasty won't work; there must be a complete set of theories behind it."

"What school of thought? The Mohists?"

Upon seeing this, Ji Gang quickly said, "Your Majesty, it should be Taoism. According to that Song merchant, Lü Te is considered a half-step True Lord."

Zhu Di found this absurd.

What on earth is the Song Dynasty doing?

Did the Ming and Song dynasties live in the same world?

Why does the name "Great Song" sound like it's about to perish?

Did any dynasties that promoted Taoism in history have a good ending?

Just when Zhu Di was in a state of utter distress, an event that occurred in Songjiang Prefecture gave him hope for a turning point.

. . .

In the same year, Xinxiang.

Gewu Academy, Medical School.

Lin Tejia was a Taoist priest in the academy. He was introverted by nature and so weak that he could hardly take care of himself.

He usually wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken; he was so weak that he could only dissect those Japanese slaves who were under his control.

This personality, ironically, fostered a compassionate heart in him—despite being a member of the Taoist community, he was a devout Buddhist, especially revering Guanyin Bodhisattva.

The imperial court did not conceal the news of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Song and Ming dynasties, and the news quickly spread among the people.

Upon learning this, Lin Tejia, with his intelligence, immediately foresaw the future situation: a war between the two countries was inevitable.

How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed?

This war is different from any other.

In the past, our opponents were all "barbarians," but this time, both sides are descendants of Yan and Huang.

The Ming Dynasty was by no means an opponent that could be easily manipulated.

How many lives will be lost if a great war breaks out?

He was just a scholar of little influence.

The prevailing public opinion in the Song Dynasty was to wage war.

What exactly can he do?

Lin Tejia racked his brains for ten days and ten nights and finally came up with a solution.

Modern warfare is no longer the era of cold weapons.

The two sides fought each other using firearms—one person, one gun, shooting at each other.

If there were a way for one person to control ten guns at the same time, then even if he ultimately dies in battle, it would be one person who dies, not ten—he would have saved nine lives!

He became excited, immediately laid out paper and picked up a pen, and began to conceive of this weapon.

By bundling multiple gun barrels together, one person can operate multiple guns.

Reloading is too troublesome—after firing a round, it's no different from a single gun.

If the problem isn't solved, more people can't be saved.

Fortunately, those who can enter the Gewu Academy are not unintelligent.

Lin Tejia had a brilliant idea: add a cylinder with bullets pre-loaded on it, and by simply turning the cylinder, the bullets would enter the chamber one by one—this is equivalent to having one person do the work of "loading multiple people at the same time".

Soon, the world's first hand-cranked machine gun was born.

Lin Tejia excitedly went to the outskirts to test fire.

The result far exceeded expectations—the rate of fire reached 200 rounds per minute.

It should be noted that even a skilled archer using the Xuanji Needle Gun can only fire about ten shots per minute.

In this way, one machine gun can be equivalent to twenty gunmen, which is equivalent to saving nineteen lives.

Good, good.

However, a fatal problem soon became apparent: the machine gun's high rate of fire combined with the paper-cased ammunition caused severe propellant gas leakage. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas gushing from the gaps in the barrel posed a serious threat to the safety of the operator. The leaked gas residue (carbon deposits) quickly contaminated the mechanical parts, affecting the smoothness of firing and even causing misfires.

If things go wrong, he might save nineteen people, only to die from his own weaponry first.

Normally, reaching this step would be considered a success.

However, most people who study Taoism have obsessive-compulsive tendencies—they will not give up until they achieve perfection.

Lin Tejia began to consider using metal-loaded bullets.

The reason why Xuanjizi abandoned metal fitting when he invented the Xuanji Needle Gun was because the black powder had insufficient energy.

To achieve a range of 800 meters, the caliber must be made much larger, which greatly increases the amount of gunpowder used and drives up the cost.

But Lin Tejia felt that this cost was nothing in order to save lives.

He calculated repeatedly and finally came up with a precise number—14.7 millimeters.

And so, the world's first machine gun, the first weapon to use fixed metal bullets, and the first firearm to be completely unaffected by the weather was born.

Its name is—Namo Amitabha Buddha Machine Gun.

It has a caliber of 14.7 mm and a warhead weight of 32.4 grams.

Effective range: 900 meters for area targets, 350 meters for point targets, and a maximum range of 1,400 meters.

When a lead bullet hits an unprotected target at a distance of 900 meters, it is powerful enough to penetrate skin, muscle and bone. The bullet will deform and expand severely, creating a permanent wound cavity with a diameter of 5 to 10 centimeters, and may tumble.

At a distance of 900 meters, it can penetrate a steel plate that is one millimeter thick.