Chapter 90: Line-Formation Gunfire

Even after the New Year, the capital was still locked in the kind of bitter winter cold that could freeze a dog to death — not quite cold enough to turn breath to ice, but close enough.

Yet the Chongzhen Emperor's heart was not the least bit cold. The Royal Academy was, one could say, the most critical piece of his two-pronged strategy.

The Depot and the Guard and the New Army were the armed guarantee of his safety, while the Royal Academy was meant to toll the death knell for the Confucianism of the present day.

Racing along the road, the grim aftermath of the Jianzhou barbarians' siege was still visible. From time to time they passed villages torn down and destroyed, and from time to time they saw common folk and Capital Camps soldiers braving the bitter cold to clear the rubble.

Because before the villages outside the capital were demolished and burned, Chongzhen had already declared that the privy purse would be used to help the people rebuild their homes, and that all resulting losses would be made whole from the imperial privy purse, the common folk were full of hope as they prepared to rebuild once spring arrived — after all, in the people's hearts, the Emperor was a sacred being whose words carried Heaven's mandate and whose decrees were law itself.

It was nearly afternoon by the time Chongzhen and his party reached the imperial estate south of the capital.

The entire southern imperial estate was originally vast in scale, comparable in size to a small town, more than enough to accommodate a large number of personnel and the many departments and institutions within.

Only now, the southern imperial estate could no longer be called an imperial estate — nor would it be quite proper to call it the Royal Academy.

The entire estate was now encircled by walls built of cement, and departing from convention, they were not the traditional four-sided city walls but adopted the rare five-pointed star-fort structure.

Ten wall segments tightly protected the five gates; any single gate under attack would simultaneously face fire from the walls on both sides. Upon every segment of wall, a considerable number of cannons were emplaced.

As for the garrison, it was even more intimidating — personnel from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Inner Depot patrolled in overlapping sweeps, ensuring not a single blind spot existed.

A mere imperial estate now boasted defenses rivaling those of the Forbidden City itself.

Where the Emperor went, firearms were unloaded and bows unstrung — that was the fixed regulation. Mounted on horseback, the Chongzhen Emperor watched as Wang Cheng'en had his identity checked four times in succession by the Depot and the Guard.

Only after confirmation was the Royal Academy's alert lifted and the main gate opened to receive the Emperor.

Throughout the Royal Academy, artisans could still be seen busily at work everywhere.

Even though the freezing weather made normal construction impossible, these craftsmen would still work for a while each day when it warmed up at noon, and in the afternoon they would cover the worked areas with straw felt, so that the overall progress of the Royal Academy was not delayed in the slightest.

Inside a workshop of the Royal Academy, Chongzhen hefted a firelock with a long, slender barrel and said to Xu Guangqi with a smile, "Xu, my minister, you have done well. In less than a single month, this gun has been produced. Well done, well done."

Xu Guangqi, however, bowed and said, "I report to Your Majesty: had I been left to my own devices, I fear I could not have produced it. It was largely thanks to the assistance of Master Dongjiao that it was made."

Chongzhen asked curiously, "Master Dongjiao?"

Xu Guangqi said, "Precisely Master Dongjiao. Master Dongjiao's original name is Bi Maokang, courtesy name Meng Hou, sobriquet Dongjiao.

He was a jinshi of the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, rose to the post of Shandong Salt Inspector Censor, and is now a commoner. I have an old connection with him, and so I asked him to come help, and only thus was this firelock produced."

Hearing the name Bi Maokang, Chongzhen tried hard to think. In the end, he found the impression was even fainter than that of Bi Laoye; in his mind, this Bi Maokang was just a name he knew, a man good with firearms, and nothing more.

Since the impression in his mind was so faint, the man was probably some salted fish forgotten in a corner. Chongzhen did not dwell on it and simply laughed.

"What's so good about being an official?

Settle down as a fellow of the Royal Academy, and you outrank any official by a full grade — is that not delightful? Since this Master Dongjiao has contributed so much, he must not go unrewarded.

As for how to reward him, Xu, my minister, submit a memorial to Us later. Moreover, if this firelock is perfected, would We be stingy with a title of nobility?"

After Xu Guangqi bowed and assented, Chongzhen added, "Can this gun be used now? Can you arrange a test firing?"

Xu Guangqi replied, "I report to Your Majesty: a test firing can be arranged."

Chongzhen smiled. "Quickly, arrange for someone to test it. We want to see just how this gun performs."

After some bustle, the test firing at the range was finally prepared. All the personnel were Inner Depot eunuchs who had followed Chongzhen from the palace — these men were the batch of personnel Chongzhen trusted most, ensuring that under no circumstances would a muzzle ever be pointed at him.

A row of ten expressionless Inner Depot eunuchs held firelocks, each aiming at a target fifty paces away.

As Fang Zhenghua barked, "Fire!" — with several sharp cracks, the straw-man targets fifty paces away were sent flying in a shower of straw.

Seeing this, Xu Guangqi requested of Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, I request to test at one hundred paces."

Once Chongzhen approved, the targets were moved back another fifty paces.

After that, they tested at two hundred paces, three hundred paces, four hundred paces. Only at four hundred fifty paces did accuracy begin to fail; repeated test firings all saw three or four shots miss the target.

Though the results were not as good as Chongzhen had anticipated — after all, in later ages he'd heard of ranges of eight hundred meters and the like, and four hundred fifty paces was probably just over three hundred meters — Chongzhen was still very pleased, for the gun they were testing was already a flintlock, and it used a breech-loading cartridge.

Even if loading was somewhat more troublesome than in later ages, this kind of breech-loaded fixed cartridge at last meant no more worrying about problems like rain and damp.

Having tested the range, they had the ten Inner Depot eunuchs try volley fire by ranks. Chongzhen felt that the era of line-formation gunfire had finally arrived.

Had there been such a thing as a cell phone, Chongzhen would even have wanted to give Hong Taiji a call and ask if he was ready to take a bullet.

Though the Chongzhen Emperor's face betrayed no expression, the faintly upturned corners of his eyes gave away his excitement.

Calming himself slightly and forcibly suppressing the thrill in his heart, Chongzhen asked Xu Guangqi, "Xu, my minister, what is the output of this gun? How many can be made in a day?"

Xu Guangqi's words, however, hit like a basin of cold water, dousing the greater part of Chongzhen's excitement in an instant. "I report to Your Majesty: though this firelock is excellent, its output is extremely low.

These ten used in the test firing are currently all that the Academy possesses. The next batch of guns will likely take over half a month to produce, and the number will probably not exceed one hundred."

Chongzhen cursed inwardly — damn it all, at this rate when the hell could he equip a whole army to go grab territory?

Displeased, Chongzhen frowned and asked, "Are there not plenty of artisans? Send more men to make them. Use that assembly-line method they had back in the Great Qin days — each man handles only one process — won't the speed come up?"

Xu Guangqi gave a bitter smile. "Your Majesty is brilliant; the assembly-line method is already in use. It is just that output still cannot be raised."

Nothing more to say. Mainly because he had no face to say anything more.

(End of chapter)