Chapter 264: Five Women

…

When Zhang Chun, Li Lin, Ye Shi Yun, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qing Cheng heard that Wanyan Aguda had rebelled against the Liao four or five years earlier than in history, they were all as stunned as Zhao Yu.

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao asked Zhang Chun: "Does this have a big impact on history?"

Zhang Chun smiled bitterly: "It's not just big—the history has been completely altered. Half of what I knew is probably useless now, and even the other half can't be fully trusted. Hmm… historical events no longer hold much reference value; the only things still worth referencing are a few historical figures."

"Is it that serious?" Li Lin asked.

"Have you heard of the butterfly effect? A butterfly flapping its wings in North America could trigger a storm in distant South America—how much more so, since we arrived, history has changed so drastically? Could the historical events I once knew still happen? And if they did, could they unfold exactly as before?" Zhang Chun said.

The other four women realized this was true.

Forget distant matters—just consider what's closest to them.

The Emperor of the Zhao Song dynasty had changed from the great fool Zhao Ji into Zhao Yu, who, at least up to now, was wise, broad-minded, skilled at recognizing talent, able to inspire loyalty, never missed a strategy, and never left troops idle.

Moreover, the Zhao Song dynasty's territory now included not only the historical Northern Song lands but also Western Xia and the Eleven Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

Furthermore, after five years of effort by them and Zhao Yu, the Zhao Song dynasty's internal threats were nearly eradicated.

No.

It was more than that.

At this moment, the Zhao Song dynasty had become the most powerful Zhao Song dynasty in history, even rivaling the Han and Tang dynasties.

The five women had absolute confidence in this—and their confidence was not blind.

First, politically speaking.

After years of Zhang Chun's efforts, all outstanding talents of the Two Song periods had been put to use by Zhao Yu, while historical traitors and corrupt ministers—such as Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Liang Shicheng, Wang Fu, Yang Jian, Li Yan, Cai You, Li Bangyan, and Tan Zhen—were all managed by Zhao Yu: their strengths were utilized, their weaknesses controlled, and their influence restricted.

Additionally, after Zhao Yu launched his early anti-corruption campaign and triggered popular outrage, many corrupt officials were killed by Song Jiang's rebel army and Fang La's rebel army.

This cleared the atmosphere throughout court and countryside: officials performed their duties diligently and responsibly, no longer the corrupt, idle, and greedy masses of the past.

The people's lives improved dramatically; laughter and joy echoed in streets and alleys, and praise for the court never ceased.

Militarily, Li Lin had helped Zhao Yu build the Divine Mechanism Army, now equipped with Li Lin Cannons and Li Lin Muskets.

As the name suggests, the Li Lin Cannon and Li Lin Musket were primarily invented by Li Lin—in fact, jointly by Li Lin and Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao. But Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao refused to attach her name to weapons of death; moreover, she had invented too many things—her name was already on countless inventions like the Ma Family Spinning Machine and Ma Family Papermaking Method—so she didn't care about this one naming right. Thus, these two inventions capable of reshaping military history bore Li Lin's name.

The Li Lin Cannon was modeled after the Hongyi Great Cannon of the Ming dynasty.

Though it couldn't match later advanced cannons, it had many advantages: its barrel was long, its walls thick, its bore wide, and its shape gradually thickened from muzzle to breech, conforming to the principle of decreasing internal pressure as gunpowder burned. On both sides of the barrel's center of gravity were cylindrical trunnions, allowing the cannon to adjust its elevation angle by rotating around them, enabling range adjustment via gunpowder charge. It featured a front sight and rear notch, calculating trajectories by parabolic principles with high accuracy.

In simple terms, the Li Lin Cannon was a weakened version of the Hongyi Great Cannon.

—Not because Li Lin and Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao couldn't build more advanced cannons, but because they wanted to suppress weapon development; otherwise, if others copied them, trouble might follow.

The Li Lin Cannon came in three types: Light Li Lin Cannon, Medium Li Lin Cannon, and Heavy Li Lin Cannon.

Even the Light Li Lin Cannon had an effective range of over one li; the Medium Li Lin Cannon reached about three li; the Heavy Li Lin Cannon exceeded five li.

The Li Lin Cannon was no longer comparable to bows, crossbows, or even bed crossbows whose range was still measured in steps.

The Li Lin Cannon belonged to the long spindle-shaped, muzzle-loading, smoothbore cannon. Coupled with the Zhao Song dynasty's industrial revolution, which introduced powered machine tools for precise barrel boring, standardized and precise manufacturing of components and cannonballs, significant improvements in Li Lin's enhanced black powder processing, and new developments in cannon firing theory and tactics under Li Lin's leadership—all these made the Li Lin Cannon's power, range, and rate of fire the best of its era.

The Li Lin Musket was essentially the Ming dynasty's huochong, more precisely modeled after the Lumi musket: weighing about seven or eight jin, some six jin, about six or seven chi long, with its firing mechanism inside the stock. Squeeze the trigger and it fires; after firing, the mechanism resets. The stock's rear end had a steel blade, usable as a halberd if enemies closed in. When firing, grip the forestock with one hand, tuck the stock's end under the armpit, fire with a simple squeeze—no aiming allowed while moving; the front sight and eye must be aligned slightly apart; initial smoke would not blind or startle. Charge: four qian gunpowder, three qian lead bullet.

To ordinary people, didn't the Li Lin Musket utterly crush bows and crossbows?

Not really.

A skilled archer could fire six to ten arrows per minute, while the Li Lin Musket's loading process was complex (pouring powder, loading bullet, igniting, cleaning the touchhole), allowing only one to two shots per minute—this gap widened further in actual combat.

Even the Shenbi Crossbow could fire two to three times per minute, with a faster loading process (stringing, inserting arrow), making it better suited for prolonged battles.

Also, bows and crossbows produced no gunpowder smoke or loud noise, ideal for ambushes or forest warfare; they were unaffected by rain. The Li Lin Musket, however, often misfired in damp conditions.

Moreover, bows were light (bow: two to three kilograms, quiver carrying twenty to thirty arrows), imposing little burden, allowing soldiers to move flexibly; the Shenbi Crossbow (three to five kilograms) with twenty to thirty bolts was also lighter and more mobile than the Li Lin Musket. The Li Lin Musket, plus gunpowder, bullets, and stand, was heavier, less mobile, required greater logistical transport, and demanded strict moisture- and fire-proof storage for gunpowder, raising costs.

Seen this way, there seemed no need to develop muskets at all.

Of course, that was the view of Zhao Song's officials.

But Zhao Yu, who understood the direction of weapon development, did not abandon musket research and deployment just because the Li Lin Musket offered no overwhelming advantage over bows and crossbows—he strongly supported Li Lin and Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao in developing and equipping muskets.

That was how the Li Lin Musket came to equip the Divine Mechanism Army.

Though the Li Lin Musket had many shortcomings and its advantages over bows and crossbows were not great, it did have strengths surpassing them.

First, the lead or iron bullets fired by the Li Lin Musket, propelled by gunpowder explosion, carried far greater kinetic energy than arrows, capable of penetrating armor (such as that of Liao, Jin, and Mongol troops), while arrows, limited by bow strength and arrowhead design, had weak penetration against heavily armored targets, especially at long range.