Chapter 909: Louis's Plans

Watching the shell's point of impact shift continuously as the cannon's angle was adjusted, Zhao Jin nodded with growing satisfaction. A cannon that could move with the main force and adjust its range was the decisive weapon on the battlefield. As for the official army's way of using them, in field battles they were only marginally better than bows and fire lances.

"Good, very good!" Zhao Jin nodded in approval.

Hearing this praise, the blacksmith Yu Shan's face lit up with delight. After all, he deserved some credit for getting the cannon into this shape. The cart frame from the nest-of-fire had been directly used here. Since the Jin-ye liked it so much, future rewards were sure to follow.

Louis, however, showed no trace of pride. He exchanged a few words with Old Mac, who had quite a lot to say. One was an adventurer who had drifted through various nations, the other a mercenary who sold his life for pay; both had traveled across the countries of Europe and could find a common language to communicate. But the fact that they were conversing in a tongue no one else understood while Zhao Jin was praising them was already a breach of etiquette, and the guards behind Zhao Jin already had anger on their faces.

But their exchange finished quickly. Louis turned his head and said, "Jin-ye, this cannon still has many shortcomings. Old Mac says the range adjustment is very irregular. Even though the wooden wedges are the same size, the change in range at different angles has no fixed value. It will require constant trial and adjustment to figure out."

Zhao Jin nodded. This was, in fact, a matter of precision. On the battlefield, one had to have a very precise grasp of distance, especially in this era of ever-increasing firearms. Failing to determine distance on the battlefield could very well bring fatal consequences.

Yet achieving precision, or even rough accuracy, was no easy task in this era. Adjusting the angle by hammering in wooden wedges could only ever yield a rough estimate. Even so, what size of wedge produced what increase in range—this still needed to be summarized into a pattern. To derive concrete figures required continuous practice.

But Zhao Jin was still very satisfied with the finished product before him. No matter what, this cannon was now usable.

"Old Mac also said that a real cannon doesn't actually need the wooden board on this large cart. It only needs the wheeled support frame underneath, which makes the cannon easier to tow. This cannon's firing also involves sights and such, and those wooden wedges for adjusting range are all made from fixed, finished products. If we keep trying over and over like this, it will be very troublesome and a great waste of time. If we could find someone truly knowledgeable, or a finished product from Europe, we could immediately make something much better." As Old Mac spoke, Louis kept interpreting without pause.

The blacksmith Yu Shan at the side coughed and lowered his voice, "Master, that Old Mac isn't too willing to stay here and work. All he thinks about is finding someone to gamble with."

Zhao Jin smiled and shook his head. This attitude was precisely why Old Mac hadn't held anything back. Zhao Jin then said, "Your improvements this time are very good. Old Mac and Yu Shan, each rewarded five hundred taels. Louis and his servant, four hundred taels. Everyone else who helped, fifty taels each."

The moment this reward was announced, a wave of exclamations swept through the crowd, their tones filled mostly with admiration and envy. Everyone knew Zhao Jin was as rich as a nation, but his daily expenses were very frugal. The only area where he spent lavishly was on firearms. If you did things right, a few times could earn you enough to live on for a lifetime. Yu Shan, counting this sum, now had roughly a thousand taels in hand, making him one of the wealthiest families in the entire Xuzhou region.

"I don't deserve it, Jin-ye. This humble one hasn't rendered such great merit and cannot accept such a heavy reward." Yu Shan, however, waved his hands in a fluster, declining hastily. They were all deeply in awe of Zhao Jin. Receiving a heavy reward was certainly a joy, but if one took what one shouldn't have and was investigated afterward, the consequences were terrifying. Here at the worksite, several who had tampered with purchasing, skimped on materials while forging, or colluded with outsiders had been publicly thrown into the smelting furnace.

"Without your nest-of-fire, there would be no cannon here today. You deserve this. Keep up the good work. If you can produce something else useful, there will be more heavy rewards." Zhao Jin offered a word of reassurance with a smile.

Yu Shan nodded excitedly and repeatedly. Zhao Jin then asked, "How heavy is this cannon?"

"Seven hundred standard jin. In the future, the variation will be at most twenty to thirty jin up or down," Yu Shan replied.

"Over seven hundred jin." Zhao Jin shook his head, and the smile on his face faded considerably. The Xuzhou carts were already exquisitely crafted, with sturdy and solid wood and iron fittings. Yet a single cart could only carry a load of a few hundred to a thousand jin. To maintain speed, such carts even required two horses to pull.

The three-pounder cannon before them was not light. Any heavier, and it might require even more oxen or horses to tow, and the existing gun carriage would struggle to bear the weight...

Seeing Zhao Jin's smile fade and his expression turn serious, the atmosphere that had just stirred with excitement over the heavy rewards cooled down. Zhao Jin pondered for a moment, then spoke, "First, make ten cannons of this type. Remember one thing: the shells this cannon can use must also be usable by the other cannons. The swabs and rammers used on this cannon must also be usable on the others. The gunpowder must be in fixed charges, measured, prepared, and wrapped."

The so-called swabs and rammers were all necessary tools for the cannon. Before firing, a wet swab had to be used to wipe and extract the gunpowder residue from the bore, followed by a dry swab inserted and removed several times to dry the moisture. Finally, when loading the ammunition, the rammer was used to tamp the gunpowder down firmly and press the cannonball tightly inside. It sounded simple, but without these few tools, the cannon could not fire. What Zhao Jin emphasized was interchangeability—the tools for one cannon must not be unusable on another. What he cared about was mass production.

Everyone bowed to accept the order. They had already learned this lesson from Zhao Jin's requirements in fire lance manufacturing, so they did not find it strange. A matter that had become habit, no one found troublesome.

After saying this, Zhao Jin stood there, lost in thought. In truth, what he had seen today already proved that this cannon could be deployed in actual combat. It was already usable. Yet Zhao Jin was still not entirely satisfied.

As he stood there pondering, no one else dared to speak, and the atmosphere cooled accordingly. When Zhao Jin came back to his senses, he smiled and asked Louis, "Old Lu, usually you hide and hold back, wanting to trade what you know piece by piece for money. Why are you so generous now?"

Hearing Zhao Jin bring this up, those who knew the inside story and those who had guessed it all burst into laughter. The interpreter laughed especially loudly. Louis's little schemes had been first reported in secret by him.

Being teased, Louis showed no blush. Instead, he solemnly bowed at the waist. Perhaps feeling this gesture was not solemn enough, he simply knelt on the ground, kowtowed several times, and said, "Jin-ye, your subordinate wishes to do more for you, Jin-ye. I am willing to pledge my loyalty and life to you, Jin-ye."

His accent was very strange, but he spoke with the utmost seriousness. Zhao Jin turned his head to look at the interpreter and asked with a smile, "Did you teach him these lines?"

The interpreter dared not be negligent and quickly bowed in reply, "Master, this humble one did not teach him. Louis pried and fished these words out of this humble one."

There was a huge difference between actively teaching and being asked. Hearing the interpreter's answer, Zhao Jin turned back with a smile. Without telling Louis to rise, he simply said, "You want to do more for me. Can you help me train artillerymen?"

"Yes!" Louis's voice was trembling. He had thought he would need to plead many times, but he never expected to receive the promise immediately.

Zhao Jin said with a smile, "We're about to start casting cannons and training artillerymen. You will oversee these for me for now. You'll be the Cannonry Chief Steward."

Louis's body began to tremble as well. He had never heard the title "Cannonry Chief Steward" before, but he knew the meaning of the words "cannonry" and "chief steward," so he could naturally guess what position it was. He had not expected this young Eastern lord to be so generous, granting such a position right from the start. Louis was too moved to speak and simply kowtowed ceaselessly. This was the highest form of respect and gratitude he knew in the Great Ming.

"Don't be in a rush to thank me. Once you take this post of Artillery Chief Steward, there will be no more reward money. What you receive each month is a fixed salary. Merit brings rewards; mistakes bring punishment. Do you understand my meaning? Translate these words for him." After saying this, Zhao Jin even had the interpreter translate it once.

"This humble one understands. This humble one knows!" The foreigner Louis answered with absolute resolve.

Just as his expression was set with determination, another wave of startled exclamations rose around him. Old Mac still had no idea what was happening, but the blacksmith Yu Shan, the interpreter, and the watching apprentices and household troops all wore looks of utter astonishment.

They were all thinking: had this foreigner gone mad? With Jin-ye's incredibly generous rewards, any improvement would bring hundreds or thousands of taels raining down. One could become rich and enjoy life within a year. And there was no need to go out fighting and risking one's life, no need to rise early and stay late on guard duty or patrol, no need for grueling training—just cast cannons and work right here. Yet this foreigner would reject all these benefits to become some Artillery Chief Steward? Even a Company Commander was quite respectable, but compared to the benefits of being a cannon-making craftsman, it was far inferior.

Zhao Jin nodded again and said, "This is a good opportunity I am giving you. You must seize it."

These words were spoken with grave seriousness. Louis had been about to continue kowtowing, but upon hearing this, he stood up, solemnly bowed in salute, then knelt down and kissed Zhao Jin's leather boot.

The onlookers were all dumbfounded. Seeing this boot-kissing ritual, some could not hold back their laughter, then realized the occasion was not right, and the grimacing and winking were quite a struggle.

By then, Zhao Jin had already pulled Louis up from the ground and heavily clapped him on the shoulder, saying, "Do well!"

This arrangement was not just a whim of the foreigner Louis; Zhao Jin had also been considering it for some time. Louis's past experiences were a mix of truth and falsehood and could not be fully believed. However, this foreigner had seen quite a bit and had managed people and affairs before. Such a man was not merely a craftsman who only knew how to forge iron and cast metal; he also possessed some management and communication skills, and he had an ambitious and money-loving nature.

As long as the other party wanted to stay and work within this system for the long term, Zhao Jin could satisfy his ambition and greed. Such a person was also easier to command and control.

Thanks to the Qidian friends "Wu Liulang" and "Yuan Heng Li Zhen" from Chuangshi, and "Sui Xin Zi Wo 0" from Qidian for their tips. Old Bai needs more monthly tickets, tips, and subscriptions. Please, everyone, give your support.