Chapter Twenty-Four: The Sparrow's Kick

  The cargo ship sailed smoothly on the calm Bohai Sea, and the sailors adjusted the direction of the wind sail from time to time. Along the way, they encountered many ships, but everyone ignored each other. Even if Zhao Dongjia was a merchant and a pirate, he didn't dare to cause trouble in the inner sea, let alone with the official flag of Dengzhou Maritime Route hanging on it.

  After leaving the coast a little further, several sailors on the deck pulled open the canvas, and several cannons appeared in front of Chen Xin. There were three cannons on each side of the ship's hull, with two large culverins (not thousand-pound culverins) towards the stern, and seven or eight swivel guns placed beside each cannon. The swivel guns were not small either, and behind the loading port of the mother gun was inserted an iron wedge used to secure the swivel gun after installation, which was a primitive breechblock.

  What caught Chen Xin's eye was a cannon at the bow of the ship. He walked over to take a closer look, and several sailors who looked like gunners didn't pay attention to him. The cannon was about seven feet (220 cm) long, and Chen Xin roughly estimated that it was 56 inches in caliber. He didn't understand what this expression meant, apparently this accountant wasn't easy to deal with. Thinking of this, he turned around and walked away with a dark face.

  "Second master, please stay."

  Han Bin turned back and said: "What do you want?"

  Chen Xin smiled and cupped his hands: "Thank you, Second Master, for giving me such a good gun."

  "Hmph, it's easy to pick up, but can you actually use it?"

  "It's just right, so I just found out that the second master forgot to give me a few things."

  "What's this thing?"

  "Gunpowder, lead bullets, and fire ropes, but no forked sticks, how can you hit the target accurately?"

  Han Bin was not going to achieve his goal anyway, so he simply played dumb and said, "The medicine is for you to find yourself, there's no need for a stick." Chen Xin chuckled and said, "Second Master has too many things on his mind, he must have forgotten that there's still a stick. This stick can't be eaten, Second Master definitely won't embezzle it."

  Han Bin was furious, his right hand pointed at Chen Xin: "You..."

  "I'll take you to find the fork." A strange voice came, Chen Xin looked up and saw that it was the person who had been sitting alone on the bow of the boat, leaning against the mast and gazing at him lightly. Chen Xin had only noticed him before and thought he had a steady air, with a sense of majesty, but now as he took a closer look, he saw that his face was handsome, and there was a kind of righteous spirit in his expression that was different from other pirates.

  Han Bin lost face again, unwilling to stay here any longer. He glared at the man with a venomous look and said, "Zhu Guobin, I've got it memorized." After that, he took several of his men and returned to the lower hold. More than ten sailors on the deck let out a soft burst of laughter. Chen Xin shook his head, Han Bin's temperament was narrow-minded and shallow, and it seemed like he wasn't well-liked on the ship either.

  Chen Xin said to Zhu Guobin: "Thank you, Brother Zhu, for your righteousness."

  Zhu Guobin squeezed out a smile: "It's just a small effort." After saying that, he jumped down from the cabin door and didn't even use the ladder. In a moment, he reappeared at the cabin door, his right hand resting on the deck for a moment to borrow some force, and then lightly jumped back onto the deck. Chen Xin applauded and praised him, indeed Zhu Guobin was a master of this skill. Zhu Guobin handed over a pole with an iron fork in his left hand: "It's just this thing."

  Chen Xindao received the stick and held it in his hand, with a wooden tip at the bottom, about four feet long, which was just suitable for the average height of men during the Ming Dynasty to hold a gun and aim. It was slightly low for Chen Xin, but he could make do with it. Holding the stick and gun, Chen Xin practiced some methods he had seen before, and even without loading the fuse, the operation was very inconvenient. Many times, he needed to hold the gun with one hand, it seemed that his arm strength still needed special practice.

  Zhu Guobin just looked at him lightly, not knowing whether he understood or not. Wang Zugui came over and gave Chen Xin a rough explanation. Of course, he wouldn't break it down into 43 steps like Maurice did, but just gave a general idea. Another gunner enthusiastically brought over two medicine bottles, and under their guidance, Chen Xin began to load the medicine.

  He first poured some powdered black gunpowder into the ignition pot, which was on the right side of the barrel and had a horizontally rotating iron lid. There was a small ignition hole in the barrel inside the pot. After pouring it out, Chen Xin covered the lid and stood up the gun body. Wang Zugui changed to another bottle, but instead of pouring it directly into the barrel, he poured it into a wooden tube. Chen Xin saw that this time what was poured out was no longer powdered gunpowder, but grain-sized particles. He secretly admired in his heart. The method for making particle gunpowder had been recorded in Qi Jiguang's "Jixiao Xinshu", but it was not easy for these pirates to know how to fix the loading, at least better than most professional government troops.

  Wang Zugui filled a pipe and handed it to Chen Xin, who poured the contents into the gun barrel. He then took the lead bullet, weighed it in his hand, roughly 50 grams or so, polished to a decent smoothness, and loaded it into the barrel as well. The feel was slightly sticky, but fitting. Chen Xin pulled out a wooden ramrod from under the gun body, and with a forceful press at the muzzle, Wang Zugui hastily shouted: "Mr. Chen, don't use too much force with that ramrod!"

  "Oh, why?"

  "It's hard to hit far when it's pressed too tightly, and it's easy to break if you poke a hole in it. Just press it slightly firmly."

  Chen Xin hastily took the lesson, Wang Zugui may not have understood the theory too well, but in practical operation, he seemed to have a lot of experience. If pressed too hard, the propellant would burn incompletely due to lack of oxygen, greatly reducing the range. He himself had gotten excited just now and indeed forgot, so he reduced the force, feeling the pause afterwards, and then pressed lightly several times.

  Chen Xin placed the gun on the forked rest, everything was ready, only lacking the fuse. Wang Zugui and another cannoneer took out flint, steel, and tinder, placed them on the deck and struck them together, producing smoke, then ignited a length of fuse. This fuse was made from hemp rope soaked in vinegar and dried. They lit one end carefully and inserted it into the touch hole.

  Chen Xin watched this process and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "If it's a battle, they only use the flint when the enemy is close, what if it doesn't ignite, won't that be certain death?"

  Wang Zugui said with a sneer: "We can see from afar on the sea, we'll make it in time. Even if we can't set him on fire, we can just stab him to death."

  Next to him, Zhu Guobin suddenly said: "In the military, the artillery team, the captain of each team must bring a good fire extinguisher, and if it is extinguished during battle, they will be beheaded." Others didn't care, but Chen Xin noticed that this person seemed to have been in the military before, otherwise how would he know? He couldn't help but take another look at Zhu Guobin.

  After Wang Zugui adjusted the fuse, he gently pulled the trigger and tested the position. At this time, the primer cover did not open, and there was no danger of misfire. After doing these, Wang Zugui blew another mouthful at the fuse, and the flame brightened. Several people retreated a few steps, and Chen Xin began to aim carefully. This mountain musket had a thick barrel wall, so it should be safe from explosion, and he wasn't too worried. The sailors on the deck, including Mr. Song, who was standing with his hands clasped together, gathered around to watch, waiting for Chen Xin to fire.

  In the field of vision, a vast expanse of water, empty and desolate. Chen Xin didn't know what to aim at, just as several seagulls flew by in front of him. Chen Xin quickly opened the rifle's breech, shouldered the stock, aimed through the sight, aligned the three points, and pulled the trigger with his right hand. The rifle recoiled, a flash of fire appeared in the chamber, followed by a loud bang, the rifle kicked back violently, and a thick white smoke burst out of the barrel, amidst which a long, bright orange flame flashed brightly.