area51novel Chapter 213 Seven steps away, the gun is fast! Within seven steps, the gun is accurate!
Chapter 213 Seven steps away, the gun is fast! Within seven steps, the gun is accurate!
When Qi Jiguang returned to Beijing, he noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere of the capital compared to his last visit. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the faces of the common people were more solemn.
If he weren't busy going to the palace to meet the emperor, Qi Jiguang would definitely have been searching around for information.
He only brought a few craftsmen and array masters with him, while the rest of his trusted subordinates remained on the warship. Without disturbing the people, he quietly entered the Forbidden City.
Even without Chu Yang's instructions, Cao Zhengchun still waited personally at the palace gate, running errands skillfully, as if he had become accustomed to his current identity.
"Eunuch Cao, it's been a long time."
"General Qi, your charisma remains undiminished."
After exchanging a few casual pleasantries, Cao Zhengchun led his entourage into the palace, his eyes constantly scanning the group of craftsmen behind Qi Jiguang.
Unlike ordinary craftsmen, they all stood tall and proud, exuding confidence and walking with a powerful stride. This made Cao Zhengchun curious about how Qi Jiguang usually trained them.
In those days, artisans were considered lowly, belonging to the lowest of the low. Most commoners would not have wanted to take up this profession unless they were just trying to make a living.
Not long after, Cao Zhengchun led them to the Imperial Study, where Chu Yang was discussing with Zhuge Zhengwo the specific details of sending array masters to various prefectures.
How to allocate personnel from the Divine Marquis's Mansion and the Six Doors, and what attitude the local garrison should take when dealing with the sect disciples who are about to descend the mountain—these are all things that need to be considered.
Zhuge Zhengwo advocated appeasement, cooperating well with those major sects and factions, even sacrificing some interests appropriately, until they could no longer live without the court's alchemists.
Once you stop using elixirs, the speed of your martial arts cultivation will plummet, and no one can bear that.
Chu Yang felt that appeasement was not a good strategy. Sects with principles would be fine and would probably cooperate with the court honestly, but some sects without principles might have some crooked ideas.
There must be quite a few forces that want to seize the art of alchemy for themselves. If they target the alchemists themselves, the manpower costs required to ensure the safety of the alchemists will increase significantly.
The manpower of the Divine Marquis's Mansion and the Six Doors is not abundant, especially the Divine Marquis's Mansion, where the number of people lost each year is greater than the number of new recruits.
"Give them a hard time first, then consider giving them something sweet."
Carrots and sticks have always been the best tools for those in power to tame their enemies, and this is especially true for dealing with those who are rebellious.
Zhuge Zhengwo has a feeling that His Majesty the Emperor actually agrees with Yu Huatian's idea, but just doesn't want to make the situation more chaotic.
If he could, he believed that the young emperor would personally lead a million cavalry to conquer the land, but unfortunately, he was hampered by obstacles on both the north and south sides, which cost him ninety percent of his forces.
The two were about to continue their discussion when they suddenly heard Cao Zhengchun's voice from outside.
"Your Majesty, General Qi has arrived."
A smile appeared on Chu Yang's lips.
Zhuge Zhengwo stroked his beard and smiled, "I heard that the Qi Family Army has made progress in developing new firearms. Last time it was too rushed to take a good look, but today I can finally feast my eyes on them."
Subsequently, Cao Zhengchun led Qi Jiguang and others into the Imperial Study.
"This humble general pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
Qi Jiguang knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in greeting, and the others followed suit, uttering auspicious words in a jumble. It was their first time meeting the emperor, and they were so nervous that they didn't know what to do.
"Please rise, everyone. I don't have many rules here, so please make yourselves at home."
Chu Yang smiled and helped Qi Jiguang up, saying, "I know you're in trouble. I'll take you to see how to solve it later."
Qi Jiguang arrived at just the right time; Chu Yang had just received a batch of machine tools from the Soul Palace last night.
Upon hearing that there was a solution, Qi Jiguang couldn't help but feel excited, but it was only he who was excited.
The craftsmen and array masters looked around, examining the luxuriously furnished imperial study. Everyone's eyes revealed amazement. They had spent most of their lives in the firearms camp and had never seen such things before.
Cao Zhengchun instinctively wanted to reprimand them.
His Majesty is right in front of them, yet they behave so frivolously—what kind of behavior is this?
But he soon felt Chu Yang's stern gaze.
Cao Zhengchun shuddered and immediately lowered his eyes and pretended not to see anything.
Finally, a sweating Qi Jiguang reprimanded them, "You lot, behave yourselves! This is the Imperial Study, not the Firearms Battalion!"
The group of people finally came to their senses, their backs instantly soaked with cold sweat, and they knelt down in fear once more.
Chu Yang seemed to have anticipated this, and quickly raised his hand, using his spiritual power to support the knees of the group.
The craftsmen looked at each other, realizing that they couldn't bring themselves to kneel down.
The array masters reacted quickly, expressing their gratitude in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"You all look too tense. Let's find somewhere else to talk." Chu Yang smiled helplessly, then led them away from the imperial study to a side hall closest to the imperial bedchamber.
Last night, he placed all the machine tools in the side hall. Hundreds of machine tools lay quietly inside, and everyone was stunned when the door was opened.
The awe-inspiring power of modern industry!
Cao Zhengchun and Zhuge Zhengwo were probably only shocked by the scene and did not know how powerful the thing in front of them was. Qi Jiguang, having been exposed to it before, knew a little more than them and was trembling with excitement.
The craftsmen went completely mad, swarming into the side hall and gently stroking the cold, hard machine tools. They couldn't feel the coldness; their palms felt burning hot.
The array masters behaved quite rationally, circling around the machine tools, seemingly considering where to add some auxiliary arrays.
Chu Yang walked up to one of the machine tools and demonstrated how to operate it. The experienced craftsmen quickly became familiar with it, just like master craftsmen who had been operating on the assembly line for many years.
Chu Yang, who had been watching for a while, couldn't help but sigh, "I have to say, you guys really do have the innate talent for tightening screws. It's a real shame you're not working in a factory."
The craftsmen looked at him with puzzled expressions.
Qi Jiguang asked, "Your Majesty anticipated that the new firearms could not be mass-produced, so you prepared these?"
Chu Yang smiled without saying a word and nodded.
Zhuge Zhengwo sighed, "Your Majesty has been busy training alchemists and also has to find time to help General Qi lately. Isn't that too much work?"
Qi Jiguang quickly clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Your Majesty, please take good care of yourself."
Chu Yang chuckled and said, "I'm not a scholar, I'm not that delicate."
Qi Jiguang suddenly frowned and asked, "What about alchemists? Does Your Majesty want to refine pills? I dare to say that Your Majesty must not pursue the illusory path of immortality. Throughout history, emperors who have gotten involved in this have all met with bad ends."
"What nonsense are you thinking?"
Chu Yang, both amused and exasperated, explained the matter of alchemy to Qi Jiguang, who then looked utterly shocked.
Compared to machine tools, using the flesh and blood of demons to refine pills is even more unbelievable.
But now it has become a reality.
Qi Jiguang came to his senses and immediately thought about the great impact that alchemy would have on the world. He said in a deep voice, "In that case, the charlatans who mingle in the marketplace will probably not be able to sit still."
Zhuge Zhengwo nodded solemnly and said, "Most of them chose to side with the demon race because they wanted to use the demon race's techniques or bloodline to break through their limits. They were willing to become traitors to the human race for this, but now a single pill has turned all their hard work into a joke."
Qi Jiguang sighed, "The demons will go crazy, and may even stop at nothing to seize the elixirs and alchemists."
Zhuge Zhengwo explained, "That's why His Majesty is only doing this in the North and Central Plains. The South is not yet pacified, so the promotion of the elixir must be postponed."
Qi Jiguang said solemnly, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will immediately begin to quell the rebellion upon my return."
Chu Yang shook his head and said, "Don't rush. General Qi's words have reminded me that before dealing with the demon race, we must first deal with the traitors. Those demons hiding in the Ming Dynasty must be exterminated."
Traitors who betray their country and nation must never be allowed to live freely.
Zhuge Zhengwo seemed to have guessed Chu Yang's thoughts and asked, "Your Majesty, do you intend to use elixirs to lure them out?"
Chu Yang nodded and said meaningfully, "I'm just afraid that we might catch something else by then."
While the two were exchanging cryptic remarks, the craftsmen were completely absorbed in their machine tools, and the fervor in their eyes did not fade with time.
Someone excitedly reminded Qi Jiguang, "General, we haven't shown His Majesty the new firearms yet. If there's anything lacking, quickly ask His Majesty for advice, otherwise we'll have to make another trip later."
Qi Jiguang quickly said, "Your Majesty, we have manufactured some new weapons. If you would like to see them, I will send someone to fetch them for you immediately."
"certainly."
Ever since he witnessed the punk firearms of Qi Jiguang's army, Chu Yang had been curious about what kind of firearms they could concoct.
"The items are all on the ship; I'll have someone bring them over right away."
"No need, we'll go take a look, and while we're at it, we'll have someone move the machine tools over. Your craftsmen are probably getting impatient."
Afterwards, Chu Yang prepared to go to the port with them, but when they passed the alchemy room, the array masters brought by Qi Jiguang were unable to walk any further.
Just as craftsmen are fond of machine tools, array masters are equally captivated by the arrays in their alchemy rooms.
"General, please let us take a look!"
The array masters couldn't help but plead desperately.
Qi Jiguang was somewhat troubled, but he could understand them. However, now was not the time to do this.
Chu Yang laughed and said, "It's alright, let them watch for a while. Moving machine tools isn't something that can be done in a short time."
Strictly speaking, neither the formations in the alchemy room nor the formations inscribed on the alchemy furnace are particularly difficult or profound. The true essence lies in the mutual generation of the five elements between the formations. Once they understand this, their application of formations will reach a higher level.
Cao Zhengchun took the array masters away.
Chu Yang and Zhuge Zhengwo followed Qi Jiguang to the port and boarded the ship. Chu Yang, who was on his second trip, seemed quite familiar with the place and went straight to the storage room in the cabin.
Unlike last time, this time there was only one lonely box on display.
Qi Jiguang opened the box and took out the punk revolver they had painstakingly made. Its enormous size stunned Chu Yang, and Zhuge Zhengwo also stared wide-eyed.
Is this a firearm?
Zhuge Zhengwo's impression of firearms was still that of the most primitive flintlock gun, with a thin barrel as thin as a hemp stalk, not the thick and big thing in front of him.
Chu Yang was also a little confused. This thing looked like a revolver, but it actually had nothing to do with a revolver. What kind of decent person would hold a revolver with both hands?
In contrast, the copper tubes around the gun barrel and the gas valve with an instrument panel near the trigger gave Chu Yang a sense of familiarity.
Goodness, this change is way too drastic!
"Your Majesty, the new firearms are quite powerful. We have tested them on spirit demons. Many spirit demons can only withstand one shot, while some scaled spirit demons can withstand two shots. Even if they survive, they will be completely incapacitated."
Qi Jiguang held up a large revolver, his smile so amiable, yet he looked like the King of Hell himself had arrived.
Zhuge Zhengwo felt a chill run down his spine. In his memory, firearms were not this powerful. If even spirit demons could only withstand two or three shots, then the fate of martial artists of the same level was terrifying to even think about.
"Your Majesty, these firearms must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the common people, otherwise it will cause very serious problems, and the result may be even more troublesome than the rebellion in the south. I am telling you, Qi Family Army, please do not take it too seriously, those craftsmen must also be strictly guarded."
Zhuge Zhengwo's expression was extremely grave.
Qi Jiguang immediately said solemnly, "My Lord, rest assured, every craftsman in the firearms battalion knows his responsibilities and can be trusted. They have entrusted their lives to me."
Chu Yang said, "This thing has a very complex structure that requires precise processing. It has also been modified by craftsmen in various aspects. It would be very difficult for a normal person to learn how to make it, not to mention there are a bunch of formations waiting for you. Divine Marquis, don't be nervous."
Zhuge Zhengwo sighed, "If such a powerful weapon were developed to a certain extent, it would certainly benefit our human race, but it would put martial artists in an awkward position."
Chu Yang fully understood. As the saying goes, a gun is fast from seven steps away, and accurate and fast within seven steps. The development of firearms has little impact on masters above the grandmaster level, but it is undoubtedly a devastating blow to martial artists in the martial arts world who have undergone nine blood transfusions or less.
Chu Yang said softly, "Times are changing, and people are changing too. If you can't keep up with the times, then it's only natural that you'll be eliminated. This has been the case for thousands of years."
"Yes." Zhuge Zhengwo was lost in thought.
Chu Yang took the revolver from Qi Jiguang and weighed it in his hand. It was about ten kilograms. It would be difficult for an ordinary person to lift it, let alone aim at it. The crosshair would drift away.
From this perspective, Zhuge Zhengwo's worries seem somewhat unnecessary, unless the firearms battalion can produce a few light versions.
After playing and watching for a while, Qi Jiguang put the revolver back. Zhuge Zhengwo's wish was fulfilled, and he showed an expression of lingering satisfaction.
Sure enough, men of all ages still enjoy playing with guns.
After inspecting the new firearms, all that's left is to move the machine tools onto the ship. We didn't bring any firearms this time, but we can still fit all the machine tools on board.
Before leaving, Chu Yang slipped another blueprint to Qi Jiguang and told him that it was a powerful weapon on the battlefield.
Qi Jiguang glanced at it; the words on the drawing were stained with ink and were somewhat illegible, so he could only read them slowly.
"Horse...what...machine gun?" (End of Chapter)