MLMD -Chapter 120 The Artillery Incident That Almost Turned into a Disaster

Yue Yang’s anger had not yet subsided when Yue Laifu came hurrying over. Although he no longer held the title of steward of the Yue residence, Yue Yang had appointed him as a dianli. While the position carried no official rank, it made Yue Laifu the head of the Wulizhai industrial zone. Having finally gotten a taste of being an “official” in his later years, Yue Laifu worked with even greater enthusiasm, and lately he had been so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.

“Young Master, you’re back from Lüzikou? Did everything go smoothly?”
The moment they met, Yue Laifu asked with genuine concern about the trip, which moved Yue Yang somewhat and eased the tension on his face. He said, “Uncle Laifu, I came today because I heard that our armory can already cast artillery. Is that true?”

“Yes, Young Master.”
At the mention of this, Yue Laifu’s face lit up with excitement. “A couple of days ago, the armory tried casting a few hudun cannons. I thought they turned out quite well, so I issued them to Shunbao’s artillery unit. They should already be in use by now, right?”

“Oh? So you’ve been moving pretty fast,” Yue Yang said calmly, nodding.

“Of course!”
Seeing that Yue Yang seemed satisfied, Yue Laifu grew even more animated. “Young Master, this morning I had them cast two more cannons. Would you like to take a look?”

“Sure… I’d like to see the artillery we’ve cast ourselves.”
Yue Yang’s expression did not change as he took the lead toward the armory.

Yue Laifu hurried after him, completely unaware of Shunbao desperately signaling from behind.

Seeing Yue Yang and his father walking ahead, Shunbao could only give a helpless wry smile and follow. He knew that before long, his father was going to receive a harsh scolding from the Young Master.

Because it required large amounts of water, the armory was located in a low-lying area near the Sanggan River by Wulizhai. The Wulizhai armory consisted of more than a dozen large buildings made of bamboo and wood. Each building was spacious, designed to house bulky steam engines. As Yue Yang approached, he heard thunderous noises coming from inside—the sound of steam-powered hammers striking iron.

Yue Yang and the others entered a hall over two hundred square meters in size. In the center stood three machines as large as one or two horse carts, billowing white steam. Mounted on each was a massive cylindrical iron hammer that dropped from three or four meters high. Each hammer weighed several tons, and when it slammed down onto the iron blocks below, it produced deafening booms. The noise was so overwhelming that anyone entering felt their ears ringing. Beside the iron blocks, two craftsmen constantly turned them with large tongs to ensure even hammering, while a middle-aged man in his thirties closely observed the shape of the metal.

Because the workshop was so loud, Yue Yang said nothing after entering. Instead, he walked straight up to the middle-aged man, patted him on the shoulder, and shouted into his ear, “Master Zhou, come out for a moment. I want to ask you something.”

“Lord Yue!”
Seeing Yue Yang, the man’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly followed him outside.

They walked more than a hundred meters away before the din of the workshop gradually faded. Yue Yang stopped and asked, “Master Zhou, I heard you cast two more cannons today. Is that correct?”

The man nodded. “Yes, my lord. But in my opinion, these two cannons cannot be issued to the artillery units yet. I found too many air bubbles inside them. There’s a constant risk of barrel explosion—they need to be melted down and recast.”

“What? How can that be allowed?”
Before Yue Yang could respond, Yue Laifu protested. “Master Zhou, since the cannons are already cast, they should be used! How can we melt them down again? Do you know how much silver the armory spends every day? How much are these two hudun cannons worth? If we recast them, all our previous effort will be wasted!”

Master Zhou replied coldly, “Officer Yue, as the chief foreman of the armory, I’m not interested in how much silver was spent on these cannons. I only know that these hudun cannons are unqualified. If they’re used forcibly, they could explode at any time. I’ve heard that a few days ago you personally issued several unqualified hudun cannons to the troops—those were meant to be melted down and recast. How could you make such a decision on your own? What if something goes wrong?”

“Why can’t I issue them to the troops?”
Yue Laifu grew displeased. “Cannons are made to be used. If we don’t issue them, should we just let them rust in storage? As for this explosion issue, I don’t think it’s that easy to happen. After all, they’re cast iron.”

“You…”
Master Zhou stared at the confident Yue Laifu, pointing at him in disbelief, momentarily speechless.

Seeing Yue Yang’s expression grow darker and darker, Shunbao—who had remained silent—became anxious. Afraid his father would keep talking, he gently tugged at Yue Laifu’s sleeve and signaled for him to stop. Instead of heeding the warning, Yue Laifu glared at him and snapped.

“You brat, why are you pulling me? Let me tell you, earning silver isn’t easy—we can’t waste it! Recasting a cannon costs at least a hundred taels of silver. If you insist on recasting, can’t you wait until the cannon breaks first? That way—”
Seeing even his son daring to signal him, Yue Laifu grew even angrier.

“Enough!”

A gloomy voice rang out. Everyone turned to see that Yue Yang had finally spoken. His face was dark as he said, “Uncle Laifu, you’ve been the steward of Yue Family Manor for so many years, yet your outlook is this short-sighted? Silver can be earned again, but once a life is lost, no amount of silver can buy it back. Bring out the two newly cast hudun cannons and conduct a test firing. I want to see just how good the artillery we made ourselves really is.”

Yue Yang had always shown great respect to Yue Laifu, who had served the Yue family for most of his life, and had never spoken harshly to him before. But today, Yue Yang was furious—a rarity. Even Yue Laifu was startled, and upon seeing Yue Yang’s grim expression, he finally fell silent.

“Yes!”
Master Zhou did not dare delay and immediately ordered the two hudun cannons to be hauled out of the warehouse.

Yue Yang walked over and examined them. From the outside, the cannons were shiny and brand-new. But when Yue Yang leaned in to inspect them closely, he could see many tiny holes scattered across the surface with his naked eye.

At this sight, Yue Yang frowned deeply. Although he was no expert in artillery, he at least understood basic physics. These tiny holes indicated that there were even more gaps and countless small cavities inside the metal—clearly substandard material.

Turning to Master Zhou, Yue Yang said, “Master Zhou, have them taken out and fire two test shots.”

“Understood!”

Soon, they arrived at a wide open area. The two hudun cannons were dragged over, and two craftsmen quickly loaded them with gunpowder and shot.

“Lord Yue, for safety’s sake, it would be best if you stand farther back,”
Master Zhou advised, leading Yue Yang and the others to a distance of a hundred meters before signaling the craftsmen to light the fuses.

The fuses ignited with a hissing sound, and the craftsmen hurriedly ran into two hastily dug blast shelters behind them.
“Boom! Boom!”
Two deafening explosions followed as the cannons fired, thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

“Let’s go, take a look.”
Yue Yang strode toward the cannons impatiently. As the smoke gradually cleared, everyone saw that one cannon’s barrel had split open, while the other had been blown cleanly in half.

Looking at the wrecked artillery site, Yue Yang turned expressionlessly to Yue Laifu and said in an unusually gentle tone, “Uncle Laifu, take a look yourself. Is this what you meant by ‘no big problem’?”

“I… th-this…”
To be honest, Yue Laifu was also shocked by the sight. This wasn’t firing artillery—it was playing with one’s life.

Seeing Yue Laifu standing there dumbfounded, Yue Yang sighed softly. “Uncle Laifu, let me ask you—would you dare let Shunbao personally operate such cannons in battle? Aren’t you afraid that before he hits the enemy, he’ll blow himself up instead? Or that in the midst of battle, our cannons will explode one after another? Do you know how many lives that would cost? One mistake, and our entire army could be wiped out. At that point, you would be the culprit responsible for the deaths of all our soldiers!”

“Young Master… I… I was confused!”
Yue Laifu dropped to his knees, his face filled with regret. Only now did he realize how ignorant and foolish he had been. How could soldiers possibly win with such cannons?

Looking at the old man weeping with tears streaming down his face, Yue Yang shook his head and sighed. “Enough, Uncle Laifu. This isn’t entirely your fault—you’ve never dealt with this kind of thing before. It was my mistake to put you in charge of the armory. From today onward, you’ll no longer manage the armory. Let Master Zhou take over. You focus on the cement factory and the mines.”

“Yes, I’ll do it right away.”
Having nearly caused a catastrophe, Yue Laifu dared not say another word and hurriedly agreed.

After handling this matter, Yue Yang no longer had any mood to inspect the facilities. He turned and walked away, deep in thought.

“I used to hear people say how foolish it is for amateurs to lead professionals. Now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Yue Laifu’s character and loyalty are beyond doubt, yet he almost caused a disaster. From now on, I must be far more careful in how I employ people. Professional matters should be left to professionals.”