MLMD -Chapter 68 After the New Year

Although the fifteenth day of the first lunar month had already passed several days ago, a faint scent of gunpowder still lingered in the air. In some corners of Yuejia Village, occasional sharp explosions rang out—some mischievous children were setting off firecrackers. Snowflakes drifted lightly from the sky, adorning everything in the world with an enchanting beauty.

About two li east of Yuejia Village lay a small valley, surrounded on all sides by hills. The ground was a mix of sand and stones, unsuitable for farming, so no one usually lived there. But a few months ago, a group of people had suddenly arrived. They had been busy constructing buildings in the valley with a clattering of hammers and tools. By now, dozens of uniformly sized houses had been built, and many people were still bustling about.

In one of the larger houses, made of a mix of earth and stone, Yue Yang sat at a wooden table in the center of the room, wearing a blue work uniform. Two hurricane lamps glowed in front of him. A silvery-gray lump of metal and a square mold rested on the table, and beside him stood a small stove, on top of which lay a metal ladle now glowing red from the heat. Around Yue Yang, more than ten craftsmen, young and old, watched him intently.

Yue Yang lifted his head and, pointing with his gloved finger at the metal block, said, “Look, this piece in front of us is made by fusing lead and tin, in a two-to-one ratio.”

At this, an elderly man with graying hair asked in curiosity, “Young Master Yue, the government’s bullets for firearms have always been made from lead alone. Why are you mixing lead and tin before making these bullets?”

Yue Yang turned to the old man, eyes gleaming with appreciation. He nodded and said, “Ah, very good question! The reason we add tin to lead is that pure lead is too soft. Even when made into bullets, it deforms too easily. Adding tin increases its hardness, preventing deformation. Understand?”

“Oh, I see!” The surrounding craftsmen nodded in unison.

“All right, now watch how I make the bullets. The process is simple—you’ll learn quickly after seeing it once.”

Saying this, Yue Yang picked up the red-hot ladle from the stove. Inside the ladle boiled a molten mixture of lead and tin. Carefully and swiftly, he poured the molten metal into the cavities of the bullet mold, then returned the ladle to the stove.

Soon, the metal solidified. Yue Yang placed a bottom-punch template over the mold and secured it with screws. “See,” he said, “this ensures the punch doesn’t go off-center and that the skirt of the bullet remains uniform.” Then, he inserted the bullet base punch, tapped it lightly with an iron hammer to compact the bullet, and withdrew the punch. A faint “bo” sound arose, like an ox lifting its leg from mud.

After removing the template, Yue Yang scraped off excess metal with a utility knife, flipped the mold over, and struck it a few times with a wooden mallet. Out came ten silvery-gray bullets. He handed them to an elderly craftsman beside him and said with a smile, “See, these bullets are almost identical in weight and size, with very little difference.”

The craftsman was Zhou Xingfu, formerly a master craftsman at the Ministry of Works in Nanjing, highly respected for his skill. Yue Yang had appointed him head of the workshop. The other craftsmen were gathered from nearby areas. Under the Ming dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s hereditary craftsman system was notorious: children had to follow their father’s profession, generation after generation, without change. This oppressive system led to mass desertions, especially by the late Ming. Yue Yang had no trouble recruiting these craftsmen, building a thirty-acre workshop with over three hundred workers.

Zhou Xingfu examined the bullets closely. “Young Master Yue, these bullets are identical in every aspect. I honestly cannot see any difference. The precision of these molds is truly astonishing.”

The surrounding craftsmen compared the bullets as well, marveling at their uniformity.

Yue Yang smiled and pulled out a tool from a nearby box. Waving it, he said, “Not quite. Differences exist, but we can control them within a range. This is a caliper, used to measure size differences. Now I’ll teach you how to use it correctly…”

He then explained the caliper’s workings and how to measure precisely. Yue Yang thought Chinese ancient technology was good, but what it lacked was a standardized measurement system. Each dynasty had its own inconsistent units, e.g., the shi could measure land or volume, and conversion rates varied by region. Such confusion was intolerable to Yue Yang, so he began introducing modern measurement standards in Wulizhai and the workshop, including Arabic numerals.

After teaching the craftsmen to make Minié bullets, Yue Yang hurried to the training grounds.

The training ground had grown substantially over the past few months, from twenty acres to over a hundred. Thanks to good pay and strict discipline, recruiting was easy. The militia now numbered over five thousand.

This force was equivalent to a general’s command. Yue Yang also raised a cavalry of one thousand from Mongolian horses, but he had no qualified cavalry officer. For now, the cavalry could only practice riding and handling the horses—another reminder of the shortage of talent.

At the training ground, Yue Yang found Hu Laosan overseeing the new recruits. “Old Hu, how are the new soldiers?”

Hu Laosan smiled warmly. “Young Master, since I’ve followed your instructions, I recruited sons of good families. They’re easy to manage and train diligently. In two months, training should be complete, but…” He hesitated.

“But what?” Yue Yang asked.

Seeing Yue Yang’s slight displeasure, Hu Laosan scratched his head, then said, “Young Master, you’ve entrusted me with thousands of troops, but I’m just a wanderer by trade. Commanding so many men overwhelms me!”

Yue Yang sighed, realizing Hu Laosan wasn’t shirking responsibility; he genuinely felt incapable. Hu Laosan had no formal education and could manage small groups easily, but thousands? It was too much. Still, Yue Yang had no one to replace him.

Smiling wryly, Yue Yang patted Hu Laosan’s shoulder. “I understand. I’ll find someone to help you later. For now, do your best to bear the burden.”

“Understood!” Hu Laosan nodded.

“Also, make sure the soldiers train with the firearms I issued. Bandits might attack anytime, so we must be prepared…”

“Reporting…”

Just then, a soldier shouted from the side, “Young Master, a yamen runner is here requesting an audience. He says he comes on orders from the prefect of Yingzhou!”

“Oh… Zheng Fakui is looking for me?” Yue Yang was slightly surprised…