Chapter 318: Rifling Technology
Li Daoxuan saw the disappointed Bai Yuan and chuckled inwardly: "So, the pursuit of precision begins."
It was an inevitable development!
Since the very inception of firearms, countless inventors had relentlessly pursued greater accuracy. The transition from the Three-Eyed Arquebus to the bird gun was, in essence, an attempt to achieve this very goal. Artisans of that era had adopted 'longer barrels' to stabilize the bullet's trajectory upon leaving the muzzle, making the shots more precise.
However, pursuing precision with a smoothbore gun was a fool's errand. Its barrel was perfectly smooth, allowing the bullet to tumble erratically after discharge – a phenomenon no one could control.
For a bullet to fly stably forward, rifling was indispensable.
Rifling was hardly cutting-edge technology; the Germans had already invented it back in 1498. Now, in the second year of Chongzhen, 1629, over a century had passed. With the craftsmanship available in the Ming Dynasty, rifling could certainly be produced, though the intricate manual process was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to mass-produce.
Since the technology was already feasible, Li Daoxuan saw no need to hesitate. He would simply provide it.
He retrieved the prepared technical specifications for rifling and dropped them directly down to Bai Yuan.
What he provided were blueprints for simpler "straight rifling," far easier to create than "spiral rifling." One had to start simple and gradually increase complexity, after all.
At the very moment the shot rang out, the paper Li Daoxuan had dropped drifted down.
The bullet struck the large sheet of paper, blasting a small hole right through its center.
Bai Yuan yelped in alarm, "Oh dear! Disaster! I've shot through the Heavenly Book bestowed by the Dao Xuan Tian Zun!"
The paper fluttered gently before him. He peered closer, his eyes widening. What was drawn and written on it was a technique to improve firearm accuracy, but a gaping hole marred the most crucial diagram — the cross-section of the rifling was completely obliterated.
"Ahhh!"
Bai Yuan shrieked, "It's over! It's all over! The Dao Xuan Tian Zun granted me a method to improve firearm accuracy, and I shot it! Oh, heavens, ahhhhh! I actually damaged the Heavenly Book, ahhhhh!"
With a thump, he collapsed to the ground.
A group of house guards quickly rushed over and helped him up.
Bai Yuan's face was etched with remorse. "It's truly over. I don't know how I can atone for this. The art of 'Rites'—scratch that, scratch that."
Li Daoxuan burst into laughter, printed another copy, and dropped it down once more.
Bai Yuan's spirits immediately lifted. "Wonderful! There's actually a second copy of the Heavenly Book! So damaging one wasn't a problem after all."
He cast aside his remorse, spread out the enormous sheet of paper, and climbed a nearby tree for a better vantage point, looking down...
He studied it for a long while, but couldn't quite grasp it.
It turned out that Bai Yuan had only learned mathematics so far, not physics or chemistry. Many subtle principles were exceedingly difficult to comprehend without a foundational understanding of physics.
Nevertheless, his lack of comprehension wasn't an issue. He immediately ordered the "Heavenly Book" rolled up, then, with a group of house guards, rushed towards where the next train had arrived. They shoved the colossal paper scroll into a train car and, with a "chug-chug" sound, headed straight for Gao Family Village.
The school in Gao Family Village had become quite magical.
Beside the five-story teaching building stood a towering microscope. Many students would climb to the fifth floor, then use pre-built scaffolding to ascend further and look down into the microscope, while those on the second floor would place the objects they wished to examine onto a tray at the second-floor height.
Beyond the microscope, the school housed numerous other colossal experimental instruments, most of them placed adjacent to the teaching building, making it convenient for students to climb up several floors to operate them.
These immense experimental tools dramatically accelerated the students' grasp of physics and deepened their understanding of "science."
However, Bai Yuan found none of this particularly interesting.
Anything that didn't fall under the Six Arts of a gentleman held no appeal for him whatsoever.
He practically flew into the teaching building, heading directly for the library.
Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai were still engrossed in their reading within the library.
Bai Yuan gestured to the house guards behind him. "Quickly, bring forth the Heavenly Book!"
The massive sheet of paper was unfurled before Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai.
Young Master Bai understood at a glance. "So that's it! That's it!"
Bai Yuan had long known he couldn't compete with his son when it came to physics, but since it wasn't 'Mathematics' and thus outside the scope of the Six Arts, he didn't care in the slightest. He chuckled, asking, "So, what does this Heavenly Book mean?"
Young Master Bai pointed to the rifling. "This is something used to stabilize the bullet! Lead bullets are relatively soft, and when fired, they deform slightly. The deformed parts then embed themselves into the grooves of the rifling. This prevents them from continuously sliding and colliding within the barrel, and thus, they won't fly erratically upon exiting. It's just like how train wheels only move along tracks... the bullet will also glide along the rifling grooves... I believe that's how it works."
Song Yingxing, standing nearby, also nodded. "Yes, that's clearly the case. Young Master Bai, your grasp of physics is truly excellent!"
Bai Yuan was overjoyed. "So, that means after we put this 'rifling' thing into the gun barrel, the bullets will fly straight forward, and we can shoot exactly where we aim?"
Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai nodded in unison. "Precisely!"
Bai Yuan exclaimed, "Hahaha, so how exactly do we make it?"
Song Yingxing pointed to the large sheet of paper. "Doesn't the Heavenly Book explain it? First, heat the gun barrel until it's red-hot, then use a specially designed broach to forcefully pull through the heated barrel... and the rifling will appear. The most crucial and challenging part of this process is applying even and steady force when pulling the broach. The rifling must not be crooked, otherwise, the bullet won't shoot straight."
Young Master Bai chuckled. "So, it's best not to pull it by hand. Pure manual pulling makes it very easy to misalign the rifling. Even if it looks straight to the naked eye, it will actually be crooked. We've observed this many times under the microscope."
Song Yingxing continued, "Therefore, we can first construct a wooden machine, similar to a weaving loom, with a straight slide rail on top. We can mount the broach within this slide rail. By using this apparatus to maintain the broach's stability, we will be able to engrave perfectly straight rifling."
The two, pooling their ideas, devised a flawless solution within minutes.
Bai Yuan, listening beside them, felt utterly bewildered, comprehending very little of what was said.
However, one thing he did understand was that this rifling technology would soon be within their grasp.
Overjoyed, Bai Yuan clapped Young Master Bai on the shoulder. "Hahahaha, you're doing quite well now, lad! You can already be of great help to me, hahahaha. When I'm old, handing Bai Family Fortress over to you won't be a problem, will it? Hahahaha."
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