Chapter Eighteen: A Glimmer of Hope

At the sixth quarter of the Shen hour, Zhang Chen and Zhang Er’an led more than three hundred strong men recently recruited by Zhang Er’an, escorting ten horse-drawn carts as they departed through the north gate of Fushan County.

A quarter of an hour earlier, Zhang Da’an had returned to Zhang Village with five hundred strong men recruited by himself and Zhang Er’an.

At that time, Zhang Er’an had gone to the Zhang family’s separate courtyard to meet Zhang Chen.

Just now, upon seeing Zhang Er’an, Zhang Chen—holding tens of thousands of taels of silver—ordered Zhang Er’an to recruit another three hundred strong men.

Outside the county town, there were many displaced refugees, and Zhang Er’an quickly recruited the three hundred strong men. Following Zhang Chen’s orders, he also enlisted dozens of craftsmen from various trades such as gunpowder makers, fireworks and firecracker artisans, carpenters, and masons.

In total, over eight hundred sturdy displaced men were recruited today. Zhang Chen also purchased ten horse carts full of grain and a large amount of meat.

Not long before, when Zhang Da’an returned to Zhang Village, he brought with him more than a dozen horse carts loaded with grain and meat. Today, Zhang Chen and his men had nearly bought up all the grain and meat from Fushan County.

Xu Zize and his sister Xu Zihan rode in a carriage, accompanied by more than ten guards, heading to Zhang Village for medical treatment.

“Purchasing strategic materials worth tens of thousands of taels of silver at the Qingzhou trading company, Zhang Chen, also known as Zhang Chuyang, is truly a man destined for great deeds.”

Inside the carriage, it was just the two siblings. Xu Zize cursed Zhang Chen: “Zhang Chen is only sixteen this year. If he passes the imperial examination at eighteen, then he might be worthy of you.”

“Big brother, at the Zhang family’s separate courtyard, Zhang Chen said that after he passes the provincial exam next autumn, he will come to our family to propose marriage…” Unconsciously, Xu Zihan’s cheeks flushed.

A virtuous girl fears a persistent suitor. Today, Zhang Chen publicly confessed to Xu Zihan several times. No girl from the Great Ming had ever heard of, let alone met, such a shameless person. Her heartstrings were stirred.

The key was that Zhang Chen was talented—and extraordinarily handsome.

“Considering the admission rates, the provincial exam is actually harder than the metropolitan exam,” Xu Zize grumbled again: “Let’s wait and see. We’ll know by August next year.”

On the way back, Zhang Chen began to train the adult male refugees. Mounted on horseback, he made the three hundred strong men jog slowly back to Zhang Village.

Upon returning, Zhang Chen changed the medicine for Xu Zize and gave the siblings anti-inflammatory pills before urging them to leave:

“Treatment is done for today. Bandits could attack Zhang Village at any time—it’s not safe here. You should leave now. Change the medicine once a day for the next few days. Come back before noon tomorrow. Safe travels.”

After the Xu siblings departed, Zhang Chen went to Old Zheng’s blacksmith shop, where he found Zheng looking embarrassed.

“High expectations but poor execution, Master Zhang, sir, the flintlock musket isn’t as simple as I imagined,” Zheng rubbed his hands. “We need to rethink it.”

“Almost there. I think we’re just a little off,” said Dong Tieniu, a blacksmith recently hired by Feiniu, rubbing his large head. “But no matter what, that ‘little bit’ eludes us.”

“The iron plates lack elasticity—yes, the problem is toughness,” said Shi Xiaosuo, an excellent locksmith.

Shi Xiaosuo was once a notorious thief in Dengzhou Prefecture. He leaned close to Zhang Chen: “Master, the toughness of refined iron isn’t good enough. Even if we manage to make the flintlock musket, the ignition success rate will be very low.”

“Xiaosuo, first let’s get the flintlock musket roughly made. Take it slow—Rome wasn’t built in a day. Old Zheng, Old Dong, you must listen carefully to Xiaosuo’s advice.”

Zhang Chen smiled and glanced at the newly recruited men today: Yang Wenlin, Bian Lashan, and others. “Your task as blacksmiths, gunpowder makers, and firecracker artisans is to forge the ‘Heartless Cannon’ I mentioned on the road and improve the black powder roughly according to the proportions I gave.”

The “Heartless Cannon,” also known as the Flying Thunder Cannon or explosive projectile launcher, was a simple artillery piece widely used during the Liberation War and the Korean War.

In the twenty-first century, as a seasoned military enthusiast, Zhang Chen understood the principle and basic structure of the Heartless Cannon, though he certainly couldn’t build one himself.

Back then, the soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army could build Heartless Cannons even from crude gasoline barrels.

Zhang Chen believed that the blacksmiths and gunpowder makers of the Great Ming should be able to manufacture a Heartless Cannon of relatively low technical complexity.

The black powder formula—saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal in a ratio of 1:2:3, also known as “one saltpeter, two sulfur, three charcoal”—is certainly not the optimal ratio for black powder.

In the twenty-first century, the internet offered information on the best proportions of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal.

The closer the ratio approaches the optimal mix, the greater the black powder’s power.

Zhang Chen’s mind was no computer, but he roughly remembered the best proportions of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal.

He instructed the newly recruited gunpowder artisans to conduct experiments within the range he provided to determine the optimal ratio.

“Master, we have cleared several rooms and installed the tools we bought in the county town.”

Yang Wenlin, formerly an artisan from Liaodong, came from a family of blacksmiths with inherited skills. His craftsmanship was quite good: “We’ve discussed the Heartless Cannon. It’s basically a big firecracker. We should be able to make it.”

This afternoon, Qi Guoshu led workers to repair the village school buildings. With many hands, they had already restored several houses.

A few hours ago, Zhang Da’an returned to Zhang Village with five hundred strong men. After joining the repair team, the work progressed even faster.

This afternoon, Zhang Chen purchased numerous blacksmith tools in the county town and assigned Yang Wenlin and others to develop the Heartless Cannon and improve the black powder at the village school.

The eight hundred strong men recruited today also stayed at the village school. Although Zhang Village’s school was quite large, it could not accommodate so many people.

Plans were underway to build a military camp on the farmland east of Zhang Village. Zhang Chen left Old Zheng’s blacksmith shop to find Qi Guoshu. Seeing Qi approaching, he smiled: “Uncle Qi, I was just looking for you.”

“Give one hundred taels of silver in relief funds to each family among the thirty or so households whose homes were burned down last night. Uncle Qi, you will still serve as the village head.”

Zhang Chen handed Qi Guoshu more than ten silver notes totaling thirty-five thousand taels: “Build a large military camp east of the village. The militia will train daily, eat three meals a day, with at least one meal containing meat.”

Last night, bandits had burned down the homes of over thirty households in the northeast corner of Zhang Village. Each family was granted one hundred taels in relief funds.

This was unimaginable in the current Great Ming.

In the early Ming, the government might have provided relief to peasants struck by natural disasters.

Now, in the late Ming, the government was powerless to assist disaster victims.

“All right, Old Qi, I’ll let you handle the logistics and miscellaneous affairs. But one hundred taels per family is too much. Let’s give fifty taels each. Also, daily militia training is costly. I heard the Guan-Ning army trains once every three days. Our militia can train once every five days.”

Qi Guoshu accepted the silver notes.

Today in the county town, the master had swindled sixty thousand taels from the Tian family, collected fifty thousand taels in medical fees from the Xu siblings, and purchased tens of thousands of taels worth of iron, saltpeter, and other strategic materials. He swiftly recruited eight hundred strong men and over a hundred craftsmen.

Zhang Chen—yes, the master—was a man destined for great deeds. Following him promised a bright future!

Today, Zhang Chen had done many astonishing things in the county town. Good deeds stay quiet, but bad news travels far. Zhang Chen’s actions had long since spread back to Zhang Village.