Chapter 318: Rifling Process

Seeing Bai Yuan looked crestfallen, Li Daoxuan was secretly laughing to himself: They’ve started pursuing accuracy.

That was inevitable!

Since firearms came into existence, many firearm inventors had continuously strived for improved accuracy. The shift from Three-Eyed Divine Firearms to Firearms itself was an attempt to achieve better accuracy. Artisans of that time used “longer barrels” to stabilize the bullet’s direction at the moment of discharge for greater precision.

However, no matter how much accuracy was pursued, smoothbore guns were fundamentally ludicrous. Because the inside of the barrel was smooth, the bullet would just fly wildly upon leaving the muzzle. No one could control that.

If bullets were to fly steadily forward, rifle barrels were absolutely necessary.

Rifle barrels weren’t some highly advanced technology. Back in 1498, the Germans had already invented rifled barrels. Now it was Chongzhen Year Two—1629—over a hundred years later. With Ming Dynasty craftsmanship, making rifled barrels had become possible. The challenge lay in the difficulty of manually carving them, a slow and laborious process that hindered mass production.

Since the technology allowed it, Li Daoxuan had no reason to hold back. He decided to give it to them outright.

He took out the rifling technology documents prepared long ago and tossed them straight down onto Bai Yuan below.

He provided relatively simple blueprints for “straight rifling,” much easier to produce than “spiral rifling.” Start simple, then advance.

Bai Yuan was holding a firearm, aiming at a bird flying across the sky. He aimed left, then right, unable to find a satisfying sight. He sighed and fired a shot randomly with a loud “BOOM!”

Just as the bullet left the barrel, the papers Li Daoxuan dropped drifted down.

The bullet struck the large sheet of paper, punching a small hole right through its center.

Bai Yuan jumped in fright: “Aiyo?! Terrible! I hit the heavenly scriptures bestowed by the Deity!”

The paper fluttered down and landed before him. He focused his gaze; it depicted and described techniques to improve firearm accuracy. But right on the most critical diagram section, the illustration of the “rifle barrel” itself—was a large hole. The cross-section of the rifling was completely missing.

“AAAAAHHH!”

Bai Yuan screamed in distress: “Ruined! Finished! The Deity bestowed a method to improve firearm accuracy, and I completely wrecked it! Heavens! AAAAHHHH! I actually destroyed the heavenly scriptures! AAAAAAHHHH!”

Thump! He collapsed face-first to the ground.

His nearby servants rushed over and helped him up.

Bai Yuan, face filled with regret, lamented: “It’s over. I don’t know how to atone. Of the Six Arts for gentlemen, ‘Rites’ — I have shattered. Cross it out, cross it out!”

Li Daoxuan laughed heartily. He printed off another sheet and lowered it down once more.

Only then did Bai Yuan perk up, rushing with pride: “Wonderful! There actually was a second copy of the heavenly scriptures! Wrecking one doesn’t matter after all!”

Dismissing his regret, he spread out the huge sheet. He climbed a nearby tree to look down upon it…

He stared at it for a long while. He didn’t really understand!

As it turned out, Bai Yuan had only studied mathematics so far, not physics or chemistry. Without studying physics, many subtle principles were very difficult to grasp.

Still, misunderstanding it was no problem. He immediately ordered the “heavenly scriptures” rolled up. He led his group of servants, ran to the train station, waited for the next train, stuffed the large paper scroll into a carriage, and boarded as it clanked and clanked its way off towards the Gaojia Village School.

The Gaojia Village School had become utterly fantastical.

Next to the five-story school building leaned a massive microscope. Many students climbed to the fifth floor, ascended a pre-built scaffold onto the microscope, and peered down through its lenses. People on the second floor placed objects to be observed onto a tray elevated to that level…

Besides the microscope, the school grounds hosted many other enormous experimental instruments. Most leaned against the school building for students to access easily after climbing several floors.

These giant experimental apparatuses significantly accelerated the students’ learning of physics, hastening their comprehension of “science.”

Bai Yuan, however, had zero interest in these things.

Anything outside the Six Arts of Gentlemen held no appeal for him.

He dashed into the school building, heading straight for the library.

Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai were still inside, reading and relaxing.

Bai Yuan beckoned to his servant behind him: “Quickly, bring here the heavenly scriptures!”

The enormous paper unfurled before Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai.

Young Master Bai understood immediately: “So that’s it! That’s precisely it!”

In matters of physics, Bai Yuan long recognized he couldn’t match his son. But since this wasn’t “mathematics” and fell outside the Six Arts, he cared not one whit. He grinned and asked: “Young Master, what is the meaning of these heavenly scriptures?”

Young Master Bai pointed to the rifling diagram: “This is to stabilize the bullet! Lead bullets are relatively soft. On firing, they deform slightly. The deformed part then embeds itself into the rifling grooves. This prevents the bullet from continuously sliding and banging against the barrel walls, meaning it won’t fly wildly upon exit. Just as train wheels only move along the tracks… the bullet will slide along the rifling grooves… I believe it must work like this.”

Beside him, Song Yingxing nodded: “Indeed. That is plainly how it functions. Young Brother Bai, your grasp of physics is truly excellent.”

Bai Yuan, overjoyed: “Meaning that by incorporating this… rifle barrel thing inside the gun’s barrel… the fired bullet will fly straight forward? We can hit whatever we aim at?”

Song Yingxing and Young Master Bai nodded in unison: “Exactly!”

Bai Yuan: “Hahaha! So how exactly do we make it happen?”

Song Yingxing indicated the large paper: “Doesn’t the heavenly scripture specify? First, heat the gun barrel red-hot. Then, using a special boring broach, pull it forcefully through the glowing barrel’s interior… and the rifling forms! The key, most challenging step here is ensuring the pull is utterly even and stable during the broaching. The rifling must not warp. Otherwise, the bullet won’t fly straight.”

Young Master Bai gave a knowing chuckle: “Therefore, it’s best not to pull by hand. Pure manual broaching is very prone to warping. Even if it looks straight to the naked eye, it’s likely crooked. We’ve observed this phenomenon repeatedly under the microscope.”

Song Yingxing: “Hence, we should first build a wooden machine. Similar to a spinning machine. Install perfectly straight guides upon it. Affix the broaching tool upon these guides. Using such a device to secure the broach’s stability will produce perfectly straight rifling.”

The two put their heads together. Within minutes, they devised a thoroughly workable plan.

Bai Yuan stood to the side listening, feeling foolish. Much of it went over his head.

One thing did register clearly, though: making the rifling was achievable swiftly.

Thrilled, Bai Yuan clapped his son on the shoulder: “Hahahaha! Not bad at all, my boy! You’re actually useful to me now! Hahaha! When I grow old, I can pass Bai Family Fortress into your hands without worry, right? Hahahaha!”