Chapter 346: Wang Er Returns
Chapter 346: Wang Er Returns
Gao Yiye arrived at the blacksmith’s shop.
The atmosphere within crackled with intense heat; standing outside the door, she could already feel the enormous warmth emanating from within…
She didn’t dare barge in recklessly, afraid of causing trouble. So she stood at the entrance and called inside, “Li Da, Gao Yiyi, are you here?”
Li Da and Gao Yiyi quickly emerged.
“The Deity sent me to ask about the progress on the Red Flag Cannons,” she said.
An awkward expression flitted across Gao Yiyi’s face. “Well… cough…”
Li Daoxuan could tell something was wrong. “What happened?”
Gao Yiyi replied, “The process of making the cannon is too complex. We’ve been at it for many days, and we haven’t managed to complete a single one yet.”
Li Daoxuan: “Oh!”
He understood!
Successfully casting a cannon wasn’t something you could handcraft casually in a couple of tries. Just making the barrel alone required an extremely complex set of steps.
Since iron cannons were prone to bursting, the information provided by Song Yingxing called for a mixed metal of iron and bronze—essentially a kind of “alloy.”
The difficulty of producing such an “alloy” with the era’s capabilities was unimaginable. Craftsmen needed to melt iron and copper together in a specific ratio. The melting process itself alone consumed massive amounts of time.
Then, the blacksmiths had to create a sand mold or clay mold. The mold, made from carefully pounded and thoroughly prepared clay, needed to be dried very slowly in the shade or gradually baked through with charcoal fire. Just the mold-making phase took at least one month, but could stretch to three…
Furthermore, a single clay mold could only be used to cast one cannon.
Hearing about this production cycle was enough to give anyone a headache.
Li Daoxuan thought: If you proceed this slowly, it will take months to produce just one cannon. My one ship alone requires twelve cannons. Meanwhile, Cai Xinzi has already gone to build my ship model. Before long, I’ll need hundreds of cannons.
If we let you work this slowly, it would take forever!
Li Daoxuan pondered further: The blacksmiths really only need to know the technology of making cannons. The monotonous, tedious, and time-consuming step of actually casting the barrels doesn’t necessarily have to be done by them. I could provide the barrels for them.
He knew he certainly couldn’t buy cannon barrels outright on the online shopping site!
So, what could he buy as a substitute?
Li Daoxuan began searching the online shopping site. He hadn’t expected what he’d find. Surprisingly, he discovered something called “capillary steel tubing” available for sale. Made from 304 stainless steel, it could be manufactured in various specifications.
The minimum outer diameter could be as small as 0.2mm, with the minimum wall thickness down to 0.08mm. They could basically customize tubes larger than that at will. Of course, the tubes couldn’t be made too large. Ones exceeding a certain diameter might be considered suitable for “manufacturing gun barrels,” which would cross legal boundaries. Both the seller and the buyer would end up working with sewing machines.
Ordering only very fine capillary tubing, however, was permissible.
Li Daoxuan quickly messaged the store owner privately: “I’d like to order some capillary steel tubing. You have stock, right?”
The owner replied: “Dear, of course I have stock. We fulfill both ready-made and custom orders.”
Li Daoxuan: “Heh, great. First batch: lengths of 15mm, inner diameter 0.6mm capillary steel tubes. One end open, the other end sealed, with a small opening made in the sealed end… Hmm! This description might be a bit abstract. Simply put, I want the structure similar to an ancient cannon barrel. Look up a picture of a Red Flag Cannon online and model the capillary tube after that shape. It only needs the structure to resemble it, not necessarily the outer appearance.”
The owner was bewildered: “Make capillary steel tubes modeled after an ancient cannon’s structure? What’s the reasoning? Dear, your request is a bit odd. What is this for? I can’t make sense of it.”
Li Daoxuan: “I’ll pay extra! Double!”
The owner: “Dear! Sir, there’s nothing odd about you at all—you’re brilliant! I understand the design you want perfectly now. I guarantee completion of the task!”
The next day at noon…
Artisans’ well!
Gao Yiye arrived at the artisans’ well again with her two secretaries.
Yesterday when she had come, the blacksmiths hadn’t made satisfactory progress on the Deity’s task. Now they were anxious, fearing Gao Yiye was here to rush them.
But unexpectedly, Gao Yiye smiled and said: “The Deity decrees you stop working on the cannon barrels for now. He will grant you a batch of immortal-realm cannons.”
“Cannons from the immortal realm?” The blacksmiths were puzzled. “Do immortals even use cannons when they fight?”
Li Daoxuan thought: “…”
Gao Yiye froze briefly, then burst out laughing: “Immortals fight with immortal arts, of course! But besides them, heaven has celestial soldiers and generals too. Those soldiers need their own weapons.”
The blacksmiths suddenly understood: “Ah, celestial soldiers must fight as well.”
Gao Yiye looked up: “Everyone, watch closely!”
Li Daoxuan grabbed a handful of woolen steel pipes the courier had just delivered and slowly lowered them.
This batch of pipes were each only 15mm long with a 0.6mm inner bore—exactly matching the size of Red Flag Cannons.
He placed them into the artisans’ well, and the craftsmen stared dumbfounded.
“So… so smooth?”
“So bright! Even brighter than a bronze mirror!”
“What beautiful cannon barrels.”
“Truly worthy of immortal cannons.”
“Hurry, hurry! Push this stuff into the artisans’ well! With these, we can finish the artillery pieces immediately.”
The blacksmiths growled with excitement. Seeing a pile like a small mountain of immortal cannons lowered by the Deity, how many cannons could this churning produce? Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
Li Daoxuan thought: Now my big ship will soon bristle with cannons, won’t it?
Just as he pondered this, he spotted a group of people hastily entering Gaojia Village.
Bai Yuan led them, trailed by servants and over a dozen ragged men in straw hats, heads bowed. Viewing from above, Li Daoxuan couldn’t see their faces.
He activated his “focus” ability. Now his perspective lost its top-down limit—he could rotate 360 degrees for a close view. That revealed two familiar faces: Bai Shui Wang Er and Wang Er’s trusted follower White Cat. The rest, unknown, were likely those from Wangjia Village who’d left with Wang Er years ago.
Li Daoxuan wondered: Huh? Wang Er’s back? Oh! Got it! Wang Jiayin must be coming!
At that moment, Bai Yuan’s group strode urgently toward the main fortress. Behind them, Wang Er’s men gaped like curious babies, scanning the long-missed Gaojia Village.
It was like Alice in Wonderland or Granny Liu at Grand View Garden. Unfamiliar marvels stunned Wang Er’s band—they never imagined returning to Chengcheng County after over two years to find it transformed.
Wang Er sighed heavily: “How in the world was this achieved?”
Bai Yuan replied: “Plenty more things will astonish you, but this isn’t the time for sightseeing. Let’s head to the main fortress to meet Thirty-Two and the Saint Lady.”
Li Daoxuan also called down to the artisans’ well: “Yiye, hurry to the discussion hall. Bring Thirty-Two. We need to discuss major matters now.”