Chapter 448: The Issue of Airtightness

Gao Yiye slowly stepped half a pace behind Li Daoxuan and stood still, just like when her female secretaries Qiu and Dong stood behind her during usual times.

Shortly after, Thirty-Two, Tan Liwen, and others working in the main fortress all came upon hearing the commotion. Soon enough, Cheng Xu, Wang Er, and those stationed outside the main fortress arrived as well. The small artisans’ well grew crowded as people surrounded Li Daoxuan, presenting a truly grand spectacle.

Li Daoxuan thought to himself: All I did was trim my nails while sitting here, yet so many people have gathered to watch. This feels really awkward.

Just as he was about to complain and tell them to scatter—

Xu Dafu, head of the firearms bureau, emerged from the crowd. His movements were exceedingly cautious—eyes darting left and right as if stepping into a dragon’s lair or tiger’s den.

Li Daoxuan grinned at him: “Xu Dafu, why are you so careful?”

Xu Dafu: “Deity, though this place enjoys your blessing, it’s full of blades, firearms, and other weapons—all potential dangers. If I recklessly bumped into something I shouldn’t, even a falling hammer could kill me.”

The crowd: “…”

With someone who fears choking on water like this, reasoning was useless. Li Daoxuan asked: “Since you pushed through the crowd, was there something you wanted to say?”

The moment he spoke, every technician present turned their attention to the object in his palm.

They examined it closely: it was tiny, only the size of a fingernail cap, and not perfectly round—more like a circular disc.

At that shape, a thought flashed through Li Daoxuan’s mind: This is the lower part of the ‘bullet’—the part where, in modern firearms, the triggered spring drives the firing pin to strike its base and thus the fire cap. Impact triggers ignition, the powder explodes, and bang—out flies the projectile.

Even as Li Daoxuan mused over the mechanics, Li Da emerged from the blacksmith’s shop carrying a firearm.

This was the very early breech-loading rifle—the Sharps Rifle—that Li Daoxuan had tasked him with crafting during their first meeting. After resolving the spring issue, fabricating the gun itself posed little challenge; the real difficulty lay in the ammunition.

With the fire cap now perfected, the bullet problem was essentially solved as well.

Xu Dafu referenced the Sharps Rifle’s chamber, took out a piece of paper, and began crafting a bullet on the spot.

Early breech-loading rifles used Paper-Wrapped Bullets—essentially entirely handmade and enormous, exceeding the size of copper bullets by more than double.

The front tip enclosed a small lead ball. The middle held black powder. The tail end housed the fire cap. After stacking these segments, the paper was rolled tightly around them, compressed, and formed into a tapered bullet.

Li Da opened the chamber and loaded Xu Dafu’s fresh Paper-Wrapped Bullet. The entire process took mere seconds—a stark simplification from the laborious loading of muzzle-loaders.

Then he raised the gun and aimed at a wooden target on the opposite end wall of the artisans’ well.

He pulled the trigger. Bang! A gaping hole appeared at the center of the target.

None of the clerks grasped the significance, but Cheng Xu and Wang Er erupted in spirited applause: “Fine work! Incredible craftsmanship! The loading speed knocks previous firearms out of the water. Absolutely brilliant!”

Wang Er added: “Because rifled firearms take too long to reload, with intervals too prolonged, we dared not equip the militia units heavily. Only a few specialists get them. Slower firing forced our main force to rely on smoothbore guns. But if we replace them all with these breech-loaders someday? That loading handicap from rifling disappears instantly.”

Cheng Xu agreed: “Thus, every one of our smoothbore guns can be phased out… replaced entirely by breech-loading rifled barrels.”

The tactical possibilities flooded both their minds…

However, just then, Song Yingxing spoke from nearby: “I notice this gun has a critical flaw.”

Everyone: “?”

Li Daoxuan’s eyes lit up: Oh, so you’ve noticed?

Song Yingxing continued: “The rifle’s rear section houses a complex mechanism—firing pins, springs, slide bars—making it poorly sealed. Explosive force during firing leaks at the mechanism joints and edges. Doesn’t that mean its propulsion force weakens? Didn’t everyone see? The bullet’s impact seemed weaker than earlier rifled guns.”

His words dawned on them all. True—one glance at the target showed that shot seemed less destructive.

Song Yingxing sighed: “My steam engine grapples with this exact issue: terrible seal. Too much pressure leaks through small openings in the machine, wasting considerable power. If airtightness gets perfected? Both this gun’s power and the engine’s efficiency would surge enormously.”

Quite sharp, Song Yingxing, Li Daoxuan admired internally.But airtightness? Impossible at this level of Ming Dynasty materials science.

The thought had barely formed when Li Daoxuan caught Song Yingxing’s strange expression shift.

“I did stumble upon a material earlier,” Song Yingxing declared unexpectedly. “One that might resolve seal failures.”

The group urged: “Go on, tell us!”

He pointed straight at Li Daoxuan: “The substance forming this statue of the Deity.”

Everyone: Hah!

As it turned out, while Song Yingxing had been running his finger over the Deity’s effigy earlier, an idea struck him: This pliant texture… Ideal for plugging gaps in mechanisms.

“How dare you!”

Seven, eight voices booed him immediately: “What foul intentions motivate you? Wanting to carve our Deity’s holy image to patch a machine? A great traitor!”

Li Daoxuan laughed: “Haha! Everyone, calm down. Song Yingxing possesses an engineer’s mind; he fixes a technical problem without concerning himself with propriety. Do not blow it out of proportion!”

Smiling, he told Song Yingxing: “Another material is actually better suited than this statue for sealing both steam engines and breechloaders. Your chemistry research just hasn’t advanced enough to create it—so I’ll supply some to you directly.”

Once spoken, his consciousness instantaneously returned to his outer-world body. He reached for the pre-prepared rubber and lowered it into the artisans’ well.