Chapter 63: Pledge of Allegiance

Springs manufactured in ancient times naturally cannot compare to those made in modern days, yet when applied to a modified flintlock, they possessed formidable power.

Standing outside the martial arts training grounds of the county, Li Yu meticulously wiped the rifle with a silk cloth, while Chu Liang felt a tumult of inner agitation.

"I wonder how powerful this firearm modified by the Magistrate truly is?"

Over the past few months, the Magistrate had immersed himself either in the blacksmith's workshop or the arsenal, leaving almost all the administrative duties of the county office to him. Now that this gun had finally been crafted, shouldn't he start paying proper attention to county affairs?

He had not returned home for three days, nor could he possibly move his entire household into the yamen.

Li Yu smiled and explained patiently, "Under calm and dry conditions, it can pierce cotton armor within a hundred paces. In windy and rainy weather, it can take an enemy's life within seventy paces."

A hundred paces was roughly one hundred and forty meters. This technology could be considered exceptionally advanced, and it was the symbolic pledge of allegiance he intended to offer to the Prince of Lu.

What a pity!

More than fifty years had passed since the founding of the dynasty, and the realm enjoyed peace, save for some minor domestic rebellions. Otherwise, he would have truly liked to raise a banner of revolt himself and experience the thrill of being an emperor.

"How is that possible?" Chu Liang was the first to disbelieve, immediately retorting with a smile, "Isn't that almost on par with the miraculous firearm blueprints left behind by the late dynasty's Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, Lord Deng?"

Back in the day, Lord Deng had told the founding emperor of the previous dynasty that if that device could ever be researched and built, no one in the world would be able to rival the new dynasty.

Yet Lord Deng could not manufacture it in his lifetime; could the Magistrate manage it after spending just a few months?

Li Yu smiled without a word. At first, he had thought the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery was a time-traveler. Later on, however, he dismissed that conjecture because this Lord Deng had opposed the former dynasty's founding emperor from attacking Wa, reasoning that maritime weather was too fickle. If they failed to cross, not only would they fail to project national might, but it would also make the opponent even more arrogant.

If he were a time-traveler, how could he possibly utter such words? If someone suggested attacking Wa, a fellow time-traveler would likely be champing at the bit to serve in the vanguard.

"Indeed, Zixuan, why are you bragging so shamously?"

Having received instructions from the Prince, Yang Gao had rushed over in great haste.

"Taking an enemy's life within a hundred paces? You're about to brag the ox right up into the sky."

Their current matchlock firearms had an effective range of nearly sixty paces, and that was only under exceptionally favorable weather conditions. With a wind, it dropped to twenty or thirty paces, and in rainy weather, seven or eight out of ten would misfire.

"Being able to make a matchlock function as usual in the rain is already quite remarkable. But claiming to increase its power by half as well? Aren't you afraid your bragging will wear right through?"

Seeing Yang Gao stride in so boldly and even drape an arm familiarly over the Magistrate's shoulder, Chu Liang felt as though his brain could no longer process the situation.

What was happening here?

How had his Magistrate... gotten mixed up with the people of the Prince of Lu?

Li Yu did not brush the hand off his shoulder; he merely smiled and handed over the gun in his hand.

"Would the Commander care to try?"

Without asking, he already knew the outcome. The Prince of Lu must have made him witness the firearm's power with his own eyes before consenting to meet him at such a juncture.

Yang Gao had precisely this in mind. He took the weapon and carefully inspected its exterior.

"Now this is actually rather interesting!"

At the very least, one did not need to carry a burning match cord everywhere, and the flash of ignition would no longer expose one's position.

Li Yu raised a hand, and Tieyi immediately placed a target one hundred paces away from Yang Gao.

Yang Gao chuckled wryly, "...Why must you be so stubborn?"

Nevertheless, he took aim at the target. The moment he pulled the trigger, the flint struck toward the bullseye, sending up a puff of blue smoke from the center of the target.

Yang Gao's voice stammered, "Is... is it truly capable of piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces?"

When he was studying, the tutor of firearms had told him that phrase was merely a hyperbolic figure of speech.

He had never expected to witness it literally today!

"Could it possibly be false?" Li Yu was speechless. Why couldn't he be the one to create a miracle? "Furthermore, whereas an archer can loose three arrows in a span, I can also fire three rounds with this."

Loose-arrow archery required one minute for three shots, so his weapon could likewise fire three times in a minute.

Hearing this, Yang Gao naturally wanted to test it, and he found that it was indeed feasible.

Holding the firearm, he stroked it with an expression of stunned awe, entirely unconcerned with treating Chu Liang as an outsider.

"If the Prince truly succeeds, based on this alone, you are bound to be enfeoffed as a marquis at the very least..."

Indeed, educated men were the ones capable of achieving great things; one could be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a prime minister without ever stepping onto a battlefield. When he returned, he would make sure his own lad studied hard as well.

"Thud!"

Before Yang Gao even finished speaking, he saw Chu Liang collapse to the ground, his face drained of all color in sheer terror.

Li Yu quickly reached out and pulled him up from the floor. "What are you panicking for? It has nothing to do with you anyway."

He had told the man not to come, yet he insisted on coming, only to frighten himself into such a state upon arrival.

What of rebellion?

Had there been any shortage of rebels throughout history? Why make such a fuss over the unusual?

Chu Liang was on the verge of tears. How could this possibly have nothing to do with him?

If the Prince of Lu's plot were exposed, wouldn't the Magistrate and everyone else who knew about it be put to death?

He had thought the Magistrate was crafting firearms to present to the imperial court, never imagining that the man actually intended to help the Prince of Lu rebel!

Yang Gao cared not a whit about his expression. In any case, all intelligence heading toward the capital had to pass through their Prince of Lu's estate sooner or later.

Whether he knew early or late, he would find out eventually. Aside from those fools from the capital currently staying at the Prince's estate, there was no need to keep secrets from anyone.

He patted Li Yu's shoulder and prepared to leave with the flintlock.

"You are not yet a close confidant of the Prince; dangerous items like this cannot remain in your custody. Allow me to present it to the Prince on your behalf first, and I shall relay His Highness's orders afterward."

It could kill a man within a hundred paces; what if the fellow lost his mind and attempted to assassinate the Prince?

Some matters simply had to be guarded against!

Li Yu: "...Then I shall trouble the Commander."

So in television dramas, how on earth did people manage to casually bump into princes?

Why was it that when it came to him, meeting a member of the royal family proved to be such an arduous endeavor?

Fatty had now reached the age of recognizing familiar faces and refused to let anyone other than his own parents hold him, howling at the top of his lungs the moment anyone took him out of his line of sight.

This tortured Ning Zhao'an to no end, as she had to take this little ancestor with her wherever she went.

Seeing Li Yu return, she hurriedly shoved the child into her husband's arms.

"Quickly, hold your son and play with him for a while; both of my arms feel as though they're about to break."

With that, she glared at Li Yu. "I don't know who on earth he takes after. Two wet nurses and four milk mothers can't pacify him, and this twenty-something-pound child demands his mother to hold him all day long..."

With a child so heavy, how could anyone keep holding him?

"This certainly doesn't come from me." Disregarding the little rascal's wailing, Li Yu placed him into a baby walker and argued craftily, "When Shen Dan and I were his age, we were already following the adults out to the fields to pull weeds."

Therefore, he surely took after the mothers raised in wealthy families, and could not possibly resemble a poor man's father like himself.

Seeing that his parents were chatting and ignoring him, Fatty instantly wailed even louder.

Distressed for her son, Zhao'an rushed to pick him up, but Li Yu pulled her by the hand toward the inner room.

"All thunder and no rain—just ignore him. Once he cries himself tired and sees you won't pay him any mind, he'll naturally stop..."

Hesitating slightly, Zhao'an wanted to look back at her son. "What if he ruins his vocal cords from crying..."

"If they ruin, they ruin." Li Yu blocked her line of sight completely and smiled. "He won't be going into opera when he grows up."

In ancient times, as long as one could speak, that was quite enough.

The still-wailing Fatty watched his parents walk away, opening his wide, innocent eyes at the closed chamber door, his mouth agape to howl yet having no idea who to howl at.

His chubby face was full of utter bewilderment and just a hint of grievance.

Yunban covered her mouth and smiled at his adorable expression, quickly scooping him up into her arms to coax him.

"There, there, good young master. The Magistrate and the Madam have gone off to make you a younger brother or sister. Perhaps next year you'll have a little sibling to play with."