Chapter 9: Children

Chapter 9: Children

Chapter 9: Children
"Hahaha! Sixth brother, look! Look at what I hit you with!"

After looking at the target, Wang Jinwu grinned, pointed at the place where the bullet hit, and looked very excited.

Zhu Shenzhui was also surprised when he got closer. He saw that the target was hit by a bullet on the left side of the center. The bullet was only one finger away from the center, and it was estimated that it had reached the level of nine rings.

"Good boy, you fought well!"

Hearing Zhu Shencui's praise, Wang Jinwu became even happier. It was indeed rare to be able to hit the target to such an extent for the first time when firing a musket, especially since he had seen Zhu Shencui's results before. Compared with Zhu Shencui's previous shot, this shot was much more accurate.

Zhu Shenzhui has always had the upper hand over Wang Jinwu, and today is the first time he has won. The thought of this makes the boy even more proud.

But he didn't feel proud for long. He tried another shot. After the shot, the two of them went to look at the target. Zhu Shenzhui asked where the second shot went. Wang Jinwu was stunned. He stared at the target for a long time but couldn't find the spot where the second shot landed. Finally, the two of them looked together and found it on the stone wall more than half a meter away from the target.

Seeing that the second shot landed in such an outrageous spot, Wang Jinwu, who had been so complacent just now, suddenly stopped firing. He scratched his head with an embarrassed expression, muttering to himself how could this happen, and he couldn't figure out what was going on.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Shenzhui laughed inwardly, and naturally understood what was going on.

Although Wang Jinwu was good at archery, he had never fired a musket before. The first shot was just a stroke of luck, but the second shot was different. Moreover, this musket was a smoothbore musket, and he didn't know how to use the three-point-one-line method, so he fired directly based on his feeling, so it was normal to have such a result.

After telling Wang Jinwu the reason, Wang Jinwu suddenly realized it and said that he didn't understand the situation the first time he fired a musket, and he would never do that again.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and nodded, then reloaded the bullet immediately, told him how to aim, and asked him to shoot again. This time was much better than the last time. Although he still didn't hit the center of the bull's eye, the bullet finally landed inside the target. If it was intended to shoot someone, hitting two out of three shots was considered good.

Then, Zhu Shenzhui tried a few more times. After firing a few more times, he also figured out the tricks of using the musket, including the appropriate degree of adding gunpowder. The last two shots were almost right on the bull's eye, and he was satisfied.

Afterwards, Zhu Shenzhui took Wang Jinwu to test the maximum distance of the musket. When it reached twenty-two steps, it was still barely able to hit the target, but beyond this distance, the bullet flew away and no one knew where. Even if Wang Jinwu aimed, he still could not hit the target.

After the test, Zhu Shenzhui was completely confident that this musket was far superior to the current firearms in terms of shooting distance and accuracy, and was almost comparable to the bird gun.

The so-called bird gun is named after its ability to shoot down flying birds. Its accuracy is the best among all Ming Dynasty firearms. Moreover, the bird gun can shoot very far, and can still hit two out of ten at 160 meters, or one hundred steps. If it is a well-made bird gun and shot by an expert, the accuracy will be even higher.

Although the range of Zhu Shenzhui's musket was far less than that of the bird gun, its accuracy was not inferior at all, and the maximum range of 35 steps, or meters, was enough for Zhu Shenzhui. Moreover, after using the gunpowder made by Zhu Shenzhui, the musket's power and range were stronger than Zhao Da's test firing, and Zhu Shenzhui was quite satisfied with it.

After the test firing, Zhu Shenzhui cleaned the musket and put it away, which made Wang Jinwu extremely itchy.

After fighting a few times, Wang Jinwu has fallen in love with this small yet powerful firearm. Although the loading and shooting of the musket are more cumbersome than the bow and arrow he usually uses, this musket is very powerful!

Moreover, if you are prepared in advance, you can just draw your gun and shoot. The power is much greater than that of a bow and arrow. The advantage is too great within a distance of more than ten steps. No matter who the opponent is, he cannot withstand the shooting of the musket.

“Hehe…Sixth brother…hehehe…” Wang Jinwu rubbed his hands like a pig, his eyes moving around and looking into Zhu Shenzhui’s arms.

"Don't even think about it!" Zhu Shenzhui knew what his cousin was thinking. He clearly wanted to ask for the musket.

It’s not that Zhu Shenzui is stingy. He just got this musket not long ago, and he asked Zhao Da to make it for a great use.

If he waited for Zhao Duo to build a few and then gave one to Wang Jinwu, it would be fine, but it is absolutely not possible now.

"Sixth brother, I don't mean anything else, I just want to ask..." Wang Jinwu licked his cheeks and came closer, looking expectant. "I have a use for this musket, so I can't give it to you. Wait a few days, I've already told Zhao Da that he will make a few more in the spring of next year, and I can give you one then."

“Sixth brother, you are my real brother! Hehe...hehehe....” Wang Jinwu was so happy when he heard it that he rubbed his hands together and laughed so hard that his teeth showed. He almost danced in front of Zhu Shenzhui.

Seeing his look, Zhu Shenzhui also found it funny. He reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, we have been out for quite a while. It looks like it will be dark soon. Let's go back."

“Go back, go back, go back…” Wang Jinwu nodded repeatedly and followed Zhu Shenzhu happily back. After a while, they returned to Wangjia Village.

When I got home, my uncle Wang Rong had already returned. In addition to Wang Rong, there were several other young men chatting in the yard.

These young men were all from Wangjia Village, and one of them was Wang Chuer, whom Zhu Shenzui met before entering the village.

Seeing Zhu Shenzui bringing Wang Jinwu back, Wang Chuer and others hurriedly stood up and saluted Zhu Shenzui. Zhu Shenzui smiled and said, "You are all here," and then looked at his uncle Wang Rong.

Wang Rong nodded slightly to him, and Zhu Shenzhui immediately understood and invited everyone into the house.

Inside the room, my aunt had already prepared the food and put a pot of wine on the table. When she saw everyone coming in, she smiled and left. Zhu Shenzhui asked Wang Rong to sit down first, then sat on Wang Rong's left and asked everyone to sit down. Everyone responded and sat down around Zhu Shenzhui and Wang Rong.

"Everyone is ready to set off tomorrow?"

"Sixth Master, uncle has already told us everything. Everything is ready." Wang Chuer said with a smile. The other three men beside him nodded and told Sixth Master not to worry. They have made preparations and there will be no problem in setting off tomorrow.

Everyone was not an outsider. Wang Rong had the highest seniority among those present. Wang Chuer and the other two men were all younger members of the Wang family. They all called Wang Rong "uncle".

As for Zhu Shenzhui, he is the nephew of my uncle Wang Rong and also a member of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. Even people of the same generation as Zhu Shenzhui have to respectfully call him Sixth Master or Sixth Brother when they see him.

Not only that, what is more important is Zhu Shenzui’s status in Wangjia Village.

Wang Rong from Wangjia Village is the patriarch of the Wang family and also holds the title of a centurion. Wangjia Village is a military household, and Wang Rong, the centurion, is the largest one here.

The villagers of Wangjia Village are either the younger generations of Wang Rong or are related to the Wang family. Even Zhao Da and his craftsmen are not outsiders, as their grandmothers or grandmothers-in-law are also surnamed Wang.

But in fact, the person who really calls the shots in Wangjia Village is not Wang Rong, but Zhu Shenzui, who is known as the Sixth Master.

If it weren't for Zhu Shencui, Wangjia Village would have collapsed like some remote villages in recent years. Just because of a heavy snowfall last winter, if Zhu Shencui hadn't made arrangements early on, I'm afraid that less than half of the people in Wangjia Village would have survived.

Zhu Shenzui has done a lot of things in Wangjia Village in the past two years. Wangjia Village is located in a remote area and there are not many good farmlands in the village. Even if they can go into the mountains to hunt, the prey is limited and it is not enough to feed the entire village.

More than two years ago, when Zhu Shenzui's father and brother had just passed away, Zhu Shenzui sneaked out of Pingyang Prefecture and went to Wangjia Village to find his uncle Wang Rong. The two of them had a good chat behind closed doors.

No one knew what Zhu Shenzui talked about with Wang Rong that night, but since that day, the peaceful Wangjia Village has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The biggest change was that Zhu Shenzui led the people of Wangjia Village out of the small village and started a "business" unknown to outsiders. Relying on this business, the days of Wangjia Village gradually became much better, and they successfully survived last winter. Zhu Shenzui also made a name for himself with the help of the children of Wangjia Village, and with the help of his uncle Wang Rong, he recruited dozens of young and strong children from Wangjia Village.

(End of this chapter)