Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 45: The Gunsmith

The 9th day of the 12th month, Year 30 of the Republic Early this morning, Liu Chenyong, Song Wenmu, and the others came to bid farewell to Ou Yang. They had long since finished their business, but in order to wait for Ou Yang, they had been living it up at the Yingchun Tower for the past few days—a lifestyle that a few junior officers could not afford to sustain. Meanwhile, Ou Yang’s affairs seemed to be piling up. Having spent all the money they’d brought with them, they simply could not continue waiting idly any longer. Thus, the group of officers who had originally arrived together from the same town had no choice but to part ways. Liu Chenyong, Song Wenmu, and Huang Junxian led their men home first. Ou Yang, however, remained in the Military Commission City to continue pursuing his own goals. Take today, for example: he brought Takurai and Tana along, enlisted Zuo Hengbai as their guide, and headed to the Northwest District. Ever since that heated verbal debate about magic versus technology at the Commander-in-Chief’s office a few days ago, Ou Yang and Zuo Hengbai had maintained a cordial relationship. After yesterday’s meal, Commander Zuo had already come to regard Captain Ou as one of his own. Showing the way and finding a good gun shop—such a small favor was naturally no trouble for Captain Zuo to grant. The northwest district of Junwei City was a hub of factories and shops. As a city whose population consisted mainly of garrison troops and their families, it had a street dedicated to selling all kinds of weapons—a famous arms distribution center throughout the entire Western Regions. Ever since his last battle with a flintlock pistol—when he’d nearly been torn apart by a lion—Captain Ou Yang had been eager to upgrade his personal gear. After receiving confirmation from General Zuo Yunyi yesterday that war was imminent, this desire grew even stronger. He had already agreed with Zuo Hengbai to participate in next year’s expedition. Considering that this operation would most likely be a small-scale engagement involving a few hundred to, at most, a little over a thousand troops—and given the number of troops he could command as the commander of a single relay station—boosting his own firepower was a quick way to enhance his unit’s combat effectiveness. If he bought a good gun, the next time he encountered a lion, at least he wouldn’t have to risk his life in a close-quarters fight within twenty paces. Until yesterday, Ou Yang hadn’t had enough money to fulfill this wish. But after returning from Master Yu’s banquet, the situation had changed slightly—he still didn’t have any money, but he had magical talismans, and a whole dozen of them at that. He’d just sold half of his defensive talismans to Zuo Hengbai, which was more than enough to arm himself to the teeth. As for whether Master Yu would be upset to learn he’d sold the gift she’d given him… he couldn’t worry about that now; this wasn’t the time to be concerned about saving face—besides, Captain Zuo wasn’t stupid enough to tell Master Yu about it, was he? He’d brought Takurai along with the intention of upgrading this private slave warrior’s combat capabilities. As for why he’d brought Tana along, it was simply because leaving a Di-Qiang slave girl alone at an inn run by the army wasn’t exactly safe. Sixth Street in the northwest district of Junwei City—a street famous throughout the Western Regions as the “Arms Street.” Not only were all kinds of standard-issue weapons sold here, but there were also quite a few gunsmiths offering privately modified weapons. The Imperial Regular Army is renowned for its superior weapons and equipment, but the Armaments Bureau isn’t exactly open to new ideas. After all, the Field Army and Marine Corps have hundreds of thousands of active-duty rifles and over a million in stockpile. If every wild idea were applied to standard-issue rifles, the time and financial costs would be simply staggering. Unless a design is revolutionary, minor tweaks to firearms simply won’t catch the eye of the Ministry of War’s Armaments Bureau or the major arms manufacturers. However, along the borders of the expanding Empire, countless adventurers and junior officers are willing to purchase non-standard weapons that better suit their needs. This gave rise to the profession of gunsmith—one found exclusively in the empire’s border regions. They manufacture or modify all manner of bizarre weapons for any civilian or citizen in need—sometimes based on their own ideas, and other times incorporating the users’ wildest imaginings. If a particular improvement catches the eye of the Scientific Society or the Ministry of War’s Armaments Bureau, the gunsmith becomes an inventor, earning a promotion, a raise, and the means to buy female slaves and take concubines—reaching the pinnacle of success. If not, they simply continue running their small business, giving free rein to their ingenuity in crafting firearms. In a nutshell, this gathering place is like the Huaqiangbei of the arms trade. Sixth Street in the northwest district of Junwei City is just such a “Huaqiangbei of the arms trade.” Looking down the street from the entrance, the entire thoroughfare is lined with arms shops of all sizes. Some larger merchants sell only finished products, while their doorways are lined with large wooden barrels densely packed with cheap bladed weapons—knives, swords, spears, and the like. These weapons are so inexpensive that customers can pick and choose at will for a small fee; keeping them outside seems to be a way to avoid letting such merchandise take up valuable space inside the store. From some of the smaller shops came the shrill sound of metal grinding against metal—these were most likely the workshops of gunsmiths. Gunsmiths without patents don’t earn much; most of them simply make a living by bringing along their nephews or apprentices. The situation is very similar to that of the Magical Arts Society—a master passes on his craft and insights to one or two apprentices, generation after generation. The only difference is that their so-called unique designs can’t be kept secret and are easily leaked to the outside world. “This shop has a very comprehensive selection of firearms. My father was a collector of firearms and once found a flintlock made in the twenty-fifth year of the Hetao era here, along with many strange weapons designed by famous gunsmiths, so he’s quite familiar with the owner. Both the owner and his son are the most skilled gunsmiths on this street. If you have any good ideas, Brother Ou, you can have them give it a try—I guarantee they’ll be able to craft exactly what you want.” As he spoke, Zuo Hengbai led Ou Yang into a relatively large shop—since slaves and commoners of non-Han descent were forbidden from owning firearms, Takurai and Tana dared not enter such an armory and could only wait outside. The first thing that caught their eye in the main hall was a pile of firearm parts stacked from floor to ceiling—everything from triggers and barrels to forends and cleaning rods. If they searched carefully, they might even find a “snake rod” for a matchlock or a firing pin for a flintlock—this shop also dealt in the buyback and resale of secondhand weapons. Looking toward the wall, wooden shelves were lined with rows of firearms. Judging by the models, they were mainly Type Ta 43 flintlock smoothbore rifles—long since phased out of the field army—and the Republic Year 11 rifle, currently the mainstay of the Imperial Army—a muzzle-loading rifled gun that fires Minié bullets using a mercury-capsule percussion system. Occasionally, one can even find some of the latest Republic Model 28 breech-loading percussor rifles and modified Model 11 rifles converted from muzzle-loading to breech-loading. It was practically a gun emporium. Spotting a customer, the shopkeeper crawled out from beneath that pile of junk parts—literally crawled out, as the parts were piled so high. Rubbing his hands, which were caked in gun oil, he asked, “What wind has blown the Left Captain this way? What kind of gun are you looking to buy this time? If it’s for a collection, I just got my hands on a privately crafted fluted-barrel rifle made by a gunsmith, complete with all the accessories. If you’re hunting, I’d still recommend the small-caliber double-barreled flintlock specially manufactured by the Armory Bureau. If you want a custom-made gun, I’ll go get my father for you right away.” Zuo Hengbai smiled and pointed at Ou Yang, replying, “I’m here with Brother Qudang. He wants to buy a few guns for self-defense—let him pick them out himself.” “So it’s Magistrate Ou,” the shopkeeper hurriedly bowed to Ou Yang. “What kind of gun would you like to buy, Magistrate?” Ou Yang didn’t reply. Though he still wore the iron badge at his waist signifying his rank as a Company Commander, he carried only a flintlock pistol (he’d lent his dagger to Tong Zhongjian as well)—a stark contrast to Zuo Hengbai, who was armed with two revolvers and a finely crafted dagger. It should have been obvious even to a fool that he had come to purchase weapons to bolster his own defenses. For this shopkeeper to ramble on so much about useless things to Zuo Hengbai showed just how poor his judgment really was. However, given the high regard in which the Zuo family—the local powerbrokers—held him, his craftsmanship should be trustworthy. In his previous life, Ou Yang had seen plenty of engineering technicians with top-notch technical skills who lacked the ability to interact with others or read people’s expressions. In this line of work, technical skill is more important than anything else.