Volume 1, Chapter 55: Helping the Great Ming Improve Firearms and Artillery!

Faced with the expressions of shock on everyone's faces, Jiang Lin merely smiled and waved his hand, preparing to drop another bombshell upon them.

"That's not all~ I didn't even empty the magazine just now. The magazine of this AK-47 holds thirty rounds, and they can all be fired in the blink of an eye."

"What?!" everyone gasped in unison.

Good heavens!

What had they just heard?

This automatic rifle could fire up to thirty rounds in the blink of an eye.

Whether in terms of rate of fire, capacity, or range, it completely crushed matchlock guns into dust.

Faced with their astonished expressions, Jiang Lin smiled smugly and looked at Xu Da. "General Xu, with this thing in my possession, would you say I am capable of protecting the Princess?"

"Hiss... Of course there is no problem at all."

Xu Da drew in a sharp breath. Completely convinced and won over, he nodded rather blankly.

With such a divine weapon, one could instantly annihilate evildoers before they even had time to react.

The sheer destructive power was simply beyond imagination.

At the same time!

Everyone present felt an even deeper and more intense fear toward Jiang Lin.

Fortunately, they hadn't provoked this man initially; otherwise, they probably wouldn't even have known how they died. Who knew what even more terrifying weapons Jiang Lin might still be hiding.

At this moment, Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang exchanged a glance. Father and son smiled, instantly reading each other's thoughts.

"Brother Jiang, I wonder if there is any way to equip the soldiers of Great Ming with this automatic rifle?"

Zhu Biao stepped forward, approaching Jiang Lin, and took the initiative to test the waters.

Although Great Ming had already driven the Mongols back to the grasslands, those scoundrels harbored lingering ambitions and periodically brought troops to harass the border.

Zhu Biao and the old emperor shared the exact same thought: if they could equip the soldiers of Great Ming with such a divine firearm, calling themselves invincible across the realm would be no exaggeration!

Let alone defending against Mongol border raids!

Directly leading an army to storm into the grasslands and completely eradicate those scoundrels from the root might even be possible!

At this thought, Old Zhu, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, Xu Da, and Tang He all burned with excitement, their gazes fixed on Jiang Lin filled with burning anticipation.

However, Jiang Lin shook his head. "Equipping the entire Great Ming military with the AK-47 is something I cannot do at present."

Hearing this, everyone felt a wave of disappointment, their newly kindled expectations instantly wilting.

Seeing this, the corners of Jiang Lin's mouth curved upward as he smiled and said softly, "Everyone, please hear me out first."

"While I cannot supply the AK-47 to the Great Ming army on a mass scale, I do have a way to improve the firearms currently in service with the Ming military, greatly enhancing their combat effectiveness."

Jiang Lin's words rekindled the interest of everyone present.

He could improve Great Ming's existing firearms and increase their lethality?

If Jiang Lin had spoken such words before they saw the AK-47, none of them would have believed it for a second.

In their eyes, Great Ming's current firearms had already developed quite remarkably and were quite advanced; how could they possibly be improved just like that?

Yet having witnessed the AK-47 with their own eyes, they now realized that Great Ming's firearms still had numerous shortcomings and needed to keep progressing.

Zhu Di stepped forward and asked, "Brother Jiang, how do you plan to improve the firearms? What do we need to do for you?"

Upon hearing Zhu Di's question, Jiang Lin put the automatic rifle back into his system storage space and pulled out two blueprints.

"These two are the blueprints for the flintlock and the Frankish breech-loading cannon. They are firearms and artillery gradually improved by future generations over a span of more than a hundred years."

"I am now handing these blueprints over to you. You can pass them on to the artisans of the Ministry of Works and have them manufactured!"

"Splendid, splendid! Many thanks, Brother Jiang!" Overjoyed, Zhu Biao reached out and hurriedly accepted the blueprints.

Jiang Lin continued, "Your existing matchlock guns rely on a burning match cord to fire, whereas the flintlock, as the name suggests, uses flint to strike fire."

"Flint is simply the firestone you usually use to start fires; it is very common!"

"When firing, pulling the trigger causes a spring to slam the flint heavily against the frizzen, igniting the gunpowder and discharging the shot."

"Not only is this gun more powerful than the matchlock, but its manufacturing cost is also lower, making it easy to mass-produce."

"Two centuries later, many European armies universally adopted the flintlock."

"The flintlock served European armies for over two hundred years before it was gradually phased out."

After listening to Jiang Lin's introduction, expressions of astonishment and delight appeared simultaneously on everyone's faces.

This weapon had not even come into existence until more than two hundred years later in the future!

Yet Great Ming possessed the manufacturing blueprints for such a weapon more than two hundred years in advance!

Once manufactured and issued to the army, wouldn't the Ming forces be invincible across the world?

At this thought, veteran generals Xu Da and Tang He burned with excitement, their hands itching as they eagerly rubbed their palms together.

Already, they were filled with anticipation, their minds conjuring a magnificent scene of themselves leading Ming troops equipped with flintlocks on a campaign to sweep away the remnants of the Northern Yuan.

They would smash the Yuan forces to pieces and send them fleeing in panic and disarray.