This kind of brain-dead nonsense is like a mudslide on the internet in later generations, with all sorts of racial theories running rampant.

They keep spreading rumors about the inferiority complex of the Chinese people. Holy crap, their brains are as stupid as pigs, yet they think they're standing on the high ground of wisdom. That's the biggest inferiority complex of these people.

When Zhao Huan traveled back in time, he saw the Song people who had not been persecuted by the Ming and Qing dynasties' eight-legged essays and Neo-Confucianism. They showed great enthusiasm and talent in their construction work.

Zhao Huan simply drew a very ugly picture and gave no other hints (he couldn't give any hints anyway), and the first version of the arquebus was produced.

However, the arquebus also had its drawbacks. After all, it was a matchlock gun, relying on lighting the matchlock to fire bullets. If the weather was bad, it would basically be destroyed.

Even under normal circumstances, it may stall.

And most importantly, the matchlock gun was very slow to operate.

Zhao Huan recalled that in the history of firearms in Europe, flintlock muskets were developed from revolver muskets, which in turn were developed from breech-loading muskets.

Therefore, the Song Dynasty must avoid taking unnecessary detours.

Chen Gui explained his principles in detail to everyone present, and also stated that the Ordnance Bureau actually tested at least twenty different types of firearms every day, and these firearms had some minor differences.

In total, over seven months, there were no fewer than 5,000 attempts, resulting in over a hundred casualties.

It can be said that it was made with painstaking effort.

Zhao Huan said to his ministers, "I have the Academy of Sciences and the Arsenal, which are like a tiger with wings."

After Zhao Huan finished reading it, he handed it to his ministers for their own review.

The gentlemen had never handled a firearm before and had absolutely no concept of it, nor did they know its true power, let alone why the emperor was so fond of it.

However, if it is truly lethal, then it is naturally a good thing.

The group then arrived at the training ground outside the armory, where there were archery targets in front of them.

A guard took the long musket, stood in the center, aimed at the bullseye, and pulled the trigger. A muffled bang startled the men present.

Even more astonishingly, a wisp of smoke was seen coming out of the muzzle of the musket, and there was an irregular hole in the bullseye with some black dots around it.

The guard was 100 meters away from the bullseye. To shoot through the bullseye from such a distance was enough to shock everyone.

During the Song Dynasty, there was a super-powerful crossbow called the Shenbi crossbow. Although it had a longer range than this, the Shenbi crossbow required the user to step on it to draw the bow, which gave it such great power.

But the musket in front of us is completely different; it's a brand new weapon.

It can be considered an upgraded version of a bow or crossbow. The projectiles it fires are more portable than arrows, and most importantly, they do not require human intervention to fire.

On the battlefield, a soldier's physical strength is extremely important.

No wonder the emperor kept putting pressure on the Imperial Arsenal, bringing along these high-ranking officials every time he came over.

This weapon is practically unprecedented, and its lethality would be greatly increased if it were used on a large scale in the Song Dynasty army.

The guard fired the first shot, then began to load the gun, filling the muzzle with iron pellets. After preparing for a moment, he fired the second shot.

But the second shot was not fired, leaving everyone puzzled.

Chen Gui looked embarrassed and quickly went forward to check. It turned out that the fire rope had gone out halfway through.

Zhao Huan thought to himself: Sure enough, I've encountered this problem. If I encountered it on the battlefield, I would basically be useless.

No wonder that even after the invention of firearms, European armies were still no match for cavalry, despite their large-scale deployment of firearms. Firearms of that era were still too primitive, and a well-trained soldier was considered quite good if he could fire two shots every three minutes.

Xu Churen observed this and couldn't help but think to himself: "Heaven's way is that for every gain, there is a loss. This thing seems to require less effort than bows and arrows or crossbows, but it is prone to problems."

The crowd, who had been so excited, seemed to have been somewhat dampened, and their high spirits gradually subsided.

Such a weapon would be deadly for soldiers on the battlefield; it would be better to bring a crossbow.

Chen Gui took the musket and went to Zhao Huan, saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will make further improvements."

"Minister Chen, I have some ideas."

Chen Gui looked at the emperor with a puzzled expression. "Your Majesty, I am here to apologize, not to discuss any issues."

"If you want to ignite the gunpowder inside, why not use a hard flint? In the past, there was a man named Suiren who made fire by drilling wood."

Liu Yanzong thought to himself: "Your Majesty, please don't cause trouble here. What flint and steel for starting fire? If it were really that easy, wouldn't Chen Gui have done it already?"

The ministers all thought that the emperor was giving random orders and making irresponsible suggestions again. They thought, "You should just be a good emperor. This kind of construction is not your forte."

Although they thought this in their hearts, no one dared to say it out loud; they simply watched the emperor show off in silence.

Zhao Huan took out the dagger he always carried, pulled it out, revealing a long and exquisite blade.

"Minister Chen, look."

The emperor gently pressed down on the tip of the dagger with his hand, startling the ministers who immediately cried out, "Your Majesty, be careful..."

Zhao Huan exerted force, causing the long dagger to bend slightly, then flicked as the emperor relaxed.

"Minister Chen, Minister Han, and Minister Sima, what did you all see?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback, especially Tang Ke, whose chubby face remained expressionless, but in his heart he was thinking: Your Majesty, I see you are deliberately making a fuss.

Your Majesty, is it really okay for you to be so pretentious?

Chen Guiju's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had thought of something.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!