Lian Zhu Pao (連珠砲) and Yu Gu Pao (漁皷砲)
Added 2024-12-02 16:00:17 +0000 UTCLian Zhu Pao (連珠砲, lit. 'Rapid bead cannon') and Yu Gu Pao (漁皷砲, lit. 'Fisherman's drum cannon') were two types of lightweight cannons commonly used by Ming garrison army of the strategically important San Bian (三邊, lit. 'Three borders') of Shaanxi Province, namely Gansu Garrison, Yansui Garrison, Ningxia Garrison, as well as the main headquarters, Guyuan Garrison.
The two cannons were more or less identical, except for the lack of reinforcing hoops in Yu Gu Pao. Both cannons were around three chi in length, six fen in barrel thickness, and had a bore diameter of around one cun one fen (1.4 in / 35.2 mm). Designed to be carriable by just one person, these cannons could either launch a single one cun diameter lead cannonball at considerable distance using five to six liang of gunpowder, or loaded with additional lead or iron pellets for close range scatter shot.
