Glass in Chinese history first appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but it was not called glass at that time, but Liuli, Poli, Langxuan, etc. It was not until the Wei and Jin dynasties that the title of glass appeared. But before the Tang Dynasty, glass was still

It is very rough, dark in color, and loose in texture. It was not until the Tang Dynasty introduced the Persian style that glassware began to become colorful, beautiful in shape, and highly ornamental. It was called water jade, or medicinal jade.

During the Ming Dynasty, the manufacturing technology of glass has made great progress. However, the problem of glass breaking when exposed to heat has not been solved. Therefore, glassware can only be used for ornamental purposes and is expensive. It is generally used by the royal family and is only for the wealthy and wealthy people.

Only homes can afford it.

Although the glass-burning technology of the Ming Dynasty was very mature, the glass produced was all colored, and pure transparent glass could not be fired at all. Without pure transparent glass, it would be impossible to make glass mirrors!

Some time ago, Zhu Houcong specially sent a palace eunuch to catch up with the Buddhist envoy Pires who was sent back to Guangzhou to ask for the method of making glass mirrors, but in the end he returned without success. As Xu Jin expected, Pires

Si had no idea how to make glass mirrors.

In fact, glass mirrors are a new thing that only appeared in Europe in the past ten years. They were accidentally invented by Italian glass craftsmen. The technology was closely protected by the local nobles, and even the craftsmen who made glass mirrors were transferred to the outside world.

On an isolated island, glass craftsmen are not allowed to leave the island for the rest of their lives, so outsiders cannot peek into the technology of making glass mirrors.

Therefore, if Xu Jin wanted to make glass mirrors, he had to slowly study and explore on his own. Unfortunately, he was not a man of science and engineering, otherwise with the modern and developed glass-making technology, it would not be easy to do it.

During this time, Xu Jin had asked Dabao to buy a house in the outer city as a workshop for developing glass. Now that everything was ready, all he needed was an experienced glass craftsman. Today, Dabao made an appointment with an old glass craftsman.

Discuss.

Xu Jin and Zhang Cong had lunch in the courtyard and returned to their house in Mingshifang. Dabao had already been waiting in the front yard living room with the old craftsman for a long time.

In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen generally came from craftsmen's households, and they were hereditary just like military households. In other words, if I was a craftsman, at least one of his sons must be a craftsman, and this would continue from generation to generation.

No matter what kind of craftsman he was, his social status in the Ming Dynasty was not high, so although the old glass craftsman named Kang Bo had been sitting and waiting for nearly an hour, he did not dare to be dissatisfied at all. After seeing Xu Jin, he cautiously stepped forward to greet him.

.

"Uncle Kang, there's no need to be polite, sit down!" Xu Jin smiled and asked the old craftsman to sit down, and then asked: "Dabao, have you arranged lunch?"

Dabao said that he had already arranged to eat. Xu Jin nodded. Seeing Kang Bo's little buttocks sitting on the chair, he was obviously a little nervous, so he asked kindly: "How many years has Kang Bo been making glass this year?"

When talking about his old profession, the old craftsman obviously relaxed and replied: "The old man is fifty-five this year. He started learning to make glass when he was five years old. Now he is older, so the younger members of the family have taken over the job."

Xu Jin said: "I started learning at the age of five. Doesn't that mean I have more than fifty years of experience? Kang Bo's glass-burning skills must be very high."

The old craftsman grinned and said with a hint of arrogance: "As long as you can think of any shape, the old man can blow it."

Currently, glass blowing was popular in the Ming Dynasty, just like the vendors blowing sugar dolls on the street. They blew the liquid glass into various beautiful shapes, and after cooling, they became various exquisite glass vessels.

Xu Jin gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "Uncle Kang, but I don't need to blow off what I want to do!" After saying that, he took out the glass mirror and handed it over, and continued: "Are you sure you can make this kind of thing?"

Kang Bo took the mirror and looked at it. His expression suddenly changed and he asked, "Sir, I'm sorry for my poor eyesight. Is this a mirror made of glass?"

Xu Jin nodded and said: "This is a glass mirror made by Westerners!"

"No wonder, tsk tsk, foreigners can actually make such good things, how strange!" Kang Bo sighed, but his contempt for foreigners could be heard in his tone.

Xu Jin asked: "Does Kang Bo think we can do it?"

Kang Bo did not answer, but turned the mirror over, carefully observed the coating on the back, and then said with embarrassment: "This old man has never seen such crystal clear glass... But since foreigners can do it

How could we not be able to make the things we made in Ming Dynasty? The old man is willing to try, but it will take some time."

Xu Jin's original intention was to find an experienced craftsman to develop transparent glass. This kind of early "scientific research" investment is necessary, so he smiled and said: "Of course there is no problem. The salary is four taels of silver per month. Is Kang Bo satisfied?"

Kang Bo's eyebrows twitched and he said quickly: "I'm satisfied, I can go to work tomorrow."

In the Ming Dynasty, the average monthly income of workers was between one tael and two taels, and those at the 4-tael level were almost at the "gold collar" level. Kang Bo's salary for burning glass in the official kiln before was only two taels and five taels. Now that he is retired, he can

Getting four taels of silver as wages is simply pie in the sky.

Xu Jin ordered: "Dabao, take Kang Bo to the workshop for trial work tomorrow!"

"Um... Sir, the old man is getting old and needs a helper to do the rough work!" Kang Bo rubbed his hands and said in a sullen tone: "The old man's glass-burning guy, Lao Wu, is a good one."

Xu Jin said cheerfully: "Then call him and the salary will be two taels of silver!"

Old Man Kang was overjoyed and bowed his head repeatedly to express his gratitude. He almost knelt down and kowtowed.

After sending Kang Bo away, Dabao couldn't help but said: "Isn't the salary given by the master too high? And there is no time limit for the construction. If they don't finish the thing in a few months, wouldn't we be in a big loss?"

Xu Jin said with a smile: "If you want a horse to run fast, how can you stop eating grass? If you can build this glass mirror, it will be worth a year or two, not to mention a few months."

"One or two years?" Dabao couldn't help but clicked his tongue. Naturally, with his mind, he couldn't understand Xu Jin's prodigal way of doing business.

Xu Jin patted Dabao on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Technology is priceless. Take a long-term view and don't just focus on the immediate gains and losses."

Compared with those big companies in later generations that spend tens of billions on research and development of patented technologies every year, Xu Jin's monthly investment of a few taels of silver is really nothing. As long as he can make glass mirrors, even if he spends the 8,000 taels in the cellar.

Even if the money is thrown in, Xu Jin will not feel sad.

After arranging the mirror, Xu Jin went back to the back house and took a nap with his wife in his arms. As a result, Mr. Xu, who had drunk too many tonics recently, got very excited and acted ridiculously in broad daylight, and then fell asleep soundly.

I slept until about four o'clock in the afternoon before waking up.

"Well, Xu Jin, I guessed that you were cheating and slacking off. Don't want your salary this month!"

Xu Jin had just gotten up, washed himself up, and was drinking sour plum soup in the hall to relieve heat and quench thirst, when he saw the little emperor Zhu Houxiang, dressed in casual clothes, walking in angrily, accompanied by the eunuch Huang Jin and his attendant Lu Bing cautiously behind him.

"I am here to meet you, Your Majesty..."

"What the hell, hey, what did you drink?"

“Sour plum soup!”

"Sister Xiaowan, give me a bowl of sour plum soup. I want a big bowl. It's so hot in this damn weather!" Zhu Houcong said, fanning himself with his hands, and his collar was wet with sweat.

Xie Xiaowan asked Chu Chun, who was waiting on the side, to get some sour plum soup, while she fanned Zhu Houcong with a round fan, while saying in a slightly reproachful tone: "The emperor is so hot that he has to run out of the palace to suffer."

Zhu Houcong said bitterly: "I don't want to either. I really can't stay in this palace any longer. I feel upset when I see those old guys in the cabinet!"

Xu Jin glanced at Zhu Houcong, who was full of anger. It was obvious that this boy was "beaten" by the court officials again today. He was so angry that he came to complain in front of him. This was already the second time this month, poor boy!

When Zhu Houcong saw Xu Jin calmly singing spoonfuls of sugary water, he became even more unhappy and said angrily: "What are you looking at? I'm being besieged by those old guys. It's better for you to leave your post without permission and run home to be happy. No,

I am going to fine you half a year's salary, which is called sharing the same burden!"

"Slow down, take your time. It's easy to get angry when the weather is hot. Let's drink a bowl of sugar water first to cool down the heat. I made an appointment with a glass-burning craftsman today before skipping work. This is a loyal job for the emperor!"

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong finally regained his psychological balance and coldly snorted: "That's about the same. I will make 60% of the profit from the mirror in the future."

Xu Jin said calmly: "We haven't finished ten paintings yet. It's too early to make a profit."

At this time, Chuchun finally brought a bowl of sour plum soup. Zhu Houcong thanked him and drank it gurglingly. He drank it all in one breath. He let out a long sigh of relief and said helplessly: "Xu Jin, you have a lot of ideas. Hurry up and help think of a way."
Chapter completed!