In the reception room of Jingzhai Porcelain Store, which is filled with all kinds of porcelain, His Royal Highness the King of Chu was sipping Yunwu tea while listening to Cheng Qian's explanation.
"Half of this hall is made of ancient porcelain from the previous dynasty. Your Highness has seen more of it, so I won't show off my shame." Cheng Qian knew what he was here for, so he introduced the other two kinds of porcelain.
"The other half is the two major types of porcelain produced in Jingdezhen, blue and white porcelain and underglaze red porcelain." Cheng Qian continued: "The firing methods of these two porcelains are similar. They are both underglaze colored porcelain. Blue and white porcelain on a white background.
It is blue and white porcelain, which has the largest output and is also the symbol of our Jingdezhen."
"This kind of red flowers on a white background is underglaze red." He presented a jade vase with red peonies painted on it to His Highness for viewing.
Zhu Zhen played with it and saw that the glaze of the spring vase was bright red, which made the peonies lifelike and had excellent texture. He praised: "This is really beautiful. I think it looks better than the blue and white flowers."
"Your Highness knows the goods." Cheng Qian praised hurriedly: "How else can people say, 'Blue and white porcelain can penetrate into the porcelain bone, and the red underglaze can even penetrate into the glaze bone'?"
"Then why is the underglaze red not as famous as the blue and white?" Zhu Zhen asked humbly.
"The main reason is that it is difficult to produce true red." Cheng Qian said with a wry smile: "A pure red underglaze red like this is quite rare, and it is often off-white when fired, or the glaze is purple-red or purple-brown. The color is not genuine and the appearance is not good, so we can only
Destroyed.”
"Is it so difficult to burn?" Zhu Zhen asked curiously: "What's the difficulty?"
"The atmosphere is too difficult to grasp." Cheng Qian answered plainly in a language he could understand:
"To put it simply, the glaze is so red that the kiln door is closed and the fire is smoldering. The door cannot be opened in the middle. The furnace temperature cannot be high or low. If the furnace temperature is slightly lower, the color will turn black, which is very unsightly; if it is slightly lower, the color will turn black.
If it is higher, the color will 'burn away', and it is very difficult for even experienced stick masters to master."
"That's really difficult." Zhu Zhen sighed.
"This is why there is a saying that 'a treasure is rare in a thousand kilns, but nine out of ten kilns cannot be achieved'." Cheng Qian sighed and said with a smile: "So it is easier to make blue and white. As long as there are qualified masters watching and strict."
"One code, two burns, three flameouts," basically there will be no waste products."
"I understand." Zhu Zhen nodded and said with a smile: "It seems that this porcelain is just like people, so it's better to be a bit aggressive."
"Your Highness is right, but this is only compared to the underglaze red." Cheng Qian said proudly: "Compared with the so-called porcelain outside Jingdezhen, our blue and white porcelain is the most delicate."
"Haha, that's true." Zhu Zhen said with a smile: "Jingdezhen dominates the world, doesn't it rely on blue and white porcelain?"
"Exactly." Cheng Qian nodded.
"So the sales volume must be very good?" Zhu Zhen asked casually, playing with the porcelain bottle in his hand.
Shen Rong and other accompanying people's eyes lit up when they heard this, knowing that the drama was coming.
"It makes sense to thank His Highness for Hongfu." Cheng Qian was still immersed in the pride of the industry and did not notice anything wrong.
"Anyway, for decades, I have been taking orders and delivering materials, never retailing. Orders from various provinces are scheduled for at least three years."
"Wow. It takes so long?" Zhu Zhen asked in surprise: "Is it like this for your family? Or is it like this for other families?"
"My name is more famous and the waiting time is longer, but other companies have to wait at least a year before they can get the goods." Cheng Qian replied.
"It's amazing. How many pieces of porcelain can be produced from one kiln?" Zhu Zhen asked.
"There are many kinds of porcelain, with different sizes and styles, so we cannot generalize them." Cheng Qian thought about it and said: "On average, there are about two thousand pieces in a kiln."
"How long does it take to burn a kiln?" Zhu Zhen broke the casserole and asked.
"It takes three hours to fill the kiln with code boxes, six hours to start the fire, and another three hours to turn off the fire." Cheng Qian replied: "So it takes a whole day from entering the kiln to leaving the kiln."
"Is it like this every day?"
"That's not possible. First, you have to wait for the kiln to be completely cool before you can put materials in it." Cheng Qian said: "Second, each piece of blank material has to go through hundreds of processes, and dozens of craftsmen divide the work and cooperate before it can be formed.
Enter the kiln. If you can bake a kiln in three days, it will be good."
"Okay, let's do the math." Zhu Zhen performed a verbal calculation on the spot and said:
"There are 512 private kilns in the town. Let's be conservative and fire them for 300 days a year, a total of 100 kilns. One kiln has 2,000 pieces. How many pieces can be fired in a year?"
"..." He held it in for a while and then said loudly: "More than 100 million pieces can be burned in a year. It's really amazing!"
"It's not that much," Cheng Qian now realized that there was some danger, and hurriedly began to output in reverse: "There will always be a lot of burned waste."
"Didn't you say that you can't produce waste products at all?" Zhu Zhen teased.
"Well, that's our family. Many people still produce some scraps if their masters don't heat them up properly." Cheng Qian wiped his sweat and said.
"Okay, then let's get 10% of the scrap, no more, right?" Zhu Zhen asked.
"Yes." Cheng Qian nodded. As the leader of the industry, he couldn't destroy Jingdezhen's brand.
"That's more than ninety million pieces." Zhu Zhen chuckled and said, "In the Ming Dynasty, there was one piece per person."
As he said this, he asked Shen Rong: "Old Shen, is this true?"
"Your Highness is joking. Jingdezhen's blue and white porcelain is a valuable commodity. Even the wealthy families in Suzhou are reluctant to buy it. They usually use local white porcelain." Shen Rong sighed with understanding:
"Not to mention the people in other places. If there are dozens of families in a county who can afford it, it's enough to make ends meet."
"That's not right, then to whom were the more than 90 million pieces sold this year?" Zhu Zhen asked pretending to be surprised: "Just now Cheng Huishou said that the orders will not be placed until three years later. No.
Was it sold overseas?"
"No, no." Shen Rong shook his head and said, "Now only the Taicang Shipping Company can export in the country, and we have never sold a piece of blue and white porcelain."
"..." Now Cheng Qian was a fool, and he could tell that these people came with bad intentions. He was sweating profusely, and hurriedly looked at Jizhi County and Zhou Eunuch for help, but they lowered their chins to their collarbones.
For fear of setting yourself on fire.
Secretly scolding the two of them for their lack of loyalty, he had to deal with it alone: "Back to Your Highness, a large part of the porcelain is tableware, and they are sold in sets, not by pieces."
"Purely sophistry!" Zhu Zhen pulled his face and said: "Even my family doesn't use blue and white porcelain as tableware. Although my father is indeed too frugal. But the living conditions in the Ming Dynasty were better than mine, and they would not be more than one year old.
Wanhu?"
"This..." Cheng Qian complained secretly in his heart, because the yellow-glazed palace bowls used by the Xie family to eat were hundreds of times more valuable than blue and white porcelain! But how could he dare to say no?
"I will give you another chance to organize your words." Zhu Zhen looked at him coldly.
