Qin Yu took Xiao Nan and Shen Binglan to the glass workshop they had been looking forward to for a long time.
It's not Qin Yu's exaggeration. Glass is not that easy to forge. Apart from that, the temperature alone is difficult to achieve.
Without the support of Dawei's Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Revenue and other forces, it would be really difficult to achieve.
Fortunately, Qin Yu was backed by the entire Wei Dynasty.
He has the ability to use the power of the whole country.
However, as soon as the glass workshop was built today, Qin Yu sent the Jinyi Guards to Hebei to check out the situation, ready to go out at any time to eliminate officials and promote land reform.
Qin Yu and the others were walking towards Yeting Palace.
Li Zhanying, the deputy general manager of Yeting Palace, looked at Qin Yu and the others, and came to greet them from a distance, with a smile on his face, "I have seen the Crown Prince, the Prince Consort, and Miss Shen."
He was single-handedly promoted by Qin Yu, and he always thought of Qin Yu's kindness in his heart.
What's more, with Qin Yu's current status, no matter how many people want to curry favor with him, they still can't.
Qin Yu waved his hand lightly, "Manager Li, there is no need to be polite."
Li Zhanying said hurriedly: "Please, Prince Consort, the glass workshop is over here."
Then, under the leadership of Li Zhanying, everyone went to the glass workshop.
moment.
Glass workshop.
Qin Yu and others entered it.
Many craftsmen are busy inside and outside.
The most striking thing in the glass workshop is the boiler and the towering chimney.
The boiler was already burning, and puffs of smoke billowed out of the chimney.
at the same time.
An old man was brought to Qin Yu by Li Zhanying.
The old man bowed hurriedly and said: "Sun Wei, a humble official, has met the Crown Prince, the Prince Consort, and Miss Shen."
Li Zhanying hurriedly introduced: "Prince-in-law, he is the person in charge of the glass workshop."
Qin Yu nodded, "Mr. Sun, are you ready with all the materials?"
The old man hurriedly said: "Go back to Prince Consort, everything is ready, we can start."
Later, under the command of Qin Yu.
The glass workshop officially started construction.
In this era, the technology for forging glass did not exist at all, but such things were highly sought after by high-ranking officials.
There is a big difference between glass and colored glaze. The reason why these two things are different is because the content of silica is different.
Therefore, glass is transparent, while colored glaze has a metallic luster.
Under the command of Qin Yu.
The craftsmen began to get busy, transporting quartz sand, limestone and other materials. Quartz stone was the main raw material, accounting for 70%.
The main difficulty in firing glass is the temperature, which needs to be above 2,000 degrees Celsius.
Not to mention charcoal, even coal couldn't reach it, so Qin Yu took out the soda ash, mixed it into the raw materials, and lowered the temperature to about 1,600 degrees Celsius.
Even so, charcoal cannot burn 1,600 degrees Celsius. This is why Qin Yu dug anthracite coal first. Coal can easily burn the temperature to over 1,600 degrees Celsius.
Under the leadership of Qin Yu.
The entire glass workshop was in motion.
Shen Binglan sat on the roof blowing the wind and watching quietly.
Xiao Nan rolled up his sleeves and started working.
He mainly likes to work and can't rest when he sees something to do.
Under Qin Yu's command, after the raw materials were stirred, processed and fired, the fired glass solution was poured into the mold, and the glassware production was nearing completion.
Qin Yu also added different materials to change the color, shape, etc. of the glass.
This process sounds simple to say, but it is really not simple to do and invest in upfront.
With the help of the Ministry of Industry, it took a month to complete the glass workshop.
But hard work paid off and everything went very smoothly.
Qin Yu was very pleased that his efforts were not in vain.
...
Five days later.
Jinling City.
Royal Palace, Huide Hall.
Qin Yu, Xiao Nan and Shen Binglan stood in front of the desk.
Wei Huang, Xiao Rou, Xiao Yun'er and Qin Wenyao were standing on the other side.
There is a table between them. On the left side of the table are placed a dozen kinds of Pingzhou glaze wares, and on the right side of the table are a dozen kinds of glassware that are replicas of Pingzhou glaze wares.
Although the materials are different, they are all the work of master craftsmen.
However, with the same style and size, glazed ware and glass ware display completely different degrees of exquisiteness.
The colored glass glows with colorful metallic luster.
The glass is crystal clear and spotless, even more transparent than crystal.
Looking at the glassware.
Wei Huang, Xiao Rou, Xiao Yun'er, Qin Wenyao and others all had their eyes widened in disbelief.
Although they have absolute confidence in Qin Yu.
But the amazingness of the glass still shocked them deeply.
They had never seen such a crystal clear vessel, which completely subverted their understanding of vessels.
Although colored glaze also comes in different pure colors, nothing is more transparent than crystal.
"Prince-in-law, you...you..."
Emperor Wei looked at the glassware on the table, then looked up at Qin Yu, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He really didn't expect that this was actually glass.
Is glass really better than colored glaze?
Things are just a bit expensive.
After all, no one in this world has ever seen a transparent vessel.
Qin Yu smiled lightly and said thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, how is it? Is this glassware not bad?"
Emperor Wei nodded and said: "Okay, very good. This texture, this craftsmanship, this crystal clear texture, why is it not better than this glassware?"
After that, he asked: "Is the cost of glass really much lower than that of colored glaze?"
Qin Yufeng Qingyun said calmly: "Of course, the glassware on our table cannot compare to one or two thousandths of this glassware."
"Pingzhou colored glaze ware is made from glazed raw stone, while our glass ware is made from quartz sand, so the cost is definitely much lower."
The words fell into place.
All the humerus bones were shocked.
"Is this...such an exaggeration? The cost of glassware is also a bit too low. Compared with Pingzhou glassware, there is really no advantage at all."
"How can quartz sand be used to make such crystal clear vessels? It's incredible!"
"The prince-in-law is really the nemesis of Pingzhou and Dongzhou. They just broke through the price of glassware, and the prince-in-law took out the glassware with his backhand."
"It's so lean and clear that it's even more beautiful than crystal vessels. Dongzhou is in a terrible situation this time."
...
Everyone looked at the glassware, talked about it, and spoke in amazement.
They really can't figure out how quartz sand can be polished into transparent glass. This is simply a magical way of turning stone into gold.
Emperor Wei suddenly looked at Qin Yu and asked: "Although the price of our glassware is low, we can't sell it too cheap, right? After all, this is something only we have, and it is impossible for others to make it."
Emperor Wei was so happy.
What he saw was not glassware, but mountains of gold.