Li Mu smiled, patted Li Zhien's butt, and said, "Girl, you won't come to my studio if you have nothing to do. Tell me, what are you thinking about?"
"Not at all..." Li Zhien bit his lip, hooked his little finger, pointed at the tiger skin mink that Li Mu took off and put on the workbench, and said: "Master, can you make one for me too?
"
"Of course, but I'm tired today. I'll do it tomorrow. First I'll make one for my wife, and then I'll make one for you. Our family of three must all have one."
A family of three?
Li Zhien pouted, it sounded a bit weird. But she didn't say anything, and happily agreed, and said: "Master, the expenses of the mansion last month have been calculated, and Madam has already read it.
, I’ll get it and show it to you.”
"I won't read it." Li Mu waved his hand and said, "When will our family run out of money to buy rice, show me again, and I will find a way to make money. As long as there is still money to spend, you can do whatever you want. Big one."
Tell your wife about the expenses, and you can decide the rest by yourself."
"Oh..." Li Zhien thought for a while and asked: "How much expenditure is considered a big expenditure?"
"Uh," Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "One hundred guan. If it's more than 100 guan, ask your wife. If it's less than 100 guan, you make your own decision."
Li Zhien's eyes flashed, and he tilted his head and asked, "Master, aren't you afraid that I will hide the money?"
"Hide money?" Li Mu raised his hand and tapped Li Zhien's little head, saying: "Why do you want to hide money? You can spend the money at home as you like, but it's not like you don't have money, so why hide it? Besides, you're not even a human being
My, what am I afraid of?"
"That's true..." Li Zhien also laughed.
In fact, she was very touched because Li Mu trusted her. In the current social environment, a concubine is not even as good as a maid. The maid still has a contract. The daughter of a good family comes to a rich man's house and works as a part-time contract.
When the time limit is up, I have to let him go home. But the concubine is different. Once I enter the house, it will be a lifetime thing. If you meet a good man, it is okay, but if you meet a beast, life is really worse than death.
But when Li Zhien followed Li Mu, she enjoyed treatment that ordinary wives could not enjoy. Not only were all the affairs of the house assigned to her, but the financial power was also safely handed over to her. You know, this is not a small amount of money. Zhuluhou Mansion
The monthly income and expenditure account is as high as tens of thousands of dollars. It is said that wealth touches people's hearts. If it were anyone else, who could manage so much money with one concubine?
Li Mu didn't care. In Li Zhien's memory, he seemed to have never asked. This demeanor of trusting people and being open-minded about money made Li Zhien feel from the bottom of his heart that his master was so charming.
But being the housekeeper of Zhuluhou Mansion is not an easy task. Li Mu doesn't care about money, but Bai Qiaoqiao doesn't care much except when she wants to buy things. All the worries fall on Li Zhien, which makes her feel
The responsibility is heavy. For example, if he exchanged members of the racecourse for the market, and then gave the market to Bai Nao'er, Li Mu was not very distressed, but Li Zhien was terribly distressed. This indicates that the government's income will be higher next month.
Less.
Although the money is definitely enough, who would think it is too much? Seeing that Li Mu seemed to be in a good mood today, he told the matter.
Li Mu listened and laughed again. Li Zhien felt that he didn't take his words seriously, so he said coquettishly: "Master, don't always act so indifferent. Are you not worried at all?"
"Why are you worried?" Li Mu patted Li Zhien, asked her to stand up, and then stood up himself. When he came to the southwest corner of the studio, Li Zhien saw something covered with black cloth.
"What is this?"
"This is a good baby, it will open your eyes." Li Mu said, pulling off the black cloth, and Li Zhien's little mouth suddenly grew bigger, and he stammered: "Master, master, where did you get such a big mouth?"
A glass vase! It’s still five-color glass. Oh my god, how much is this worth? Master, you’re spending money indiscriminately again!”
Li Mu was very satisfied with Li Zhien's reaction. He raised his hand and knocked on the glass bottle and said, "Don't make a fuss. To tell you the truth, this bottle didn't come from somewhere. It was made by me, your master!"
"Burn, burn?" Li Zhien was completely confused, but the facts before her made her have to believe it because there was no way to explain it.
In ancient China, colored glaze, also known as glass, was a very rare thing. The reasons are very complicated. After research by later generations of scholars, there are two main reasons. First, China has mastered the firing method of porcelain very early, and its skills are superb.
The demand for glass products is very small, and glass is extremely difficult to obtain, so it is difficult to become popular. The ancient glass technology in the West was more advanced than in China. The main reason is that the Western world lacks porcelain clay and cannot produce good porcelain.
Fall back on the next best thing and look for alternatives.
The second reason is very scientific, because glass requires a high melting point and is difficult to refine, so it is also difficult to popularize.
In fact, the glass that is common in later generations does not have a long history at all. In the Tang Dynasty, a large number of people still believed that glass was a kind of mineral deposit. Only some alchemists, or craftsmen who had been passed down from their ancestors and served the upper class people, understood
There is a method of firing glass, but the output is also extremely low.
The most important thing is that the glass at this time is ugly and toxic.
The formula of glass fired in the Tang Dynasty contained a large amount of lead. If it was used to hold food, it would poison people to death. Because people had no concept of "elements", they thought that colored glaze was poisonous. And because
Without mastering the color mixing technology, the color of the refined glass can be arbitrary. Purple, white, red, and green are randomly switched, and no one can be sure what color will come out. It was not until modern times that people discovered the secret of the color of glass. The green color comes from a small amount of the raw materials.
The iron and divalent iron compounds make the glass appear green. After adding manganese dioxide, the original divalent iron turns into trivalent iron, which appears yellow, and the tetravalent manganese is reduced to trivalent manganese, which appears purple.
The best glassware in the Tang Dynasty could only come in three colors, which was already considered the limit. Li Mu's first choice was five colors. How could Li Zhien not be surprised? She had only seen three colors, and five-color colored glaze was only seen in books.
According to records, I have never seen the real thing.
Li Mu casually picked up the colorful glass vase. Li Zhien was worried that he would break the treasure, so he quickly reached out to hold it underneath.
"There's no need to be so careful. I told you that I made it myself. If it breaks, it will break. I'll just make another one." Li Mu put the bottle on the workbench and said, "Girl, you know,
What is this thing made of?”
Li Zhien quickly shook his head, she knew where to go.
Li Mu lowered his voice and said: "The main raw material is sand!"
"ah?"
"Really!" Li Mu nodded heavily and said: "After more than a dozen experiments, I finally mastered the method of firing colored glaze. Do you still think our family will still be short of money? I will sell this bottle.
One hundred taels of gold is not too much, right?"
"It's not too much!" Li Zhien said categorically. The contemporary master of the highest craftsmanship in glass firing is Da Shi Ren. Da Shi Ren's three-color glass bottles cost at least one thousand copper coins. What Li Mu took out was a multi-color glass bottle.
Moreover, the color distribution is so beautiful, and the price is the same, so it is definitely not expensive.
More importantly, Li Mu actually said that the main raw material of this colored glaze is sand.
That means there is no cost, just like picking up money for free!
Li Mu seemed to have guessed what Li Zhien was thinking, and said: "Silly girl, don't just focus on money. Rare things are valuable. A bottle is worth a hundred taels of gold. A hundred bottles, it is only worth one tael of gold.
When you are short of money, just buying a few and selling them is not a long-term solution."
Li Zhien was a little puzzled when he heard what he said, and asked: "Master, since it is not a long-term solution, then we still have to worry about money."
"Listen to me." Li Mu said, unfolding the rolled up drawings on the workbench, and introduced to Li Zhien: "This is the greenhouse I designed based on the characteristics of this glass in the past few days. With this
We can use the greenhouse to eat green vegetables in winter." Li Mu laughed and said, "Don't our family have fifty hectares of land? We went to great lengths to build this greenhouse, grow it full of green vegetables, and sell it to Chang'an.
Rich people in the city, tell me, are we still short of money?"
Although Li Zhien didn't understand what was going on in the greenhouse, he believed Li Mu when he said it so confidently. It was as if he saw a golden mountain appearing in front of his eyes, and he jumped into Li Mu's arms with excitement.
With the warm and fragrant nephrite in his arms, Li Mu was a little moved. He leaned into Li Zhien's ear and whispered softly: "Zhien, can we discuss it? You go back to your room to sleep tonight, and my wife and I... have a little privacy.
What to say. You are too young to know."
Li Zhien looked up at Li Mu, blinked, blushed, and said, "I know what you want to do!"
"What do you know?" Li Mu quickly said: "What do you know? You are so young, don't think nonsense!"
"There has been so much preparation today, just for..." Li Zhien stuck out his tongue, broke away from Li Mu's arms, ran to the door and turned around and said, "I have read that booklet too!"
"What a mess!" Li Mu wanted to make up for it, but Li Zhien had already run away. Li Mu shook his head helplessly, locked the door of the studio, and returned to the backyard with three steps.
…
Early next morning.
Li Mu held his waist and climbed into the carriage. He didn't sleep much that night. When the rooster crowed, he was almost busy with work, but he thought about seeing Li Ji off, so he had to wash up and go out. He couldn't ride the horse.
, had no choice but to take a car. But when they arrived at the British government residence, they learned that Brother Li Ji had left.
The concierge forwarded a letter to Li Mu, which was written by Li Ji himself. After reading it, Li Mu felt a little sad.
There was nothing special in the content of the letter. In other words, it was better to avoid the sadness of saying goodbye. The mountains are high and the rivers are long, and there will always be a day to meet again. But Li Mu felt a little empty in his heart. He raised his head and looked at the day he had just changed.
Li Mu suddenly felt that he had been in Chang'an for so long.
The four words "things are right and people are different" always come before our eyes unconsciously.