False eunuch in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 54 Glass is a big industry

Liulichang was related to Cao Qing's plan to make a fortune, and the factory was built in a more secret place.The people who go there are all carefully selected by Cao Qing, and most of them are single middle-aged and elderly people.They are fed and drunk inside, and they are strictly prohibited from wandering around.

The production of transparent glass is not a technological thing for Cao Qing.Although the production of optical glass may be almost impossible for this era, glass for living in the 21st century is not easy, but it is not impossible.

When Cao Qing was making sniper sights in an underground factory, he had made them himself, and the accuracy was pretty good.Although there is a big difference in the sight distance compared to the real sniper rifle sight.But it is still very interesting to DIY.What's more, here Cao Qing just wants to make some exquisite glass crafts.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty itself had glass products, but they were all stained glass.The name is not called glass, but colored glaze.Although it is stained glass, the color is not very beautiful.Because there are a lot of impurities in it.So the color of the glass is very mixed.Only a few products that meet the requirements can be selected from a large number of products.The royal family has extremely high requirements for supplies.

When Cao Qing came to Liulichang, Zhou Bugui was directing the craftsmen to carry out the construction of Liulichang. Liulichang had not yet started production, and was still building according to Cao Qing's engineering drawings.The most important of these is the coal-fired regenerator, which is the core device for producing glass.Of course, impurity removal and decolorization are also very important steps.

Seeing Cao Qing approaching, Zhou Bugui rushed up to meet him, saluted Cao Qing, but was stopped by Cao Qing, and hurriedly reported the progress of his project: "Eunuch Cao, the construction will be completed soon. This thing is almost like a steel furnace. The mason We all have experience in building steelmaking furnaces. This time the speed of construction is much faster."

"Very good. Thank you for your hard work. I will give you silver rewards later. As I said before, if you work under me, you will be punished if you don't do well, and you will be rewarded if you do it for a long time. This time, everyone They are all heroes of the Military War Bureau. If you are a hero, you will be rewarded greatly." Cao Qing's words made these craftsmen very excited. Their work has never been valued by others. This time, someone who agrees with their work finally came. Nature moves them.Of course, the most important thing is that the silver in Cao Qing's hands is very generous.

"Eunuch Cao, all the raw materials you listed have already been delivered. Things with cash are handled very quickly. In just a few days, a large batch has already been delivered." Zhou Bugui handed over the receipt list Show Cao Qing.

Cao Qing looked at all kinds of ores and materials, and finally had all the things he needed, but there were still some things to do if he wanted to actually make transparent glass.

"I will stay here for the next two days, and I will make this colored glaze with you. We must start the production of colored glaze." Cao Qing carefully checked the condition of the heat storage furnace, and basically met the requirements.Although the technology of this era is backward, the craftsmanship of the craftsmen is really superb, especially the old craftsmen of the Military War Bureau, who are the top craftsmen of Ming Dynasty.Who doesn't have a little trick in their hands?
As for the subsequent processing of glass, Cao Qing didn't need to think too much about it.Because the craftsmen of Liulichang have experience in these areas.Of course, there is still a big gap between the colored glaze of this era and the real glass.In particular, the annealing of ancient Chinese glass is very insufficient.Glass is particularly easy to break without annealing process, which is why glass was not developed in ancient my country.

Another important use of glass is the telescope.In this era, the West has produced telescopes.But the military application of telescopes has not yet become popular.

"With Eunuch Cao in charge here, it will be easier to make colored glaze." Zhou Bugui actually had some doubts about Cao Qing's intention to produce glass.In this era, although glass products are domestically produced, they still mainly rely on imports.There are many problems with domestic glass, the most important of which is that it is easily broken.Glass that has not been annealed is extremely fragile.However, China's ceramics are very developed, durable, exquisite and practical, which completely suppressed the Chinese people's enthusiasm for glass research.

But since Cao Qing decided to produce glass, Zhou Bugui naturally would not object.Anyway, Cao Qing can give cash a lot of money.Everyone is motivated.Moreover, Zhou Bugui could see that the glass kiln built by Cao Qing was different from the glass kiln of Daming Liulichang.Maybe it is really possible to make a different glass.

It took Cao Qing several days of effort to get everything ready.The glass kiln has been ignited before, and various raw materials are continuously added to the kiln. The temperature of the regenerator has risen to the highest temperature, and all the raw materials inside have been dissolved to form glass liquid, which then flows slowly. come out.

This kind of production scene can always make people excited.The artisans of the Liulichang were also very excited. They had been making colored glaze for a lifetime, but it was the first time they saw such a large-scale production of colored glaze.Especially when the viscous glass liquid is blown into various utensils, completely transparent glassware looks comfortable.These newly blown glassware are also placed in an annealing furnace for annealing.Then it can become a finished product.

Most of them are used by Cao Qing to press flat glass, but for the convenience of transportation, the area of ​​the glass plate is not very large.The use of this batch of glass had been planned by Cao Qing early on.Fengtian Palace is the place where Chongzhen went to court, and every time he went to court, all civil and military officials would come to this palace.Since there is no glass at this time, the light inside is not very good.Somewhat gloomy.Cao Qing replaced all the surrounding windows with glass.Advertise your glassware.

"Eunuch Cao, this glass is fragile. Now let's make it into this kind of board, I'm afraid it can't be touched at all." Wang Xielai, the craftsman of Liulichang, kindly reminded Cao Qing.

"Master Wang, don't worry. Once you're done with it, you'll know the purpose of these colored glazes. In fact, glass is not necessarily fragile. The colored glazes from the West are not much different from our porcelain. It's just that they make them well. After the utensils, there is still a treatment process. It is such a process that makes the glass more durable." Cao Qing smiled and pointed to the annealing device with his finger.

Ordinary glass only needs to be annealed, but tempered glass also needs to be quenched.In addition, Cao Qing plans to temper the glass used in the palace. After all, there are all important people here. If anyone gets used because of the glass, it will definitely bring immeasurable troubles to Cao Qing's plan.The current conditions are limited, but we can make some tempered glass that is not particularly strong.The problem is not very big.After all, tempered glass was discovered under extremely crude conditions when it was invented.

"Take it easy, take it easy, this thing is very easy to break. Don't break it." Wang Jielai still had doubts about Cao Qing's words, but since Cao Qing decided to persist, he could only obey.

"Master Wang, don't be nervous. In fact, these glass products are not as fragile as you think." Watson laughed.

Half a month later, Cao Qing returned to Kyoto with dozens of carts of glass. These glassware were all packed in wooden boxes, and they were filled with a lot of soft things like sawdust.Prevent the breakage of glassware caused by bumps along the way.

Cao Qing rushed to the capital that day, but it was too late, so he transported all the glass products to the Bingzhan Bureau.Watson unpacked and inspected the batch of glass products.The glasswork was found to be largely intact.Only some wooden boxes were overturned on the way, resulting in the loss of some glassware.And the glass plate does not have any loss.This batch of glass panels has been tempered.Therefore, the material is extremely strong, and the carriage has very good protection.The damage is naturally very small.

Cao Qing is most concerned about some changes in the palace during this period.

"It's nothing serious. However, recently, some ministers began to write memorials to criticize Jiuqian. But the emperor has always stood by Jiuqian's side. Without the support of the emperor, how can these ministers jump around? There is no threat to Eunuch Wei." " Cao Huachun followed Zhu Youjian every day, and knew everything about the palace and the palace.

"My business is basically done. I will go to the palace tomorrow." Cao Qing said.

"That's good. The emperor has often asked about you these days. It means that you are still highly valued by the emperor. As for your identity, I worry that sooner or later you will be used by traitors. Therefore, you need to find an opportunity to make your situation known. How to tell the emperor. Otherwise, someone will use this as an excuse in the future, I'm afraid there will be a disaster of death." Cao Huachun frowned, now that Cao Qing is in power, it will inevitably arouse Jiu Qiansui's idea, and it will also arouse the government and the opposition. focus on.

"Okay. I will find an opportunity to mention it to the emperor." Cao Qing said.

"How is your inner strength?" Cao Huachun asked.

"It's okay. Although I'm very busy these days, I still keep exercising every day." Cao Qing said.

"Well, I'm relieved. Qing'er, you should remember that in this world, you don't have to trust anyone except yourself. Even if you are a father, you have to be wary." Cao Huachun said.

"How could Father harm Qing'er? Father is serious. But Qing'er will definitely be more careful with other people." Cao Qing's feelings for Cao Huachun gradually built up.

(End of this chapter)