Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

a few days later.

It is located ten miles southwest of the Customs Household Office, on the west bank of the Wei Canal.

"Sir, the White Pagoda Kiln is just across the river."

Gao Ruopu pointed to a large area of ​​dome-shaped kiln roofs on the opposite bank of the canal, which were emitting pale blue smoke, and introduced them to Lu Chen.

"More than 20 miles north of here, along the Weiyun River, there are a large number of brick kilns. The famous Linqing bricks are made here."

Besides brick kilns, there are also some workshops here that fire glazed tiles.

If the adults' glass workshop were also built here, it would be completely inconspicuous.

If we simply surround the entire workshop with high walls, station a few of our own people to guard it, and cut off all communication with the outside world, no outsider will know that what is being fired inside is actually exquisite glassware.

These brick kilns receive large quantities of coal, firewood, and soil daily by boat. Our boats, carrying raw materials, are mixed in with them and go unnoticed.

"If this glass workshop is simply using the techniques of Yanshen Town to imitate Western glassware, then it is indeed sufficient to achieve this level."

While playing with the replica of the Venetian glass that Gao Ruopu brought back from Yanshen Town, Lu Chen considered the workshop's secrecy plan.

This glass was replicated by artisans in Yanshen Town in less than ten days. Apart from being made of translucent glass produced locally in Yanshen Town, its shape is more than 90% similar to that Venetian glass.

If it were just a replica made with locally produced glass, there would be some profit, but not much. The key is that it can be made in Yanshen Town, so there is no monopoly and no one would covet it.

However, if it is made of colored transparent glass, then it will be completely different.

Ancient glass artifacts were all handmade, and originally no two were exactly alike.

Even if Europeans were presented with a glass so similar, they would assume it was made in Venice.

Using high-quality crystal glass makes it a truly exquisite piece.

Although his workshop in Linqing was protected by the Imperial Guards and he didn't have to worry about anyone in Linqing daring to make a move, once his reputation spread, it was still possible that it would attract the covetous eyes of higher-ranking officials.

If a powerful figure in the capital wanted to make a move, a mere Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) commander would not be able to stop him.

Lu Bing himself does have the ability, but Lu Chen still doesn't know what the relationship is between Lu Bing and the real "Lu Chen", so naturally he doesn't want to provoke this big shot.

The best way is to keep it a secret that those crystal-clear "glassware" were produced in Linqing.

After successfully manufacturing "crystal glassware", it is forbidden to sell it locally in Linqing, or even to wholesale it to merchants from other places.

Ideally, the entire crystal glass sales network should not have any connection with Linqing.

"The real products produced in our glass workshop are not these imitations."

Lu Chen handed the replica to Gao Ruopu, then picked up the Venetian glass himself.

"I have a secret recipe for Taoist alchemy. Although this recipe did not produce any elixir, it unexpectedly produced a crystal-clear glass, which is even more crystal clear than this Western glass cup."

I think it can be called crystal glass.

The purpose of building this glass workshop is not to use "medicinal jade" to imitate Western glass products, but to use this crystal glass to create treasures that are even better than these Western glass cups!

The cost of refining this crystal glass is actually not much higher than that of ordinary "medicinal jade"!

The money earned by this workshop will naturally be shared by everyone in our Linqing Thousand Household Office.

Do you know how big a treasure trove this glass workshop is?

"This glass cup, made from medicinal jade, only cost five taels of silver."

Gao Ruopu stared at the counterfeit in his hand.

"That Western glass cup would sell for 150 taels of silver in Linqing."

Even if it costs ten taels of silver to make one from crystal glass, the quality would be almost the same as this Western glass cup, which would still be fifteen times the profit!

Moreover, once the workshop is built and the craftsmen are familiar with the techniques, there will be no need to spend so much money.

Even if we don't open our own shop to sell, but instead sell to merchants in bulk, there will be plenty of people vying for fifty taels.

If the crystal glass is indeed of much higher quality than this Western glass, the price can naturally be higher, and each piece could easily fetch over a hundred taels in bulk.

If we opened our own shop to sell them, I'm afraid we wouldn't have trouble selling each item for two or three hundred taels of silver.

The dozens of craftsmen I hired from Yanshen Town are all experienced. Once everything is on track, producing thousands of crystal and glass artifacts every month will not be a problem.

Wouldn't this workshop earn tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of taels of silver every month?

Over a year, that adds up to over a million taels of silver—it truly is a veritable treasure trove!

"You couldn't possibly earn a million taels!"

Lu Chen sighed softly. How could you calculate profits like that in business?

"The reason why Western glassware can sell for such a high price now is because it has traveled thousands of miles across the ocean, and its rarity makes it valuable."

When I bought this Western-style glass cup, I asked the shop owner, who said that he could only purchase a few pieces of this quality of fine Western-style glassware every year.

That antique shop was already one of the largest in Linqing City.

I estimate that the entire Linqing Prefecture probably only sells a few dozen pieces of Western glassware each year. In the entire Ming Dynasty, the two capitals and thirteen provinces combined probably didn't even amount to a thousand pieces a year.

If we were to release so many crystal and glass artifacts into the market, it would only cause the price of Western glassware to collapse rapidly.

Of course, even if prices drop tenfold, our workshop can still make several times the profit.

But we can't do that!

The world is bustling, all come for the benefit, and the world is bustling, all go for the benefit.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. If we openly dump our products and drive down the price of glassware, we will make enemies of many people we don't even know.

In Linqing, we certainly don't need to fear retaliation from these people, but our glassware will eventually have to be sold outside of Linqing.

In business, making enemies everywhere is never a good thing.

I've thought it over, and the best way is to control production and focus on high-quality products!

Smash all the flawed pieces made by the craftsmen, and keep only the fine ones.

Even the best items shouldn't be sold off too readily. The shipment volume should be controlled to within 100 pieces per month, and the rest should be locked in the warehouse!

Once we find a suitable channel in the future, we will sell it to overseas countries.

In this way, the impact on the entire market will not be significant, and the monthly income will still reach tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Moreover, none of the crystal and glassware can be sold directly in Linqing. I will personally arrange the specific delivery method after the finished products are made.

The crystal glass workshop will be located here.

However, a workshop for refining ordinary glass was also to be built on the outskirts, where glazed tiles and ordinary glassware were also produced, just like the glazed tile kilns on the other side, to cover up the truth.

"I'm leaving this matter to you. Get to work as soon as possible!"