When I returned to the Sihai Palace, I saw a pile of memorials on the case, which reminded me of the time when I had just ascended the throne.
At that time, paper had not been implemented on a large scale. Xingzhong sent me so many bamboo slips every day in accordance with Ying Zheng's standards. In the first few days, I basically couldn't even go out of the palace door. Even when I was sleeping, I was dreaming and reviewing reports.
Later, the reports of those below the county guard level were gradually given to Li Si and Feng Quji, and things got a little better. Unexpectedly, it laid a hidden danger that is deepening day by day.
There was no way, the memorial still had to be dealt with, so I picked up the top memorial and started reviewing it.
'Oh, being an emperor is more tiring than working...'
In the morning of the next day, Wei Feng stood up.
"I have ordered Wei Feng, Lieutenant Colonel, to report to Your Majesty: The first batch of porcelain has been fired. Please take a look at it."
"Oh?" I became interested. The value of this thing is much greater than that of wine: "It's been almost a year, right? It's finally been baked. Come and take a look."
Wei Feng did not move, Qi Wan walked out, and soon several forbidden soldiers came in carrying a box.
I stood up and stepped forward. Wei Feng opened the box and there was a layer of straw on top.
Opening the straw, the first layer contains several small items, mainly tea cups, wine cups, wine bottles, spoons, chopsticks pillows, etc.
I picked up a tea cup and it shone brightly in the sunlight coming from the door. The lower part was covered with dark blue glaze, and the upper part was covered with orange glaze, evenly distributed with a circle of simple lines.
"Not bad, not bad, it's a bit interesting." I praised. Although the patterns are not as diverse as those fired in later generations, they are quite exquisite and colorful when held in the hand. The texture and look of the glaze are infinitely better than those of the lacquer.
On the next floor are porcelain plates and bowls, ranging from large to small, from shallow to deep.
After the last layer was lifted, a porcelain vase about one inch high and one-third of an inch in diameter appeared in front of the eyes. The glaze of the porcelain bottle is smooth, the whole body is light blue, and there is no pattern on it. Even so, it looks exquisite.
Wei Feng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is too difficult to fire such a large porcelain vase. This is the only one that has been fired. Others tried to draw patterns, but after they came out of the kiln, the patterns were either messy or simply broken. The craftsmen at Pengze tried many times, but only this one came out without patterns."
"Hahaha, it doesn't matter, it's already good to reach such a level, very good! Who is Peng Ze in charge of porcelain firing?"
"Your Majesty, this is He Qi, an official who belongs to Chu Liu, the commander of Shishi."
I looked at the porcelain vase carefully and said, "He Qi, that's right. ...The official who belongs to the Shishi Order?"
I raised my head and looked at Wei Feng: "Chu Liu and you are both subordinates of Baichong. Why did the matter I assigned you go to Chu Liu? Since it went to Chu Liu, why did you present the porcelain?"
Wei Feng didn't expect me to be entangled in this matter. He didn't know what I meant for a moment. Chu Liu was still looking for iron ore in other counties. He glanced at Baichong guiltily.
Upon seeing this, Baichong quickly replied: "Your Majesty, in terms of the use of utensils, these porcelains are daily utensils and belong to the Lieutenant Colonel Order; but the firing of porcelain involves digging mountains and digging, which belongs to the Stone Chamber Order, so the firing of porcelain The two of them need to work together. Since His Majesty left this matter to Wei Feng, I ordered Wei Feng to report..."
After saying this, he glanced at me secretly.
I nodded, there was no problem with this reason: "Officials in the imperial court each perform their duties. In the future, if there is a similar situation that is not performed in their own duties, please report it to Li Xing, the censor."
In the future, we must separate the powers that do not belong to the prime minister, imperial censors, and even the guard captains. Let's give them a warning first.
The two looked at each other secretly, wondering why I care so much about this matter...
"He Qizhen has the impression that he has supervised the construction of Lishan Mausoleum, right?"
On the day I first met Gongshu Jin, He Qi was probably the first person reported to me by the officials from Lishanling.
"Your Majesty, yes."
"Very good. He will be rewarded with seven hundred gold. He will be promoted to Pengze Official Kiln Order. He will open the Pengze Official Kiln House and be in charge of porcelain firing. Baichong, you go and do this."
At this moment, the ministers are still standing where they are, not daring to move around without my order.
Everyone was talking in their minds: 'What is porcelain? Is it actually worthy for His Majesty to directly open a mansion for a small official? By the way, since His Majesty came to the throne, many new mansions have been opened, such as Jiangzuo Mansion, Jiangnan Supervisory Envoy, Old Road Yan Mansion, and Pengze Official Kiln Mansion...'
I turned around and walked towards the front seat, waving my hand: "Let's go and take a look."
Everyone rushed forward, looking at the porcelain in the box, and kept making sounds of admiration.
"Is this porcelain? It looks similar to pottery!"
"Yes, it's just that it has a smooth outer layer than pottery. I don't know what it is."
"It feels so comfortable to touch. It's smoother than the hand of that little maid... no, madam at my house."
"Eh... Mr. Zhao, you are so shameless, you are still secretly touching your little maid's hand. At such an old age, you are really disrespectful!"
Lord Lieutenant Zhao Lin blushed, secretly hating that he had let the news slip, and said harshly: "Can an official be called a thief? I encountered him accidentally!"
"Shh..." Zhao Lin's words immediately triggered a burst of boos.
This Zhao Lin is in his forties, has a gentle personality, and is a good old man in the court. It's just that his wife's appearance is quite unsatisfactory, and her key personality is simply more ferocious than a tiger, so his only hobby is to secretly touch the maid's hand.
As for going further, he didn't even dare to think about it. Once, as soon as he touched the maid's hand, his wife caught him and chased him for half a street, causing a scene that everyone knew about. When the censor heard about this incident, he wanted to impeach him, but Ying Zheng only said, "My ability is fair, it's harmless" and he passed.
Since then, this incident has often been brought up to ridicule him for being "principal to be henpecked"!
After a few jokes, everyone focused their attention on the porcelain. They watched it for a long time before reluctantly returning to their seats and standing still.
"What do you think of this porcelain?"
Everyone praised it, and some even asked directly where they could buy it. The person next to him quietly kicked him: Didn't you hear Guanyao? Is it your turn to use it?
I smiled slightly: "The official kiln is only for the Xianyang Palace, missions, and rewards. If you want to buy it, just like farm tools, go to the general's office. I will order them to make ordinary porcelain. The quality may be slightly worse, but The glaze on it cannot be faked. Moreover, the finished product of porcelain may be good or bad, and it is not necessarily true that the porcelain produced by the master's house is better than the official kiln."
"Baichong, how many porcelains were fired in the first batch?"
"Your Majesty, the ones for daily use can be used by fifty people, and there is only one porcelain vase."
"Okay, you give the porcelain to Qi Wan. I have already found a buyer and the proceeds will be included in the treasury."
