Several people arrived at Jiangzuo Mansion together, and Taiyue arrived not long after.
In an open space in the backyard of Jiang Zuofu, several blast furnaces stand majestically, and the glass-making blast furnace is at the far west.
Several people stood under the eaves, watching from a distance. Gong Shujin had already run over and directed all the processes to proceed in an orderly manner.
A group of people first poured the pure sand that had been screened out and washed many times with water into the crucible. The crucible has been improved. In the past, they used a bronze crucible, which was obviously not suitable for making iron. So I arranged for someone to find a ceramic crucible made of kaolin. So strictly speaking, the crucible was the first porcelain that appeared in Da Qin...
Watching the craftsman pour the sand into the crucible, Feng Jie asked curiously: "Your Majesty said that this glass is made by burning sand, but this thing called the crucible that has been improved by Your Majesty is made by burning earth. Sand is stone, why is it used? When burning sand in a crucible, wouldn’t a crucible made of clay melt first?”
I smiled and said, "Then you are too underestimated of the crucible. Even if the kiln is burned and exploded, the crucible will not have cracks. Just like people, although the soil is soft, it can be made great after being tempered for thousands of times."
Just kidding, the melting point of ceramics can reach 3,000 degrees, while the melting point of sand is only 1,700 degrees.
Li Si quickly complimented: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Feng Jie curled his lips and saw the craftsman pouring a bunch of white powdery things into the crucible, and asked: "Your Majesty, is this also a material for making glass?"
With nothing to do, I was naturally happy to answer him: "Strictly speaking, only sand is needed to make glass. However, our kiln can only burn to about 1,700 degrees. Logically speaking, we can directly send the crucible filled with sand to Burning in a kiln can also melt the sand. But that is too dangerous. One thousand, seven hundred degrees is only the highest temperature that the kiln can withstand. If it continues to be at such a high temperature, the kiln will probably explode."
"So it's similar to the principle of iron-making. You need to add those powdery things to lower the melting point of sand. It originally took 1,700 degrees to melt, but now it may only need 1,000 degrees. That thing is plant ash dissolved in water and then filtered , boil it dry, and the alkali left behind can be called potassium carbonate. If there are alkali ores in Daqin, it would be more convenient to mine sodium carbonate directly from the alkali ores. But it seems that there are no alkali ores in Daqin."
Feng Jie nodded and sighed: "Your Majesty's knowledge is as vast as the stars, and he often makes me feel ashamed!"
I smiled. I originally wanted to say that he didn’t distinguish between grains. After all, the ancients had long discovered that plant ash could neutralize acid. After thinking about it, I decided to forget it. People don’t cook either...
"I may not be as good at running the country as you are, but when it comes to developing productivity, you are really not as good as me." I sighed slightly: "It's a pity that I don't have time to write down a lot of my knowledge. When the world stabilizes and the southern barbarians and northern troubles are solved, we can then consider these things. .”
The knowledge in my head is comparable to a database. It is unrealistic to write down everything I want. I can only tell them bit by bit when I encounter something.
This time it was Li Si who spoke: "Your Majesty is being too modest. But, what does productivity mean?"
I turned around and walked to the front hall: "Come on, let's go to the front hall. The meeting won't end for an hour and a half. I will give you a lesson today."
Several people were seated in the hall, and I was about to speak when I saw a petty official leading Tao Yao in from outside.
When Taoyao saw me, she immediately stepped forward and bowed: "See you, Your Majesty!"
I asked curiously: "Taoyao? Why are you here? No courtesy."
Tao Yao stood up, and a voice as ethereal as a stream sounded: "Your Majesty, I am here today to ask Lord Zhu Liang Zao for the documents to purchase porcelain from the Pengze Official Kiln Mansion."
"Oh." I nodded: "Gongshu Jin has something to do later, so you can sit down first. I have to wait for him to finish his work."
Tao Yao carefully glanced at the hall and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Aren't the two on the left the prime ministers of the current dynasty? On the right is Baichong, who will be the Shaofu. The other one has never been seen before. With her identity, she can naturally recognize Li Si and Feng Jie, not to mention Baichong, the head of her administrative department.
"Your Majesty, how about I come back tomorrow?"
I waved my hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, I just want to chat with them. It will be beneficial for you to listen together."
Tao Yao then bowed, thanked him and sat down at the end of the table.
Li Si had met Tao Yao and was wondering: "How come your Majesty is so familiar with Ba Widow Qing's daughter?" It looks like we didn't just get to know each other during the business trip to the Western Regions...'
Feng Jie was even more of a curious baby. He laughed evilly in his heart and said to himself, "Taoyao?" Never heard of it. Judging from His Majesty's attitude towards her, could it be that His Majesty is in love with her? She does have good looks, but she must be twenty-one or twelve years old, right? Your Majesty is only eighteen years old. In this case, he is a bit old...'
After Taoyao sat down, I took a quick look. Li Si and the other three had no expressions, but Feng Jie's face already looked a bit wretched...
I was speechless. Sometimes I really wanted to find a doctor to check on Feng Jie. Does this guy have schizophrenia? It's satisfying to be resourceful when doing things, but when it has nothing to do with political affairs, it's a bit funny.
I also heard that he often drank with Meng Yi and Ying Zhi. How could a prime minister lead his subordinates to drink so much every day? As long as it comes to the day when Wan Lixiang sells wine every month, without even looking, the people in his house will definitely be the first in line...
"Ahem!" I cleared my throat, looked at Feng Jie and said, "Prime Minister Feng, what national affairs are you thinking about, so lost in thought?"
Only then did Feng Jie come back to his senses and responded quickly: "Back to Your Majesty, I...I am thinking about the glass..."
I laughed secretly and said without exposing him, "Just now Prime Minister Li asked me what productivity is."
"Simply speaking, productivity is the ability to transform nature formed by the combination of people with labor ability and the means of production. In plain language, it is how much labor fruits can be produced by people with the help of tools. For example, Li Xiang can plow one acre a day with a hoe. In ridge land, Prime Minister Feng can plow one acre of land in one day with an ox plow, so Prime Minister Feng’s productivity is higher than Prime Minister Li.”
"By analogy, the combination of everyone's ability to cultivate the land is the productivity of the Qin Dynasty. Compared with before I improved farm tools, the productivity of the Qin Dynasty is higher than before; compared with the tribal era, the productivity of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties is higher than the tribal era. So you understand, right?”
Li Si and the others nodded, it was relatively easy to understand.
Li Si stroked his goatee and thought while replying: "According to what Your Majesty said, I can plow an acre of land a day with ten people using hoes. But compared to Prime Minister Feng who can plow an acre of land a day with an ox plow, my productivity is still He is not as good as Prime Minister Feng."
Smart people are smart people no matter what era they are in. One point is clear. I gave a thumbs up: "That's right! Then why should productivity be improved? What does Feng Xiang think?"
Feng Jie returned to his serious personality, frowned slightly and said: "I would also like to use an analogy, if one person's productivity can build the Great Wall, then the remaining people can go to open up wasteland and cultivate land, and the food of Da Qin will be more and more. The more you come, the more prosperous you will be!"
