The next morning, Ying Zheng woke up early.
Following the precedent with Nansu, Ying Zheng spent most of the night sleeping, without resting every day, but it didn't work.
Looking at Hu Yu beside her, she was no longer dressed in Hu clothes and her hair was hanging down. She was a beautiful seventeen-year-old princess, but she was so different.
Ying Zheng stood up and put on his clothes, and quietly took the Xuanyuan Sword from Hu Yu's side. He was afraid that the light would wake her up, so he quickly found a piece of brocade, wrapped the Xuanyuan Sword and put it aside.
Thinking of last night, after Hu Yu finished dancing the Xuanyuan Sword, he was still reluctant to let go. Ying Zheng asked for it several times but failed to get it back.
In the end, Hu Yu couldn't put it down so much that he even put it next to his pillow when sleeping.
This made Ying Zheng feel strange, but he was also able to regain his energy.
Ying Zheng did not dare to disturb Hu Yu. He took the wrapped Xuanyuan Sword and walked to the study. As he walked, he thought: It seems that he wants to ask Jing Fan to imitate a Xuanyuan Sword first. This girl has never seen a good sword. He still wanted to kiss his mother, and Jing Fan happened to be entering the palace today, so he quickly mentioned the matter.
When he arrived at the inner room of the study, Ying Zheng did not take off the brocade silk outside. After all, the Xuanyuan Sword was too conspicuous, so it was better to wrap it up. After putting it in the secret compartment, he still felt uneasy, so Ying Zheng locked another lock outside.
With a long sigh of relief, Ying Zheng went to have breakfast.
Not long after, Zhao Gao brought Jing Fan to see Ying Zheng. They each carried a wooden box, which was exactly the same as the wooden box containing the porcelain yesterday.
Ying Zheng was overjoyed, knowing that it must also contain porcelain, so he ordered the two of them to place it gently on the ground, and went forward to open the first one himself.
He carefully took out an object and was stunned when he saw it was a porcelain bowl.
The bowl body is similar to what I saw yesterday, but the bottom of the bowl and the rim are carved with water wave patterns, and they are also colored. It is deeper than pink and more elegant than red. Turning over the bottom of the bowl, you can also see a red The word "happy" is quite beautiful.
Ying Zheng carefully put down the porcelain bowl and picked up a porcelain pot. When he saw that the pattern and color were the same as the porcelain bowl, he couldn't help but praise: "Wonderful, wonderful!"
Jing Fan raised his hands and asked, "The ones we made today are better than yesterday's ones. I wonder if the king likes them?"
Whether you like it or not has already been written on Ying Zheng's face, so there's no need to ask.
"I really like it." Ying Zheng said with the corners of his mouth never closing, "Lv Xiangbang thought he had got a treasure yesterday. If he had seen what he did today, he would not have asked me to pay him back."
Several people looked at each other and smiled.
Li Si heard the movement in the study and thought it was Jing Fan who came, so he followed him through the door.
When Ying Zheng saw Li Si coming, he handed the teapot to Li Si and then picked up a porcelain plate. The porcelain plate is larger than other objects, so it has two layers of water ripple patterns carved on it, which is very beautiful.
"Yes, it seems that the Jing family class is making rapid progress." Li Si also praised.
It was not easy to hear Li Si praise others. Several people looked at Li Si and laughed secretly in their hearts.
Li Si, however, acted as if he didn't see it. He exerted force with his hands and heard a cracking sound, and the porcelain bowl was broken into two halves.
Several people were stunned by Li Si's actions, and the porcelain plate in Ying Zheng's hand almost fell to the ground.
"Sir, what are you..." Ying Zheng asked in confusion.
"Your Majesty, it seems that the exquisiteness of this porcelain has improved, but the solidity cannot be complimented. It must be that the firing process needs improvement." Li Si gently placed the porcelain bowl on the table.
When Jing Fan heard that Li Si meant this, he raised his hands and said, "What Mr. Li said is that after we return, we will improve its resilience."
"What a pity." Ying Zheng looked at the broken bowl and said, "If Lu Xiangbang saw it, he would die from heartache."
Li Si was also amused by Ying Zheng and said softly: "If Lu Xiangbang sees him, just give him another set. Every time he improves, give him another set. It will be very interesting."
"Then Jing's class hasn't been snatched back by him," Ying Zheng said.
Everyone laughed.
Ying Zheng ordered Zhao Gao to take the gift list that he had compiled with Lu Buwei before and give it to Jing Fan.
"Is there any problem with the above quantity being produced within a month?" Ying Zheng asked.
Jing Fan roughly calculated the amount of porcelain needed, and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, more than half of our team of craftsmen have gone to Gucheng Palace. We don't have enough manpower, but we can't say for sure."
Ying Zheng nodded slightly and was about to speak when he heard Li Si say: "The king seems to have forgotten something."
Ying Zheng looked at Li Si and asked, "What's the matter?"
Li Si smiled and said: "We used porcelain instead of gold and silver jewelry. Although we saved a lot of money, these porcelains are extremely fragile. Just now Wei Chen broke a bowl to illustrate this point. "
Ying Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Sir, do you mean that these porcelains are easily damaged when encountering bumps on the road?"
"Exactly." Li Si nodded and said, "The further the journey, the more damage may be done. If we transport the exact quantity, the quantity will definitely be insufficient when we reach the destination, so we need to prepare more. Damage prevention.”
Ying Zheng looked troubled and said, "Jing Fan just said that we don't have enough manpower. If we increase the number, I'm afraid we won't have enough time."
Li Si said confidently: "Your Majesty, don't be impatient. Let's start from several aspects and the problem will be solved."
Ying Zheng knew that Li Si was trying to show off, so he murmured, "In short, the suggestion to send porcelain was yours. If it works, I'll leave it to you, sir."
"That's easy to say." Li Si looked at Jing Fan with a smile and said, "Master Jing, in your opinion, can this porcelain be stronger?"
Jing Fan thought for a while and said: "If there is no problem with the preparation of the raw materials, then it depends on the heat and process. I can try it out after more time."
Li Si cleared his throat and said: "Making this porcelain is different from making pottery. To make porcelain, porcelain clay must be used, and impurities need to be removed as much as possible when making the clay. The temperature of the fire must also be increased, and the glaze must also be To control it evenly, follow this method and go back and try again."
Ying Zheng asked curiously: "If it is according to what Mr. said, the porcelain made again, wouldn't it be more beautiful than the ones in front of me?"
Li Si said: "It must be so."
Ying Zheng was gearing up and looking forward to it.
Li Si looked at Zhao Gao again and said, "Manager Zhao, how many Jing Kiln craftsmen can be transferred back to Gu Chenggong?"
Zhao Gao nodded and said: "Judging from the construction period, even if they are all transferred back, there is plenty of time. After all, ordinary craftsmen can be supplemented to deal with the aftermath."
"Okay, then send all the craftsmen from Gu Chenggong back to Jing Kiln." Li Si said.
Zhao Gao didn't answer, looked at Ying Zheng, and thought to himself: These craftsmen have only been recruited for a few days, but they all have to be transferred back. After all, Gucheng Palace is not a small matter. Let's see what the king says.
Ying Zheng, however, didn't even think about it and said readily: "Just do as Mr. said."
Only then did Zhao Gao take his life.
Li Si continued: "There is one more thing I need to trouble Mr. Zhao."
"Master Li, please speak." Zhao Gao said, cupping his hands.
"This ancient palace is in the final stage. We need to order people to collect more wood chips and grind them into fine powder. We also need to prepare as much cotton, rags and the like used in the palace as possible." Li Si said.
This time, before Ying Zheng could ask, Zhao Gao asked curiously: "What are these things for?"
Li Si pointed to the cotton in the wooden box in front of him and said: "Isn't this right in front of you? These porcelains have a long journey. Putting this little cotton is not enough, for fear of breaking more. Let's use wooden strips to separate each item. Separate the porcelain, and then fill the wooden box with sawdust, cotton, and rags. There will be no hard objects around the porcelain, so the chance of it breaking naturally is much smaller."
Only then did everyone have an epiphany and proclaimed it wonderful.
Li paused for a moment and then continued: "The distances between the capitals of various countries are different from Xianyang. The porcelain made first should be sent to the farthest Yan and Qi countries first, followed by Zhao and Chu in the middle distance, and finally It's Wei and Han. And each envoy team should be followed by two more sets of vehicles. Before entering the city, unpack and inspect them, and replace the broken ones. In this way, the backup vehicles with small losses can also supplement the losses of closer ones. A larger team of envoys. The fragments must be brought back in the end and must not be abandoned on the way."
Jing Fan nodded repeatedly and said: "If the fragments are left, other countries may study how to make them."
Zhao Gao asked: "Is it possible that after sending so many finished products, other countries can't study the production methods?"
Ying Zheng pointed Zhao Gao with his finger and said with a smile: "Thank you for claiming to be a smart man. Who would be willing to break such a rare object? If you don't break it, you can't study it. Besides, even if you break it, you can't study it." I don’t think I’ll figure anything out.”
Zhao Gao looked slightly embarrassed and kept saying yes.
"Even if they study it, I'm not afraid. They may not make any progress in ten or eight years, but by then..." Li Si stopped here.
Ying Zheng and Li Si looked at each other and smiled, understanding each other tacitly.
Ying Zheng asked Xiang Jingfan again: "Is it possible to produce a sufficient quantity according to the method sir said?"
Jing Fan thought for a moment and said, "If all the craftsmen in Gucheng Palace come back, there shouldn't be a big problem."
"Okay!" Ying Zheng said, "Just do as the teacher said. However, it is inappropriate to only send porcelain. You can also send some jewelry and horses. If the quantity of porcelain is insufficient, Wei and South Korea will send some other items." Let’s make up the number.”
Mentioning the Kingdom of Wei, Zhao Gao reminded from the side: "The king sent the princess of the Kingdom of Wei back to the Kingdom of Wei before. The betrothal gift did not include the Kingdom of Wei, but the national gift included the Kingdom of Wei. I don't know why. .”
This was what Lu Buwei meant yesterday. Ying Zheng thought that although he did not marry the princess of Wei this time, he could not do things too well. Invitations and national gifts had to be given.
"The war against Wei and Zhao has not started this time, and now we want to accumulate national strength in the past few years and no longer go to war, so this national gift can be regarded as a step for both sides to celebrate." Ying Zheng said calmly. said.
Zhao Gao understood Ying Zheng's intention and said nothing more.
Ying Zheng said to Jing Fan: "The imitation of objects should wait until the national gifts are prepared before running it. Don't miss out on political affairs."
Jing Fan knew that Zhao Gao was present at this time and there were some things that Ying Zheng might not be able to explain clearly, so he didn't ask any more questions and bowed to receive the order.
After bowing to Ying Zheng, the three of them went about their business, leaving only Ying Zheng secretly happy in the room.
Replacing gold and silver with porcelain has reduced a large amount of treasury expenditure. Lu Buwei's private gang will finally surface, and there will be money-grubbing people in various countries that Qin can take advantage of, but the princess he married is a bit too much. Duo, thinking about the two princesses Nansu and Hu Yu, Ying Zheng couldn't help but feel a pain in his waist.
At this time, footsteps were heard from outside the door, and the young eunuch Chang Shun bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Lu Xiangbang has sent news that General Wang Ben has returned from the border division, and he has also brought back General Meng Tian. He is expected to arrive in the city in the middle of the day. outside."
Ying Zheng felt strange: counting the days, it was time for Wang Ben to arrive in Xianyang, but how could Meng Tian and him meet together.
