Most of the things here have not yet flowed into the public, mainly because of the improvement of the purity of glass. It was not until recently that it reached the purity required by Gao Zhang.
Whether it is used to make flat glass or to make art, it is enough.
However, Gao Zhang did not want the large number of glass products to impact the market share of the treasure of the Chinese nation: porcelain.
Nowadays, Gao Zhang mainly wants to use glass to make a fortune, so Gao Zhang decided to continue to be content with it.
For glass, we need to create high added value and then sell it.
Just like the two treasures just now, they cost three to five thousand yuan. Haha, I can't sell them.
After all, a two-foot-tall transparent light blue glass bottle in the south building of the Fan Tower was sold for 7,000 guan.
Therefore, Gao Zhang naturally does not need to let glass products impact the market.
Displayed here are all glass products of various sizes and shapes. If these things were placed in this collection, the total cost including labor and materials would not exceed five hundred dollars.
But in the market, every big item is expensive. There were over a hundred items in this house alone, and Gao Zhang felt that he could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for them.
But his final gaze fell on the corner of the glass museum, where ten glass plates about one foot in length and width were neatly placed.
Gao Zhang picked up one of the pieces and walked to the door of the house to look at it. Only when the piece of glass was carefully observed under the sun, could he notice a slight hint of green.
It is not inferior to the materials of later generations. Unfortunately, Gao Zhang does not understand what borosilicate glass is.
But it doesn't matter. What's the shame in me if I don't understand? After all, he is not a professional.
Anyway, just leave the professional matters to the professionals, and then let Xue Da and his son continue to engage in research and development.
I believe that we can always come up with a type of glass with better material.
Seeing that Duke Zhuangyuan began to pay attention to those glass plates again, Xue Da couldn't help but feel anxious.
"These are the glass plates that I just made. I don't know if they meet your requirements..."
After all, compared to other glass handicrafts, Zhuangyuan Gong does not seem to have excessive requirements for its color.
It only needs to be free of impurities and bubbles, and has excellent light transmittance to meet the standards.
However, for this kind of glass plate, after repeated trials and improvements, at least dozens of formulas have been devised.
The result every time is that the champion first praises him greatly, and then tells himself to keep working hard...
"This batch is good..." Gao Zhang nodded with satisfaction.
After hearing this, Xue Da stared straight at Gao Zhang's lips, fearing that the word "but" would appear again.
But then, after the champion praised himself a few more words, he turned around and ordered people to come over and take away the ten glass plates.
Just as a hint of joy appeared on Xue Da's face, he saw Duke Zhuangyuan turn his head and give himself a gentle and simple smile.
"However, I still hope that Shopkeeper Xue can continue your efforts and see if there is room for modification of the formula..."
Hearing this, Xue Da's eyes turned red. Nima, I have been pursuing the purity and transparency of glass to the extreme in my life.
As a result, I met this champion, who was even more perverted than me. Why, the glass can be so transparent, you can already see clearly the pores on the face of the person on the other side of the glass plate through the glass. You still feel that it is not clear enough, how about you come?
Of course, with such complaints, Xue Da could only dare to criticize in his heart.
After all, the No. 1 Scholar is his backstage employer. Think about it, now, his family's net worth is more than ten times what it was before just relying on the dividends.
And those dividends mainly come from the sales of the coke developed by ourselves.
The No. 1 Scholar's brain was indeed not that of an ordinary person's. He developed the coke himself just to make glass. As a result, the No. 1 Scholar directly used the coke for metal smelting.
And it has achieved excellent results. Now, the coke output not only supplies the Kaifeng metal workshop, but has even begun to be exported.
Just the dividends earned from selling fuel are an enviable figure.
As far as Xue Da knew, the Number One Scholar seemed to have a lot of private property, and it was said that the amount of money he could earn was astronomical.
But I didn’t see the gossip that this eleven-year-old champion wore gold and silver, sold sesame cakes and ate them and threw them away, and only wore clothes for a day.
While Xue Da was thinking wildly, Gao Zhang inspected the glass workshop again. Except for the Xue family, all the people working here were servants of the Gao family.
None of the employees are recruited from outside, in order to maintain confidentiality to the greatest extent possible.
Gao Zhang encouraged everyone again, and then he rushed towards his home with satisfaction. Of course, he did not forget to take away the two pieces of glass art and the ten glass plates.
#####
Tin amalgam, the world's earliest glass mirror, used mercury plus tin.
This thing can be said to be the ancestor of all modern mirrors, and it is also the crudest and most primitive production method.
Gao Zhang called his number one confidant Fu An and asked him to accurately place the ten glass panels in an empty room, of course with something underneath them.
Gao Zhang even used a level, which was a hollow piece of glass and filled it with water, leaving a gap of about one bubble.
Then it is wrapped with metal on the outside and cut into a standard rectangular shape.
Every time a glass plate was placed, Gao Zhang would tinker with this little thing for a long time, and then put something on the bracket under the glass plate until the bubble inside the level was accurately fixed in the center, and then he stopped.
Then cover the large piece of tin foil on the glass plate, and then carefully make the tin foil stick to the glass plate.
After all ten glass panels were finished, Gao Zhang finally stood up and ordered Fu An beside him to go out first.
Fu'an agreed and walked to the door of the room first. He subconsciously wanted to close the door, but then he heard the young master's shout from inside the room, asking him to leave the door open.
Fu'an looked confused when he saw the young master take out a strange piece of cloth, put it on his face, and then magically took out a porcelain bottle from his arms.
Then pour it towards the glass plates that have been covered with tin foil...
After all this was done, the young master rushed out of the house as quickly as possible.
"Close the door, close it quickly, and lock the door, no one is allowed in."
"Sir, what are you going to do in there?"
Fuan asked curiously as he locked the door.
"Mirror."
"Mirror?" Fu'an looked at the young master in confusion, always wondering if there was something wrong with the young master.
"Master, we never lack mirrors in our house."
Facing his number one confidant, Gao Zhang patiently continued to explain.
"I know there is no shortage, but I am trying to make a mirror that is very bright and clear enough that even the pores can be seen clearly."
After hearing Gao Zhang's words, Fu'an immediately became happy.
"Young Master, what are you doing when you see it so clearly? You are not a girl, hey, hey, hey... Young Master, the villain made a mistake, the villain made a mistake..."
"Get out!" Gao Zhang glared at this dumb bastard fiercely and ignored such a vulgar person.
I don't understand at all that this kind of mirror is specially used by young ladies, older sisters, aunts, and old aunts who are obsessed with beauty and habitually take pictures of themselves in the mirror.
After all, the bronze mirrors used in this era, to be honest, the clarity is only there. It can indeed clearly see a person's facial features and eyebrows.
But if you want to go one step further and see clearly the few hairs hanging down from your cheeks and the small lumps of eye poop in the corners of your eyes, to be honest, it's difficult.
Even the bronze mirrors in the palace were not much better, which made Gao Zhang accustomed to pimples in front of the mirror when he was a boy.
I really can’t stand the clarity of bronze mirrors from this era.
If you want to see the bronze mirror of this era very clearly, you only need two words: polish it.
Mirror grinding is a very serious profession, not an informal one.
Mirror grinders not only need patience, but also need to use a pair of skillful hands. The key point is that there is no sandpaper in this era.
It relies on mixing mercury and tin, adding some ashes from burned animal horns, and grinding them together.
Gao Zhang was once dissatisfied with the clarity of the bronze mirror in his room, so he took a special trip to appreciate how the mirror grinders of this era worked.
He saw a mirror grinder in his fifties, and after mixing those things together, Gao Zhang immediately backed away.
After all, mercury is poisonous, but mirror grinders in this era habitually use the properties of tin gongqi to grind mirrors.
Gao Zhang didn't know what to say except shouting "six".
The next few days are just waiting to see after Xi Gongqi's reaction is over, to see if his first preliminary production can succeed. It doesn't matter if it doesn't, just erase it and try again.
#####
In a blink of an eye, the spring season finally arrived. Gao Zhang stood in front of the pillar in the house and looked at the horizontal papers. Finally, he grew taller again.
Gao Zhang finally celebrated his twelfth year. Unfortunately, although he had put on a purple robe, he had not been promoted yet, but he had made a lot of money.
Gao Zhang shook his head. In a few days, it will be the day of the Song Dynasty's spring military parade.
These days, although Gao Zhang is not responsible for training soldiers, he is still taken by his father to the commander's palace from time to time to have cordial exchanges and communication with the military officials of the Song Dynasty.
This made Gao Zhang's relationship with the military officials of the Song Dynasty quite beneficial.
Speaking of which, the main ones are those military training methods, which are indeed very effective.
In addition, Gao Zhang, the child prodigy champion, was also a favorite of the official family. A good relationship with Gao Zhang would naturally be beneficial but not harmful.
Gao Zhang had already boasted to his master before, and he would definitely be able to let his master enjoy an unprecedented military parade.
While Gao Zhang was still sighing and sighing at a pillar, footsteps came from outside the house.
Turning around, he saw Fu'an quickly entering the house, holding a small wooden box in his hand.
"Sir, I got the villain back..." Fu An excitedly raised the small wooden box.
"It's just in time, let me take a look..." Gao Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up and he motioned to Fu'an to put the wooden box on the desk.
After opening the wooden box, the surface was covered with cotton. Only after the cotton on the surface was uncovered.
Only then was the silver frame inside revealed, the size of an adult's palm. In the center of the frame, what was inlaid was of course not a mirror, but just a wooden board made from a water mirror.
After some tinkering, Gao Zhang picked up the first installed water mirror and wandered toward the front hall.
Next, there will naturally be a scene of motherly kindness and sonly filial piety that will bring tears to the eyes...
PS: I have to return tomorrow. The journey is long. In the last two days, please give me some monthly tickets. Please, please...
(End of chapter)
