Lou Fu, Black Mountain Lime Plant.

Not far from the lime factory, a new glass factory was built, because several nearby stone mountains had not only limestone, but also quartz, feldspar and other raw materials needed to make glass.

Soda ash is transported back from the salt lake in Siyancheng, and there are a lot of them, even if they open a dozen furnaces, it is enough to use them for several months.

Today is the day when the glass factory is officially put into operation, Qin Chuan is not there, and Wang Jizong is no more, but Wen Cheng, Yan Sanqi, Chen Zhan, Li Xuejing and others are here, and a group of people gather around the only kiln, looking at Luo Zixi, who has blonde hair and a full beard, directing the workers to mix the ground raw materials.

The glass kiln was built by Luo Zixi, and most of the Western missionaries who came to the Ming Dynasty were all-rounders who were proficient in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, geography and even alchemy.

Because missionary work is not a simple task, in order to gain the trust of the locals, it is necessary to come up with some skills to benefit the locals, so those missionaries who come to the East from thousands of miles basically have to learn a lot of knowledge first.

Before Luo Zixi came to Daming, he was particularly interested in alchemy, and he was naturally also very interested in firing glass, which was both profitable and technical.

It's just that merchants and craftsmen from all over Europe regard glass firing technology as a trade secret, and they don't easily pass it on, and he can't figure out why he finds it himself.

Until a Roman missionary gave him a book, written by the Romans, which recorded many key techniques for glass-making and collected a lot of production tips.

When translating the book from around the world, the translator often adds some of the successful experiences of their own craftsmen, making the book the most comprehensive and advanced glassmaking technology to date.

Luo Zixi was only a missionary, and he did not have the capital to build a glass factory, nor did he have the ability to compete with the big businessmen of European countries, so when he figured out the technology in the book, he was not interested in glass.

However, he still brought the book to Daming.

After arriving at Loufu Black Mountain Fort and getting the pamphlet written by Qin Chuan from Chen Zhan's hand, Luo Zixi ignited his interest in burning glass again.

Because Qin Chuan mentioned the word "element" in the booklet, he also pointed out the main components in glass, as well as the principle that tinted glass can be made by adding various metals.

In this era, people who engage in alchemy basically have a strong desire for knowledge, and many people are still fanatics.

Luo Zixi and Dongli Sanren are no exception, with a strong thirst for knowledge and fanaticism for alchemy.

Therefore, after arriving in Lou Fu, the two built several small kilns for experiments, and then kept experimenting, not only to find out the best ratio of raw materials, but also to explore the mysteries.

The two men were unkempt and barely socially engaged, and were only buried headlong in their alchemical work.

It took a month, hundreds of experiments, and burned a large amount of raw materials in Qinchuan, and they not only found the best formula, but also found several formulas for tinted glass.

After seeing a few crystal clear or colorful glasses brought by Luo Zixi and Dongli Sanren, Chen Zhan, as the director of the Department of Industry, made a decision on the spot to build a glass factory.

This is what Qin Chuan had explained to him before he set out on the expedition.

Qin Chuan said that if glass could be mass-produced industrially, they would make a fortune.

Therefore, in the process of building the factory, Luo Zixi and Dongli were busy researching the mold blowing method that could be manufactured in batches.

This thing is not easy to get, so it can only be slowly explored in the production process and found out by a large number of experiments.

The first furnace of glass was fired smoothly, and Luo Zixi and Dongli instructed the craftsmen to put the mixed raw materials into a semi-enclosed crucible placed in the furnace, and then covered the roof of the kiln, allowing the workers to ignite the coke in the kiln, and began to continuously blow hot air and toner into it.

The temperature required to fire glass is very high, if you do not add co-solvents, it takes up to 1,700 degrees to melt the main raw material quartz, if you add a large amount of lead, the melting point will drop to less than 1,000 degrees, but the transparent bottom of this glass with high lead content is very low, and if you add too much, it is similar to ceramic.

What Qinchuan wants is transparency, the clearer the better, so it is done to add limestone, soda ash and feldspar as co-solvents, Luo Zixi and Dongli After hundreds of tests, a very small amount of lead and miscanthus nitrate were added, and the temperature required for this ratio is also very high, but Yan Sanqi has the furnace technology, hot blast technology, coke, etc. accumulated by ironmaking, so the temperature is not a problem, it just took a little more time and fuel.

After nearly two hours of firing, the raw materials in the crucible finally melted.

Luo Zixi asked the workers to control the heat, lower the furnace temperature slightly, and wait for the molten glass in the crucible to be clarified before opening the discharge port.

Several workers took a hollow iron pipe, took out a lump of sticky molten glass from the discharge port, and then set it on the workbench, blowing air into the iron pipe while rotating the iron pipe at a uniform speed.

The lump of molten glass began to slowly expand, expanding evenly under the action of rotation, and slowly turned into a glass bottle.

After blowing, another craftsman glues the glass bottle with a solid iron rod from the other end and pulls out the hollow iron rod.

This is followed by cutting, grinding, engraving, etc., and finally it is sent to the annealing furnace for annealing to balance the stress inside the glass and avoid cracking caused by stress.

When Qin Chuan returned to Lou Fu, it was just in time for the first batch of glass to be baked.

After hurriedly mouthing Wen Suxin, who was pregnant for a few months, and then hugged Li Yueru and groped her hands up and down, Qin Chuan hurriedly rushed to Montenegro to see the newly baked glass.

When Luo Zixi and Dongli Sanren knew that he was coming, they had more than forty pieces of finished glass on the long table.

After seeing the glass that reflected the dazzling light in the sun, Qin Chuan cracked his mouth, ran over with a smile, carefully picked up a three-finger-sized cup, and examined it carefully.

"General, I'm really sorry, the scrap rate is a bit high, a furnace of liquid glass, only these forty or so finished products, as many as more than 170 scraps."

Luo Zixi spoke half-baked official dialect and said helplessly on the side.

"It's fine."

Qin Chuan patted him on the shoulder with a smile and said, "The craftsmen are not familiar with the blowing method, and it is normal for the waste to be high, and when the craftsmen are skilled, the yield will naturally come up." ”

In fact, no matter how high the scrap rate is, Qin Chuan doesn't care.

Because he wants quality.

Glass has become so widespread in Europe, but the Tunisians and Romans are still making a lot of money, thanks to high quality.

Although the glass fired by Luo Zixi and Dongli was far less pure than that of later generations, it was still clearer than the glass Qin Chuan had seen in this era, including the lenses he used to polish the telescope.

This high-quality glass can be sold for a high price even if it is shipped to Europe.

Being able to do this, Qin Chuan is already very satisfied.

Hearing Qin Chuan's words, Luo Zixi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, nodded a cross on his forehead and chest, and said with a pious face: "Thank you for your understanding, may God bless the general." ”

The Dongli people on the side also made a Taoist to Qin Chuan, and said: "General Qin is well aware of righteousness and has a broad mind, and can accept all rivers in the world. ”

"Hahaha, I love to hear what you say."

Qin Chuan laughed heartily a few times, and patted Luo Zixi and Dongli on the shoulders again.

"When I was in Taiyuan, time was a little tight, so I didn't have to talk to you well, let's go, let's get some wine, roast a few sheep, and chat while drinking."

"Lao Chen, Lao Yan, I haven't drunk with you for a while, so a few of you will come along."

"It's better to be respectful than to obey your orders."

Soon, Qin Chuan led a group of subordinates to the direction of the iron field, when Song Zhiting was in charge of the mine, he made a very elegant room there, which was full of his calligraphy and paintings, which was quite suitable for eating meat and drinking wine.

Qin Chuan believed that after this meal of wine and meat, Luo Zixi and Dongli Sanren would definitely stay here.

Because, Qin Chuan will put forward a lot of knowledge that makes them extremely interested, including physics, chemistry, astronomy and geography.

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