"What's that?" Master Song and Li Zhigang asked at the same time.

"The first is some test instruments, and I can draw shapes. Master Song, you can find someone to do it. He Zhiyuan said.

Li Zhigang immediately brought pen, ink, paper and inkstone and asked the master to draw it on the spot. He Zhiyuan picked up the pen and looked at it, thinking that now that he has graphite, it's time to make a pencil. But now it was important to draw the various chemical instruments first, so he drew on the paper measuring cups, test tubes, distiller bottles, and other instruments he could think of.

Master Song looked at these strange-shaped instruments and was a little confused, but Li Zhigang understood a little and asked, "Master, are these instruments used for chemical experiments?" ”

"Yes, these instruments will be used in the future."

"Master, let me do it, I know what equipment I need." Li Zhigang took the initiative to ask.

"No, you have more important things. Whatever instrument you want in the future, you just need to draw it. He Zhiyuan said.

Then, he told Master Song: "Master Song, these instruments should be made as soon as possible." ”

Master Song said: "Master He, I will definitely do everything I can to make them all." ”

He Zhiyuan nodded, and then said to Li Zhigang: "The second thing is the mirror, Li Zhigang, these days you have to make the mirror I said." ”

"Mirrors? Is that the bronze mirror? Li Zhigang asked suspiciously, this kind of bronze mirror making is not his specialty.

"No, no, I'm talking about making mirrors out of glass. I'll tell you how to make it, and if you keep experimenting, you will succeed. Then He Zhiyuan roughly told him the method of making tin amalgam mirrors.

After explaining this, He Zhiyuan asked the craftsmen to make slender strips of graphite left over from the crucible and put it in a cool place to dry. Then let the carpenter put a stick on the outer bread of this strip of graphite, and a simplest pencil was made.

Seven days later, the new glass product finally began to be marketed before the land auction in Hejiacun. The original Zhouji grocery store has now closed down the stores on both sides, and the scale has tripled. After renovation, it was renamed Zhou Ji Department Store. The goods in it are more than ten times more than the original, from a few pennies to a few pennies of needles and threads, to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver jewelry, all of which are all-encompassing.

A few days ago, a notice for the sale of glass products was posted in front of the store. In the Ming Dynasty, glass was not a new thing, and in the eyes of everyone, there was no difference between glass and glass, or no distinction at all. There are many kinds of medicinal jade, glass, jar jade, glass gourd, etc., but these things are translucent or opaque, and there is no transparency of the glass made by the He family's workshop at all. But no matter what the material, transparent or not, the price is expensive. Among them, the most valuable glazed products are the glazed glass produced in Yanshen Town, Qingzhou (now Boshan, Shandong), which has a special name called "Green Curtain", which can only be used in the imperial palace, altar and temple. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, its main pigment Huiqing had become extinct, and the production of Yanshen blue curtain was almost stagnant.

So this notice didn't cause a stir, people just took it as a kind of luxury goods pre-sale notice.

I heard that Hejia Village is going to build a town about the size of Juzhou City, and the land in the city will be auctioned fairly. Jia Min, a businessman from all over the world, perceives that in the near future, Hejia Village will become a commercial center. In that case, the price of land in the city will inevitably skyrocket. Before the construction is completed, if you buy a piece of land you like, you will definitely make a lot of money in the future. Therefore, merchants from inside and outside the province have come to participate in the auction.

August 28 was the day before the land auction. In the open space in front of Zhouji Department Store, a high platform was erected, and a banner was pulled above the high platform that read "Hejiacun Glassware Exhibition". There were several shelves on the high platform, and the shelves were full of goods for sale, but they were all covered with red cloth. The onlookers in the audience speculated about what kind of valuable glass items were on the shelves.

There are more and more audiences in the audience, and the hour is three quarters. A few guys walked to the stage and put a guzheng in place, a beautiful woman walked to the front of the stage, and the audience suddenly quieted down. The girl sat in front of the guzheng and stroked the strings, and the sound of the piano was pleasant. There was a commotion in the audience, and the Guzheng Juzhou of the Youlan girl was a must, not something that could be heard casually. Now that there is such a good opportunity to listen to the girl play the piano, the young men in the audience are naturally very excited.

Then the song "Mountains and Flowing Water" flowed out like a ring bell under the fingers of Youlan girl. The sound of the piano is crisp and clear, simple and elegant, as clear and bright as the gurgling water under the bridge. Look at the Youlan girl who strokes the qin, she plays it calmly and elegantly, and a fresh note pours out from her fingertips, cool, through time and space, and the audience's comfortable expression unconsciously reveals with the sound of the zheng.

After playing a song, the audience shouted: "Miss Youlan, play another song!" ”

Youlan didn't speak, stood up, said 10,000 blessings to the audience, and then slowly retreated from the stage.

Immediately after, another woman walked up to the stage. I saw that this woman was twenty-eight years old, about five feet five inches tall, and had a well-proportioned figure. Goose-egg face shape, fair skin, willow eyebrows, double eyelids, high nose bridge, red lips, slightly powdered cheeks, and no trace of the dust of a Youlan girl on her face. Hun has the demeanor of a noble and elegant rich lady.

There was another commotion in the audience, and people discussed: "Good Miss Peugeot, whose daughter is this?" ”

The woman stood still in front of the stage, without any panic and twisting on her face, and said generously, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Zhou Fuliu of Zhou Ji." ”

There was an uproar in the audience.

This exhibition was planned by her, and she took the initiative to preside over the exhibition. In the past, she was behind the scenes, and the things that came forward were her father Zhou Xuhai or He Zhiyuan. She felt that she would have to give full play to what she had learned in her previous life in the future, who said that women are inferior to men? She wants to be an example for the women of this era. So I persuaded my father to win the hosting and planning of this exhibition.

She then said: "Just now, the song "Mountains and Flowing Water" by Youlan Girl, the sound of the piano is melodious, crisp and ethereal, this music is beautiful, and the people are also beautiful. And the glass products we are exhibiting today are crystal clear, brilliant and precious, and fully worthy of this song. ”

After speaking, the men standing on both sides of the shelves lifted the covers, revealing all kinds of glass tea sets, teacups, and various gods on the shelves. In the sunlight, it sparkles and is crystal clear.

Such a transparent glass surprised everyone in the audience, the previous glass was semi-transparent or opaque, only natural crystal will have such an effect. If you use crystal to make such a set of tea sets, it will cost tens of thousands of taels of silver at least, and it is difficult to find such a large piece of flawless crystal.

At this time, Youlan held a set of tea sets, walked from behind the stage, and showed everyone in front of the stage, and the people under the stage rushed forward, I really don't know if they want to see Youlan or the tea set, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that the shock of this tea set is enough.

Zhou Fuliu introduced: "There are a total of five sets of tea sets in the hands of Miss Youlan, each of which is formed by experienced craftsmen after several processes and several days of polishing. ”

At this time, a man in the audience who was anxious shouted: "Miss Zhou, just tell me how much silver this tea set is." ”

"This set of tea sets costs five hundred taels each, and the highest bidder is first served." Zhou Fuliu replied.

Those ordinary people were shocked when they heard this price. Today, however, there are many wealthy businessmen and wealthy families in other places, but they feel that they are far below their psychological expectations. As soon as Zhou Fuliu's words fell, a young man in the audience said, "I want this tea set." ”

"Wait, I'll give you five hundred and fifty taels." A rich middle-aged man shouted.

"I'll give you five hundred and sixty taels." The young man immediately added ten taels, and at the same time glanced at the rich middle-aged man.

"Six hundred taels!" Wealthy middle-aged men are obviously wealthy.

The young man gritted his teeth and said, "Six hundred and fifty taels." ”

"Eight hundred taels!" The rich middle-aged man directly increased to eight hundred taels, and the young man had no choice but to give up.

After a while, five sets of tea sets were sold one after another, and the price was higher and higher, and the last set was sold at a sky-high price of 2,000 taels.

He Zhiyuan, who was standing in the background, was excited, but he didn't expect that only five sets of tea sets would recover the cost of the glass workshop, and the rest would be profits.