The news came a little suddenly, but Wang Xingping felt that it was probably just a coincidence.

If you think about it, although he hasn't really seen it, he has already heard the rumors about the mercury mirror imported by Taixi. As for the production of glass mirrors, before this incident, he had also seen the ancient restoration of glass silver mirror manufacturing methods in Labuan, after all, the crossing team did not want to show their technology tree too quickly, and gradual improvement was a policy that had been set a long time ago.

Wang Xingping, who was very interested in these technologies at that time, happened to have watched them, and there were even a lot of videos in the database on the intranet of the Labuan base, which made him remember it deeply. At that time, because I didn't know the era that might be crossed, the overall assessment of the industrial mouth was that although glass products would have a good market, they would not be sold at sky-high prices in any era, after all, although the crystal clear utensils were beautiful, the practicality was not much higher than that of the general cups and saucers, and even in the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were alternatives to glass and crystal products, and although the Tang Dynasty glazed cups in the underground palace of Famen Temple were valuable, they were not so unusual.

However, the mirror is different, until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the mercury mirror that can distinguish people in front of them is the absolute hard currency in luxury, and there is continuous demand and strong price support, for this judgment Wang Xingping was already deeply impressed.

It is said that the appearance of the real mercury mirror was still in 1508 at the beginning of the 16th century, even more than 100 years ago, and the glass-rich Venice of Italy produced a pair of brothers named Da Carlo, both of whom were excellent local glassmakers, and it was these two brothers who invented the method of making glass silver mirrors. The specific preparation method is to stick the tin foil on the glass surface, and then pour mercury, the liquid mercury can dissolve the tin in the tin foil very well, and form a thin layer of tin and mercury alloy - tin amalgam on the glass. The alloy adheres tightly to the glass, making it reflective.

Of course, the above accurate information is actually from the memories of Wang Xingping's previous life, at this time, the recipe for making the glass silver mirror was still the top secret in the Venetian glass industry, and those who leaked it would even be sentenced to death. In 1600, when King Louis IV of France married Marie de Medisis as his queen, the king of Venice sent a small glass silver mirror as a congratulatory gift was worth 150,000 francs, which was enough to buy 2,000 good Spanish military horses in the prime of life at that time, and it was common to form an elite cavalry, and if it was replaced by a poor yellow pony, it was not difficult to equip five or six thousand horsemen with horseback infantry, which was the true value of the silver mirror at this time.

It's just that this silver mirror is not durable, and it is difficult to smooth and polish the mirror, and the technical secrecy is strict, so the real commercial production cannot be satisfied. It was only in the nineteenth century that mirrors could be produced in large quantities and cheaply, and it was only after the discovery of the silver mirror reaction that they could make more durable mirrors, and it was not until many years later that electric vacuum technology was invented, and expensive silver and mercury were replaced by cheaper materials such as aluminum.

But just to say that now, although it has been a hundred years since the invention of the mercury mirror, more than ten years have passed since the day when a mirror could replace an army. But because of the technological blockade, the development of the Venetian side should not be right, and it was not until a long time before the monopoly was broken by the French, and the monopoly was broken by the technology stolen from Venice. Therefore, Wang Xingping judged that in Europe at this time, this kind of mirror was still very valuable, at least among the missionaries who came to China were dedicated to the chiming bell and the prism and the map, and he had not heard of the mercury mirror, Wang Xingping thought that maybe he was still a little lonely.

In short, this Bo Ni national tribute envoy who can take out the mercury mirror is not an ordinary person, and he has a trace of expectation in his heart, and he always feels that Ye Xianlian's description is very similar to those former companions, but unfortunately he is not in Guangdong, and he doesn't know how to find out the truth of the matter. He asked himself in his heart, but he was a little suspicious.

However, this little thought in his heart has all turned into a desire for Ye Dajiao, I hope that he and Wang Ge can notice these things and investigate them, I don't know if they can bring any surprises to themselves when they return to Guiyang.

He must have really crossed over, and he was extremely sure of such a real feeling in the past year, and he had long since thought about those partners who had been together for a short time and their rhetoric about the future. But such an opportunity was placed in front of him by mistake, and the Bo Ni Kingdom that came out of nowhere was born in his field of vision, and the fragmentary description of only a few words linked this tributary mission thousands of miles away with the crossing group that had been in a similar place, or it can only be said to be an association, but in any case, Wang Xingping's heart at this moment gave birth to hope, and this hope disrupted the thoughts in his mind.

All the plans, business, imperial examinations, and officials were quickly kneaded together like paste the moment they heard Ye Xianlian's words, and it was difficult to be clear this night.

Of course, there is another plan that has also been recalled again, that is, to make glass lenses, perhaps transparent glass itself is not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty, but the telescope that can see far as near - now called a clairvoyant mirror - is a good thing, even according to the time in Europe, it is only ten years before the earliest telescope prototype came out, and I don't know that the trip to Guangdong also made Ye Yiwei recruit glassmakers in Macau, and even if no one makes glass, the imaging principle of the lens is very simple, It is not impossible to polish the lenses with crystal, as for the silver mirror reaction, it is the content of the middle school textbook, try a few more times Wang Xingping believes that these craftsmen around him still have a good chance of making suitable mirrors, it seems that the glass factory is not impossible to have, he thought so in his heart.

He couldn't remember exactly how to send Ye Xianlian away, but he only knew that he slept very late the next morning, which was a good night's sleep.

Today is still resting, Wang Xingping cleaned up his mood, and took Ye Xianlian, Wang Xiaoliu and Ding's uncle and nephew to the construction site of the city, the city wall is still tamping the foundation, but the moat outside the city has been dug a lot, not simply around the foundation of the city wall, but divided into two or three layers of staggered, only some micro-passages are left between the two moats. Wang Xingping knew just by looking at this terrain that if the ditches were all repaired and then introduced into the Nanming River, then as long as there was a garrison here in the outer city, this moat alone could block many thieves without a city wall.

Although he and Yang Wencong worked together to draw good drawings, they still have to learn a lot in the details of the construction of this city, and I am afraid it is not easier than studying the classics.

When he arrived at Lu Guangmen, he saw that Ma Shiying was already waiting over there, and the one standing next to him was not Yang Wencong.

Seeing Wang Xingping coming, Yang Wencong greeted him first, "Xiaoping is late today." ”

"I had two more drinks with the guys yesterday." Wang Xingping didn't hide it, but asked rhetorically, "I haven't seen you for a few days, why are you free and not at home to study at home?" ”

"You have to learn to go in, these days are about to suffocate my brother, just open up on this construction site."

Ma Shiying also helped, "Ying Long's knowledge should be able to pass next year's township test, and it is good to come out and breathe, so as not to suffocate your brain." ”

Wang Xingping smiled, "Senior brother, it's really better to read thousands of books than to travel thousands of miles." ”

Ma Shiying tasted it alone after hearing Wang Xingping's sentence, and said: "The ancients said that reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles should not be wasted. ”

Wang Xingping was stunned when he heard this, could it be that he didn't say this at this time?

But Yang Wencong was also echoing, "This is really wonderful." ”

"So the senior brother also thinks that he would rather travel thousands of miles?" Wang Xingping looked at Yang Wencong and asked.

Yang Wencong had a bold temperament, and his eyes lit up when he heard this, "Isn't Xiao Pingmo having anything to do?" ”

"It's not necessarily fun, but it's fun."

Yang Wencong listened to it and really entered the alley, "It's good to be interesting, let's talk about it with my brother." ”

"It's better to do than to listen."

"Do ......" Yang Wencong was a little anxious, "but you have to listen to what is going on." ”

"Claircase."

"Oh, Xiaoping, do you know how to do it?"

Yang Wencong now understands Wang Xingping, if he doesn't understand the principle, he will never come out to show off the new and interesting things, and what are the plans.

Wang Xingping was also a little surprised, what he said was not 'What's that?' ’

After all, according to the memory of old textbooks, the earliest telescope should have been made in 1608 by Hans Lippersehai, an eye master in Middelburg, the Netherlands. The telescope is different from the mercury mirror can not be blocked by technology, precisely because it is from the evolution of glasses invented by the Italians in the thirteenth century, and its production principle has been generally known to the world, and the convex and concave lenses are intuitive in shape, as long as a slightly more sophisticated glassmaker can look at it can also make it himself, so the invention time is not long and spread to China, thousands of miles away. And according to Wang Xingping's current view, this earliest clairvoyant mirror may have been invented earlier than the Dutch.

But he was still surprised by Yang Wencong's insight, "Senior brother knows about this? ”

"I once heard my father mention that Waiyi was originally dedicated to the emperor, and my father saw that His Royal Highness had taken it out to play with when he was speaking in the Fu Mansion."

Although Zhu Changxun is the third son of Wanli, the second prince Zhu Changxun died early, so the people still call King Fu the second highness.

"What do you think of it?" Wang Xingping knew that Yang Wencong understood this thing, so he asked about his feelings.

Yang Wencong said: "I just heard my father say it, and I haven't really seen the real thing, but I heard that I can indeed see far as near, but the word 'thousands of miles' is a bit exaggerated." ”

Yang Wencong can face the new things he sees with a rational attitude at any time, which makes Wang Xingping like it more, it is true that even the best clairvoyance at this time is only thirty times the magnification, and it is indeed impossible to see thousands of miles from afar, and Ma Shiying quickly participated in the discussion between the two.

In fact, some ideas are just a little inspiration after Wang Xingping woke up this morning, Sichuan and Wusi have a lot of places where crystals are produced, and Yunnan and Guizhou have many good jade carving craftsmen, if you can make a good integration of the two, even if you can't make a clairvoyant, it is good to be able to make a glasses workshop, although the principle of convex lens and concave lens makes sense, but at least Wang Xingping still knows that in the hundreds of years before the intraocular lens completely replaced glasses, a series of work required to match a pair of glasses is not easy, and he just knows, which is also a great advantage. Invention and creation are sometimes like this, skilled craftsmen do not lack skills, they need at least one correct direction, and Wang Xingping feels that he only needs to do a good job of strategizing and directing enough.

Ma and Yang listened to Wang Xingping's simple explanation of the principle of lens imaging, and they already had a vague impression in their hearts, and they knew that Wang Xingping was reliable, and now they were half curious and half serious about building a glasses workshop, Wang Xingping didn't expect things to be like this, and an idea in less than half a day was about to become a reality.

But after thinking about it, although the discussion of this matter went smoothly, but there was not even a charter for the joint stock operation, after all, it was just a matter of talking about it first, and it would have to wait until Ye and Wang came back from Guangdong, and then the scale of Poly Bank could also have a serious appearance of an arsenal, and the project in the outer city could also be completed, so that he could free up his energy to do other things.

Thinking about building a city, he looked north again, the champion of the Tusi and the Hao clan crossed the merchant's shop and stretched north outside the Lu Guang Gate, and a moat had been separated between the two places, and his small suggestion was approved by the feudal officials, and it began to become a reality so quickly, imagining the day when the six-hundred-zhang city wall was erected, he also felt nostalgic in the south.

"It's better to be an official......"