On the sixth day of the first month of the second year of Jianlong, the extremely pure, beyond the flawless, extraordinary glass products were finally born, and Zhao Dezhao gave it a new name - glass.

"Your Highness, it's out - it's even better than we expected!"

Zhao Dezhao nodded.

After a long period of research and experimentation, glass was finally able to achieve Zhao Dezhao's expected goal.

The next step is to make related glass-derived products, such as glasses, glass plates, glass windows, lenses, etc.

For example, the molding must be carried out within a certain temperature range, the temperature should not be too high or too low, and then it will be cooled, which is a process of transforming molten glass into a solid product with a fixed shape.

At the same time as making the utensils containing the objects, Zhao Dezhao asked the craftsmen who were the supervisors to use a nickel-chromium blowpipe to pick a ball of plasticine-like dough and blow it in the mold, which was mainly used to shape glass bubbles, bottles, balls, and lenses.

Zhao Dezhao was worried on the side, and when he saw that the craftsmen were operating incorrectly, he commanded.

"Li Si, the temperature of this cooling is too low, take it back to the furnace and preheat it a little!"

"Wang Wu, you must blow it well before the glass cools, otherwise you will have to take it back to the furnace!"

"Sun Liu....... you lighten!"

Zhao Qi...... Help! ”

"And you, whatever your name, go and ...... too"

After the craftsman Li Si blew into a small bubble, Wang Wu held a top plate on the side and stuck it, and the two of them pulled while blowing. Sun Liu and Zhao Qi picked a ball of glass, cut it with scissors to make it fall into the die, and then pressed it with a punch. It is mainly used to form cups, plates, etc. Other craftsmen also have a clear division of labor and work together.

When the first pure glass products appeared, some craftsmen could not suppress the joy in their hearts and cried out loudly, and some craftsmen secretly wiped their tears on the side, almost never seen such a beautiful work of art in their lives. Of course, the glass is still ugly and extremely rough.

After a long time, some glassware appeared on the shelves, including glasses, glass plates, glass windows, and lenses. The craftsmen looked at the handicrafts on these shelves and felt very pleased.

A batch of glass products has been successfully made, Zhao Dezhao immediately asked the prison officials to send a batch of good-looking glass products into the palace, and about the optical glass on the telescope, he asked the craftsman in charge of polishing the lenses to make some, and then polish them according to the drawings, and then assemble them.

When these exquisite works of art were displayed in front of Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Kuangyin also exclaimed, this object was as clear and white as water.

"This thing is so beautiful, Zhao'er, I've never seen such a beautiful object!"

Zhao Kuangyin said and picked up a glass, then looked up and down, touched east and west, and sighed again, and a layer of mist rose on the glass. Then he flicked it with his fingertips, and the surface of the glass made a crisp sound.

"Well, yes, listen to its crisp sound, see its shape pure and thorough, and feel extremely smooth. It's really good, did Zhao'er think of a name? ”

"In order to distinguish it from the glass, the child thinks the name glass is good!"

"Glass too!" Zhao Kuangyin couldn't put it down, stroking the cup.

"Daddy, this thing can be used as a daily necessities, but Daddy, the child plans to sell some in small quantities, so that there are a small number of such items on the market, if there are more of them on the market, the value is not high. And the scarcity is expensive, selling a small number of glasses, those who rush to the eunuchs, the children of wealthy merchants, and literati and elegant guests, will pay silver to buy. In addition, these can also be shipped to other countries for sale, so as to increase some income for my Song Dynasty, and soon after the queen mother's birthday banquet, the birthday banquet on the child intends to use this thing to serve meals, of course, only the royal family, Zaizhi can enjoy this thing, and then reward some to Zaizhi them, presumably other officials will see this beautiful and glorious immortal product, and they will also ......."

Zhao Dezhao did not say anything about it next, but Zhao Kuangyin knew Zhao Dezhao's talent for managing business, and if he operated according to what Zhao Dezhao said, this matter would make a big difference.

"Oh! Zhao'er can do this, presumably this move can increase a lot of revenue for the treasury of my Great Song Dynasty. ”

"By the way, Daddy, there are still some productions that have not yet been transported to the palace, because they have not yet been made, but please wait patiently. In addition, the ordnance fire monitor is still under development, and I believe there will be surprises soon! ”

"Zhao'er, you have a lot of credit this time, but Daddy really can't think of anything to reward you, now you are my Great Song Dynasty King Liang, concurrently serving as the Privy Council and the Weapons Supervisor, some ministers think that I favor my relatives, this time you don't blame Daddy."

"How can you blame Daddy, Zhao'er is now a dignified Prince of Song, and he still has private property in his name, the child does not worry about food and clothing, and there is no shortage of anything. What's more, what the child does is considered by my Great Song Dynasty, now the country has not yet been unified, the people are living in difficulty, and they have to deal with the frontier military, and a series of things have to cost money, this time even if my father rewards me, Zhao'er will not be punished! ”

"It's good that Zhao'er can understand Daddy's hard work, this Great Song Jiangshan will be yours sooner or later, and Daddy is just paving the way for you! This time, the craftsman who will be the supervisor has a lot of credit, so that the treasury will take out some silver taels to support the affairs of the prisoner, and reward each person with ten taels of silver, a glass, and a day off. ”

"Thank you, Daddy, for the craftsman."

"Someone—put these in the treasury."

After Zhao Dezhao said goodbye to Zhao Kuangyin, he returned to the prison and brought the holy decree. When the craftsmen heard of the emperor's reward, they all knelt down and thanked them, and then excitedly took their glasses.

Zhao Dezhao saw it in his eyes, and he was also afraid that the craftsmen would suffer, so he told those craftsmen: "These glasses are expensive, don't sell them at a low price!" Unless those eunuchs, scholars, and scholars want to buy at a high price, you will suffer! ”

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness King Liang, you are our great benefactor, we will definitely follow His Royal Highness's orders, even if our mother-in-law asks us to sell, we will not sell."

“……”

After thanking the craftsman, he went home with the glass.

Zhao Dezhao walked and laughed, today completed the production of glass, the day after tomorrow has to let the craftsmen try to make glass panels, optical lenses and other high-tech, extremely difficult work, and large glass panels are also Zhao Dezhao needs, he plans to build a greenhouse, in the greenhouse to cultivate vegetables and fruits, for the cold winter to add some fresh food.

Zhao Dezhao unconsciously walked to the gate of the palace, at this time Zhao Guangmei retreated from the palace gate, now Zhao Guangmei is fifteen years old, young man's character, like to wear white clothes, love to pretend to be cool, more than two months ago by the Jiazhou defense envoy, and because of the palace system, so he moved out of the interior, not far from Kaifeng Zhao Mansion chose a place of origin, as Zhao Guangmei's mansion.

As soon as Zhao Guangmei saw Zhao Dezhao, she pounced and said eagerly: "Zhao'er, as soon as I entered the palace, I didn't see your figure, I heard the second brother say that you are going to be a prisoner, and after visiting my father, second brother and sister-in-law, I hurried to find you." ”

"Little uncle, I just came out of the prison and was about to enter the palace. You don't want to leave the palace tonight, stay in the palace. ”

"I'm afraid this is inappropriate, tomorrow when the imperial history knows about it, he will have to refer to me."

"It's okay, it's grandma's birthday in a few days, this is filial piety, you simply stay in the palace these days, and I'll let the little nobleman go to your house to announce it later."

"Okay, okay, anyway, it's all up to Zhao'er, Zhao'er told me to go east, I won't go west! That's right, His Royal Highness King Liang! ”

Zhao Dezhao said angrily: "Little uncle, you are making fun of me again!" What King Liang is not King Liang, I am your nephew! ”

That night, Zhao Dezhao was in the study to draw the mechanical tools for making glass, as well as the steel frame structure of the greenhouse and the renderings of the flat glass, as well as many strange objects, while Zhao Guangmei stared at them, not knowing what they were.

Then Zhao Dezhao smiled mysteriously, "I'll take you to the prison in two days." ”

――――――――

Two days later, Zhao Guangmei accompanied Zhao Dezhao to the general prison, and the craftsman took the figure drawn by Zhao Dezhao and instructed the blacksmith to build a large tool, and this tool was to produce thick flat glass, carved glass, and wire glass. However, this project will take more time, so it will not be seen for the time being.

It will be used as a boiler room to produce large-diameter glass tubes, utensils and large-capacity reaction pots by centrifugal casting method, and then people will step on the runner by hand to inject the glass melt into the mold that rotates at high speed, and the glass is pressed against the mold wall due to centrifugal force, and the rotation continues until the glass hardens.

The craftsmen work bare-chested and bare-backed, whirring as a pot of liquid objects comes out of the oven, which is then poured, drawn, and cut...... The work in the hands of each craftsman is very different, and Zhao Guangmei is also dumbfounded.

After that, Zhao Dezhao took Zhao Guangmei to the warehouse of the prisoner, where a large number of glass products were visited, Zhao Guangyi said: "Wow - I saw a crystal cup at the second brother a few days ago, I didn't expect to see so many today, and there are other utensils such as plates, which is really eye-opening!" ”

"Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and you will see even more incredible things in the future!"

"Oh!?"

Different production methods are required to make different glass products, and in order to make high-quality flat glass, Zhao Dezhao suggested that the glass liquid float on the surface of the molten metal (tin), and then try to see if it can form flat glass.

There is another thing today, Zhao Dezhao came to instruct craftsmen to sharpen the convex lenses, and then make them into simple telescopes. Zhao Dezhao saw that the various departments were operating in a tense and orderly manner, and felt that his crossing was not in vain, and the dream of the unification of the Great Song Dynasty that he longed for was also in progress.

Time flies quickly, and in a blink of an eye, it is the second year of Jianlong. The first day of the first month is the birthday of Emperor Zhao Kuangyin's biological mother, Empress Dowager Du, and the birthday banquet of Empress Dowager Zhang Luo began in the court. Wine and food are all cooked by the chef of Guangwei Group, such as Dao Yiniu, Song Zhiwei, Wei Qingniang, etc., and several cooks such as Guangwei Group are contracted and arranged this time, so the dishes and other things are in line with the tastes of many people, and they are extravagant, but after all, it is the birthday of the Queen Mother, so the emperor has also done his filial piety, and the imperial history and others are not good to participate in a book.

And the ministers also entered the palace to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother.

In the evening, the ministers were already seated one after another. In the Jiying Palace, above the night banquet, the tables of the ministers and the children of the royal family were placed on glass plates for dishes, and the wine jugs were also made of glass, which really took Zhao Dezhao a lot of thought, and after seeing this thing, the ministers were amazed by this vessel, and their own wine containers, luminous cups, agate cups and other things were reduced to mortal things.

And then the emperor, the queen mother, the emperor, the king of Liang and the children of the royal family all came to the banquet, today the queen mother is respected, so the queen mother sits on the throne, the emperor is second......

"I wish the Queen Mother a long life!"

"The old body is very happy today, and it is really a blessing for you to be able to attend!"

"Empress Dowager Xie!"

"Today's glass of wine children wish Niangniang a happy birthday, I wish Niangniang good health!" Zhao Kuangyin congratulated. Then the ministers raised their glasses and drank them all.

Next is the singing and dancing performance, the monarch and the ministers feast and drink, so lively. At the end of the feast, the emperor gave each of them a glass of wine, and then he gave them a set of dishes.

……

After that, there were only a number of rare glasses, cups, saucers and other items on the market in Kaifeng, and Zhao Dezhao secretly boasted that they were transported from the extreme west, so those who loved glass products and the people of the eunuchs and merchants all paid a high price to buy this thing, and many people sighed secretly because they didn't buy it.