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Yang Chao's exchange, all stone structures, in the West this is a castle in the pure sense.

The first floor is ten zhang high, and the structure is three parallel arches, like three stone arch bridges together, and there is a slightly curved flying buttress wall outside the outermost load-bearing wall.

The second floor is six zhang high, but there is only one arch, the load-bearing wall falls on the load-bearing wall of the middle arch of the first floor, and the flying buttress wall is on the load-bearing wall on both sides.

The third floor is three zhang high, and the wall itself shrinks inward, which is used to support and resolve the outward thrust of the arch.

The fourth floor is one zhang high, and it is a huge window with open windows on all sides, which makes the appearance look like a pier with four pillars and a dome, and at night it is lit with arm-thick rafter candles, which can be seen from a distance, this is a lighthouse!

Four floors, a total of twenty zhang high, in the entire Nanjing City can be regarded as a giant, if it weren't for Yang Chao's power, the craftsman really wouldn't dare to build such a tall building, because it is higher than the palace, and he will rush!

Although it is a physical building, it is basically designed according to Western architecture, but it is all Chinese technology, which can be regarded as the promotion of stone arch bridge construction technology in housing construction.

And judging from the appearance, there is no hint of Western-style flavor at all.

Since the second and third floors have only one arch, the whole building is actually shrinking from bottom to top.

The two lines on the first floor originally descended to the ground with an arc, and the flying buttresses connected to the hard foundation of the ground could not be seen at all.

Because Yang Chao asked the mason to lay a layer of glazed tiles on it, and the outermost part also used bricks to build a one-foot bucket arch small cornice, so from the outside, it is completely Chinese-style palace building.

When Nassau, Jones and a few other Dutchmen saw the exchange, they couldn't help but grow their mouths.

They were definitely not impressed by the artistic charm of Yang Chao's building, they were on the outer wall under the glazed tiles. A layer of shiny pure white porcelain is bright and blinding.

Porcelain is more popular in the West than the Chinese imagine, and many kings are porcelain enthusiasts.

Louis XIV, who was about to step on the throne of France, was one of them. Louis XIV built a porcelain tower when he came of age.

Unfortunately, the porcelain tiles he pasted on the walls of the tower were counterfeit Dutch porcelain, but in fact they were glazed pottery. This low-temperature glaze simply did not stand the test of time, and it did not take long for it to fade, and then Louis XIV dismantled it and rebuilt another one.

Another enthusiast was Augustus II, Marquis of Saxony and King of Poland, who exchanged more than a hundred fine pieces of porcelain with Prussia with six hundred heavily armed Saxon Guardsmen.

It can be said that porcelain is an item with a jewel-like lustre, but also practical and artistic. Many Westerners were fascinated, and at first Western aristocrats thought that porcelain was made of a kind of gemstone, but now they know that it is burned by the Chinese, but unfortunately they themselves just can't burn it.

Now, the porcelain pieces that Yang Chao pasted on the wall outside the exchange are not only the most exquisite white porcelain, but also the official kiln porcelain that is very difficult for Westerners to obtain, from the hands of the most brilliant potters in Jingdezhen, without any flaws, and the Duke of Nassau is quite cautious. Jones pounced on it, trying to pluck out a piece with his hands.

But he was destined to work in vain, and these porcelain tiles were pasted with glutinous rice, clay, lime and brown sugar as a binder. The Ming Dynasty built the city wall and laid bricks in this way, and it could not be pulled out after 500 years.

Yang Chao used this adhesive to polish the surface of the stone that was flat but not smooth, and the adhesion completely reached the level of high-grade cement in later generations, and these porcelain pieces could not fall unless they were smashed with a hammer.

The use of ceramics to stick to the wall may be ordinary in later generations, but in this era, even in the Ming Dynasty. It can be regarded as a kind of local tyrant behavior, and more than 100,000 pieces of porcelain are used on the outer wall alone. Coupled with the waste caused by the fact that the potters had not fired such things, the porcelain pieces on the outer wall alone were worth 100,000 taels of silver.

Invite Nassau into the heavy red lacquered door. As soon as I entered, Nassau almost didn't dare to take a step, if the porcelain tiles on the wall were acceptable, and the bottom plate under his feet was paved with tiles, which made Nassau a little angry, this is too tyrant, looking at the black and gold tortoiseshell tiles on the bottom plate, Nassau just couldn't take a step.

"Oh God, what did you show me, I'm not dreaming!"

Jones opened his mouth wide, his eyes filled with tears, and he saw the golden arc.

Where is plastered with golden porcelain tiles.

Nassau couldn't help but look at it, he couldn't bear to step on his feet, and the top of his head dazzled him, and he almost fell to the ground with one foot in the air.

In fact, there is nothing in the golden porcelain of the dome, which is Yang Chao's least favorite place, because those porcelain are not pure high-temperature porcelain enamel, if you wipe it often, it will fade, and a Qianlong golden vase in later generations fell into the hands of a small maid in Europe, and the maid wiped it every day because of her diligence, and the golden glaze fell off, and in the end it was not sold for a price.

Yang Chao's favorite is that on the walls on both sides, the blue and white porcelain that leads straight to the golden roof, is this the real representative of Chinese porcelain, the maids who are depicted one by one, their faces are vivid, as if they are alive, they are playing in the bamboo forest, the are yarn next to the stream, there are old men morning glory and wine, the scribes wearing Confucian clothes are holding folding fans to point to the country, and a branch of red apricot sticks out of the white wall with red flowers in full bloom.

In the whole central hall, there are one hundred and eight characters alone, and the scenery has more than 30 places such as bamboo forests, old trees, streams, mountains and rivers, courtyards, small bridges, etc., people walk in the main hall, as if walking in a Chinese landscape painting, and are deeply influenced by the scene.

However, the price is extremely expensive, the blue and white porcelain in the inner hall is worth more than one million taels of silver, if it weren't for Yang Chao's war wealth, he would really be reluctant to throw out so much money.

But the effect was extremely successful, and although Jones and a few other clerks were fond of the golden glaze on the vault, the aristocracy of Nassau was already fascinated by the landscape paintings outlined in blue and white porcelain, and walked past a figure with a serious and somewhat intoxicated expression, stopping from time to time to look at the figures in silence, as if in a spiritual communication with them.

Yang Chao's heart has blossomed, just to let the Dutch see the real ceramic art, let them know that collecting a pair of plum vases is a tasteless thing, not worth showing off at all, and pasting their own houses with exquisite porcelain tiles is the real aristocratic style.

One thought of contractors for Westerners. The palace was covered with expensive porcelain tiles produced in Jingdezhen, and Yang Chao felt that he had made a great contribution to the development of Western art.

"Breathtaking, simply amazing. It's a work of art, it's a palace. This is a palace where only angels can live in, a temple that can only be found in heaven! ”

Nassau muttered to himself, he has been completely baptized by the art of blue and white, that is, he is a nobleman who has studied Chinese porcelain, can feel the charm of porcelain art, and can truly grasp the charm of Jingdezhen's official kiln masters, like Jones. I can't understand it at all, they are really those nouveau riche who make a porcelain vase and put it at home and think they have an aristocratic demeanor.

"Dear Earl Zhongyi, is this your castle?"

Nassau finally came to his senses from his art and asked in a tone of great reverence.

Yang Chao shook his head very casually: "No, no, no, this is our Nanjing exchange." ”

"Oh, no! How can such a wonderful artistic paradise allow those nouveau riche who only know how to make money to come in. ”

As a true aristocrat, although he worked for the East India Company, Nassau himself did not despise the merchant class, but he was very disdainful of the level of appreciation of the merchants. The thought of the merchants waving their bills and trampling on the porcelain floor with their dirty feet in this palace made Nassau feel like he was stepping on his heart. Thinking that the group of guys was probably excited for a while, they spit out here casually, and Nassau wanted to beg Yang Chao not to make this place an exchange.

"In fact, it's not completely built yet, and the second and third floors haven't been renovated yet. Benjue is considering whether to carry out the same decoration, if they are all pasted with porcelain, it feels a little monotonous, Benjue is wondering if to paste other materials. Like a tapestry! ”

Nassau's heart skipped a beat: "It's better not to decorate like this, it's too exciting." If you must turn this place into an exchange. I suggest you put it on other floors, as for the first floor. You can think of it as your own palace. I assure you, such a palace. It must be the palace that all the monarchs of the world dream of, and they want to have when they break their heads. ”

Yang Chao pretended to be puzzled and said: "Why do you want to break your head, if the kings and nobles of the West like it, Benjue can allow them to purchase our official kiln boutique of the Ming Dynasty." However, it can only be nobles and kings, you should know that the official kiln porcelain of my Ming Dynasty is not allowed to be used by civilians. Even nobles and officials, if they were not rewarded by the emperor, were not eligible to enjoy them. ”

"Official kiln!"

It is a shame to say that the Nassau family, as the first-class family in the Netherlands, does not have a single porcelain belonging to the official kiln.

There are few fine Ming official kilns in the whole West, and there is an occasional one, which will definitely be collected by the most powerful monarch in the deep palace, which is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to see, and it is this kind of official kiln, and it has to be in quotation marks, because she may not be real, it may be counterfeit.

But Nassau definitely understands the word official kiln, as a Dutchman, as a person with a deep connection with the East India Company, a shareholder-level figure, his understanding of Chinese porcelain is difficult to surpass in the whole of Europe, but even he has never seen an official kiln.

"Do you mean that the porcelain tiles here are all produced by official kilns?"

Yang Chao shrugged his shoulders and said very arrogantly: "This lord's family background is known to the Duke of Nassau, and the daughter of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the wife of the contemptible person. Therefore, I am actually a member of the royal family, so I am qualified to use the official kiln! ”

Nassau nodded in agreement.

exclaimed: "With your identity, building such a porcelain palace is completely in line with your identity!" ”

"Porcelain Palace?"

Jones shouted from the sidelines, "No, no, no! This is not the Porcelain Palace, this is the Gold and Silver Palace! ”

That's right, in Jones's eyes, what he saw was gold and silver, and it happened that the outer wall was white porcelain, and there was gold porcelain in the hall, what Yang Chao didn't expect was that after Nassau and Jones spread in the West, Yang Chao's fortress really had the title of Porcelain Palace and Gold and Silver Palace.

However, different names apply to different people, the aristocratic class uses the porcelain palace to describe it, and the merchants and commoners prefer to call the gold and silver palace, obviously the merchants and commoners account for the majority of the number, so the name of the gold and silver palace is more widely spread, and finally it has become a special noun, included in the major Western dictionaries. (To be continued)