Liu Yongnian looked at the water cup in his hand, white as porcelain, but light and dexterous, knocking soundly, like copper and iron. After looking at it for a while, he asked Du Zhongxiao, who stopped: "Yun Ju, what is this cup made of?" It looks like porcelain, but it's not. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yanei, this is called enamel. It is made of iron and glazed on the outside, and fired like porcelain. It is as smooth as porcelain, as light as copper and iron, and durable without rust. ”

"Oh-" Liu Yongnian nodded, and said to Deng Baoji beside him: "It turned out to be called enamel." There is an iron embryo inside, no wonder it is so thin and strong. It's just that I don't know where to fire, enamel - I haven't heard of this kiln. ”

Deng Baoji nodded. Although he served as the state governor, he was an internal servant, and when he was in the palace before, he was familiar with Liu Yongnian.

The enamel is made of iron or steel as the embryo body, and the outside is glazed and fired, and the combination of steel products and porcelain absorbs the advantages of both aspects. Historically, it has developed from enamel and has a long history. But the truly practical enamel products are the products of the industrial age, which appeared very late.

At this time, there was already an enamel process, and when Du Zhongxiao saw it by chance, he remembered Tang porcelain products. For decades, a white or green enamel cup, held in the hand to brew strong tea, was the scenery of the times. Some large projects, and even some institutions, will issue customized enamel cups, which are very popular. Not far from Yexian County, there is the famous Ru kiln firing place, and Ruzhou is the center of porcelain at this time. With such good conditions, Du Zhongxiao tried for several months, and finally fired practical enamel products.

With the arrival of spring and the completion of the railway, Du Zhongxiao asked the iron supervisor to burn a batch of cups and basins, on which a few words were written as a souvenir for the people involved in the construction of the road. Liu Yongnian and Deng Baoji, as well as officials from various prefectures, each had an enamel basin, an enamel bowl and an enamel cup.

Compared with porcelain, enamel is lightweight, and it is not afraid of falling, and compared with iron and bronze, it will not rust and has a beautiful appearance. As soon as the thing arrived in their hands, everyone was amazed. At this time, daily necessities are very inconvenient, small pieces can be used porcelain, large ones such as basins, porcelain is too bulky and fragile. For those who have a little money, the basin is made of copper, which is an important asset, and the name is copper basin. Copper pots are extremely expensive and heavy, and where is there such a light and beautiful enamel.

Today is the day when the road is repaired and celebrated, and Yexian is jubilant. Residents from several states gathered outside the city, handed out souvenirs, and a set of farm tools, waiting for the last celebratory meal.

The repaired road stretches for hundreds of miles from Tiejian to Yexian City, then to Xiangcheng in the north, and to Fangcheng in the south. The iron supervisor is not on the main road, and Yexian is the center. This is not only a necessary place for people to travel from the south to the north, but also a center for iron supervision and delivery in the future.

Sun Sanlang played with the enamel cup sent down, and said to Ruan Wu: "Fifth brother, this is good!" For example, porcelain is clean, lightweight, and not afraid of falling, I don't know how to make this kind of good thing! This one cup will sell for a lot of money when you go out! ”

Ruan Wudao: "Be careful, I heard the person who sent it say that although this cup can't be broken, the porcelain outside will rust if it is touched!" ”

Sun Saburo said curiously: "How can it rust?" I've grown so big, I haven't heard that porcelain rusts! ”

"You know what! Inside is an iron embryo, and if the porcelain is touched off, the iron will be exposed, but it will rust. ”

Sun Sanlang couldn't stop looking at the cup in his hand, where could he see the iron embryo, how could he not believe Ruan Wu's words.

At this moment, Uncle Wu took a cup in his hand, held a big bowl, and said to everyone: "Don't make trouble, we will have dinner in a while!" Each of you has a piece of meat, two steamed buns, and some pickles. I'll go to the person who delivers the food over there, and take the basin and let him serve it for you! And take the cups that are handed to you, a glass of wine per person! ”

Seeing the enamel bowl in Uncle Wu's hand, Sun Sanlang and Ruan Wu's eyes lit up and asked, "Sixth Uncle, where did the big bowl come from!" It looks so pretty, let's go get one too! ”

"What to receive! Only those of us in charge have such a big bowl! Everyone has it, but the Iron Supervisor doesn't have that much money! ”

Hearing this, everyone was discouraged. Look at the beautiful big bowl in Uncle Wu's hand, and then look at the clay pot in his hand, they are all envious. It is also made of enamel, and it is an iron embryo inside, and it can't be broken, is it the legendary iron rice bowl?

Uncle Wu Liushu commanded all the way, holding the big bowl in his hand, feeling everyone's gaze, his chest involuntarily stood up.

Not far from the city gate, Du Zhongxiao took everyone to the table and ordered the food to be served. With the opening of the railway, the financial resources will roll in after that, and today's meal is particularly rich. As long as the iron products of the iron prison can be sold, there will be countless amounts of money pouring in, which is very different from before.

This section of the repaired road, to Xiangcheng is actually not as important as to Fangcheng. To the north, there are large roads, and the river network is dense and easy to transport, but to the south is very different. When you arrive at Fangcheng, you can enter the blocked water, go down the river, enter the Han River, and connect to the developed Yangtze River waterway. At this time, the south was not developed, and the demand for iron tools was much greater than that in the north. Along this road, along with ironware, I believe that many people will enter Jinghu and develop there.

Xiangzhou is the iron smelting center of the world, even if the quality of steel is not as good as Baitingjian, in the end, there is a geographical advantage, and the freight is much cheaper. Baitingjian's iron tools were sold to Hedong, Hebei and Kaifeng Prefecture, and the low-end applications were no match for Xiangzhou Iron. And Jingdong Road has Laiwu Jian and Xuzhou Liguo Jian, unless the railway network is rolled out in the future, otherwise these places are not the big market of Baitingjian.

Only by entering the waterway of the Yangtze River, the vast Jinghu, Liangzhejiang and Jiangnan are the places where the Baiting Supervisor can exert his might. Du Zhongxiao planned to wait until the summer when the farming was slack, and then organize manpower to repair south to Tangzhou. Fangcheng is upstream in blocking the water, and there are not many boats, so Tangzhou is reluctant. It took one or two years to repair to Xiangzhou, and when it reached the edge of the Han River, the transportation network was completely formed.

Liu Yongnian brought the wine, slapped the enamel cup in his hand on the table, and said, "I'm impatient to drink in a small cup, so I'll use this big cup today!" I heard that there is good wine in this area, so I have a good drink today! ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the cup and was stunned for a while before saying, "That's it." However, this glass is different from a wine glass, the top and bottom are of average thickness, and the amount of alcohol is poor, so be careful not to get drunk. ”

Liu Yongnian's action reminded Du Zhongxiao of some scenes. In difficult times, the belongings of the servicemen were also very simple, one such enamel cup, one enamel rice bowl, and one kettle. Occasional drinking in the army is like this, and this is how the enamel cup is used, which is particularly feeling.

Enamel products are naturally not afraid of not being sold, but the iron supervisor suffers from the lack of a perfect sales network, and it is not easy to increase the volume. If you can talk about the army, a large number of enamel cups, even including enamel bowls, is a big market. It's just that I don't know if the army will give money.

The industry is underdeveloped, and the products of the iron and steel are simply smelted, and the products of the iron supervision will eventually meet the problem of insufficient supervision of the market. It is necessary to develop industry on its own, not to sell steel ingots and iron ingots, but to sell industrial manufactured products, so that it can really have a future.