The day after Xia Hongsheng sent off the three brothers and sisters of the Li family, he took Qi Yong and galloped back to Jingyang early in the morning, and he didn't even go back to his home, so he ran to the kiln. Now the weather is still cold, there are still many people who make honeycomb coal on the kiln, Xia Hongsheng called a dozen people, ready to let them dig river sand, this is a very slow process, after the river sand is dug out, it has to be filtered, and the total things and coarse gravel in it have to be screened out, and they have to be dried, which takes a long time.

"Childe......" Qi Yong shouted to Xia Hongsheng, Xia Hongsheng looked back, and saw Qi Yong hesitate, but still said: "Childe, if you dig sand in the river now, you will freeze to death!" ”

Xia Hongsheng was stunned, he only wanted to make the glass quickly, but he forgot that it was still cold now, and there was no machine, everything could only rely on manpower, whether it was intercepting the stream or going down to dig sand, it had to rely on people, this day was cold, didn't it freeze to death!

"That's right, I just wanted to use it quickly, but I forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder! Xia Hongsheng thanked Qi Yong, and then let those people disperse and called the kiln head over.

The kiln head came to meet Xia Hongsheng, after the kiln was built, he invited an old kiln head to come, it is said that he used to be the master of which big kiln, and he wanted to return to the roots when he was old, so he left his apprentices and grandchildren there, and returned to Jingyang. Thinking that the kiln of the Xia family is in Jingyang, and it is an honor to be able to be regarded as a lord of the court, it is an honor, so he accepted Xia Hongsheng's invitation and came to the kiln of the Xia family. Who knows that after arriving at the kiln, he has never burned the kiln, has not revealed his ability, like a leisurely meal, the old kiln head is very melancholy. This is also to blame Xia Hongsheng, who thought that he would use it sooner or later, so he took advantage of the people who built the workshop and let them dig the kiln. One of the people digging the kiln introduced a relative of his own, saying that it was an experienced old kiln head, Xia Hongsheng was thinking about this kind of kiln at that time, and experience was the most important. An experienced kiln head can bring great benefits, so take precautions and take people over first. lest they be snatched away by others. But who knew that after coming over, there was no movement on the kiln, and there was no place for the old kiln.

Seeing the old kiln head coming, Xia Hongsheng waved his hand to signal him not to be polite, and then asked, "Master Qian." You have burned a kiln all your life and have a lot of experience. I urgently need to burn something out right now, and I need a lot of river sand. You see that it is cold like this, and you can't go down to the river to dig sand, do you have any way? ”

The old kiln head looked at this posture, and this lord finally remembered that there was such a kiln, this is to burn things! As soon as he thought that he had finally come in handy, the old kiln head was excited, and hurriedly replied: "If you go back to Gongzi, the kiln will be burned on the kiln." Sand must be used, and sand must be necessary for ordinary kilns. Our kiln has not burned anything since it was built, so we have not prepared these things. If the son is in a hurry, let Mr. Xu follow the old man to walk around, and buy some river sand from the kiln next to him. ”

Xia Hongsheng nodded, the raw materials can be obtained, and the next step is the most important part of the process of making glass. If this link is not solved, according to the current technology, it is impossible to make glass. The silica in the sand melts at high temperatures after forming molten glass. In order to make various shapes, it is necessary to blow the molten glass. If you can't find someone who can blow, you can only use it for nothing.

In later generations, I have seen documentaries about artificially blown glass, and I know the process and practice very well. But that's on paper, and it's not true. It's a craft that you can't just learn by watching documentaries.

In fact, glass products existed in China as early as the Han Dynasty, but later the Han Dynasty pacified the Xiongnu and strengthened exchanges with the Western Regions. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, due to frequent regime changes, long-term feudal secession and continuous wars, the development of Chinese culture during this period was particularly seriously affected, and the Persian, Greek and other Central Asian and European cultures also had the first large-scale invasion of China during this period. With the introduction of these foreign cultures, a large number of Western glassware was imported into China, this kind of glass is more transparent and smooth, can be made large and thin, the key is that the hardness is much higher than the glass made by the local process, so the local glass was replaced.

Later, in the Song Dynasty, there was a man named Cheng Dachang who wrote a book "Yan Fanlu", which mentioned - "However, what China casts is different from the Western Regions, and the cast China is very bright in color and light and brittle in quality. As for its origin in the sea, the difference is blunt, and the color is also slightly dark, and it can be different, although it is poured into a hundred boiling soups, it is no different from magnetic silver, and it is not damaged, and it is a famous glaze.

It shows that the local glass is bright in color, but it is extremely fragile, "wo with hot wine, broken with your hands", pour a glass of hot wine will be broken, and you can hold it with a hand, this strength can not be practical at all, and Western glass, although it is poured into a hundred boiling soups, it is no different from magnetic silver, and it is not damaged", so the local glass is eliminated.

Xia Hongsheng watched this documentary, which said that this situation is most likely due to the lack of a necessary process in local glass, that is, "annealing".

During the forming process of glass, there is always a certain temperature difference between the inner and outer layers. This temperature difference creates a corresponding stress in the glass. Due to the existence of local, uneven stress, the strength of the product is weakened. The purpose of annealing is to reduce the stress in the product to a tolerable degree, which can greatly improve the strength of the glass.

This is the reason why Xia Hongsheng is confident that he can make a lot of money by making glass, and even dump it in the West.

The cost of obtaining river sand is very low, much lower than the cost of obtaining raw materials in the West. Combined with the bright color of local glass and the texture of Western glass, but the price is low, it will inevitably be able to replace the monopoly position of Western glass, and even reverse dumping through Hu merchants to occupy the Western market!

As an oriental metropolis, Chang'an City is one of the most important places for foreign merchants to dump goods, and there are a large number of Hu merchants in Chang'an City, and there will definitely be craftsmen who know how to blow it.

"Master Qian, then you can take a look at the time yourself, find Mr. Xu to pay some money, and take a few people to buy some dry river sand, I also need to find someone who knows how to blow, this is not easy to find, so you don't have to worry." Xia Hongsheng nodded and said to the old kiln head.

The old kiln head was stunned: "Blowing? Childe wants to burn the glass?! ”

Xia Hongsheng was taken aback: "Master Qian also knows how to blow?!" What, Master Qian, will you?! ”

"No, I'm afraid not many people can do this. It's just that I heard a Hu businessman talk about it before, saying that he blows glass. It's also a fool, the glass must be burned, how can it be blown out? The old kiln shook his head and sighed: "When the old man used to burn the kiln, he had seen something in the kiln that looked like glass, but it was not transparent, and then he tried it twice, and he didn't try to make a name." But I'm sure that the glass must have been burned, but I don't know what it is. ”

Xia Hongsheng was relieved, the old kiln head said that sometimes sand is used when burning things, it must be that after the temperature is high enough, the sand burns out of the glass, but he doesn't know what it is, and he doesn't know what to do, and those sand have impurities, and it doesn't look good. Also, who would have thought that the crystal clear and beautiful glass was just made of those seemingly useless sands.

If you say that you are looking for someone, then you must still trouble those two goods, one of these two people takes the white road, the other walks recklessly, the two of them are together, there is nothing in Chang'an City that they can't find, as long as there is something in Chang'an City. Well, that's what those two said.

But to say that the two of them didn't talk big, Li Ke's identity is noble, and he likes to play, and he has made many friends. Liu Renshi, in the future world, he is a small leader in Chang'an City, let him send his younger brothers to find people, this street and alley, three religions and nine streams, inquire everywhere, there is a lot of news from the people, and you can always inquire about something. Coupled with the fact that those younger brothers under his command are messing around in the market all day long, it is naturally even easier.

Speaking of which, this gang of gentlemen is okay in Jingyang, this New Year's Eve, thinking that Chang'an City will be more lively, so after living in Chang'an City, this gang of gentlemen can come to the door every three or two days, and at first they picked up Xia Hongsheng when he was at home, but later, he didn't care if Xia Hongsheng was at home. Several times Xia Hongsheng went back to the house, and as soon as he entered the house, he saw that the gang of gentlemen was already eating and playing, and they didn't treat themselves as outsiders at all!

These are all a group of noble children, either the prince or the little grandfather, where do the subordinates in the family dare to provoke, let alone refuse, they can only let them send.

Although Xia Hongsheng had a headache, he also felt that it was good to have such a group of friends. Moreover, now that Xia Hongsheng has entered and exited the homes of these gentlemen, he can go in directly without reporting. It's not for everyone.

If there are still people in Chang'an City who Li Ke and Liu Renshi can't find, then it is estimated that others will not be able to find them. If he really couldn't find the two of them, then Xia Hongsheng would have to cheekily go to the palace and try to pull Li Lao Er into this business. The profits in it are so big, I don't believe that Li Lao Er is not red-eyed, and he doesn't hate those Hu businessmen for making Datang's money like this. I heard that Li Laoer's family is also short of money, it is said that the eldest grandson queen has begun to promote thrift in the harem, and dismissed the palace maids, reducing the expenses of the inner government, if he is given a few shares, he must be happy...... No, what's the matter, you have to pull Li Lao Er in, this glass wants to be exported in the future, there are Li Lao Er's shares in it, and the benefits are needless to say.

Thank you that this is the Tang Dynasty, and it is not so imprisoned in the bones after the Ming and Qing dynasties in later generations! Thanks to Li Lao Er for winning the hearts of the people in the world and the farmers and industry and commerce, and the four people at the same time! (To be continued.) )