On August 14, the General Zhongwu’s Mansion held a chrysanthemum viewing banquet.
At daybreak, a horse-drawn carriage set out from Zhao's residence on Donglin Street, delivering the cakes and pastries made overnight to General Zhongwu's residence.
In the Anqi Courtyard of the Loyal and Brave General's Mansion, Tian An had already gotten up and dressed, ready to attend the chrysanthemum viewing banquet hosted by the Wu family of the General's Mansion.
After cleansing her face, Xiangtao applied a facial mask on her first, and Tian An took this opportunity to take a nap.
In order to rush to make mooncake gift boxes, I have been busy every day these days. Even last night I came back just before curfew. Fortunately, I will finish the work after delivering the last batch today.
After finishing her makeup, Xiang Tao was just about to put on the pearl flower when she heard Zhao Yiming's voice coming from behind, "Wear this today!"
When they turned around, they saw Zhao Yiming holding a lavender lilac bead flower in his hand, which just matched her outfit today.
“When did you buy it?”
Xiangtao took the pearl flower from Zhao Yiming and gave it to Tian An.
Zhao Yiming said as he served the porridge, "I ordered this last time when I asked Uncle Yu to make the mooncake mold. You've been wearing that pearl flower for so long, it's time to replace it."
Tian An still wears the same one Zhao Yiming bought her with his prize money when he passed the imperial examination. She really doesn't care about it. On weekdays, she wears the velvet flower she made herself, and when she needs to go out, she wears the pearl flower Zhao Yiming gave her.
Looking at the exquisitely crafted and beautifully shaped pearl flower in his hand, Tian An said casually, "This pearl flower is really beautiful. What material is it made of? It looks like there is more than one kind of material."
Zhao Yiming glanced at her and said, "It's purple jadeite and amethyst."
Tian An paused, "This must have cost a lot of money! Not to mention it was done by Yu Bo."
The corners of Zhao Yiming's mouth twitched. Yu Bo even helped to make the mooncake molds, so what else couldn't he do?
"I originally wanted to make it for you out of glass, but I remembered you said you preferred natural jade, so I thought of using jadeite.
The jadeite was cut from a raw stone that I exchanged for a set of glass tea sets. The glass is from my own house, so it was essentially free of charge.
Peng Zhang got the amethyst a few days ago, and he traded it for a set of glass tea sets and two glass bottles."
Tian An was surprised, "You can also look at rough stones?"
Zhao Yiming shook his head casually and said, "No! It was the shopkeeper who took a fancy to my glass tea set and insisted on exchanging it with me. I guess he didn't know that purple jade could be mined from that stone.
He seems quite happy holding the glass tea set. You know, it’s made of purple jadeite, so I’ll have to buy at least two sets of tea sets.”
Tian An was speechless. He really didn't know whether the shopkeeper didn't know the value of the goods or Zhao Yiming was just lucky.
Seeing that Tian An was holding the pearl flower but still not making any move, Zhao Yiming had no choice but to go forward and put it on her. Looking at the yellow bronze mirror, Tian An sighed.
Suddenly thinking of something, he stood up, took Zhao Yiming's arm and asked, "Has Liulichang started making silver mirrors?"
Seeing that the two masters were talking about serious matters, Xiangtao quietly left the room.
Zhao Yiming saw that Xiang Tao had retreated far enough before he asked, "What silver mirror?"
Unable to explain it clearly for a moment, Tian An took out a modern silver mirror from his bag and showed it to him, "This is it. If you can make glass, you can also make this mirror."
Zhao Yiming took the mirror and raised his hand to see his handsome face clearly reflected in the mirror. He immediately looked at Tian An with joy, "If this is made, it will definitely sell well! And the demand will be even greater."
Tian An didn't waste any words and immediately took out a pen to write down the materials and methods for silver plating of glass.
There are three methods of silver plating. The easier one is to add silver ammonia solution to glucose, also known as maltose, stir it and pour it on the glass. After letting it stand for a while, the glass can be silver-plated.
Preparation method of silver ammonia solution...Precautions...
When Tian An stopped, several large sheets of paper were filled again. This time, he wrote with a fountain pen, and the characters were smaller and denser.
Seeing Zhao Yiming looking at his fountain pen, Tian An generously took out a new one from his bag and gave it to him, along with a bottle of ink. He also taught him how to refill the ink.
"Besides being used to make these ornamental objects and mirrors, colored glaze can also be used..."
Before Tian An could finish, he was interrupted by Zhao Yiming, "It's getting late, it's too late, have breakfast first, and we can talk about the rest in the carriage later!"
On the table, the porridge that Zhao Yiming had served earlier was already cold. Zhao Yiming brought the cold porridge to himself and gave Tian An another bowl.
After quickly finishing their breakfast, the two of them hurried out.
In the carriage, Zhao Yiming's servant Hong Lei was driving, Tian An and Deng Xue were sitting on one side of the carriage, and Zhao Yiming was sitting on the other side, playing with the pen that Tian An had given him earlier.
Tian An looked at Zhao Yiming and teased, "These chrysanthemum-viewing banquets! Plum-viewing banquets and the like, to put it bluntly, are just places where wives of families choose daughters-in-law or sons-in-law. Why would we, who are engaged, join in the fun?"
"Just think of it as a chance to relax. If you're in a good mood, you can get to know some people. We'll inevitably have to deal with each other in the future." Zhao Yiming said without even raising his head.
This nonchalant attitude made Tian An laugh. "If those ladies heard you say this, they would drown you in spit, and that's just a side note!"
Zhao Yiming smiled and ignored the question. After a moment's thought, he continued, "You said before that colored glaze can be used to make more than just silver mirrors and ornamental objects. So what else can it be used for?"
"Glass windows!" Tian An began to list the advantages of glazed windows to Zhao Yiming.
"The first thing is transparency. If the room is equipped with glazed windows, the light in the room will be much better.
Another advantage is durability. The papered windows we use now have to be re-papered every year, which is a waste of time and money! Once a glass window is installed, it can normally last a lifetime!
And then there's the safety aspect. In the storybook, a thief could just poke a hole in the window paper and slip drugs in with a simple push of his finger. How dangerous!
It would be different if glass windows were installed. If a thief wanted to put drugs into the house, he would have to destroy the glass windows, but that would also alert the people inside.
The last and most important point is that the market demand for glazed windows will be huge in the future.
There are many wealthy people in Tianling Country! Who wouldn't want to install a window like this in their home? Not only is it a permanent solution, but it's also beautiful and beautiful. It's so prestigious to show it off! It's much more practical than those glass ornaments that can only be looked at, right?
Upon hearing this, Deng Xue was shocked and looked at Tian An in disbelief.
Her young lady is really generous. A thing the size of a palm costs several taels of silver. In Quan Tianling, I am afraid that her young lady is the only one who dares to say so shamelessly that she wants to use it to make windows!
Zhao Yiming fell into deep thought. Although he seemed calm on the surface, his heart was turbulent and boiling like a stormy sea.
Windows made of colored glass will definitely not be cheap at the beginning, but there are many rich people, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them.
And as Tian An said, colored glaze is man-made. Now that they have the recipe, they can produce it indefinitely as long as they have the materials.
Scarcity makes things valuable. With the increase in the production of colored glass, the price of colored glass will surely fall in the future, and then colored glass ornaments will be worthless.
But there will always be a market for necessities of life such as silver mirrors and glazed windows.
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