What Huo Guang said about still struggling with sand was not really that accurate. After all, he had already made glass before, and all that was left was to keep improving the formula.
It was useful to remove the iron impurities before, at least the glass was not so green anymore, but such a simple and crude method could definitely not remove them thoroughly.
Anyway, Liu Tan now knows what it means to be content with what he has, and he is very satisfied with this transparency.
All that remains is how to make it into large flat glass.
According to Liu Tan's idea, for flat glass, isn't it just about pouring the molten glass into a mold, trying to keep the mold level and waiting for the glass to cool down?
However, after the craftsman made it according to his instructions, Liu Tan saw something inside that was enough to give him nightmares - bubbles.
Liu Tan couldn't help but feel a headache, feeling that he really had an inextricable connection with this thing.
However, this degassing process is obviously much more difficult than making bricks before. The bubbles in the brick mud can be eliminated by trampling with animals or even grinding with stones, but the glass is a liquid before it is cooled, and it is a liquid with a very high temperature.
Liu Tan thought about the various knowledge he had learned when he was playing with models, and finally decided to use two methods. The first one was stirring, but stirring at high temperature was not easy, so he could only simply remove some bubbles and then use the bubble blowing method.
Use a metal tube to blow a large bubble from the bottom of the molten glass pool. The large bubble will eliminate or carry away small bubbles as it rises.
Both of these methods can reduce bubbles, but they are just reductions. If you want to eliminate bubbles, you have to make it smaller.
What Liu Tan originally wanted was a whole piece of floor-to-ceiling glass window. In fact, the craftsmen were really lucky and made two particularly large ones.
Liu Tan happily planned to replace the two pieces of glass in the main hall. However, during the replacement process, although the craftsmen were very careful, they didn't know what went wrong. Anyway, one of the pieces of glass shattered directly to the ground, and two craftsmen were injured on the spot.
Fortunately, they only had minor injuries. Although they looked like many wounds, they were not fatal.
The craftsmen were trembling with fear, knowing how much Liu Tan loved these two pieces of flat glass. Even though these two pieces of glass were not that valuable, what if the King of the North got angry?
However, the King of the North was not angry. He just realized that he had overlooked a very important issue - most glass windows in later generations were made of tempered glass. He only had some impression of this ordinary glass when he was very young.
Ordinary glass, especially the new glass he made, must be missing many components in the middle, so it is very fragile. The larger and thinner it is, the more fragile it is.
As soon as he came over, he saw the craftsmen kneeling on the ground covered with broken glass. He was immediately shocked: "What are you doing? Get up, get up, this..."
"Your Highness..." Miao Rui stepped forward and said, "These people performed improper work and caused damage to Your Highness. Your Highness was not here at the time. If the consequences had been disastrous, they should have been fined three months' salary as a warning to others."
Liu Tan glanced at Miao Rui and did not object. The craftsmen were also very grateful and could not help but want to kowtow.
Liu Tan quickly stopped them: "Hurry up and clean up this place."
After saying that, he turned around and went straight to the study. This matter was indeed his negligence, so he didn't want to punish these craftsmen.
But he also understood what Miao Rui meant. These people did cause losses, and it was also their operational errors, so they must be punished.
Even if Liu Tan said that this matter had nothing to do with them, Miao Rui might still insist.
The Northern Palace still needs to clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments.
Well, since rewards and punishments are clearly defined, there must be rewards after punishments.
Liu Tan thought that as long as they could make the tempered glass, giving them enough rewards would be enough to make up for this problem.
It’s just that...tempered glass, as the name suggests, means that the glass is tempered, but this treatment...really stumped Liu Tan.
He intended to literally have people add molten steel, and the glass furnace was almost scrapped.
Liu Tan: ...
Is it necessary to use a machine for tempering?
Later he tried to reduce the proportion of molten steel, and this time the glass did not explode. However, the problem was that after adding molten steel, no matter how little was added, the glass would become very turbid and turn green again.
Liu Tan felt that the way the craftsmen looked at him seemed to reveal their true thoughts: Isn't this just looking for trouble?
After all, he used a magnet to remove the iron impurities inside, and then added molten steel into it. Only a fool could think of such a method.
However, Liu Tan would never admit that he was stupid, so...tempered glass might just be a name, and it doesn't actually mean adding steel to it.
So the question is… if we can’t experiment in a literal sense, how do we do this?
The above is the reason why Liu Tan competes with Shazi.
In the end, the problem was not solved by him, but by Gongshujia's people.
As for the solution, they discovered it by accident. Liu Tan once said that tempered glass is designed to be more resistant to impact. Even if it breaks, it will break into harmless glass beads. So the craftsmen tried many methods, smashing it as they went along. After all, at worst, if it breaks, they can just melt it again. There is no other loss except the loss of coal.
Liu Tan once waved his hand and let them try it with all their might.
At that time, Gongshu's men came to answer Liu Tan's questions about the academy, and when they came, Liu Tan was worrying about the glass kiln.
This time it was Gongshu Yi who came as a representative. Liu Tan saw that his attitude was okay, but his expression was not as relaxed as before, and he even had a slightly wrinkled brow.
Gongshu Yi couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing, Your Highness?"
Liu Tan glanced at him and said, "Nothing. The newly refined glass is too fragile. I want to see how to make it less fragile."
Gongshu Yi didn't ask Liu Tan how he made the colored glaze. Hearing what he said, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your Highness should have asked us earlier."
Liu Tan was a little surprised: "You Gongshu family also know how to make colored glaze?"
Gongshu Yi said, "We have to find a way to make a living, we have a big family to support."
Liu Tan thought about it and agreed. No one in the Gongshu family had been an official before, so naturally they had to find ways to make money. Since they were unwilling to farm, they naturally had to find some business to make a living.
However, Gongshu Yi's words meant that the Gongshu family had a solution. That solution might not be the same as what he thought, but he could refer to it. If they could find another solution, that would be the best. Even if that wasn't possible, as long as they could increase the strength of the glass and make it less fragile, that would be fine.
Liu Tan thought of this and took Gongshu Yi to the study and sat down. He said, "I've never heard of any method to strengthen glass before. I think it must be the Gongshu family's exclusive secret technique. I won't take your things for nothing. Just tell me what you want, and I'll give it to you if I can."
Gongshu Yi's heart started beating wildly after hearing this. He couldn't help swallowing and said, "Your Highness once promised us that someone from the Gongshu family could become an official. Is that true?"
Liu Tan was stunned for a moment. Oh, yes, he had said that before. Liu Che's arrival almost made him forget about this matter.
However, after spending these few days with Liu Che, he has become much thicker-skinned than before, despite not being good at anything else.
Even if he had forgotten at this moment, he began to shift the blame without any burden: "I have discussed this with Prime Minister Huo before. It is indeed possible to appoint an official, but there is only one person in the Gongshu family who can be an official. Have you made up your mind?"
Gongshu Yi mustered up the courage to say, "Of course, Master of the family, that is, my father, is that okay?"
Liu Tan said simply: "If he wants to come, then he can."
Gongshu Yi said impatiently, "Okay, I will write a letter to my father immediately, asking him to come here as soon as possible. As for the techniques related to colored glaze, Your Highness, please wait a moment. I need to go back and look for them."
Liu Tan nodded: "Yes."
Then he saw Gongshu Yi hurried away, his expression indescribable for a moment: Hasn't this guy been this impatient before? How desperate was Gongshu Yi for this position? He actually left without even asking what the benefits would be!
He had just come up with several plans in his mind to use to argue with Gongshu Yi, but he never expected that none of them would come in handy!
For a moment, Liu Tan even thought of taking advantage of the Gongshu family's urgent nature to dig out more benefits. After all, it is impossible for such a large family to lead the entire family with only one official.
But soon he felt that he was being a little unfair. The Gongshu family seemed to be composed of honest people, and it seemed inappropriate for him to try to trick them.
Liu Tangang sighed and thought about giving him a Ministry of Works after the head of the Gongshu family came... and so on... and so forth.
Liu Tan suddenly thought of a very important question.
That is, he just told Gongshu Yi that he had discussed it with Huo Guang, but in fact Huo Guang might not know about this matter at all!
Liu Tan thought of this and immediately said anxiously: "Quick, quick, invite Prime Minister Huo over. He said there is something important to discuss!"
The Gongshu family would definitely not be content to just be officials of the princes. It was basically very difficult for officials of the princes to be promoted to the central government. Liu Tan was still hoping to get some good things from the Gongshu family, so naturally he had to give them better treatment.
So when Huo Guang came over, he saw his Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory smiling and said, "Ah Guang, can we discuss something?"
Huo Guang raised his eyelids and asked, "Has Your Highness gotten into trouble again?"
Liu Tan choked: "Who said that? Don't make random guesses. And what does that mean?"
Huo Guang couldn't help but said coldly: "Your Highness, if you look in the mirror and see your expression now, you will know why I said so."
There was no way around it, this smile looked really guilty. The most important thing was that Liu Tan had always been very polite to him and seldom called him by his name. Today he was so abnormal that it was hard for Huo Guang not to make associations!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
