Luo Zixing and Xiang Yang, along with the other elders, looked at each other upon hearing this, no one making a sound.
But younger men like Zhou Zheng and Gu Qing were eager to try, saying, "Owner, this is a good idea. By borrowing places and uniting those small workshops, we can not only make use of their kiln workers and master craftsmen, but also avoid making the owners of those small workshops worry that we want to annex them. It kills two birds with one stone!"
Cooperation requires having something the other party wants.
The owners of those small workshops have land in hand, which would first of all lower their guard, making it much easier to discuss cooperation.
And the Song Family Kiln Factory has so many orders, the delay is all costing money!
As for what might happen after a long time, that’s a matter for the future.
Zhou Zheng and the others seemed to have grasped Song Jiyun’s intention, while Luo Zixing and the others were still a bit worried, saying, "Owner, I’m afraid those small workshop owners will make outrageous demands, or that they’ll only be willing to lend land but not people."
Song Jiyun looked at Zhou Zheng with a smiling face and said, "Then it depends on how our Head Shopkeeper Zhou negotiates with others!"
Zhou Zheng immediately responded, "Owner, rest assured, I will definitely get this done."
Luo Zixing and the others, seeing that the matter was settled, no longer dwelled on it. After all, being able to produce more porcelain would benefit everyone.
He started talking about technical matters, "We can’t just use any pine firewood; it has to be the greasy kind, and roots of old pines that are over ten years old would be even better."
Song Jiyun pondered and said, "The heat is one part, insulation is another. It’s better to discuss with the Changjiang Gang, see if we can apply an extra layer of yellow mud on the outside of the kiln."
Luo Zixing agreed with her suggestion, saying, "Yellow mud is breathable, it’s the best."
Zhou Zheng quickly instructed one of his stewards to invite the leader of the Changjiang Gang who specifically built kilns for the Song Family Kiln Factory to come over, while he himself took a few stewards to scour Jingde Town for locations suitable for building a dragon kiln.
The leader of the Changjiang Gang was a man in his forties who had been building kilns for the Song Family Kiln Factory since Song Jiyun’s father’s time.
After hearing the proposal, he scratched his head and said, "Owner, if we put an extra layer of yellow mud on the top of the kiln, I’m afraid it won’t hold up."
The three of them got together again to solve this issue.
In the end, they decided to first try building a kiln top to see what the actual load-bearing capacity was.
A few of them built a small section of the kiln furnace on the open ground of the kiln factory, gradually adding yellow mud to the top.
After working for two or three days, Zhou Zheng found four plots of land: "One belongs to Old Master Yan’s kiln factory; he offered to let us use it for free when he heard that you want to fire a dragon kiln, saying that it would be fine as long as we show it to him later.
"Another plot of land belongs to the Hong Family. It’s currently planted with miscellaneous trees. Young Master Hong offered to let us rent it, but the rent he asked for is not low, which makes me think he wants us to back off, not really interested in lending it to us.
"There are also two small workshops. One with the surname Chen is willing to lend land, but they demand that their workshop’s leading master craftsman be involved in the firing process, wanting to learn the craft. Another with the surname Wu is also willing to lend land, but they ask that during the kiln firing, we allow them to fire two hundred cobalt blue pieces."
Song Jiyun smiled and asked, "Which one do you think is better?"
Zhou Zheng was somewhat surprised, and after thinking it over, said seriously, "I think the one with the surname Wu is better. It’s a clear-cut deal."
It’s not yet clear what to give in return for Old Master Yan’s favor.
As for the Chen Family, there’s the fear that once the apprentices are taught, they might starve their masters.
Song Jiyun nodded and said, "Then let’s choose the Wu Family. But you can go and tell the Chen Family that if their craftsmen and apprentices are willing to come and help, we welcome them."
Zhou Zheng was taken aback.
Song Jiyun laughed and said, "In this world, there are only lazy masters, no starving ones. We are indeed willing to pay a fortune for talent."
By then, when those small workshops in Jingde Town find out, it will be much easier for our Kiln Factory to borrow skilled kiln workers and master craftsmen.
Zhou Zheng laughed as he responded, and called for the accountant to draw up the Deed.
After the Deed was drawn up and Song Jiyun saw there were no problems, he could go to the Wu Family to sign a contract.
The accountant’s office suddenly became busy again.
A servant boy ran in and reported, "Owner, Old Master Wang from Yan Ji has come and wants to see you."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zheng’s anger erupted, "He has the nerve to come here! If it weren’t for him, how would our Kiln Factory have come to this? Does he really think we have no means to deal with him? If it comes to worst, can’t we just go to Suzhou to get our glazes?"
Yan Ji was the largest glaze merchant in Jingde Town, not only offering fair prices and a complete variety of products but also occasionally obtaining rare glazes like Egalitarian Green Porcelain, which had almost vanished from the market. Even if not all kilns in Jingde Town regularly sourced from him, they would replenish their stocks with him or entrust him to find uncommon glazes.
Ever since Song Jiyun managed the Song Family Kiln Factory, he had significantly increased the yield of finished porcelain, making profits several times that of other kiln factories. They could fully afford this bit of travel expense.
Zhou Zheng indeed had the confidence to say this.
Song Jiyun smiled and said, "It’s still good to hear what he has to say."
Ever since the Song Family Kiln Factory had an incident, Yan Ji’s store manager had come over, saying that upon hearing the rumors, they immediately checked their warehouse but found no problems. However, they promised to continue investigating, and if Song Jiyun found anything on his end, he should inform them so they could fully cooperate in getting to the bottom of the issue.
He also mentioned the decades of good relations between their two parties, with the Song Family Kiln Factory being a major client. They would never just watch such a significant client slip away. He assured Song Jiyun that if the responsibility was found to be theirs, they would undoubtedly take it on and make it right.
At that time, Song Jiyun, preoccupied with taking inventory in the warehouse, simply nodded his head and sent the man away.
Zhou Zheng was livid.
He accompanied Song Jiyun to meet with Old Master Wang.
Old Master Wang was full of apologies, and as soon as he saw Song Jiyun, he claimed innocence, "It’s all because of my good-for-nothing brother-in-law, who secretly arranged for the brother of a woman he’s keeping outside to start working in our store as an apprentice. He mistakenly sent you Egalitarian Green Porcelain instead of Cobalt Blue Glazed, which led to the disaster we face today.
"Boss Song, for the sake of your father, please spare me this embarrassment and let’s put this matter behind us. The Kiln Factory’s losses are all on me."
Having said that, he deeply bowed to Song Jiyun, holding the pose as if he wouldn’t stand up until forgiven.
Egalitarian Green Porcelain and Cobalt Blue Glazed were both used for blue-and-white ceramics.
Egalitarian Green Porcelain produced a gentle, bright blue-and-white finish, while Cobalt Blue Glazed gave a thick blue that tended towards grey. Ideally, everyone would use Egalitarian Green Porcelain. However, to create blue-and-white ceramics with a regal, purple-tinged blue, Cobalt Blue needed to be mixed with another type of glaze called "Cobalt Blue," used in a specific proportion.
Using Egalitarian Green Porcelain instead of Cobalt Blue Glazed in the mixture with Cobalt Blue was bound to cause problems, wasn’t it?
Seeing Old Master Wang in this state, Song Jiyun really wanted to ask him: Does your wife know what you’re saying about her brother?
She decided she must tell Madam Wang.
But at that moment, she smiled at him and said, "Old Master Wang, there’s no need to be so hard on yourself. I am but a junior; seeing you like this, even if I had something to say, I wouldn’t know where to begin."
She then signaled Zhou Zheng to help him stand up, and they all settled down on the Taishi Chairs.
Song Jiyun started to calculate the losses of the Kiln Factory this time.
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