After all, it boiled down to the need to produce a large sum of money.
Only with money could negotiations with the Changjiang Gang commence.
Without money, there was no point in even thinking about negotiating.
Fortunately, Old Grand Master Hong realized this immediately.
He chuckled, "Our Hong Family may lack many things, but we certainly don’t lack money. As long as you’re willing, this matter must certainly be entrusted to you!"
Song Tao had been waiting for just this statement.
She responded with a smile brimming with delight, standing beneath the tree and began to discuss the budget with Old Grand Master Hong.
After listening for a while, Old Grand Master Hong felt the proposal was quite reasonable and instructed her to draft a list and directly obtain the funds from the Grand Steward of the Hong Family.
Song Tao immediately got busily to work.
It was not until the news of the Liangyu Kiln Factory building a dragon kiln and preparing to fire it that Song Jiyun’s side learned of it.
Zhou Zheng’s face turned green with rage as he said, "It was the owner who taught them how to build kilns in the first place! They also promised that without the Song Family’s consent, they would not build a dragon kiln. Now they dare to violate the agreement, I will sue them into bankruptcy!"
Song Jiyun was at his small kiln factory at home firing alum-red.
He had made more than a hundred pieces, but less than fifty were considered complete in appearance, the success rate not even reaching fifty percent.
The rest either had undesirable colors or uneven glazing.
He still needed to find a way to improve the process.
As Song Jiyun fiddled with a hexagonal box ruined by the firing process, he said, "Let’s first hear what the Changjiang Gang has to say! Their boss should give us an explanation. If they don’t provide one, then it won’t be too late for us to sue them."
Zhou Zheng was still seething with anger.
But what captivated him even more was the alum-red hexagonal box in Song Jiyun’s hands.
"Is this the porcelain you are firing for Prince Huai’s Mansion?" he asked in awe.
The scene Song Jiyun was firing depicted snow.
Yet, this snow scene was different from any other.
Normally, snow scenes in blue and white ware would simply dot a few alum-red plum blossoms, but Song Jiyun’s design used only white and alum-red for the snow scene, leaving plenty of whitespace and applying a freehand technique. The mountains were layers of varying intensities of white, while the remaining areas were hues of soft and deep orange-red—even the sun was white, resembling either the waning sun or a sun newly risen amidst the hazy orange clouds.
The white areas were evidently crafted using the sweet white porcelain technique.
Delicate as snow, this technique made the snow scene painting even more stunning.
Zhou Zheng couldn’t tear his eyes away: "Whose masterpiece is this inspired by? How did you think of firing it in this manner? Using sweet white porcelain as the base, wouldn’t that cause issues?"
"I drew it myself," Song Jiyun said nonchalantly, "It’s a gift for Young Master Yuan."
It was not for sale.
What could the Imperial Kiln Factory possibly do to her?
Song Jiyun had utilized a technique from a future era of oil painting.
"The glaze isn’t controlled well; it’s too thick in some places and too thin in others," she wasn’t satisfied, "I need to experiment more to get it right."
The few successfully fired pieces were destined for Prince Huai’s Mansion.
Decked with a mottled green base and cold plum blossoms, they employed a very traditional technique.
Holding a shard in his hand, Zhou Zheng was so enamored he couldn’t let go: "No wonder some choose to use shards for wall screens." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
He suddenly felt it a pity to discard these fragments and blurted out, "Why not, let’s arrange these shards into various screens? Surely there will be those willing to pay a handsome price!"
"It’s just too much trouble!" Song Jiyun disagreed, telling Zhou Zheng, "Could you get me a few glazing masters? I feel like even if I keep firing another seven or eight kilns, I still might not succeed."
Zhou Zheng took a deep breath of shock, firmly disagreeing, "Miss, mastering such a craft could allow someone to pass on a legacy, you can’t just do as you please because you have a talent for firing porcelain. You must complete Prince Huai’s Mansion order by yourself, especially the glazing technique."
He had originally planned to find a few trustworthy people to help Song Jiyun, but now he had changed his mind.
But he knew Song Jiyun’s laziness all too well, afraid that she would become annoyed and capriciously abandon the task.
"If you really find it troublesome, I can ask the Luo family to help you out." He coaxed Song Jiyun in a tone one might use on a child, "Just think, once you’ve successfully fired this set of boxes, imagine the sensation it will cause in Jingde Town. By then, not only the Changjiang Gang but even Eunuch Wan wouldn’t dare to offend you lightly!"
Red has always been a symbol of good fortune since ancient times.
If their owner could fire such a red color, their service would be indispensable for any celebration in the future.
And the Imperial Family’s celebrations are anything but few.
If Eunuch Wan dares to give their Kiln Factory the cold shoulder, they could make it so that he fails to fulfill his duties.
Zhou Zheng was somewhat beside himself just thinking about it.
But Song Jiyun immediately shattered his fantasy, "I have no plans to fire for others; it’s just a trinket for Young Master Yuan."
She also warned Zhou Zheng, "Do you know why the chefs of the Imperial Kitchen Records never serve the emperor seasonal vegetables? That’s because if the emperor suddenly craves green beans in winter or cabbages in summer, the chefs of the Imperial Kitchen would be in big trouble. I don’t want to be one of those chefs!"
The unpredictability of firing porcelain is too great.
All the more so for the type of porcelain that Song Jiyun wanted to fire, which relied solely on the depth of the color to outline the pattern.
Zhou Zheng gave a sheepish smile.
Song Jiyun asked Zhou Zheng to help her grind the failed porcelain pieces into powder, "It’s too ugly! Better not to keep them and be laughed at!"
Zhou Zheng had no choice but to help Song Jiyun with the task.
A servant boy ran in saying, "Boss Yao from the Changjiang Gang is here, saying he comes to apologize with submissive intent. He’s now kneeling at the front door waiting for your judgment!"
Song Jiyun couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Zheng and laughed, "I won’t see him; you handle it."
She decided to take advantage of her current enthusiasm and fire another kiln of hexagonal boxes, while also firing the remaining porcelain for Prince Huai’s Mansion.
After all, firing one piece or two, it’s all the same work, so it’s better to save some silver and fire as many as possible.
Upon hearing the news, Zhou Zheng felt a surge of anger towards the Changjiang Gang; hearing that Song Jiyun wanted him to handle it, he could hardly contain himself and hurriedly left the Song Family’s small workshop after a brief word with Song Jiyun.
Song Jiyun knew that it was unlikely for her porcelain to succeed in one go, so she had prepared a lot of porcelain blanks with good scenery.
She continued to glaze the porcelain blanks.
It took Zhou Zheng two Shichen Chinese Time to return.
He told Song Jiyun, "The ones firing for the Liangyu Kiln Factory were a different group from the Changjiang Gang, sharing the same founder but not the same master. The Liangyu Kiln Factory promised them a hefty sum, and they managed to learn some key techniques from the people building kilns for our Factory, which led to this incident. They’ve already spoken to the elders of the association, who will hold a hall meeting. We should have an explanation in a few days. They asked us to give them a few days’ grace."
"Also, they said they would compensate us—by building kilns for free for ten years."
Exclusive techniques can pass on a family legacy, naturally making them a target for others.
Song Jiyun felt this was unavoidable.
Regarding building kilns for free for ten years, although it could serve as a warning to those who harbored ill intentions towards the Song Family Kiln Factory, the builders would suffer a significant decrease in income, with no guarantee for food and drink, who would then speak of decorum or integrity? It would only become harder to manage later on, not to mention keeping the techniques from leaking out.
"There’s no need for that," Song Jiyun said with a smile, shaking her head, "If they really intend to compensate us, then they should build our kilns properly, at the same time and for the same price, and our Kiln Factory will enjoy priority forever—that’s all!"
Zhou Zheng thought this solution was too lenient.
Song Jiyun laughed, "Don’t worry, they have their own rules; we don’t need to fret."
Otherwise, the Changjiang Gang would have disbanded long ago.
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