Chapter 8 Start

Seeing that Manager Li still hadn't come back to his senses, Wang Jinghui gently took the glass in his hand back and asked Uncle Hong and Manager Li to return to the study of Mr. Xu's study in the backyard of Xu's Jewelry Store. After seeing Mr. Xu, the three of them took out the dark green cup and handed it to Mr. Xu to see the results of the past period. Mr. Xu was very excited after getting the glass. He could not put it down when he held it in his hand.

Wang Jinghui said: "Although this glass cup is far worse than the one I sold, the specific production process and materials are not much different from this one. What we need to do in the future is to improve the process and further improve the purity of the glass. Uncle Hong and Brother Zhenquan have already understood the formula and craftsmanship of the glass, but the first thing we must do is to ensure that the glass is made without leaking, which requires you to strengthen your prevention."

Xu put the glass cup on the desk and said, "Please rest assured, Mr. Wang, we are very clear about this! In the future, Uncle Hong will be responsible for the specific firing work in the glass workshop. Zhenquan, you will be responsible for the purchase of glass raw materials. In this way, the production process and raw materials are separated, and the craftsmen who work for us do not know the specific method!"

After hearing Mr. Xu's orders, Uncle Hong and Manager Li hurriedly answered yes. Manager Li said: "At the current level of making glass, we can't make transparent glass cups like mine, but this kind of glass can also be used to make teapots or other glass objects. Although its quality is not as good as that of Hu merchants outside Shanghai, because it is easy to make, a stove of glass can make at least dozens of glass objects, and the cost is only ten taels of silver. I think it is too short of supply if you sell this thing for 100 taels of silver!"

Mr. Xu didn't stop nodding after hearing Manager Li's words. Wang Jinghui also agreed with him very much and said, "Then we can divide the troops into two groups now. I will be responsible for the improvement of glass raw materials, and Uncle Hong is responsible for the production of this glassware. However, we need to build at least another porcelain kiln on the original basis for me to carry out the new glass formula firing experiment."

Mr. Xu said, "Well, just do what Mr. Wang said! When building a porcelain kiln, just build a few more. The land around the workshop has been bought. I think the demand for this glassware will definitely be very high in the future. Moreover, this thing is not as strong as iron objects, and it is inevitable to damage. Since we are going to expand the kiln, I think we will expand three at a time first! One is for Mr. Wang to conduct experiments, and the remaining three glassware will be fired. Uncle Hong will be responsible for this matter!"

Wang Jinghui thought to himself: Mr. Xu is very courageous! He said: "Mr. Xu, first sell this glass utensil in your store. When the opportunity is ripe, we will buy another shop to sell glass utensils. In addition, Manager Li, the reason why the glass we fired now is dark green is because the glass is mixed with these impurities. I also need several items to specifically use this impurities, and I still need your help."

When the Xu family saw the glass in front of him, they were very confident that Wang Jinghui could make a large amount of cheap glass. After hearing this, Manager Li immediately expressed his financial, material and manpower to support him without restrictions. After everyone evaluated the glass in front of him, they each dispersed to do their own business.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Xu, Wang Jinghui, Uncle Hong and Manager Li, returned to the glass workshop. Because the construction process of the clinic used red bricks and cement, the project progressed very quickly and could be officially put into use in one or two months. Therefore, during this period, Wang Jinghui had to handle everything in the glass workshop.

After the three returned to the glass workshop, Uncle Hong asked the craftsmen to return the first furnace of glass to burn again. This time, he prepared some different molds and planned to make all the glass of this furnace into finished glass objects. After seeing this, Wang Jinghui asked someone to bring a thin iron pipe, dip it into the melt of the glass, and gently blew it into the pipe. Gradually, the long-necked and big-bellied glass bottle appeared in front of everyone. Although the big-bellied glass bottle was very rough and the shape was very ugly, it still surprised the craftsmen around him.

Wang Jinghui gently put the glass bottle aside to cool it down and said to everyone: "I'm not good at blowing glassware. To be honest, this is the first time I've blown glassware today. In the future, you will blow a large number of glassware in your work. It depends on your own ability! As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. I teach you the method of blowing glassware. Everyone should practice more in the future. Uncle Hong will increase their rewards for those with superb skills!" The craftsmen around him saw that the young man was very humble and spoke realistically, so they nodded and agreed.

Then he instructed Uncle Hong: "Uncle Hong, in the future, in the process of making glassware, it is inevitable that some materials will be wasted to improve their level, so in this regard, you must always give them some convenience and encourage them to improve their skills. As for scrapped glassware, you can also be fired again, so don't worry about wasting it!" Uncle Hong is also an apprentice in a jewelry store, so of course he understood these principles, so he agreed immediately.

Wang Jinghui was also very concerned about the treatment of craftsmen, and continued to say to Uncle Hong: "Uncle Hong, it is best not to stop fire when making glass porcelain kilns. Make craftsmen into three shifts and work for four hours each shift, and take turns to firing glass and making glass utensils. If the craftsmen who work more often will give them overtime bonuses, but the number of overtime must be strictly controlled. After all, this job is a skill job. If there is no good spirit, the waste will be improved, so you must make a charter for the craftsmen to abide by it!" Uncle Hong quickly agreed.

After Wang Jinghui and the other two came out of the porcelain kiln, they went to Uncle Hong's residence in the porcelain kiln. After closing the door, Wang Jinghui said to the two people: "Uncle Hong, Manager Li, you have also seen that the process and materials for firing glass are very simple, so we must do the confidentiality work well. I guess everyone here may know the firing method, but only Manager Li and I know the glass materials used, so Manager Li is more important here! I suggest that Manager Li and Uncle Hong should be separated. Uncle Hong is responsible for the firing of glass here. Brother Zhenquan, you can find a place to store the glass raw materials, mix the glass raw materials and then transport them to the porcelain kiln for firing. Only the elderly in the Xu family are strictly supervised there!"

Uncle Hong and Manager Li certainly knew the importance of keeping the secret of glass making methods. After hearing what Wang Jinghui said was very reasonable, he immediately agreed. There was a house of Mr. Xu not far from here. There was only about twenty minutes away from the two places. Wang Jinghui and he had prepared the first batch of glass raw materials there before they were fired here. So after Manager Li listened to Wang Jinghui's suggestions, he decided to store glass raw materials there. Wang Jinghui was also very satisfied with the place. The three decided that Wang Jinghui would temporarily think about improving the glass formula. Uncle Hong stayed in the porcelain kiln and sent the samples of the glass objects fired with the new formula back to Wang Jinghui's place for identification. Manager Li was responsible for purchasing the raw materials needed by Wang Jinghui and transporting the finished glass products from the porcelain kiln back to the jewelry store for sale.

Wang Jinghui continued to say to Manager Li: "Brother Zhenquan, the burned glass now appears dark green because there are impurities mixed in the middle of the raw materials. Our task is to take advantage of the impurities of the raw materials. There are still several things that need to be purchased by Brother Zhenquan. First, find better sand or ore to update the raw materials. As far as we know, there is an ore that appears milky white on the outside and mostly produces crystals. So Brother Zhenquan can search for the place where crystals are produced to see if there is such ore. This is actually the idea that Wang Jinghui once saw a piece of crystal native ore attached to quartz ore at an exhibition. Second, buy me a few magnets that can attract iron, because the dark green glass is mostly due to the fact that the glass is doped with very traces of fine iron powder. If there is a magnet to suck out the fine iron powder in the raw materials, use such raw materials to burn the finished product of the glass, its color will be much better than now."

Manager Li said: "There is no problem with these. I have seen magnets. Although they are more expensive, they are insignificant compared to glasses. You can get a lot of them for just a dozen taels of silver. The crystal mine mentioned by the young master is on Yushan near Kaifeng, Biandu. The stones on this mountain are very white and are rich in crystals, so they are called Yushan. This crystal mine has a lot of contact with our jewelry store. After I went back, I asked someone to go to this crystal mine to look for ore. If it really doesn't work, I asked them to find some of the different stones on Yushan and let the young master try it out."

After hearing what Manager Li said, Wang Jinghui felt relieved: the white rock probably was quartz stone containing silica. Although it was not ruled out that it was calcite or other types of ore, I took it here and tried it first. Even if it didn't work, use sand as a substitute.

Manager Li is very efficient in doing things. In the afternoon, he had bought a magnet and sent it to Wang Jinghui's desk. He washed the fine sand flat on a piece of paper, moved it repeatedly in the fine sand with a magnet, and there were really many fine grains of sand attached to the magnet. After moving it repeatedly with multiple magnets, there were very little fine sand adsorbed on the magnet. Wang Jinghui put the fine sand into a wooden box, added baking soda and limestone powder in proportion and labeled it, and sent it to a porcelain kiln for firing.

In addition to the wooden box labeled by Wang Jinghui, two large wooden boxes were also sent to the porcelain kiln together with raw materials made of ordinary clean sand. Now, since they agreed in the morning, people have been off the kiln and kept going all day long. Although the fired glass still has a certain difference in purity between the glass provided by overseas Hu merchants, it is also a good product.

Wang Jinghui recalled the scene in ancient books describing the Song Dynasty people using porcelain rabbit hair cups to fight tea in teahouses on streets and alleys, and couldn't help but mutter: "Rabbit hair cups, rabbit hair cups, it seems that you are dead!" Speaking of this, he couldn't help but imagine the scene of the Song Dynasty people changing the rabbit hair cups used for tea fighting with glass tea sets, which was very funny.

It was almost evening when Uncle Hong personally escorted a cart of glassware that had been fired today to the house that specializes in mixing glass raw materials. Wang Jinghui and Manager Li also returned to the Xu Jewelry Store with the carriage transporting glass. When Manager Li directed the carefully selected servants to move three boxes of glassware that had just been fired today to the backyard study room, Mr. Xu saw that these glassware were obviously rough and dark green, it took him a long time to say: "Can you produce so many on the first day?!"

Uncle Hong said with a smile: "Glass is similar to porcelain. As long as there are sufficient raw materials, the craftsmen will burn more after a few days when their craftsmen are more skilled!"

Manager Li also smiled and said, "This thing is indeed small in price and profitable. In addition to alkaline noodles, it is more expensive. The cost of other sand and quicklime is as much as possible. A glass bottle costs no more than one tael of silver, but if you really want to sell it, it can be sold for more than one hundred taels! More than sixty pieces were burned on the first day, and it can be sold for almost seven thousand taels of silver!"

After hearing the words of the two of them, Mr. Xu said to Wang Jinghui: "Young Master Wang is really a living God of Wealth!"

Wang Jinghui was the calmest among them and said lightly: "With the support of glass profits, even if I give free medicine to the poor in Biandu, I can afford it! However, I have to keep the glass manufacturing method strictly confidential. As for business matters, I have to ask Mr. Xu and Brother Zhenquan to worry more!"

After hearing this, Mr. Xu and the other two nodded hard and said, "We will never let the young master down!"

Uncle Hong said from the side: "Mr. Wang, the new glass recipe may have just been cooked this afternoon. I have instructed the craftsmen to send the samples immediately after the cook is finished!"

Manager Li also said: "I have sent someone to Yushan as you ordered today to find new glass-making raw materials. They may come back tomorrow afternoon as soon as possible. You don't have to worry!"

Wang Jinghui said: "My main task now is to improve the purity of the glass, because in another ten days and half a month, the clinic in the west of the city will be basically completed. I have to complete this problem before the clinic is completed, otherwise it will delay my original intention of opening a clinic! In addition, I will also have a reluctant request to Mr. Xu, and I will also ask Mr. Xu to agree."

Mr. Xu immediately replied: "Young Master Wang has any problems? As long as I can do it, I will never refuse!"

Wang Jinghui said: "Old Xu, the clinic is about to open, but there is no one except me, a bare doctor. So I also have to ask Mr. Xu to gather some miscellaneous servants and a few accountants who can write and settle accounts to come to me for help."

Mr. Xu said, "This is not a difficult task! I can send the best accountant to you to help. As for the servants, I will also select a few alert apprentices for you in the jewelry store, and then summon some people to you!"

After receiving Mr. Xu's affirmative answer, Wang Jinghui hurriedly thanked Mr. Xu. The biggest headache he had now is that no one around him came to help him. Talents cannot be cultivated in one or two days. Now he has to rely on Mr. Xu to solve this problem. After all, he will definitely do this well if he gives him a gold medal.

The four of them talked in the study for a while and then started having supper together. As soon as they finished supper, the person who delivered the samples from the porcelain kiln arrived. They returned to the study and opened the wooden box containing the glass samples. This time, the iron impurities in the glass raw materials were very successful using magnets. The sample of this glass cup showed a light green, which was quite close to the colorless and transparent glass cup.

Wang Jinghui was very happy to see the samples made from this new formula. He was worried just now that if he could not find quartz ore in Yushan, would he have the ability to use the current conditions to burn glass objects with relatively satisfactory purity? After seeing this sample, his worry disappeared: glass cups of this quality are already very transparent and can be bought and sold as finished products.

Wang Jinghui handed the sample of the glass to Manager Li next to him and asked with a smile: "Brother Zhenquan, borrow your igneous eyes and golden eyes to see how valuable this thing is?"

Manager Li took the glass from Wang Jinghui's hand and looked carefully and said, "It's really worthy of being the name. This glass is exactly the same as the glassware brought by overseas Hu merchants! However, the glassware they cooked is much smaller than ours. Most of them are used to store precious perfumes they shipped overseas. I think a piece of such glassware can be sold at least 700 taels!"

After he finished speaking, he handed the glass to Mr. Xu and Uncle Hong to watch. Both of them were also people who had been rolling through the jewelry pile for decades. They were amazed when they saw the slightly green glass cup in their hands. Of course, they were not unfamiliar with the glass bottles of overseas Hu merchants, and they also agreed with Manager Li's evaluation.

Wang Jinghui said to them: "Since this method can reach the manufacturing level of glass cups in Hu Shang's hands, I feel relieved. However, this method of purifying glass raw materials is very troublesome. If the quantity is small, it is okay, but if there are mass production, there must be many people doing such a job, which is very unfavorable for keeping the confidentiality of glass raw materials!"

The other three people nodded after hearing Wang Jinghui's words, but they felt very sorry for not being able to produce such quality glass in large quantities. Wang Jinghui certainly knew this and continued: "Everyone, this is actually no big deal! In the early days, we only produced small quantities and could accumulate a large amount of funds. There is no airtight wall in the world, so our method of burning glass will not be the only way to be the best. At that time, we have a lot of money and can use larger-scale production to reduce costs, and others will always follow our butts! As for this improved formula, we must be foolproof, so that the glass produced by later competitors is not as good as ours. Although it cannot be produced in large quantities, its price is also very objective, and we are still very profitable!"
Chapter completed!