"Hey, isn't this Brother Tang? Why are you so down and out?"

Tang Ting was dodging the noble convoy, but when he heard a familiar voice, he couldn't help but look up and saw a arrogant and proud guy on the carriage looking down at him from a high point.

"You... are... Huangfuque..." Tang Ting looked at the guy sitting in the carriage who was about the same age as him.

"Bold, you dare to call the master's name!" A domineering guard of the Marquis's mansion choked and pulled out the big sword from his waist.

Tang Ting took a few steps back and bowed with a ugly face and said, "I haven't seen you for more than a month. I didn't expect that Brother Huangfu has already made great achievements. I wonder what kind of government office Huangfu is working in? What will happen if I can call Tang on the street?"

"Haha~" Huangfu Que patted the seat beside him and said, "I deliberately scared you, come up and ride with me. I will recommend a job to you to ensure that you will not be so desolate and miserable in the future!"

Tang Ting saw that Huangfu Que's expression didn't seem to be lying. In addition, the two had known each other for several years and knew that Huangfu Que was a good person, so he did not refuse. He climbed onto the carriage and sat down, and then started to travel. Then he bumped all the way to the south area of ​​the city where kings and princes and ministers gathered together, and finally stopped at the door of a mansion.

When Tang Ting looked at the ancient seal characters of Qinghe Hou Mansion on the lintel, his mind was blank. When Huangfu Que said that he was a visitor to Qinghe Hou Mansion and was about to recommend him to Qinghe Hou, Tang Ting, who got off the carriage, fell from the carriage and fell down.

In the Hou Mansion, Chen Xu carefully asked Tang Ting some questions and arranged for him to be the manager of the Institute of Optics of the Academy of Sciences. However, Chen Xu had only two researchers and three helpers.

But after listening to Chen Xu telling some theories about various optics, machinery and air, Tang Ting was ecstatic as if he had found a soulmate. Next, Chen Xu made several lenses with ice again to demonstrate the peculiar properties of the lens, and specially demonstrated the smelting of a furnace of sand at the Institute of Optics to cast a translucent glass-like object. Tang Ting was completely impressed and became Chen Xu's scientific research assistant wholeheartedly.

But making glass is not as easy as Chen Xu thought at first. Before Tang Ting came, he made glass several times, but the effect was very poor. All the poured glass was messy in color and had too many bubbles, and he didn't have much time to study these all day long.

Three helpers who knew nothing went outside the city to collect several different crystalline sand and gravel, some of which could melt, and some could not melt. In the end, they were a lump of solidified body with a turbid color and mixed with strange luster. After cooling, they were like glass in later generations. Except for some ornamental value, they had no egg use.

However, even if this kind of thing that Chen Xu thought was like a garbage, it was a gem in the eyes of everyone in the Academy of Sciences. It was smooth and flat, magnificent in color, with a translucent texture and extremely hard, so someone came to play with some waste products, which also caused people to rush to buy it, because everyone in Xianyang City heard that the things studied by the Academy of Sciences were all fairy-like.

Therefore, Chen Xu did not allow the three assistants to study and make lenses. They usually make molds to pour into glass of various shapes, cups, spoons, plates, hairpins, bracelets and other decorations. Anyway, this thing is not valuable. A handful of sand and some gravel of various colors can be melted together. The cost is almost zero, so the things made are not expensive, ranging from 100 to 500 yuan depending on the shape and size of the instrument. It is precisely because the price is cheaper than porcelain, so the demand in the Academy of Sciences alone cannot be met. Many people come to the Institute of Optics for taking a look at whether they can buy a piece of glass and take it back to show off. However, although it is easy to make this thing, they can't make a few pieces in a day. Chen Xu did not intend to let the assistants do too much. The main thing is to exercise the three assistants' proficiency in smelting heat and pouring skills. At the same time, they also hope that they can slowly find a way to make transparent and bubble-free glass.

However, until Tang Ting appeared, the three helpers' level was still in the state of making glass objects of various strange colors. However, their proficiency in skills has increased several levels, and they have been able to skillfully make some simple molds and cast them into shapes. The glass products produced every day can be sold for thousands of dollars. Therefore, the Institute of Optics has also become the only unit in the entire Academy of Sciences that can make money. The three helpers can get dozens or even hundreds of dollars every day. This treatment has made other helpers and even craftsmen in the Academy of Sciences drool.

The glass products bought by those quick-handed people of the Academy of Sciences were soon sought after by the people of Xianyang. The profit was twice or even three times that of the glass items after the sale was reduced, which led to a shortage of glass objects. Qin Shihuang also arranged for palace servants to come and ask, and Chen Xu had to ask three assistants to cast a batch of exquisitely shaped glass products to the palace. However, he also told the emperor that these things were not valuable and did not have much value, and they could only be used as viewing, and it was best not to drink water or hold food. After all, there were too many magazines in glass, and it was estimated that there were a lot of toxic metal substances.

After Tang Ting arrived, Chen Xu started the manufacturing of lenses again. However, in the past ten days, Tang Ting's research and development has not been successful. Although the sand and crystal fragments have been selected, impurities still exist without strict selection of equipment, and the bubble problem is still unsolvable.

Therefore, although the cast lens looks much better than the previous glass body, it is still an unqualified defective product.

Tang Ting and three helpers were busy working around the coal stove. Chen Xu sat next to him and waited boredly, playing with various glass and glazed products on the workbench. Although his face looked calm, he was extremely nervous.

A piece of natural and pure crystal worth tens of thousands of gold, if the lens poured after melting is unsuccessful...

This thought suddenly appeared in Chen Xu's mind, and then his hand shook, and a piece of glass product fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

Tang Ting and the three helpers were so scared that they turned to look at Chen Xu.

"It depends on what I do. If you can't make a qualified lens this time, you must be handed over to the Weiwei Mansion for the crime of destroying heavy objects!" Chen Xu scared with a dark face.

"Don't worry, Marquis... Don't worry... I will make a qualified lens... Come..." Tang Ting's face was twisted in horror, and cold sweat was pouring out on his back.

Only then did he remember that he had broken a piece of pure water essence the size of a fist of the Marquis. It was a priceless treasure.

Soon half an hour passed, and three helpers kept adding coal to the stove and blasting the air. The temperature in the room became higher and higher. Tong Ting passed through a small hole the size of a fist on the stove door and watched the crystal slag in the crucible slowly melt into a red liquid.

"Check the mold and prepare to be poured out of the oven!" Tang Ting gave a serious instructor. The three assistants quickly carefully checked several lens molds made of graphite powder and carefully combined them together. After confirming that, Tang Ting opened the furnace door, brought thick linen gloves and clamped the red-burned crucible inside with a long-handled iron pliers, and then carefully poured the melted crystal liquid into several small molds. After pouring, there was still some left in the crucible.

"Marty, what should I do if there is still a little left?" Tang Ting said with a bitter face. This was formed by the melting of a priceless pure crystal. It was a pity to waste it.

"Put it in the stove first. If the effect is good, I will still be useful!" Chen Xu walked to the stove nervously at this time, and waved his hand at the poured mold.

Tang Ting put the crucible back into the stove and closed the furnace door. Then the five people looked at the mold together. After waiting for five or six minutes, Tang Ting gently pried the mold with the tool, and then saw a few round transparent glass sheets with dark red, with some burrs formed by pouring on the edges. Tang Ting carefully trimmed the burrs with a pair of small scissors. After contacting the cold air, the red on the glass sheet was also fading away quickly.

"Quick, put it next to the stove to keep it warm!" Chen Xu ordered, and Tang Ting quickly and carefully placed a few trimmed glass pieces into a pit on the edge of the stove. With the help of the coal stove, the temperature of the coal stove prevents the glass pieces from cooling too quickly. This has been confirmed in previous experiments. If it is cold too quickly, it may break. Although it does not appear every time, this is Chen Xu's only pure and transparent colorless crystal. If it fails, it can still be re-melted and poured, but there will definitely be impurities and air mixed in. After repeated several times, it will no longer be pure. This is what Chen Xu does not want to see. Optical glass equipment is best to succeed in one go.

The lens placed in the pit gradually cooled down, but the temperature was still very high. Chen Xu leaned closer and observed carefully and found that there was almost no bubble inside. It was not much different from the crystal, and it was still pure and transparent.

Half an hour later, four lenses with diameters of four inches and three inches and two inches were placed in front of Chen Xu. They were all convex lenses, and each one was pure and transparent, almost exactly the same as the crystal glass of later generations.

Chen Xu picked up all four lenses, stood in front of the window and observed carefully, and finally placed them carefully on a piece of soft suede, breathing a long sigh of relief, and a smile finally appeared on his serious face.

It's not easy, it's not easy. These four lenses can be said to be worthless. Not to mention anything else, just a piece of fist-sized crystal is valuable, and it's very difficult to find the same piece again.

Although all four lenses were successfully poured in one go, the mold made of graphite powder did not fully meet the strict optical standards, and the surface also had subtle concave and convexity, so the poured lenses had a subtle texture of frosted glass, so they had to be further polished and polished.

But this saves 99% of the workload compared to the project of using crystal raw ore to make it into a lens.

"Tang Ting, you did a good job this time. Go to the finance office to receive a reward of 3,000 yuan. You three have helped you and each person will also be rewarded with 500 yuan!"

Chen Xu waved his hand very happily, and the three helpers jumped up excitedly and cheered for the rebellious and righteousness of the Marquis.

Tang Ting's eyes were also red with excitement. Three thousand coins were a scumbag for the rich, but for a person like him who had been down and out, he had been so poor that he had no money on his body several times. However, since he followed Qinghe Hou, he had never had such a situation again. He was offering delicious food and drinks every day, but he did not refine qualified glass, which made him feel guilty and ashamed. His current success made him feel heart-to-heart.

"Mr. Marquis, what should I do if there is still a little glass melt left?" Tang Ting asked after calming down.

"If you want to cast a piece of round flat glass that is one cent thick, then carefully polish the two sides after casting. I have other uses!"
Chapter completed!