The rise of the prince

Chapter 547 The Secret of Prince Kang's Mansion
When Li Xingzhou brought Di Zhi into the palace, there were already people waiting, and they were taken directly to the backyard.

In the backyard, there is a garden of peach blossoms, with three or five white butterflies flying around, a scene full of spring. Under the peach forest among the flowers, the low table with straw mats, the small charcoal stove for warming wine, and exquisite snacks and side dishes have all been placed.

Kang Wang was already sitting cross-legged at the table in a red dragon suit, and in a beautiful brocade dress, Princess Yongming, who was more beautiful than a peach blossom, knelt beside him to warm the wine.

"I've met my fourth grandpa, I've met my sister-in-law." Li Xingzhou greeted with cupped hands.

Princess Yongming nodded, but when he saw Kang Wang beside him, he said with a smile: "We are all a family, don't be so cautious, sit down."

Li Xingzhou knelt on the straw mats, and Di Zhi stood beside him. Only then did he realize that there were only three straw mats on the ground.

Di Zhi hurriedly whispered: "My lord, it's better for your subordinates to stand."

He was a little angry in his heart, but he didn't lose it, he just said: "Fourth Grandpa, add another grass."

Prince Kang was taken aback for a moment, then put his hands on the table and looked at this side, his expression was not good: "How do you do things now!" He said hello and the servant added.

Judging by Prince Kang's attitude, Li Xingzhou knew that he didn't know about it, so this little trick was most likely caused by the head of Yongming County.

The episode passed quickly, and Prince Kang warmly greeted them. After tasting the peach blossom cake and drinking the peach blossom stuffed rice in the Wangfu, he said a few words, "Although the peach blossom stuffed rice in my mansion is not as good as your fourth grandpa's, it still has a special flavor." Afterwards, he slowly talked about the glazed wares.

When it comes to glazed vessels, Li Xingzhou is in high spirits, because they are also using glazed cups for drinking.

The glaze is light green and transparent, and is worth thousands of gold in the market. This set of glazed lamps can be sold for thousands of taels of silver, which is not an exaggeration at all.

"You must be curious, where do I get so many glazed wares in my mansion." Prince Kang asked straight to the point.

Li Xingzhou nodded.

"Actually, it's nothing, there is a glazer in my house." Kang Wang said lightly.

Li Xingzhou was taken aback, and almost spit out the peach blossom wine in his mouth, "Ahem, what? A glass craftsman!"

Li Xingzhou was surprised that the glass firing process and its secrets, because this kind of thing can make a lot of money, in order to avoid being coveted, the craftsmen have always been very secretive, passed down from generation to generation, and it is difficult for outsiders to know.

Although between 1550 BC and 1500 BC, glass vessels appeared in ancient Egypt and the Mesopotamia.At the same time, the glass technology from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Warring States Period in my country has become mature.

However, the price of these glass products is still extremely high, and the color is not pure. Judging from the unearthed cultural relics, the artistic level of glazed products in the Eastern Han Dynasty was already very high.Glazed tripods, glazed tiles, and glazed bowls and chopsticks emerge in endlessly, but they are different from later generations. At that time, glazed products were all worth thousands of gold, and ordinary people could not afford them.

The reason is very simple, there are few finished products, and the craftsmanship is secret and complicated. Whether it can be completed depends on the face, because the melting point of silicon, the main element of glass, is as high as [-] degrees. Unattainable.

Therefore, craftsmen can only use various complex processes to make up for the insufficient melting temperature of raw materials. At one time, there were more than 20 complex processes. If any step is missing, it will lead to failure, so colored glaze is worth a thousand gold.

"Don't you believe it?" Prince Kang said.

Li Xingzhou said: "There are so many glazed wares in Fourth Grandpa's house, I thought you had a special source of purchases, but you actually said that there are glazed craftsmen."

"Hahaha" Prince Kang laughed loudly: "Others praise you, saying that you are young, good at fighting, smart and sharp, but there are many things you don't know.

In the area of ​​Central Shu, there are glass craftsmen everywhere, but there are very few who can make good glaze. In addition, in the north of Central Shu, there are few people who use glaze in Gansu Prefecture. There are very few.

But Master Liuli in my mansion is different, he is from the Western Regions.

At that time, the various tribes in Tubo were fighting against each other. He happened to be doing business in Tubo from the Western Regions, but he was almost killed in the war.

At that time, he had a strange appearance and could not understand his language. He only carried a few high-quality glazed vessels on his body, and he could only make gestures when meeting people.The king could tell at a glance that he was probably a troubled businessman, so he took him in. "

Prince Kang laughed loudly when he said this: "I didn't expect that he is not only a merchant, but also a craftsman, who can make colored glaze, and his craftsmanship is even better than those in Shuzhong, Gansu Prefecture, and even Xia Kingdom.

The king left him in the mansion and gave him a high salary. He was also very grateful. Although he could not understand the language, he worked hard to learn. In return for his kindness, he even made many glazed vessels for my mansion. "

Li Xingzhou was dumbfounded, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It is not without reason that Prince Kang can live until now. His willful and free and easy is really free and easy. According to him, the artisans he took in may be from Central Asia or the Middle East , and possibly even further.

With a language barrier and a strange appearance, other people might avoid him besides being curious, but he didn't expect that he didn't care at all, and he was not afraid of any bad influence, so he took him in.

Probably the emperor saw through his temperament and it was impossible to gain a foothold in the power struggle, so not only did he not guard against him, he even made him a prince.

"Then why not sell it?" Li Xingzhou wondered: "If King Kang's Mansion is in the colored glaze business, relying on these high-quality colored glazes, not to mention the richness of the country, at least the generations will have no worries about food and clothing." Li Xingzhou knocked on the beautiful colored glaze bowl in front of him.

"Hehe, don't you think that you are the only one who is smart in the world. I also thought about it. If I sell glazed utensils, then my Prince Kang's mansion will become rich and wealthy in no time." Prince Kang laughed, and then became serious: "But At this time, the rebellion of King Wu occurred."

Speaking of this, he lowered his voice and said in a low voice: "After that incident, the emperor took all the relatives of the royal family away from Beijing to live in Beijing for half a year. What does this mean? You are so smart, I don't know if you understand it."

Li Xingzhou nodded, because of King Wu, the emperor began to be extremely worried about his relatives, especially Prince Kang, who was the only prince left after the removal of King Wu in the previous generation.

"The most important thing about King Wu is that he is far away from the imperial court, he is supported by various families, the mansion is rich, and it is more than enough to raise [-] soldiers." Speaking of this, Prince Kang tapped on the table lightly, "If that's the case, how dare I make any more colored glazes?" Business, and there are many children in the mansion, so I have to borrow some money from the emperor every year to maintain the mansion's livelihood."

Li Xingzhou fully understood, no wonder Prince Kang would rather put the valuable glazed wares on the rockery as decorations for his daughter in the garden instead of selling them to make money, it's really far-reaching, no wonder he can live so long.

"If you want the glaze firing method, it's okay for your fourth grandfather to tell you, but the craftsman has been in the palace for ten years, and he can speak most of the Chinese, and some still don't understand. You need to communicate with him yourself. .”

Li Xingzhou nodded: "Just take me to see him."

Today, around the timeline of the eleventh or twelfth centuries, if it is said that the best glass firing technology in the world should be the generation of Venice, but it is too far away, then the master is likely to be from the generation of Central Asia or the Middle East.

In the end, Prince Kang took him to see Master Liuli, and left Di Zhi and Princess Yongming in Taoyuan.

The colored glaze master has a separate small courtyard on the west side. The courtyard looks simple from the outside, but when you walk inside, you will find colored glaze products of various colors and styles piled up all around, which are really colorful and dazzling.

Li Xingzhou felt as if he had walked into a small gold and silver courtyard. These are probably the works accumulated by Master Liuli over the past ten years.

He couldn't help admiring Prince Kang's courage even more. If the old man wanted to get rich, he would be rich by selling these things out, but he would rather pile up these things here and eat ashes.

Probably he knew very well in his heart that if he really sold it, his life would be gone.

Walking along the small courtyard, passing through the front hall, there is a kiln in the backyard, the sky is filled with smoke and dust, a figure in linen clothes is staring at the small stove meticulously, when he sees someone coming, he turns his head, Li Xingzhou is stunned for a moment.

This man was in his 40s, with hair tied around his waist, dressed in Chinese clothes, golden hair, small forehead, deep eye sockets, high nose bridge, and obvious facial features. He couldn't be from Venice, could he?

And it's a woman!

"Hahaha, she is your Seventh Grandma." Prince Kang said as he walked over and hugged the woman's shoulders affectionately.

Li Xingzhou almost spit out a mouthful of old blood, so that's what you tm said about taking in
(End of this chapter)