After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 524 New Window
Hai Jiao waved his hand: "It's not that I want to make any new tricks on the windows of my house. It's the house that Xiao Jin has prepared for Ma Shangyi and Guard Lin. He has already opened two new windows, and he is thinking about what tricks he wants to make."

Although Jin Jiashu was quite afraid of Ma Shangyi and Lin Guards, he also knew that he could not get rid of them. He could only find ways to please them as much as possible so that they could stand up for him in front of his "aunt" and the Queen Mother and Emperor in the palace. Say good things so that he can go to Beijing to reunite with his relatives as soon as possible, instead of arousing the emperor's suspicion and losing his life in an unknown day.

What he would do after Ma and Lin moved into the house was a matter for the future. Now that he has to prepare a new home for these two people, he naturally hopes to keep it clean and tidy, and must make their stay comfortable. However, no matter how young he is, he still knows that these two people are accustomed to being rich and powerful in the capital, and they live in many palaces and mansions. No matter how he decorates his small house, it is impossible for them to attract their attention, and besides, he has it in his hands. There's not that much money to spend. Therefore, he could only start small and come up with some new tricks to give them a sense of freshness.

Now he has repainted the walls of the house and replaced all the furniture with new ones. The materials used are better than those he used himself. He also asked Zhou Yijun to find out the preferences of Ma Shangyi and Lin Weiwei, and asked Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian and his three teachers painted two paintings of landscapes, flowers and birds, and got some bottles, cans, curtains, and fresh flowers to decorate the house in the backyard fresh and elegant. As for Guard Lin, getting a few good knives, swords, bows, arrows, and furs would be enough.

Once the new windows are installed, these two rooms will be ready for people to move in at any time.

Haitang suddenly understood after hearing this, but she was confused about one thing: "Didn't I give him some advice before? Get some broken glass and set up a glass lattice window, which is unique and translucent. You all agreed at the time, why don't you do it now? Did you do this? Is it difficult to get rid of broken glass?”

Hai Jiao sighed: "Don't mention it. Broken glass is naturally not difficult to get. I had a way to get it, but Zhou Yijun came back. He said he could get larger pieces of glass. I thought that would be better than broken glass. If I wanted a stronger piece, I asked him to get it. Sure enough, he had an idea. He took Jin Jiashu and I into the glass workshop and got a pile of glass pieces. They were all flat and neat. The smallest one was about the size of a palm, and the largest one was about the size of a palm. The bronze mirror on Grandma's dressing cabinet was as big as this. I thought that this piece of glass was much better than we originally thought, and I was very happy.

"Who would have thought that by chance, an adult in charge of the workshop came over and asked us what we were doing here? He was a relative of the Zhou family. Zhou Yijun called him uncle, so he answered honestly. Now all the glass pieces were gone, and he was happy He happily sent us out of the workshop, and said that he would cover all the windows in Xiao Jin’s house, and introduced us to a good craftsman. He even paid the wages for Xiao Jin, except for the glass windows.”

Haitang blinked: "What do you mean? He... took away our creativity?"

Hai Jiao paused for a moment before he figured out what "creative" meant, and nodded: "He said we came up with a good idea and helped him a lot. But now the workshop can't take care of making windows for people outside." , let’s wait a year or two. Maybe by next year, the workshop will be able to sell stained glass windows in the city.”

However, Jin Jiashu is eager to get new windows, so don’t count on it.

Later, Zhou Yijun asked an acquaintance to inquire and found out what was going on.

Although the glassware produced by the Chang'an Glass Workshop has always sold well, because there are also workshops from Gansu and Suzhou competing, and the number of Dashi craftsmen who are good at fine products is too small, the person in charge hopes to develop more Some new products to expand the market. At first, businessmen from the capital and Jiangnan accidentally mentioned it, saying that the glass mirrors imported from abroad sold very well there, and a palm-sized mirror could be worth a hundred gold. The manager of the glass workshop wanted to study how to make mirrors, but before he could get the finished product, he stumbled upon the problem of making flat glass pieces.

It’s not that the craftsmen in their workshop can’t make flat glass pieces, it’s just that the glass pieces they make always have some flaws, either with blemishes or bubbles, or the surface isn’t smooth and flat enough, so it’s easy to break. Even if they make a mirror, it won’t work. It will illuminate people in strange shapes.

Glass pieces are fragile, so you can try to make them as thick as possible, but a mirror that reflects a person in a crooked way, even if it is sold under the name of a precious glass mirror, will not fetch a high price. In order to practice their skills, the craftsmen in the workshop made many large and small glass pieces, but only a few pieces could be used to make mirrors. No wonder the people in charge are worried about this!
Now that Hai Jiao and Jin Jiashu have contributed the method of stained glass windows, the glass workshop only needs to cooperate with carpenters and use those defective glass pieces to decorate the stained glass windows to clean them. After all, as long as the glass window can transmit light and you can see the scenery outside the window, it doesn't matter if it has flaws. At worst, you can just cover the parts with serious flaws and bubbles with wooden ribs.

In this way, the craftsmen can continue to practice making glass pieces. If they succeed, they can be used to make mirrors. If they fail, they can be used to frame windows. They are not afraid of a little waste. Both can be sold for money. The workshop is equivalent to having two kinds of glass. New product.

Hai Jiao said: "It is said that the merchants from the capital and Jiangnan have seen the finished product and are very satisfied with it, and are willing to pay a high price to buy it. But they plan to use these two things as tributes for this year. Since the emperor is friendly to the Zhou family Of course, the Zhou family must show their appreciation. Of course, when the emperor is satisfied with the use, the workshop will be able to sell it at a higher price. Zhou Yijun said that recently, their family is looking for someone to draw the glass used in the door. On the flower window. My cousin is not interested, but Grandpa Cao and Grandpa Lu both got involved and each sent a drawing. I don’t know whose drawing will be chosen.”

I see. No wonder the two elders have been painting all day long recently.

Haitang figured it out: "My brother said before that there are flat glass pieces of different sizes in the workshop that can be used to frame windows. I was confused. Those were not scrapped glass fragments. How could I just give them to Brother Jin? So it turns out that they are scraps from the manufacturing of glass mirrors? This is a good thing. If the glassware in Chang'an sells well, the military expenses of the frontier army can be increased. If it’s enough, even if the emperor turns against us in the future, we won’t have to worry about the soldiers going hungry.”

Haitang didn't care that her idea was robbed, since it was not her idea in the first place. But as a result, the new windows in Jinjiacun's house were missing, and they had to find another way to fill them.

Haitang thought for a while: "Glass windows are actually better to use in winter. They can block the wind and transmit light. If you close the doors and windows tightly in the house, you don't need to light a lamp to read the words on the book clearly. It's just possible to use them in summer. It’s a bit stuffy, so it’s better to open the window to cool down. In my opinion, it’s better to install gauze curtains on the new windows to ensure that the people in the house can stay cool. It’s not too late to wait until autumn.”

Hai Jiao was reminded by her: "I almost forgot. Both the Zhenguo Palace and the Tang Palace have gauze drawers, but our family doesn't use them much. There must be some in the palace. I was there in my previous life. It’s not uncommon for dignitaries in the capital to use it in their homes. It’s not a novelty, but it’s something that Ma Shangyi and Lin Wei are accustomed to using every day. It may satisfy them more than any kind of beautiful flower windows!”

Yarn drawers are much easier to make. The master in charge of the glass workshop introduced the craftsman to them. He specializes in making doors and windows for people. He must be familiar with the method of making gauze drawers. Just tell him that if you pick a pattern, it shouldn't take long to complete it, right?
Just... what kind of pattern should I choose?
(End of this chapter)