The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 192 Chemistry comes from love?

The decree of granting marriage is issued, which means that the marriage is officially confirmed and the countdown to the wedding has begun.

Although this matter has long been an open secret, the ministers still paid enough attention to it.

Especially those who had a good relationship with Chen Jingke were sincerely happy for him and came to congratulate him one after another.

Lan Yu was the most proactive and directly prepared a dozen carts of treasures, saying they would be used as betrothal gifts for him.

But Chen Jingke disappeared. To be precise, he went into seclusion.

He entered the palace, found Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma, and claimed to prepare a unique betrothal gift for the princess.

Some craftsmen and materials are required, and absolute confidentiality is required.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma were both very surprised. They both knew the Chen family's family background.

Even when Feng was granted a royal title and Chen Jingke became his companion, the whole family still relied on the salary and Chen Yuan's pharmacy to make a living.

Although his life is better than that of ordinary people, he is not considered rich or wealthy.

Originally, there was no plan for Chen Jingke to give any betrothal gift.

Besides, Lao Zhu is not the kind of person who cares about face. A talented consort is more important than anything else.

But now that Chen Jingke took the initiative to speak, things were different.

It even claims to be unique.

They also want to know what it is that can be called unique.

Especially since both of them knew that he had some secret skills.

You can even make it with color-changing ink and acid-free paper, so maybe you can actually make some treasures.

People who don’t know the truth have a different view.

Those who care about him are worried that he won't be able to end it.

There is still some blame in my heart, why should it cause trouble?

More people were waiting to see the joke and get a unique betrothal gift.

You don’t even look at the family you are marrying. They are royals and don’t have any treasures.

What else can you come up with that’s unique?

Let's see how you plan to end it.

Princess Fuqing's biological mother, Concubine Zheng Ding, was very worried after hearing about this incident.

I complained a lot about this son-in-law in my heart. Can't we get married well?

Do we care about your betrothal gift? What should I do now?

She took out all her treasures and counted them.

I want to see if there is anything that can be called a unique treasure.

So that Chen Jingke can save his face.

It's just that she doesn't have a strong family background. She is just a transparent person in the palace, and she has to rely on her daughter to stabilize her position.

How could there be anything rare?

Looking at the pile of scrap metal, she almost burst into tears.

He not only hated himself for being incompetent, but also complained that Chen Jingke didn't know the importance.

Then she wanted to drag Princess Fuqing to ask Queen Ma: "Your Majesty attaches so much importance to Jing Ke and loves you very much. She will definitely not stand idly by."

Princess Fuqing was a little dumbfounded, but she was more moved.

This mother may not be very capable or have any great abilities, but she gives herself all the care and love:

"Don't worry, I know what he's capable of, and he never makes a mistake without aim. Just wait with peace of mind."

Concubine Zheng Ding obviously believed that her daughter was carried away by love and did not believe it.

Princess Fuqing couldn't tell her those secrets, so she could only say:

"Even if you don't believe me, you should believe in dad and mom."

"How could they let him mess around with such a big matter?"

"Besides, if you can think of something, how can your father and mother not think of it?"

"Even if he can't come up with something unique in the end, they won't let him make a fool of himself."

Hearing this, Concubine Zheng Ding felt relieved a little.

But she also repeatedly warned her daughter: "After you get married, you must keep a close eye on him, and don't let him be so ignorant again."

Princess Fuqing didn't say anything else, she just followed her and said:

"okay, I get it."
-

The preparation of the betrothal gift was Chen Jingke's last-minute idea.

He didn't have any thoughts in this regard at first, or in other words, he didn't have any special feelings for Princess Fuqing at first.

It's all an arranged marriage anyway, so there's really nothing to say about it.

Until the last time, she helped him expose the plans of the big guys.

Sometimes the heartbeat is just a momentary thing.

At that moment, his heart was touched and he had a different kind of emotion.

If a woman treats you wholeheartedly, what else is there to find fault with?

But until now, he still had not thought about the betrothal gift.

According to his opinion, Lao Zhu is not the kind of poor and fastidious person.

When Ouyang Lun married Princess Anqing, he didn't prepare any decent betrothal gift.

The wedding was still a success, and the couple had a deep relationship.

As the wedding day approached, his mind changed.

After all, this is marriage. In my previous life, I was still single when I was in my thirties.

You are getting married once in a lifetime, so you have to be careful.

Of course, royal weddings have fixed rules, and there's nothing he can do about it.

But the betrothal gift is something he can decide.

Just prepare a unique betrothal gift.

But it is too difficult to be unique, especially for the royal family. There are so many rare and exotic treasures that I have never seen before.

It’s too difficult to start cherishing things.

So we need to change our thinking and start from the value aspect.

What is of such high value that it can affect the country’s finances?

Glass.

This thing was comparable to a money printing machine in ancient times.

Originally, he was thinking that when science would be developed in the future, glass would be the first shot for science.

But there are too many products that can make a splash in science, and there is no shortage of products like glass.

And my wedding is only once in a lifetime, so I need glass even more.

As for why he didn't make his own glass and sell it, but gave the production method to Zhu Yuanzhang, the reason is simple.

Although Shen Wansan's story is false, the truth is true.

An individual is richer than the country. If you don't kill me, who will you kill?

It would be better to leave it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

But it can't be given unconditionally. If Lao Zhu develops a habit and wants to leave when he sees something good, that won't work either.

The bride price is a good excuse.

Princess Fuqing will also be very moved, and the life of the couple will be more harmonious after marriage.

It can be said that one stone kills two birds with one stone.

So, he decided to give the glass-making formula as a betrothal gift.

Regarding the method of making glass, no one in the past life didn't know it.

Just burn the sand.

What is difficult is removing impurities and creating transparent or specific-colored glass.

But this is not difficult for Chen Jingke. As a science student, he still knows some principles.

Speaking of glass, it actually existed a long time ago.

But it was called Liuli at that time.

The technology of burning glass is not unique to the West. China has records of burning glass very early, and glass products have also been unearthed from various ancient tombs.

Even from today's perspective, many of them can be regarded as top-notch works of art.

It's just that the glass fired in ancient China is lead-barium glass.

Because of its chemical properties, it is fragile and not resistant to high temperatures, so it is basically used as a decoration.

The utensils are not widely used.

Western soda-lime glass can withstand high temperatures and is used in a wider range of applications, and has been fully promoted.

The so-called soda-lime glass is made of quartz sand, borax, limestone and other materials.     The reason why these materials have color is that these materials contain metallic elements.

The method to remove metal elements is very simple. Add magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide and other substances for neutralization.

He didn't know how to get some of these neutralizing substances.

For example, alumina, he really didn't understand this stuff.

But some he knew,

For example, magnesium oxide has a natural mineral called periclase.

Once you know the material the rest is easy, just try and error over and over again.

After a few more experiments, you can always produce glass with high transparency, and then it will really be a money grab.

I wrote down the materials and rough steps needed to make glass, and designed a set of experimental procedures based on the current productivity. After several modifications, I was satisfied.

Of course, this process is only rough, and the specific production steps still need to be summarized in practice.

Naturally, the experiment cannot be conducted at home. Firstly, there are no conditions, and secondly, there are not enough helpers.

So he went directly to the palace to find Zhu Yuanzhang and said that he would make the betrothal gift with his own hands.

Lao Zhu was also very curious and prepared a test site exactly as he requested.

For the sake of confidentiality, a separate courtyard was set aside in the palace.

The required craftsmen, etc., are all provided by the palace.

Various raw materials are also purchased in batches.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the various stones on the list and was very confused.

Can these things make a unique big baby?

What kind of reaction does color-changing ink require? What can this pile of broken rocks do?

However, he knew that Chen Jingke had many secret techniques, and he might be able to create something weird.
-

When I don't get started, I always feel that things are very simple.

Only when you actually get started do you realize that this is not the case at all.

Burning glass is actually very simple. Chen Jingke asked someone to open the furnace and easily obtained a pile of molten glass.

After solidification, you will get a big ugly glass lump.

The group of craftsmen were shocked. They didn't expect that the colored glaze was made from sand and stones.

But Chen Jingke frowned. The temperature was not up to standard and the material was not completely melted.

It's been the same after trying it several times.

Even if charcoal and coal are used as materials, the temperature still cannot rise.

Only then did he remember that it seemed that alkali was needed to lower the melting point when burning glass.

But where could he get alkali in ancient times?

He does know the alkali production method. He knows both the Solvay method and Hou's method.

But with the current technology... let's think of other homespun methods.

He thought of soaking water with plant ash and filtering it to obtain soil alkali.

It does have some effect, but only a little.

Moreover, plant ash contains a variety of metal ions, making the glass produced more complex in color.

No way, let's look back and see how to get the alkali out.

Hou's alkali production method has higher production process requirements and is directly eliminated.

Solvay's alkali production method is relatively simple, but it can be tried reluctantly.

But then another big problem came. Making alkali requires ammonia as a reactant.

He knew how to prepare ammonia, but he couldn't do it with the current technology.

After thinking about it, he actually came up with a solution that was not a solution.

Cow.

When cows eat grass, the materials ferment in their stomachs, producing a mixed gas, in which ammonia accounts for a high proportion.

I wonder if alkali can be produced using this gas.

No matter, let’s give it a try first.

So I wrote a note and thoughtfully included a safe way to get 'cowardly'.

Make a thin hollow tube and insert it into the cow's stomach from under the skin to deflate it.

Then use the animal bladder as a container to contain the gas.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this list, he finally lost his nerve.

Even if you need stones, now you even need cow stomach gas? Do you want cow dung?

However, he still asked people to collect the required gas and send it in according to the method.

Not to mention, after several rounds of experiments, soda ash was actually prepared.

In the Solvay alkali production method, ammonia gas can be reused.

In theory, he could have access to countless bases.

It's just that the production efficiency is a bit low.

Chen Jingke even admired his own whimsical ideas.

Moreover, three acids and two bases are the mother liquor of chemistry.

Now that all these things are in place, the wings for chemical takeoff are in place.

I just don’t know how future generations will react when they hear that they made glass and made alkali in order to get a dowry gift for their daughter-in-law.

Well, one might say that modern chemistry originated from love.

It should gain a lot of fans.

With the addition of alkali, a completely dissolved glass solution was obtained.

The rest is simple. Adjust the proportion of various neutralizing materials to finally obtain transparent glass.

At that moment, Chen Jingke was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Then it is just a matter of constant repetition to summarize the most suitable production process.

When the craftsmen understand the principles of making glass, nothing will happen to Chen Jingke.

This group of skill masters began to show off their skills in various tricks.

Add various materials to get the color you want.

Some craftsmen even created gradient colors by accident. Although the success rate is very low and the finished product depends on luck, it is amazing enough.

All kinds of glass crafts are made in their hands.

There are many products that even Chen Jingke, a time traveler, are amazed by.

Chen Jingke is not idle either, he is planning to make a glass product with his own hands.

He doesn't have that much artistic talent and can't come up with any new tricks.

So I made a minimalist product, a flat mirror.

A plane mirror requires flat glass, and small pieces of flat glass can be obtained by blowing bottles.

First blow the glass solution into a bile shape, cut off both ends, then cut it vertically, spread it, and polish it slightly.

But this method can only make small flat glass one foot square.

A large piece of flat glass several feet long cannot be obtained by blowing air.

The technology for industrial production of large flat glass was not conquered until the 1950s and 1960s.

It's float glass.

Before this, it could only be obtained by hand polishing.

Even the most skilled workers need more than a hundred man-hours to polish it.

So the price is very expensive.

It is said that Emperor Tongzhi wanted to install a large piece of glass on his door, which would cost 40,000 taels of silver.

Although there is a suspicion of being taken advantage of, it also shows how expensive the price of large pieces of flat glass is.

Chen Jingke first asked people to use the method of blowing bottles to make a batch of small flat mirrors.

Then we hired a few craftsmen who were good at polishing and spent half a month making four large mirrors that were six feet long and three feet wide.

During this half month, other craftsmen showed their talents and created hundreds of various handicrafts.

The process of making glass has also become mature through constant experiments.

Chen Jingke finally decided to leave the country.

Think about the expressions of those people outside when they saw this betrothal gift...

It’s really exciting.

(End of this chapter)