Chapter 212 The Royal Glass Factory of Ming Dynasty

After years of rumors, especially the vigorous publicity of Wuzhaibao Newspaper in Wuzhaibao, the father-in-laws of Shanglinyuanjian have also heard of them.

They were also very strange, why are the various livestock farms in Wuzhai Fort so popular, but Shanglinyuan Prison, which has huge resources, not as good as a small Wuzhai Fort? Therefore, after Huang Laifu came to Xishan, the eunuchs kept asking questions.

Huang Laifu talked about the development model of the livestock farm orchard in Wuzhaibao. According to his opinion, the reason why Shanglinyuanjian was not developing well was inseparable from the business styles that were like human labor. For example, they pastoral livestock and plant fruits and vegetables, they allocated some households as human labor households, raise one sheep every two cents and one cattle every five cents, and then they had to bring their own cow seeds, cultivate and eat, and feed the animals. This forced work is not allowed to be freely traded, and with the invasion of all kinds of people, it is understandable that they have no enthusiasm.

More importantly, this free-range method cannot be compared with the concentrated and large-scale feeding of various livestock farms in Wuzhaibao. If Shanglinyuan Supervision wants to develop, it will still follow the development model of Wuzhaibao in the future.

June 15, 24th year of Wanli.

After receiving Huang Laifu's quick horse call, on that day, Gu Shibao, deputy director of the Wuzhaibao Grain Bureau and director of the Mining Bureau, Wang Qinian, director of the Wuzhaibao Animal Husbandry Bureau, Jiang Yongsheng, director of the Vegetable Bureau, Han Bing, director of the Fruit Tree Bureau, Qu Yuanrui, president of the Wuzhaibao Chamber of Commerce, and others, together with some local craftsmen and merchants from Wuzhaibao, came to the capital.

That night, Huang Laifu and the little leaders held a meeting to discuss the business of the Sangong Imperial Village in Wanping to achieve the effect of using points to lead the surface in the matters of the Sangong Imperial Village. A few days later, in Wanping, everyone followed the Wuzhaibao model and drove vigorously. All the tenants in the Sangong Imperial Village were turned into employees and signed a contract with them. Recruiting and organizing personnel, building water conservancy canals for the fields of the Sangong Imperial Village in various villages and fields, digging irrigation wells, and placing water trucks.

At the same time, in the Wanping Sangong Imperial Village, various vegetable gardens, orchards, pig farms, and chicken farms were opened. After the white silver was used, the land of Wanping Sangong Imperial Village seemed to have become a large construction site.

In order to operate the imperial village, according to the Wuzhaibao model, although there are not so many people required, some of the original tenant farmers were released. However, the construction of water conservancy and opening various livestock farms and orchards required a large number of people. And those water trucks could not be transported from Shanxi. They all needed to be built locally under the guidance of Wuzhaibao craftsmen, and they also needed manpower. In this way, not only were the surplus people re-arranged, but the villagers in the Sangong Imperial Village area were insufficient and needed to recruit people from outside.

Due to the stable and attractive remuneration, for a time, not to mention that the people of Wanping County came to work, even the people of other counties came to Wanping, making Wanping more lively. According to the Wuzhaibao model, the original land of the imperial village was turned into a farm, and there were many livestock farms, which required a large number of literate documents and accounting rooms. These personnel had to be solved locally. For a time, the minor officials of Wanping County went to the farm to work part-time.

Huang Laifu's big deal in Wanping soon spread to the capital, and the citizens were talking about it and became a hot topic in the capital. Over the years, Huang Laifu has been quite famous, and everyone is very curious about the achievements he created in Wuzhai Fort. Now he has come to Wanping again, and everyone wants to see what kind of reputation this general will make in Wanping County.

To run the imperial farm in Wanping, you also need to cooperate with Shanglin Yuanjian, of course, it requires a lot of money. However, this money is not a problem for Huang Laifu, and the future returns will not be that much. This investment is worth it. Moreover, there are a large number of Wuzhai Fort merchants waiting to cooperate with him. The important part of the capital is Beijing City nearby. If Wanping is turned into another Wuzhai Fort, it can be said that he has created another money tree, so why don’t everyone flock to it?

On June 20, the weather in Beijing was hot.

The East Warm Pavilion in the palace is warm in winter and cool in summer, and there are also ground dragons with circulating flowing water, which is quite cool and comfortable. Huang Laifu was having a question and answer with Emperor Wanli while eating the noodle soup for heat relief and heat relief from the heat gift from Emperor Wanli.

Emperor Wanli asked about the three palaces of Wanping for a while. After hearing that the progress was going smoothly, he nodded with satisfaction, looking forward to the place where he would be in the past year. Huang Laifu's style was to try his best to delegate power to his subordinates. Wuzhaibao's farms and livestock farms have been operating for many years and have formed a complete development system. After Gu Shibao, Wang Qinian and others came to Beijing, Huang Laifu handed them all over the matters of the three palaces of Wanping for them, and he was idle.

Emperor Wanli stood up, walked back and forth in the cabinet with his hands on his back, and sighed: "In the past two years, the country's daily use has been scarce. It has been plagued by Ningxia and conquered North Korea, and it costs millions of silver. At present, the Japanese are ready to move, afraid that the second battle to Pacification will be held, and they don't know how much silver is needed. It's just that the national treasury is empty. Even the two palaces of Kunning and Ganqing have no money to rebuild, and the country has no money to do so. It's really a sigh. I wonder what wonderful method does Huang Aiqing have?"

During the First Battle of Korea, Emperor Wanli asked Huang Laifu the same question, and now he asked again, showing financial difficulties and Emperor Wanli was helpless. In the past few years, Huang Laifu also thought about related issues carefully. Now he said: "Return to the emperor, according to my repeated consideration, the potential of the dynasty has been explored. Since ancient times, I have only heard of farmers rebelling, but I have never heard of merchants rebelling. The farmers cannot be suppressed too much, and merchants can kill them. In the future, if you want a prosperous financial situation, you can only start with the state's commercial tax, mining tax, or issuance of national bonds."

According to Huang Laifu's idea, the Ming Dynasty has developed to the present, and business is prosperous. If the commercial tax collection is perfected and it is easy to collect tens of millions or hundreds of millions of taels of silver a year. According to Huang Laifu, from the historical materials collected from his laptop, the Ming Dynasty's commercial tax revenue included 2.5 million taels of salt tax, more than 100,000 taels of tea tax, 40,000 taels of market tax, 600,000 taels of pass tax, and 200,000 taels of business tax, and the total amount is only 3.4 million taels.

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the annual income of salt, wine and tea alone was 47.52 million guan. Assuming that the money in the Song Dynasty was about one tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty, this means that the taxes on these three items were seventeen times that of the Ming Dynasty! It also included other commercial tax revenues. The prosperity of the business in the late Ming Dynasty must have exceeded that in the late Song Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty had great potential to dig in the collection of commercial tax and mining tax.

However, if this is to be collected, it involves very complicated matters. After all, the Ming Dynasty is now an official businessman, and the people who do business are all the families or slaves of officials. Any money-making industry has their figures flashing behind. Moving the money of those merchants is equivalent to mobilizing the money of all officials. All officials are literati and senior intellectuals, and they have mastered the right to speak at this time. It is conceivable that there will be a bloody battle at that time. However, Huang Laifu knew that Emperor Wanli had the courage and courage. If he had his weak father Emperor Longqing, Huang Laifu would not say this.

Huang Laifu spoke so directly that Emperor Wanli couldn't help but coughed lightly, but he admired Huang Laifu's temperament, straight up and down, not hypocritical, and was all for his own consideration. He nodded and said, "I will think about this matter carefully."

For Emperor Wanli, levying commercial taxes, mining, etc., this is something that must be done, but he still needs more money, preferably some immediate financial opportunities. At this moment, he changed the topic and said: "Manager Huang Aiqing's Three Palaces Imperial Village is going well. I intend to hand over the various imperial stores to Aiqing's business again. What do you think?"

Huang Laifu said: "I thank the emperor for his kindness, but the imperial shop is not as complicated as the imperial shop. All kinds of things are complicated. The father-in-laws of the imperial shop are also well managed. I believe that I am not more skilled than them. Perhaps, I can invest in some money-making projects and manage them with you."

Indeed, Huangzhuang itself had the vision and insights of later generations and could develop uniquely according to the method of a big farm. However, in business, Huang Laifu did not think that he was more sophisticated than the current merchants and eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the business was prosperous. In Beijing, there were more than 40,000 merchants, and the business scope involved more than 130 industries. In the south and north of the Yangtze River, there were countless wealthy businessmen, with millions or tens of millions of wealthy businessmen. At this time, the big salt merchant Tan Jingqing, the big jeweller Tu Zongshun, and the big timber merchant Wang Tianjun were all representatives of the rich businessmen.

These big merchants monopolized many industries and had a profound background behind them. Even if Huang Laifu had the support of Emperor Wanli, he would not know how to die if he wanted to fight with these people. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were originally many official handicraft workshops distributed in major and medium-sized cities across the country, such as the Qingli Office. In Beijing, more than 1,100 handicraft workshops were established, such as glazed tiles, bricks, tiles, wood, copper and iron utensils, various wooden barrels, steamers, charcoal, dragon beds, furniture, crowns, robes, shoes and socks, etc., all of them were under management. However, by the Wanli period, they all went bankrupt. This shows the power of civil and commercial affairs.

Regarding imperial shops, the reputation of the imperial shops is not good in history. In Ming Dynasty, it is said that "all the goods in the world are conquered and merchants have no profit." In fact, the total annual income of the imperial shops in various places is only 80,000 taels of silver. Even if the three items of the royal family's ranch, the imperial shop and the imperial shop are calculated together, it is only 230,000 taels of silver per year. It is not as good as the income of the salt merchant Tan Jingqing in one year. The profit of the imperial shops is far less than that of the things that some merchants operated at that time.

There are also many things in the imperial shops, and their interests are entangled. The projects they operate are also monotonous. In addition to some flower and wine shops, some grocery stores, and some tax detentions, they are gone. After I manage the imperial shops, if I want to develop, I must open new projects, so that I will fight fiercely with merchants of all sizes in the Ming Dynasty. After all, the interests of those industries are occupied by them. I also have to fight with the eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Prison. Many things in the imperial shops are managed by them. How to divide the benefits of power at that time? Many eunuchs and private shops have private shops. What should I say? I will not talk about them when I am busy or hard, but if I can’t make money, it will also affect my position in the minds of Emperor Wanli.

It’s better to enter some new projects yourself and cooperate with the eunuchs. This is simpler and will easily form a monopoly new industry, which saves worries and effort, and makes a lot of money. In Huang Laifu’s mind, glass factories, cement factories, etc. can cooperate with the royal family in the future. These are things with great development prospects and will definitely make a fortune. Huang Laifu can imagine that after the large-scale production of glass and cement, the common people in the Ming Dynasty can use it, and they can also export it overseas. What a big market that is and how much money can you make.

There are also large supermarkets, etc., which can also be set up in the capital. If this type of supermarket was placed in the Han and Tang Dynasties, of course it had no future, because the shops could not be opened at will, and they were all concentrated in several workshops in the city. Their own commercial goods were concentrated like large supermarkets, but they had great potential for development in the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Huang Laifu's explanation of the glass factory, cement factory, and supermarket, Emperor Wanli was also very interested and repeatedly urged Huang Laifu to go and do it quickly.

The Ming Dynasty had 24 supervisors, including the Military Bureau, Silver Works Bureau, Washing Clothes Bureau, Scarf and Hat Bureau, Needle Industry Bureau, Internal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, Wine and Vinegar and Noodles Bureau, and Siyuan Bureau. They were mastered by full-time eunuchs. Among the 24 supervisors, there were many hand-made production bases such as factory warehouses, temples, and houses serving the royal family, as well as baking shops, wine shops, sweets shops, military shops, horse houses, and even a printing library.

Most of the things the royal family needs can be done here without having to pretend to be outside.

Among the twenty-four yamen of the Four Departments and Eight Bureaus, the Silver Bureau is a place that specializes in creating gold and silver jewelry decorations, and controls several smelting workshops, including a special place for smelting glass.

In Huang Laifu's plan, the cement factory can be done first. After all, he has mastered the formula and has rich experience in opening cement factories in Wuzhaibao and other places. Supermarkets are simple, so you can just leave this kind of thing to Qu Yuanrui. He led a large number of Wuzhaibao merchants and after he arrived in the capital, he was staring at the Jingji market with a fierce look.

However, for glass factories and other related matters, I have to discuss with the Silver Bureau. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, they monopolized the production of glass and controlled the relevant technical craftsmen. In addition, glass and glass have a very different related technologies, so I have to let the Silver Bureau study and study them carefully.

According to the things Huang Laifu collected from his laptop, although there were relevant scientific and technological information on glass manufacturing, he was powerless without a special smelting craftsman. Even he could not make glass. Speaking of which, glass was simple to make, only quartz sand, soda ash, feldspar and limestone could be made at high temperatures. However, with the previous experience in developing cement, Huang Laifu knew that it was simpler to say but difficult to make. Even if he was a craftsman from Wuzhaibao, he would not be able to make it in a year or two.

Besides, glass was called glazed at this time by the Ming Dynasty. The ownership and production of glazed glass were exclusive to the royal family. Whoever smelted privately is equivalent to a transcendence. Huang Laifu must first discuss with the silver bureau before making glass can be made.

Speaking of which, the history of making glass in China is considered to be long. It was first recorded in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. There was a legend of "Xi Shi Tears" during the Warring States Period, which was also about glass. Yuan Zhen of the Tang Dynasty described "There is color and ice, and nothing is separated from the dust." However, people called it glass at that time. It was not until the glass of Western countries was introduced to China that the name glass was called glass.

Especially in the Han Dynasty, the production level of glass was quite mature. However, the smelting technology was mastered in the hands of royal nobles and was always secretly passed down. Glazed, like apricot yellow and dragon patterns, belonged to the royal family and had extremely strict hierarchical requirements for users. Only real royal family could use glass products. It is rare among the people, so people at that time regarded glass as even more precious than jade. Even in the Ming Dynasty, due to the war in the early Ming Dynasty, many skills were lost, and glass was included, but the incomplete glass craftsmanship was still protected by grades. At this time, glass was already very impenetrable, so it was called medicine jade. "The Ming Dynasty" records: The ornament awarded to the top scholar by the emperor was medicine jade, and only the fourth grade or above were equipped.

Of course, glass is unpredictable due to its color flow and unpredictable, and belongs to an art and culture. The glass needed by Huang Laifu is a commercial and practical item. Although in the strong literati culture of the Ming Dynasty, transparent glass may not be as valuable as colorful glass, but if it is promoted and glass is installed on the windows of every household, it will be an unimaginable source of wealth. If glass mirrors can be developed, it would be even more amazing.

With this thought, Huang Laifu came to the Yinfu Bureau of the Inner Palace. The Yinfu Bureau had a member of the eunuch in charge of the seal, which was under the jurisdiction of the manager, secretary, book writer, supervisor and other personnel. The eunuch in charge of the seal had already received the order of Emperor Wanli, so he warmly welcomed Huang Laifu and brought Huang Laifu to the Yizhen Glass Kiln Smelting Factory outside the suburbs of Beijing, where he specialized in the production of utensils and other items for the royal family. Every year, he had to burn tens of thousands of glazed wall-colored cloud dragon pattern boxes, plates, and jars.

Here, there is a hundred households of Jinyiwei, some guardians and soldiers, as well as many craftsmen. It can be said that the talents who smelted glass in the Ming Dynasty were here.

As Huang Laifu imagined, there were thick smoke in each kiln here, full of smoke and dust, and many craftsmen covered in gray were coming and going. As soon as they entered the factory, Gu Dadao beside Huang Laifu couldn't help but sneeze several times.

Next to the glass kiln in the factory, indoors, Huang Laifu was lucky enough to see the glass making process in the Ming Dynasty. Huang Laifu found that the glass making process at this time was quite complicated. From the fire and the water, from the conception, design, sculpture, firing, careful repair, and polishing to the completion of the work, it takes at least forty-seven exquisite and tedious manual processes to complete.

Especially for some fine products, it takes quite time to produce. Not only can one work be made by a mold, some of which take more than ten or twenty days to make, and they mainly rely on handmade production. Among them, it is quite difficult to grasp all aspects, and the difficulty of grasping the temperature can be said to be half by skills and half by luck.

Huang Laifu estimated that the yield rate of just one item was only 70%. What’s more important is that glass cannot be recycled, unlike gold and silver products. That is to say, once a little problem occurs, the efforts of many people will be immediately lost in ten days or dozens of processes. On the contrary, the smelting of glass is much simpler. No wonder in ancient times, it was more important to pay more attention to glass and despise glass.

Of course, Huang Laifu understands the practicality, commercialization and popularization of glass very well. In order to bring light to dark houses, after the glass is mass-produced in the future, no one will mind spending some money to decorate their houses.

Since Huang Laifu promised future benefits and talked about the prospects of the future glass factory, the eunuch in charge of the Yinzhuan Bureau was also very enthusiastic. After Huang Laifu visited the Yizhen Glass Kiln Smelting Factory, he recruited supervisors in the factory, and some experienced craftsmen to discuss glass development with Huang Laifu.

There are some information about glass manufacturing technology at this time, but Huang Laifu knew it was far from enough, after all, it was too general. At this time, there was a book in the West that specifically discussed glass manufacturing. The book was titled "On Glass Technology". The author was Antonio Neri, a priest from Florence. When he traveled around Italy and Low Countries, he collected information about glass manufacturing and wrote it. Unfortunately, Huang Laifu could not get this book, so he could only rely on the craftsmen to explore it first.

No matter what, whether glass has been developed or not, the shelves of the glass factory must be curled first. Under Huang Laifu's instructions and Qu Yuanrui's arrangement, a factory called "Da Ming Royal Glass Factory" was established next to the Yizhen Glass Kiln Smelting Factory.
Chapter completed!