Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 435: Chapter 417 Glass Craftsmanship

The next day, Luo Shang brought his people to the glass workshop and took away all the telescopes from the warehouse.

In total, there were three thousand telescopes; Luo Shang first paid thirty thousand taels of silver.

This thirty thousand taels of silver was the first income of the glass workshop.

With this first income, Zhu Dahai worked with even more motivation.

”Marquis, the newly recruited five hundred apprentices have been arranged. They only need a month to start engaging in glass production.”

In the glass workshop, Zhu Dahai showed Yang Zhenshan the manufacturing of glass.

Yang Zhenshan set up the glass workshop in the north of Chongshan Pass, right next to the barracks and the General Mansion guarding Chongshan Pass. The glass workshop had two doors; one door directly accessed the General Mansion while the other was opposite the main gate of the barracks.

The security of the glass workshop was the same as the General Mansion, guarded by soldiers from the Camp.

Now the production technology of the glass workshop was already high, capable of making plate glass, pressed glass, laminated glass, and glaze glass.

Various shapes of glass products could also be manufactured almost entirely.

The only challenging thing to make was the glass with high transparency. Although the workshop had been making telescope lenses for years, the success rate of these lenses was still less than thirty percent.

On the contrary, brightly colored glaze glass was easier to make. The addition of various pigments even hid the imperfections in the transparency of the glass.

”Where are the glass ornaments you made?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

”Please follow me, Marquis!” Zhu Dahai led Yang Zhenshan to a storeroom.

The storeroom was filled with display cabinets, and on top were various glass artifacts.

There were lifelike horses, sparkling golden Buddha statues, formidable birds of prey, and various auspicious creatures, all of which amazed Yang Zhenshan.

”Are these all recently made?”

”Eh, not all. Previously, everyone made some unique items occasionally when they had spare time. However, you had ordered previously that they should not be circulated, so most of the pieces remained in the storeroom.”

”These are the masterpieces selected from them, many of which were just finished recently.”

”For example, this Buddha statue was made by Carpenter Wang. He used to carve wooden Buddha statues, so he thought of making one out of glass!” Zhu Dahai explained.

Yang Zhenshan looked curiously at the gold in the Buddha statue and then picked it up for a closer look. He found that the object was solid with what seemed like a layer of gold leaf inside.

”Is there gold leaf inside?” asked Yang Zhenshan.

”No, it’s colored glass, using gold paint,” said Zhu Dahai.

Yang Zhenshan marveled. Although there were some flaws due to issues with the glass craftsmanship, it looked like a fine artifact.

If sold, Yang Zhenshan thought it could fetch a few thousand taels of silver with no problem.

But the cost of producing this kind of item, despite its impressive appearance, is much simpler than making the lens of a telescope.

Human ingenuity should not be underestimated. Initially, the method of producing glass was taught to them by Yang Zhenshan. However, now, Yang Zhenshan could hardly understand how it was made.

”Not bad, not bad,” praised Yang Zhenshan.

”Make more of these; they will soon be of great use!”

”Yes, I have already instructed others to produce them and have some skilled craftsmen researching new items,” said Zhu Dahai.

Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction.

Craftsmen are indeed eager researchers; as long as you support them, their inventions will far exceed your expectations.

Yang Zhenshan verified this long ago with the engineering team of the Tenglong Guard.

Creating crossbows and trebuchets, the Tenglong Guard’s engineering craftsmen started from scratch. Initially, they were just ordinary carpenters and blacksmiths, but now they are not much inferior to the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry.

Similarly, the craftsmen of the glass workshop also possess strong research capabilities.

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Returning from the glass workshop to the General Mansion, Yang Zhenshan was preparing to check today’s documents in the study when he saw a soldier from the Camp running over hurriedly, ”Reporting to the Marquis, there is an eunuch from the Ritual Supervision asking to see you!”

”An eunuch from the Ritual Supervision! Are you sure?” Yang Zhenshan was somewhat astonished.

This is Chongshan Town, where did an eunuch from the Ritual Supervision come from?

Moreover, what business would an eunuch from the Ritual Supervision have in Chongshan Town?

”The person has eight people with him, the one leading speaks in a high-pitched voice, sounds much like an eunuch. They are disheveled, likely having traveled a long distance,” the soldier hadn’t seen an eunuch from the Ritual Supervision before, but that didn’t prevent him from deducing their origins through observation.

”Do they have a waist token?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

”Yes, they were using a bronze token. I’ve examined it; it doesn’t seem to be forged,” the soldier replied.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and then strode towards the front hall of General Mansion.

By the time he arrived at the front hall, he saw a tall and upright middle-aged man leisurely drinking tea.

The man had a dignified appearance and didn’t seem like an eunuch. However, appearances alone could not confirm if someone was an eunuch.

Not all eunuchs look lowly or sleazy. In fact, most eunuchs who move outside the Imperial City are dignified and handsome.

The unsightly ones, those with poor images, are not sent out on assignments by the Imperial City. The old Emperor also cared about appearances and aesthetics. He naturally wouldn’t let an ugly creature serve by his side, as seeing such an eyesore every day would make him uncomfortable too.