Chemical reactions take time. Hua Qingxue explained clearly the materials and steps needed to make a mirror, leaving two apprentices to look after her while she left first.
Liang Wensheng and Su Shaowen did not dare to neglect Hua Qingxue's instructions. On the same day, they found the supervisors of the various workshops of the Ordnance Supervisor and asked for help to find materials.
Hua Qingxue has a very high reputation in the military. When everyone heard that she was going to make something, they all became very enthusiastic.
The iron camp worked all night long to make molds, and the skilled carvers made various mirror backs. Everyone in the camp came to watch, wanting to see what Hua Qingxue was going to make.
The commotion was a bit loud, and even Fu Tingye heard about it.
When the general asked, he found out that it was Hua Qingxue who was preparing gifts for Sheng Jing and his party. He thought for a moment and thought that he would inevitably have to go to the palace to meet the emperor and the empress dowager, so it would be good to bring some gifts.
Fu Tingye waved his hand and sent a box of gold and silver jewelry to the craftsman.
Since it is a gift sent to the palace, it must be made of gold and silver to look better. It is best to be inlaid with coral, jade, etc. Even the box used to put the gift must be made of fine small-leaf red sandalwood.
Hua Qingxue had no idea about this. She just wanted to make a few mirrors, which could be given as gifts to Fu's mother and used to coax Li Jingnan to play with. She killed two birds with one stone. As for the materials or packaging, she didn't think about it at all.
Hua Qingxue handed over the task of making mirrors to Liang Wensheng and Su Shaowen, while she went to work on the handmade soap.
Once you get busy, time flies by and the day of departure is approaching in a blink of an eye.
The day before departure, Mr. Xu, the chief clerk of the Ordnance Supervision, gave everyone a half-day holiday and took a group of craftsmen to visit the firearms camp.
The glass mirror is not considered a military weapon, and anyone who belongs to the Qingzhou camp can visit it at will.
Most of the craftsmen in the Firearms Camp were selected from the Ordnance Supervisor. Everyone on both sides knew each other. In addition, the production of glass mirrors was also helped by the Ordnance Supervisor. Everyone became more friendly when they met, and it was a good opportunity to exchange experiences with each other.
Tables have been set up in the open space outside the glass workshop. There are many mirrors on the table, including round hand mirrors, oval table mirrors, and wide and long floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
There are various kinds of edging, including wood, copper, silver-plated, and gold-inlaid. When the sun shines, everything reflects golden light at a glance, which is extremely dazzling.
Everyone looked at the new mirror and marveled.
"How is this done? It's much clearer than a bronze mirror!"
"Yeah, it's so clear! I've never seen myself so clearly!"
"Tsk tsk... I didn't even know I had a mole here..."
"I heard that this mirror is going to Shengjing. It must be very expensive, right?"
"I don't know if we can use this kind of mirror in the future..."
Su Shaowen blushed and said to everyone: "It can be used..."
As a result, because the voice was too low, it was directly drowned in the boiling emotions of everyone.
Su Shaowen's face turned redder.
He was hesitating whether to speak louder or not. As if he saw his difficulty, senior brother Liang Wensheng raised his hand and patted his shoulder, and said loudly: "Don't worry, everyone! My master has said that as long as the firearms camp and the weapons supervisor Every craftsman has a share of this glass mirror. From now on, my junior brother will be the supervisor of the glass workshop, and he will be mainly responsible for the glass mirrors!"
Su Shaowen suddenly became the center of attention.
"What a terrifying future life..."
"Mrs. Si Bing has a unique vision. Supervisor Xiao Su must be better than her predecessors."
"Yes, it seems that Director Su is only fourteen this year? He will definitely achieve great things in the future."
Everyone was praising him.
Su Shaowen's face turned red and he stood in the crowd in embarrassment, feeling uncomfortable with such attention.
Once upon a time, he was just an inconspicuous apprentice. Master Song taught him skills and never thought of him, and even bluntly said that he lacked talent.
He worked as an apprentice for a whole year, serving tea and water every day and cleaning the workshop, without any sense of existence.
But now, he is standing here, everyone is looking at him, everyone is praising him, Su Shaowen is shouting in his heart, extremely excited, and even... he wants to cry.
…
After sending away the craftsmen of Master Xu and the Military Supervisor, Liang Wensheng still had no time to relax.
The rough refining of saltpeter and the production of thunderbolts are all completed in the firearms camp. In addition, there is also the acceptance of finished products, the protection of materials, the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the craftsmen in each workshop, etc.
The firearms camp had just been established and had few manpower. Almost everything fell on Liang Wensheng. Just a bunch of trivial matters could keep him busy.
After working in a circle, he returned to the glass workshop, but Su Shaowen was nowhere to be seen.
Liang Wensheng couldn't help but feel strange.
Su Shaowen's efforts are famous in the entire firearms camp. He is obviously the only one in the glass workshop, so no one will know even if he is lazy, but Su Shaowen gets up early and works hard every day to compete with glass.
So why isn't he at the furnace at this time
Liang Wensheng thought to himself that Su Shaowen would never be lazy. Could it be that he was feeling unwell and had gone back to the house to rest
He was a little worried and was about to go to the firearm camp craftsman's residence to find Su Shaowen. He turned around and took a step out when he suddenly heard a strange noise in the workshop.
Liang Wensheng paused in his steps and turned his head to look suspiciously.
Looking around, I didn't find anything unusual.
At this time, the voice sounded again, soft and weak, like someone sobbing.
Liang Wensheng walked a few steps inside and discovered that there was a person squatting under the window. Because of the backlight, he didn't see it at all just now.
"Shaowen, what are you doing hiding here?" Liang Wensheng walked over and pulled him up.
Su Shaowen covered his eyes, lowered his head and said nothing.
He was short, and with his head lowered like this, Liang Wensheng had to bend down to see his face.
There were traces of wetness remaining on Su Shaowen's face.
"Why are you crying?" Liang Wensheng suddenly couldn't laugh or cry, "A man won't shed tears easily. You are fourteen years old, and you are still crying?"
"Senior brother..." Su Shaowen dodged and turned away, wiping his eyes hard, "I... I couldn't hold it back..."
"Why are you crying?" Liang Wensheng felt that Su Shaowen was worried about gain and loss like a child, so he reached out and rubbed his head, deliberately teasing him, "Did you break the glass again?"
"No." Su Shaowen sniffed, "I just feel... everyone is too kind to me..."
Liang Wensheng didn't expect such a reason and immediately laughed!
"Hahahahaha!..."
"Senior brother." Su Shaowen was laughed at and called him weakly. A blush appeared on his fair face, showing a bit of the shyness of a daughter.
"...cough, cough, cough, cough!" Liang Wensheng didn't dare to laugh. His junior brother was really evil. Sometimes when he took a quick look, he looked too much like a girl's family.
"You are the master's little apprentice. Of course everyone should be nice to you. Okay, stop thinking so wildly..." Liang Wensheng said soothingly.
Su Shaowen opened his watery eyes and nodded, trusting and attached to Liang Wensheng. When Liang Wensheng saw him, he was inexplicably panicked and felt strange.
"...I, I'm going to do my business first, and I'll see you later."
Su Shaowen replied obediently: "Well, senior brother, you must remember to rest and don't exhaust your body."
What a great kid.
Liang Wensheng thought so and left the glass shop.
…
The next day, Hua Qingxue will follow Fu Tingye to Beijing.
Fu Tingye ordered a hundred personal guards to accompany him, and the long team looked quite spectacular.
Liang Wensheng and Su Shaowen personally packed the glass mirrors and loaded them into the car.
The carriage was bumpy and the glass mirror was fragile, so they had to wrap it in layers of cotton and stuff the box with cotton.
Hua Qingxue and the two of them gave detailed instructions, entrusting the firearms camp to the two apprentices, and then got into the carriage with great melancholy.
Shengjing was unattractive to her. When she thought about the long journey, she only felt pain and could not feel the joy of traveling at all.
The scenery along the way may be beautiful and novel, but how long can we see the scenery
Without a mobile phone or a computer, she had to sit on the carriage day after day, and she was almost rotten.
Fu Tingye was calm, and when he had nothing to do, he would take out the chessboard and play by himself, or read a book.
But this method is not suitable for Hua Qingxue. Ancient classical Chinese is too difficult for her to understand, and she cannot understand even novels and play scripts.
Hua Qingxue began to miss her days of making soap and glass in Panshui City...
She was bored in the carriage for three or five days, and finally she couldn't hold it any longer and sat down opposite Fu Tingye's chessboard.
Fu Tingye raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, with a smile in his eyes, "You want me to teach you how to play chess?"
Hua Qingxue shook her head. Go was too brain-intensive. She had learned it many times but still didn't understand it.
"General, shall we play another kind of chess?"
Fu Tingye put down the chess piece in his hand and asked, "What chess game are you playing?"
—Hua Qingxue pulled Fu Tingye to play backgammon.
The rules are simple and easy to play.
Hua Qingxue happily won three games in a row, and her mood, which had been dull for a while, finally felt better.
However, starting from the fourth set, Fu Tingye seemed to have figured out the trick and suddenly started to counterattack!
Hua Qingxue began to lose miserably...
After losing in the end, she was even a little embarrassed to continue playing...
"General... let's play another kind of chess?" she said embarrassedly.
Fu Tingye was probably tired of winning, so he nodded, "Okay, what kind of chess are you playing?"
Hua Qingxue repainted the chessboard and taught Fu Tingye how to play checkers.
This rule was relatively novel. Hua Qingxue started winning again. Fu Tingye was happy to accompany her. Even if he kept losing, he didn't have any temper at all.
After playing checkers for two days, Hua Qingxue couldn't win on the third day...
Hua Qingxue felt that Fu Tingye's scheme was too powerful. It seemed that games that were too technical were not suitable for her.
"General, let's play other chess games." Hua Qingxue said on the fourth day.
They started playing Ludo...
This chess game was boring for two people to play, so Fu Tingye asked two soldiers from the Guards to play with him.
Four kinds of chess pieces with different marks are fighting on the chessboard, all relying on the luck of the dice. The battle is fierce!
In the end, Hua Qingxue lost and Fu Tingye lost, but the two soldiers kept winning.
Hua Qingxue thought to herself: It seems that I am going to use my trump card.