Yao Jiezeng is older and his voice is a bit muffled. In addition to the local Jiangsu spoken language, although the old man speaks very slowly, Zhang Junping still can't understand him.
It all relies on translation by the guide.
I really don’t know how Master communicated with Yao Jiezeng.
"It's me! Master asked me to say hello to you on his behalf!
This is what my master asked me to bring to you!" Zhang Junping said as he put the gift he brought on the table next to Yao Jiezeng.
"Okay, okay! Thank you Mr. Yang for thinking of me.
I heard Mr. Yang say, do you want to make gold bricks?" Yao Jiezeng asked in a low voice.
"Yes, I would like to ask you to help bake the gold bricks."
"How many gold bricks do you want? If you don't want many, the village can collect thousands of gold bricks...
It's too troublesome to bake now. It takes two years from clay making to firing." Although Yao Jiezeng was not in good spirits, his mind was still relatively clear and his speech was very organized.
"Master Yao, a thousand yuan is not enough. I want a lot, at least hundreds of thousands of yuan."
"Hundreds of thousands of dollars? That much? That's a big project.
Hundreds of thousands of yuan can't be burned out in less than ten years." Yao Jiezeng shook his head.
“For a gold brick, you must first choose soil, which must be sticky but not loose, powdery but not sandy, and fine in texture.
The selected soil should be left in the open air for a full year to remove its earthy nature.
Then soak the clay in water and let several cows step on it repeatedly to remove the air bubbles in the mud, and finally form a dense mud.
Then beat it repeatedly, and finally put the mud ball into the mold, cover it with a flat plate, and two people step on the plate until it is firm. At this time, the bricks of the gold bricks are completed.
The finished bricks should be placed in a cool place to dry in the shade. It will take seven months to dry in the shade and be fired.
When firing, it must first be smoked with chaff for one month to remove moisture, then burned with split firewood for one month, then with whole firewood for one month, and finally with pine branches for 40 days before it can be released from the kiln.
Therefore, in the past, there has always been a saying that one gold brick is worth one tael of gold.
It’s because it’s too troublesome to make gold bricks.
A kiln can only bake several thousand gold bricks in two years." A man who had been standing next to Yao Jiezeng started to explain the process of firing gold bricks.
This man in his fifties should be Yao Jiezeng's son. The two look quite similar.
"This is my eldest son Yao Jishan. My craftsmanship has been passed on to him. If you want to find someone to bake gold bricks, you can find him." Yao Jiezeng introduced in a slow voice.
"Hello, Master Yao!
I have a general understanding of the process of firing gold bricks.
This is what I think. Firing according to the ancient method is naturally slow and inefficient.
We can bake using traditional methods combined with modern machinery.
For example, in the ancient method, cows were used to trample the mud to allow the water and soil to fully merge and remove the air bubbles inside.
This can be replaced by a mixer. The bricks and mud mixed by the mixer will be more uniform than those made by oxen.
Another example is to dry the soil to remove the rustiness. You can use a large dryer to bake it to remove the rustiness.
There is also the step of drying in the shade. You can use a blower to increase air circulation and speed up the time required for shade drying.
In addition, the brick kiln can also be converted into an electrically heated brick kiln, which is heated more evenly than traditional wood-fired brick kilns.
Of course, these are just my layman’s thoughts.
How to improve it specifically still needs to be tried by masters like Master Yao.
If Master Yao is willing, I can ask mechanical design experts from Tsinghua University to cooperate with you to customize special mechanical equipment." Zhang Junping smiled and expressed his thoughts.
These are not what Zhang Junping thought of, but were researched by later generations of masters who fired gold bricks.
Using new technology, new technology has restored the lost gold brick firing process.
Gu Dian
Nowadays, the gold brick firing process has not been lost. Masters of gold brick firing and mechanical design experts work together to study, and they will definitely be able to better improve the production process and increase production efficiency.
The production cycle that originally took two years has been shortened to two to three months, or even shorter.
Yao Jishan did not speak, but turned to look at his father.
"Mr. Zhang is lucky to be able to use the dog.
Although Quanzi has no culture, there is still no problem with his craftsmanship in making gold bricks." Yao Jiezeng was not polite, but agreed readily.
No conditions were even mentioned.
As a potter who bakes gold bricks, life has not been easy since ancient times.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the royal family and dignitaries had a great demand for gold bricks.
The price of gold bricks is very high, even reaching the point where one gold brick is worth one or two gold.
However, this price refers to after shipment to BJ.
In Yuyao Village, a gold brick can only be worth one tael of silver at most, and it has to be exploited layer by layer. In the end, less than half of it falls into their hands.
It takes two years to bake gold bricks in a kiln, and the maximum number of gold bricks in a kiln is only six to seven thousand. If the defective products are removed, the price is only four to five thousand.
Excluding all kinds of expenses, a skilled potter can only earn a hundred or ten taels of silver in a year.
One hundred and ten taels of silver is quite a lot for ordinary people.
But for craftsmen, especially skilled craftsmen, there are not many.
This was before the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the firing of gold bricks basically stopped.
Many Brick brick kilns were purchased by the state and converted into ordinary brick kilns.
As a result, these potters' incomes are lower.
"Mr. Yao, I plan to invest in building a modern brick kiln here specializing in the production of gold bricks.
I still need your help to keep an eye on things.
Don’t worry, I am also a craftsman, and I will never treat my fellow craftsmen badly.” Zhang Junping promised with a smile.
"Mr. Xiao Zhang, let me ask a digression. Did Mr. Yang tell you about the existence of the Craftsman Sect?"
"I am the leader of this generation of Muzi Hall." Zhang Junping was stunned and then said.
"Mr. Xiao Zhang is the master of Muzi Hall?" Yao Jiezeng stared at Zhang Junping with wide eyes and asked.
"Yes!" Zhang Junping said as he took out the wooden order.
"Yes, this is the wooden order!
Yao Jiezeng, the deacon of Huozitang, has met the master of Muzitang!" Yao Jiezeng stood up with difficulty and said to Zhang Junping, clasping his fists.
"Mr. Yao is from Huo Zi Tang?" Zhang Junping was shocked.
But then it suddenly dawned on me that it was right.
BJ and Suzhou are thousands of miles apart. How did master Yang Mingde know Yao Jiezeng?
Although they are both craftsmen, one is playing with wood and the other is playing with mud. They are not related at all.
Only if we are brothers of the same craftsman family can we have contact.
It needs to be explained here that although gold bricks and porcelain are made of clay, they are all classified as Huozitang, not Tuzitang.
Because they are all made with fire, fire is the important element that changes the soil.
We are both craftsmen brothers, so it will be easier to talk to each other next.
Yao Jiezeng agreed to help Zhang Junping contact other masters who fired gold bricks.
Zhang Junping also promised to provide them with better treatment than current workers.