Glass blowing technology appeared in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties at the latest, and blown glass bottles from the Northern Wei Dynasty have been unearthed.
During the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Song dynasties, the glass manufacturing industry was quite prosperous.
Especially in the Song Dynasty, many daily utensils were also made of glass, and "glass" appeared in a large number of poems.
"A glass bowl of fragrant cheese, I get drunk every year and try new habits. What is more beautiful than the spring breeze, the singing lips are a little red. The dreams of the rivers and lakes are broken, the green cage is the bright light palace. Thousands of words are written lightly and evenly, bowing my head to shame the savages."
This poem was composed by Xin Qiji when he was eating cherries.
Xin Qiji knew how to enjoy himself. He used a glass bowl to hold the cheese and mixed the cherries in it. It must have been chilled.
Um, cherry ice cream?
A new house was built in the garden of Yanfu Palace. The area is not large, only about 100 square meters.
The building structure is also very simple, no different from ordinary houses. However, a large number of glass pieces are used and embedded in the walls or windows.
Due to process limitations, those glass pieces are very small, no bigger than a palm. Most of them are green and translucent, making it difficult to remove impurities inside.
Greenhouse, greenhouse!
Song Huizong was walking in the greenhouse. In addition to hibiscus, there were also some other exotic flowers and herbs, all of which were brought from the south and were difficult to survive the winter.
Due to the suitable temperature, hibiscus has bloomed early.
Stroking the red flowers, Song Huizong sincerely praised: "Ai Qing is really a divine person. This greenhouse is so ingenious that no mortal craftsman can do it?"
There is a thermometer hanging on the wall, also made of blown glass, thick and bulky.
There is mercury sealed in the glass tube, with ice water as zero degree and boiling water as 100 degrees, and finer scales are marked according to the length.
At the bottom of the four walls in the greenhouse, there is a hot water circulation system made of tin pipes.
Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the mercury thermometer and said: "Ice water is zero, boiling water is 100, and the temperature can be known. All flowers and trees have their own characteristics. When the temperature is suitable, flowers and trees can grow well, and even bloom and bear fruit against the season."
Of course, some flowers and trees are not suitable for indoor cultivation."
Song Huizong looked at the thermometer for a while, then looked at the ugly appearance of the greenhouse, and said with disgust: "Although Aiqing is good at nursery, she is not good at construction. I plan to leave a piece of land in Genyue and build a magnificent and elegant greenhouse. The wonders of the north and south of the sky and the sea
All flowers and trees are placed in greenhouses and cultivated, so that those flowers and plants can dominate the world."
Zhu Guoxiang advised: "Glass is difficult to make and is easily broken during transportation. This house is enough."
"Otherwise," Song Huizong shook his head and said, "I want to design a greenhouse myself, and there must be mountains and rivers in the room. Once you enter the greenhouse, it is like entering a paradise. It must be made into a place that is warm in winter and cool in summer. Aiqing's greenhouse can only be used in winter.
If you supply hot water to keep you warm, it will be unbearably hot in the summer.”
Zhu Guoxiang was about to speak but stopped.
A greenhouse of 100 square meters obviously cannot satisfy the emperor.
He wants to turn the greenhouse into a heavenly paradise, which is estimated to cover an area of 2,000 square meters. He also needs to do various decorations and even put a rockery pool into the greenhouse. Not only does it cost countless amounts of glass, but it also uses a lot of coal to heat water in winter.
To build such a large greenhouse, huge trees are indispensable.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty took a pen to calculate carefully, and quickly said to the eunuch who was accompanying him: "Draw up a decree and order the kilns in the north and south to donate 200,000 pieces of glass. Each piece of glass is half a foot square. And then donate glass tiles, the bigger the better.
, the more transparent the better. Zhu Meng is responsible for the glass in the south. The glass in the north is supervised by each supervisor."
Zhu Guoxiang rolled his eyes when he heard this.
The Hua Shi Gang is not just for transporting flowers, plants and strange stones, but also includes all kinds of rare things from the world, including lychees, longans, olives, coconuts and other fruits.
The location is not only in the south of the Yangtze River, but also reaches Shandong in the north, Sichuan in the west, and Hainan Island in the south. They all have their own specialties that need to be donated.
Now, there are two hundred thousand more pieces of glass.
After thinking about it, Zhu Guoxiang gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, you can't lose your mind with toys, let alone disturb the place. If the greenhouse needs to use two hundred thousand pieces of glass, I will be a sinner in the world!"
Song Huizong frowned and his face looked very ugly.
He had received too many similar remonstrances and memoranda last year, and it bothered him to mention them now.
Because of the construction of Genyue, Hua Shi Gang became crazy starting last year, and prefects from all over the country tried hard to persuade the emperor not to mess around.
"Why do you come to persuade me?" Song Huizong scolded, "I have a great Song Dynasty where the people are prosperous. I only have 200,000 pieces of glass. How can I still harm the common people? If you try to persuade me again, I will be angry!"
"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "I really don't want to disturb the place. I plant flowers and trees in the greenhouse just to cultivate my sentiments. A house of two feet is enough, why do I need to build it so big?"
"That's wrong!"
Cai You suddenly walked in. He had been summoned early in the morning. Song Huizong asked him to come to the greenhouse to accompany him to enjoy the flowers.
Cai You said with a smile: "The country is rich and the people are happy. This is a prosperous age that has never been seen in ancient times. Not to mention 200,000 pieces of glass, there are one million pieces. I, the Song Dynasty, can easily make them. It just requires more kilns in the north and south to bake them."
It's only a few years old. How can a two-foot-long house appear royal and cramped?"
Song Huizong said happily: "This is the truth."
Li Bangyan has fulfilled the imperial edict and is writing a new script for the emperor. Today, there is another person who serves as the living minister.
Qi Julang stood nearby and carefully recorded the words and deeds of the emperor and his ministers.
Although Zhu Guoxiang had not received the letter from his son, he did not want to bear the infamy and immediately scolded him: "You are a traitor, you are used to bewitching the emperor, you should be exiled three thousand miles!"
Cai You spit in his face and did not refute.
He understood Song Huizong. The more he was scolded, the more the emperor had to protect him.
Song Huizong was in a very happy mood today. He thought it was a genius idea to build the greenhouse into a paradise. Since he was happy, why should he be in a bad mood? He immediately stopped him: "Don't say more, you are all close ministers, and you can't do it because of trivial matters."
The harmony has been ruined. My dear, you have done great work in building the greenhouse, what reward do you want to ask for?"
Zhu Guoxiang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty promised last year that as long as I keep the hibiscus flowers alive through the winter, I would be allowed to return to my hometown to reunite with my wife and daughter."
Song Huizong was a little reluctant, because Zhu Guoxiang could always come up with novel things, so he immediately said: "I will give you half a year's holiday. You must return to Beijing before the Double Ninth Festival."
Zhu Guoxiang said: "The journey back and forth only takes two or three months."
"Then come back before it snows," Song Huizong said, "and I will give you some Haicuo, a strange stone, and three paintings and calligraphy. You can pick out whatever you want."
Song Huizong felt that Zhu Guoxiang was an elegant man and was not greedy for money. Now he no longer rewards him with gold and silver, but instead rewards him with things he likes.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "I don't want rewards, I just want one thing from the officials."
Song Huizong clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Ai Qing actually made a request? Tell me quickly!"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "When Quanzi came to Beijing to take the exam, he met a soldier from Tokyo. This person helped Quanzi a lot. Last winter, he was assigned to escort Hua Shigang. He encountered heavy snow on the way and missed the deadline, and the post office delivery shop refused to deliver.
He ran out of money for food, so he could only sell knives for money to eat. A group of thugs wanted to snatch his sword, and he accidentally killed one of them. Now, he has been appointed to Weizhou and asked the officials to pardon this person's crime. "
"Just such a trivial matter?" Song Huizong was actually a little disappointed, "Since he committed a crime for me to escort Hua Shigang, what does it mean to kill a rogue? This person is a soldier of the Imperial Army?"
Zhu Guoxiang said: "It's not the Forbidden Army, it's just the Xiang Army."
There are also Xiang troops in Tokyo.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty said: "If you have to escort Huashi Gang to me, you have to assassinate him. Doesn't it chill the hearts of the soldiers in the world? Not only do I want to pardon his crimes, but I also want to promote him and temporarily promote him to the rank of general in front of the palace!"
Zhu Guoxiang: "..."
Many times, Zhu Guoxiang could not keep up with the emperor's thinking.
He just wants to save Yang Zhi and then throw him to Daming Village, or he can follow him or his son.
However, Song Huizong promoted Yang Zhi from the Xiang Army to the Forbidden Army, and also gave him the title of military attaché.
The "general" in the Song Dynasty is not a literal meaning. It is a kind of unqualified military attache. Just a few years ago, it was officially renamed as deputy captain of Jinwu, but he was still called a general in ordinary times. (This is the same as civil servants, such as joining the army for justice.
The name was changed to Facaodu, but everyone still uses the old name.)
If someone promotes him, he can be promoted to Cheng Xinlang (from the ninth rank military attache) with just a few meritorious deeds.
This is a springboard official title, which is the only way for a white-bodied warrior to become a high-grade military general.
Yang Zhi became a general in the front department and received a salary as a military attache. However, he had no specific responsibilities and had to be assigned to other tasks. He was often responsible for escort work (escorting military supplies, ordnance, etc.). To put it bluntly, he was still an errand boy.
Cai You rolled his eyes and already had an idea.
He understood the emperor too well. Song Huizong's memory was very good, but at the same time it could be very poor. As long as it was something that the emperor was not interested in, the relevant personnel would be easily forgotten.
After a while, Yang Zhi can be sent on an assignment, which is the kind of escort work that is very difficult to complete. If something goes wrong, you have to pay for it, and you can't afford to lose all your money.
Cai Jing focuses on the overall situation and is too lazy to pay attention to the small people. Ju Ming is a small person in Cai Jing's eyes.
Cai You is different. He is now a close minister and needs to compete with other close ministers for favor. Zhu Guoxiang is a thorn in his side. Zhu Guoxiang rarely pleads for others, but now he actually speaks for Yang Zhi, so he must value Yang Zhi very much.
Whatever Zhu Guoxiang values, Cai You will suppress!
Song Huizong felt that this matter was too small to reflect his generosity, and said: "If you find talented people, you can recommend a few."
Zhu Guoxiang hesitated for a few seconds and said: "Quanzi's fellow scholars, Min Zishun and Bai Chongyan, both have both talent and virtue, but now they hold low positions in the Ministry of Industry."
"Each of them will be promoted to one rank and sent out to serve as county magistrates." Song Huizong was quite satisfied.
This is nonsense. If your close ministers don’t recommend a few close friends, what are you thinking about?
To be honest, Zhu Guoxiang was very uncomfortable with it. It was ridiculous to openly promote private individuals, but this happened to be popular in the Song Dynasty.
Cai You said nothing, but kept Min Zishun and Bai Chongyan in mind. When he turned around, he greeted the officials and sent these two people to the poorest remote county.
After admiring flowers and trees in the greenhouse for a while, Zhu Guoxiang resigned from the palace.
He sent someone to call Sun Li: "Yang Zhi's matter has been settled. The officials pardoned his crimes and promoted Yang Zhi to the rank of general in front of the palace."
Sun Li was overjoyed and knelt down to kowtow to Zhu Guoxiang: "On behalf of Brother Yang, I have thanked your husband. If you have any assignments in the future, my husband will tell you. We brothers can survive in water or fire."
They used to say that at best, he was a junior officer in the Xiang Army, and at worst, he was a rotten Qiu Ba.
Although the general in front of the palace has no rank, he can still be regarded as having an official status. Using the metaphor of a civil servant is equivalent to jumping out of the subordinate staff class and stepping into the ranks of high-ranking officials.
It's a pity that Cai You will take action eventually, and I'm afraid Yang Zhi will be guilty of a serious crime.