Lime is not only used to build houses, but also, like soda ash, is one of the basic industrial raw materials and has a wide range of applications.
It can even be used as medicine.
Therefore, the Xihewan Lime Factory is very large and has three lime kilns.
In the northwest corner of the lime factory, there is a small workshop with only six workers.
But this small workshop is the most tightly guarded place in the Changshegou Industrial Zone, and is guarded by bodyguards all day long.
The six workers are also carefully selected by Xiaoyu and are people who can be absolutely trusted.
This is Jin Feng's glass laboratory, which has a furnace specially used for firing glass.
After Jin Feng came in, the two workers were looking at the ground with excited faces.
There are a few green crystal blocks on the ground, the big ones are about the size of fists, and the small ones are only as big as walnuts.
"Sir, look, we burned out!"
A worker pointed at the crystal block and said excitedly: "This thing is so beautiful!"
The crystal block is glass, but before the workers could get it into the mold, it fell into a ball on the ground.
Moreover, due to the large amount of impurities, the color is not pure, not to mention having a heavy green tint, and the transparency is also very low.
Jin Feng took a look into the stove and found that there was still a lot of molten glass. He took a hollow iron pipe that had been prepared long ago and was about to pick some to try when he heard the voice of the escort from the door:
"stop!"
Jin Feng knew that the Ninth Princess was chasing him, so he had to put down the iron pipe, ran to the door, and ushered in the Ninth Princess and Qing Mulan.
But except for Qin'er and Amei, all the other guards were blocked by Jin Feng.
"Such a large piece of liquid jade!"
As soon as the Ninth Princess came in, she saw the condensation of glass on the ground.
"Do you know this thing?" Jin Feng asked with a frown.
In the past history, glass was first made by the ancient Egyptians, but for some unknown reason, it did not spread.
It was the Phoenicians who made glass popular. They accidentally made glass and made a fortune.
For a long time, glass was a very expensive luxury product, known as jade.
Because of its rarity, the value of glass in ancient times far exceeded the same volume of gold and most natural gemstones.
There are historical records that during the Tang Dynasty, a Hu merchant used a few glass beads to purchase an expensive house in the prosperous Chang'an.
In Jin Feng's plan, glass is a very important commodity.
If operated properly, the benefits will be no less than those of soap and black knives.
The reason why we are so confident is because Jin Feng sent people to investigate and found that Dakang currently does not have glass.
But the Ninth Princess recognized him at a glance, obviously she had seen him before.
"I know. A few years ago, the Japanese envoys came to Dakang. Among the gifts they gave to my father were some pieces of flowing glass jade. My father liked them very much." Ninth Princess replied.
"What's the quality of the jade they brought?"
"It's not as big as these ones. The largest one is only as big as a pigeon egg. It's also very turbid in color. It's not as pretty as these ones. There are still a lot of holes in it, but it should be slightly rounder." Ninth Princess replied.
Hearing what the Ninth Princess said, Jin Feng felt relieved.
The color is turbid and there are bubbles, indicating that the other party's glass manufacturing technology is still at a very backward stage.
In fact, the development of glass has been stagnant for a long time. For hundreds of years, everyone thought that glass was originally green and could not have other colors.
It was later discovered that the reason why the glass is green is because the raw material contains a small amount of iron.
By changing the raw materials, you can make glass of other colors.
As for the processing method, it is also very simple. Cooling the glass liquid and forming it into large and small beads can be worth a lot of money, and there is no need for further processing at all.
Glass has been used as a gemstone for thousands of years, and then large pieces of glass appeared.
Jin Feng not only knows how to make glass change color, but also knows how to make exquisite glassware and large pieces of glass.
However, Jin Feng did not relax his vigilance because of this.
The reason for the slow development of glass in the past was that when the manufacturing technology was passed to the Italians, the Italians carried out blockade technology and imprisoned the glass makers on a small island and could not leave for life.
This move effectively prevented technology leakage and eliminated competitors.
Without competition, there is no motivation for progress.
Later, the technology spread and developed rapidly, and various glass products emerged in endlessly.
Glass also quickly changed from a luxury product to a common commodity.
Jin Feng now has the most advanced manufacturing technology, so naturally he has to make a profit first.
Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. Jin Feng asked, "Did the Japanese envoy tell you where they got it?"
"I told you," the Ninth Princess replied, "that I snatched it from a group of red-haired pirates."
"Red-haired pirate?" Jin Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.
There are very few red-haired people in Asia, and the most likely red-haired pirates are Caucasians from Europe.
Before Jin Feng traveled through time, the host was just a scholar in the mountains and had never seen much of the world.
Various industries in Dakang were very backward, so Jin Feng felt that the world was still in a very backward era.
But now that all Europeans have come to Japan, it at least shows that Europe's development should be better than that of Dakang, and at least its shipbuilding industry must be better than that of Dakang.
I don’t know if Europeans ever found America.
With something in mind, Jin Feng didn't stop and reached into the stove with the iron pipe.
The material used to make glass is sand. After melting at high temperatures, the sand turns into a viscous liquid similar to sugar syrup.
This is liquid glass.
He picked out a small ball with an iron pipe, but before Jin Feng could blow it, the liquid glass fell to the ground.
Jin Feng was not discouraged, so he put the iron pipe in and picked out another ball.
Based on the lesson learned last time, this time Jin Feng placed the molten glass at the mouth of the stove and waited for a while until it cooled down a bit before taking it out.
This time, the liquid glass did not drip. Jin Feng quickly put his mouth to the other end of the iron pipe and blew air.
The ductility of liquid glass is very high, similar to that of a balloon. Under normal circumstances, the ball can be blown up to the size of a basketball without breaking.
But for some unknown reason, Jin Feng blew it twice, and the liquid glass suddenly exploded.
Fortunately, Jin Feng was wearing a smock for protection, but a worker came too close and a small piece of his foot was broken, causing him to jump up due to the burn.
Not giving up, Jin Feng shook off the failed glass liquid and picked another ball.
The result still failed.
Once, twice...
After more than a dozen consecutive experiments, Jin Feng's cheeks were so tired that they ached, but he never succeeded.
Either it drips directly, or it is overcooled and cannot be blown at all, or it explodes as soon as it is blown.
At this time, the ground was already covered with lumps of cooled and formed glass. The workers all stayed away from Jin Feng for fear of being burned again.