Fake Eunuch: Discovering the Emperor is a Woman!-Chapter 156: The Glass Workshop

Not only that, in addition to the heavy guards on watch, carts of sand also began to be continuously transported inside.

Besides sand, carts of Black Stone mined from the mountain behind were similarly being transported non-stop.

Meanwhile, news of these events was being reported promptly every day to the young Emperor at the Imperial Table.

And every day, what the young Emperor looked forward to the most was news from Lin Yi.

Counting the days, this Lin Yi had not returned for a full ten days.

Who knows what that guy is busy with over there, can’t he find the time to come back?

At this very moment, within a small courtyard enclosed in Nanshan, Lin Yi couldn’t help but sneeze three times in a row.

He couldn’t help but reach out to rub his nose:

"First I sneeze, then scold, then grumble, who’s talking about me now?"

While muttering to himself, he also reached out to take an object handed over by a craftsman.

After examining it in his hands, Lin Yi couldn’t help but nod his head in satisfaction:

"Not bad, not bad, this batch of glazed glass has almost reached complete transparency.

It seems that this round of improvements was quite effective,

just follow this ratio from now on, be mindful of controlling the temperature, and make sure to note down the times.

Also, have them make me a round piece of glazed glass.

It doesn’t have to be too big, just about this size is fine."

As he spoke, Lin Yi even gestured with his hands.

He made a circle roughly ten centimeters in diameter.

Hearing this, the craftsman in front immediately nodded in agreement and then ran back with a joyous expression.

Looking at the small glass ball in his hand, Lin Yi couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

The quality of this glass ball was much better than what those Englishmen had brought.

At the very least, its transparency was nearing perfection visible to the naked eye.

You really have to say, mastering the craft of making glass isn’t something you can just pick up.

Even if Lin Yi had seen similar experimental steps during his school days, he had never done it hands-on.

If it wasn’t for the tireless experimentation by the craftsmen, it would indeed be very difficult to succeed in making glass.

During this process, Lin Yi and his team faced a significant challenge.

Although Lin Yi knew that the chemical composition of sand was mainly silicon dioxide, he had forgotten that sand’s melting point is around 1700°C.

And the maximum temperature of the kiln they built could reach about 1600°C at best.

That was with the use of coal.

But even though this temperature seems quite close to 1700 degrees Celsius, the difference of just 100 degrees made it impossible for the glass to form.

Furthermore, at this 1600-degree temperature, the kiln was already ruined.

Therefore, after Lin Yi’s deep thought and various calculations, he finally remembered that there was indeed a way to solve this.

That is, when making glass, one needs to add soda ash, which is Sodium Carbonate.

This can lower the melting point of the sand.

At the same time, by adding limestone, that is, quicklime, to make it insoluble in water.

But there was another problem facing Lin Yi.

Finding quicklime can be said to be relatively easy, but finding Sodium Carbonate was not.

You should know that in this era, Sodium Carbonate could only be obtained from natural alkali mines.

In the Central Plains region, there was hardly any natural alkali production.

This undoubtedly brought progress to a standstill once again, and for a time, Lin Yi was scratching his head in frustration.

Fortunately, before the time travel, he could also be considered someone who was quite studious.

While not exactly a top student, he wasn’t far off from that either.

Especially since his knowledge in physics and chemistry was also quite solid.

After some calculations, Lin Yi discovered that potassium carbonate could produce the same effects as sodium carbonate.

And the acquisition of potassium carbonate was much easier, as one of its raw materials was plant ashes.

Large amounts of plant ashes were thoroughly soaked in cold water, then repeatedly filtered through cloth, and the solution was boiled dry, similar to the process of salt production, to finally obtain potassium carbonate.

Finally, on the seventh day, all the materials were ready.

They were crushed and put into a fire-resistant container, then heated at high temperatures.

Success - the glass solution was finally obtained.

When Lin Yi saw the first batch of glass solution, he couldn’t help but clench his fist and swing it fiercely.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim, "Books prove to be most useful when they’re needed at critical times." ƒrēenovelkiss.com

With this glass solution, the next steps of the work could be carried out.

While the glass solution was still hot, one end of a metal tube could be dipped to get some glass solution for blowing, cutting, and grinding, to obtain glass products of various shapes.

Thus, in less than an hour, the circular piece of glass Lin Yi had requested had been brought over.

Looking at the palm-sized circular glass piece in his hand, although he was not entirely satisfied with its thickness, it was after all the first finished product.

Therefore, Lin Yi didn’t ask for too much.

"Go and prepare some silver powder and mercury for me."

Holding the circular glass piece, Lin Yi spoke again, commanding his subordinate standing by.

He then took the lead and headed towards the interior of the glass workshop.

Since it was Lin Yi’s command, it took less than half an hour for the materials he requested to be prepared.

Looking at the bowl of mercury delivered by the craftsman, Lin Yi could not help but frown.

He then immediately said to the craftsman in a serious tone:

"After this, tell everyone here, anyone who comes into contact with mercury must cover their mouth and nose with a cloth!

And try your best not to touch it with your hands.

If you accidentally come into contact with it, wash it off immediately with clean water!

And another thing, don’t throw this mercury into the rivers outside."

Although they did not know why Lin Yi issued such commands, since they came from Lin Yi, they nodded in agreement and passed the message along.

To the craftsmen of the current time, there was no need for Lin Yi to explain to them that mercury was toxic.

It’s not that he didn’t want to tell them.

The fact was that some old craftsmen had dealt with this substance all their lives, so even if Lin Yi were to tell them it was toxic, they wouldn’t take it seriously.

After all, if they’ve been in contact with it for so long, how could they still be alive in this world?

For this reason, Lin Yi simply needed to issue a command firmly.

This was also the best way to communicate with them.

As for why Lin Yi wanted these materials, one need not think too hard to guess that indeed, Lin Yi was intending to make a mirror.

He was going to create the first mirror in society.

In the history books he had studied before, it was mentioned that once, in 16th century France, the price of a mirror had reached an astonishing 150,000 francs!

...End of Chapter...