Chapter 112: The Challenges of Glassmaking

Page (1/3)

The moment Li Sanshui saw the one-hundred-tael silver note, his eyes instantly lit up.

Jiang Zhaoming, seeing that the effect of the silver note had been achieved, quickly pocketed it and said, “Brother Li, this task shouldn’t be difficult for you, right?”

Li Sanshui wanted to earn the money, but he knew there were difficulties, so he replied, “Young Master Jiang, I’m just a delivery man. I can’t even get into the soap workshop. I’m afraid this favor might be...”

At this, Li Sanshui shook his head and quietly sipped his tea.

Jiang Zhaoming said, “Brother Li, you can’t say that. You’re from Gushan Village after all. Isn’t there at least one person in the soap workshop you know?”

Hearing this, Li Sanshui couldn’t help but glance up at Jiang Zhaoming.

Jiang Zhaoming continued, “Brother Li, you must be more familiar with the people from your village than I am. Anyway, I can pay well. You just need to help persuade them...”

“I just don’t believe it. Everyone in Xu Mo’s soap workshop has three locks on their lips!” Li Sanshui hesitated, troubled. “But Young Master Jiang, I’m afraid if the villagers find out about this, I won’t be able to stay in the village anymore!”

Jiang Zhaoming’s voice turned cold. “If you can’t stay, then don’t stay. What’s there to cling to in a poor place like Gushan Village? I’ll make it clear: as long as you get this done, you can come to me. I guarantee you’ll never worry about food or clothing again. Your life will be hundreds, even thousands of times better than now!”

Jiang Zhaoming wasn’t doing this out of kindness; he was simply tempting Li Sanshui to help steal the soap formula.

Once Li Sanshui succeeded, Jiang Zhaoming would kick him aside without hesitation.

But Li Sanshui didn’t know Jiang Zhaoming’s true thoughts. He seemed a little tempted but was still hesitant, lowering his head and quietly drinking tea, remaining silent for a long time.

Jiang Zhaoming soon lost patience and reached out to retrieve the silver fragment.

Li Sanshui panicked immediately and quickly snatched it away, saying, “Young Master Jiang, didn’t you say this was a gift for meeting me? How can you take back a gift?”

Jiang Zhaoming calmly replied, “Li Sanshui, although I have plenty of silver, I don’t give it away casually. Since you can’t help me, of course I want it back.”

He gestured to Li Sanshui to return the silver.

Li Sanshui clenched the silver tightly and said, “Young Master Jiang, I only said this would be difficult, not impossible. How about you let me think about it? I’ll give you an answer in three days, okay?”

Jiang Zhaoming was silent for a moment, then withdrew his hand and said, “Fine, I’ll give you three days. Same time, same place in three days. I hope to hear good news from you!”

With that, Jiang Zhaoming rose and left the tavern, quickly disappearing from sight.

Li Sanshui suddenly remembered that Jiang Zhaoming hadn’t paid the bill yet, but now he was gone. So, he had no choice but to pay.

Li Sanshui thought the snacks shouldn’t go to waste, so he ate them while muttering quietly, “He promised to treat me to tea but ran off faster than a rabbit when it came to paying! So stingy...”

----------------------------

Page (2/3)

Meanwhile, since returning to Gushan Village, Xu Mo had been pondering how to make glass.

At first, Xu Mo thought it wouldn’t be difficult, but once he delved into it, he realized making glass was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Making glass required several raw materials: quartz sand, limestone, feldspar, calcite, and soda ash.

Among these, limestone and soda ash were relatively easy to obtain.

Limestone was commonly used for building and plastering walls and could be bought cheaply at the market.

Soda ash was even simpler for Xu Mo since it could be made from wood ash; by increasing the concentration of the alkali solution, it could be used for glass production.

The difficulty lay in the other three materials.

First was quartz sand, which was quartz crushed into granules—not just ordinary sand.

Regular sand contains silica dioxide but also a lot of other oxide mineral impurities, so the silica dioxide content is quite low.

Therefore, to make glass, one must first acquire quartz.

There was quartz ore within Liang Kingdom, but none in the Xinzhou area. Buying it meant going far away, making transportation costly.

Next were feldspar and calcite.

These two minerals could also be found within Liang Kingdom, but like quartz, there were no mines nearby in Xinzhou. They had to be purchased from far away, which was time-consuming, laborious, and expensive.

Faced with this, Xu Mo had no choice but to temporarily put aside his plan to make glass.

Two days later, before noon.

Chen Miaoyi was tidying up in the courtyard. Xu Mo, having nothing to do, told her jokes nearby. Soon, Chen Miaoyi was laughing heartily.

Just as they were enjoying themselves, a carriage approached from afar, followed by a group of guards.

Xu Mo immediately recognized it as Ning Yaxin’s carriage and escort.

Chen Miaoyi also recognized them and asked, “Husband, why has Miss Ning come?”

Xu Mo replied, “Probably the soap and scented soap are out of stock again, and she’s come personally to urge me to increase production.”

As the carriage drew closer, Xu Mo and Chen Miaoyi went out to greet them.

Soon, the carriage stopped. Ning Yaxin and Ling’er got down.

Xu Mo stepped forward with a smile and cupped his hands in greeting. “Miss Ning, what brings you here?”

Page (3/3)

Chen Miaoyi followed Xu Mo’s side, lightly bowing and greeting, “Miss Ning.”

Ning Yaxin returned the salute but looked somewhat troubled. “Mr. Xu, Mrs. Xu, I came abruptly today out of necessity. I hope you can understand.”

“Necessity?” Xu Mo looked puzzled and glanced at Chen Miaoyi.

Chen Miaoyi asked, “Miss Ning, did something happen? If you need our help, just say the word.”

Ning Yaxin hesitated, then said, “Mr. Xu, Mrs. Xu, let’s talk inside.”

Xu Mo nodded and, with Chen Miaoyi, accompanied Ning Yaxin indoors.

Sitting in the main hall, Chen Miaoyi poured water for Ning Yaxin and asked, “Miss Ning, what exactly happened?”

Xu Mo also looked at Ning Yaxin with curiosity.

Ning Yaxin sighed helplessly and said, “Mr. Xu, Mrs. Xu, Zhang Zhishen... he’s come again!”

Xu Mo was surprised and couldn’t help frowning.

Chen Miaoyi, unaware of Zhang Zhishen’s situation, asked Xu Mo, “Husband, who is Zhang Zhishen?”

Xu Mo then told her about the day he had Zhang Zhishen arrested and sent back to Heyang.

Only then did Chen Miaoyi understand that part of the story.

Then Xu Mo asked, “Miss Ning, is Zhang Zhishen bothering you again? Don’t worry, if you agree, I’ll help you send him back to Heyang immediately! If he tries to come again, I’ll keep sending him away until he stops!”

Ning Yaxin shook her head. “Mr. Xu, that method probably won’t work this time.”

“Why do you say that?” Xu Mo asked.

Ning Yaxin explained, “This time Zhang Zhishen came with his father, and they brought along a famous doctor from Heyang, supposedly to visit my father and give him treatment.”

“My father has let the father and son stay at our home. They’ll be here for at least ten days or two weeks! Sigh...”

After saying this, Ning Yaxin lowered her head with a sigh and shook her head helplessly.