novelaction Chapter 183 Is this glass?
Chapter 183 Is this glass?
Shen Wanwu was still excited about completing the first large transaction in the village. Although he felt that 5000 taels was not a lot, it was at least a good start.
Xiaofengshan Villa has only been established for a short time, and it is already very outstanding to have achieved such results.
"After working for a long time and treating everyone to a meal and drinks, I only managed to get five thousand taels of silver," Chen Changfan smacked his lips. "Robbery is still the fastest way to make money..."
Shen Wanwu's eyebrows twitched when he heard this.
"Oh, by the way, how much loot did the caravan get? Have you cleared it out?"
"Everything has been cleaned up. I was just about to report to you." Shen Wanwu was halfway through his report when a business transaction came up, and his train of thought was involuntarily interrupted.
"We seized a large amount of weapons and armor this time. We have already replaced the soldiers with what we could. I also have a half-damaged piece of silver-scaled black armor that I have ordered the blacksmith to repair. It will be delivered to your tent soon."
Silver-scaled black armor? That should be Ma Cheng's armor.
No wonder this guy was not wearing armor when he chased out that night. It turned out that the armor was damaged.
Moreover, the black armor was very heavy, and he was riding an old horse at the time. If he had put on armor and carried weapons, it would have been even more difficult for him to catch up with me.
Armor was a very rare item in ancient times.
It is said that "one piece of armor is worth three crossbows" because this thing has an astonishingly strong defensive power. Hundreds of heavy armors can be invincible, so privately storing armor is a serious crime and is punishable by hanging.
If the private possession of bows and crossbows can be said to be for self-defense, the private possession of armor is considered treason, so there is another sentence in "One armor is worth three crossbows", which is "Three armors enter the underworld."
However, the Dawu Dynasty had been plagued by long-standing problems, and the country was already in tatters, so it had no time to take care of these things.
Moreover, for Chen Changfan, he has already started to smelt iron and station troops. Does he still care about the crime of one or two pieces of armor?
If the black armor wasn't so difficult to make, he really wanted to make a hundred sets of it, forming a heavy armored cavalry of hundreds of people. Every day when he had nothing to do, he would look at the map and click on any place that he didn't like.
"Boss, besides armor and weapons, this caravan also has quite a bit of treasure. There are several large boxes of gold, silver, and other valuables, totaling 20,000 taels."
Only 20,000.
This caravan is no good either.
Compared with Shang Zhengren, Chen Changfan's threshold for money was raised a lot.
Bandits are cruel enough, aren't they? But they are still no match for merchants.
"Put this little money into the construction of the villa. There are a few things that require your attention and supervision. First, the construction of the greenhouse, second, the making of the sled, and third..."
Chen Changfan arranged each matter one by one, and Shen Wanwu took note of them all. After he finished the arrangements, Chen Changfan realized that there were several people following him.
When he turned around, he saw Hu the roofer, Yunniang, Ding Yurong and others looking at him eagerly.
"Uh? Are you waiting to see me make glass?"
Chen Changfan suddenly reacted.
The glass blowing I did before was a bit too mysterious, and now they are keeping an eye on me.
But it’s true, if you want to build a greenhouse, you really can’t do without this glass.
"Bring me some wood ashes, and I'll show you how to make glass."
Chen Changfan rolled up his sleeves and said.
After a while, all the tools and materials were ready, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, Chen Changfan began to operate.
Put the wood ash into a clean basin of water and stir it constantly. While waiting for it to settle, Chen Changfan made a simple filtering device using a funnel and gauze.
The mixed liquid in the basin is filtered, and the collected filtrate contains a precious chemical substance.
Sodium carbonate.
Generally speaking, most of the wood ash produced by burning ordinary plants is potassium carbonate.
However, the wood ash of purple amaranth has a very high content of sodium carbonate, making it the best raw material currently available.
The last step is to evaporate and crystallize the filtrate to obtain sodium carbonate crystals of good purity.
This thing is commonly known as soda ash and is a very important industrial raw material.
Now, he has successfully lit up two of the so-called "three acids and two bases", and Chen Changfan can't help but feel secretly happy.
You still have to learn math, physics and chemistry well, so that you won’t be afraid of traveling to anywhere.
Although these skills are not very popular in later generations and cannot make a lot of money, they are still much more practical than singing and dancing rap.
Grind the limestone into fine powder, add quartz sand and soda ash, and Chen Changfan mixes the three thoroughly.
Since it was his first time, he was not sure about the specific proportions and just went with his feeling.
Put the mixed powder into the crucible and push it into the furnace. Chen Changfan put his hands on his hips and waited for it to come out of the furnace.
"It's that simple?"
"Can crystal clear glass be made from just wood ash, sand, and stone powder?"
"The boss must know some magic..."
These guys were whispering behind their backs, thinking that the boss couldn't hear them. However, they didn't know that after Chen Changfan climbed the stairs, his five senses were further enhanced, and he could hear everything clearly.
Damn, I hope I can succeed in one go. It would be embarrassing if I fail later...
"Increase the heat! If it fails soon, it must be because the furnace temperature is not high enough!"
Chen Changfan remembers that the temperature range for firing glass is usually between 1100 and 1600 degrees, but it also depends on the specific glass material.
For example, the firing temperature of ordinary quartz glass is about 1350 degrees, while the firing temperature of high borosilicate glass can reach over 1500 degrees.
However, the properties of this high borosilicate glass are more abnormal. Some manufacturers make it into pots that can be used to cook on a gas stove.
He doesn't need this special glass now, as long as it can meet ordinary construction needs.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Chen Changfan ordered the workers to take out the crucible. Ignoring the heat waves, everyone immediately gathered around to watch. They saw a pool of thick red liquid at the bottom of the crucible, which was rapidly solidifying and cooling.
“It’s really different now!”
"How amazing! Was that sand that was just thrown in?"
After waiting for a while, Chen Changfan picked up the crucible and took out a small, round disc from it.
The disc has a strange luster and is translucent with green, like a piece of uncut jade that has just been unearthed.
"What a nice view!"
"It's really more transparent than jade. Is this glass?"
Chen Changfan looked at it for a while and felt that the effect was quite satisfactory. Since this method worked, he could proceed to the next experiment.
"Mr. Hu, go find two skilled craftsmen. I need a very flat square mold and an annealing furnace."
"You guys, further sieve the quartz sand, grind the limestone, and extract soda ash from the wood ash according to my method. The more the better."
After a few orders were given, several people immediately began to carry them out.
After witnessing the magic of glass, they immediately realized that this new material would play a huge role, and none of them dared to be negligent in the slightest.