Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63 Joining the Dao Sect
The raw materials are in the furnace, and it takes about four hours to melt into glass water at a high temperature of more than 1000 degrees.

During this time, Emperor Jiajing and the others sat drinking tea and discussing Taoism, while Wang Daoqiu, with the cooperation of the craftsmen of Baiyunguan, made a mold to press the glass cup.

Four hours later, the Taoist priest who guarded the furnace came to ask Wang Daoqiu if he could start the furnace now.Thinking about the time, Wang Daoqiu asked the Taoist to stop the fire in the furnace first.Then he asked a few helpers to take a long iron pipe, and then called Emperor Jiajing and the others to watch the furnace open together.

The alchemy furnace in Baiyun Temple is similar to the alchemy furnace of Taishang Laojun in Journey to the West.The so-called opening of the furnace is to open the top pointed furnace cover.

This is a furnace lid weighing more than 200 kilograms, with a thick iron chain attached to it. When the furnace is turned on, six little Taoist priests stand far away and pull the iron chain connected to the furnace lid to move the lid away. Alchemy furnace.

As soon as the stove lid was opened, a wave of heat, accompanied by a fiery red color, rose into the sky.And seeing that fiery red, Wang Daoqiu knew that it was done.

Sure enough, he waited for 10 minutes. After the heat wave completely dissipated, Wang Daoqiu went up to give a demonstration to his helpers. He took a thick iron pipe, went to the furnace, picked out a glass of water, and put in a few pieces of water. The mold for pressing the glass from a distance.

After Wang Daoqiu's demonstration, the helpers also hurriedly picked up thick iron pipes and took turns to pick up glass water from the alchemy furnace, and then made glasses or glass mirrors.

Emperor Jiajing was very surprised when he saw that the so-called glass water was actually like dough, with flaming red lumps hanging on the iron pipe.So he called Wang Daoqiu over, and then whispered: "Wang Qing's family, this is amazing. The sand can actually melt into this fiery red dough. But is that really sulfur glass?"

He didn't like others questioning him the most, so Wang Daoqiu didn't use pale language to waste words with Emperor Jiajing.He quickly ran back to where the glass was pressed, picked up the pressed glass with tongs, and quenched it.

When the fiery red cup cooled down with water and quickly formed crystals, Wang Daoqiu held the glass cup with good transparency and came to the front of Emperor Jiajing.

As soon as he saw this freshly baked "crystal cup", Emperor Jiajing immediately beamed with joy and murmured: "A miracle! A miracle!", and he was about to take advantage of it as he spoke.

This startled Wang Daoqiu. With the hand holding the tongs, he quickly moved the glass out of Emperor Jiajing's reach, and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you cannot touch this cup now! This cup now It’s hotter than boiling water, so you have to let it cool for a while before touching it.”

"Uh-huh, I'm just impatient. Wang Qing! This sulfur glass is really made of sand! I'm so angry. Those Folangji people are so abominable. They actually burned such a pile of sand. Sold to us at such a high price. It’s really abominable!”

"Your Majesty, don't be angry. It's the Westerners who are at a greater disadvantage. We only play with sulfur glass in the homes of powerful people. Those Westerners sell sulfur glass here, how much can they sell in a year? Huh? And when they buy our clay-fired porcelain, they buy it by the whole boat, and they give us at least several million taels of silver every year!"

Sulfur glass is made of sand, and porcelain is made of clay. Think about it, these two things are really the same!When Wang Daoqiu said this, Emperor Jiajing, who had just felt that Ming Dynasty had been defrauded by Fo Langji, felt much better now.After all, you are more likely to deceive others!
After understanding this, Emperor Jiajing no longer bothered about being defrauded of money by Fo Langji.He pointed to the glass on Wang Daoqiu's tongs with a smile on his face, and said, "Aiqing! I see that the sulfur glass you burnt seems to be clearer, more transparent and brighter than that of Frangji!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty is the kingdom of heaven. How can our things lose to those barbarians?"

"Well said, well said. My dear, it is my Ming Dynasty's good fortune to have you, and I am also lucky to have you!"

"Your Majesty, I am a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. It is my duty to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and to your Majesty."

"It's your duty, well said, well said, my dear..."

...............

In the next few minutes, Wang Daoqiu and Emperor Jiajing performed a disgusting performance of the official language art of a large country, which made people vomit!

Subordinates flattered, leaders pretended to be modest, and after a scene was played, everyone turned the topic to the distribution of benefits, that is, who should own the glass business in the future.

Not to mention the other uses of glass, just the two things he is making here, cups and mirrors, how much money he will make this year, the smart people here can easily figure it out.

So in the face of this huge benefit, Lu Fang, the chief minister of rites, first spoke: "Your Majesty is the lord of the world. Such good deeds should naturally be filial to Your Majesty. I think this sulfur glass..."

"Eunuch Lu, you are being a little unreasonable! It was I, Lu Bing, who started the Hongshi Mountain and the steel factory first, and our Jin Yiwei did our best. But in front of His Majesty, you said that steel is related to the national plan. It should be under the control of the inner court. Okay! Just what you said, we Jin Yiwei have been busy for a month, and Hongshi Mountain and the steel factory have been controlled by your inner court. Now you say that this sulfur glass business should also be under the control of your inner court. Eunuch Lu , have you eaten too much?"

A few days ago, Lu Fanggang snatched the management rights of Hongshishan and Future Steel Plant from Lu Bing.Lu Bing was so angry that Lu Bing was so angry that such a huge mountain of gold and silver belonged to his inner court. His work was all in vain.However, since Emperor Jiajing nodded in favor of this matter, Lu Bing felt angry and could only suppress it.But now that Lu Bing heard that Lu Fang wanted to compete with him for the vulcanization business again, Lu Bing couldn't bear it anymore.So before Lu Fang finished speaking, Lu Bing made a face, interrupted Lu Fang rudely, and lost his temper at Lu Fang.

Lu Fang knew that he had snatched the management rights of Hongshishan and Future Steel Plant from Lu Bing not long ago, which was indeed unfair to Lu Bing.However, he, Lu Fang, is the emperor's domestic slave, and everything must be centered on the emperor's interests, including now grabbing the leadership of the glass business.

So in the face of Lu Bing's dissatisfaction, Lu Fang calmly explained: "Isn't this all for Your Majesty? The money earned will also be put into the internal treasury."

"Lu Fang, don't treat me like a three-year-old child, Lu Bing. You are doing it for His Majesty, am I not? Our Jinyiwei is the emperor's pro-army, and we are only loyal to His Majesty. We will also hand over all the money we earn to the inner treasury." .”

"Isn't that enough? You and I are both loyal to the emperor, and the money is also going into the treasury. Then why should we share it with each other?" "You, you...! Your Majesty, you know everything. Which one of us should I leave the errand to?"

Lu Bing couldn't defeat Lu Fang, so he asked Emperor Jiajing to decide.

In fact, the thing is very obvious. Regardless of whether the glass business is handed over to Lu Fang or Lu Bing, Emperor Jiajing will always get the lion's share.It's just that compared to Lu Bing, Lu Fang is by his side every day, so he can control it better.Therefore, in Emperor Jiajing's heart, he was inclined to hand over the glass business to Lu Fang and to the Supervisor of Rites.

But Emperor Jiajing and Lu Bing grew up, and Lu Bing was also Emperor Jiajing's only friend. Emperor Jiajing still had feelings for Lu Bing.Moreover, Emperor Jiajing had just transferred the large steel project that Lu Bing had worked so hard to build to Lu Fang a few days ago.If the glass business is given to Lu Fang now, then the future relationship with Lu Bing will be really bad.

If you think rationally, you should leave the glass business to Lu Fang; if you think rationally, you should leave the glass business to Lu Bing.So now should this be rational or emotional?This question was too difficult and Emperor Jiajing couldn't do it.

So Emperor Jiajing, who couldn't solve the problem, shifted the disaster to the east and threw the problem to Wang Daoqiu.He asked Wang Daoqiu: "Wang Qing! You made this sulfur glass. Who do you think I should hand over this job to?"

"Your Majesty, no matter whether it is Governor Lu or Eunuch Lu, it will be very inconvenient for them to do this errand of Li Li. Because it involves a lot of alchemy skills and the unique Taoist green vitriol oil."

Wang Daoqiu's words were to the point, but everyone present understood what Wang Daoqiu meant.So Tao Zhongwen cast a grateful look at Wang Daoqiu, while Lu Fang looked at Wang Daoqiu with a disappointed expression.

Unlike Tao Zhongwen and Lu Fang who are not familiar with Wang Daoqiu, Lu Bing has more contacts with Wang Daoqiu, and he has always regarded Wang Daoqiu as a friend.So he didn't feel that he was going to have an affair with Wang Daoqiu.

So as soon as Wang Daoqiu finished speaking, Lu Bing complained to Wang Daoqiu: "Xie Yuanlang, what do you mean by what you said! I, Lu Bingke, have always regarded you as a friend, and you can't be enough of a friend! And! Is there anything you don’t understand about those technical matters? As long as you, Xie Yuanlang, regard me as Lu Bing as a friend and are willing to contribute to my Jinyiwei, then there will be no problem for our Jinyiwei to take over the sulfur glass business."

The meaning of Lu Bing's words was very clear, which was to ask Wang Daoqiu to side with their Jin Yiwei and help them in the future.To be honest, in Wang Daoqiu's heart, compared to the civil service system, there are high-intellectual intrigues and deceptions every day, and the annoying rules and regulations of doing something.He prefers the simplicity and efficiency of the Jin Yiwei, with its orders and prohibitions, and hopes that he can control the power of the Jin Yiwei in the future.

But now he wants to be more friendly and lay the foundation for the future recruitment of this group of "chemists" from China.So in the face of Lu Bing's complaint, Wang Daoqiu said very sincerely: "Master Lu, if you can treat Wang as a friend, it's because you give me face. I thank you. To be honest, Wang also likes Master Lu." As a person, I like Mr. Lu’s temper, and I sincerely hope that I can become a partner with Mr. Lu in the future. Let’s do this, Mr. Lu, the emperor is here now, and the emperor can testify. If Mr. Lu doesn’t think Wang is vulgar, then I will try it out next year , no matter what Wang’s results will be, Wang is willing to join the Jinyiwei and serve as a leader for the people of Mainland China.”

"It's a deal, Jie Yuanlang, you can't go back on your word!"

"If you dare to go back on the promise you made in front of His Majesty, wouldn't that be deceiving you?"

"Hahahaha, okay, okay, that being the case, after Lu's examination next year, we are waiting for Mr. Xie Yuan to come to my Jin Yiwei and serve the emperor with us."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Lu, for being considerate of me. But Mr. Lu, this sulfur glass business is really not suitable for Jinyiwei. If Mr. Lu..."

"Okay, okay, Xie Yuanlang, you don't need to say any more. Since Xie Yuanlang treats me with sincerity, I, Lu Bing, can't make things difficult for you, Xie Yuanlang. I, Jin Yiwei, will not fight for this vulcanized glass business."

"Thank you, Mr. Lu, for your understanding."

Because Wang Daoqiu expressed his willingness to join Jinyiwei after the exam next year.This made Lu Bing very happy, so he stopped fighting for the sulfur glass business.

As for Lu Bing's withdrawal, it was hard for Lu Fang to fight anymore. After all, it would be too ugly to have a portrait like that.Therefore, in the future, who will give this sulfur glass business to, we have to wait for a word from Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing knew that the Taoist clan would definitely want to get such a lucrative business.Now that Lu Bing has clearly withdrawn and Lu Fang is too embarrassed to fight anymore, let's give this business to Daomen!I hope that the Taoist sect will be grateful to me and work hard to help me cultivate Taoism and become an immortal.

After wanting to understand this, Emperor Jiajing said to Tao Zhongwen who was beside him: "Old immortal, since this matter is the director of your Taoist sect, then let this matter be left to your Taoist sect!"

"Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness to our Taoist sect. However, Your Majesty, there are some things here, and none of us in the Taoist sect can understand them all. I wonder if I, the poor Taoist, can invite this little friend with profound immortality, Can you help us with this matter?"

"It should be! Today, Yuanshi Tianzun has accepted Wang Qing as his disciple. Now, Wang Qing should be regarded as a member of the Taoist sect. It is right for him to contribute to the Taoist sect. By the way, Wang Qing doesn't have a Taoist title yet, old immortal Just help Wang Qing get one!"

"This, this, this, Your Majesty, a poor Taoist with a shallow connection with immortality, how can he be qualified to give a Taoist title to a disciple of Tianzun? Your Majesty, you are the son of God, and you have a distinguished status..."

"Hey, one code returns to another code, at the Taoist Gate..."

…………

In the next few minutes, Emperor Jiajing and Tao Zhongwen exchanged business blows with Chinese characteristics.But in the end it was Tao Zhongwen who successfully "persuaded" Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing gave Wang Daoqiu the Taoist title of "Xuanchengzi" with "half push and half acceptance" and gave Wang Daoqiu a Taoist purple robe.

(End of this chapter)