"Such a large piece of red sandalwood, it's too extravagant!"
Ang Lee said. He felt that it was too expensive and the cost was too high. How many years would it take to recoup the cost? If he couldn't recoup the cost for a long time, wouldn't it be a loss?
The petty official blinked and said with a treacherous face, "Assistant Minister Li, this red sandalwood door only has a thin layer of real red sandalwood on the outside. The inside is all willow wood, so the cost isn't high."
Looking at the five-centimeter thick hanging door, Li An was taken aback. A large piece of red sandalwood would undoubtedly fetch a sky-high price, but if it was made of thin pieces of red sandalwood, it wouldn't be worth much. On the other hand, willow wood was just a very common type of wood. In this era of the Great Tang, it wasn't considered a precious wood, and its price was much lower than red sandalwood.
Looking at the petty official's treacherous face, Ang Lee grinned. This matter was well done. Using the lowest cost to create a product that could pass off as genuine was very good. Ang Lee was very satisfied with this. After all, even an expert like Ang Lee couldn't see anything wrong with this red sandalwood door. For many nobles and big businessmen who weren't as good as Ang Lee, they couldn't see anything wrong. Even if they could see it, it wouldn't be a big deal. This was a transportation facility, not a wooden door, so it couldn't be considered a scam.
"Which craftsman did this? I can't see any flaws?"
Ang Lee asked happily.
The petty official said, "Assistant Minister Li, it's Carpenter Zhao's masterpiece."
"Carpenter Zhao, so it's him! He's worthy of being the number one carpenter in my research and development center. His standard is really different! I must praise him when I get back. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
During the Chinese New Year, Ang Lee went to Carpenter Zhao's house. Although this guy's skills were top-notch, because he was too kind, he was actually bullied by his own brothers. His biased old mother was biased towards the other son, so Carpenter Zhao, who had a high salary, was actually poorer than many ordinary craftsmen. If it wasn't for Ang Lee's advice, he would definitely still be living a hard life. With Ang Lee's advice, Carpenter Zhao's family finally had a good life. They even became a family with another awesome Blacksmith Li. Carpenter Zhao's son had now entered the research and development center, and was naturally doing carpentry work. However, his skills were far worse than his father's, so he still needed more experience...
He gently opened the red sandalwood hanging door. Three to five meters in front of him was the same red sandalwood hanging door, but the shape was slightly different. On the right side was an ordinary wooden door. It looked like it was made of nanmu, but he didn't know if it was fake.
"Don't tell me this red sandalwood door only has the outer layer?"
Ang Lee touched the sandalwood door and asked.
The petty official said with a treacherous look, "Assistant Minister Li is right. It's indeed only a layer of sandalwood. The inside is pine wood, so it's more resistant to rot. The tung oil on this door has been applied nine times. Even if you splash it with water every day, it won't rot."
After saying that, he looked proud.
"Very good, it's already very good."
Ang Lee said with satisfaction and gently pushed open the sandalwood door. Inside was a bathroom with toilet facilities. The area was not very large, but it was still six or seven square meters, which was enough for a comfortable bath. This small space was also divided into two parts, separated by a curtain in the middle to prevent water from being splashed outside when bathing. At the same time, it could better keep warm and prevent people from being frozen when bathing. In short, this curtain was really very considerate.
The top space of the bathroom was obviously much shorter, barely enough to meet the requirements of people standing. The reason why it was so low was that the space above was used to store water, which obviously took up a lot of space. Moreover, it could only occupy the space at the top. Most of the stored water was cold water. If hot water was needed, it could be boiled, but it would cost extra. When the train stopped, the locomotive could also provide some hot water. After all, the steam locomotive still had plenty of hot water. It could be said that it was killing two birds with one stone by the locomotive. Anyway, even if it was not supplied, it would be cold after a period of time. Of course, if the train stopped for a short time, it could not use the hot water in the locomotive. Otherwise, it would need to boil the cold water in the locomotive before the train could continue to move, which would delay things.
The facilities in the bathroom were very complete, and the grade was relatively high. For safety and hygiene, a large number of ceramic materials were used. After all, ceramic materials were not easy to breed bacteria, were smooth enough, and would not rot. These excellent characteristics were incomparable to wood and metal. The only drawback of ceramic was that it was easy to break. If ceramic materials could not break, it would be more ideal. Of course, this was impossible. How could ceramic not break? The biggest disadvantage of this material was that it was easy to break. It was very easy to break when it was hit by an external force. This was also the most annoying part of this material.
In order to keep warm, the bathtubs used in ancient times were all made of wood. There were very few examples of using other materials. The reason was naturally because wood materials were easy to obtain. Moreover, wood materials had a strong thermal property, which was incomparable to other materials. On the other hand, the thermal property of ceramic materials was far inferior to wood materials.
However, wood was easy to rot after all, and ceramic would never rot. When the wooden bathtub was used, it needed to be taken outside to dry. Only in this way could the wooden bathtub have a good lifespan and not rot after a period of use. Even if it was smeared with tung oil, it needed to be dried in the capital. It was also different from being exposed to the sun, otherwise, it would crack. In short, the wooden bathtub was more delicate.
The wooden bathtub and the ceramic bathtub could be said to have their own advantages and disadvantages. When it came to practical use, some people liked the wooden bathtub, and some people liked the ceramic bathtub. Of course, it was better to use the ceramic bathtub on the train. After all, the train traveled frequently, and there was no time to take the bathtub out to dry. Especially the large bathtub, it was not easy to move at all. It was more suitable to use the ceramic bathtub.
The biggest problem with the ceramic bathtub was that it was not very warm. Its thermal properties were far inferior to the wooden bathtub. It was easier for the hot water put in it to cool down, which would naturally affect the mood of the bather. It was also annoying to always add hot water.
In order to solve this problem, several sides of the ceramic bathtub were wrapped with thick thermal materials. Although the ceramic was still cold, with these thermal materials, the temperature of the water would not drop so quickly. Moreover, these thermal materials were under and on the sides of the bathtub. It could not be seen from the outside at all, and it would not affect the beauty and the quality of the bathroom.
"This bathtub is good, but how thick is it? If it is not thick enough, people standing in it can trample the bathtub."
Ang Lee asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry! This ceramic bathtub is double-layered. The top layer is the best porcelain, and the bottom layer is pure copper. The middle is welded tightly. It will never be trampled. This will never happen. "
The petty official said very seriously.
"Good, well done. This sink is also the best porcelain. It would be better if this part could be made rounder."
Ang Lee touched the corner of the sink and said.
In fact, this corner was not sharp at all. It was smooth, but it still looked like a corner from a distance. If one's head hit it, the damage caused would not be low. If it was rounder, the damage would be smaller, and it would be safer.
Seeing this, the petty official quickly said, "Yes, Assistant Minister Li is right. I will remember and correct it."
"Not only the sink, but also these tables and chairs. You have to consider the danger. If you can make it round, you must make it round. You must put safety in the most important position. You can't ignore safety."
Ang Lee lectured.
"Yes, I will remember and correct it."
Ang Lee touched the soap, washed his hands, and then walked out of the bathroom. The petty official behind him closed the door.
Walking out of the bathroom, Ang Lee saw the hidden compartment outside. He gently opened it and found that it was a place to store coal and fire. As long as he opened the hidden compartment, he could heat the cold water inside and boil enough hot water.
"Good, good, it's quite ingenious. It doesn't take up space or affect the beauty. If I didn't open the hidden compartment, I wouldn't have found the secret inside. I wouldn't have found it at all! Haha! "
Ang Lee said with great satisfaction. He was really very satisfied. This hidden design was very ingenious, and Ang Lee was very satisfied.
The petty official said, "This was all thought of by Blacksmith Li. He changed the cylindrical boiler into a square one. Moreover, it's a flat square. It's as thin as a wall. If you put some wooden boards on the outside to separate it, you won't be able to tell that it's a boiler."
Ang Lee touched the wall of the bathroom and gently knocked a few times. He suddenly nodded as if he understood and said, "I understand. The whole wall is a boiler, and the bottom is a place to store coal. If you didn't say it, I wouldn't have noticed."
Everyone knew that a normal boiler was cylindrical. This was also to save costs. Under the premise of the same use effect, using a cylindrical structure was the cheapest and the most convenient to manufacture. Therefore, all the boilers on the market were cylindrical, and no boilers were square. However, in some places, the best structure of a cylindrical boiler was not very good to use. On the contrary, other shapes of boilers were better to use.
For example, the box in front of Huo Xian. Due to the lack of space, it was not suitable to make a cylindrical boiler alone. However, by transforming it into a thin square boiler, it could achieve the effect of hiding in the wall. In this way, it did not occupy any space, and the effect was also very good. Almost all the top of the wall was the boiler, and the lower part was the place to burn the fire. The rest was the place to store fuel. Although the fuel used was coal, it was all the best coal. Moreover, each coal was wrapped in paper. When one took it out, one's hands would not get dirty, and the coal shavings would not fall on the ground. It could be said that it was very considerate.
Using paper to wrap coal, it was estimated that no one except the talents of the R&D Center had this kind of talent. Fortunately, the papermaking technology of the Tang Dynasty had made great progress at this time. The Tang Dynasty did not lack paper, and it could be exported in large quantities. The unit price of paper was not expensive at all. As for the low-quality straw paper, the price was very low. Using the low-quality straw paper to wrap the best coal did not seem to be a disgrace to the straw paper. After all, the high-quality coal was not much cheaper than the low-quality straw paper. The price of the two was relatively close, so of course, the price of the same weight was the same.
In addition to the straw paper wrapped around the coal, there was also a stack of straw paper that was used to ignite the fire. Without igniting the coal, the coal could not be burned. There must be straw paper to ignite the fire.
If you thought that the coal wrapped in straw paper could only be used to burn the boiler, then you were very wrong. It could also be used for barbecue. It was a very good barbecue fuel. When you were lonely during the journey, you could take out the barbecue grill and put the coal wrapped in straw paper into it. Then, you could roast whatever you wanted to eat. It was definitely a very pleasant thing.
As for where to roast, of course, it was in the special kitchen. The special kitchen was ten square meters, and there was enough space. It was easy for three to five people to sit inside and roast meat. It was absolutely beneficial to enhance the journey experience.
In order to avoid being disturbed, this kind of luxury carriage was generally placed at the front. The front of the carriage and the fuel carriage were in front. No guests needed to pass through the front carriage, and the staff did not need to pass through it. This could ensure that the carriage had enough privacy and was not easy to be disturbed.
After looking at the bathroom, Ang Lee opened the next suspended door. This was a very narrow door. There was a groove on the right side that allowed the suspended door to enter the groove and reveal the passage.
Needless to say, this was naturally the bedroom. It was a bedroom with an area of ten square meters. However, this bedroom was divided into two parts, one inside and one outside. The middle was covered by a wooden board and a curtain. The bed near the window was naturally separated by a wooden board, and the walking position was covered by a curtain. This made it easier to get in and out. The outer bed was only 1.2 meters wide, and the inner bed was larger. It was 1.8 meters wide and more than two meters long.
The inner bed was not only wider, but the material of the bed was also more high-end. At least, it was a grade higher than the small bed outside. It was obviously more comfortable to sleep on the big bed inside. It was obviously prepared for people of a higher rank, such as the master. The outer bed could be prepared for a high-end maid to serve the master at any time. In short, it must be a close person around the master.
Since there were beds, there were naturally blankets as well. However, there weren't many of them. It was always difficult to gain the trust of the nobles with such public items. Many rich people who traveled long distances didn't mind buying a new set of bedding at the last minute. However, they might not even know how to use the bedding here.
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