Li An took a closer look. After the wall had dried, the places where it had been wiped had turned white. It was no different from the surrounding white. He couldn't see any difference at all. He had to look very closely to find the slightest difference. But if he got too close, his eyes wouldn't be able to bear it. Most people wouldn't lie on the wall to look for flaws when they had nothing better to do. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
In short, the imitation porcelain paint experiment was a great success. Ang Lee's efforts were not in vain. He only needed to optimize it a little, and then the imitation porcelain paint could be put into production. At that time, another workshop would be added twenty miles to the north. From the current lime workshop, cement workshop, and imitation porcelain paint workshop, a larger industrial cluster would be formed, which would help optimize resources and promote the faster and better development of Anzhu City.
The more workshops there were, the more craftsmen would be needed, and the faster the population would grow. Prosperity would naturally come sooner. This would definitely be a great thing for Anzhu City.
"Well, good. As I expected, this imitation porcelain paint can be mass-produced. It's built next to the cement factory. It's about a hundred steps away."
Ang Lee made the decision with satisfaction.
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away."
The subordinate responded and immediately went to arrange it.
"Look at the wall. It's completely the same after it dried. I can't see any difference from before. It's amazing."
"This imitation porcelain paint is really good. Not only can it make the room brighter, but it's also not afraid of being washed by water. If it gets dirty, it can be wiped with a wet cloth. Great."
"The shop I rented hasn't painted the walls yet, so I used this material. I just don't know when this imitation porcelain paint can be used."
"Our Tang dynasty is amazing. It can even make such a powerful thing. It's really amazing. These small countries can't make these things."
"It's all thanks to Assistant Minister Li. Without Assistant Minister Li, how could the Tang dynasty make so many powerful things?"
While the businessmen praised the imitation porcelain paint, they didn't forget to compliment Ang Lee, which made Ang Lee very happy.
Ang Lee saw a businessman holding a magnifying glass and carefully observing the wall that had just been wiped with a wet cloth. He looked too serious, as if he was studying an antique, for fear of making a mistake.
This magnifying glass was also invented by Ang Lee. It was sold in ordinary shops in Chang 'an City of the Tang dynasty. Some businessmen even sold this product overseas, so that overseas people could also have such an item.
Businessmen were the people in this era who did not lack money the most. Once people had money, they would like these rare gadgets, especially magnifying glasses. They were very practical things. Businessmen liked them very much. As long as they encountered one, they would definitely be willing to buy one to play with. Moreover, magnifying glasses were indeed very practical. In the daytime, they could be used to light a fire. Some small things that could not be seen could also be seen with magnifying glasses. For example, account books and so on could be observed with magnifying glasses.
However, magnifying glasses were Ang Lee's own industry. The factory price in Chang 'an City was dozens of times higher than the cost. It could be said that it was absolutely profitable. If such a product was sold overseas, the price would definitely be many times higher than the retail price in Chang' an City. Otherwise, the businessmen's efforts would be in vain.
In other words, the originally very cheap magnifying glasses became a luxury item overseas. Only the rich businessmen and officials could own them. The ordinary working people couldn't afford such a product. Just like diamonds, ordinary people couldn't afford to play with them. Ordinary people could only buy a set when they got married.
From the way the businessman held the magnifying glass, it could be seen how much importance he attached to it. Moreover, the handle of the magnifying glass seemed to have been modified. A hole was dug in the middle and a string was threaded. The string was hanging on the businessman's neck. In this way, even if the magnifying glass was accidentally dropped, it wouldn't fall to the ground. Instead, it would be pulled by the string to avoid the fate of being broken.
This showed that the businessman regarded the magnifying glass as a treasure. He was afraid that it would be damaged or stolen.
"Where did you buy this magnifying glass? How much did it cost?"
Ang Lee walked to the businessman and asked.
"Oh, Assistant Minister Li." The businessman was stunned for a moment and then said, "A friend brought it to me from Chang 'an City. It cost 100 gold coins."
"100 gold coins?" Ang Lee smiled and said, "Don't you think it's expensive to spend so much money on such a small thing?"
"It's not expensive. It's only 100 gold coins. In the shops in West Tianzhu, this can be sold for 150 gold coins."
The businessman carefully held the magnifying glass in his hand and said seriously.
The corners of Li An's mouth curled up into a smile. He lamented how black-hearted merchants were. The price of such an ordinary commodity had actually increased by so much. Of course, his own heart was also quite black-hearted. If he could increase the price by dozens of times when he left the factory, then the merchants would be able to increase the price of the commodity by dozens of times when they were overseas.
The premise that the price of the product could be doubled at will was that the product was good enough. At the same time, it must be in a state of short supply. In the Tang dynasty, it was normal for the supply to fall short of the demand because of the lack of traffic and information. Moreover, Ang Lee deliberately limited the output of these products to prevent the result of oversupply and a backlog of his products.
In addition, the overall level of science and technology in the Tang dynasty was still backward. In order to prevent the leakage of technology, Ang Lee recruited very few craftsmen. Therefore, the output could not be increased to a large extent, which inevitably led to a shortage of supply.
"In Chang 'an City, this magnifying glass is worth 10 gold coins at most. I didn't expect it to be sold for 150 gold coins in West Tianzhu. It has increased by 15 times! This is all because of the lack of traffic. When the railway is built, goods from Chang 'an City can be directly transported to Anzhu City by railway. The cost of circulation will be greatly reduced, and the price of these gadgets will be greatly reduced. "
Ang Lee sighed.
"What? Only 10 gold coins in Chang 'an City?"
The businessman's face changed slightly. Obviously, his friend did not tell him that. However, the price his friend sold him was much cheaper than that in West Tianzhu. In this way, he did not suffer a loss. After all, if he went to the Tang dynasty himself, the cost of the round trip would be too high, and the price from West Tianzhu would be more expensive. Therefore, it could be regarded as a friendly price.
"All the magnifying glasses in the world belong to this official's industry, and they were personally designed and manufactured by this official. Therefore, this official is most familiar with the price of the products. In addition, this official designed the wooden handle of the magnifying glass. There are no small holes, and there are no strings attached. You modified this yourself, right?"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Assistant Minister Li is right. After all, this magnifying glass was bought with 100 gold coins. Moreover, this thing is very fragile. I am afraid that it will be broken, so I asked the craftsmen to drill a small hole in the wooden handle and tie it with a thin rope. In this way, it will not be broken."
The businessman said.
"You have a good brain! If it falls, 100 gold coins will be wasted. Haha! "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
Magnifying glasses had become a luxury item in this era. Moreover, it was a fragile luxury item. If it was accidentally broken, it would become worthless.
In this era, gold and silver were not easy to break, but jade, antiques, and glass products were very fragile. When using them, one must be very careful. If one was not careful, one would lose money. Therefore, this businessman was a cautious person. At first glance, it was obvious that he would not lose money, but at the same time, it was difficult for him to make a fortune.
"Assistant Minister Li, this magnifying glass is a good thing. Some things can only be seen clearly with the help of this magnifying glass. For example, this wall. It is difficult to see the difference between the places that have been wiped and the places that have not been wiped. But through the magnifying glass, the difference is relatively big and very obvious."
The businessman said.
"Oh, what's the difference?"
Ang Lee asked.
"In the places that have not been wiped by the wet cloth, there are many fine lines on the wall, and they are very uniform. In the places that have just been wiped, there are very few fine lines on the wall, and they are very uneven."
The businessman answered seriously. He seemed to be very satisfied with his own observation skills.
"Oh, is that so? Come, let me have a look. "
Ang Lee was also curious. He reached out and asked for the magnifying glass. He wanted to see for himself if what the businessman said was true.
"Assistant Minister Li, take it."
The businessman seemed to be worried about Ang Lee. He carefully untied the string of the magnifying glass from his hand and wrapped it around Ang Lee's arm to prevent Ang Lee from accidentally breaking the magnifying glass. Ang Lee's status was so high. Even if his treasure was really broken, he did not dare to ask Ang Lee to compensate him. If that happened, his loss would be great.
"You are too careful. Are you afraid that I will break your treasure? I have a lot of magnifying glasses like this on my ship. It's just that I don't usually use them, so I don't carry them with me."
Ang Lee looked at the businessman with disdain. He then picked up the magnifying glass and carefully observed the wall. He wanted to see the difference between the walls that had been wiped by the wet cloth and the walls that had not been wiped by the wet cloth.
Although the white wall was very dazzling, in order to prove that what the businessman said was true, Ang Lee could only endure the discomfort and insist on carefully observing the subtle differences in different parts of the wall.
After careful observation, Ang Lee soon found that the businessman was telling the truth. The places that had been wiped by the wet cloth were indeed very different from the places that had not been wiped by the wet cloth. The stripes on the wall were different.
The places that had not been wiped by the wet cloth had very strong stripes, just like a frosted surface. However, the places that had been wiped by the wet cloth had very weak stripes. They could not even be seen at all, and appeared to be somewhat smooth.
"Yes, you are right. It is indeed like this. You have observed very carefully!"
Ang Lee smiled and returned the magnifying glass to the businessman. He did not want the businessman to worry if he held it in his hand for too long.
After the businessman took the magnifying glass, he carefully put it into his pocket. He was afraid that someone would borrow it again and break it. If that happened, the loss would be great. Many of the people present were his peers. It was not appropriate to ask them to compensate.
"Although there are still some differences after being wiped, who would care about these details? As long as the whole room is bright and there are no obvious stains on the walls, it is enough. Some flaws are completely tolerable. "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
The businessmen nodded in agreement with Ang Lee's words. They were all businessmen. No one would care about the subtle differences in the walls.
Some of the businessmen who had already laid planks on the walls were thinking about how to apply a layer of smooth imitation porcelain paint on the planks to increase the brightness of the shop. Not only would it make the customers comfortable, but it would also make the staff working in the shop feel comfortable.
After looking at the imitation porcelain paint, Ang Lee returned to his residence and carefully sorted out the data of his experiments a few days ago. Then, he called several skilled and reliable craftsmen and handed the experimental data to them respectively. He let each of them master the technology of one of the ingredients, so as to maximize confidentiality. Of course, because the imitation porcelain paint was not the core technology of the Tang Empire, even if it was leaked, it would not be too big of a concern. At most, it would just lose some economic benefits.
According to the map, the location of the lime mine was in the northwest of the cement workshop. There was a large open space in the east of the lime mine, which was very suitable for the construction of a workshop. Ang Lee intended to build the new imitation porcelain paint workshop there.
In this way, the three workshops were arranged in a triangular shape. If the three workshops were regarded as a whole, the lime mine was in the northwest, the cement workshop was in the south, and the imitation porcelain paint workshop was in the northeast. Such a triangular configuration was most suitable for the concentration of manpower and material resources, which was very advantageous.
"You guys remember, the technology I gave you is your livelihood in the future. You must keep it a secret. Don't disclose the technology you have mastered at will. You are also not allowed to inquire about each other. Do you understand?"
Ang Lee warned seriously.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. How dare I disclose it?"
The six craftsmen quickly nodded and responded.
"The task of building the imitation porcelain paint workshop will be handed over to you. The six of them are also under your command. They must be able to produce qualified products within half a month."
Li An looked at one of his subordinates and requested.
"Yes, I understand."
The subordinate responded.
After settling the imitation porcelain paint workshop, Ang Lee asked his subordinates to leave and immediately prepare for the construction of the workshop. He had to take a rest. After sorting out so much information and spending a lot of time explaining, Ang Lee was really tired for more than six hours.
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