Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 162 Smashed
Why did the Yang family kiln take so long to fire its clay kilns? Because the fired clay kilns always needed to be repeatedly inspected.

Especially when switching from a wood-fired kiln to a coal-fired kiln, each firing sequence is significantly different from before.

Yang Mingde spent the whole night at the kiln, personally controlling the fire, listening to the firing time with his ears, and smelling the aroma of pottery in the kiln with his nose.

He personally sealed the fire and the holes, guarded the kiln, and seized the opportunity to ventilate and adjust the fire in the kiln.

This is a craft passed down from the Yang family.

Yang Mingde appears dull precisely because he devotes all his energy to this.

That's why he felt aimless after the Yang family's porcelain kiln was shut down.

He was completely connected to that kiln.

The fire gave him renewed energy.

After the clay kilns were removed from the kiln, Yang Mingde would personally inspect all of them. He carefully examined every single clay kiln that was taken away from the Yang family's porcelain kiln.

This practice continued until Xie Chongjun was arrested.

Xie Chongjun was imprisoned, and Xie Yuyan hired three other craftsmen to help him.

“These craftsmen who inspect the pottery do not participate in the firing process, so they will not show favoritism regarding the quality of the clay kilns produced. Of course, it is also possible that someone might bribe them.”

Xie Yuyan stated her rules: "But doing that would probably be counterproductive."

The county magistrate listened in surprise: "Why?"

Xie Yuyan said, "Those are all very famous old craftsmen. I give them money to inspect the porcelain, and they also need to maintain their reputation."

As one gets older, reputation becomes far more important than temporary wealth.

Speaking of reputation, Monk Zhiyuan raised his head. He was familiar with this; that's what Benefactor Xie had told him. His Baode Temple needed reputation, and so did the old craftsmen.

Craftsmen are willing to fight to the death for their reputation and skills.

Xie Yuyan said, "Besides, who would bribe them to tell lies? Unless the pottery kiln's craftsmen, accountants, and managers conspire to cut corners and embezzle the owner's money, or the owner is just deceiving himself."

"If that's the case, then this deal is done."

The county magistrate nodded.

“But if we can do it well…” Xie Yuyan paused slightly.

Monk Zhiyuan began chanting sutras, fiddling with his prayer beads. He couldn't listen; he couldn't bear to listen. "Benefactor Xie is lying again."

The moment he lowered his eyes, he caught sight of Yan Sui beside him. Yan Sui's eyes were shining, and his ears were practically perked up. He wished he could squat down in front of Benefactor Xie and remember every single word Benefactor Xie said.

Monk Zhiyuan wanted to bring his young disciple over, but unfortunately... his Buddhist teachings were not profound enough to match the "principles" spoken by Benefactor Xie.

"In the future, we can do even more, not only to win fame for ourselves and to make Damingfu porcelain famous, but also to help some newly built porcelain kilns produce qualified porcelain."

"There are many porcelain kilns in Daming Prefecture, but who can say that they know the situation of all of them?"

“The porcelain kiln in Daming Prefecture has been around for a long time, and I won’t get involved in it,” Xie Yuyan said. “But the clay kiln in Daming Prefecture has only just started, and it started with me. Since you’ve thought of it, why not get started on making it complete right away?”

The county magistrate felt particularly pleased when he heard about the "clay furnace of Daming Prefecture".

It wasn't a Yang family clay stove, nor a Xie family clay stove, but a Daming Prefecture clay stove. Just listen to that... and it's even mentioned in performance evaluations.

"I have just handed over the method of making the clay furnace. It is extremely difficult to inspect the clay furnace. I don't know what it will look like when it leaves Daming Prefecture."

“Clay stoves are different from ordinary porcelain. If the clay body is not properly ceramicized, it will crack when heated and dry. If it is used to burn charcoal for Buddhist purposes, it may be damaged and cause a disaster.”

“This is not my intention, nor is it the result that Master Zhiyuan wanted to see.”

Master Zhiyuan, who was called out, subconsciously stopped chanting and uttered a Buddhist chant: "Amitabha."

Xie Chonghai secretly glared at the pretentious monk. Since entering, the monk had been cooperating with Xie Yuyan, seemingly without saying a word, but constantly fiddling with his prayer beads and chanting incantations at crucial moments. He was essentially adding fuel to the fire for Xie Yuyan.

The so-called enlightened monks who pity the people are clearly just evil monks acting as accomplices to wicked people.

Just as Xie Chonghai was thinking this, he saw three elderly men, who were not young, being invited over.

Upon seeing these three people, the craftsmen at Xie's pottery kiln were deeply moved.

Just as Madam Xie said, these three people are highly respected, and there are many of their disciples and grand-disciples in Daming Prefecture. Right now, there are two people here who have learned their skills.

The county magistrate stepped forward to inquire about the situation of the three men. Upon learning that they had been firing kilns for decades, he nodded repeatedly and confirmed that the clay kilns produced by the Yang family porcelain kiln were now inspected by them.

Since the Yang family is going to do it this way.

The county magistrate looked at Xie Chonghai and asked, "Can you trust these three craftsmen?"

Now that things have come to this, no one can stop it.

Xie Chonghai had no choice but to look at the steward: "Take the three craftsmen to see the clay furnace."

The three craftsmen did not rush forward. The elderly man with white hair and beard, who was leading the group, looked at the county magistrate and asked, "Should we do the same thing here as the Yang family did?"

The county magistrate nodded: "That's how it should be."

The three craftsmen then stepped inside.

The county magistrate wasn't a busybody, but Madam Xie's words really struck a chord with him, so he put his hands behind his back and said, "Why don't we go and take a look too?"

As he spoke, he looked at the monk Zhiyuan, who had no choice but to continue turning his prayer beads to show his agreement.

However, while walking forward, Zhiyuan accidentally stepped on the sole of his own shoe...

If it weren't for a pilgrim donating his robes and shoes, allowing him to replace his old ones, he would have surely stomped the soles off his shoes.

Monk Zhiyuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He shouldn't have come!
Xie Chonghai looked at the craftsmen beside him, about to ask them about the clay furnaces, when he suddenly heard a cry of surprise, followed by the sound of shattering porcelain.

Xie Chonghai still couldn't figure out what had happened.

Another noise came from the room where the clay furnaces were stored, followed by the foreman shouting, "Gentlemen... you mustn't smash this!"

Xie Chonghai felt a chill run down his spine and immediately rushed over.

The county magistrate stood at the door, watching all of this in astonishment.

The three craftsmen, one of whom picked up a clay furnace, examined it carefully, and said, "It's full of cracks inside, can't you see? Are your eyesight worse than an old man's like mine?"

The other two came over to take a look and confirmed that it was indeed a crack.

The person holding the clay stove immediately let go.

The clay stove shattered upon hitting the ground.

The three ignored the Xie family steward's exclamation and instead said, "You can tell something's wrong just by listening to that sound. There must have been a mistake when adjusting the kiln at the end."

"If that's the case, then this whole kiln is useless."

Another person said, "To be on the safe side, let's look at them one by one!"

"This won't work either."

No sooner had the two finished speaking than another clay stove was shoved over their shoulder.

The Xie family steward hurriedly reached out to stop him.

"We've already smashed three clay furnaces; we can't smash any more."

The gray-haired craftsman's eyes widened: "If you don't smash this, who are you going to sell it to?"