Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 163 To Hand Over or Not

Another clay stove fell to the ground.

The manager reached out to stop them, but dared not pull the three old craftsmen away.

With the county magistrate here, wouldn't it be bullying if they used force? Besides, they had just agreed to let the craftsman inspect it.

"Second Master," the steward had no choice but to ask Xie Chonghai, who had rushed over, for help.

Those clay stoves sell for at least six hundred coins each.

What will happen if they keep smashing it like that?

Besides, they couldn't explain themselves to the Liu family.

The shop is all set up, just waiting for the clay furnace to be delivered. If the clay furnace doesn't arrive today, it will really be a laughing stock.

The Xie family can't afford to lose face like this.

"What's wrong with this clay furnace?" Xie Chonghai suppressed his anger and asked the old craftsmen in a seemingly calm manner.

These three old craftsmen, like the three elders of the clan, stood there with firm gazes and unquestionable expressions. Especially when they swept their gazes over the young craftsmen, their intense gazes made them afraid to speak.

Old Wei spoke first: "Let's not talk about the fact that there are too many unfired areas on your large base. After all, you're making a regular clay stove, so there's no need to worry about that."

"But can't you see these fine lines on the inner layer? Don't think that there are only a few lines on a clay stove. What will happen when you put charcoal in and it starts to burn?"

“It’s fine if it’s sold for a month or two, but then what? According to Madam Xie’s rules, even if it’s a clay stove that’s a little better than this, it will still be smashed.”

As he spoke, Old Wei picked up another one and smashed it on the ground.

The county magistrate stared blankly at the shards scattered on the ground, and couldn't help but turn to look at Xie Yuyan.

Xie Yuyan said, "The Yang family's porcelain kiln requires that at least 80% of the clay kilns be usable after inspection. There are rewards and penalties for both high and low yields. The clay kilns that are smashed every day will also have pottery shards left for future inspection."

Xie Chonghai snorted coldly: "Who knows how the investigation into the Yang family's clay kiln is going to go? It all depends on Madam Xie's word. Even the old craftsmen here only act on Madam Xie's orders."

Xie Yuyan looked at Xie Chonghai: "If you don't believe me, Master Xie, you can go to the Yang family's porcelain kiln and see what kind of clay stoves the Yang family produces. Do they have the fine lines found on your clay stoves?"

“You can see,” said Old Wei. “In this kiln, only the five clay kilns closest to the fire were not fired well and have been smashed by us. The broken porcelain is still there, but even those broken pieces are much better than the ones you fired here.”

“Take a look at this,” another old man Yao said. “This is where the hole was made too big during the firing process. Your coal kiln probably has a problem too.”

Xie Chonghai's heart pounded wildly, his eyes blazed with fury, and he wished he could just push these old bones into the kiln and burn them alive.

The clay stoves were all usable, but they wouldn't let go of even the slightest flaw.

“I don’t need to go,” Xie Chonghai said. “You have come prepared, so you will naturally take care of the Yang family’s porcelain kiln.”

“Since Master Xie feels this is unfair,” Xie Yuyan looked at the county magistrate, “why don’t we have our two pottery kilns put the clay furnaces that have been fired together for inspection each time?”

“No matter whose clay stove it is, if it is not fired well, it must be smashed before it can be sent to the shop to be sold. However, the number of clay stoves that are burned each day must be posted at the door of the shop to inform everyone.”

“If you feel this is unfair,” Xie Yuyan looked at the county magistrate, “this matter was initiated by the government office, so let’s report it to the city magistrate’s office and have the city inspector of this prefecture testify.”

The county magistrate felt a chill run down his spine.

The county government had offered to help Madam Xie with the method of making a clay stove, and now Madam Xie had dragged the county government into it again... He couldn't bring himself to refuse. It was like having mud stuck to his hands, something he couldn't shake off.

Madam Xie made them truly understand that things that come for free aren't so easy to take.

Xie Chonghai clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. This scheme had been set up from the moment Xie Yuyan revealed his method, and it was destined that the Xie family would not benefit from it.

After much deliberation, Xie Chonghai took a deep breath to calm himself down: "This is the first kiln fired by our Xie family. It is unreasonable for Madam Xie to compare her own clay kiln, which has been fired many times, with ours."

Xie Yuyan said, "I also bought two other pottery kilns. Master Xie, can you guess why my two pottery kilns haven't started firing clay yet?"

"Why did Master Xie rush to fire the clay stove and take it to the shop to sell?"

Why else?
Xie Chonghai found it laughable, but he wouldn't speak easily. Xie Yuyan in front of him was really not someone to mess with; if he wasn't careful, she would find something to use against him.

"For this business?" Xie Yuyan's gaze darkened. "If it's for this, I don't think the Xie family should have taken over this clay furnace from the government office."

Xie Chonghai stared coldly at Xie Yuyan: "You're just making excuses. Do you think your Yang family doesn't need money to sell clay furnaces?"

“Of course I need money,” Xie Yuyan said, “but I am not solely focused on profit, at least not with profit in mind.”

As Xie Yuyan spoke, his gaze sharpened, slowly sweeping across everyone's faces. Under such a gaze, even the county magistrate subconsciously lowered his eyes.

“If I were doing this for business, I should have kept the method of firing clay kilns firmly in my grasp.”

“If I were doing this for business, I wouldn’t have set a minimum wage of one hundred coins per day for my workers.”

"Naturally, there would be no agreement with Master Zhiyuan that profits could not exceed 30%."

“If it were just about buying and selling, about money, I wouldn’t be standing here today, wasting so much breath on Mr. Xie.”

"Only the Yang family's porcelain kiln in Daming Prefecture could fire this clay kiln."

After saying this, Xie Yuyan stared intently at Xie Chonghai: "May I ask, Master Xie, if it were your Xie family, would you be willing to share the method for firing clay kilns?"

Xie Chonghai felt a chill run down his spine under that gaze, but he knew he couldn't back down now. So he mustered his strength and said, "Of course I will."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yuyan suddenly smiled.

However, in Xie Chonghai's eyes, that smile was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into his eyes.

Xie Yuyan was afraid that Xie Chonghai would not dare to agree.

“Alright,” Xie Yuyan said, “then please take it out, Master Xie!”

Xie Chonghai frowned and subconsciously asked, "What?" Had Xie Yuyan gone mad? She had already sent the method for firing clay furnaces to the government office; what did he need to hand over?
Xie Yuyan said, "The Xie family's method of firing porcelain."

Xie Chonghai was stunned for a long time, repeatedly recalling Xie Yuyan's words, and finally... he understood. Xie Yuyan asked him to bring out the method of firing porcelain in the Xie family's porcelain kiln.

“You…you’re really insane,” Xie Chonghai said. “The Xie family owns the largest porcelain kiln in Daming Prefecture, and the entire clan produces porcelain…and you actually want us to…”

"What's wrong with that?" Xie Yuyan said. "The Yang family's porcelain kiln only fires clay kilns, and the entire Yang family relies on the kiln for their livelihood. Isn't my clay kiln a good business?"

"If it weren't a good deal, why would the Xie family be in such a hurry to buy so many pottery kilns?"

After saying this, Xie Yuyan's face turned serious: "Master Xie, are you going to take it or not?"