Top Scholar

Chapter 596 Master Craftsmen
After Tang Bohu calmed down again, Su Lu gave the following instructions:

"Brother Bohu, draw the portrait from several different angles. Besides the front, draw it from the left, right, left third, right third, left two-thirds, and right two-thirds angles. Draw one portrait from each of these angles and see which angle makes His Majesty look the most heroic!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao muttered impatiently, "You want me to get hemorrhoids from sitting so long?"

Su Lu chuckled and coaxed, "Your Majesty, this isn't just a painting. It needs to be mass-produced into tens of millions of copies and spread throughout the land. Think about it, hundreds of millions of people see it every day. If we don't choose a flawless angle, wouldn't that be a disservice to Your Majesty's magnificent beauty?"

Zhu Houzhao immediately thought it made a lot of sense, so he gritted his teeth and insisted, "Alright, alright, let's draw a circle around it! Let's choose the best angle!"

Su Lu smiled and said, "I'll just use this one for now, there's no rush for the rest. If Your Majesty is tired, take a rest. If you can't finish today, finish tomorrow. Take your time."

"Great! Great!" Upon hearing that he didn't have to paint anymore today, the emperor felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately made his escape.

"Your Majesty, we respectfully see you off..." Su Lu shouted from behind him.

"Tell my aunt that I miss her cooking again." Zhu Houzhao said without turning his head, taking the opportunity to make his demands.

"Okay, no problem. I'll have someone inform my family right away." Su Lu always valued immediate gratification and never practiced delayed gratification.

"We look forward to your arrival tonight, young master..."

~~
Leaving Tengxi Palace, Tang Yin, his eyes red-rimmed, bowed deeply to Su Lu once more, saying, "I dare not express my gratitude enough; I can only repay this kindness with my life!"

"Oh, Brother Bohu, there's no need for that." Su Lu shook his head, pulled him up, and said with a smile, "Congratulations on your long-cherished wish coming true. Now you'll have to work hard with me, won't you?"

"Yes, I understand." Tang Bohu nodded solemnly.

Back at Donggui Hall, Su Lu took out his sketch and the few Western coins, and told Tang Bohu about his purpose.

Tang Bohu then realized why Su Lu wanted him to join the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; it was truly a case of having no other choice...

He then solemnly warned Tang Yin: "This is an absolute secret, and you must not leak it, or don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Yes." Tang Yin hurriedly replied with a serious expression, and said with a wry smile, "Don't worry, no one in this world understands the importance of secrecy better than me."

So, following Su Lu's request, he redrawn the sketch of the reverse side of the Zhengde silver dollar and drew a sketch of the front side with the emperor's portrait.

His skill far surpassed that of Su Lu's simple sketches. It was as if two real silver coins had leaped off the page—the shape was regular, the patterns were exquisite, and the emperor's portrait remained lifelike, his demeanor undiminished, and even more majestic due to the miniaturization.

The two dragons on the reverse are equally lifelike, and the overall layout has been slightly adjusted to make it more beautiful. It is dignified yet elegant, perfectly blending the practicality and aesthetics of the silver coin!
"Good, as expected, professional matters should be handled by professionals." Su Lu praised, "With Brother Bohu, I won't have to embarrass myself in this area anymore."

"It's a pity that I can only draw, not carve, so I can't show you the real thing, my brother," Tang Yin said with a smile.

“As we said, everyone has their own expertise, so let’s leave the rest to the experts.” Su Lu smiled and asked Zhu Zihe, “Have the two master craftsmen arrived yet?”

“I’ve been here for a while now, waiting for you in the small council chamber,” Zhu Zihe replied.

“Okay.” Su Lu picked up the sketch and stood up, then called to Tang Yin, “Let’s go, let’s go have a meeting with them.”

~~
Inside the small council chamber, two artisans with calloused hands were holding teacups, waiting to be received.

One of them was in his forties, dressed in a brocade robe, with the air of a noble craftsman from the imperial palace; the other was nearing sixty, dressed in a blue ninth-rank official robe, but without a trace of official air about him.

"Haha, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, masters." Su Lu walked into the council hall with a beaming smile and apologized as soon as he entered: "I'm so sorry, I just finished drawing the blueprints and it took a little time."

The two craftsmen quickly rose to greet him, saying, "Sir, you are too kind. It is only right that we wait for you."

“No need for formalities, please have a seat.” Su Lu strode to the head seat and invited the two men to sit down, saying, “Let me introduce myself. I am Su Lu, and I am the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Secretary of the Imperial Family Commission. I have invited you two masters here because I have important matters to discuss.”

Zhu Zihe then introduced the middle-aged craftsman to Su Lu, saying, "This is the chief craftsman of the Inner Court Silverworks, surnamed Qiu, named Cheng. His family has been engaged in silver casting for generations. He is a descendant of Qiu Shiliang, a famous silver casting craftsman during the Xuande period. He was appointed as the head craftsman of the Silverworks, specializing in the casting of gold and silver wares for the palace. His skills are unparalleled in the inner court!"

"I've heard so much about you." Su Lu showed great respect for this master, bowing with clasped hands.

"Not at all," Qiu Cheng hurriedly returned the greeting, but was somewhat bewildered. He wondered why a top scholar would want a silversmith like himself. Did he perhaps want a set of jewelry made for his wife? "This is Lord Lu, named Lu Jingchang, the ambassador of the Ministry of Works' Baoyuan Bureau," Zhu Zihe then introduced the lowly ninth-rank official.
"Lord Lu comes from a family of metallurgists in Jiangnan. He is the seventh-generation descendant of Lu Zhongqian, the chief craftsman of the Baoyuan Bureau during the Hongwu era. His family has been in charge of the minting process of the Baoyuan Bureau for generations, making him the most authoritative minting expert in the Ming Dynasty."

"So you're the God of Wealth, my apologies for not recognizing you." Su Lu then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lu Jingchang.

Lu Jingchang quickly returned the courtesy politely.

Then Su Lu said seriously, "I have invited you two here today to ask you a question. However, since it is a confidential matter, I would like you to sign a confidentiality agreement first."

Zhu Zihe then took out two confidentiality agreements from the folder and handed them to the two master craftsmen.

The two men looked at the sign that read: "What we have seen and talked about today must not be disclosed. If anyone discloses it, he/she will be compensated with ten times the reward and exiled three thousand miles away."

“The reward is one thousand taels per person, and another one thousand taels will be given after the confidentiality period,” Su Lu added.

"Oh? So much?" Lu Jingchang was shocked. Despite being known as the God of Wealth, even if the oil-selling wife combs her hair with water, it's not up to a lowly craftsman like him to skim money from copper coins.

Qiu Cheng wasn't so surprised. The palace was far more chaotic than the Ministry of Works. He made gold and silver artifacts every day, and who knows how much profit he could make.

He mustered his courage and asked Su Lu, "Sir, what if the information wasn't leaked from us?"

"Don't worry, the factory will investigate thoroughly and won't wrong an innocent person," Su Lu said calmly.

The power of the secret agents to intimidate ordinary people was beyond imagination. The two men shuddered and quickly signed the papers.

Su Lu then took out the draft drawn by Tang Bohu and asked the two men to take a look, saying, "I have a design for silver coins here. The finished products need to be exquisitely crafted and mass-produced. Please take a look and see if your workshop can do it?"

After examining the blueprints for a moment, Qiu Cheng said confidently, "Don't worry, Lord Su. Silver is soft and easy to carve. For our Silver Workshop, making silver coins with this pattern is just a piece of cake."

"Oh? Is it true that Chief Qiu said this?" Su Lu was delighted, but then emphasized, "The silver coins I require must be exactly the same size and weight, the portrait of the emperor must be flawless, the inscription must be deep and vigorous, the dragon pattern must have clear scales and claws, and the edges must have neat serrated edges. Can you meet these requirements?"

"Well..." Qiu Cheng hadn't expected him to be so demanding, so he gritted his teeth and nodded, "Yes! How many do you want, sir?"

"Let's make 100,000 first and see?" Su Lu said.

"Holy shit..." Qiu Cheng slid off the chair in an instant.

"Hey, what's wrong with Master Qiu?" Su Lu quickly had someone help him up.

Qiu Cheng waved his hand to indicate that he was alright, then sat back down in his chair, leaning on the edge of the table. He smiled wryly and said, "Sir, are you making fun of me? According to your requirements, we need to use the lost-wax casting method to make the mold, select the finest refined silver, and then slowly pour it over a low flame and cold forge it. It will take at least half a day to cast a single silver coin that is exactly the same and without the slightest flaw."

He said helplessly, "Even if all one hundred craftsmen in our Crafts Bureau worked together, we still couldn't finish it in a year! Besides, we can't just do nothing... The quantity you're asking for is really outrageous. Why don't you see if Ambassador Lu can help us?"

Su Lu nodded and said, "Indeed, with such a large quantity, it's impossible to process them all by hand."

Then he looked at Lu Jingchang and said, "Master Lu, do you think it's possible to use the method of casting copper coins to mint these 100,000 silver dollars?"

“It’s difficult.” Lu Jingchang slowly shook his head, cupped his hands and explained in detail: “So that you may know, sir, that the Baoyuan Bureau is currently using the sand casting method to cast copper coins. But silver is different from copper. Silver requires a higher furnace temperature to melt, and after melting, it does not flow as smoothly as molten copper. After cooling, it is also prone to shrinking.”

When talking about his profession, Lu Jingchang became firm and confident, speaking eloquently: "When casting silver in sand, air and moisture inevitably get trapped in the sand mold. When they come into contact with the high temperature of the molten silver, they will bubble up. Even with subsequent forging and finishing, these tiny pores cannot be completely removed. Therefore, the silver coins cast will definitely have blurry and unclear patterns. The most troublesome thing is that they contain sand holes and air bubbles, which will definitely not achieve the level of fineness that you require!"

"Places of pinholes and air bubbles are definitely unacceptable." Su Lu shook his head decisively. Other flaws could be tolerated, but what if a few air bubbles were added to Zhu Houzhao's portrait, turning it into toad eyes and sausage lips? Wouldn't that be disastrous?
"Then there's nothing I can do about it." Lu Jingchang sighed regretfully. He really wanted to earn those two thousand taels, but unfortunately, he didn't have the ability.

"Can't you two families learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses?" Su Lu was still unwilling to give up.

“There’s nothing we can do, sir.” Qiu Cheng spread his hands and said, “Although we both use molds, the Baoyuan Bureau uses sand molds, while we use wax molds. One set of wax molds can only be used to cast one silver coin, and once it’s finished, it’s ruined. Mass production is simply impractical.”

"Is there really no other way?" Su Lu slammed the few Western coins in front of the two men. "If those barbarians can do it, why can't we, the mighty Celestial Empire, do it?"

As the saying goes, it's better to provoke than to invite. Su Lu's words stirred up the competitive spirit of the two great craftsmen. "Our Great Ming Dynasty is invincible. How can we lose to the barbarians in this regard?"

No, absolutely not!
(End of this chapter)