The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

The next morning, before dawn, Jiang Lin led Shen Kuo and Zhao Lingjun out of the city.

Behind them followed Qian Duoduo, who looked pained and clutched the bag of 400 guan (a unit of currency) of "investment funds" tightly in his hand, as if afraid of being robbed on the way.

The carriage swayed and rocked on the bumpy dirt road for most of the hour before finally stopping in a desolate wilderness.

"arrive."

Jiang Lin jumped off the carriage and pointed to a pile of ruins in front of him.

Everyone looked up and saw a dilapidated pottery kiln standing alone amidst the overgrown weeds. The walls were peeling, the roof was drafty, and several crows were even cawing loudly on it, making it look as desolate as could be.

Qian Duoduo's face instantly turned green: "Sir... this is the 'secret base' you were talking about? This place is so deserted even ghosts wouldn't come here!"

Shen Kuo paid no attention to his surroundings. Like a monkey who had discovered a new continent, he rushed into the cave, touching and tapping here and there, his eyes shining with excitement.

"The furnace is still there! Although there are some cracks, the main structure hasn't collapsed! With some repairs and the addition of a blower, it will definitely be usable!"

Zhao Lingjun got out of the carriage, looked around at the waist-high weeds with disdain, and silently took out a silk handkerchief embroidered with orchids to cover his nose.

"Can this place really produce that kind of 'glass'?"

Jiang Lin smiled and said, "Don't let the dilapidated appearance of this place fool you; this is where our fortune begins."

As they were talking, an old man with a hunched back emerged from the dilapidated house at the back. His face was full of wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy. As he looked at this group of well-dressed city people, a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.

"Are you here to rent the kiln?" the old man asked in a hoarse voice. "This kiln is a bit old, but it has good feng shui and has produced fine porcelain. If you want to rent it, it's five strings of cash a month, no bargaining."

"Five strings of cash?!"

Qian Duoduo almost jumped up: "Old man, are you robbing me?! This place is so cramped I'd rather it be given to me for free! Five strings of cash? Why don't you just rob the Song Dynasty's treasury?"

The old man took a drag on his pipe, looking like he didn't care whether he rented it or not: "You think it's too expensive? Then go look elsewhere. Within a radius of thirty miles, this is the only kiln I have ready-made."

Just as Qian Duoduo was about to roll up his sleeves and argue with him, Zhao Lingjun suddenly stepped forward and stopped him.

"Old man."

Zhao Lingjun looked at the old man with a smile, but his handsome eyes held a chilling coldness that sent shivers down one's spine.

"How long has this place been abandoned?"

The old man felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze and tapped his pipe: "Three...three years, I think."

"A dilapidated kiln that no one has wanted for three years, with weeds almost reaching the roof, and you're asking for five strings of cash?"

Zhao Lingjun held up two fingers, his tone leaving no room for argument:

"Two strings of cash. And it has to be paid one month in advance. If you don't want to rent, we'll leave. Anyway, there are still several abandoned kilns in the south of the city waiting for us to choose from."

The old man was taken aback. This young master looked so fair-skinned and tender, how come he was even more ruthless in bargaining than that fat man?

"Two strings are too little...it should be at least three strings..."

"One and a half strings of cash." Zhao Lingjun withdrew one finger, turned and left, "Sir, let's go."

Jiang Lin turned around cooperatively, and Qian Duoduo, though confused, quickly followed.

"Hey! Don't go!"

The old man grew anxious and quickly caught up to stop him: "One and a half strings of cash it is! How can young people these days be so unwilling to accept even the slightest loss..."

Qian Duoduo stared at Zhao Lingjun in disbelief, her eyes wide as if she were looking at a monster.

"Young Master Zhao...who taught you your bargaining skills?"

Zhao Lingjun played with the jade pendant in his hand and smiled mischievously: "I won't tell you."

She would never admit that she learned it from the eunuchs who purchased food for the imperial kitchen. Those people would even haggle over the price of a single scallion.

Qian Duoduo: "..."

With the venue secured, the next crucial step is finding the right materials.

Shen Kuo made a long list, and Jiang Lin directly handed over the purchasing task to him and Qian Duoduo.

For the next three days, Shen Kuo took Qian Duoduo all over Bianjing City.

Quartz sand is easy to obtain; just buy it from the glass workshops in the city.

When the shop owner heard that someone wanted to buy this "scrap," he was overjoyed and thought he had met a fool, so he ripped off a lot of money.

Although Qian Duoduo felt bad about the cost, she thought that this stuff was the key to making glass, so she endured it.

Pure alkali was a problem. In those days, there was no industrial production of alkali, so we could only get natural alkali from salt merchants.

With his silver tongue, Shen Kuo managed to convince the salt merchant that he intended to use the substance for alchemy, and it took him a great deal of effort to obtain a few bags.

As for limestone, it's everywhere; you can find a truckload at any quarry.

Three days later, various materials were piled up like small mountains in the open space of the kiln.

Zhao Lingjun held the account book, his brows furrowed deeply:

"Fifty strings of cash in just three days? This isn't glass being burned, it's money!"

Shen Kuo was directing several hired laborers to modify the furnace when he heard this. He scratched his head, his face covered in soot.

"This is just the beginning... We still need to buy coal later, that's the real expense."

Zhao Lingjun sighed, watching the four hundred guan of "investment capital" being spent like water, and for the first time he truly understood what "the difficulty of starting a business" meant.

Besides purchasing, the most important thing is to modify the furnace.

Shen Kuo discovered that the temperature of the existing pottery kiln was simply not high enough to melt the quartz sand. Without saying a word, he rolled up his sleeves and began to modify it.

They raised the chimney to increase suction, improved the air duct to increase oxygen intake, and even had two huge hand-cranked blowers made.

Zhao Lingjun wasn't idle either. Although she wasn't good at physical labor, she was good at giving orders.

"Hey you, that brick is crooked!"

"Hey you over there, hurry up! Haven't you eaten?"

She stood on high ground, pointing and gesturing with a folding fan in her hand, looking quite like a great general commanding thousands of troops.

The passing farmers were stunned to see this group of fair-skinned, delicate scholars carrying bricks in the abandoned kiln, their faces covered in dust.

"Have these scholars gone mad? Instead of reading proper books, they're playing in the mud?"

Three days later, the furnace was finally modified.

The dilapidated pottery kiln has been completely renovated, with the chimney doubled in height and the furnace chamber re-lined with a layer of firebricks.

Shen Kuo dusted off his hands, looked at his masterpiece, and nodded in satisfaction:

"The furnace can be opened now."

At dusk, everything was ready.

Jiang Lin stood at a distance, holding a cup of tea in his hand, his expression calm.

Shen Kuo took a deep breath and personally lit the first fire.

"boom--"

The modified ventilation system worked wonders; flames shot up instantly, illuminating everyone's faces. A deep rumble emanated from the furnace, like a giant beast being awakened.

Looking at the raging flames, Zhao Lingjun couldn't help but ask, "Will it work?"

Shen Kuo stared intently at the furnace fire, his eyes burning with an almost frightening intensity—a testament to his yearning for truth.

"I don't know. But I want to try."

The first fire burned for a full day and night.

Shen Kuo stayed by the stove, his eyes never blinking. When he was hungry, he would eat some dry rations; when he was thirsty, he would drink some cold water. He didn't even bother to go to the toilet.

As dawn broke, the fire finally went out, and the stove gradually cooled down.

Everyone gathered around, holding their breath.

Shen Kuo took a deep breath and, with trembling hands, opened the furnace door—

A pungent, burnt smell wafted towards us.

Everyone took a closer look.

Inside the furnace lay a dark, sticky lump of something strangely shaped, looking no different from burnt cow dung.

Zhao Lingjun covered his nose and took three steps back in disgust: "This...this is glass?"

Qian Duoduo's face was even darker than the lump of dirt: "This thing can be sold for money? Nobody would want it even if you paid them!"

Shen Kuo remained silent for three seconds.

He wasn't frustrated, nor did he get angry. He simply took out a small notebook from his pocket and began to write in the morning light:

"The first experiment failed. Reason: Although the furnace temperature was sufficient, the quartz sand contained too many impurities, did not melt completely, and was not mixed evenly."

After finishing writing, he closed the notebook, turned to everyone, and said something that made Qian Duoduo collapse:

"Clean the furnace, start the fire, and let's try again."

Zhao Lingjun: "..."

With a sob in her voice, Qian Duoduo asked, "Sir, how much money do we have left?"

Jiang Lin finished his last sip of tea at a distance and said leisurely, "Enough for fifty failures."

"Use it sparingly, lest we starve to death before we even succeed."