A Good Country Wife
Chapter 522 - 516_1

Chapter 522: Chapter 516_1

Zhao Erhu still feels the pinch when he talks about it to this day. Lin Yue looked at the few mirrors inside the box—indeed, they were not large. The biggest was scarcely bigger than the palm of a hand, and the smallest was not even half as big. There were a total of five pieces, and they had cost over five hundred taels of silver—truly an exorbitant price.

It’s not that there were no glass mirrors in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it would be inaccurate to call them glass mirrors—they should be referred to as colored glaze mirrors instead. There’s a difference between colored glaze and glass. The nobles in the Imperial Palace and those from the aristocratic families also used them, and Lin Yue had seen them both at Commandery Princess Roujia’s and Princess Yongle’s places.

However, the colored glaze technology of the Great Zhou Dynasty was not yet mature. Lin Yue had closely examined the colored glaze mirror in Princess Yongle’s bedroom. Its glossiness was far inferior to that of the glass mirrors, although it was slightly clearer compared to the customary bronze mirrors used at the time. Even so, such colored glaze mirrors were rare, and only the favored empresses in the palace could afford to use them.

Because not only were the production costs high for colored glaze mirrors, but they were also labor-intensive and time-consuming. "Forged in fire, refined in water," it took dozens of procedures to complete one, mainly relying on manual craftsmanship. Even for skilled technicians, success depended on luck. During the initial firing alone, the success rate of the finished products was only forty percent—not even half. Unlike gold and silver wares, colored glaze could not be recycled. The slightest problem during production meant that dozens of days and multiple procedures had been in vain. Considering such costs, it’s no surprise that only the Imperial Household Department in the palace possessed this technology. Even if it spread outside, it would not be affordable for ordinary people. Only the palace nobles and those great aristocratic families could afford such luxury.

Lin Yue had never made glass, but she had read novels in which the female protagonist made glass and became rich. Those stories provided a recipe, which was more or less the same in each case. After seeing it so frequently, she also memorized it. Lin Yue guessed the authors must have copied it from Baidu, so the method was probably correct. If glassmaking was really so profitable, perhaps she could give it a try.

"Wife, what are you thinking about?" Zhao Erhu noticed his little wife had become lost in thought as she spoke. She had not responded to him for quite a while. He shook his large fan-like hand in front of Lin Yue.

Lin Yue snapped back to her senses and looked at Zhao Erhu. She didn’t hide her thoughts, "Nothing much. I was just thinking that it would be great if we could make glass mirrors. These things are worth so much, we could definitely make a fortune."

"Wife, are you joking?" Zhao Erhu didn’t take what Lin Yue said seriously, thinking she was only teasing him. "These glass mirrors are only sold by one family from the foreign tribes. The method of making glass mirrors is preserved in the royal palace; it’s impossible for it to be shared outside. Stop having such fanciful thoughts. You’ve got money on the brain, it seems."

"I’m serious," Lin Yue replied. "The last time we went to the Capital City, I saw colored glaze mirrors in both Commandery Princess Roujia’s and Princess Yongle’s rooms. They were made by the Imperial Household Department. Although they’re not as good as these glass mirrors, the principle of making them is quite similar. In fact, glass is even simpler to make than colored glaze and costs less. If we have the right recipe, it shouldn’t be hard to make. It would be great if we could get one or two technicians who know how to make colored glaze from the Imperial Household Department." Lin Yue thought more and more about it, and the idea grew on her. Having the connection with Princess Yongle made it not entirely improbable, but she knew such a venture would have to be undertaken in secret. A careless mistake could lead to disaster. They would have to think this through carefully.

Zhao Erhu looked at his wife and realized she truly harbored such thoughts. He was quite shocked. Good gracious! What kind of wife had he married? She was so ambitious. However, he still felt it wasn’t very reliable. Although he had always been very capable, he thought this was unfeasible. "Wife, you should think of something else. This doesn’t seem possible. It’s one thing to find a master who can make colored glaze, but the most important part is the formula for making glass. That’s simply nowhere to be found."

Lin Yue thought to herself that the formula for glass was stored in her own mind, but she only had some ideas at the moment and wouldn’t act on them in the short term, so she didn’t contradict Zhao Erhu’s words. She decided to wait for the right time to discuss it with him.

However, she was determined to produce the glass. It wasn’t for anything else, but for the times of offering annual and ceremonial gifts, it was necessary to have some valuable items to show off, not just relying on novelty. The most valuable and impressive thing in her home was her embroidery skills. But an embroidered picture took so much effort to create, and to give it away as a gift pained her. If she could produce glass, it would become a treasure to be given as a present, valuable and rare enough to rival jade ornaments and curios and could also be sold to foreign tribes or presented as exotic items from overseas to the nobility.

Of course, Lin Yue had no intention of letting the public know about it. She planned to do it secretly and earn a fortune quietly. As the saying goes, ’To be in possession of a jade is to incur guilt.’ If people knew she had the formula for making glass, she would face significant troubles. Even the Emperor in the Imperial Palace wouldn’t let such a juicy piece of meat slip away. Otherwise, the skill of making colored glaze would not have been kept exclusively within the Imperial Palace. Fortunately, Zhao Erhu’s sea voyages provided her with a great convenience, as she could claim that Zhao Erhu imported them from overseas without arousing suspicion.

Putting the glass matter aside for now, Lin Yue began to rummage through the big chests again. The first two chests that Zhao Erhu had opened earlier were filled with seeds he had collected from the foreign tribes. Whether he recognized them or not, Zhao Erhu had purchased many to bring back. Although these seeds were expensive in the Great Zhou Dynasty, they were common in foreign lands and easily available, and therefore very cheap. Knowing his wife enjoyed tinkering with new things and always sought out new plant species every year at the Seed Store, Zhao Erhu didn’t forget to gather seeds while abroad.

Seeing so many seeds, Lin Yue was truly delighted, even more excited than when she received his box of gifts earlier. She took some seeds that Zhao Erhu didn’t recognize and started explaining, "These are spinach seeds, these are beet seeds, these are potatoes; they yield a lot and can be used to make many delicious dishes. These are cantaloupe seeds, these are tomato seeds..."

Lin Yue chattered on, naming the seeds one by one, rarely coming across any she didn’t recognize, and she could even describe how to plant them.

Zhao Erhu wasn’t impatient at all. As Lin Yue spoke, he listened attentively. Being from a peasant family, he had a natural enthusiasm for such things. As Lin Yue went on, he started to lose track, so he simply took pen and paper to jot things down, to later arrange for people to plant them according to her instructions.

Seeing Zhao Erhu do this, Lin Yue simply called over Haishi’s wife to join them in listening. Haishi’s wife had not only figured out how to grow mushrooms, but she also managed the greenhouse well. Lin Yue planned to leave the management of the field’s harvest to her in the future.