Chapter 109: Completion of the Glass Factory

Zhu Gaoxu stunned the crowd of ministers with a single poem, and without a doubt, he won first place in this poetry competition.

At the same time, it brought the heated atmosphere of the banquet to an even higher level.

The banquet lasted until late at night.

It could be said that for this banquet, the ministers came with high spirits and returned with high spirits.

When many of them left, although their faces were flushed and they were reeking of alcohol, they still seemed somewhat reluctant to leave.

All in all, this banquet was a great success.

Not only did it promote the fine wine brewed by Zhu Gaoxu, but it also deepened his rapport with many of the ministers.

At this moment, after seeing off the last minister, Zhu Gaoxu dragged his weary body back to his bedroom.

He called for a servant to bring a basin of hot water, and as Zhu Gaoxu lay in the bathtub, he closed his eyes in exhaustion.

Socializing has never been easy since ancient times.

Thinking of how people in his past life were exhausted by socializing for the sake of a living, he was now in a high position, yet the socializing still left him physically and mentally drained.

This really isn't a job that just anyone can do.

But fortunately, the results were good, and it basically met his objectives.

After soaking for a while, Zhu Gaoxu got up, dried himself off, and then returned to bed to fall into a deep sleep...

Early the next morning, Zhu Gaoxu's powerful biological clock caused him to open his eyes.

Stretching his limbs, Zhu Gaoxu's fatigue was swept away.

It must be said that ever since that old eccentric taught him Internal Energy, his mental state had indeed improved significantly.

No matter how exhausted he was on the first day, he could always recover by the next.

Getting up to wash and rinse, Zhu Gaoxu went out and returned to the Glass Factory.

Arriving at the Glass Factory, Zhu Gaoxu could see without asking that it was in the final stages of completion.

A rough estimate suggested it would be completely finished in another hour or two.

After all, this was work for his own household, not like the dawdling construction crews of later generations.

Turning his head, he saw Mao Xiang directing everyone in the final tasks; he waved his hand to call Mao Xiang over and asked about the situation at the Military Camp.

Zhu Gaoxu had previously worried that the army would delay their training because of the need to build the Glass Factory.

So he divided the army into two groups, each with over three thousand men.

The two groups trained in rotation: one group built the Glass Factory, while the other conducted military training.

The next day, the two groups would swap.

This way, it would neither delay the training too much nor cause the Glass Factory's schedule to fall behind by much.

Now that the Glass Factory was built, Zhu Gaoxu inquired about the army's training situation.

"Your Highness, rest assured. The new training program you gave me has been implemented. We have already started training these past few days, and five or six hundred men have already been eliminated."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Now that the Glass Factory is finished, after we return this afternoon, merge the two groups for joint training, increase the intensity, and lengthen the training cycle."

"You must apply what you learn, flexibly combine various training items, and improve the soldiers' comprehensive quality."

As he spoke, he explained it in complete detail to Mao Xiang once more.

Mao Xiang was already accustomed to the fresh terminology Zhu Gaoxu used—terms he had never heard before, yet understood the moment he heard them.

After Zhu Gaoxu explained it again, he nodded, turned around, and went to pass down Zhu Gaoxu's orders.

Near noon, the Glass Factory was finally completely finished.

It covered an area of about one hundred mu, with the outer walls entirely surrounded by four-to-five-meter wooden stakes, and watchtowers were built at the main gate and the four corners.

Inside, a total of three factory buildings were constructed, and each factory building had three Melting Kilns built within it.

In other areas, Zhu Gaoxu had also arranged for Dormitory housing, as well as a Canteen.

Zhu Gaoxu inspected the area and nodded with satisfaction; it was lunchtime, and Zhu Gaoxu was in no rush, intending to eat first before doing anything else.

Zhu Gaoxu arranged for the army to return to the Military Camp first, while he stayed behind to taste the "Staff Canteen" with the household servants.

All expenses for this were, of course, charged to the Wangfu account.

During this time, two cooks were specifically transferred from the Wangfu, and there were people specifically responsible for delivering the procured goods.

Zhu Gaoxu was not like he was in the Military Camp here.

He had a dedicated Private Room here, where he had his own private kitchen.

After all, in Zhu Gaoxu's view, his status here was that of the boss, and the people outside were the employees.

And the boss must enjoy himself!

Of course, the food at the Wangfu was already quite good, and the household servants outside were not eating poorly either.

But that is how it was in ancient times, in a feudal society; if Zhu Gaoxu had really eaten and lived together with the servants, the servants would have felt uncomfortable instead.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the Private Room, and once the household servants had finished eating, he waved his hand and ordered everyone to start working.

The necessary materials had long been prepared, and Zhu Gaoxu led a group of household servants into the factory building.

To be honest, Zhu Gaoxu had no confidence in his heart regarding the manufacturing of glass.

He understood some of the theoretical knowledge, but he was truly unfamiliar with the specific operations.

The general operation was to mix Silica Sand, Soda Ash, Feldspar, Dolomite, Limestone, and Mirabilite, then melt them at high temperatures, and finally anneal them to finish.

Zhu Gaoxu felt that the specific proportions would still need to be explored slowly.

With an order, Zhu Gaoxu began to operate according to his rough memories.

Afterwards, they began to fire up the kilns.

The process was long, and Zhu Gaoxu had no way to change that; he could only wait.

Ordering a few people to keep an eye on the Melting Kilns, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the factory building and came to his own bedroom to rest.

It would certainly take a long time to completely melt those materials, and Zhu Gaoxu planned to do something else during this time.