Chapter 206

"Clear, too clear!

So there is such a brown mark on my face."

Looking at himself in the mirror, where every detail, even hair, wrinkles,

and marks were completely revealed, Wang Lun muttered to himself.

Hmm, although Wang Lun is only in his thirties, which is the prime of life in the 21st century,

but in this ancient world where the average age is no more than forty,

even if he doesn't need to call himself an old man, he has begun to show signs of aging and early gray hair.

Although Zhang Jie taught him an internal cultivation method, his talent is average,

and he is busy with various Liang Shan affairs, plus the cultivation time is short,

far from reaching the profound level of prolonging life and slowing down aging.

Zhang Jie sometimes thinks about whether to pass on a few years of internal strength to him,

so as not to let such a good military advisor (tool man) die young.

However, thinking that there are others, this idea can only be abandoned,

after all, people have always been worried about scarcity rather than inequality.

Can only wait until there is more surplus in the future,

and he has made enough contributions to block the mouths of the public before rewarding him.

And if he accidentally dies halfway, that can only be considered his bad luck.

What's a pity is that his life in the original work stopped when he was burned by Lin Chong,

making it difficult for Zhang Jie to infer how long he has left to live.

Thinking of a certain wise star who shouted "Instructor Lin, don't fire it!",

Zhang Jie couldn't help but curse in his heart for being nosy.

Withdrawing his divergent thinking, Zhang Jie asked with a smile:

"Zhengdao, how much do you think this mirror is worth?"

Wang Lun answered solemnly: "Lord, this mirror is so small and portable,

and so clear, if it were transported to Bianliang, where commerce is most prosperous,

and where there are the most high-ranking officials and nobles, I'm afraid it would be worth a hundred gold!"

Then he asked with some concerns: "It's just, Lord,

does this mirror need to be polished often like a bronze mirror?"

Bronze mirrors will darken due to oxidation after long-term use, called "dim mirrors,"

and need to remove dirt and oxidation layers by polishing the mirror surface, so that the mirror surface can have a clear reflection function again.

Wang Lun, who is an ancient person, of course doesn't know that bronze mirrors darken due to oxidation,

but Wang Lun, who uses bronze mirrors often, understands that bronze mirrors will darken after being used for a period of time.

And if this mirror also needs to be polished, then its value will inevitably be greatly reduced.

Even if it can still be sold at a higher price than a bronze mirror by virtue of its small, light, and portable characteristics,

it is impossible to obtain enough funds to maintain the Liang Shan army by virtue of this mirror.

"This mirror is different from a bronze mirror; as long as it is not scratched, it will never darken."

Zhang Jie pointed out the advantages and characteristics of the glass mirror.

The mirror he used is the silver mirror reaction invented by German chemist Liebig in 1835,

which is to mix silver nitrate and a reducing agent, so that silver nitrate precipitates silver and attaches it to the glass.

As for the reducing agent, sugar can be used in ancient times.

Although sugar is also expensive, it is not worth mentioning compared to the profitable glass mirror.

"Then this mirror is probably worth a thousand gold!"

Wang Lun was even more excited.

For those high-ranking officials and nobles in Bianliang, convenience and speed are what they pursue,

and price is not something they consider.

Especially those noble ladies who are crazy about beauty,

I'm afraid they have long been tired of bronze mirrors that need to be polished often,

they definitely wouldn't mind spending a thousand gold on this glass mirror!

"Mm."

Zhang Jie also expected this price.

Never underestimate people's obsession with items like mirrors that can reflect their own image.

The first real mirror in history was in 1507,

in Venice, Italy, a place famous for making glass.

The locals inadvertently applied some liquid metal to the glass,

turning the originally transparent glass into a reflective mirror, which gave birth to the first glass mirror.

Then they were surprised to find that such a glass mirror was better to use than other mirrors.

Its appearance caused a sensation in Europe at the time, becoming the new favorite of kings and nobles,

one by one scrambling to spend high prices to buy mirrors.

When the Queen of France got married, the King of Venice gave a very small glass mirror as a gift,

which was considered a very precious gift, and its value at the time was 150,000 francs.

According to the coinage theory at the time, the gold content of 1 franc was 0. grams,

so 150,000 francs was worth about 497.5 kilograms of gold,

truly more valuable than the same weight of gold.

And because mirrors were too valuable,

the Venetians even enacted strict laws to protect the manufacturing method of mirrors.

The law stipulated that anyone who leaked the manufacturing method of mirrors would be sentenced to death,

and also placed the place where mirrors were produced on a closed island isolated from the world, Murano Island,

foreigners were forbidden to go to the island, craftsmen's freedom was restricted, and they could not go abroad, otherwise they would be executed directly.

However, just as there is no wall that does not leak in this world,

there is no secret that can be kept forever in this world.

This secret was finally leaked by the French ambassador through a secret letter to bribe the craftsmen.

Even so, Venice's monopoly on the mirror industry lasted for more than 150 years,

earning a huge amount of wealth that ordinary people could not imagine, making Venice a rich city that was famous for a while.

Zhang Jie took a fancy to this characteristic of being valuable, easy to keep secret,

and not strengthening the enemy's combat power, so he planned to sell the glass mirror.

This glass mirror might even make the already corrupt Great Song even more corrupt, reducing their combat power.

This is simply a win-win!

It is Zhang Jie winning twice, simply winning numbly.

Wang Lun, holding the glass mirror, suddenly realized:

"I said, Lord, you often go to the workshop during this period,

it turns out you went to invent this kind of glass mirror."

Hmm, because glass mirrors had never appeared in the Great Song before,

so Wang Lun naturally attributed the identity of this inventor to Zhang Jie.

After all, his Lord was an invention genius who improved black powder when he was young,

invented short-barreled muskets, later improved granular gunpowder,

and invented cannons, rifled guns, and flintlock guns!

"Uh..."

Facing Wang Lun's worshipful eyes, Zhang Jie couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

Just like moving literature, these inventions were also moved by him.

However, he was also an old oil stick, his face was comparable to the corner of a city wall,

although he felt a bit embarrassed in his heart, his face was calm,

and he also shifted the topic without changing his face: "Zhengdao,

this mirror is produced, the rest is sales, what suggestions do you have?"

Wang Lun first asked a question:

"Lord, what is the output of this glass mirror?

If it is relatively small, such as only a dozen or so a month,

or even a few, we can let people auction it in Bianliang.

But if it is relatively large, then we may have to find a few big merchants to cooperate,

and use their caravans to sell glass mirrors to the Great Song, or even Western Xia,

Great Liao, and other places. After all, if all of them are sold to Bianliang,

the appearance of too many similar products at one time will definitely lead to the price not going up."

Wang Lun, a Song Dynasty person, actually also understands hunger marketing.

Zhang Jie can only say that ancient people are just not as good as modern people in productivity and the breadth of information they come into contact with,

in terms of wisdom alone, there is no big difference between ancient people and modern people.