amaotonovel Chapter 369: Site selection and kiln opening
Chapter 369: Site selection and kiln opening
Shen Zheng had been waiting with Yu Shizhang beside the earthen kiln. Yu Shizhang's boredom gradually subsided, and he later talked to Shen Zheng about Niu Chu in a very pleasant mood.
At that time, Niu Chu was learning how to carve characters with Bai Song.
Seeing Shen Zheng staring at him in fascination, Yu Shizhang asked her, "Do you want to go up and try to feel the original work of Ben Bo?"
Shen Zheng's eyebrows twitched.
I am becoming less and less ashamed...
"I am clumsy, so forget it."
Yu Shizhang despised her: "I'm just afraid of getting my hands dirty."
Shen Zheng really didn't think so. It was just touching the mud. What was so dirty about it?
"I have never been good at manual labor since I was young. I am afraid it would be a waste of clay if I were asked to do such delicate work."
Yu Shizhang looked at the flickering kiln fire and stopped talking.
After about two quarters of an hour, the kiln fire went out, and wisps of green smoke rose up, covering the entire courtyard with a thin veil.
Yu Shizhang picked up a fan and fanned them in front of him, coughing and saying:
"This is the problem. Every time the fire is turned off, smoke comes out. Last time, the students thought there was a fire and they all rushed over to put it out."
Shen Zheng placed her fingers under her nose, smiled slightly, and thought in her heart.
The number of mold characters needed for printing is not too many, but not too few either. The only thing is that we are afraid that we may need to use rare characters occasionally, and if they are not burned in advance, we will have to start the process again, which is not worth the effort.
Therefore, it is better to make all the templates perfect from the beginning to avoid trouble later.
Shen Zheng immediately made the decision: "There is a piece of land not far behind the county school, but that piece of land has an owner. After today's matter is over, I will ask Li Shanzhang to inquire and see if that family is willing to sell the land to the county school, or the county government will come forward to exchange a piece of land for them."
Yu Shizhang had this idea a long time ago: "You have been focusing on the cloth shop for a while now, and you finally paid some attention to the printing shop."
Shen Zheng chuckled, took the fan and fanned him.
"In fact, I originally wanted to build the printing house next to the cloth shop, but I never knew when the students would be needed, so it would be better to save them from running back and forth. However, since the printing house, like the cloth shop, needs a large open space to set up the racks and dry the paper, the land must not be small, so I thought about it for a while."
"When the time comes, we'll build a small kiln and a smoke exhaust pipe to move the smoke upwards, so that we won't be smoked."
Yu Shizhang showed a satisfied look when he heard this.
While the two were talking, the smoke gradually stopped. Niu Chu took the lead and stepped forward. He poked open the mud sealing the door with a pole and took out two trays.
A wave of heat swept over him, but his eyes remained fixed on the tray.
After waiting for a moment, he sighed with a look of "as expected".
"Master, Sir, Master, some of the embryos still cracked as soon as the kiln was opened."
He scratched his hair in annoyance, a little frustrated: "I must have made a mistake in some step, causing us to waste so many embryos."
Bai Song pressed his hand down and said, "Don't blame you. This is our first attempt and we can't say for sure... This problem is inevitable. Lord Shen is here today, let's take a look together."
Niu Chu's depressed eyes suddenly became bright, and he looked at Shen Zheng without blinking.
Shen Zheng turned her head away and didn't look at him.
Bai Song was so confident in her words. If she didn't come up with a solution, her image in Niu Chu's heart would plummet.
She and Yu Shizhang walked forward together. The dried clay was still steaming and was earthy red in color. It was a little smaller than when the words were engraved, but the words on it were clearly visible.
Shen Zheng waited until the heat gradually subsided before she picked up a cracked clay figurine with inscriptions on it.
The crack is not big, but it happens to be cracked in the center of the text. If it is printed in reverse as positive text, the crack will appear larger and the characters printed in ink will also be cracked more obviously.
Shen Zheng was not an expert in this area, and movable type printing was not a systematic product like a textile machine. All possible problems and solutions were listed.
She only found problems in the steps.
There is no problem with the clay used for the clay model, and there is no problem with the things added when kneading the clay, and they are also added according to the proportion.
They looked around the earthen kiln and found that there was no problem with the kiln. It was well sealed, otherwise the clay would not have been completely burned dry.
"How long does it take to burn?" Shen Zheng asked.
Bai Song immediately took out a piece of paper from his bosom and said, "My subordinate and Master have thought about whether it is a problem of time. We have also tested it one by one. If the time is too short, the clay mold will not be completely dry. If it is too long, the clay mold will remain the same and the cracks will not increase."
This was the answer Shen Zheng least wanted to hear.
If the cracks get bigger over time, it may be a problem of firing time.
It seems that cracks in the fired embryo may be a problem that cannot be solved in this era?
Maybe that's true.
Bai Song pursed his lips, glanced at Yu Shizhang, and told him the result of his inquiry.
"I actually went to the brick kilns in Quanyang County yesterday and asked them about it. They also have this problem when firing bricks, and they haven't found a solution yet. But since they are firing bricks, cracks don't affect their use, so they didn't dwell on this problem."
Niu Chu asked why the master went out yesterday. He suddenly thought of something and asked:
"Master, where is the porcelain kiln? Porcelain must be prevented from cracking."
Bai Song still shook his head. He had some knowledge about this.
"It is normal for porcelain to crack during firing, and the soil we use is different from the soil used to fire porcelain."
"There is no solution..." Niu Chu was very frustrated, "It's because I'm too stupid to solve our problem."
Shen Zheng glanced at him and said disapprovingly:
"Don't take everything on yourself. Is it necessary to carry such a heavy burden on yourself? You have a bad character. You need to change it."
Bai Song also patted his shoulder and comforted him:
"Look, Lord Shen also said that to you. Don't think it's your fault when something goes wrong. This is clearly the responsibility of all of us. It won't do you any good if you take it on yourself."
Niu Chu looked at Shen Zheng and then at Bai Song.
He was like this at home in the past. He was afraid of seeing his parents angry and disappointed, so he would take the blame on himself whenever there was a problem.
Being scolded is less painful than seeing the disappointed looks from your parents.
Shen Zheng shook her head in her heart.
Isn't this a typical people-pleasing personality? It seems that I need to have a good talk with Bai Song. Mental health is also very important.
But for now, we still have to find out the reason why the mud is cracking.
Niu Chu carefully placed the tray on the stone table. Several people sat around the table and began to brainstorm.
At the beginning, everyone spoke enthusiastically and listed objections to situations that might cause problems, but as expected, they were rejected one by one.
Then several people looked at each other, racked their brains, and occasionally someone spoke.
Finally, the autumn wind was howling, making the few people feel lonely. Yu Shizhang suddenly asked Shen Zheng:
"By the way, why did you come to see Uncle Ben?"