CH 40

“Kiln master, the kiln’s ready to be opened!” the old, experienced potterer said to Craftsman Jiang, after touching the wall of the kiln. The kiln temperature had finally cooled overnight.

“Open it! Careful not to get blasted by the heat,” Craftsman Jiang said as he chewed his nails. He made a sweeping gesture, and several potterers instantly surrounded the kiln, carefully prying it open with wooden shovels. 

Craftsman Jiang anxiously rubbed his hands. They just had to succeed this time! The paperworks had already crafted a new type of paper, and the woodworks and metalworks weren’t idling about either – they’d been awarded money and new workers. Only the clayworks was left behind. They’d tinkered about for a whole month and hadn’t figured out how to make porcelain yet!

Craftsman Jiang’s hair was nearly white with worry. The new bellows were helpful, but the temperature was difficult to control. They’d remodeled the kiln door several times and spent untold effort figuring out when and how to add firewood and seal the kiln. They’d fired kiln after kiln of failed porcelain. Thank goodness they could burn the woodwork’s scraps, or else they’d tire themselves half to death just chopping firewood!

Now, they’d finally done everything to perfection. This time, perhaps the heavens would finally smile upon them!

The potterers were all swift and well-practiced. Shortly, hot air gusted out from a gap in the kiln’s door. Craftsman Jiang yelled, “Scatter! Off to the sides! Let it cool!” 

They all stood tensely around the kiln, waiting till the waves of heat coming from the kiln gradually subsided before they huddled over and kept on digging. When the kiln door, half the height of an adult man, was finally open, they waited several more minutes before Craftsman Jiang impatiently shoved his way to the front and squirreled into the kiln.

A few moments later, the potterers outside heard laughter, “Hahahaha! Yes! Success!”

The people outside exploded with excitement. Craftsman Jiang burrowed out from the kiln, his face covered with soot as he cradled a cloth-bundled item carefully as if it was his grandson. Who’d dare crowd over now? They frantically showered him with questions, “Kiln master, did we really make it?!”

“We made it! It’s porcelain for sure! Quick, get Ni-er over here – we’re going to see the master at once!” Craftsman Jiang proudly preened. This time, the clayworks could finally show their face before the master!

※

Liang Feng flipped another page and let out a long sigh. The situation in Jinyang was far better than he’d been expecting.

Ever since Jiang Da had left for Jinyang, he’d been sending messengers back every five days specially to inform Liang Feng of news within the city. Currently, they’d already established a medical facility, and another ten doctors had joined their ranks to fight the plague. Their efforts were, of course, bolstered by Wang Wen and the Huai’en Temple’s wholehearted cooperation.

The temple’s participation in the disease control efforts practically gave truth to the lie that Buddha had conveyed his will to him in a dream. More and more civilians were willing to leave their homes to seek help from the medical facility. Those nobles who didn’t deign to visit personally sent servants to learn how the monks were keeping themselves safe from the plague. Little by little, the knowledge was beginning to spread. 

But even though Jinyang was a major city, its population density was still relatively sparse compared to Ye City and Luoyang. That was the main reason that controlling the plague was possible once most people knew how to protect themselves.

Ccv atja kjr wbrais vef ab atf Aljcu ojwlis’r foobgar.

Coafg wfalmeiberis gfjvlcu bnfg Aljcu Gj’r ifaafg jujlc, Oljcu Mfcu qlmxfv eq j ygert jcv rajgafv vgjoalcu j gfqis. Lf xcfk jii abb kfii atja tf kjrc’a j vbmabg, rb tf cfnfg qgfrewqaeberis gjc tlr wbeat bc jcs mbcmgfaf joojlgr. Dea tf vlv bmmjrlbcjiis wjxf j reuufralbc bg akb. Mbg fzjwqif, cbk atja wbgf vbmabgr tjv jgglnfv ab tfiq, kjrc’a la atf qfgofma alwf ab mbiijaf atf njglber mjrfr atja fnfgsbcf tjv rffc jcv qea abufatfg jii atflg wfvlmji fzqfgalrf?

Liang Feng had ample experience writing case reports and attending meetings and conferences. He knew more than anyone how important it was to gather the experiences of numerous people. Perhaps with Physician Jiang, a direct disciple of Wang Xi, leading the discussion, their research might truly produce fruit? After pondering for a while, Liang Feng absentmindedly rearranged the scriptures on his desk again, including the last few chapters of the Diamond Sutra with his letter. 

Now wasn’t the time to hold them in suspense. Since the monks had joined in the disease control efforts, they most likely knew of the Diamond Sutra already. Rather than stringing them along, he’d give them the whole thing instead, to further prove his words. It also counted as recompense for all the effort Wang Wen was putting in as well.

After checking over the letter one last time, Liang Feng ordered, “Give this to the messenger and let him deliver it quickly to Jinyang.”

Lüzhu left to pass the letter on to the messenger. A short while later, she returned, “Master, Craftsman Jiang requests and audience.”

“Oh? Hurry, see him in!” Liang Feng straightened up eagerly. 

Just a while ago, the paperworks had produced a new batch of paper. The quality was very decent, and although it didn’t match up to modern paper, it was smooth to the touch and free of discoloration. It was in no way inferior to the Zuo Bo Paper that Liang Feng used. Although, Liang Feng didn’t use it nor mass-produce it right away. Instead, he ordered Craftsman Jiang to add floral extract, whatever kind was available that season, and figure out how to make floral letter paper.

In this era, it was customary to present a name card when paying a visit to another noble. It functioned essentially as a business card, except they were made of wood – like the one that Physician Jiang had previously given him. If he used floral letter paper as a name card, it would attract some attention. Paper wasn’t like other luxury goods. If there wasn’t anything special about it, it’d likely be difficult to sell. Best to make a name for it first.

Porcelain, on the other hand, was different. As long as it was well-made, anyone could appreciate its beauty. Its aesthetic appeal was nearly universal, regardless of country or race; it was popular across the whole world. It practically miraculous how steadily the porcelain trade had grown in the centuries after its invention. If they truly were able to produce high-quality porcelain, selling it wouldn’t be difficult at all!

It wasn’t long before the Jiang father and son entered. Craftsman Jiang was visibly worked up. He quickly walked up to the desk, kneeled, and raised an object, “Master! The clayworks has successfully fired its first porcelain! Please, take a look, master!” 

“Bring it over.”

Lüzhu hurriedly placed the porcelain item on Liang Feng’s desk. It was a simple bowl, greenish-black in color, but glossy and glazed in a way that only porcelain was. Liang Feng frowned and thoroughly felt it over. He asked, “This is porcelain?”

Craftsman Jiang lurched at the question and stammered, “Y, yes. It’s porcelain…. master, just look at that glaze…”

Yet Liang Feng shook his head, “This quality is too substandard!” 

Liang Feng had seen his fair share of fine porcelain – after all, he’d grown up using porcelain tableware, not to mention that his grandfather had quite a few valuable pieces of Ru ware and Ding ware. Because of this, he noticed at first glance, at first touch, that something was off. This porcelain was too crude. It couldn’t even compare to the ordinary everyday cups and plates he used, let alone the porcelain produced by the court’s kilns. The pits and dips in the glaze’s surface were visible to the naked eye; anyone could tell that it wasn’t anything fancy. It could trick a few ignoramuses, but the true nobles would only see it as a laughingstock.

Without explaining to Craftsman Jiang, he said to Lüzhu, “Bring that Yue ware cup over.”

Lüzhu, following orders, left and returned with a small celadon teacup. Liang Feng received the cup and stroked its silky surface with the pad of his thumb, then gestured for Lüzhu to give it to Craftsman Jiang, “This is the kind of quality that is deserving of being called porcelain.”

Craftsman Jiang was sweating buckets as he carefully took the teacup. The next moment, his expression fell. Just how did one fire pottery with such exquisite jade-like texture? Could it be that he hadn’t made progress towards making porcelain, but was still messing around with earthenware? 

His lips twitched, but in the end, he didn’t say a word. Behind him, Jiang Ni took a deep breath, “Master, perhaps we can’t make anything this fine, but the porcelain from our kiln can definitely be sold! I can guarantee it on my life!”

Liang Fend didn’t doubt Jiang Ni’s words. With how primitive ceramic-making techniques were in this era, there was a market for even the shoddiest of porcelain. But he couldn’t accomplish his initial goals with this. Just where did the problem lie?

He glanced at the unrefined porcelain bowl again and suddenly said, “Bring me the Yue ware cup.”

Lüzhu quickly placed the cup into his hands. But to everyone’s shock, he didn’t place it on the table, he raised it, then let it shatter. 

Its pieces littered the floor. The three people in the room all gasped. Upon seeing that Liang Feng was bending down and reaching for a porcelain shard, Lüzhu hastily rushed over and said, “Master, quickly, put it down! You’ll cut your hands!”

“It’s fine.” Liang Feng had already picked up the broken piece. After examining its edge, he asked, “What color is the clay your workshop uses?”

“It’s brown clay and yellow clay…” Craftsman Jiang mumbled dumbly, nearly scared witless. How could he throw such fine ceramic just like that?

“Next time, try using ash white clay. Perhaps you’ll need to search for suitable clay nearby. Take a look at this section. Regardless of how it’s glazed, the base is still white. I presume the clay used to make porcelain is different from that used to make earthenware.” 

That was a possibility that Liang Feng had just thought of. As far as he recalled, ceramics were always white on the inside no matter how it looked on the outside. On TV, when they showed the porcelain-making process, the clay was always grayish white. Not to mention, hadn’t Jingdezhen become the porcelain capital because porcelain clay was being produced nearby?

Following that train of thought, it wasn’t hard to guess that porcelain clay and earthenware clay were two different things. Liang Feng didn’t know whether there was any porcelain clay in the nearby mountains. But if they used earthenware-making techniques on earthenware clay, they’d never produce true porcelain even if they spent their whole lives at it.

Craftsman Jiang dazed out for a moment before he dithered, “White clay? I remember we sometimes get white rocks where we dig for clay. I don’t know if that’s the porcelain clay you’re talkin’ about master….”

“First retrieve some, crush it into clay, and try firing it. There should be all sorts of clay in these mountains, experiment with each type until you figure out the right ratios. If you really have no other choice, then use earthenware clay as the base and white clay as the glaze,” Liang Feng said. 

“But… I don’t know how much firewood and materials it’ll take.”

“No matter. Right now, the estate has no need for earthenware pottery. You can focus all your efforts on crafting porcelain. Come up with new ideas and test them out. Whoever discovers how to make porcelain first, I’ll award them ten thousand coins!”

Craftsman Jiang felt like his head was spinning. Today’s developments were far outside his expectations. He thought he’d already made porcelain, but the master had judged it as a failed product, and even smashed an expensive piece of fine porcelain. Now he was talking about new clay and additional rewards. It was almost too much for him to take in!

Jiang Ni, whose mind was more limber, antsily elbowed his father. Craftsman Jiang grumbled and immediately bowed, “I’ll not let you down, master!” 

Craftsman Jiang’s reactions were a bit slow, but he wasn’t stupid. Before, he couldn’t even dare to hope that the master would spend so much effort or place such heavy expectations on the clayworks. How could he repay his master’s kindness, if not by doing his utmost to fulfill his hopes? Besides, now that new paperworks was already leaving him in the dust. He didn’t want to wake up and realize that the clayworks had become the most lacking of the four workshops!

Liang Feng nodded towards Craftsman Jiang as his eyes slid over to the young man kneeling behind him, “You just said that this crude porcelain can be sold?”

Jiang Ni paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously, “Yes!”

“Then make a batch of crude porcelain and see how it sells,” Liang Feng smilingly said. 

Recently, he’d been taking in refugees, hiring new retainers, giving out rewards – all the money was flowing out. It was about time to earn some extra cash.

The author has something to say:

There is indeed porcelain clay in the north. During the Sui and Tang dynasty, most of the porcelain was made in the north. Back then it was said that “the south is green and the north is white.” Hebei, Henan, and Anhui all have porcelain kilns; for example, the Tang Dynasty’s “Xing ware,” and the Song Dynasty’s “Ding ware”. Shangdang is a mountainous region, so making pure white porcelain is probably a bit difficult, but it shouldn’t be a problem to dig up some porcelain clay.

Porcelain clay has another name, Guanyin Clay. Now it sounds familiar right? =w=