Enter the Room

When Shao Qing came out from Song Jiyun's place, it was almost time for dinner.

The autumn wind blew loudly.

Shao Qing wrapped up his clothes and jogged all the way into Yin Yu Hall.

The flowers and trees in the yard were blown from side to side by the wind, making a roaring sound.

Yuan Yunzhong actually stood under the eaves with his body as loose as a pine tree.

As if waiting for him.

Shao Qing hurriedly shook his head and put the thought aside, saying: "Sir, what are you doing standing here? Where is the servant? You'd better go in quickly. I think the weather is not right. It may cool down tomorrow." "

Yuan Yunzhong said "hmm" and ignored him, but asked: "How is Miss Song doing over there?"

Shao Qing was embarrassed to say that he ate several pieces of shrimp cakes and drank several cups of Biluochun there. He laughed a few times and said: "Miss Song is very good! What kind of monochrome porcelain is she making? The alum is red, and it turns out to be orange when burned, which is very beautiful. Miss Song racked her brains, but she still couldn't produce anything satisfactory. I looked at Miss Song worriedly, flipping through the book, and reading. Burning ashes and mixing glaze water, I was so busy that my eyebrows were stained with ashes, so I just helped there for a while."

Yuan Yunzhong frowned: "Burn ashes?"

"Yes! Yes!" Shao Qing has followed Yuan Yunzhong since he was a child. No one knows how smart Yuan Yunzhong is than him. He was afraid that Yuan Yunzhong would not believe it, so he quickly showed off what he had just learned from Song Jiuyun, "It is glaze ash. Calculate the limestone and melt the water to become hydrated lime. Then burn the wolfberry grass into ash, and add it together. It became glaze ash. It was used to adjust the glaze. This time the porcelain was very, very difficult to burn. Ms. Song said she was worried about whoever she gave it to. From drawing the blank to adjusting the glaze to firing, it was all done by Ms. Song. A man whose hands and feet were burned."

"Really?" Yuan Yunzhong looked at him with the corner of his mouth curled up, clearly not believing what he said, "Didn't you say that all the porcelain ordered by Prince Huai's Mansion has been delivered? Why do you still need to adjust the glaze and bake it yourself?"

Shao Qing said hurriedly: "What are the things from Prince Huai's Palace? Miss Song fired them in one kiln. The next seven kilns were all firing that alum red porcelain. If you don't believe it, you can go to Miss Song's workshop and have a look. Otherwise How come Miss Song has fired eight kilns and still hasn’t finished it yet?"

Yuan Yunzhong didn't ask anything and turned back to the study.

Shao Qing breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and ran away.

He ate a lot of snacks at Miss Song's place in the afternoon. If he had dinner with Yuan Yunzhong, his secret would definitely be exposed.

When it was time to turn on the lanterns, it started to rain heavily.

The rain washed down everything in the world, forming small ditches on the ground.

Song Jiuyun, who was guarding the kiln and watching the heat, felt a wave of coolness.

She went to close the window lattice of the east wing that she used as her studio, and then went to the backyard to look at the warehouse where loose wood was piled.

When she came back, she found that the burned hexagonal box she had placed on the shelf in the east wing seemed to have been tampered with.

She called the apprentice on duty in the small workshop: "Has anyone been here?"

"No!" The apprentice is a close disciple of Luo Zixing. He is not only good at craftsmanship, but also honest and loyal. "I have been guarding here and I haven't seen anyone coming."

Or maybe she saw it wrong.

Song Jiuyun didn't pay attention.

Shao Qing found that the hem of Yuan Yunzhong's straight skirt was a little wet.

He asked Yuan Yunzhong: "You went out? It's raining so hard. Where did you go?"

Yuan Yunzhong was lowering his head to tie the belt of his middle coat. Hearing this, his hand holding the belt paused, and he lowered his eyelids and said, "It's raining so hard, what should I do out there?"

Under the dim light, Shao Qing didn't notice.

He said "Oh" and took the clothes Yuan Yunzhong had changed out of the inner room.

*

Yuan Yunzhong really clashed with her alum red porcelain!

Song Jiyun looked at the two hexagonal boxes on the table and let out a long sigh.

Forty hexagonal box porcelain blanks were put in and two were fired! !

Of the twenty fair cups she put in, eight were burned! !

Not to mention the burned blue and white flowers.

It’s all done!

Should we burn another kiln?

Song Jiuyun was hesitating.

Zhou Zheng brought his apprentices to deliver pine wood to him.

While he helped Song Jiyun fill up the warehouse used to store pine wood in the small workshop, he said, "Do you want to continue burning alum red?"

That tone sounded like something had happened.

Sure enough, he frowned and told Song Jiyun: "Liangyu Kiln Factory sells blue and white porcelain at a reduced price, one-third cheaper than ours."

In other words, it's like a 60-30% discount.

The intensity is very strong.

Song Jiyun couldn't help but frown after hearing this.

Jingdezhen porcelain never drops in price.

And defective products are cheaper than mud.

They rely on craftsmanship to make a living.

Lowering the price will only reduce their value.

What's more, blue and white is burned in every household in Jingdezhen and is the most widely sold.

This price reduction of Song Tao will affect all the people who burn blue and white flowers.

"Our kiln factory's business has also begun to be affected in the past few days." Zhou Zheng said worriedly, "I asked people to go to Liangyu kiln factory to have a look, and there was a long queue, and many people left after hearing the news. There are almost no people in front of some small workshops. The merchants who come to our store to purchase goods are also clamoring for us to follow suit and lower prices."

The implication was to ask Song Jiuyun if they wanted to follow suit and lower their prices.

Anyway, they use dragon kiln, the yield is high, and the cost is much cheaper than others.

Liangyu Kiln Factory can afford it, and so can they.

Unexpectedly, Song Jiyun heard this and said without thinking: "We will not lower the price! Go and tell those merchants that what we sell are all flawless and genuine products, and it is impossible to lower the price."

"But..." Zhou Zheng said hesitantly.

Who sells porcelain that is not flawless and genuine?

Song Jiyun said: "Don't worry. The newly built toilets are still fragrant for three days, not to mention the price reduction, which has never happened in Jingdezhen. Just wait. The more we persist, the more hesitant those merchants will be." Sometimes, what sells something is not the thing itself, but also its premium.”

Zhou Zheng couldn't understand.

Song Jiyun smiled and said, "Believe me, we can wait a few days before talking."

Finally, he comforted him: "If it doesn't work, let's burn another dragon kiln. Otherwise, all problems will be solved!"

Zhou Zheng's eyes lit up as he listened.

yes! As long as their boss is willing to take action, who can lower the cost than theirs!

He left happily.

Song Jiuyun fired the ninth kiln.

This time she placed sixty alum-red hexagonal boxes!

In addition, there are more than a hundred various alum-red cups.

In this way, she can also use a few Gongdao cups and Sancai cups to burn a few sets of tea sets!

However, if she couldn't burn the hexagonal box again this time, she wouldn't burn it.

And she didn't have time to burn.

She had to prepare for the imperial kiln factory bidding.

But before she could open the kiln, Zhou Zheng came to the door with a sad face: "The business of Liangyu Kiln Factory has been in full swing these days, our kiln factory's business has not improved, and other kiln factories are even worse, with very few people.

"Several old merchants from our kiln factory were also a little bit unable to sit still, and they came to discuss with me privately. They did not ask for a one-third reduction like the Liangyu Kiln Factory, but a more or less reduction is also meaningful.

“My boss, it’s not a problem if this continues!

"You still have to think of a way!"