Chapter 192 Routine Lao Li (asking for monthly ticket)

Li Xiang didn't know what was happening in the Prince of Wei's mansion. Even if he knew, he would just smile and say, "Uncle, stop making trouble."

Seeing that the Chinese New Year was still some time away, Li Xiang wondered whether he should prepare a New Year gift for Lao Li.

Ok……

Not only should it be prepared for Li Shimin, but also for his aunts, father and uncles.

In addition, during the Battle of Phoenix Mountain, he broke the telescope in excitement and had to make a new one.

Considering that natural crystal is too rare and expensive, Li Xiang decided to make glass first.

Glass was easy to deal with. Before leaving Chang'an, Li Xiang had instructed Li Jingren to go to the grassland to look for natural soda ash mines.

As far as Li Xiang knew, there was an open-air natural alkali mine a little further north of Hebei Road.

These were all the knowledge learned from geography in the previous life, but one only knew the approximate location. As for how to find it specifically, he left it to Li Simo's troops who were temporarily staying in the northern part of Hebei Province.

Fortunately, the Turks were quite capable and they discovered the existence of the natural soda mine at the end of November.

Natural soda is an evaporated salt mineral, which is hydrated sodium bicarbonate, but it contains a variety of impurities. To process it into pure alkaline products, it is first made into alkali solution, and then according to the composition of the alkali solution, appropriate processing methods are used to make soda ash, caustic soda, baking soda and other products.

In fact, my country already had the technology to make glass in ancient times, but the technology tree was off track, and the glass-making method and the chemical composition of glass are not the same as the common glass we see today.

Since the temperature required to make glass is very high, flux needs to be added, but the melting temperature could not be reached during smelting in ancient times. Therefore, during the Warring States Period, wise ancestors used lead oxide as flux and barium oxide as emulsifier to make lead-barium glass.

This type of glass has a very high lead and barium content, and has the characteristics of low firing temperature and high brittleness, and cannot withstand significant changes in temperature.

The reason why the soda-lime glass used today is different from the lead-barium glass in terms of its refining method is not complicated. It is just that there is no shortage of natural alkali mines in Egypt, so a little bit of it is thrown in as a flux when refining glass.

When my country was refining glass, there were no natural soda mines nearby, so we could only use common things around us to help melt it, that's all...

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Western colored glass was also introduced to my country. There is a record in "Book of Wei" that people from the West were very good at making colored glass. "Everyone who saw it was amazed and thought it was made by gods. From then on, Chinese colored glass became cheap and people no longer treasured it."

Western glass uses sodium calcium as a flux, is heat-resistant and highly transparent, and is naturally popular.

Now that we have natural alkali mines, there is no need to worry about soda-lime glass.

The weapons were all ready-made and did not require any instruction from Li Xiang.

During the Northern Wei Dynasty, glass blowing technology came to the Central Plains along the Silk Road, and glass craftsmen were readily available.

Li Xiang sent a few craftsmen to his courtyard, and after some tinkering, he made a pile of high-purity sodium carbonate as a new flux.

The craftsmen's abilities were trustworthy, and they soon produced glass that satisfied Li Xiang.

As for the craftsmanship, it was impeccable. At Li Xiang's request, the craftsmen made him two glittering phoenixes as tall as a person, twenty life-size silver-plated mirrors, and a bunch of small palm-sized mirrors.

He thought about it again and decided to ask the craftsmen to scale down the figures, making two smaller phoenixes and two mini-sized phoenixes.

Let’s see what kind of reward Lao Li gave him during the New Year’s Day court assembly.

If the little elephant is satisfied with me, I will give him the biggest phoenix as a gift; if he is not satisfied, I will give him the medium-sized phoenix; if he is not satisfied, you can just give him the small phoenix.

He hid the phoenix and asked others to keep it a secret. Li Xiang then went around giving out gifts with the mirror.

The first place he went to was Changsun Wuji's residence, firstly to visit his aunt Changle, and secondly to visit and give gifts.

Upon learning that Li Xiang was coming, Changsun Wuji did not act arrogantly this time. He behaved very politely and personally brought Changsun Chong to greet him in front of the mansion.

"Uncle, aunt, how could I have deserved to be welcomed by the two elders in person?" Li Xiang smiled and bowed to them.

"How dare I neglect the prince when he comes?"

Changsun Wuji smiled happily, because he knew that Li Xiang had never left the palace since he came back from Liaodong. Now he was the first one to visit the Changsun family, which showed that he valued our family!

"My uncle is estranged from me. I am here to wish you a happy new year and give my aunt a small gift." Li Xiang said, and asked someone to bring in the decorated mirror.

The frame was made of sandalwood. Li Xiang knew that Li Lizhi liked pine and cypress, so he ordered people to carve the Three Friends of Winter on it.

After all, she is a woman from the Li family, and the things she likes are different from normal women.

"This is..." When Changsun Wuji saw the mirror, he didn't care much at first, but when he took a closer look, he was shocked.

This... is even clearer than a bronze mirror?

He stood in front of the mirror, which could even clearly show the pores on his face.

"This is a new mirror I had made. It's made of colored glass." Li Xiang said with a smile, "I came here specially to give it to my aunt."

"I would like to thank the prince on behalf of Lizhi." Chang Sun Chong bowed quickly.

"Uncle, it's too distant." Li Xiang supported Chang Sun Chong and said in a pretended angry tone.

Chang Sun Chong also smiled. Li Xiang's attitude towards him made him feel really comfortable.

After staying in Duke Zhao's mansion for a while, Li Xiang asked to leave.

He still has to go to the next house to give gifts, so he can't stay here for long.

When he arrived at the Duke of Liang's mansion, he happened to meet Li Shu returning home from the restaurant.

"Hey, Xiang'er." Li Shu narrowed his eyes and came closer like a little fox, with his fangs slightly exposed under his lips.

"Aunt." Li Xiang bowed to Li Su.

"I'll go and tell my father-in-law." Li Shu nodded at Li Xiang.

Although she could bring Li Xiang in directly, she still felt that as he was the third-generation heir, it would be better for her family to be more serious.

Isn't it strange that there are so many people?

Not long after entering, Fang Xuanling and Fang Yiai came out to greet them.

Fang Yizheng is not at home. He is currently serving as Sima of Bianzhou.

"Mr. Liang, uncle." Li Xiang bowed to the two of them.

"Prince." The two of them returned the greeting.

After entering the main hall, Li Xiang waved to the back and his attendants immediately carried the mirror into the room from behind.

"What is this?" Li Shu looked at the rectangular object with curiosity. Seeing the cautious look of the eunuch who was carrying the object, Li Shu felt that this thing must be very valuable.

"This is a mirror. It is much clearer than a bronze mirror. My nephew had it made recently. So I'm giving it to my aunt first." Li Xiang said with a smile.

"You, little elephant, are really lovable." Li Su gave him a sweet smile and reached out to rub Li Xiang's face, but suddenly she realized that Li Xiang was now taller than her.

As the saying goes, a son should avoid his mother when he grows up, Li Su felt that he could no longer be as carefree as before. "Hey, isn't this all about filial piety towards my aunt?" Li Xiang said with a smile.

Before he could say two words, the eunuch outside came in with an announcement that the emperor had ordered the Duke of Liang to enter the palace.

Fang Xuanling did not delay either. He confessed his guilt to Li Xiang and went into the palace with the eunuchs.

Now that his father-in-law had left and there were no outsiders around, Li Shu no longer felt restrained.

"This mirror is really rare." She stood up, walked to the floor-length mirror, twisted left and right, and looked at herself like a peacock.

"If aunt likes it, I'll prepare a few more for you." Li Xiang took the responsibility generously.

Li Su immediately extracted the key points from Li Xiang's words. She asked vigilantly, "Xiang'er means that this thing... is a lot?"

"The cost is not expensive, but the technology is a little difficult." Li Xiang said with his hands spread out.

Li Su pondered for a moment and said, "This mirror... is not the foundation of the country like grain, oil and salt, so there is no rush to sell it. In my opinion, Xiang'er should not sell too many at once, but should take his time."

Damn it?

Aunt, sure!

Have you studied this hunger marketing strategy at Xiaomi?
"Aunt is really a think tank!" Li Xiang gave a thumbs up: "The women in our Li family are all as brave as men!"

"I like to hear that." Li Shu raised his head proudly and snorted, "Auntie is going to do it..."

What are you doing? I couldn’t think of an adjective for a long time.

"Iron Lady!" Seeing that Li Su was at a loss for words, Li Xiang immediately gave him an assist.

"Iron Lady, Iron Lady..." Li Shu pondered for a moment and said happily, "Yes, my aunt is going to be an Iron Lady!"

Li Xiang gave a thumbs up and praised Li Su's dream.

In fact, she was not bragging. After all, she was the one who supported the Fang family and the Chamber of Commerce.

Li Su twisted in front of the mirror again, intoxicated by his own beauty, and then asked: "This mirror is so detailed, can it be made into other objects?"

"Of course." Li Xiang smiled and took out a piece of transparent glass from his arms, and said to Li Shu: "This thing was made in a hurry, and there is only a small sample like this. Aunt, take a look."

Li Shu took the glass and sighed after a while: "If this colored glass can be made into a cup, I'm afraid the rich families in Chang'an will compete for it..."

"In theory, it is possible. Not only can it be made into cups, plates and other tableware, but it can also be made into other things, such as..." Li Xiang said, pointing to the peony carved on the glass frame, "It can also be made into the shape of a peony flower."

"Really?" Li Shu asked happily.

"Of course I take it seriously." Li Xiang put his hands on his hips and said, "Has my nephew ever lied to you?"

"If that's the case, then it's naturally good." Li Su said.

Li Xiang had two more boxes brought up, and after gently placing them on the ground, he said to Li Su, "By the way, aunt, here are a hundred small mirrors. You have a lot of ideas. See how we can make them famous and sell the glass products for a good price."

"Leave it to me." Li Su said with a smile, "Tomorrow I will ask the sisters I know to come to my house and take a look at the mirror you gave me, Xiang'er."

"In that case, thank you for your trouble, aunt." Li Xiang stood up and said.

"Look at what you said. I'm doing this just to get a bigger share of the profits." Li Shu rolled his eyes at him and told the truth to adjust the atmosphere.

Hearing Li Su's words, Li Xiang also laughed.

Fang Yiai was just standing by and had no idea what his wife and her nephew were talking about. He only heard that his wife was going to make a lot of money again.

Hi, I, Fang Jun, don’t have any special abilities. My only special ability is that I married a good wife!

After leaving Princess Gaoyang's mansion, Li Xiang visited each of his aunts' homes, such as the Mansion of Duke Lu where Princess Qinghe Li Jing lived, the Mansion of Princess Chengyang, and finally came to the Mansion of Duke Song where Princess Xiangcheng lived.

Of course, Li Xiang did not forget the Duke of Zheng's Mansion. He not only presented a mirror but also brought many small specialties from Dengzhou. One reason was to show filial piety to his teacher's wife, the second was to send gifts to Wei Shuyu, and the third was to give face to his aunt Hengshan so that she would not have to suffer poverty after marrying into the family.

Even after Wei Zheng passed away, Li Xiang did not forget the Duke of Zheng's Mansion.

He knew that his teacher was honest, simple and frugal, and his teacher's wife was the same kind of person, so he did not give any money. When he went to Dengzhou, he would ask someone to send some special products to the Zhengguo Mansion during the holidays.

With Li Xiang looking after the Duke Zheng's mansion, there was no such thing as people leaving and the tea being forgotten.

With the fourth generation of the Tang Dynasty watching over them, who would dare to bully an orphan and a widow?
After all, the Zhao family, who are professional at bullying orphans and widows these days, are still nowhere to be found.

The remaining teacher was the last to appear.

As for Lao Xiao, we have a very close relationship.

Other people's homes all have one mirror, but Xiao Yu's home naturally has two.

Not only was there a portion for Princess Xiangcheng, there was also one for Empress Xiao.

Xiao Yu has deep feelings for his sister.

Historically, Xiao Yu died because of two reasons: one was that he was angry with Old Li, and the other was that he was overwhelmed with grief over the death of his sister, Empress Xiao.

It is impossible for these two siblings who have depended on each other since childhood not to have a deep affection for each other.

Old Li was quite righteous. After Empress Xiao passed away, he sent her to Yangzhou to be buried together with Yang Guang.

Although Yang Er was a good-for-nothing and had targeted Lao Li's family many times when he was alive, Lao Li obviously didn't stand up to that bastard.

From the moment Lao Xiao saw Li Xiang, the smile on his face never stopped.

I thought my life would just pass like this. I was dismissed from my position as prime minister several times and reinstated several times. If nothing unexpected happened, with my temper, I might be dismissed again at any time.

He never expected that there would be a loud bang in the sky, sending him such an outstanding disciple.

Xiao Yu had witnessed Li Xiang's achievements in Dengzhou. In just one year, Dengzhou was turned into a fertile land. This was certainly due to Dengzhou's own locational advantages, but it was also inseparable from Li Xiang's ability and foresight.

This disciple's outstanding qualities were obviously not only in his political achievements, but he was also extremely strong in military affairs.

Sometimes when Xiao Yu couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, he would still wonder if there was some genetic factor involved.

But...it doesn't make sense. Why hasn't the prince been seen to be so good at fighting?

Li Xiang just didn't know what Lao Xiao was thinking, otherwise he would definitely recite a poem with him.

You have replaced me with the fragrant fragrant grass...9:3:3:1.

(Ask for monthly ticket)

(End of this chapter)