Infrastructure masters in the red building

Not being able to enter Huifang Garden to see it with his own eyes, Jia Fang couldn't care less about being depressed, he still had a lot of things to do.

He called Zhao Cheng and slipped out through the back door of Rong Mansion.Zhao Cheng took him to the "Datong Lane" area with the most handicraft shops in Beijing. The roll of white copper wire that Zhao Cheng brought back last time was brought back from the coppersmith's shop there.

It was the first time for Jia Fang to go to the street, he always had the intention of observing, and looked coldly, only to see that it was indeed a place full of people and business. There are many coppersmiths and blacksmiths' shops on "Datong Lane". The shops outside are filled with finished products, and the workshops are inside, and they are clanging non-stop.

On this street, kitchen knives, scissors, iron pans, copper basins, copper pots, ear spoons, Tang Pozi, which are commonly used by common people...everything Jia Fang can think of can be seen here.

In addition to copper and iron craftsmen, there are wooden furniture, bamboo, rattan, pottery, porcelain workshops and shops, all kinds of everything.

Jia Fang urged Zhao Cheng to take him to the shop where he bought the copper wire coils last time: "The goods you brought back last time are very good, and that shop seems to be willing to pay for it. Let it go."

Zhao Cheng immediately stretched out his hand and pointed, there were several door faces in a row in the distance: "Third Master, where are you!"

Jia Fang was inexplicably surprised: "Such a big coppersmith's shop?"

Zhao Cheng shook his head: "That's not true, only the one at the top is a coppersmith's shop. But this row of shops are full of the best craftsmen in the capital, there are all kinds of trades, and there is an owner behind them. Are you Do you want to find a pottery craftsman who knows how to fire kilns? Let's go there and ask."

Jia Fang became curious: "Is it the same owner behind it?"

Zhao Cheng: "Isn't that right? I heard that the 'Baigongfang' in Datong Lane is very good. They rent shops outside to pay rent, and they get monthly money. They can be named in the world. Master craftsmen are all overwhelmed and want to enter this workshop. But that's not possible, the workshop has limited space, and you can't just enter if you want to."

Zhao Cheng's explanation whetted Jia Fang's appetite even more: Usually, the boss collects rent lying down, which means paying monthly money to the people below.What if these master craftsmen lose their motivation to move forward and lie on the big boat that guarantees harvest due to drought and flood?

But this is not the case in the workshop.Everyone is busy and everyone is working hard. Even if there are not many guests to patronize, everyone is concentrating on doing their own thing.

Jia Fang asked Zhao Cheng in a low voice: "Why do you feel that there are not many customers?"

Zhao Cheng said "Hi" and said, "The workmanship here is exquisite, the things are expensive, and there must be fewer customers than outside."

The two were muttering in low voices, when a shopkeeper-like person walked up to meet Zhao Cheng, and when he saw Zhao Cheng, he recognized him at a glance: "Brother Zhao?" Responding: "The feeling is that Mr. Jia of Rongguo Mansion came in person?"

Can accurately remember Zhao Cheng's appearance, name and surname, and can immediately guess Jia Fang's identity - Jia Fang secretly sighs: It really is a fine person.

As a result, the self-reported family said: "Jia Sanye, the younger one's surname is Ren, and the single name is Jing. He is the shopkeeper of this 'Baigongfang'."

——The feeling person is really called "Ren Jing".

Jia Fang nodded at the other party: "Hi, shopkeeper. I am Jia Fang. Some copper parts need to be cast today. I want to see if there are any experts in your store who can cast this device for me."

Shopkeeper Ren saw that Jia Fang was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and his voice was somewhat childish. He hesitated for a moment, and explained to Jia Fang in a low voice with a smile: "Master Jia, there is something I must explain clearly to you. , the coppersmiths in our shop are not my praise, they are not the best in the whole country, but they are also the best in Beijing. Our master hired them and raised them with high salaries. Generally, they are not allowed to make ordinary devices. So your This job... depends on whether the craftsmen are willing to take it on."

The shopkeeper glanced at Zhao Cheng, and immediately remembered that Jia Fang was not a money-grubbing master, and immediately suppressed the words about money.

Jia Fang was already prepared, and pulled out a piece of paper from his cuff. On the paper was an extremely detailed component drawing. The shape, structure, and size of the entire copper piece were all on the paper, as well as drawings and cross-sections from different angles. .He didn't give the drawing directly to the shopkeeper, but asked, "Can I talk to the craftsman in your shop?"

Shopkeeper Ren caught a glimpse of the blueprint and dared not neglect Jia Fang any longer. He quickly led Jia Fang to the bronze workshop and called out a sweaty craftsman in a leather apron.

Seeing Jia Fang, the craftsman heard that he was the young master of the Duke's Mansion, so he specially brought a pattern to him to order, quickly found a towel, and carefully wiped off the sweat on his forehead and hands before accepting it. Go through Jia Fang's drawings and look carefully.

Jia Fang was a little worried that the craftsmen of Baigongfang would lose their motivation because of their high salaries.But when the craftsman saw the blueprint Jia Fang handed over, his eyes lit up immediately.

"Do you want plastic mold casting? What material do you want? Brass, copper, or cupronickel?" The coppersmith threw out all the questions in one breath.

"I want cupronickel." Jia Fang replied with a smile, "It's better not to rust."

The coppersmith stared at the drawing and already saw some meaning, so he hurriedly asked, "Are you... going to use it in water?"

Jia Fang gave him instructions: "Connect a pipe from here to draw water, and you can turn the handle to get water out - this thing is called a faucet."

Water taps have been common historically as far back as the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century.There, such components are often used in public fountains, or in large-scale public baths.Some early prototypes have also appeared in China, but in the current world of Red Mansions, this little thing seems to have not yet appeared.

When the coppersmith heard this, the light in his eyes became even brighter, and he pestered Jia Fang to ask this and that.Jia Fang had no choice but to say: "You study this picture first, and see if there is anything you don't understand, or if you think it can't be realized technically, we can discuss it later."

"By the way, I'm still in a hurry to discuss another object with your porcelain maker."

Shopkeeper Ren looked at Jia Fang even more enthusiastically when he heard it, and hurriedly greeted him in another workshop. "Then you should come to Baigongfang. When it comes to firing large-scale porcelain in Beijing, Baigongfang dares to be second, and no one dares to be number one. All the clay here is transported by water from Jingdezhen. ..."

But Jia Fang stopped in front of the porcelain firing workshop: he took a fancy to a sack of broken porcelain pieces, reached in and picked up a few pieces, and after looking at them, he found the color to be very good, and immediately sighed: "Such a good piece of porcelain. ……Pity."

In ancient times, when firing porcelain, if there is a little flaw on the surface of the utensil, the whole utensil will be destroyed.Folk kilns may also be disposed of at a discount, while large workshops such as official kilns or Baigongfang will choose to completely smash the utensils.

It was such a bag of solid-color broken porcelain that Jia Fang took a fancy to.

Shopkeeper Ren hurriedly shouted: "Jia Sanye, be careful. These are all to be thrown away."

Jia Fang picked up two pieces with ease and played with them in the palm of his hand.The tiles are quite thick, the glaze is very good, and the color is very uniform.The size of the tiles is also very regular, each piece is about the same size, but the shape is somewhat irregular.It seems that this porcelain workshop has detailed operating rules, and scrapped products must be crushed to a certain size before they can be thrown away.

So he stood up, threw away the tiles in his hand, clapped his hands and asked Shopkeeper Ren: "These mosaics... how do you sell the tiles?"

Shopkeeper Ren obviously didn't expect Jia Fang to be interested in these waste porcelain pieces, he paused, and asked in an inquiring tone: "How about a penny and a bag?"

Jia Fang clapped his hands together: "Deal! I want as much as I have."

The wall covering in his bathroom has it.