Chapter 57: Making Something Good

Inside the prince's mansion, Wang Wu placed two sacks in the courtyard and called out toward the front hall, "My lord, I’ve brought back the sand and lime you requested."

Hearing the call, Zhao Bin stepped out from the hall and approached to inspect the contents of one sack. He carefully examined the white sand inside, noting it contained a large amount of quartz sand, though impure. Still, it should suffice for their purposes.

"Cui’er, bring the soda ash you prepared over here."

"Yes, my lord," Cui’er replied promptly from inside the room.

"Let’s go, Old Wu, we’ll head next door."

Wang Wu lifted a sack with one hand, and the two walked to the adjoining room. The blacksmith’s forge had been preserved, and Zhao Bin instructed Wang Wu to stoke a fire in it. As Wang Wu kindled the flames, Ling’er arrived in the courtyard carrying a jar of soda ash.

"My lord, what are you planning to do?" Ling’er asked curiously.

"Making something good," Zhao Bin replied with a touch of mystery.

"What kind of something good?"

"I can’t tell you just yet. You’ll see once it’s done."

Cui’er pouted slightly. "Alright then."

After about half an hour, the forge was roaring with flames. Zhao Bin brought over a dry pot for melting, into which he evenly mixed portions of white sand, soda ash, and limestone. He then placed the mixture in the center of the forge and sealed the top.

"Old Wu, start the bellows," Zhao Bin instructed.

"Right away, my lord," Wang Wu responded, beginning to operate the bellows with steady steps. A wave of heat soon radiated from the forge, prompting Zhao Bin and Cui’er to step back a few paces.

The melting point of sand is extremely high—around 1,700 to 1,800 degrees Celsius. To be honest, Zhao Bin wasn’t sure if the forge could reach such temperatures. If not, he’d have to resort to the steelworks and use a blast furnace.

An hour later, Zhao Bin told Wang Wu to lift the forge lid. Using a long iron rod, he gently stirred the fine sand inside the dry pot. The sand had begun to melt, though incompletely. Wang Wu added more coal, resealed the forge, and continued the heating process.

After roughly another hour, they opened the forge again. This time, the fine sand inside the dry pot had fully melted into a liquid form. Zhao Bin scooped a blob of the molten material with the iron rod and placed it on a prepared flat surface, pressing it into a one-centimeter-thick circular shape. He asked Cui’er to bring a basin of clean water and then immersed the circular object to cool it. As soon as it touched the water, the basin bubbled and splashed violently, forcing the three to quickly step back.

Once cooled, Zhao Bin retrieved the object, which was still slightly warm but solidified. Holding it up to the sunlight, he examined it closely.

Ling’er, standing nearby, asked curiously, "My lord, how did the sand turn into this? It’s a pale green color."

Zhao Bin glanced at Cui’er and said, "It’s like iron ore. Iron ore is just a rock before smelting, but after, it becomes iron. The green tint comes from impurities in the sand, mainly iron powder. What do you think, pretty?"

Handing the object to Cui’er, he awaited her judgment.

Cui’er scrutinized it and said, "Hmm, it’s quite beautiful, like a gemstone, but much more transparent."

"Lord, can we still call this sand?" Wang Wu interjected.

"Of course not. This is called glass," Zhao Bin explained.

"Glass? Is this the same as colored glaze?" Cui’er asked.

"Similar in concept, but not the same thing. There’s a difference. Have you seen colored glaze before?" Zhao Bin queried.

"How could I forget? A couple of years ago, the Zhang family presented a colored glaze cup to His Majesty, said to be from the Western Regions. It was multicolored and more beautiful than this, but not as transparent."

"Ah, that was so long ago, I might have forgotten," Zhao Bin replied casually.

He then fashioned the remaining glass into similar circular pieces. Over the following days, Zhao Bin patiently polished the glass fragments into convex lenses and mounted them inside a brass tube.

"Hahaha, it works!" Zhao Bin exclaimed, holding up the telescope as he spotted a sparrow perched on a distant tree.

"My lord, I want to see too," Cui’er said, her interest piqued by Zhao Bin’s excitement.

Zhao Bin wrapped his arms around her waist and gently placed the telescope to her eye.

Cui’er aligned her eye with the tube, closing one eye like Zhao Bin had shown her, and peered inside.

"Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed, startled, pulling her head back swiftly and letting out a scream as she bumped her head against Zhao Bin’s chin.

"Ouch!"

"My lord, are you alright? Does it hurt? It’s all my fault," Cui’er turned anxiously, cupping Zhao Bin’s chin, full of concern.

"It’s nothing, no pain," Zhao Bin assured her.

Hearing the commotion, others inside the house came out to investigate. Seeing the two embraced, they turned and went back inside. Ling’er, less shy, hurried over to ask what had happened.

"There was a huge sparrow inside the telescope just now. It scared me," Cui’er explained, pointing to the telescope still in Zhao Bin’s hands.

"You silly girl, how big can a sparrow be? That’s the sparrow on the distant tree. This is called a telescope—it lets you see faraway things as if they were right in front of you," Zhao Bin said with a smile.

"A huge sparrow?" Ling’er tilted her head, murmuring, "What are you talking about, Cui’er?"

"Nothing. My lord, may I look again?" Cui’er asked casually.

"Suit yourself, but be careful not to break it," Zhao Bin cautioned, handing over the telescope.

Cui’er took it carefully, looking through it toward the distance, shifting her gaze between directions. "My lord, it’s so clear, like having the Eyes of a Thousand Miles."

Ling’er couldn’t contain herself any longer and shouted, "Let me see, let me see!"

"Be careful not to be frightened," Cui’er said, passing the telescope to Ling’er and standing nearby with her hands ready to catch it, worried the young girl might drop it.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! It’s amazing! I really can see so far!" Ling’er alternated between peering through the telescope and pulling away.

Seeing Ling’er calm, Cui’er relaxed her grip.

Turning to Zhao Bin, Cui’er asked, "My lord, was this made from the glass we produced a few days ago?"

"Yes! Am I not impressive?" Zhao Bin boasted, a smug grin on his face.

"You’re the most impressive lord," Cui’er smiled in response.

Zhao Bin tapped his cheek and said, "Does such an impressive lord deserve a reward?"

Cui’er glanced shyly at Ling’er, who was still excited and oblivious to their exchange. She then stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed Zhao Bin’s cheek before quickly withdrawing.

Zhao Bin wore a satisfied, mischievous smile.

"My lord, let’s make several more. This thing can see so far, it will surely be useful in battle," Cui’er said, returning to business.

Zhao Bin’s playful expression faded. "We will, but we need to refine the raw materials. The sand Old Wu brought isn’t pure enough. There should be quartz sand deposits upstream along the river. We’ll send people to find better ore."

Zhao Bin then had Wang Wu, Xiao Chu, Lu Biao, and others try out the telescope. Soon after, he arranged for several men, guided by locals, to search upstream for quartz sand deposits. Quartz sand is found in many places, so it wasn’t difficult to locate.

A few days later, the soldiers discovered ore rich in quartz sand in the mountains. Wang Wu, Xiao Chu, and Lu Biao, energized as if injected with adrenaline, spent their days next door producing glass. They melted over a hundred small glass pieces in one go. Ling’er and Cui’er, eager to have one for themselves, joined in polishing the glass fragments.