Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 443 - 443 442 Glass and Enamel

Chapter 443: Chapter 442 Glass and Enamel Chapter 443: Chapter 442 Glass and Enamel The construction of the glass kiln factory was something Russell had long wanted to do but never had the chance.

It should be noted that Russell’s title as a grand scholar was achieved through the use of reading glasses. Now, reading glasses have become popular among the elderly nobility, but ordinary people, especially those who are serfs, still can’t afford them.

Therefore, Russell was preparing to produce inexpensive glass and then make affordable reading glasses for sale.

Of course, this was just a side endeavour.

Once capable of producing glass himself, Russell could make other glass products, including telescopes and microscopes.

“Then I will have craftsmen build me an astronomical telescope. I want to take a good look and see which star system Dragon Sleep Continent belongs to!” Russell envisioned the future as he inspected the glass kiln factory.

The scholars of Dragon Sleep Continent were all troubled by magic power or constrained by the snowfields, forever “bowed down” in the study of how to fend off the encroachment of snow and ice, with very few looking up at the vast starry sky.

Only Russell was most eager to know where Dragon Sleep Continent was located.

Whether it was still within the Milky Way.

He also wanted to know the truth behind the Snow Demon’s claims of having passed through a portal from another realm. If, as he speculated, those Frost Giants fell from the sky like meteors, then where did these meteors originate from?

This Frost Giant planet, was it in the same star system as Dragon Sleep Continent, or did it travel at the speed of light from neighbouring star systems?

There were too many unsolved mysteries.

An astronomical telescope might reveal some of the secrets.

“Charles,” Russell, while touring the glass kiln factory, mounted Unicorn Polly again and proceeded slowly along the brick path inside the factory.

“Sir,” Charles followed.

“Make more visits to Blackfire Tower of Scholars. The students brought by Placido are all very intelligent scholars,” Russell said. “For technological improvements in each kiln factory, consult them more and fund their research.”

Although Great Scholar Placido had left, the Blackfire Tower of Scholars was bustling.

All this was the result of Russell’s generous support, providing substantial research funding not only to Placido’s students but also inviting other scholars to come and likewise sponsoring their research projects.

Of course.

They were all research projects useful to Blackflame Plains.

The scholar community in the Shadowflame Duchy was vast; after all, not everyone could cultivate combat qi and strive to become nobility. Taking the path of a scholar was the most convenient shortcut.

However, despite offering titles like Grand Scholar and Scholar, Red Castle, in general, still didn’t value scholars much, even the research funds available to a Grand Scholar were extremely limited. So, since Russell offered more money, scholars naturally preferred coming here.

Once they achieved results and gained recognition from the Grand Scholar Roundtable, they could be titled as scholars and join the ranks of nobility.

Charles nodded and replied, “Don’t worry, Sir, I am always keeping an eye on the Blackfire Tower of Scholars. With all the privileges you’ve given to scholars, I believe that in a few years, all the unappreciated talents from Red Castle will rush here, and by then, the Blackfire Tower of Scholars will rival the Great Scholar Tower!”

“Rivaling the Great Scholar Tower is still a long way off,” Russell smiled. He didn’t have the centuries of wealth accumulated by Red Castle.

However, the Blackfire Tower of Scholars, or rather, all the industries in this territory, were his foundations for the future.

Once Little Dream Dragon Volcano erupted, the matured industries and talents here would directly participate in nation-building. The Blackfire Tower of Scholars would naturally develop into the next Great Scholar Tower, an existence even more dazzling.

No one valued the productive forces of technology more than he did!

Upon arriving at the glass factory’s office area, the person in charge immediately jogged over with two cups of tea: “Lord, Lord Charles, please enjoy the tea… The factory conditions are humble; this is all we have to offer.”

“Quenching my thirst will do,” Russell took the teacup and glanced at it, “Is this a glass cup produced by the factory itself?”

“Yes, Sir,” the manager replied with a beaming smile, “Glass cups are quite a simple craft, but they do have to be handled with care to prevent breaking.”

Charles then spoke up, “Glass does break easily, but you could collaborate with the Blackfire Tower of Scholars to research how to make glass unbreakable, ideally as durable as the porcelain cups produced in Yuanguang Town, which are both beautiful and unbreakable.”

With a sheepish smile, the manager said, “Lord Charles, the porcelain cups are made with clay metal and contain magic power.”

Metal, porcelain, unbreakable.

Listening to the exchange between the manager and Charles, Russell suddenly remembered an ancient product from his previous earthly life, enamelware.

Ordinary ironware is prone to rusting, but by coating iron with a layer of enamel glaze, one can obtain an enamel product that does not rust, is as fine as porcelain, and is also unbreakable. Russell had used enamelware when he was a child in his past life.

Enamel cups, enamel basins, enamel rice bowls, and so forth.

However, by the time Russell grew up, enamelware had been largely phased out by society, shaken by the onslaught of stainless steel and plastic products. Only a few art shops sold it as souvenirs, and it had virtually disappeared from everyday life.

But on the Dragon Sleep Continent, plastic had not yet appeared.

Metal was nourished by Bipedal Flying Dragons, and humanity’s methods of utilizing metal were still very naive; at least stainless steel and aluminum alloys had not yet been invented.

“If I had a Black Iron Dragon or a Steel Dragon, I could develop the stainless steel and aluminum alloy industries, but alas, I do not… however, enamel technology could still be developed. Metal products are ugly, and porcelain is too delicate and expensive…”

At that thought,

Russell immediately stood up and headed for the Porcelain Kiln Factory, called over the manager and the factory’s craftsmen, and spoke of enamel technology, “Can you apply a coat of porcelain glaze to ordinary ironware, as I described?”

The manager, who was also a craftsman, thought for a moment before replying, “Sir, that technique is not difficult.”

“Then make me a few enamel cups on the spot,” Russell ordered someone to find a few metal cups to bring over.

The manager wasted no time, promptly instructing staff to apply the glaze.

Being artisans trained by the Fluorescent Fungi Family with extensive porcelain-making skills, they did not need much explanation from Russell to know what to do.

Applying glaze, firing kiln.

Cooling, opening kiln.

Since the purpose was to validate the technique, many steps were skipped, and a simple half-hour was enough to produce the enamel cups Russell described.

The surface was smooth and reflective, like porcelain.

When tapped with a hand, it still had the ring of metal and was quite hard, and the enamel layer on the outside was not prone to shattering—the enamel here was metal nurtured by magic power, with an abundant effect of conducting magic power.

Since metal already emerged from magic power, and porcelain as well, combining the two resulted in even higher quality enamelware.

“Excellent, it has reached the effect I envisioned!” Russell was very satisfied, “From now on, improve upon the enamel technique and produce more enamelware… Its value should rival that of porcelain.”

The Fluorescent Fungi Family had grown wealthy from porcelain.

But high-quality clay was always limited, and with enamel technology, just a layer of glaze on the product’s surface was needed, which would greatly save on high-quality clay.

Moreover, the effect was better than or at least not inferior to porcelain.

The manager of the Porcelain Kiln Factory also saw the vast potential of the enamel technique and promised on the spot, “Rest assured, Sir, with enamel technology, I am confident that I can lead the Blackfire Porcelain Kiln Factory to surpass the one at Fluorescent Castle!”