The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After Wanli came out of Liulichang, he went to Yun's house to see how the window glass was made.

In ancient northern buildings, windows were very small to keep out the cold and keep warm. However, in places like the capital, especially for wealthy families, it was impossible to build houses with small windows in order to show off their style.

The doors and windows of the Yun family are very bright, and the carvings on the windows are also very exquisite, very beautiful and grand, and there is also a space reserved for pasting window paper, which makes it very convenient to inlay glass. You only need to inlay the glass in the inner layer of the window pane and nail it with small nails or wedge it with a wedge.

Min Xi had people replace the window glass inside and outside the Yun residence, removing the original window paper and pasting transparent glass instead, making the house look much brighter.

As soon as Wanli entered the yard, he felt something different. He observed it very carefully. He looked outside, touched it with his hand, and then went into the house to feel it. He carefully observed how the window glass was put on. Finally, he sighed: "The light in the room is indeed much better than the sticker. But it's so transparent that everything you do in the room can be seen, right?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Your Majesty is indeed right to worry about privacy, but if it is necessary, you can draw curtains behind the windows and at the door so that people outside cannot see what is going on inside."

Wanli thought about it and nodded: "That's a solution. Installing glazed windows will make it feel much brighter."

"Yes, glazed windows can also prevent dust. Especially in the dusty seasons of autumn, winter and spring, with glazed windows, there will be much less dust in the room." The only trouble is cleaning the window glass. After all, the window glass will easily be covered with dust if there is a lot of dust, so the feather duster needs to be waved constantly.

"Is there another benefit? It's really good!" Although Wanli was the emperor, he could not avoid being affected by the sandstorm weather. Of course, his palace was always cleaned by palace servants. Whenever there was such weather, he could not help being in a bad mood. The glazed windows could prevent dust from entering the room through the doors and windows, which could really be considered a good thing.

Min Xi continued, "In winter, there are even more benefits. The glazed windows are very windproof and are not as easily broken as window paper. You don't need to replace the window paper every year."

Wanli nodded. There were thousands of rooms in the palace. Before the severe cold came, the palace had to post window paper in advance. It was troublesome and a big expense. More importantly, the windproof effect was not good. If they were replaced with glazed windows, they would save money on buying charcoal.

Yun Ji asked, "Your Majesty, after seeing the colored glass windows in my house, do you plan to install colored glass windows in all the palaces?"

Wanli did not agree immediately, but asked: "There are so many rooms in the Forbidden City. If all of them were inlaid with glazed windows, how much would it cost?"

Min Xi was surprised that Wanli would think this way. It seemed that he had really grown up and even started to care about the cost: "Liulichang belongs to your Majesty. Your Majesty only needs to pay the workers' wages."

Wanli said: "If that's the case, then we should replace all the windows in the palace with glazed windows. Can it be completed before this winter?"

Min Xi shook his head: "I'm not sure. I have to go to the palace to measure the size of the doors and windows, and then have the Liuli Factory burn the glass panels. If the quantity is too large, it may not be completed before this winter. After all, the scale of the Liuli Factory is limited, and the number of craftsmen and kilns are limited. It can't be done quickly."

"Then do your best." Wanli did not make excessive demands.