Female-to-male: I live on farming

So all they could do was follow the recipe Qin Ke gave step by step.

However, the biggest challenge in refining glass at present is the materials. In addition to sand, soda ash, quicklime, etc., the most important one is calcite. If calcite can be added during glass production, the resulting glass will become transparent.

However, calcite is a mineral that the locals had never heard of. Qin Ke had no choice but to issue a reward announcement.

He described the ore in as much detail as possible and also included pictures. Not to mention, since the announcement was made, people have been coming every day. After all, it is still winter and most people have nothing to do, so they might as well go and try their luck. What if they happen to find it? You know, the reward for it is quite a lot.

What Qin Ke is most worried about are these raw materials. If there is no calcite and the transparency of the glass does not meet the standards, it will be difficult to sell it at a high price.

This is why he started construction at this time even though the weather has not yet warmed up and is extremely cold, which is not suitable for building a factory.

The main reason is that the preliminary preparations take too long, and he must sort out these things before his wife's due date.

In addition to searching for calcite, the temperature required for firing glass is also very high. It should be at least 1500 degrees Celsius, but even iron smelting today cannot reach this temperature. In addition to the smelting furnace, he can only think of ways to use coal.

For this purpose, he made a special trip to the coal plant. After an inspection, he decided to open another workshop in the coal plant to burn coke. However, he had to discuss this matter with Gu Lanxi first and get her consent.

When Gu Lanxi heard Qin Ke's purpose, he knew that this was related to the manufacturing issues of the glass factory, so he nodded and agreed without saying a word. He also called the person in charge of the coal plant and asked him to cooperate with him as much as possible.

As long as it is good for Jinyang and Liangzhou, she has always given her full support.

Fortunately, although the production process of coke is more troublesome than that of coal cakes, the process is not complicated. You only need to pile up the cleaned coal without impurities, cover it with soil, leave an ignition port and an air outlet, and then ignite it directly.

During the coal combustion process, high temperatures are generated, causing the volatile components in the coal to evaporate. These high-temperature components continue to burn along the coal seam, gradually heating the coal seam above and completing the coking process.

However, coking will last for eight to eleven days. After the coking is completed, the covering soil can be removed to obtain the finished coke.

Therefore, it was half a month later that Qin Ke saw the first batch of coke.

"That's fine. Let's take this batch of coke to the Ministry of Industry first. The rest will be produced according to the specifications of this batch. When the factory is built in the future, the demand will definitely increase. You should pay attention to the issue of expanding the production line." Qin Ke patted the carbon ash on his hands with satisfaction and reminded.

"Yes, Qin Sinong."

Qin Ke felt better after solving a difficult problem. The weather was cold and he didn't want to be blown by the cold wind, so he traveled by carriage recently.

"My dear, are we going back to the mansion or to the Ministry of Works?" Han Qi turned around and asked while driving the carriage.

"Hmm..." Qin Ke looked at the sky and thought it was still early. Although he wanted to go home, the spring ploughing was coming and he would be busy soon. He had to try his best to set up the frame of the glass factory during this time. So he sighed and said, "Let's go to the Ministry of Industry."

Sure enough, as soon as he got off the carriage, someone came up to him and saluted, saying, "Si Nong, the suspected calcite collected from other counties a few days ago has just been delivered. Si Nong, go take a look?"

No one else had ever heard of calcite, so everything collected had to be looked at personally by Qin Ke to be confirmed.

"Well, bring them all here." Qin Ke nodded and agreed.

He had seen pictures of calcite and it was not difficult for him.

All he had to do was sit there and eat, waiting for his subordinates to bring the food to him piece by piece. He could do two things at once and save time.

Qin Ke, who had just picked up a piece of braised pork, caught a glimpse of an angular cluster of "stones" that the servant had just picked up. The whole thing was white, pure and transparent, just like crystal.

Qin Ke's eyes suddenly lit up, and he didn't care about continuing to eat. He waved his hand and said, "Take this out."

Facing the sunlight shining into the room, Qin Ke looked at the block in his palm. Its surface had an oily luster and sparkled under the light. Yes, this was the calcite he was looking for.

"Go find out who sent this piece and where it was found."

After investigation, it was found that this calcite was not handed in by the local people of Cangwu City, but was handed in by the nearby counties.

The person who sent this thing was a farmer in the village. His child picked it up while playing. The child liked this kind of shiny and strange-looking thing, and he didn't take it seriously. After all, he didn't know what it was.

It was not until he entered the city a few days ago that he saw the reward posted at the city gate. He could not read, but the shapes drawn on it reminded him of the stones his son used to play with, so he asked what was written on the notice.

He was lucky, as there happened to be a kind, literate person nearby who explained the general meaning to him. When he heard that he could get a large sum of money if he found this item, he was immediately tempted.

After hurriedly returning home, he pulled his son over to ask him about the whereabouts of the stone.

"Ah? I haven't played with that thing for a long time, and I don't know where I threw it."

"You unlucky thing, hurry up and look for it, that thing can be exchanged for money!"

He actually wasn't sure whether that thing was the one offered as a reward by the government, but what if it was?

If it were true, that would be ten taels of silver! He couldn't earn that much money even if he worked hard farming for a year!

The family had no idea what was wrong with him, but seeing that he was extremely anxious, they mobilized the whole family and worked hard for most of an hour before finally finding the dusty stone under the wardrobe.

He carefully cleaned the stone and handed it over to the county government, but he received no news for several days and he had already given up hope.

Unexpectedly, someone finally came to find him, and it was an official from the government office in the main city of Liangzhou.

"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" He stood up nervously and looked at the official with a serious face.

"Did you hand in this stone?"

He looked at the drawings in the officer's hand and nodded.

"Do you remember where you got this stone?"

His heart trembled, and he hurriedly called out loudly: "Da Zhuang! Da Zhuang! Come here!"

"Sir, my son found it near the village." He bent down and pulled his son to his side.

"Very good, think about it carefully, and then take us to where we found the stone."