If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

“My sister-in-law is absolutely right. The biggest drawback of fruit is that it is not easy to preserve. It’s the same principle as vegetables. If you leave it for too long, it will spoil. So we can address this problem by finding ways to make fruit last longer. For example, autumn fruits can appear in the winter when resources are scarce. Do you think that will cause a frenzy?”

"That's inevitable. Rich people don't care about these things at all. All they care about is face. If others have it, they must have it too."

Zhou Wu had initially thought his sister-in-law was just an ordinary lady, but he hadn't expected her to be able to see through all this. He had underestimated her.

"Sister-in-law is right. Whether it's the quality of our fruit or the face-saving mentality of wealthy people, we will never have to worry about sales."

“Zhou Wu, what you said makes sense. The problem is how to preserve the fruit.”

"I have a way to do this, but it will take some time to test it out."

"how long?"

"I estimate it won't take more than a few days, but it's hard to say. If you have time, you can stay a few more days."

"Row."

Zhou Wu had long had an idea in mind: to can the fruit. This would not only help **An**, but also solve the fruit problem in the South China Sea.

With canning technology, the problem of short shelf life for fruit will no longer exist, and Zhou Wu plans to cultivate fruit on a large scale on the South China Sea islands.

With such a large area as the South China Sea, it's impossible to live in it all. So we can only try to develop it rationally. When the supply increases, maybe ordinary people will be able to eat fruit too. That's what Zhou Wu wants to see most.

An sent his officials back first to organize what they had seen and learned over the past few days, hoping to apply it to Jinshan Prefecture. As for himself, he stayed behind to wait for Zhou Wu's canned food.

. . . . .

For Zhou Wu, the most difficult problem in canning is the container. With current technology, metal cans are out of the question. Let alone the forming and sealing processes, no country in this era is luxurious enough to use metal to make disposable food containers.

Since metal is not an option, glass containers are the only option to consider. Modern glassmaking is actually very complex because the requirements for modern glass are higher. In fact, glassmaking in ancient times was much simpler. Zhou Wu happened to have seen the ancient glassmaking process in a book before, and he decided to give it a try.

It is often said that glass is made of sand, and this statement is actually not wrong at all, because sand does contain quartz, which is used to make glass.

After being subjected to extremely high temperatures, the quartz in the sand began to gradually melt. The originally solid quartz crystal structure became irregular, forming liquid glass, which is the most primitive form of glass.

Zhou Wu only wants to make canning containers, so the requirements for the glass are not high. Therefore, this primitive form of glass is sufficient.

Because Zhou Wu had already thought about the glass jar issue, he had a large furnace built in advance. The most abundant resource in the South China Sea is sand. If glass could be successfully produced, the South China Sea would have another industry.

So this not only helps **An, but Zhou Wu also benefits, making it a win-win situation.

Zhou Wu's method is actually very simple and crude: he uses high temperature to heat the sand until it melts, and then he can blow it into the desired shape.

After watching the sand being poured into the furnace, all that was left was to wait.

Ordinary furnaces cannot melt sand at temperatures that are too high, so Zhou Wu made some modifications to this furnace to significantly increase its temperature.

"sand?"

An watched Zhou Wu pour sand into the furnace, his face full of confusion.

"Yes, it's sand."

"Is this the raw material you mentioned for making glass jars?"

"Yes."

An stopped talking; he wanted to see what kind of glass Zhou Wu had finally made.

As time passed, the sand indeed began to melt and slowly turned into a liquid.

"Get ready to blow."

"Yes, my lord."

Zhou Wu had arranged for a suona player to blow the glass beforehand. He didn't expect to get it to look exactly the way he wanted on his first try; he just wanted to succeed.

A hollow, long iron pipe began to stir, then was quickly lifted up. The end inserted into the furnace was already covered with molten glass, and the person began to blow air into the other end.

Right before everyone's eyes, a magical scene unfolded: the end encased in the molten glass began to inflate as air was blown in, and then a special pair of scissors was used to separate the container from the iron pipe.

Once removed from the furnace, the glass cools rapidly upon encountering cold air, and soon it begins to harden and take shape.

"This is glass!"

The sight before him made An exclaim in surprise. The glass Zhou Wu had mentioned was actually crystal, priceless crystal.

"You're not wrong to call him Liuli."

"No, glass is priceless, but you clearly made it from sand just now."

"Nothing has inherent value; it is people who set a price for it, and that's when it gains value. Glass is just a commodity that foreigners use to make money."

Zhou Wu certainly knew about glass. It was probably made by foreigners who had mastered the crude glassmaking technology and then sold it at high prices to the whole world, including the Great Dragon Empire.

Although the jar is not yet finished, the glass is done. All that's left is to practice more while making the glass.

. . . . .

"Are you relieved now?"

"Send someone over as soon as possible, I'm waiting."

Zhou Wu promised to arrange planting technicians and glass workers for **An, so that Jinshanfu and Nanhai would have two glass factories at the same time.

The glass factory in Nanhai belongs entirely to Zhou Wu. As for Jinshafu, Zhou Wu didn't need to invest a single penny; it was entirely a technology-based investment, giving him a 30% stake.

An will go back first, and then carry out preliminary work, such as the selection and construction of the glass factory, and the promotion and arrangement of fruit planting, which will take a lot of time.

Zhou Wu took advantage of this time to conduct large-scale personnel training, hoping that the glass factory could be put into production as soon as it was built.

Waving goodbye to **An, Deng Yuanliang stood beside him, his face full of question marks.

"Yuanliang, just say what's on your mind. There's no need for secrets between us."

"My lord, don't you know the value of glassmaking technology? You just gave it to Prefect Chen so easily?"

“Yuanliang, have you forgotten that I don’t want to make money for myself? If it were just about accumulating personal wealth, I would have many ways to do it. What I want is the rise and prosperity of the entire Great Dragon.”

Deng Yuanliang was once a patriotic and passionate young man, but in recent years, he has witnessed too much deceit and treachery, which has affected him to some extent. Fortunately, Zhou Wu's words woke him up in time.