Chapter 106: Hwang Hui's Choice, and Yuli (2)
After that, Raphael and Pietro were extremely busy.
The first thing the two did was train Joseon artisans for the mass production of plate glass.
'Seeking artisans to create a new vessel called glass! Finding volunteers among artisans who make ceramics, pottery, roof tiles, or bricks!'
Following the announcement from the court, apprentices from government kilns (Gwanyo) and private kilns (Sayo), as well as artisans and apprentices working at pottery kilns and tile factories, applied one by one.
"Hey! We're finally making a decent living, why are you quitting and leaving!"
Their colleagues tried to stop those who had decided to change jobs.
This was because Sejong and Hyang valued artisans highly, and these jobs had become stable, freed from the discrimination they had previously faced.
However, those leaving also had their reasons.
'There are already many artisans doing the same work anyway! To survive, one must learn new skills at a new place! It's worth the challenge!'
They were people seeking new opportunities and challenges.
Since they came with a challenger's spirit, they gave their all to not miss a single thing, and naturally, the Joseon artisans quickly acquired the skills.
As the skills of Joseon artisans improved, mass production of plate glass became possible.
"If mass production is possible, we should implement it immediately!"
"The budget..."
"Ugh, damn it! Shake down the Inspectorate! What is there in life? I'll just get my calves beaten by Father later, that's all!"
Following Hyang's decision, mass production of plate glass proceeded.
As proper funding was invested and plate glass began to be produced in large quantities, Hyang immediately changed the outer doors of Donggungjeon from paper-pasted doors to glass-inserted doors.
'The Crown Prince is replacing the doors of Donggungjeon!'
Hearing the rumor, Sejong immediately visited the work site with his ministers.
"Is this the thing called glass?"
"It is, Your Majesty."
"Truly clear. It is amazing that such items can be made from sand and limestone."
Sejong admired the transparent glass and examined the doors that had already been installed. Just then, seeing the glass sparkling in the sunlight, Sejong immediately relented.
"Have the outer doors of Geunjeongjeon and Gangnyeongjeon changed to glass doors as well."
At Sejong's decision, Hyang immediately bowed his head.
"I will prepare and execute it immediately!"
'Hooked!'
As Geunjeongjeon and Gangnyeongjeon were fitted with glass doors, Queen Soheon and the royal consorts who saw this also requested that glass doors be installed in their residences.
Their requests were immediately approved, and before long, the palaces of Hanseong began to be surrounded by glass doors.
With glass being used in large quantities in the palaces, rumors began to circulate in Hanseong.
* * *
A gyejak (preserved quail) shop near Seosomun.
Men standing in line to buy gyejak were having a conversation.
"Say, did you hear that rumor?"
"Rumor? What rumor?"
"They say the King replaced all the doors and windows of the palace not with paper but with crystal!"
"With crystal? That must have cost a fortune? Taxes won't go up, will they? It's already hard enough to make ends meet..."
At the man's words worrying about taxes, another man standing nearby chimed in.
"It's not real crystal. Someone living next door to me works at the workshop the Crown Prince established, and he says it's made by melting sand."
"Sand? That sand that's everywhere by the Han River?"
"Yes."
"Huh~."
"Well now. What a thing? Making crystal from sand?"
People who heard the explanation couldn't hide their surprise.
"It's amazing but... isn't it just 'a rice cake in a painting' for commoners like us anyway? It can't be cheap, right? Something like that... only the nobles in Bukchon would use it."
When one of those listening showed a skeptical reaction, the man who was explaining added.
"Hey, my friend! Among the things the Crown Prince made famous, were there ever any that were designated for nobles only? Were there any things designated only for nobles to use?"
At the man's words, everyone around looked surprised and nodded their heads.
"Hmm? That's true."
"Really!"
"I asked the gentleman next door, and he said while it is a bit expensive, if we save up some money, even we could afford to install windows."
"Really?"
"Shall we try saving up some money too?"
While people were whispering, the owner of the gyejak shop shouted.
"Hey! Are you buying gyejak or not! Blocking the entrance of someone's shop for no reason, what kind of nonsense is this!"
"Ah! Give me one!"
"I'll take two!"
As the commoners had pointed out, from Hyang's first work, the Geumpil, there were no restrictions on users. Thanks to this, anyone who could pay the price, whether noble, commoner, or even lowborn, could buy the items they wanted.
This brought about a result that even Hyang hadn't expected—the submissive attitude that ordinary people had almost instinctively toward nobles was gradually fading.
* * *
As mass production of plate glass was handed over to Joseon artisans, Hyang gave Raphael and Pietro another task.
"You said you can make bottles from glass, right?"
"Yes."
"And you can add color to the glass too?"
"Yes. But why?"
After confirming once more, Hyang gave orders to Raphael and Pietro.
"Make brown glass bottles. The largest size should be about 1 mal, divided into 4 types. Is that possible?"
At Hyang's words, Raphael asked back.
"It is possible, but why brown?"
"The research center, District 51, and many other places use a lot of acids, and it's for storing those acids."
"Ah..."
At Hyang's words, Raphael and Pietro nodded.
When doing glass crafts, etching work was often done due to metal decorations. Using acid for etching work was essential, so they quickly understood.
The brown glass bottles made by Hyang's order were soon greatly welcomed by those who used acid.
Seeing the response, Hyang reassigned Joseon artisans to begin mass production of brown bottles.
* * *
Hyang's "squeezing" continued.
At Hyang's visits, which were becoming less frequent, Raphael and Pietro's faces were quite stiff.
"Can you make white glass this time?"
"White glass?"
At Raphael and Pietro's question, Hyang rummaged through his sleeve and took out a piece of paper.
"This is the lamp I thought of. The white glass will be used for this lamp's shade."
"Hmm..."
Pietro's eyes sparkled as he examined the shape of the lamp Hyang presented.
Though both Raphael and Pietro had equally obtained artisan qualifications, their strengths were slightly different.
Raphael, true to his diligent personality, showed strength in simple items favorable to mass production like plate glass and glass plates, while the free-spirited Pietro showed strength in splendid or creative aspects.
Understanding the personalities of these two, Hyang whistled lightly and rejoiced alone.
"This is almost a cheat key!"
Thanks to this, Pietro was put in charge of lamp production. Pietro joined forces with Master Craftsman Go and showcased his skills.
Having received the results, Hyang greatly praised Pietro and Master Craftsman Go, then presented the first quality product to Sejong.
"Father enjoys reading and attends to state affairs until late hours, always straining your eyes. Worried about this, I created this item."
"Thank you."
Pleased with Hyang's thoughtfulness for him, Sejong lit the lamp and was greatly satisfied.
"Truly bright!"
Due to the rarity of beeswax as a material, candles were precious items not only in Joseon at the time but throughout the world. Therefore, from the royal family to commoners, Joseon mainly used oil lamps.
To use this lamplight as illumination, they used candlesticks with decorative bronze plates attached, but the bronze plates attached to candlesticks were significantly lacking as reflectors.
However, the shade of the lamp Hyang made showed much better performance than the candlesticks' bronze plates, and satisfied with this, Sejong soon ordered mass production so that all government offices could use them.
Of course, there were side effects.
Upon hearing this news, the officials' mental fortitude collapsed at once.
"Damn! Now they want us to work at night too!"
At this, Hyang recruited new artisans to work at the glass workshop.
"Thinking about the future, we'll need more and more artisans! We can't keep doing this makeshift rotation!"
Thus, the glass workshop gradually expanded in scale, and Hyang purchased land right next to District 51 and built a large glass workshop.
* * *
In the meantime, Pietro caused a stir with Master Craftsman Go.
"Hmm? What is that on your eyes?"
"Ah, Prince."
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
When Pietro's address caused the eunuch to frown and correct him, Pietro corrected himself and explained in broken Korean.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince. Made to protect eyes."
"Protect your eyes?"
"The work I do most is looking at flames in the kiln? Eyes get tired. So I made it."
"Hmm... Let me see."
Examining the item Pietro made, Hyang looked back at Master Craftsman Go.
"You also look at fire a lot, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness. That's why blacksmiths like me suffer from eye problems when we get old."
"Hmm..."
Watching Hyang pondering while looking at the item in his hand, Pietro's face grew increasingly pale.
'He's going to tell us to mass produce it again...'
After a while, Hyang returned the item in his hand and ordered.
"Mass produce it. You shouldn't hear people calling you stingy."
Master Craftsman Go, who didn't immediately understand Hyang's words, looked at him.
"Pardon?"
"Are you the only ones suffering from the kiln's fire? Why are people so stingy?"
At Hyang's words, Master Craftsman Go immediately lowered his head.
"For Your Highness to care so much about humble artisans like us, I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude!"
Seeing Master Craftsman Go even tearing up with emotion, Hyang answered with a smile.
"Overwhelmed... oh! When you make them, give yourself two as well."
"Yes! I will make them of the highest quality!"
Thus, the world's first sunglasses were born.
It was a truly interesting coincidence considering that in Hyang's past history, sunglasses came about when Hollywood actors who damaged their eyesight from strong lighting on film sets started wearing them.
Sejong, who received the sunglasses as tribute, was once again satisfied.
He had just turned thirty, but his overworked eyes complained of pain even when the light was slightly bright.
However, wearing the 'Cha-il-gyeong' (Sun-Blocking Mirror) that Hyang presented made his eyes comfortable even when taking walks during the day.
Greatly satisfied, Sejong gave an order to Hyang.
"Make a few more. I'll use some, and give some as gifts too."
"Yes, Father."
Thus, with the King and Crown Prince using them, and Sejong's favored ministers also receiving and using them as gifts, sunglasses bearing the name 'Cha-il-gyeong' became a trend-leading item.
Not only in Hanseong but throughout all of Joseon, those who had some money and knew a thing or two about style, regardless of gender, basically wore these Cha-il-gyeong, and this trend soon spread to Ming and Japan as well.
* * *
The Joseon artisans who learned how to make plate glass worked hard to produce it.
Han Seok-gu, one of the artisans working diligently, was very dissatisfied with the plate glass he made.
"Can't we make it flatter and larger?"
The cylinder method that Pietro and Raphael taught was more efficient than other plate glass production methods that had been used before.
However, there were limitations in size, and there was a problem that the thickness was not uniform. To solve this problem, a method of pressing with heated steel rollers was introduced, but it required a lot of labor and there was a risk of burns.
Eventually, Han Seok-gu, who was wandering in search of a proper solution, found a new plate glass production method after getting a hint from how water and oil don't mix.
"Water, regardless of what the bottom is like, the very top is always smooth and horizontal. The oil floating on top is the same."
Han Seok-gu continued his thoughts.
"Glass in its molten state is the same as water. No, we need something like water to float the glass liquid on, like oil!"
Having reached a conclusion, Han Seok-gu found the optimal material.
"Mercury won't work. Iron... the glass would boil violently... Copper is the same... What would be good?"
After such trial and error, what Han Seok-gu found was tin.
By pouring molten glass onto a large container filled with molten tin and gently pulling with an iron spreader, large plate glass could be easily made compared to the existing method.
"Truly magnificent!"
Having received the report, Hyang greatly praised Han Seok-gu and ran to Sejong to request one thing.
"I understand patents, but you want to give him shares?"
"Yes. If we do so, artisans will have more attachment to their work and develop new technologies."
"So how much of a share will you give?"
"1 ri."
"That seems appropriate, but will you give shares every time a new technology comes out?"
"No. Shares will only be allowed for technologies that can generate profit."
After contemplating Hyang's explanation for a moment, Sejong immediately approved.
Thus, Han Seok-gu became the first Korean to obtain shares through his technology.