Blue bricks were something that ordinary common people couldn’t use. Only those with somewhat thick family resources, who also happened to be building houses recently, would have demand for them.

Of course, Runan was so large with so many people—there were still people building houses.

Zhao Hanzhang felt they could lower the price slightly more to let more people who wanted to build houses afford the bricks.

In any case, their cost of firing bricks wasn’t very high. As long as they had clay and people, they could continuously fire more bricks.

However, this was quite cheap. Zhao Hanzhang still wanted to do business with higher profit margins. She ran to find Fu Tinghan to think of solutions.

“Firing glass isn’t difficult. I’ll make the thermometer first.”

Zhao Hanzhang: “The furnace and workers…”

Fu Tinghan smiled. “We can use kilns that fire porcelain. The craftsmen should also preferably be those who fire porcelain.”

In Fu Tinghan’s view, porcelain and glass had similar principles—they just used different raw materials and had some differences in technique.

For him, mixing the raw materials for firing glass wasn’t difficult.

“What glass products do you want to make?”

Zhao Hanzhang said: “Beautiful glass cups, beautiful mirrors, beautiful glass handicrafts.”

Fu Tinghan: “We don’t have molds.”

That was the difficulty.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “As long as you can make glass, molds aren’t a problem.”

The craftsmen would have their own ways of making things beautifully. If worst came to worst, she could have Wang Shi draw some pretty patterns.

Fu Tinghan took out the estate map to look at. “Then where do you think the glass workshop should be built?”

Zhao Hanzhang looked carefully, considering they’d need water. She pointed to a plot of land by the irrigation ditch. “How about here?”

“There’s water, it’s dry land, and it’s close to the West Camp. In case of emergency, the West Camp can arrive quickly.” They could also patrol and protect it daily.

Fu Tinghan: “I’ll supervise the construction of the kiln, but as for the craftsmen we need…”

Zhao Hanzhang: “I’ll think of a way.”

The solution could only come from Xiping.

Craftsmen who made porcelain weren’t like other craftsmen. These craftsmen were more valuable and rarer.

Shangcai County didn’t have many, and the few they had weren’t free men—they worked in the official kiln at the government office. Unless she bribed the county magistrate to cancel their household registrations and record them as deceased, she couldn’t even buy them.

Zhao Song liked porcelain. He seemed to have a porcelain kiln under his name. That was his private property, not clan property. If Zhao Hanzhang wanted people, she could only ask Zhao Song.

This was different from borrowing the mud-brick masons and brick-firing craftsmen before. Zhao Hanzhang decided to personally make a trip to Xiping.

It just so happened the summer harvest was nearly finished, and she’d go back to see how the fields on the Xiping side were doing.

So Zhao Hanzhang changed into plainer hemp-cloth clothes and was about to take just Ting He to Xiping.

Hearing this, Fu Tinghan quickly brought Fu’an and rushed over. “I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Hanzhang was curious. “What are you going for?”

Fu Tinghan: “Didn’t you say that in a few years, this central plains area will be in chaos? I plan to go out and survey the nearby mountains, rivers and roads, making a map. That way if this area becomes chaotic too in the future, when we flee, we won’t be unable to tell east from west.”

Hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang immediately extended her hand to him. “Get on.”

Fu Tinghan looked at the hand reaching toward him, paused for a moment, then reached out to grasp it and easily climbed onto the carriage.

The two sat on opposite sides of the carriage. Fu’an also squeezed onto the carriage, sitting on the shaft with Ting He.

Zhao Hanzhang: “It’s a pity we’re in mourning and can’t visit friends, otherwise going to the county office to borrow county gazetteers would be the most effective and quickest method.”

Fu Tinghan: “It doesn’t matter. We have plenty of time. With such large movements at your estate, the county office can’t possibly not know. When the time comes, even if you don’t visit them, they’ll probably come calling.”

Zhao Hanzhang thought about it and agreed, nodding her head and deciding to wait quietly for good news.

Zhao Changyu also had property in the fortress. Besides the old residence and several shops, there were also fields.

Among them, the land deeds for ancestral fields he’d all handed over to Zhao Zhongyu. What remained were some he’d gradually added over the years—either bought from clan members or cleared from wasteland. Not very much, just about twenty-some acres, right next to the Zhao clan fortress.

This land was left for Zhao Erlang.

Besides these, Zhao Changyu had also purchased land in other places in Xiping County. Zhao Zhongyu knew that keeping fields in the ancestral land was for descendants, so he wouldn’t exchange all of it to Zhao Hanzhang.

Basically, what he exchanged to Zhao Hanzhang were fields and shops distant from the fortress.

Some of these fields had stewards managing them with tenant farmers cultivating them. Others lay fallow, the original tenant farmers and long-term workers having long since run off without a trace.

Zhao Hanzhang estimated that after the summer harvest ended, another batch would run away.

She pondered: “Do you think if I wrote to Zhao Zhongyu suggesting he hand over all the Runan properties and shops to me to manage, would that be too presumptuous?”

Fu Tinghan: “Would the proceeds go to him or to you?”

Zhao Hanzhang: “If the proceeds went to him, what would I bother managing them for?”

Fu Tinghan: “Do you still have properties and shops you didn’t exchange to him, outside of Runan?”

“I do, but unfortunately, those places are all war zones now. Do you think he’d still take this loss?”

This was a simple question. Zhao Hanzhang looked at Fu Tinghan with hopeful expectation.

Fu Tinghan said directly: “He wouldn’t. He’s not stupid.”

“If he agreed, it would mostly be from guilt, but…” Fu Tinghan thought for a moment, then said: “Even if your grand-uncle felt guilty, he wouldn’t be this generous. Right now the entire court is displaced, which is precisely when they urgently need money and various resources.”

“During the flight, they lost so much baggage. They’re probably desperately strapped right now. It would be good enough if he doesn’t ask you for money—how could he possibly give you things for free?”

Hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang sighed with regret. “What a pity. If I’d known Luoyang would fall into chaos so quickly, when exchanging fields and shops, I should have discussed this matter and settled things beforehand.”

Neither of them knew that at this moment, Zhao Zhongyu’s messenger was right there at the Zhao clan fortress, also there for matters of money, property and shops.

The fields and shops here—Zhao Zhongyu had family servants managing them, while Zhao Changyu, though he’d also sent servants here to handle things, had entrusted oversight and supervision to Zhao Song.

For many years, the two cousin brothers’ habit had been for Zhao Song to compile the proceeds from here and have someone send them to Zhao Changyu, or when Zhao Changyu had arrangements, he’d write back directly and use the money and grain.

Zhao Zhongyu was sending his messenger now precisely to take over the fields and shops Zhao Changyu had entrusted to the second branch.

Zhao Song opened the list to look. Seeing many items crossed out with a brush, he couldn’t help frowning. “What’s the reason for this?”

The messenger quickly said: “These are the fields and shops the master gave to Sanniang and Erlang. The land deeds and property deeds have all been given to Sanniang and Erlang.”

Zhao Song looked and discovered that the ancestral properties were untouched, but most other fields and shops had been crossed out. Though the assets had thinned, he still nodded with satisfaction. “The clan leader cares for his juniors. Sanniang and Erlang are young—they indeed should receive more assets for security.”

His words had barely finished when the steward happily came in to report: “Master, the first branch’s Sanniang and her future husband have returned to the fortress.”