Chapter 43 Telescopes and Glass!

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang smiled faintly.

"Just go ahead and do it. Leave the money matters to me."

"As long as something can be resolved with money, I will never be stingy!"

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang felt as if a great weight had finally been lifted from his heart.

At this moment, he truly experienced the relief of rain after a long drought.

Yet, a tinge of regret lingered within him.

Ah! Why hadn’t Emperor Chongzhen supported him like the Crown Prince does now?

If the Crown Prince had been in charge back then, the firearms of the Ming dynasty would have long been fully improved. How could they have been so bullied by the Jurchens?

Of course, Bi Maokang only dared to harbor these complaints silently in his heart.

Unconsciously, the two had been talking for nearly an hour.

It was now midnight.

Noticing this, Zhu Cilang said:

"Lord Bi, you have traveled hard today. Go back and rest first; we will discuss the rest tomorrow."

"The residence has long been prepared for you. I will have someone escort you there."

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang immediately stood up and bowed.

"In that case, I shall take my leave!"

"I will see you out," Zhu Cilang said, also rising. The two then walked together toward the palace entrance.

Though it was late at night, the lights within the Eastern Palace still shone brilliantly, illuminating every corner as brightly as daylight.

Upon arriving at the palace gates, Zhu Cilang noticed that besides several dozen armored guards and a few embroidered uniform guards, there were three people standing there.

And they appeared to be family.

Curious, Zhu Cilang was about to ask who they were when Bi Maokang respectfully introduced them:

"Your Highness, these are my son and two grandsons. Because the journey was long, they worried about my safety and thus accompanied me."

"You three, why haven’t you paid respects to His Highness the Crown Prince yet?"

Bi Maokang turned and scolded them.

Seeing this, the three dared not stand any longer and quickly knelt.

"I, Bi Wenxuan, pay respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"I, Bi Hua, pay respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"I, Bi Qing, pay respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and then said:

"Rise."

The three then stood back up.

Zhu Cilang scrutinized them briefly. Though Bi Maokang's son was over fifty, he appeared vigorous and sharp-eyed, clearly no ordinary man.

His two grandsons, lacking the refined scholar’s demeanor, instead radiated a lively cleverness.

"Do the three of you hold any official positions?"

Zhu Cilang inquired.

Bi Maokang smiled wryly, shaking his head:

"Your Highness, my descendants are unworthy. Forget official posts; they don’t even wish to study."

"My son enjoys tinkering with small inventions, while my two grandsons are always causing trouble."

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang looked curiously at Bi Maokang's son.

"What kind of small inventions do you usually work on? Did you bring any with you?"

Bi Wenxuan hastily took out a box from behind him. Upon opening it, there lay a beautifully crafted tubular object.

"Your Highness, this is a Thousand-Mile Mirror I improved."

"The Thousand-Mile Mirror originally came from the West and was not rare, but I have refined it—reducing its size while allowing it to see farther and more clearly!"

As Bi Wenxuan spoke, he fiddled with the instrument, oblivious to the strange expression gradually forming on Zhu Cilang’s face.

The Thousand-Mile Mirror—what would later be known as the telescope!

Of course, Zhu Cilang’s reaction wasn’t because of seeing the mirror itself, but because he already owned one exactly like it.

Previously, Zhu Cilang had brought Bi Maokang’s “Treatise on Military Equipment” to the Arsenal Bureau, intending to have them manufacture flintlock muskets as described.

However, the craftsmen could not comprehend the instructions, and Zhu Cilang had to give up.

On leaving, he noticed the Arsenal still had Thousand-Mile Mirrors and casually took one.

After trying it, he was deeply disappointed—the quality was poor.

The instrument was bulky and only magnified about four or five times. The lenses were made of crystal, resulting in poor clarity.

In a flash of insight, Zhu Cilang thought that perhaps the System Marketplace might offer better Thousand-Mile Mirrors.

After some searching, he indeed found several varieties and spent five system coins purchasing the most expensive one.

This model had a specially crafted tube and lenses with exceptional polishing.

Sure enough!

Its magnification jumped to seven or eight times. Though still made of crystal, the lens was polished so smoothly it was almost indistinguishable from glass.

At the time, Zhu Cilang resolved that once his rebellion succeeded, he would develop glass production and manufacture a batch of these telescopes based on this design.

He never imagined that the telescope he bought from the System Store was actually the very improvement made by Bi Maokang’s son.

Could this be fate?

For a moment, Zhu Cilang felt amused and took the telescope from Bi Wenxuan. Upon inspection, it was indeed identical to the one he had purchased before.

“This is truly excellent, far superior to the ones made by the Arsenal. It can definitely be used in military operations.”

“If in the future, the Ming sentries and scouts all carry such Thousand-Mile Mirrors, they will be invincible on the battlefield!”

“Can these Thousand-Mile Mirrors be mass-produced?”

After praising, Zhu Cilang directly asked the key question.

Bi Wenxuan nodded eagerly:

“Of course! But the lenses require crystal, which is scarce. If the crystal issue can be resolved, mass production can begin anytime!”

Crystal?

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang laughed heartily.

He could not solve the crystal problem—but he could make glass!

Honestly, if he hadn’t been transmigrated as the Ming Crown Prince, Zhu Cilang might have already made a fortune with his memories from the previous life.

In ancient times, crystal was a rare commodity.

Glass, however, could perfectly replace crystal.

Smiling, Zhu Cilang said:

“I have a method to produce crystal in large quantities—whatever amount you need, you can have.”

What?

This declaration stunned not only Bi Wenxuan but also Bi Maokang.

Everyone knew that crystal had only ever been mined from nature and could not be artificially made.

A crystal cup the size of a palm cost hundreds of taels of silver.

The higher the transparency, the greater its value.

This was why the Ming had never mass-produced the Thousand-Mile Mirror; they simply couldn’t produce enough crystal.

But to Zhu Cilang, this was no problem at all.

Seeing the astonishment on their faces, he continued:

“I am not joking. I truly have a way to produce crystal on a large scale.”

“Though calling it crystal may not be entirely accurate, I guarantee it is almost the same and even clearer than natural crystal!”

Unable to contain himself, Bi Wenxuan cupped his hands and said:

“Your Highness, if this is true, I assure you that no matter how many Thousand-Mile Mirrors you desire, I can make them!”

Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction.

After all, someone who could improve the Thousand-Mile Mirror to this degree was indeed a talent!