Chapter 595: Huajin Paints, A Twist of Fate |
The earliest Xia Palace was actually just a three-story tall main building of the camp.
Later, the three pavilions—Alchemy, Artifact Forging, and Martial Arts—were added one after another, along with the General Hall of the Eight Departments of Great Xia, the Star Gathering Hall built against the valley cliff, and the ancestral painting at the deepest part.
This March, the expansion project of the Xia Palace, overseen and guided by the Artisans Department Head Mu Dong from start to finish, had exceptionally noticeable results.
First, considering the large number of staff in the Eight Departments, the complexity of their affairs, and the excessively frequent and dense flow of outsiders, which was detrimental to maintaining the dignity and privacy of the Xia Palace, the General Hall of the Eight Departments was relocated to the outer side of the palace city.
Next, the three pavilions—Martial Arts, Alchemy, and Artifact Forging—for the same reasons as the former, were also moved out. Since the medicinal field was located on the south side of the valley, the Alchemy Pavilion was chosen to be built outside the eastern wall of the Xia Palace. The Martial Arts and Artifact Forging Pavilions, not requiring much land area, were placed on the western side of the Xia Palace.
With these two large sections comprising over a dozen buildings relocated, the space within the Xia Palace suddenly became much more abundant. With ample space at his disposal, Mu Dong naturally exerted his full efforts, applying the highest standards and pouring all the accumulated architectural craftsmanship the Artisans Department had developed over more than ten years into this project.
First was the Lord's great hall. As early as the previous rounds of renovations, the main structural materials of this hall had all been replaced with ten-fold forged iron. This time, Mu Dong directly upgraded the primary building material to hundred-fold forged iron, using thousand-fold forged iron for some critical parts. He even boldly used silver for areas such as the hall doors, windows, surrounding corridors, and interior walls.
If the main structural materials were already like this, the external decorations were even more extravagant.
Coatings were a craft developed by the Artisans Department many years ago. Because they could effectively prevent metal corrosion, and some precious ones could even enhance the toughness and sharpness of metal, they were most widely applied to the outer layers of weapons, armor, and various metal products.
Where there is demand, there is a market. With Great Xia's population continuously exploding, any single demand could create a massive market. Recognizing this, the Artisans Department naturally became more and more dedicated to the research and development of coatings.
Although various new types of coatings emerged one after another, among the paints that could be applied to building materials on a large scale, the most precious were three types: Hua Jin (Splendid Gold), Zi Zhu (Purple Vermilion), and He Yu (Brown Jade). The use and purchase rights for these three paints were explicitly restricted to those who had been ennobled. Furthermore, fixed annual purchase quotas were allocated based on noble rank, and even the permitted uses were strictly regulated. Consequently, the prices of these three coatings were, as expected, the highest.
Among these three, Hua Jin coating had the lowest production output. The main raw materials for Hua Jin coating were two: silver and golden frost tree powder. Both were placed together into a furnace for prolonged high-temperature smelting, followed by the strict sequential addition of over thirty auxiliary materials. The entire process required precise control of temperature, water quantity, and air humidity—missing any single factor would prevent the final product from forming.
Not to mention that the raw materials included silver, just the complexity of the process alone destined its price to be anything but low. And indeed, that was the case. Its price per jin reached a staggering 1,300 taels. Moreover, due to the use of silver and the overly intricate firing process, the woodworking workshops under the Artisans Department could produce at most around ten thousand jin per year.
Generally speaking, one jin of coating could cover about one square meter. So, while ten thousand jin sounded like a lot, if used for construction, it could at most cover one square wall with a side length of one hundred meters.
Compared to a few years ago, Great Xia's material production today was extremely abundant. Especially in the seventh year of Great Xia, when Hongmen opened its port. Backed by advanced productivity, trade with the various towns of the Southern Foothills allowed Great Xia to reap enormous profits. The tangible benefit the Xia people ultimately received was a greater variety of goods and lower prices.
Then, early this year, Great Xia annihilated the five northern towns, incorporating the entire Southern Foothills region into its territory. Resource zones were greatly expanded. Subsequently, after defeating Caiqiu three times and establishing trade relations with the feudal towns, Great Xia's material production ushered in another round of explosive growth. The Camp Supply Department's timely introduction of silver monetization added even more fuel to this feast.
As of June this year, based on rough projections made by the Camp Supply Department, an ordinary family of three in Xia City, excluding all special factors, living a normal life while ensuring the supply of the most basic cultivation resources, would require approximately 50 to 60 taels of silver per month.
And Hua Jin coating, priced at 1,300 taels per jin, was enough to support a family of three doing nothing, living off free food and drink for two years. Comparing it like this shows just how exaggerated its price was.
"Gulp... The buildings outside the Xia Palace... their inner layers are all dyed with Hua Jin coating..."
Cai Shiqin, visiting the Xia Palace for the first time, saw everything before her eyes, and her expression instantly froze. The nervousness and anxiety originally in her mind vanished without a trace, leaving only shock and numbness on her face, her pupils filled with disbelief.
At the beginning of the year, under Luo Cheng's guidance, Cai Shiqin and her three older brothers smoothly settled down and established a household in the Xia Capital. Counting it up now, she had been living in Xia City for almost half a year.
From the initial confusion and disorientation, to gradually being attracted by Great Xia's various novel goods, shaken by Great Xia's fair environment free from the constraints of a three-tier household registration system, then later experiencing Great Xia's astonishingly low prices, and through understanding Great Xia's various rules and regulations, learning about the safeguards Great Xia provided for vulnerable groups...
All of this, while dazzling Cai Shiqin, also quickly fostered her identification with Great Xia. Coupled with an intense desire to gain the recognition of her master, Xia Hong, she and her three brothers faced almost no psychological barriers in integrating into Great Xia.
Due to their not insignificant contributions in the Evergreen Valley uprising, the four siblings were each credited with military merits ranging from 100 to 200 points. Although this was still far from qualifying for ennoblement, according to Great Xia's regulations, anyone who obtained military merits could convert them into cash silver upon the first instance at a ratio of 1 point to 500 taels. This meant that when the four siblings first arrived in Xia City at the beginning of the year, their personal wealth was already considerable.
Considerable wealth meant Cai Shiqin had sufficient money to experience the dazzling array of abundant goods in Xia City: Xia attire, Xia cuisine, Xia-made weapons and utensils, refined salt, spirit pills, and all sorts of other products. In order to accelerate her integration into Great Xia, she had tried almost every one of them.
The Xia Capital was large, and living there was not easy. Coupled with several rounds of population explosions, settling in the Xia Capital today, even just in the outer city, was no simple matter. Setting aside the cost of building a house, even the price of the most ordinary hundred-square-meter plot of land was as high as over thirty thousand taels. Considering that future cultivation would require money, and that she and her three brothers were not yet married, the four siblings did not live separately. Instead, they pooled their funds to buy a plot of land, built a house, and lived together.
Her three older brothers were very protective of her. Without saying a word, they directly registered the land under her name. Subsequent matters related to house construction were also basically handed over for her to handle single-handedly.
It was precisely because of this matter that Cai Shiqin was extremely sensitive to building material prices. Seeing everything before her eyes in the Xia Palace, she had such a reaction.
Within the Xia Palace, thirteen large-scale palaces were situated in sequence. The Lord's Hall, with the largest footprint, was at the very center, serving as the core. The other twelve smaller-scale palace buildings were scattered around it like stars surrounding the moon. Directly above the Lord's Hall, there was also an exquisite palace suspended against the mountain cliff. Although its scale wasn't huge, its commanding, overlooking position alone was enough to indicate its extraordinary status.
The key point was, the exterior walls of these thirteen large-scale palaces actually all used Hua Jin coating. Previously, separated by the palace walls, one couldn't see it. Now, walking inside and seeing the thirteen resplendent, golden palaces up close, Su Xing'er's heart was naturally subjected to an immense impact.
When her new residence was completed, she had also gone to shops in the outer city to select coatings. The shopkeeper at the time introduced many to her. Probably out of a desire to show off, that person specifically introduced the three highest-grade coatings to her, including Hua Jin.
Hearing at the time that Hua Jin coating cost as much as 1,300 taels per jin, that only those who were ennobled had the right to use it, and, crucially, that annual purchase quotas were restricted based on noble rank, Su Xing'er was naturally astounded.
Therefore, at this moment, when thirteen palaces entirely painted with Hua Jin coating appeared before her eyes, how could her heart not be shaken?
The thirteen palaces of the Xia Palace all had a square-arch form. The base side length of the largest Lord's Hall in the center was probably 150 meters. The other twelve were smaller, but their side lengths were estimated to be around 50 meters. Converting this overall, the amount of Hua Jin coating consumed probably wouldn't be covered even by a hundred thousand jin.
The thirteen palaces on the ground had already left her somewhat speechless. The great hall suspended against the mountain cliff was even more exaggerated. The outer layer of that palace actually shimmered with a bright silvery light...
Su Xing'er could tell at a glance that this kind of bright silvery light was definitely not something a coating could produce. That was genuine silver.
The outer layer of that thirty-meter-wide palace on the mountain cliff was coated with silver!
In the Ice Abyss, the higher the grade of metal ore, the greater its density, and the higher the furnace temperature required for smelting. Moreover, the amount of liquid produced after smelting was extremely small. For the entire exterior wall of a great hall to be cast from silver slurry, how much silver would that consume? Su Xing'er simply couldn't imagine.
The key point was, up to this moment, she had only seen the exteriors of these palaces. If the exterior wall coating was already so extravagant, what must the interiors of these palaces be like?
"The Linchu County government office of Caiqiu, and the Yanling County government office of Chencang, simply cannot be compared to this place. Even the town-level administrative headquarters of the two feudatories might not have this level of scale and grandeur..."
Su Xing'er couldn't help but compare the Linchu and Yanling county government offices she had visited before with the Xia Palace before her eyes. But the moment the thought arose, she eliminated the two major county offices from consideration.
The degree of abundance in Great Xia's material production far exceeded her imagination...
"Miss Su has been in Xia City for less than half a year, yet she even recognizes Hua Jin coating. You are truly attentive. This Hua Jin coating contains a significant amount of silver, which can serve to prevent and control Abominations. When the Xia Palace was expanded at the beginning of the year, Department Head Mu proposed painting all the palaces with Hua Jin coating. The Madam was worried it would be too extravagant and wasteful, and initially rejected him. Later, it was only after Department Head Mu overrode all objections, coupled with the Department Chancellor stating that the Xia Palace was both the Lord's residence, the core of Great Xia, and the future location of the Xia feudal administrative headquarters, where safety and solemnity were indispensable, and that no standard was too high, that what Miss Su sees now came to be..."
Mingyue was clearly in a good mood today. Seeing Su Xing'er looking at the great halls within the Xia Palace with a face full of shock, she couldn't help but explain with a smile.
She had previously always served the First Madam, Li Xuanling. In March, when Cai Shiqin came from afar for the marriage alliance, the First Madam assigned her to serve the other party.
Cai Shiqin held the title of Heavenly Sound Princess. Li Xuanling simply allocated one of the great halls from the Xia Palace, named it the Heavenly Sound Hall, and gave it to that Cai Shiqin for use as her living quarters. Mingyue was now the head maidservant of the Heavenly Sound Hall, specifically responsible for serving that Cai Shiqin.
Yesterday was her day off. She was already married, with her husband serving in the Dragon Garrison, and they even had two children. Finally having a day off, she naturally went to request leave from Cai Shiqin as soon as day broke.
Speaking of which, that Cai Shiqin was also a very good person. Having come for the marriage alliance for so long without yet meeting the Lord, an ordinary woman would probably have already made a fuss. But she not only didn't make trouble, she had never raised any demands, and was always polite and courteous to them, the maidservants, never making things difficult. Even though she clearly knew they were all spies sent by the Madam, she still acted this way.
Unexpectedly, yesterday during the day, when she went to Cai Shiqin to request permission to leave the palace, the other party actually proactively made a request.
This request was Su Xing'er, whom she had brought in at this moment.
That Cai Shiqin grew up in Caiqiu. Having just married over, logically she should know nothing about Great Xia. Yet she actually knew about a person named Su Xing'er in the outer city, and even begged Mingyue to bring Su Xing'er into the palace to meet her once.
Mingyue knew that Cai Shiqin was actually only nineteen years old, while she herself was already twenty-five. If not for the vast difference in their statuses, after interacting with the other party for nearly three months, she felt somewhat heartache for Cai Shiqin.
That's right, heartache—heartache!
A nineteen-year-old girl, coming to Great Xia from Caiqiu from thousands of miles away for a marriage alliance, for over three months, hadn't even met her husband—that is, Lord Xia Hong. The key point was, above her was an overwhelmingly powerful First Madam. Li Xuanling had gradually dismissed all several dozen people from Caiqiu who came with the dowry. Consequently, in the vast Xia City, she didn't have a single acquaintance.
A young girl, in such circumstances—even though Mingyue considered herself utterly loyal to the First Madam—she couldn't help but feel pity, and would occasionally speak a few good words for this Cai Shiqin in front of the First Madam.
Therefore, finally hearing the other party make a request of her, and one that merely involved going to the outer city to bring someone into the Xia Palace, even though Mingyue felt it was difficult, she still gritted her teeth and agreed.
Of course, all matters within the Xia Palace were decided by the Madam. So what she agreed to was only to convey Cai Shiqin's request to ask for the Madam's opinion. Only if the Madam agreed could she proceed.
Fortunately, the Madam did not make things difficult for Cai Shiqin regarding this matter. That's why Mingyue had the opportunity to bring Su Xing'er into the palace now.
Mingyue didn't hide anything either. As she led Su Xing'er towards the direction of the Heavenly Sound Hall, she explained everything about Cai Shiqin and the task she had entrusted to her in one breath.
After listening, Su Xing'er first looked utterly perplexed. Lowering her head in thought for a moment, she seemed to realize something, and her expression suddenly froze.
"Might I ask, Sister Mingyue, what is Cai Shiqin's full name?"
As the two spoke, they had already reached the entrance of the Heavenly Sound Hall. Just as her question finished, an ethereal and elegant melody of a zither floated out from within the hall.
Hearing this familiar zither sound, Su Xing'er's body jolted violently. First, she seemed somewhat excited, then her expression inexplicably became complicated.
"Cai Shiqin's full name is Cai Shiqin."
Coincidentally, at that moment, Mingyue also spoke the name of the person in question.
The person sent by Caiqiu for the marriage alliance with her master, Xia Hong, was actually the young lady friend she had met three years ago at the Linchu County government office, Cai Shiqin!
The affairs of the world could be so twisted by fate and full of unexpected coincidences—to this extent!