Hong Yan and Xiao Hong's Matchmaking

There were now two large smelting houses in the mountains. One belonged to the Imperial Court, and the other to Wang Cong.

At first, Wang Cong had eagerly taken Wang Xiaojing to help the Ministry of Works craftsmen build furnaces, thinking that since these craftsmen focused on refining silver, they must have advanced silver-refining methods and sophisticated furnace designs.

But once he started helping, he discovered they were still using the traditional cupellation method.

He knew that too!

He even knew the calamine method. It was all recorded in Song Yingxing's The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, all right?

It was already very detailed, though ordinary people might not be able to reproduce it, since it depended on experience.

But was he an ordinary person?

He was a Daoist!

And not just him. After failing several times, Xue Hua, Zhang Weiliang, and the others from the Academy quickly mastered it as well.

As Daoists, they might be mediocre at other things, but they were certainly capable when it came to building furnaces.

Pan Yun went to inspect the place. She picked up a piece of refined slag and crushed it open, then caught the heavy smell in the air and frowned slightly. "This won't do. Never mind how much silver remains in the residue—even this level of pollution is unacceptable. How could we bear to ruin such green mountains?"

Wang Cong nodded repeatedly. "That's exactly what I think. So the furnaces need improving, and you should bring Miao Zhen and Miao He over as well. They know furnaces best, especially Miao Zhen. Back when Miao He refined cinnabar, it was Miao Zhen who added bends to the flue and used water cooling to separate it. Not only did it make the cinnabar purer, it greatly reduced the poisonous fumes.