South Salzburg Province, Mbeya city.
"Open the kiln!" came a shout.
The workers who had long been waiting beside the kiln used iron rods to pry open its mouth. A blast of heat immediately surged out.
"Quick, see how it turned out!"
Urged on by the factory director, workers clad from head to toe in protective gear entered the kiln and began moving the freshly fired porcelain. Mbeya's weather was currently around seventeen degrees Celsius, so even wearing cotton-padded clothes outside was not particularly hot. Yet the instant they entered the kiln chamber, waves of scorching heat washed over them.
After dawdling for a moment, the workers carefully removed the saggers. Amid everyone's expectant gazes, the master craftsman began knocking them open.
"Ah! What a pity. The bottom has fused to the sagger. Next one!"
The opening went badly, so the next sagger was opened.
"This glaze is unacceptable. Next one!"
In the end, all the saggers were opened. The results were barely satisfactory: the finished-product rate was only fifteen percent, and the quality of the finished pieces was poor as well. The workmanship was rough, there was an unglazed ring around the inner base, and their appearance was lacking. Still, the result was already in line with everyone's expectations.
"It's the first time! Getting this result is already quite good. Don't lose heart, everyone. Keep improving the process. I believe our Mbeya Ceramics Factory will lead the Kingdom's ceramics manufacturing industry in the future," the mayor of Mbeya city consoled them.
The porcelain produced by Mbeya Ceramics Factory was coarse porcelain, meant for common folk. The porcelain in Constantin's royal palace, for instance, was all imported from the Far East.
The area around Mbeya city contained abundant kaolin resources. The East African government's preliminary surveys estimated roughly three million