In February of Great Mandate Year Four, construction began on the glass plant. Under the ceaseless urging of officials at every level, it was finally completed and began production in mid-May.
This was the Han Tribe's first fully automated glass manufacturing plant. Of course, "fully automated" was impossible; workers were still needed. But compared with the old glass plant on Lake Heart Island in the north, the work here was far easier, and fewer workers were required. No longer did the glassblowing craftsmen have to blow with their mouths—instead, the plant used air compressors.
Once the glass plant began production, flat glass rolled off the lines without end. It was not even stored in the warehouse, but hauled directly by train to the imperial palace in the capital.
Every palace, tower, pavilion, and gallery in the imperial palace that needed glass received it. Places that needed paint were painted as well. Work continued until the end of August in Great Mandate Year Four, when the entire imperial palace project was finally completed.
The imperial palace now had golden and blue glazed-tile roofs, vermilion palace walls, vermilion-lacquered pillars, vast glass curtain walls, scenic views everywhere, and rooms lined throughout with ceramic tiles and wooden floors. Once one reached the Rear Palace and stood atop a tower, the artificial lake called Taiye Pond came into view at a glance. It covered several hundred mu.
Good heavens, the lake was so vast that one could even drive a speedboat around on it.
More astonishingly, there was an island at the center of Taiye Pond, called Penglai Island. It even had a small, ancient-style building on it. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
But when Luo Chong looked at the garden in the Rear Palace, he immediately felt a wave of disappointment.
*That's it? This