Chapter 3

"Teacher, please accept this student's bow." Li Xian bowed solemnly.

"This old man is truly honored..." The old jade craftsman, who had been honest all his life, never thought he would have the opportunity to teach a noble disciple the 'lowly profession' in his later years. The feeling was so complex that it could not be described in words.

But Li Xian said earnestly, "Teacher, I want to learn how to make the green jade lamp."

"Alright." Sun Ming finally accepted this temporary disciple. He began to show Li Xian around.

First, of course, were the raw materials. Blocks of jade were transported in, and those without cracks were selected and cut. Since the workers generally required the cultivation level of the third stage of Qi Condensation, they held tools that could cut through metal and jade, easily completing the cutting—like slicing tofu.

Then, according to the color and other characteristics of the jade, they were divided into ten grades: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. Jade workers of different grades took the corresponding grade of jade and carved it.

Li Xian followed the "Jia" grade jade and watched as the jade worker skillfully shaped the jade into a cylindrical form, then carved something that looked like strange symbols—array formations.

After carving the array formations, a true essence was injected, and a green jade lamp was completed. The entire process took less than half an hour, and it was simpler than Li Xian had imagined—though it seemed so.

"It looks so simple."

"It's not that simple. A skilled carver needs to practice for three years to succeed. Additionally, they need to have some knowledge of array formations. Different jade has different textures, which requires different carving methods. Look at these two."

Sun Ming pointed to two green jade lamps carved by the same jade worker. Indeed, the differences were immediately noticeable; the patterns on the two green jade lamps were clearly very different.

"When carving array formations, you need to use your spiritual sense to envelop the jade and sense the flow of its spiritual energy. Only then can you carve the correct array formation.

Do not underestimate these simple array formations. They combine five small array formations: Heavenly Yang, Earthly Yin, Spirit Gathering, Essence Absorption, and Fluorescence.

The Heavenly Yang and Earthly Yin array formations are carved at both ends and must correspond to each other. When Heavenly Yang is up and Earthly Yin is down, it forms a spiritual energy circulation with heaven and earth, activating the green jade lamp. If reversed, it cuts off the spiritual energy circulation, turning off the green jade lamp.

The Spirit Gathering array formation absorbs a small amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, which serves as the power source for the green jade lamp to emit light.

The Essence Absorption array formation preserves the injected true essence, which is the life force of the green jade lamp.

The Fluorescence array formation is the true light-emitting array formation."

Under Sun Ming's guidance, Li Xian began to learn. Only after starting did he realize the challenges: learning the texture of the jade, the principles of the five small array formations, the cutting techniques, and using spiritual sense to probe the structure of the jade. There wasn't much to learn, and it was explained in about an hour, but the rest was practice.

But Li Xian was very troubled. He was a typical case of high expectations and low ability. His hands wouldn't listen to him, and the carved jade cylinders looked like antiques—full of pits and dents, a sight to behold.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down. Suddenly, a spark of enlightenment appeared in the depths of his mind, a mysterious understanding that surfaced. Li Xian felt a sudden surge of inspiration, and his carving was as if guided by a divine hand. He smoothly carved the five small array formations on the antique-like jade cylinder, and with the final injection of true essence, a green jade lamp with a bright glow... was successfully made!

"This..." Li Xian's heart was almost overwhelmed by a tidal wave of emotion. What was that moment of enlightenment just now? Just then, Li Xian's comprehension seemed to have increased tenfold, and all the difficulties were resolved.

Li Xian was stunned, and Sun Ming beside him was also stunned. Carving array formations on an irregular jade cylinder and succeeding on the first try, and doing it so smoothly, was like transforming from a novice to a master in an instant. The difference was too great.

"This... hehe..." Li Xian laughed foolishly.

Sun Ming wisely did not ask, showing the wisdom of an old man.

The two stared at each other, and finally, Li Xian couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, why do all the green jade lamps have to be cylindrical? Can't they be made in other shapes?"

"What other shapes? As long as they work, that's fine." The old master was very practical.

Li Xian looked at Sun Ming for a long time and suddenly understood. "Teacher, please wait a moment."

Li Xian turned and found Li Youwei, "Uncle, I want to take over the jade lamp workshop."

"Take over? What does that mean?" Faced with this new foreign term, Li Youwei was completely lost.

"Uncle, how much profit does the jade lamp workshop make each year?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xian roughly understood. "The annual profit is about 500 gold taels, which is 5,000 silver taels, pure profit."

"Uncle, if I take full responsibility for the jade lamp workshop, I will give you 600 gold taels by this time next year. What do you think?"

Li Youwei looked at Li Xian and finally nodded. "Alright, but I'll give you only one year. If you fail, you won't be allowed to interfere with the workshop's affairs in the future.

Additionally, the products must be from the workshop; you cannot use goods from other places."

"Uncle, rest assured, you will see a different Li Xian! I must live up to my father's expectations." Li Xian patted his chest.

Then, Li Xian asked Li Youwei detailed questions about the jade lamp workshop.

Among the 10 grades of jade lamps, the highest grade was the green jade lamp. A green jade lamp has a lifespan of about one year and is priced at about 5 silver taels; the cost is a bit over 4 silver taels. After deducting various expenses, the pure profit from five green jade lamps is only 1 silver tael. If everything goes smoothly, a maximum of 50 can be produced in a day.

As for the lowest grade white jade lamp, it also has a lifespan of one year, priced at half a silver tael or 500 copper coins, with a pure profit of 50 copper coins per white jade lamp; 20 white jade lamps yield 1 silver tael in profit.

The reward for the craftsmen is: 5 copper coins for making one white jade lamp, and an additional 2 copper coins for each higher grade; so making one green jade lamp earns 23 copper coins.

These copper coins are distributed, and the highest-earning craftsman can earn about 100 copper coins a day.

This method of labor can increase production but not quality. Jade lamps are actually a very low-end product, with many workshops producing them, leading to intense competition.

It must be said that although Li Yulong has a bad reputation in the imperial court, he has a good reputation among the people, never doing anything to oppress the masses.

"To make a business profitable, the most important thing is to develop high-end products. If the technology cannot be improved, then improve the art! But to make good products, the first step is to boost the workers' enthusiasm!" Guided by this idea, the first thing Li Xian did after taking over the jade lamp workshop was to introduce profit-sharing.

"I will get 80% of the pure profit and bear all the risks, including reinvestment and other matters; everyone will share the remaining 20% of the pure profit. From today, we will only make artistic lamps; we will temporarily stop making simple lighting tools.

But I also have other requirements. First, a minimum of thirty years of work, with six hours of work per day and two days off per month. If there is overtime, one hour of work will be compensated with five copper coins, and any time less than an hour will be counted as one hour.

Second, all the techniques learned here must be kept secret and not disclosed in any way.

Everyone has one day to consider. We will meet again tomorrow afternoon.

If anyone does not want to join, they can continue their original work."

Such conditions would be grounds for a lawsuit in the real world, labeled as a sweatshop; but here, many skilled craftsmen showed signs of joy.

Additionally, Li Xian really loved this world. Contracts? No need, just a vow! No one dares to break a vow! This is a world of cultivation, truly... wonderful.