The most famous lanterns in the capital are palace lanterns.

Palace lanterns are unique products of palace decoration.

The production of palace lanterns in the Qing Dynasty was under the unified management of the Manufacturing Office of the Imperial Palace Household Office, and craftsmen were called into the imperial city when necessary.

Even to this day, artifacts from that time are hung in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Kunning Palace, Changchun Palace and the Summer Palace in the Forbidden City.

Just like the palace lanterns in Tingli Pavilion and Beihai Fangshan, most of them are old things.

What to do with the deficiencies? What to do with the maintenance of these palace lanterns?

It doesn't matter, there are manufacturers of special palace lanterns in Beijing.

Although the factory disappeared for a time in history, it was converted to produce electronic components in 1969 and was renamed Jingcheng Component No. 7 Factory.

However, in 1972, with the need for foreign currency exchange for the country's export products, the production of palace lanterns and other handicrafts was resumed.

The factory was once again renamed Jingcheng Art Red Light Factory.

It's just that one means one, and two means two.

This art red light factory has been able to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign exchange every year since the 1950s.

At the same time, it is also responsible for the business of maintaining the existing palace lanterns in the royal gardens of the capital, and even the business of making red gauze lanterns for Tiananmen Square.

But the most glorious time for this factory was in 1957, when it had 382 employees and had a capital of 140,000 yuan.

Nowadays, just because the demand for domestic business is too small and the foreign trade gap is too tight, it is completely unpopular with the Light Industry Bureau.

In addition, there are fewer and fewer veteran artists. After retirement, it is impossible to recruit people.

The size of the factory has been reduced to less than 60 people, almost like a workshop.

It is said that Wang Xiaoer is celebrating the New Year, and every year is not as good as the previous year. I am afraid that it will be suspected of beautification.

But on the other hand, the burden is quite heavy.

Secretary Hu Kuanfu and factory director Xu Pingzhi have to play hide-and-seek with the old workers who ask them to reimburse their medical expenses all day long.

I also have to worry about various expenses in the factory and deal with the abacus repeatedly.

Even they themselves have to set an example by being diligent and frugal, which would be a miserable life!

Don't talk about eating and drinking with public funds.

The only tea they can get from the factory, the standard has been reduced to two yuan and a pound of flower triangle.

(Note: The flower triangle is the tea leaves screened out during the rolling process, and the quality is poor)

This is thanks to the oversupply of tea this year and the price reduction.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to afford scented tea, and you will have to switch to southern tea that no one likes to drink.

No problem, he is still a leader after all, and he has an identity here.

You can't drink the "high end" that's so broken that you can't watch it, it's making people laugh, isn't it?

Especially Monday, June 6th.

Both the secretary and the factory director were told bad news as soon as they entered the factory.

We ran to the warehouse together and worried about the roof.

Thanks to the rain last night, not only did the roof leak, but half of the gable fell down.

Of course this needs to be repaired? But where will the money come from?

Wages have just been paid, and the factory's finances are at their most strained. They can't even raise the money to buy bricks and tiles.

If we don’t repair it, it’s easy to talk about the other things in this house. The key thing is what to do with the “Hundred Flowers Poke Lamp” that was built last year?

That big guy with a height of two meters was the apprentice of the famous modern palace lantern maker "Ball Lantern Han". The last work left to the factory by two skilled old workers when they were about to retire.

The lamp holder is a large flower basket carved from mahogany. The entire flower basket is carved with blooming magnolias, chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, crabapples and other flowers. The lamp is inlaid with a painted glass screen, and six high-rising flowers are installed on the flower basket.

small magnolia lamp.

The lamppost is partially embossed with traditional patterns, and the lower end is engraved with four lions playing with hydrangeas, and the lion's claws form the base of the lamp.

I did it so exquisitely so that I could catch up with some important events in the future and earn some face for the factory.

They can't live up to this intention.

If there is really going to be another storm, what will happen if the wind blows and the rain bubbles break?

What's more, if it is not repaired, there is a risk that the entire wall and half of the roof will collapse, which is related to production safety.

Don't say it, maybe it's a good day and I really got lucky.

Just when the secretary and the factory director were facing each other and frowning and sighing, something happened to them.

It's similar to someone bringing you a pillow when you want to sleep, but the money comes to them on its own.

Section Chief Zhang of the Business Department took the two guests to the door of the warehouse and shouted inside.

"Secretary Hu, Director Xu, someone is looking for..."

"Oh, here we come." Factory director Xu Pingzhi responded and started to walk out.

Unexpectedly, the two outsiders had already walked in on their own, and Section Chief Zhang could only follow up.

"You are?"

Xu Pingzhi looked at the two young men he had never seen before in confusion. Both of them wore half-sleeved shirts, trousers and leather shoes, had watches in their hands, and held leather briefcases.

At first glance, he seems to be the kind of person who lives a healthy and decent life.

Unexpectedly, they were all very polite. One said, "You are Director Xu? My name is Qiao Wanlin. I am from the Comprehensive Management Section of the District Service Bureau. We want to open a palace-style restaurant in our district and need a lot of palace lanterns. Isn't this right?"

I’m asking our factory for help.”

The other one directly handed over the cigarette.

And he obviously knew that the warehouse was an important place, so he could only show his respect by taking out cigarettes and handing them over.

He himself did not smoke cigarettes, nor did he get angry.

"I am the manager of the palace restaurant under preparation, Ning Weimin. Just call me Xiao Ning. We have come here presumptuously and caused trouble for you. But after all, this is our own business in the district. We still need the full help of our factory.

ah……"

It's just that the words are nice, the key is that the pomp and circumstance is astonishing.

Xu Pingzhi was shocked when he found out that the cigarette he was handed was from Greater China.

One stick of this thing can hold the same weight as a pack of ordinary Class C cigarettes.

He immediately knew that the other party had a lot of background, and quickly went to recruit Hu Kuanfu.

"Lao Hu, these two are comrades from the district. You should also come and meet..."

But Hu Kuanfu was still a little unhappy because of troubles.

Besides, Qiao Wanlin did not reveal that his position was section chief.

So the secretary was not in the mood at all and just looked at the ruins without even looking back.

"Isn't it just a palace lantern? First ask them if they have the procedures? If not, we can't control it. Let them go to Wangfujing and find the Art and Crafts Service Department to place an order."

Unexpectedly, a sentence came from behind right away.

"Are you Secretary Hu? Don't worry, we have special approval procedures from the district and can contact the manufacturer directly. The invoice from the commercial outlet is also easy to get. Let's discuss the price, and then I will just say hello to the district commercial bureau. We will

I will give you the money, they will just add a number, and they will cooperate with us to complete the procedures on both ends..."

Wow! This is awesome!

Special approval from the district? Can the Commerce Bureau instigate actions?

And the money is given here...

Wouldn’t this solve the thorny problem at hand?

Hu Kuanfu quickly turned his head, his face gentle and his enthusiasm rising.

Of course, Xu Pingzhi was no slower than him in reaction.

The factory director was also aware of the key issue and couldn't wait to inquire about the details first.

"Oh, this is great. How many palace lanterns do you want? What size and style?"

Qiao Wanlin hesitated and said, "In terms of quantity, I'm afraid it will be at least a hundred. As for the size and style... all we can confirm so far is that the color will not be red, but bright yellow. For the rest, I really don't have any clear ideas."

Then he looked around and asked, "Do we have many styles here? I've only seen the hexagonal palace lanterns, the ones hung in Beihai Fangshan and Tingli Hall. Is there anything better than them in our factory?"

I heard that the amount of this job is not bad, and it should cost at least 18,000 yuan.

It is estimated that even if the gable is repaired, the remaining amount will be enough to cover the entire factory's salary for two months.

Xu Pingzhi was full of energy and immediately threw out knowledge like a cross talk speaker.

"Oh, then you're asking. We have too many types of lamps here. The shapes include round, oval, square, hexagonal, rhombus, fan-shaped, pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, etc.

Square, basket-shaped, fish-shaped, bottle-shaped, gourd-shaped, petal-shaped, silver ingot-shaped, ring-shaped, pavilion-shaped, etc.”
To be continued...