The city guard quickly checked the soldier’s credentials, then examined Qiu Tai’s household registration certificate before letting them pass.
Qiu Tai asked in surprise, “There’s no entrance fee?”
The soldier nodded. “None of the cities in Fengzhou charge one.”
Qiu Tai was stunned, but before long, he had no time to dwell on it. The various sights and developments inside Xianglu County completely dazzled him.
It was obvious that nearly all the buildings in the city had been newly constructed. Most were two or three stories high, and he even saw one that was four stories tall!
Buildings of two or three stories could be constructed in this era, but the cost was extraordinarily high. Usually, only wealthy families could afford them; ordinary people simply could not.
Jiang Jin had cement and bamboo reinforcement, so building two- or three-story structures was not particularly difficult.
As a result, most of the buildings constructed in the cities afterward were two or three stories tall in order to conserve space.
Qiu Tai’s eyes suddenly widened. The windows of many shops along the streets were made of transparent glass. Not only did the glass let in plenty of light, it also allowed passersby to see the goods inside clearly.
Qiu Tai sucked in a sharp breath. “Th-this is glass?”
The soldier nodded. “That’s right.”
Qiu Tai was completely dumbfounded. He had heard in Sizhou that glass could be found everywhere in Gefeng, but seeing it with his own eyes was still so shocking that he could hardly believe it.
And this wasn’t even Gefeng.
He was about to speak when the soldier began introducing the area. “This is Central Street. Many of the shops have already been rented out, so if you want to rent one here, you’ll have to hurry.”
“East Street and South Street are also quite good. You can go take a look later.”
By now, Qiu Tai had lost all interest in renting a shop. He could think only of the glass and could not help asking, “You… you really have glass everywhere?”
The soldier’s face filled with pride. “In the past, only Gefeng had it. But after our lord conquered the other cities, they all got it too.”
“Not just Xianglu County. Every place under our lord’s rule is the same—even the villages. We can also borrow money from the authorities to build houses here. As long as people are willing to work hard, they can live well.”
Qiu Tai drew in another sharp breath. “Even the villages? But isn’t glass fragile? How do you transport it all the way here from Gefeng?”
The pride on the soldier’s face grew even stronger. “The Xiangfu Industrial Park has a glass workshop, so all this glass is made there. We don’t need to transport it from Gefeng.”
Seeing the bewildered look on Qiu Tai’s face, the soldier explained, “The Xiangfu Industrial Park is a large industrial complex built between Xianglu County and Fuchuan County. There are many workshops there.”
“If you want to make medicine, you can rent a workshop there as well. It’s very convenient. The rent isn’t expensive, it’s secure, and soldiers are stationed outside to guard the place.”
Qiu Tai no longer knew what to say. After a long while, he finally managed, “You’ve really thought of everything. How do you have absolutely everything here?”
The soldier smiled. “Naturally. Everything is done in service of the people.”
He pointed toward a busy three-story building in the distance. “That’s the Xianglu Inn. You can stay there later.”
“The Xianglu Inn is run by the authorities. It’s the most luxurious inn in all of Xianglu, so the prices are a little higher.”
“If you find it too expensive, you can look at some of the other inns. Besides the Xianglu Inn, there are privately owned ones with cheaper prices, though their locations and furnishings aren’t as good.”
As they chatted, they soon arrived at the Xianglu County Office.
The county office was not located on the main street but in the eastern district. The staff handled matters with remarkable efficiency. In less than fifteen minutes, Qiu Tai had obtained a business license and a temporary identity certificate.
The certificate was a thick piece of cardstock about half the size of a palm. It recorded his name, date of birth, registered place of residence, the date the certificate was issued, and his purpose for coming to Xianglu. In his case, it stated: “Business.”
Even his carriage slave and pageboy received temporary identity certificates.
According to the authorities, everyone in Fengzhou was equal, and everyone was entitled to have a name and an identity.
The carriage slave gently stroked his temporary identity certificate. He could not read the characters on it, but he knew that it represented his identity.
He was no longer some nameless, unregistered slave belonging to someone else.
The Qiu family treated its servants with considerable kindness, but that could not change the fact that they were slaves. They could not even decide whether they lived or died.
Yet in Fengzhou, everyone—regardless of who they were—could have an identity of their own.
Anyone who did not wish to remain a slave could register at the county office.
After the authorities reviewed the case, the master would be compensated according to the circumstances. The slave might have to repay the money or goods originally paid for them, or provide some other form of compensation. Once that was settled, they could regain their freedom!
He carefully tucked the certificate into his clothing, a smile appearing on his face.
So even someone as lowly as he was, someone who had been trampled into the mud, had the chance to choose his own life?
The pageboy was also delighted to receive his temporary identity certificate, but he did not have many other thoughts about it.
He was one of the servants Qiu Tai trusted most and held a certain status within the Qiu family. He did not believe he would live any better if he abandoned his identity as a servant.
Qiu Tai knew nothing of the different thoughts occupying his two servants’ minds. He had money—or rather, his family had money, and plenty of it—so naturally, he wanted to stay in the best place.
“Are there any houses for sale?” he asked.
Although he had only just arrived in Xianglu, he had already taken a liking to the place. Everything here seemed novel and comfortable to him.
Even the road they had just traveled along smelled fresh and clean, rather than carrying the decayed odor found in Sizhou.
He did not want to leave. He wanted to settle down here. Besides, he had the money to do so—well, his family did. They were very wealthy.
The soldier nodded. “There are. But weren’t you going to look at some shops?”
Qiu Tai gave him a look that seemed to say, How can you not understand something so obvious?
“What’s the hurry about the shops? Settling down is the important thing.”
With that, he chuckled. “I want to buy a courtyard residence, preferably a large one. Three courtyards deep, or even four, would be fine.”
“It absolutely must have glass.” He lowered his voice and emphasized the requirement heavily.
As long as he lived in a courtyard with glass windows, he would feel as though he were living in the First Prince’s residence.
The soldier’s lips twitched. He could not understand Qiu Tai’s obsession. Every house here had glass windows.
Still, he reminded him, “Xianglu isn’t particularly large, so there aren’t any four-courtyard residences. The largest have three courtyards, and even those don’t occupy that much land.”
“However, quite a few of the residences have two stories, so there’s still plenty of space.”
Qiu Tai’s eyes lit up. “That’s even better. Come on, let’s go take a look.”
The soldier remained very patient with this wealthy customer. He went to the housing administration office and found someone to accompany them on their house-hunting trip.
The housing office assigned a woman in her twenties to show them around. She led them directly to the area containing the three-courtyard residences.
Qiu Tai was not particularly surprised to see a woman working for the authorities. A woman had handled his registration at the county office earlier as well.
He picked out a location he liked and pointed to two neighboring residences. “Can we look at both of these? If they’re suitable, I’ll buy them both.”
While Qiu Tai was looking at houses and preparing to buy them, Jiao Tai arrived at Changhai County. He looked at Great Chanyu Qu Zhao, whose face was somewhat pale.
“What exactly do you intend to do now?” His tone was not particularly polite.
Seeing a mere general from the Jiao army speaking to him so disrespectfully, Great Chanyu Qu Zhao secretly clenched his teeth in anger.
But the situation was stronger than the man, so he endured it. “I won’t take any of the Han territory occupied by your Jiao clan. I only want Anwu County and Chunyi County in Qiuning Commandery as my base. How does that sound?”
Jiao Tai was so furious he laughed. “Why should I?”
The Great Chanyu snorted. “Because I still have fifty or sixty thousand soldiers at my command.”
Jiao Tai replied without the slightest hesitation, “So what? It’s not as though we haven’t killed fifty or sixty thousand troops before.”
