Hearing Chu Qiguang's question, the shop hand replied, "Isn't that just it? Word is that the demon barbarians in the northwest are gearing up to invade again. The border garrisons along every route are about to shut down the official post roads and canal transports. Food and medicine prices are already starting to soar."
Over the past several days, Chu Qiguang had been learning about the state of the world from Qiao Zhi, and he knew that across the grasslands northwest of the Great Han Dynasty, the demon race had run rampant for the past two centuries.
The demon race referred to lineages descended from monsters that had entered the Dao. Monsters born into such tribes possessed innate sapience and the capacity to cultivate from birth.
At present, the most formidable demon lineage across the northwestern grasslands was the wolf demon race. This wolf demon folk was further divided into over a dozen tribes, one of which called itself the Eternal Sun Tribe, believing they were a divine race descended upon the mortal realm from the sun itself.
After unifying the wolf demon tribes, the Eternal Sun Tribe had swept across the entire northwestern grasslands. Adopting the era name Tiancheng and the dynastic name Great Qian, it had risen to become one of the seven great demon races under heaven.
Over the past two decades, these wolf demons had frequently led armies southward to plunder the Great Han. Lingzhou, where Qingyang County was situated, was one of the northern major provinces of the Great Han and had perpetually served as one of the wolf demons' targets.
'The wolf race is heading south again?' Chu Qiguang mused to himself. 'I'll ask Qiao Zhi when I get back and see what he knows.
'Still, since I rarely come out here, I might as well head into the county seat and gather some intelligence.'
Qingyang County's Daoist temple was not inside the county town proper, but out in the suburbs. Thus, after departing the temple pharmacy, Chu Qiguang made his way toward the town gates.
Most of the soldiers he saw upon approaching the gate were gaunt and frail, clad in ragged uniforms whose once-vibrant colors had long faded into greasy smudges. They stood slouched or squatted about; not a single one maintained a proper watch.
Chu Qiguang shook his head in secret. Even though this world possessed martial arts and Daoist arts, where high-level experts could dictate the course of a war, the abysmal morale and discipline of these soldiers offered a telling glimpse into the troubles plaguing the Great Han Dynasty.
Passing through the town gate, he found himself facing South Main Street. Both sides of the bluestone-paved road were heaped with refuse and excrement, the reek striking Chu Qiguang so hard that he squinted in disgust.
Still, he had never harbored high expectations for the sanitation of a feudal era. Pinching his nose, he quickened his stride and hurried past.
***
Just as Chu Qiguang passed through the gate, two pairs of eyes locked onto him from a side alley. They belonged to a pair of yellowish-brown mongrel dogs. One of them sniffed toward Chu Qiguang's direction and remarked with open distaste, "What a heavy stench of cat."
The other mongrel sniffed as well, looking puzzled. "How come I can't smell it?"
"Your cultivation isn't deep enough. Hmph, anyone who spends so much time around cats clearly isn't up to any good. He'll come to a bad end for sure."
"Look quick! The Daoists from Qingyang Temple are coming into town!"
"What are you still gawking for? Waiting to end up in a dog-meat stew? Let's beat it!"
Tucking their tails between their legs, the two dogs vanished into the depths of the alley.
***
Chu Qiguang walked all the way to West Main Street, the liveliest thoroughfare in the county seat. Along the way, he passed all manner of vegetable farmers, peddlers carrying shoulder poles, physiognomists, fortune-tellers, and pastry vendors. Both sides of the street were lined with one- and two-story brick-and-tile buildings housing grain shops, silversmiths, pharmacies, clothing and shoe stores, restaurants, teahouses, trade brokerages, and various other establishments.
Free of the feces and trash, the street here was far cleaner and more pleasant.
Of course, Chu Qiguang knew this was not because the local populace was particularly industrious or cleanly. Rather, it was because this street sat closer to the county yamen, prompting the town's nightsoil collectors to sweep the street and gather manure several times a day.
Collecting nightsoil sounded like lowly labor, but it was actually highly lucrative. One was paid to collect the waste, and after composting it, one could sell it off for another handsome sum.
Chu Qiguang had long contemplated this line of business, but unfortunately, the people of this world had long understood the value of fertilizer. The town's nightsoil had long been monopolized by local dung bosses, leaving no room for Chu Qiguang to wedge his foot in the door.
"Freshly baked flatbreads! Two copper coins apiece!"
"Fresh silk from Wuzhou! Cloud-patterned red cloth! Honored guest, care to take a look?"
"Young master, this is Frost-Curdled Paper from Qi County, firm and pure as jade, delicate, smooth, and lustrous..."
Strolling along the avenue, listening to the vendor cries and haggling all around him, Chu Qiguang felt a momentary daze, as though he had returned to modern times and was touring some famous preserved ancient town.
However, many of the people walking this bustling street wore silk garments or cotton robes. Those in short jackets like Chu Qiguang were few and far between, and the shop hands barely spared him a glance.
'This place is basically Qingyang County's central business district.
'I really need to buy a decent outfit for occasions like this.'
As the saying went, clothes made the man just as a saddle made the horse. In an ancient feudal society especially, dressing well proved immensely useful; at the very least, it smoothed over many everyday interactions.
Chu Qiguang first stepped into a silver shop and exchanged one tael of silver for a string of six hundred copper coins. The coins here were of fine quality with a high copper content; had they been of lower purity, it would have taken a thousand or even two thousand coins to trade for a single tael.
As for why he made the exchange, copper coins were naturally far more convenient for daily purchases of food and drink.
He then spent four copper coins to buy two flatbreads from a street vendor to pad his stomach, followed by one tael and two qian of silver on a cyan, round-collared, wide-sleeved silk robe.
Under imperial law, robes of this cut were originally meant strictly for scholars who held official degrees.
In the early days of the Great Han Dynasty, detailed sumptuary codes had governed the attire of civil officials, military officers, merchants, farmers, artisans, and other walks of life. The color, cut, and even the width and length of sleeves had been explicitly prescribed to keep people partitioned within their social strata.
By now, however, the scions of prestigious official lineages and wealthy merchant clans wore whatever pleased them. The authorities could not stop them and gradually ceased trying altogether, which in turn granted ordinary commoners ever greater freedom in their dress.
"Clothes in ancient times truly aren't cheap. Buying a few more of these would match the value of Ergou's family land."
Parting with one tael and two qian for a single robe made Chu Qiguang shake his head ruefully.
Changing into his new attire, he continued wandering about. Yet as he explored the streets, he paid no attention whatsoever to the restaurants, teahouses, or entertainment quarters, giving them not even a glance.
Instead, he took great interest in observing the shops selling grain, medicinal herbs, coal, and forged iron, as well as sundries from the north and south—coarse salt, refined salt, brown sugar, white sugar, dried goods, and dried fruit.
***
Chu Qiguang spent the entire time from morning until afternoon wandering the town before finally departing. His head was filled with data on the prices of various commodities, pedestrian foot traffic, the volume of freight passing through the town gates, and the origins of different goods.
In his mind, the Great Han Dynasty had grown far more vivid, tangible, and three-dimensional than it ever had through Ergou's memories or Qiao Zhi's descriptions.
'Handicraft goods are far more abundant than I imagined: grain, cotton, sugar, tobacco, coal, silk, cotton cloth, paper, oil, timber, bronze wares, porcelain... Not only are there local goods from Lingzhou, but also products hailing from southern regions like Donghaizhou, Quanzhou, and Yuezhou.
'This indicates that commercial capital is thriving, and commercial and industrial market towns have already arisen. That means the local gentry and influential landlords everywhere must have their hands in the pie.
'Yet transactions still rely predominantly on silver, while official coinage remains thoroughly inadequate. This shows that the imperial court, from top to bottom, has yet to truly grasp the importance of commerce and finance, likely viewing them merely as sources for extortion.'
Looking back at the bustling town gate, Chu Qiguang drew a deep breath, his spirits soaring with ambition.
'Lax imperial oversight, rampant land consolidation, the rise of commercial capital... there is great potential ahead. The only pity is... this dynasty might soon fall.'
Chapter 26