Chapter 87: World’s Greatest City Opens
Construction on the fief began very quickly. Qi Zheng had people guard the building site, because the cement road under construction could not be stepped on and left full of footprints.
Chen Bai went to check on it every few days. Of course, the busiest person was probably Mo Qianji. At the beginning, Chen Bai also went every day to supervise the work, but later on, he began to act like a hands-off shopkeeper.
In the mornings, he went to Qi Zheng’s place to learn swordsmanship. In the afternoons, he passed the time by himself. He had never been this leisurely before. Now when he walked on the street, who did not know that he was the eldest young master of the Court Commandant’s residence, currently at the height of his fame? Who did not know that he was now highly valued by the crown prince? Hadn’t they seen him openly running to the Crown Prince’s residence every day? The title of Shangjing’s number one young master was not for nothing.
As for attending court?
He was a drafting grand secretary, mainly responsible for drafting imperial edicts for the king. Now that the king no longer attended court, what was he supposed to attend?
As for his position as a grand secretary of the Inner Cabinet, because he had taken over the affairs of building Qi Zheng’s fief, he temporarily did not need to go to court.
His swordsmanship had also improved somewhat. At least, that was what he thought. He did not know if he was getting a little too full of himself, but he felt that he definitely would not need the three to five years Qi Zheng had mentioned to become a third-rate swordsman.
He felt that right now, he could already thrust his sword at Qi Zheng, one strike after another. “What does Your Highness think of my swordsmanship? Is this not proof that a famous master produces a brilliant disciple? Now I am also one of Great Qian’s famous swordsmen.”
While flattering him, he still did not forget to praise himself a few times.
Qi Zheng snorted through his nose. With a turn of the sword in his hand, Chen Bai’s sword was sent flying. It rolled several times across the ground.
Chen Bai: “…”
He felt that Qi Zheng deserved to have no friends. Every time his little tail had just started to lift, Qi Zheng would press him straight into the mud and rub him there. It was far too damaging to his confidence.
At that moment, the steward walked in. “Your Highness, the spy you sent to keep an eye on Zhu Shimo of Green Bamboo Book Studio has reported back. Recently, everything about Zhu Shimo has been normal. There is nothing suspicious.”
Chen Bai was not surprised. These past few days, the steward had come every day on time to report on Zhu Shimo’s situation.
Chen Bai’s eyes shifted. “Since we cannot find any information about him, we can actually take the initiative to test him.”
As for why Chen Bai was so invested in this matter? Wasn’t it because he was afraid Qi Zheng would think he was lying?
“How do we test him?” Qi Zheng asked.
Chen Bai smiled and began murmuring quietly.
…
That afternoon, in the western market, in front of Green Bamboo Book Studio.
Zhu Shimo had a habit. Every once in a while, he would personally go out to buy brushes and ink. Today happened to be one of those days.
In a nearby teahouse, Chen Bai opened the window slightly. “Your Highness, watch carefully.”
Zhu Shimo still looked as resilient and upright as ever, walking straight-backed down the street. But on the bustling market street, a sword suddenly stabbed toward him, aiming straight for his vital point.
Chen Bai was still saying, “No matter how well a person hides, in the face of sudden danger, they will inevitably reveal their instincts. If even this cannot force out the fact that Zhu Shimo knows martial arts, then it can only mean that this person has either received special training, or his willpower is firm beyond what ordinary people can understand…”
Chen Bai stopped mid-sentence, because…
That sword was only a hair’s breadth away from stabbing into Zhu Shimo’s throat. One could even see a trace of bloodlight at the sword tip, but Zhu Shimo simply stood there without making any reaction.
“This…” Chen Bai froze. “How could this be?”
He still did not draw his sword to block it?
If he had not known that Meng Huanchao was not the sort of person to lie casually, and if he had not personally seen the sword calluses on Zhu Shimo’s hands, he would have thought he had guessed wrong.
The street had already fallen into chaos. In Shangjing, where the law was strict, such open assassination in broad daylight was extremely rare and sensational. Moreover, the person nearly assassinated was Zhu Shimo, one of Great Qian’s Four Gentlemen, someone detached from worldly affairs.
Chen Bai’s expression did not look good as he looked toward Qi Zheng. Qi Zheng would definitely think that he had been talking nonsense, wouldn’t he? To come and test the Bamboo Gentleman like this—was this not judging a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind?
However, Qi Zheng’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “What reaction do you think a normal person would have when encountering something like this?”
Chen Bai froze and turned to look at the street. “Zhu Shimo did not even retreat half a step. Even if his will is firm and his heart has no fear, as a scholar who has never seen such a scene, his reaction should not be like this… Zhu Shimo has a problem.”
If it were him, his face would probably have gone white with fright. Wouldn’t he dodge at the first moment?
“But why would he gamble with his life just to hide the fact that he knows martial arts?”
The situation on the street changed slightly again. That sword that had stabbed toward Zhu Shimo actually brushed past the side of his neck and went straight after a person behind him.
The person Qi Zheng had found was also an expert. It looked as though that sword had never been aimed at Zhu Shimo at all, and Zhu Shimo had only happened to be standing on the path toward the true target.
The others were stunned too. Some went to report to the authorities, while many pulled Zhu Shimo aside to help him dodge.
“In broad daylight, someone actually dares commit violence in Shangjing! This is simply contempt for the law.”
“That was so dangerous. The Bamboo Gentleman was nearly injured by mistake. If that had truly happened, that assassin’s crime would have been grave.”
“That makes sense. How could someone like the Bamboo Gentleman provoke such a vicious desperado?”
After the shock, discussion broke out across the street.
Qi Zheng’s eyes remained fixed on Zhu Shimo. “Although we do not know whether Zhu Shimo truly knows martial arts or not, one thing can be confirmed. He is indeed injured.”
As he spoke, he pointed toward Zhu Shimo. “Look at his sleeve. A little blood is seeping through.”
“He may not have truly done nothing just now. That sudden attack did indeed make him guard himself, causing his muscles to tense abruptly and tear open an old wound. But for some unknown reason, he suddenly gave up resisting and allowed the sword tip to approach his vital point. That was equivalent to placing his life in the other party’s hands.”
Chen Bai looked and saw that it was indeed so. “Looking at it this way, our Great Qian’s Bamboo Gentleman is truly full of secrets.”
“Logically speaking, knowing martial arts is nothing worth hiding. Many scholars know martial arts.”
Qi Zheng shook his head. “Knowing martial arts is nothing unusual. But if he truly is, as Meng Huanchao said, above first-rate in swordsmanship, then the problem is serious. That does not match his commonly known background.”
On the street, Zhu Shimo had already cupped his hands and thanked the people who had pulled him away. He handled everything flawlessly. Even his expression did not change because of the reopening of his wound.
After thanking them, he returned to Green Bamboo Book Studio calmly and unhurriedly.
Qi Zheng said, “Let’s go. We’re heading back. We have the answer we wanted.”
Chen Bai nodded. “Aren’t you curious why he is hiding all this?”
Qi Zheng smiled. “Naturally, I will investigate until everything is clear.”
After Qi Zheng and Chen Bai left, in the room next door, Meng Huanchao opened the window. “As expected, there was no way he asked me those questions for no reason. Looks like they discovered something. To think they tested such a noble and upright scholar in the street. I wonder if Yan’s intelligence chief, Zhu Shimo, can escape this calamity.”
He shook his head. “As expected, compared to the spies of Wei, he is still somewhat lacking. That is only natural. For a top swordsman, facing a sudden life-and-death sword strike and still managing to endure without attacking is already quite impressive.”
“Why do I feel a little like the fox grieving over the hare’s death? Strange…”
“In any case, Zhu Shimo regards me as the only light in the darkness. Should I remind him a little?” Meng Huanchao hesitated for a moment. “Forget it. I still need to go back and prepare lessons. Those students ask far too many strange and messy questions. But… sending Zhu Shimo a bottle of wound medicine should be fine. A true confidant is hard to find.”
When Zhu Shimo received that bottle of wound medicine, his entire body went cold. It was as if, from some dark corner, a pair of eyes had seen everything about him clearly, while he did not even know of that pair of eyes’ existence.
“Did you ask clearly who sent it?”
“They only said it was a storyteller by the roadside. Seeing that Young Master was almost injured by mistake, he sent over this wound medicine.”
Zhu Shimo: “…”
No matter what was sent, it should not have been wound medicine. Also, today’s accidental assassination was indeed suspicious… That sword at first had truly been aimed at him. This was the instinct of a top swordsman.
Regardless of what countermeasures Zhu Shimo had, or what arrangements Qi Zheng made, Chen Bai’s schedule did not change in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the construction of Qi Zheng’s fief had undergone earth-shattering changes.
These past two days, Chen Bai had specifically gone to the fief to find Mo Qianji, because he needed to be present for the installation of some equipment.
As the crown prince, it was naturally very easy for Qi Zheng to acquire manpower and material resources. Of course, the key was that the wages Chen Bai offered were indeed not low, and countless people fought to get hired. Back then, Qi Zheng’s expression had not looked very good when he saw the wages being offered.
At the time, Chen Bai had laughed it off. “Just treat it as relieving Great Qian’s poor commoners. In any case, you are now Great Qian’s crown prince, aren’t you? You must put the people in your heart and think about your own reputation. Besides, if you earn money but do not spend it, don’t you feel stifled? Only money that is spent has value. Promoting currency transactions can raise GDP. Tsk, tsk, you don’t understand. We can even repair a road, dig it up, then repair it again. That way, Great Qian’s commoners will have work and food…”
At the time, Qi Zheng had felt that Chen Zixiu must have gone mad. He was seriously lecturing him on crooked doctrines. All the great money he had earned—wouldn’t it be more comfortable to pile it under the bed and sleep on top of it? Why did Chen Zixiu insist on thinking of every possible way to spend it? He was simply a prodigal.
The key was that he could not win an argument against Chen Zixiu either. Who knew where Chen Zixiu had gotten so many crooked theories from? He even said that if there were too many grapes, the price would be suppressed, and that capitalists would bury surplus grapes in pits…
Perhaps Chen Zixiu had seen that Qi Zheng’s face was frighteningly dark. Only then did he bitterly denounce capitalists in front of him, saying they were the source of all evil and the enemy of the people, looking as if he had completely repented.
The cost was enormous, but the project was indeed fast.
Even though Qi Zheng had sent people to guard the site, crowds still gathered outside the construction site.
Because what they saw was truly too astonishing.
At the entrance, a town gate had been built. Above the tall stone pillars lay an enormous horizontal stone plaque. No one knew how it had been placed up there, but it looked imposing and astonishing.
Of course, that was not the key point. The key point was that on the town’s horizontal plaque were several large characters shining with light:
“The Greatest City Under Heaven.”
It was truly shining—with golden light.
Especially at night, those few golden characters could be seen shining from far away. The feeling was enough to make a person stand there dumbstruck for an entire night, unable to move their feet.
As for the title “The Greatest City Under Heaven,” whether it was deserved or not was still undecided for now. But just looking at those great golden words radiating light, it was indeed number one under heaven, one of a kind.
How exactly was this done?
Even the legendary Mohist Mechanism City probably could not achieve this, right?
What sort of miraculous mechanism was this?
And that broad white cement road had shocked countless people as well. It could be said that no one had ever seen such a flat road before.
As for why a white line had been drawn down the middle of the road, no one knew.
If the grand gate and that absurdly broad and flat cement road were already enough to make people marvel as though they had seen something divine, then the glowing streetlights standing on both sides of the road completely captured everyone’s gaze.
These were solar-powered streetlights Chen Bai had bought. During the day, they absorbed solar energy, and at night, they emitted just the right amount of light. They really were not expensive either. If you did not believe it, you could search online.
The road had not yet been opened, but now, at night, there were already people surrounding it all night long, unwilling to leave, staring foolishly at that road glowing in the night as it stretched into the distance.
Even the students of the academy, who had always loved staying in their dormitories to go online and play games, excitedly came out at night and gathered outside for a long time.
Looking farther inside, there were even more unbelievable things.
First was the artificial lake. If a lake itself was nothing worth mentioning, then what about an artificial lake filled with fountains?
Columns of water rushed from the ground into the sky, and then the spray fell from high above, scattering beautiful light under the sunlight and under the lamps.
It was summer now. As long as it was daytime and the weather was good, one could basically see rainbows.
It was beautiful, like a dream.
Actually, they still did not know that there was also a section of musical fountain there. As long as someone walked over, the fountain would rise along with music.
Chen Bai had said that he would make Qi Zheng’s money worth it, and he would definitely keep his word.
Of course, there were also shortcomings. The landscaping was not yet in place. Chen Bai had left many already-dug pits and flowerbeds, quietly waiting for greenery to arrive.
For anything that could be obtained in this world, Chen Bai tried his best to buy it from this world, so quite a bit of time had been delayed.
Of course, all of these were only the external environment.
The real thing was the building that was about to be completed. Because it was some distance away, people could not see it particularly clearly.
But it still made them crane their necks and let out exclamations of amazement.
It was a huge four-story building. Its outer walls and windows were all glass, formed from large pane after large pane, and every pane was a window that could be pushed open.
Moreover, even from far away, one could see the blue glass dome on the building.
Sunlight passed through the glass, making every floor especially bright. Each floor was enormous, and to keep every level so bright was already like a miracle.
Although it only had four floors, it was absolutely the largest standalone building in this world. Once inside, one could wander around each floor for a long time.
This was the large shopping mall designed by Chen Bai. It could be said that even if one wandered inside for an entire day, it would be possible. It was like an indoor world of its own.
At present, the things they sold, whether rabbits or grapes, were all sold casually on the mountain with no rules at all. It was very wild and informal.
In the future, things would be different. This large shopping mall would regulate all activities. Chen Bai’s plan was for the first floor to sell fruits and vegetables.
Aside from grapes, the fruits planted by those students were almost ripe too, so there would finally be a proper place to sell them. There were also the greenhouse vegetables they had built before. Aside from eating them themselves, they could also be sold. The second floor would be dedicated to meat. The third floor would be offered to merchants who wanted to settle in, selling fabrics, clothing, jade ornaments, and so on. The fourth floor would sell miscellaneous goods, such as matches, oil lamps, and so forth…
Inside, it was actually not much different from a modern shopping mall. All kinds of counters had already been installed. It was absolutely clean, tidy, bright, and reasonably planned.
For now, let’s not say too much about it.
A town had to have a proper market, no matter what. For example, Shangjing had the eastern and western markets. This place was the market Chen Bai had planned for the new city. He believed that in the future, it would also become Shangjing residents’ favorite place to visit in their free time.
It looked enormous, but it might not even be enough to meet the needs of a whole town.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the number of buses going here had to be increased. This was already within Chen Bai’s plan.
This was the first building Chen Bai had built for this new city. Of course, the second building had already started construction too. He was preparing to build a cinema.
When the name of the city reached Shangjing, Qi Zheng was stunned for a long time. “Chen Zixiu really named it The Greatest City Under Heaven?”
Was he not afraid that such a grand claim would twist his tongue in the wind? Qi Zheng had let Chen Zixiu take full responsibility, and Chen Zixiu truly dared to do anything. He was simply arrogant beyond bounds. Right now, countless sage disciples from all over were watching.
Only after Qi Zheng went to see it once did he stop speaking, and he never again brought up the matter of Chen Bai being a prodigal.
In his heart, he was both pained and happy. The money had not been wasted, but damn, it was expensive.
Just as Chen Zixiu had said, he would treat it as relief for the common people. If court officials impeached him, he would explain it the same way. His money had all gone into the people’s pockets. Who would dare say anything?
If they dared, then let them also take the money from their own pockets and give it to the common people. Let’s see whether they could do it. If they could not do as he did, benefiting the people while still running their mouths, then who would be the one losing face in the end?
It had to be said that Chen Zixiu’s words were sometimes very twisted, but if one thought about them carefully, they were not entirely without reason. He had extravagantly built a city, but he had also enriched the common people, had he not? It was a mutually beneficial matter. It was just that the money spent made his heart feel like it was having spasms.
He could only think of it this way. In any case, even if he had known that Chen Zixiu would build his fief into something like this, he would still have given the money unconditionally.
It was just that this seemed to only be the beginning of construction, and he had already almost been hollowed out.
Chen Bai knew what Qi Zheng was thinking just by looking at his expression, and said, “Your Highness, the money has been spent, but now it is time for us to earn it back.”
“The cement road can already be put into use now, so I plan to open our shopping mall first. We can operate while continuing construction. Letting the funds circulate is the proper way. Right now, the common people have earned wages, so it is time for them to spend.”
“Coincidentally, our grapes are so ripe that they must be picked, and the rabbits are all over the mountain. We were just thinking about how to sell them. Now that the common people have earned money, won’t they buy some to take home and enjoy?”
“Tell me, when the people of Shangjing see a shopping mall like this, will they not come by every few days to take a stroll?”
Qi Zheng nodded. Not just every few days—Qi Zheng felt that whenever they had time, they would come. Even if they did not enter the mall or buy anything, they would still come here and wander until they did not want to return to Shangjing.
Because that was his current state of mind. This was his fief. He wanted to stay in his fief and take a good look around. The changes were far too great. Even he, the owner, had almost not dared to recognize it. If he did not come more often to look around, the next time he came, he might truly not even recognize the roads. Wouldn’t that be a huge joke?
Chen Bai continued, “Moreover, we can also start renting out the shops to merchants from Shangjing. As long as those merchants are even slightly clever, they should understand how huge the flow of people here will be in the future, and how many business opportunities will exist here.”
“Just from renting out the shops, we can recover a very large sum.”
Qi Zheng frowned slightly. “For such good shops, how much rent would be appropriate?”
To be honest, he felt that no amount of money was enough. But if it was too much, no matter how much people liked the shops, they might not come.
Chen Bai smiled. “We can use a different method to rent them out. For example, how about we collect rent based on ten percent of their monthly turnover? Of course, that is only the base. Shops in better locations will naturally be priced differently.”
“This way, we also shoulder a certain amount of risk for them. If they cannot sell anything, at least they will not be unable to pay the shop rent. Of course, if they earn more, our income will also be more considerable.”
In fact, there were still many details to discuss about this rental method. For example, some unscrupulous merchants might rent a shop to occupy the location but not sell anything. Since rent was based on turnover, if they had no turnover, would they not need to pay? They would be taking up space for free. There was also the issue of falsely reporting turnover.
All of these needed to be considered.
Chen Bai and Qi Zheng discussed it.
Even an ordinary commoner could see the future prospects of this place. Qi Zheng’s fief would probably welcome a surge in population. In the past, they could not find people to move here. Now, they probably had to think about how to filter this population.
However… there were still plenty of jobs. There were many barren mountains that had not yet been put to use. The saltworks also needed workers. The management of the shopping mall, the maintenance of the town, and the express delivery packing area had long been short on staff. All of these needed people.
Perhaps what others saw was endless trouble, but what Chen Bai saw was that the conditions for major development had already been met. Everything was thriving.
And Chen Bai was already preparing to open the town in its initial stage—the shopping mall. The mall would definitely give these people especially great surprises. Just the escalators alone would probably attract an unimaginable flow of people…
And foot traffic was the guarantee of turnover.
Of course, before opening, he had to pull his students over and train them as administrators. They would have to substitute for now. Once specialized personnel were trained in the future and everything got on the right track, it would be fine.
Chen Bai thought for a moment. Traffic controllers, market order maintenance staff, cashiers, promoters, rule explainers, and so on—all of them had to be trained first.
Why did it feel as though even mobilizing the entire academy was still not enough?
Chen Bai did not even need to promote anything. The news that the city was opening had already shaken all of Shangjing, because these past few days, the people who had seen a rough glimpse from outside had already spread those miraculous scenes they had witnessed throughout the entire city.
After all, before this, they had only seen it from outside. As for what it was like inside, who knew how many people had long been eagerly waiting?
Those who had stubbornly refused to believe what they had heard would definitely go and take a look too.
