Chapter 320: Raise The Curtain

At dawn on the first day of the seventh lunar month in the 13th year of the Yuanping reign in the Great Han Empire…

The sky was dark because the sun had yet to rise. The stars were still high up in the sky when the four horse carriages came out from the manor’s gate at the foot of Mount Longqi in a single file line.

“Little Wu, you all take care of yourselves! Make sure to deliver the goods to the designated locations on time! You guys can’t cause any delays for the Manager, got it?” Xu Enda, who was driving the first carriage, reminded the other coachmen on the carriages behind him.

Although his leg injury hadn’t fully recovered, Xu Enda came to the manor on Mount Longqi and had started helping out since yesterday. The group was busy until midnight before they could finally catch a wink, so they stayed the night in the manor. Everyone got up early in the morning, quickly packed up, and rushed out after a quick bite so they could be the first batch to enter the city when the city gates opened to deliver the freshly-printed newspapers to the four designated locations in the city. The four designated locations were none other than the storefronts of the Shunyi Bookstore in the eastern, southern, western and northern parts of the city. Over these few days, the four bookstores were closed and the stocks were all sold at a clearance discount. With a minimal amount of remodeling, the bookstores were converted into distribution centers for ‘The Great Han Times’ in the Imperial Capital.

“Rest assured, Brother Xu. We will deliver these newspapers to the designated locations on time even if that means breaking our legs. Besides, Brother Hu and the rest are following us so nothing can go wrong…” Little Wu yelled back to Xu Enda from behind.

At this moment, in addition to a few thick stacks of newspaper, there were three or four people on each carriage. The ones driving the carriages were Xu Enda and the rest while those riding on the carriages were Hu Haihe’s friends. They were all former members of the Imperial Cavalry Unit. Although they had left the Imperial Cavalry Unit, they knew their way well around the city. At this moment, these people were all seated on the carriage with swords hanging from their waists. When the thugs of the city saw them, no one dared to trifle with them.

Apart from the coachman and the escorts, there were also two wordsmiths who prepared the newspaper content on each carriage. Other than writing, these people were also great at doing things like keeping accounts. Therefore, Fang Beidou assigned them the tasks of bookkeeping and newspaper distribution at the distribution centers. Knowing that their articles would soon be read by thousands of people at the restaurants, teahouses, and the streets, the wordsmiths on the carriages were the most excited.

The four carriages left Mount Longqi and went onto the public road. In just a short while, they parted ways — one went toward the western gates, the other went toward the eastern gates, and the remaining two were going to enter through the southern gates together before splitting up in the city.

The carriages that were waiting to enter the Imperial Capital had formed a long queue at each of the city gates early in the morning. Most of them were transporting coal, firewood, rice, and vegetables. As soon as everyone in the city opened their eyes every day, the Imperial Capital turned into a giant beast that devoured all kinds of resources. The number of resources consumed by the population of several million in the city totaled up to a staggering figure. As soon as the city gates opened every day, these resources were delivered into the city at a steady rate. Countless people made their livings by relying on the goods they transported on their carriages.

The hours of the rabbit in Chinese Zodiac Hours corresponded to five to seven o’clock in the morning. The rabbit was the symbol of the gates opening and it also symbolized the rising sun from its Chinese pronunciation because rabbits would come out of their burrows at this hour to graze on the dewy grass. Therefore, the city gates of the Imperial Capital would open when the hours of rabbit arrived to let the queued carriages in.

A while ago, the Imperial Capital’s security checks became extremely strict due to the assassination of an important minister in the imperial court. As the incident slowly died down and the law enforcers in the Imperial Capital worked hard for days to no avail, the checks gradually reverted to how it used to be as everyone was sick of it. The carriages were able to enter the city without too much trouble.

Xu Enda and the rest didn’t notice that another batch of carriages arrived at the city gates not long after they entered the city. The carriages were carrying coals that looked different from those in other carriages. At the sight of those coals, the soldiers guarding the city gates immediately flocked over to them.

“What are these things on your carriage?” A squad commander poked the goods curiously with the metal pitchfork he used to check coal carriages. “What are these round things with holes in them…?”

“Good sir, these are coals. Lotus root briquettes…” A man who looked like a manager alighted the carriage and explained to the soldiers at the city gates.

“Why do your coals look like these?”

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“These are refined coals. When used with a small, custom stove, they burn better than ordinary coals and saves more money!”

“Is that so?” the squad commander said, then smashed one of the lotus root briquettes with his metal pitchfork. After he examined the fragments between his fingers and verified that they were safe, he then waved his hand. “You may pass…”

“Thank you, thank you!” The manager gestured to the carriages that were transporting the lotus root briquettes to enter the city, leaving behind the astonished soldiers at the city gates.

One of the sentries leaned toward squad commander and said, “Brother Niu, these are really wonderful. I didn’t expect coal to have so many forms. The moment I laid eyes on those so-called lotus root briquettes on the carriage, I thought they were black floral carved bricks ordered by some wealthy clan in the city. Little did I expect for them to be combustibles.”

As soon as the squad commander took his eyes off the group of carriages transporting the lotus root briquettes, he rubbed his chin while doing some calculations in his mind. If these lotus root briquettes were really economic and burned well, perhaps he would give them a try during the winter this year since he’d been spending quite a lot on burning coal every year during the season…

After a few turns, Xu Enda’s carriage stopped in front of a closed shop on a street several li away from the southern city gates. He got off the carriage, fished out a key, and unlocked the door. The group then moved all the newspapers into the shop together.

Not long after they finished that, four or five youths about the age of eleven or twelve came to the shop. They all were eyeing the stacks of newspapers in the shop curiously while listening to Xu Enda’s instructions.

“As instructed, the price of one newspaper is six copper coins. Each of you will take forty of them first and sell them at the restaurants, teahouses, and streets in the southern part of the city. Come back with the money after you sell them all before you take another batch. Remember, you can only hand them to people who have already paid you. Don’t let anyone return it after reading without paying a single copper coin. Got it?”

“Got it!” The youths nodded.

“Let me hear the slogan…!”

“Newspapers, newspapers! Get a freshly printed copy of The Great Han Times if you want to stay up to date on the happenings in the Imperial Capital…!”

“That won’t do. Your voices are too soft. Louder! You won’t be attracting customers to your businesses back at home if you shout like this! Only flies would come…!”

The youths weren’t used to it at first and they felt a little awkward. However, they eventually got into it. Their voices got louder to the extent that they were audible within several meters…

Seeing that the youths almost got the gist of it, Xu Enda let each of them put on a red vest to be worn by newspaper sellers before they left the shop with the newspapers in their hands.

The children assigned to sell the newspapers were introduced by Xu Enda and Hu Haihe’s friends and families. Many of them were tempted to let their children try the job after hearing that it was a decent and teen-friendly job that wasn’t too exhausting. Not only that, the job provided lunch and paid at least twenty copper coins per day. Although the capital city was quite huge, it was still not easy for a teen to find any errands that paid them well.

…

By the time the streets, restaurants, and teahouses were filled with people, they realized that these places had gained a few more youths in red vests shouting, “Newspapers, newspapers! Get a freshly printed copy of The Great Han Times if you want to stay up to date on the happenings in the Imperial Capital…!”