Linqiu was a small county, and its county seat was especially tiny, with a population of only around thirty thousand—about the size of the shantytowns outside Yunzhou City.
Yet commerce in this county was exceptionally prosperous. It was not far from Fushan Commandery and lay at the border between two commanderies, so trade was booming.
In a society where commerce was not particularly developed, this phenomenon was not uncommon.
Fushan and Qingdai Commandery had their own ways of governing, and local protectionism ran deep. Coupled with the influence of clan powers, Fushan merchants doing business in Qingdai always had to put in more effort and endure more hardship than Qingdai natives.
Goods were worth more away from home; people were worth less.
For major merchants, this was not an insurmountable difficulty, but for small and medium-sized traders, it added far too much cost.
Under such circumstances, after transporting goods into Qingdai, many people chose to sell them locally—Qingdai had far too many tricks up its sleeve.
We'll just skim along the edge and not go in.
In many people's eyes, that was why Linqiu County's commerce was so prosperous.
But in truth, Marvelous Hands Pavilion's greed for all sorts of rare treasures might have been the real reason behind Linqiu's prosperity. Of course, it was also possible that Linqiu's prosperity was what led the Eastern Branch to choose this place.
It was a chicken-or-egg question, difficult to explain clearly.
By the time the three arrived in Linqiu, it was nearly seven thirty in the evening, and the sky was just beginning to darken.
To their surprise, although the county gates were closed, a massive wall-climbing cart stood not far from them, with people climbing up and down it in twos and threes.
Even Pan Renjie could not help remarking, "Now