To the nobles of Chaoge, there was no problem in this world that money could not solve. If there was, they simply needed more money.
But now, they did not have enough.
Charcoal cost a hundred copper coins per jin, and the price was still climbing. They could not afford to burn it!
The nobles were nearly losing their minds.
At first, the nobles had thought little of it, believing it was nothing serious. But as the stubbornly high charcoal prices sank into everyone's minds, the four markets to the east, south, west, and north had become a pot of boiling chaos.
Although these were markets in the depths of winter, they were livelier than ever. Calling them seas of people would have been no exaggeration.
But what else could they do? They still had to buy supplies.
Back in the year the Great Wall was built, King Zhou had requisitioned slaves from every noble household to work on it. The feudal lords and nobles elsewhere could deceive their superiors and conceal the truth, but in Chaoge-
They could not.
Besides, the nobles had already realized the Great Wall's importance when the Qiang Fang plundered Xiqi, and had contributed another batch of slaves.
With the merchant caravans they had begun organizing long ago as well, they had very few slaves left. They had no choice but to rely on purchases.
Over the past few days, the nobles had realized that their old path was no longer open to them.
Even as many cursed King Zhou, they were also considering what to do next. Peng Zun, who had returned home on his day off, was one of them.
As soon as Peng Zun arrived home, he discovered that his household was almost out of charcoal to burn. It frightened him so