Five ke into the Chou hour.
Great Wei's Capital.
The sky had yet to brighten.
Many commoners were already up early.
For the people living in the Capital, most days were leisurely affairs from the moment they opened their eyes.
Great Wei's Capital was not merely its political center; more importantly, it was a tourist destination. Every household ran some little business or worked in a teahouse or tavern.
After all, the Capital alone had tens of thousands of teahouses and taverns. During the peak season, they were packed to bursting; during the off-season, there were far fewer customers.
In other words, the people of Great Wei's Capital had largely escaped poverty. At least ninety percent had, and at the very least, they did not have to worry about their daily livelihood.
The literacy rate was also quite respectable. Anyone who could make it to Great Wei's Capital generally had some ability or other. An illiterate person could not get by there.
Counting children, women, and everyone else, around sixty percent of the population could read.
This was Great Wei's Capital, after all. It had at least that much prestige.
What did people do once their bellies were full and they had nothing to do?
Listen to songs in the pleasure houses, of course.
That lasted three minutes at most. And after those three minutes?
Afterward, all they could do was gather and shoot the breeze. You talked about one family's affairs, I talked about another's, then everyone discussed astronomy and geography before circling back to Great Wei's politics.
Things like what impact the Tuxie Dynasty's latest reforms would have on Great Wei.
Or how Great Wei's Eight Merchants would save themselves next.
Or what Xu Qingxiao would rely on to become a Sage.
Those were basically the topics they