The one who bought the glass was named Qi Wu.

Although most members of the merchant guild were local merchants from Pingnan Commandery, Qi Wu wasn’t—he was from Nanxi Commandery in Yizhou.

Qi Wu’s family home was in Nanxi Commandery. Later, he traveled frequently for business.

Qi Wu dealt in general goods, buying and reselling across different regions. The year he opened a shop in Pingnan Commandery just happened to be when the Deng and Xie families jointly founded the merchant guild.

Thanks to his sharp business mind, Qi Wu also joined in.

The Qi family had been in the reselling trade for generations, but in the past, it had always been small-time business within county towns of Nanxi. They had never done anything big. If it weren’t for Qi Wu being clever and bold enough to expand beyond their home region, the Qi family would likely still be stuck in Nanxi Commandery.

Ordinary folks might envy the Qi family’s wealth and freedom from financial worries, but Qi Wu, as a rich man himself, deeply understood how lowly merchants were looked upon in this society.

Though merchants were technically respectable citizens, in the hierarchy of scholar-farmer-artisan-merchant, merchants ranked last—just a notch above the truly low-born: slaves, entertainers, and menial soldiers.

In a rigidly hierarchical feudal era, the only way for a merchant to rise was either currying favor with local officials or switching social status through the imperial exams.

Unfortunately—

There was still the problem of educational monopoly. For a merchant’s son to pursue the exam path, he had to apprentice under a genuine scholar—someone well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, and knowledgeable about the exam system.

But such teachers were almost always found within noble families—either from the main lineage or collateral branches.

Otherwise, if you randomly picked a literate tutor, they’d barely teach basic literacy—useless for the exams.

Of course, even if a merchant’s status was low, spending lots of money to hire a good tutor wasn’t impossible. The key issue was: the child had to be capable of studying!

If they couldn’t focus, no amount of money would help.

Unfortunately for Qi Wu, none of the children or nephews in his family were studious.

With no hope of rising through the exams, Qi Wu chose instead to latch onto a powerful patron.

After many years in Pingnan, Qi Wu had only dealt with minor local officials. But now, with the merchant guild event, a young master from the capital suddenly showed up—one who could even get his hands on items from the Xiqi royal family. If that wasn’t a big shot, what was?

Qi Wu was willing to spend a fortune on the glass, not because he cared about Xiqi’s royal reputation, but because of the powerful Wang family backing that young master from the capital.

After the guild event ended, Qi Wu was initially nervous. But when he received a message from the other side, he was overjoyed.

He hadn’t expected that he’d really gained favor with this young master from the capital.

He’d actually managed to connect himself to the Wang family of the capital!

—

One glass bottle had been exchanged for 1,200 taels.

The Eighth Prince was silent after his initial shock.

Wei Yu, meanwhile, was shaking the silver notes as he pondered how to spend the 1,000 taels he had received.

He thought for a moment, then asked Fang Sheng, “Say, how many beggars do you think there are in Pingnan City?”

Fang Sheng didn’t know, but he knew Yi Shisan would.

“You can ask Yi Shisan, Young Master.”

Oh, right—there was that man specialized in gathering intelligence.

Only then did Wei Yu realize he hadn’t seen Yi Shisan in two days. “He’s probably outside. Call him in.”

No need—Yi Shisan, who loved perching on rooftops like a house spirit, came in upside down through the window.

Wei Yu: “…Can you walk like a normal person?”

Yi Shisan said with a straight face, “As your guard, I can.”

So, that’s a no?

Wei Yu didn’t argue and asked about the number of beggars in the city.

Yi Shisan replied, “Aside from the wealthy eastern district, most beggars gather around the southern market and the western residential areas. There are a few in the south, but not many… Rough estimate: about 500 people.”

“Wow, that many.”

Wei Yu mused, “They were all refugees from Jiaozhou, right? Since the Pingnan prefect let them in, they must have household registration now. So why would they rather beg than find work? Are they hoping to return home?”

The Eighth Prince had been quietly drinking tea, but when he heard that, he looked over. “Wait, don’t tell me—you’re thinking of relocating the beggars?”

Actually, yes.

Wei Yu was troubled. “Eight Brother, 500 people! They’re all laborers!”

The Eighth Prince thought Wei Yu was being compassionate and was about to offer comfort—then came Wei Yu’s next sentence:

“So much labor power just lying around, pretending to be beggars—that’s a total waste of human resources!”

Eighth Prince: …

He quietly resumed drinking tea.

Wei Yu suspected he’d spent too much time around his dad. He was starting to act like the old man—completely intolerant of others living easier lives.

Seeing those beggars just lying in the streets every day doing nothing, his first reaction wasn’t pity but, “How dare they not work?!”

Ugh.

Wei Yu felt deeply ashamed.

He knew that beggars in ancient times weren’t scammers like modern fakers—they had truly hard lives. But his brain just wouldn’t listen!

It always went off-track.

The Eighth Prince had finished his tea and asked again, “So where do you plan to put them?”

Work-for-relief.

That was Wei Yu’s first idea.

But, unfortunately, Jiaozhou still wasn’t settled. Before he could implement anything there, he’d have to wait and see how his Second Brother’s progress was going.

Wei Yu sighed. “What else can I do? I don’t even know how things are going over with Second Brother. I guess my business plan has to wait until Jiaozhou’s officials are cleaned up.”

The officialdom in Jiaozhou needed purging. His Second Brother had to bring sugar prices down. As for Wei Yu, he could start with white sugar, tailor things to local conditions, and gradually revive the regional economy…

Hmm?

Now that he thought about it—”To get rich, build roads first.” Should he also figure out how to make cement roads?

Wei Yu suddenly fell silent.

Cement… would he have to make it himself?

Should he start recruiting some STEM talent?

“Aiya, my head hurts!”

Wei Yu flopped onto the couch with no regard for appearances.

Eighth Prince: “…Now what?”

Wei Yu sighed mournfully. “I’m desperate for talent!”

How great would it be if the right people just showed up on their own?

The Eighth Prince was speechless. “If you’re looking for people, just post a notice.”

Wei Yu: ?

“What the hell!”

Wei Yu shot up and looked at his brother with delight. “Good brother! I didn’t expect you to be so smart!”

Eighth Prince: fists clenched

Before the Eighth Prince could hit him, Wei Yu threw his arms around him.

“Dear Eighth Brother, thank you for the reminder! I know how to find people now!”

He had always been figuring things out by himself and completely forgot about recruitment—how ridiculous!

Once he got to Jiaozhou, he’d start hiring!