Chapter 75: The Crime of Gender 75
Don’t get the wrong idea, Qin Shuangshuang was not attracted by the young man’s handsome appearance, but because that young man’s look reminded Qin Shuangshuang of an incident from her past life!
In her past life, Qin Shuangshuang was escorted to the border city with the Qin Family. At that time, the Qin Family didn’t manage to get tenant jobs and could only work on the city construction. As an unwelcome girl, Qin Shuangshuang also had to work.
However, Qin Shuangshuang looked too young and was clearly unable to do any hard work. The overseer, out of kindness, arranged for her to assist the women who cooked meals.
The construction of the border city was divided into two parts. The border city was built behind Feiying Pass and two other major passes, and was an enormous city. This city would become the largest city of the current dynasty in the future, extremely prosperous, although now it was just beginning to take shape. No one knew the Emperor planned to build such a huge city!
Besides the border city behind, there was also the establishment of a Mutual Market outside Feiying Pass. Although it was called a Mutual Market, it was actually a square-shaped small city comparable to a medium-sized city. However, no common people lived there, only merchants and stationed soldiers.
This Mutual Market was specially created by the Emperor for trading with the Northwest Hu People. The Hu People lived by herding and moved according to water and grass, as the grasslands couldn’t produce grains or vegetables. People couldn’t live without these foods, so the Hu People’s frequent border raids were not just due to their inherent violence but also their need to seize stored grains and vegetables.
The Emperor opened this Mutual Market to appease the Hu People, allowing them to exchange their skins, wool, and meat for grains, vegetables, and other necessities.
Of course, the trading of salt and tea was not allowed to be done privately by merchants. These two items were only sold in fixed annual quantities by the court to the Hu People, and no more was permitted. When the Hu People could obtain what they needed, the frequency of their border disturbances would naturally decrease!