The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 392 World Situation
Compared with the officials in the court who were scheming and scheming against each other for power, countless people in the empire did not care about these dirty affairs. They just wanted to work hard to live around the daily necessities of life and were full of longing and hope for the future.

Lawrence Lu walked out of the Daxing Immigration Affairs Office building holding a red "Da Qi Empire Resident Certificate" with a plastic seal in his hand, his face filled with incomparable joy and excitement.

After eight years, I finally got the official naturalization certificate from Qi!

"From today on, I'm a Qi citizen!" Lu Yuanxiang held up the red card - because the cover of Qi's permanent resident card is red, it is called the red card by countless foreign immigrants - and shouted excitedly, immediately attracting the attention of many passers-by on the street.

Some are contemptuous and disdainful, some are envious and jealous, and some are surprised and angry.

Isn't it just that you have obtained the status of Qi State? Is there any need to show off like this?
"The child's father..." His wife, Sun, reached out and pulled her husband's arm, signaling him not to make such a fuss in public, but her face also showed endless joy and satisfaction.

Becoming a Qi citizen means that they will enjoy all the welfare benefits enjoyed by the people of Qi, that they will no longer have to fear unreasonable police checks and questioning when walking on the street, and that they will no longer suffer discrimination and bullying due to their non-citizen status.

Of course, they could also use their status as Qi people to loudly demand from factory owners that they receive the proper wages and benefits.

"Dad, how about we buy some gifts to thank Mr. Lin?" Walking on the bustling streets, wife Sun felt that everything she saw seemed so vivid and warm. Even the gloomy sky seemed so comfortable. This would be their real home from now on.

“What are you going to spend that money on?” Lawrence Lu looked at the shops on the street, wondering whether he should buy some food and go home to celebrate. “We asked him to handle the naturalization, and it’s not like we didn’t pay him. … It’s a full ten dollars! That’s enough for a month’s salary for me.”

"But, in the past few years, we also spent a lot of money on naturalization, and even more than this, but in the end, we were cheated." His wife Sun said, "This time, we were introduced to Mr. Lin, and he promised us at the beginning that if we didn't succeed, he wouldn't charge us a penny. Moreover, he said that half of the ten dollars he collected was for the relevant fees for naturalization, so he might not get much in the end. We should be grateful. If it weren't for Mr. Lin's willingness to help, who knows when our family of five would be able to become naturalized!"

"What do you know, a woman!" Lawrence Lu curled his lips and said, "Mr. Lin is a person who specializes in naturalization affairs for people. He must have special channels and ways. Look, he charges ten yuan for one naturalization. If he handles ten in a day, he will make a hundred yuan. In a month, he will make... several thousand yuan! You can just buy some gifts and give them to them, but they may not be interested! Can we spend several more dollars to buy some expensive things?... I can't bear it! We still have to save money to raise children! Oh, by the way, we also have to buy a house of our own!"

"Alas, the child's father..." His wife Sun wanted to persuade him again, "Mr. Lin is a very capable person, he certainly won't care whether the gift is expensive or not. I just think that although he helped us get naturalization, he really got the job done and fulfilled the wishes of our family. Buying some gifts to send to him is also a way to express our gratitude. I'm thinking, if we encounter any problems in the future, can we also ask for help from him? You say, we ordinary people, when we encounter difficulties, we can still find someone to help us, isn't it leaving a way for ourselves?"

“Oh, how do you have such insight?” Upon hearing this, Lawrence Lu couldn’t help but look at his wife in surprise.

"I just heard this occasionally when I was doing housework and washing clothes for Mr. Zhao on the street." His wife, Sun, was a little proud. "These officials in Qi know that they need to find a reliable supporter to advance their careers. Then don't we ordinary people also need to find a backer who can help us settle things? Although we are far behind Mr. Lin in status and background, we can send him some gifts to thank him for helping us with the naturalization process. This will leave a good impression on him. In the future, if we encounter difficulties, even if he can't really help us, at least he can give us an idea and a way out, right?"

“…That’s the truth.” Lawrence Lu was obviously convinced by his wife, but he still frowned and said with a distressed look, “Then how much should we spend on gifts to thank Mr. Lin?”

"Three or five dollars, maybe. We have to show our sincerity."

"Three or five dollars?" Lu Yuanxiang couldn't help but take a breath. This amount of money was enough to buy twenty or thirty feet of cloth and make a new set of clothes for everyone in the family.

"At worst, we can just save more money in the next few months." His wife, Mrs. Sun, also felt distressed.

No matter where the poor people go, they are always in such a helpless and weak position. In order to survive, they can only put themselves in a slightly difficult position.

In Daxing City, residents generally buy their food from specialized shops, such as butcher shops, steamed bun shops, bakeries, vegetable and fruit shops, candy shops, fish shops, cheese shops, dairy shops, etc.

Even in small villages in the countryside there are bun shops, butcher shops and vegetable and fruit shops are usually open two or three days a week. The general shops in the village - perhaps in someone's front room or next to a tavern - also provide some daily necessities.

During this period, grocery stores generally sold dry goods such as tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, sugar, cereals, biscuits, dried fruits, etc. They also provided daily necessities such as soap, scented soap, candles, whale oil, etc. Butcher shops and dairy shops also sold butter and cheese that European residents liked.

Generally speaking, a baozi shop sells food such as baozi, steamed bread, and fried dough sticks, but it also provides other things such as meat, fish, and vegetables. In all shops, food is sold in bulk. The owner weighs the food according to the needs, packs it with inferior paper or newspapers and old books, and then packs it with hemp rope.

You can also buy a lot of things from the many street vendors. Villages and towns also have fixed market days, as well as large and small markets held on certain days, attracting residents from surrounding villages and towns to buy. Goods are produced and sold by both local vendors and middlemen.

However, as the scale of urbanization in Qi State grew, the urban area and population expanded rapidly, and most of the markets were fixed. The old markets had awnings where temporary sales could be carried out, and they could also be fixed as shops.

Many newly built markets are more standardized. They not only have awnings but also neatly built stalls. On weekdays, there are also special people to clean up and organize the large amount of garbage and dirt generated in the market.

In the working class neighborhoods, most of the buying and selling transactions are completed in the evening and early morning, when people buy daily necessities for their families in the early morning or after get off work. On the designated rest days in the middle and end of the month, they will also go on a big shopping spree to buy some new or second-hand goods, such as clothes, household items, children's toys, etc.

The street vendors in Daxing were a unique sight on the streets. They bought goods from wholesalers, such as fruits and vegetables from farmers in Fengshan County (now the Akasherich area of ​​Brisbane), and fish from the fishing port, and sold them with carts or donkey carts. The vendors brought many fresh foods to the places where workers lived in the city, as well as some more remote suburban residential areas, in exchange for a meager income.

If the rich people in the city want to buy something, in most cases they only need to inform the store near the block of their needs and ask the store owner to deliver it to their home. Housewives or servants will go to the store in the morning, leave a shopping list, and ask the other party to deliver it to their home later. As for the expenses, they are settled through bills, usually settled monthly or quarterly.

In the past decade or so, many large cities in Hanzhou have seen the emergence of large-scale comprehensive stores that sell a variety of goods. These stores often occupy entire buildings and are called department stores. The goods on display are extremely numerous and can almost meet the purchasing needs of anyone. In the counters of the stores, there are glass windows that can display the goods for sale, and the prices are clearly marked.

Although these large department stores still require the clerks behind the counter to take the products outside the counter for careful inspection, shoppers can choose to just look without buying. The owners of these department stores pay the clerks wages instead of sales commissions, and teach them not to embarrass every customer. There is no bargaining here, and you can only buy at the price marked by the store.

There are teahouses, restaurants and lounges in department stores, which can allow customers to stay longer.

Of course, the goods here are all high-quality and the prices are relatively high. People from lower-income families like Lu Yuanxiang generally don’t come here to shop and get ripped off.

The neighborhood grocery stores, roaming vendors, and bustling large markets can all fully meet their daily needs.

However, if you want to give someone a gift as a reward, you can’t just buy some ordinary “common goods” on the streets.

However, Lu Yuanxiang and his wife visited two large department stores in succession, looking at one exquisite product after another, but they could not make up their minds to buy anything.

too expensive!
An exquisite and beautiful carbon ink pen costs three yuan, a set of tea sets produced in Jingdezhen, Qin Dynasty costs twelve yuan, an amber pipe costs twenty-five yuan, and a jade paperweight costs as much as fifty yuan.

How could such poor people afford these things? But if you want to buy two baskets of fruit with three feet of cloth, how can you afford it?
For a moment, Lu Yuanxiang and his wife looked extremely embarrassed and awkward at the counter of the department store.

They shouldn't have come here. A month's income might not be enough to buy them many things.

"Tsk, it turns out that not every Qi citizen is rich!" The two young men dressed in luxurious clothes beside the counter saw their embarrassing appearance and couldn't help but sneered: "He has looked at this thing over and over again, but he hasn't even taken money out of his pocket for a long time!... If you can't afford it, get out quickly, so as not to trouble the guy at the counter!"

"No trouble, no trouble." The waiter who patiently received Lu Yuanxiang and his wife said with a smile: "These two guests may not have made up their minds what to buy, so they need to look around and consider more."

"That's right, we haven't made up our mind yet!" Lu Yuanxiang looked at the waiter gratefully, then glared at the person next to him who was making sarcastic remarks.

Judging from their clothes and hairstyles, they must be "country bumpkins" from the Qin Dynasty. They are either the children of corrupt officials or the dandies of comprador merchants. They dare to look down on us just because they have some money in their pockets!

Although I am poor, I am a Qi person!
Perhaps it was because of the stimulation, perhaps it was because he couldn't lose face, or perhaps it was because of the patient and friendly attitude of the department store clerk, Lu Yuanxiang gritted his teeth and bought a carbon ink pen, a gold and copper incense burner, a nanmu pen holder and other study supplies, spending a total of nine dollars.

While the waiter was carefully packing the food, Lu Yuanxiang raised his head and looked defiantly at the two Qin people next to him.

"Oh, these things are probably meant to be given away as gifts." A short and fat Qin man said disdainfully, "Are they meant to be given to scholars? How dare you give them away?"

“Whether I can show it or not is none of your business.” Lu Yuanxiang was a little broken-minded and even a little angry.

The purchase of gifts this time was already far beyond the budget, but I didn't expect to be ridiculed and belittled by others, which is really unpleasant.

"You two have been constantly selecting and comparing, which has greatly delayed our purchase time." The short and fat Qin man said condescendingly: "Since you don't have much money in your pocket, don't rush in, lest you make a fool of yourself."

“Humph, all the money I spend is earned cleanly!” Lawrence Lu said angrily, “Unlike some people, although their pockets are bulging, who knows how much fishy smell and blood are stained!”

"Hey, what do you mean?" After hearing this, the two Qin people immediately became unhappy. They walked over and stopped Lu Yuanxiang who was about to leave.

“What are you doing?” Lawrence Lu was a little panicked, but he still protected his wife behind him with all his strength. He took out the “Great Qi Empire Resident Certificate” from his pocket and shook it at the two of them. “I am a citizen of Qi. Are you still going to attack me?... Hey, big brother, help me call the police on the street!... Someone is going to commit a crime!”

Upon seeing this, several store clerks quickly separated the two parties to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

Looking for the police?
Don't be ridiculous! If the customers in the store saw this, they might have a bad impression.

When opening a shop and doing business, the key is to make money through harmony!

"What bad luck, arguing with such a person!"

With the strenuous persuasion of the department store clerk, this inexplicable conflict was quickly settled. The two young men from Qin State watched Lu Yuanxiang and his wife walk out of the store accompanied by the clerk, and they couldn't help but spit inwardly.

If it were in my Great Qin, if such weak people dared to bump into me, I would break their legs and tear their mouths!

"My two distinguished guests, what do you need to buy?" A waiter greeted them warmly, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience just now. Please forgive me."

"Hmph, you're so angry, how can you be in the mood to buy things?" the two said unhappily.

"Okay then, my two distinguished guests, please take your time to look around. Feel free to call me if you need anything." The waiter was retorted, but he didn't take it seriously. He took a few steps back, returned to the counter, and still kept smiling.

"Second brother, aren't we really going to buy some gifts here?" After leaving the department store, Luo Kangwen turned his head and looked at the building behind him with an unsatisfied look.

"The things inside are really expensive!" Luo Shiguang frowned and said, "I didn't expect that ordinary items in my Great Qin would be so expensive in Qi. If we had known earlier, we should have brought a boat here before coming here, and we would have made a fortune!"

"Brother, we are here to study..."

"It would cost a lot of money to study in Qi!"

"Didn't uncle ask us to seek refuge with uncle five?"

"Uncle Wu is unreliable." Luo Shiguang's face darkened. "My father told me that Uncle Wu dared to ignore even grandfather's request, let alone us nephews and younger generations."

"Ah..." Luo Kangwen was stunned for a moment, "Doesn't that mean no one will care about us in Qi State?"

"Why are you so stubborn!" Luo Shiguang glared at him. "No matter what, as a relative of the Luo family, how can Fifth Uncle ignore the Luo family's legitimate bloodline? ... He should at least take care of us."

"Oh..., then should we buy gifts and go meet him?"

"Let's pick something cheap." Luo Shiguang said, "We don't have much money. Besides, Uncle Wu's business in Qi is booming, so he may not appreciate the gifts we send."

"Oh."

"Damn it, a laborer in Qi State can actually buy luxury items..."

(End of this chapter)