There was a street in Anchan County lined entirely with cloth and tailor shops, all bright and colorful, making it quite a cheerful sight.
Last night, Ergouzi had put most of his silver into the gourd and only took out some copper coins to keep in his bundle.
Now walking down the street, he felt much more at ease, no longer needing to constantly worry about being robbed.
He had spent the entire early morning strolling along this street and finally chose a relatively shabby-looking tailor shop to step into.
At the time, there was only an old granny inside, stitching the sole of a shoe. When she saw Ergouzi come in, she quickly put it down.
“Young man, are you here to buy fabric or have clothes made?”
“I want to buy a pair of shoes.”
Ergouzi looked at the black cloth shoes on the shelf, varying in size and style. Some of the more delicate ones even had embroidered plum blossoms or lotus flowers on them.
“Do you want to get them custom-made, or just buy a ready-made pair?”
“I’ll just take a ready-made one!”
Custom-made shoes would definitely fit better, but they would take a long time.
Besides, he was barefoot right now—no point sweating the details.
The old granny glanced at Ergouzi’s bare feet and figured this must be his first time buying shoes, so she patiently explained everything to him.
Only then did Ergouzi learn that there were so many types of shoes people wore in the city.
There were cloth shoes, cotton-padded shoes, and even waterproof boots.
Ergouzi was most interested in the waterproof boots.
The sole and upper fabric were coated with multiple layers of tung oil and dried, then nailed together with iron nails, and coated with tung oil several more times.
The finished shoes were stiff and heavy, almost like stones, but they wouldn’t let water in even if you stepped into a puddle.
And the best part? These shoes were incredibly durable and could last over ten years.
The old granny looked at Ergouzi’s feet and pulled down a pair from the shelf for him to try.
Ergouzi slipped his foot in and found it was just the right size—warm and comfortable.
“Nope, this pair’s too small!”
But he still took the shoes off and switched to a bigger size.
He was only 14 this year and growing fast. What fit this year wouldn’t fit next year, so he had to buy a few sizes up to make it worthwhile.
A pair of tung oil boots weighed four or five pounds and required tons of tung oil, fabric, and iron nails, taking a month to make.
They weren’t cheap either—selling for one tael of silver, several times the price of ordinary cotton shoes.
It would be a waste if he could only wear them for one year.
Ergouzi asked the old granny for some fabric scraps and stuffed them into the boots, so they wouldn’t feel too big and would keep his feet warm too.
Before he left, the old granny even gave him a pair of socks.
These feet that had suffered through so much with Ergouzi finally wore socks for the first time today.
The wealthy folks in the city really knew how to live. Not only did they have shoes, they even wore socks inside them.
When Ergouzi walked out of the tailor shop, he was much more careful with each step, afraid to get any mud on his new shoes.
There were several blacksmith shops in Anchan County, but most focused on making iron pots, kitchen knives, and other household items.
Only one shop stood out, with all sorts of shiny swords and blades hanging inside.
This was the one!
“Customer, we specialize in all kinds of weapons here. What kind are you looking for?”
A short, chubby boy asked in a muffled voice.
“I want a sword that’s a bit heavier—at least over ten jin.”
With his current strength, he could only practice with a six- or seven-jin sword.
But like with shoes, he figured his strength would grow in the future. It’d be a waste to buy another one later.
“A sword over eight jin counts as a heavy sword. Come take a look over here.”
Following the chubby boy to the side, he saw only a few swords on the rack—all heavier than eight jin.
Only two met Ergouzi’s criteria.
One was made of refined steel, giving off a chilling aura, with gemstones inlaid in the hilt.
That sword cost fifty taels of silver.
Clearly, that wasn’t Ergouzi’s pick.
The other sword was made of regular forged steel, weighed eleven jin and two liang, and looked dull and black, not particularly sharp.
But the price was great—only four taels of silver.
“I’ll take this one!”
“Do you want a scabbard? A wooden one is just 200 wen.”
The chubby boy was tactful and only offered the cheapest option, not mentioning the gold-inlaid, jewel-studded ones at all.
“No need!”
Ergouzi shook his head decisively. Totally unnecessary.
He pulled out four strings of copper coins from his bundle to pay, then walked out of the sword shop carrying the blade.
Then he returned to the old granny at the shoe shop and bought three feet of hemp cloth. Wrapping it around the sword made it easy to carry.
Three feet of cloth only cost 100 wen, and he could still take it apart later to sew a pair of shorts.
Now that he had both shoes and a sword, he also bought a piece of black salt and ten meat buns from the county.
Time to go home. But he still felt like he was forgetting something.
It wasn’t until he passed by a stall filled with little girls’ hairpins and ribbons that he suddenly remembered.
Xiao’e had taken care of him so often. Now that he had made good money, he had to buy her something nice.
So he bought a pair of hairpins, a piece of malt candy, a sugar-coated hawthorn stick, and a jin of osmanthus rice cakes.
The osmanthus rice cakes were especially pricey—300 wen per jin. Ergouzi had never eaten them before either.
He tasted a small slice—fragrant, sweet, and delicious.
After buying all that, he finally strode out of the county town.
………………
At the county sword shop—
A middle-aged man was tallying the day’s earnings when he suddenly let out a surprised sound and started rummaging through a big box of copper coins.
After a while, he picked out four large strings and studied them on the table for a long time, still not completely sure.
“Dad! Dad! Dad…”
The man carried the four strings of coins into the back room.
“What’s all the fuss?!”
An elderly man with greying hair scolded his son loudly.
“Dad, take a look at these strings of copper coins.”
The old man took the coins and examined them closely for a long time.
“No doubt about it. This is Refined Copper Essence!”
The old man who had scolded his son just now was now so excited his beard quivered slightly.
Refined Copper Essence was made from ordinary copper, refined using a special process.
But out of 100 jin of copper, you’d only get 1 jin after all that effort.
Refined Copper Essence was incredibly expensive and its quality was many times higher.
When forging blades, just adding a little of it would make the weapon rust-resistant, sharp, and durable.
Who on earth would mint copper coins out of Refined Copper Essence?
“Who brought this in?”
“I don’t know. We had too many transactions today—I only noticed while counting.”
“Don’t spread this around. Don’t act rashly either.”
Both father and son were visibly excited, but as the saying goes, the older the wiser—eventually the old man calmed down first.
This was a windfall, but one that could very well cost lives.