Starting with choosing a wife, creating the most powerful Xia

While the two women were eating, Chu Xuan gave them a brief account of what had happened at the yamen.

Then, looking at A Leng, he asked, "Have all those people been cleared out?"

They were referring to the guards around Chu Zeng.

A Leng nodded and sneered, "Of course, my husband, don't worry. We didn't leave a single trace, so they won't be able to find us."

After kicking Chu Zeng into the gambling den, Chu Xuan went to prepare to contact Liang An himself, and arranged for A Leng to deal with the guards.

Although those people posed little threat, Chu Xuan could not tolerate the existence of unstable factors; only the dead were truly stable.

So when Ah Leng stabbed him in the back, Zi Chou didn't even have time to react before this Earthly Branch assassin went to meet the Chu family ancestor.

A Leng took his body, found the remaining guards, brought them back to Chu Zeng's house, and killed them all.

These were all ordinary guards, who were like chicks in front of A Leng, utterly powerless to resist.

"By the way, sir, the villagers took those iron tools back early this morning. They hid them in the oxcart, weighed down with vegetables, so they won't be discovered. I didn't tell them that you were here."

Chu Xuan was quite satisfied with A Leng's handling of the situation: "How is the quality of those ironwares?"

“I knew my husband would ask about this, so I specially kept a set.”

Hearing this, A Leng smiled slyly and took out a gray-white suit of armor from the wardrobe behind her. The chainmail plates on it collided with each other as they were moved, making a crisp sound.

The craftsman's skill was indeed excellent; the armor looked extremely beautiful, and just by being displayed there, it exuded an aura of majesty.

The blades and edges of the knives and swords on the sides were also polished to a gleaming shine.

According to A Leng, that person used to be a servant of a powerful clan, specializing in iron smelting. In these powerful clans, who didn't keep a few armored private soldiers? Over time, he developed excellent skills.

However, his family was later seized by their enemies and ended up being wiped out. After escaping, he had nowhere to use his skills, so he could only take on jobs in the black market, forging armor for large families. He heard from A Leng that his master family was the Chu family, and he completed the armor in just two nights and one day.

Chu Xuan nodded slightly upon hearing this, acknowledging that the blacksmith was indeed a skilled individual. He began to consider whether he should take the blacksmith with him when he left Lucheng.

At this moment, Chen Xuening suddenly looked at him and asked.

"Did you do all this just to meet Cheng Han?"

Cheng Han, the Prefect of Lucheng, is the de facto ruler of the city.

"Yes."

Chu Xuan nodded slightly.

After arriving in Lucheng, he realized that although Lucheng was nominally within his territory, it was not responsible to him, but rather another member of the Chu family was involved.

Chu Zeng's appearance further solidified this guess.

That's why Chu Xuan put on this show.

He created the illusion that Duan Yu had murdered Chu Zeng, and then, posing as a member of the Chu family, forced Cheng Han to appear and meet him.

It is conceivable that Cheng Han must have extreme awe for the Chu family, and under this pretext, Chu Xuan can obtain a lot of benefits from him.

"After I meet Cheng Han, I will remove myself from the business between the Chu family and him, and have him find some craftsmen for me."

Since everyone in the room was one of his own, Chu Xuan didn't hesitate to express his thoughts.

"The nameless village is still in its early stages. Although it has the money it obtained from robbing those mountain bandits, it is like a child's treasure, with no idea how to use it. Both the iron mine and the subsequent layout require a lot of craftsmen, which the nameless village cannot find. We can only rely on Cheng Han and Lucheng."

In order to cover up Chu Zeng's matter and prevent it from escalating, Cheng Han would probably agree.

When asked about craftsmen, Chen Xuening hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“My husband, I actually think that you are overcharging those craftsmen in the village, paying them far too much.”

"You only do manual labor, but you get paid more per month than ordinary students in towns and villages. It's fine now that you're in charge in the village, but it will inevitably attract criticism when the village develops in the future."

Chen Xuening's words were indeed from the bottom of her heart.

Although they lived in different times and spaces, the thinking of the Daxia people was somewhat similar to that of ancient Earth, who also divided people into four classes: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

Scholars, or intellectuals, mostly mingled in officialdom and wielded considerable influence over the Great Xia, holding extremely high power and status.

The royal family needs them to guide the people and support their imperial power, so they naturally come first.

Farmers, who cultivate grains, can be considered the cornerstone of a nation.

These two groups hold the highest status in the Great Xia Dynasty, and are indispensable, like the pillars that pacify the sea.

But things were different with the industry and commerce authorities afterward.

In people's minds, workers are nothing more than rough people who do manual labor, illiterate, and ignorant of basic agricultural knowledge. They are the kind of people who would be better off having something, but not having it doesn't seem to be a big problem.

As for merchants, they were even less popular. People said that merchants did not engage in production, but only made huge profits through simple transportation, and were nothing but parasites.

In the Great Xia of today, after hundreds of years since its founding, the social classes have become completely solidified. There are officials and noble families at the top, and feudal lords in various regions, each guarding their own interests and relentlessly suppressing anyone who dares to challenge them.

Chen Xuening is one such example; she was branded a traitor simply because of political differences.

This is true even among scholars, let alone others.

Therefore, Chen Xuening was also worried that Chu Xuan was not actually capable of protecting Wuming Village at present, and that others might use his disrespect for etiquette and his elevation of the craftsmen as a pretext to make a fuss.

I'm afraid even Chu Xuan would have to drink a good pot of it.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan slowly shook his head. He was not unaware of Chen Xuening's thoughts, but he was unwilling to compromise.

People in this era were not yet aware of the importance of workers. Whether it was iron smelting and mining, or the artifacts they would manufacture to improve the living standards of the nameless village, nothing could be done without workers.

In his view, scholars should actually be ranked last. Farmers produce goods to ensure survival, craftsmen create objects to promote development, and merchants circulate goods, all of whom are also involved in survival and development.

The scholar-official class is not without its role, but the economic base determines the superstructure. Only when survival is secured can the scholar-official class have room to make its mark.

Otherwise, would people be left starving to death while chanting the teachings of sages?

Isn't that pure nonsense?

"My ideas may not be accepted by the world in a short time, but you must believe in me. For those who do not understand, I will only give them one sentence."

Chu Xuan smiled, without any intention of continuing to explain. He seemed to have a premonition and subconsciously uttered a sentence.

"Princes, generals and prime ministers, would you rather have the seed?"