Taoyuan Town's year-end general meeting.
A great many people attended — Jinyi, Jinxiu, Mingcheng and the rest need not be listed — but just the mid-level staff and above from the town itself numbered several dozen.
Jinwen had come back from Xinghuo Village.
Xinghuo Village's registered population had now surpassed five thousand, and there was a large contingent of people handling affairs of every kind; even the small fraction of mid-level staff who made the trip over amounted to more than ten people.
Another ten or so had returned from Qingjiang Prefecture.
Altogether there were nearly a hundred people.
These were the backbone of Taoyuan Town.
At present, the total number of people holding formal Taoyuan Town status was approaching twenty thousand, most of them distributed across these three locations.
There were also smaller clusters scattered elsewhere — bank staff and security personnel in various counties and towns.
The meeting worked through its agenda item by item, and as it neared its end, Zhao Baihui pushed open the door and walked in.
Everyone started in surprise. No one had expected the master himself to appear, and one by one they hastily rose to their feet.
How remarkable — this had to be the first time the master had ever attended a meeting.
Zhao Baihui made his way to the head of the table, which was Jinwen's seat, and sat down. The others shifted along accordingly, and Jinwen took the seat to his left.
"Everyone sit down. I have a few things I'd like to say."
"First, I want to thank all of you for your efforts over these past years. It is because of you that we have built a peaceful and prosperous home."
"Taoyuan Town keeps growing, keeps getting richer, and naturally that should be shared with everyone."
"So — we're raising wages. Going forward, the daily rate for a Grade One wage will be set at 2 yuan."
From 1.2 yuan to 2 yuan — that was a staggering increase.
It also showed just how extraordinary the profits from the monetary system had become.
In truth, with their current revenues they could easily afford to set the rate at 10 yuan if they wanted.
But that was not the way to go — it would cause serious problems.
"Thank you, master!" a young mid-level staff member shouted. Those around him were startled, but seeing Zhao Baihui smile without any sign of displeasure, they too broke into loud, jubilant noise, giving voice to the excitement in their hearts.
Zhao Baihui made no move to stop them. Wages had jumped by more than half — why shouldn't they celebrate?
"It shouldn't just be us getting a raise — everyone who works for us will get one too. We're looking at an across-the-board increase of fifty percent."
"Yes, master." Jinyi nodded. In truth, all of this had been discussed beforehand among the senior staff; they had known for some time.
They had simply arranged for Zhao Baihui to be the one to announce it.
Some things land differently depending on who says them.
Another cheer went up from the room.
Though everyone present drew a civil servant's salary, who among them had no family, no relatives or friends?
With the base wage rising to 2 yuan, even the elderly women on street-watch duty could earn 1 yuan a day — more than the strongest laborers on construction sites used to make.
The laborers had received raises too, of course. Those who had been doing well might once have earned 1 yuan a day; now they could earn 1.5.
"Oh, and for those who hold a graduation certificate — the stipend goes up to 4 jiao a day."
That was enough to buy a jin of coarse grain. Even if something unexpected happened and a person couldn't earn their usual wages, a jin of coarse grain a day would keep them fed.
"There's also something important to announce. Taoyuan Town is too small. Its development here is limited — at best it might grow to twenty or thirty thousand people, which would barely qualify it as a county seat. So I intend to find a new location and build a new city."
The moment he said it, the room fell silent.
Many found it hard to believe. Things were so good here — why would they go elsewhere?
But no one spoke up. If the master said he wanted to move, then they would move.
"These things have to be done step by step. I've found a place I think will work."
Zhao Baihui rose and walked to the black-and-white provincial map hanging on the wall behind him, pointing to a spot.
It was a location two hundred li away, within Linjiang Prefecture's territory, sitting right along the great river.
"That's where it'll be. In a moment I'd like everyone to discuss the construction plans — but I'll take my leave now."
Everyone rose as if to see him off.
After Zhao Baihui had gone, Jinyi sat back down and spoke quietly. "The master has given his instructions. Let's discuss how we'll go about building it."
No one objected, but minds were unsettled, and the discussion didn't go particularly well.
"Let's leave it here for today then. Everyone go home and think it over — we'll discuss it again tomorrow."
Such was the spirit of the age: stability was what people craved, almost without exception.
Taoyuan Town was so stable now — why would they leave? Even if only some of them were leaving.
But the master would surely be going, and if the master left, would this place still really be Taoyuan Town?
Never mind the others — even Jinyi, deep down, did not want to leave.
Had anyone else proposed this — even Jinyi — it would almost certainly have drawn opposition from the majority.
But when the master of this place, Zhao Baihui, said it, no one dared object. They only thought about how to arrange things, how to help the master see it through properly.
Taoyuan Town was fine in itself, but its surroundings were poor — a remote and underdeveloped corner of the world, with few people, few resources, and difficult transport.
It didn't even have the foundation to grow into a strong county seat.
If one were willing to spend the time making gradual improvements, perhaps over decades or even a century a grand city could be developed here — but that was far too slow.
So, having received another lottery draw, he had decided to begin preparations for the move.
In the last draw, he had wavered for a long time between cement and steel.
If he chose cement, construction could be accelerated considerably — but faster building didn't feel like it would make that much difference, since his fundamental resource was people.
Steel wouldn't grow his population either, but it would improve his security. The Wolf Army was proof of that.
Now, with this new draw, he had finally obtained cement and could speed up construction significantly.
Paired with steel, the foundations for tall buildings were now in place.
"Master, I'm coming in." Jinyi entered and set a plate of fruit on the desk.
"Here, Jinyi — this is the planning diagram. Take a look."
Jinyi took the city plan and studied it, looking it over again and again with a growing sense of familiarity.
"I see it now…"
Jinyi pulled out a purse and drew out a one-yuan note. On the banknote was a bird's-eye view of an imposing city with an unusual appearance.
It looked unusual because so many of its buildings were extraordinarily tall.
What kind of buildings could possibly stand that high in this world?
The banknote itself wasn't large, of course, which made the so-called grand structures even tinier — though one could tell they were imposing by comparing them to the streets, windows, and plants depicted alongside them.
Jinyi said excitedly, "Master, so you had it all planned from the very beginning — we're going to build the city on the banknote! Just thinking about it makes my heart race!"
Imagine — if they truly pulled it off, then every single one-yuan note would be a calling card!
"That's right. That's the goal. But even though we now have cement as a foundation, the technology still isn't quite there — we'll have to take it step by step."
"What you're holding is the overall plan for the future. These other sheets are the plans for individual zones within it. Take them and start making arrangements."