One hundred taels? And you call this a family price!

An uncontrollable pain surged from Zhang Dongxiang’s chest, immediately diluting the joy of his newly clear world.

He vaguely felt like a sheep that had been sheared of its wool.

Crystal was indeed expensive, but these two small pieces of crystal couldn’t possibly be worth the high price of one hundred taels!

Do you think it’s a diamond?!

“One hundred taels is truly a bit expensive, Minister Fang. Although I don’t lack this hundred taels, you can’t deceive me like this!” Zhang Dongxiang protested.

Fang Zheng tugged at the corner of his mouth. “One hundred taels is the price for one eye.”

“…….So it’s two hundred taels, right?”

Zhang Dongxiang now wanted to take off the glasses and smash them in Fang Zheng’s face.

Really taking me for a sucker, aren’t you!

I’ll go find someone to buy crystal and make it myself! This thing doesn’t look that complicated…

“Two hundred taels is just the price of the lenses. Add the frame outside, and it becomes a complete pair of glasses, totaling two hundred and fifty taels.”

“Don’t think this is simple. It looks ordinary, but there’s great expertise inside! Grinding crystal is extremely difficult. Plus, the frame has its own intricacies. The parts that contact the face correspond to many acupuncture points, and these points are interconnected. Wearing them for a long time has effects like clearing internal heat, relieving anxiety, helping the throat, nourishing hair, nurturing the five organs, calming the spirit, clearing blood vessels, and brightening the ears. If it’s slightly off, there won’t be any health benefits!”

“Really?!” Zhang Dongxiang became interested again.

“Of course it’s true! Not to mention anything else, the effect of clearing the liver and brightening the eyes is certain! Don’t you feel your eyes are brighter now? And your liver more comfortable?”

“It seems so!” Zhang Dongxiang was pleased.

The health benefits were truly tempting, and the magical experience of immediate effectiveness did match Fang Zheng’s claims.

At his age… he really needed such a magical health instrument!

“Make it cheaper! You just said you’d give me a pair.”

“Oh, Third Uncle, we’re honest relatives, would I cheat you?! Didn’t you just say you didn’t want them?”

“Two hundred and fifty taels isn’t expensive! To be frank, the material itself is worth only one tael. Knowing how to turn it into glasses is worth two hundred and forty-nine taels!”

Zhang Dongxiang’s face was full of conflict as he took off the glasses, turning them back and forth in his hands.

Good… truly good things, once used, you can’t part with them.

But the price of two hundred and fifty taels still made him feel like he was being ripped off.

Fang Zheng, seeing that the time was ripe, enthusiastically said. “Do you think it’s expensive?”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s expensive! You’re my elder, and giving you a pair is no problem! I’ll have someone make you a new pair and send it to your home later?”

Zhang Dongxiang brightened up, not caring about anything else now, and asked back. “Really?”

“Really! But… I need your help to promote it in the palace. Just say you bought it for two hundred and fifty taels.”

Fang Zheng had been holding back this request, and Zhang Dongxiang, who was in high spirits, happily put the glasses back on. “A small matter! But… how much are you planning to sell them for? Two hundred and fifty taels is indeed too expensive. I think others might not all be willing to be such suckers.”

Fang Zheng’s face fell. “How can you call it being a sucker?”

“Let me tell you, these things are limited in production! Not everyone can buy them, and many people have eye problems! I’ll prioritize selling to our fellow officials out of camaraderie! And don’t mention those health benefits. Even as a display piece at home, it’s worth it!”

“Also, I’ll be generous and send pairs to my first and second uncles too! When you go back, put in a good word for me, okay?”

Zhang Dongxiang couldn’t help but laugh and nodded. “Good! I accept this favor from you.”

“But I warn you, making money so blatantly isn’t a good thing. As far as I know, your Taoyuan County is quite wealthy, isn’t it? Why do you need to earn so much money?”

Who doesn’t want more money?

Besides, glasses would eventually be sold to the public, and for many people, they were essential.

Since they were essential, the price couldn’t be too high. But with the current lens grinding capabilities in Taoyuan County, plus the costs of shops and investments, the costs were truly not low. Naturally, the selling price of glasses couldn’t be low either, and most people wouldn’t be able to afford them. Setting the price too low would make it an unsustainable business.

So it was appropriate to first draw blood from these wealthy landlords to subsidize the poor… Once the lens grinding industry was established, prices would come down.

These wealthy families had inherited advantages for generations, enjoying all kinds of monopolistic benefits to make money. It wasn’t unfair to extract a bit of blood from them through technology.

Of course, he couldn’t say this directly.

Fang Zheng gave a bitter smile. “Third Uncle, I may not lack money, but I’ve been poor before!”

“Once a person has been poor, they’ll psychologically remain a poor person for life, and can’t shake it off!”

“You come from a wealthy family. I can’t compare.”

Zhang Dongxiang heard this and shook his head with a bitter smile.

Although in the court, they discussed how to govern the people every day, this kind of poor person’s mentality was truly hard to understand.

By now, his anger had largely dissipated. Previously, he was merely embarrassed at being tricked by a younger man and didn’t want to speak with him.

After all, nothing major had happened, and he’d actually benefited, plus now Fang Zheng had given him glasses.

So naturally, he had no reason to remain aloof.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you a question these past few days. Why were you so concerned about abolishing the seals?”

Having held back for several days, Zhang Dongxiang still couldn’t figure out what this matter had to do with Fang Zheng.

Righteousness and indignation? He didn’t seem like that kind of person!

Fang Zheng was taken aback, not expecting that after several days, he was still fixated on this question.

He hadn’t really thought about it carefully.

To speak of the simplest reason, it was to help the reporters solve a problem, and also because he couldn’t stand the air in the examination compound.

But thinking deeper, this seemed to be an old habit of his.

He had adapted to almost everything since his transmigration, but the sanitary conditions were something he truly couldn’t accept.

Compared to the modern era, it was completely incomparable. From the moment he appeared in Taoyuan County, he was troubled by two major problems.

First was poverty, and second was poor hygiene.

Poverty was naturally the urgent issue, but after solving this problem, the enormous impact of the second problem also appeared.

Apart from starvation, the risk of disease constantly accompanied him.

When the population was small, the residences in Taoyuan County were relatively scattered, and it wasn’t a big issue. But when the county began to absorb a large number of refugees, sanitation problems became increasingly prominent.

He had also fallen ill several times, but fortunately, he had survived these close calls.

Over the years, he had witnessed countless people die inexplicably from illnesses, including infant mortality, which he could only attribute to poor sanitary conditions.

Small illnesses could heal themselves, but slightly more serious ones meant waiting to die.

Of course, there were doctors who could treat illnesses, but mainly herbal remedies were somewhat effective for external injuries.

The barefoot doctors in Taoyuan County could only play a very minor role in some sense.

They could treat illnesses, but it was a matter of luck.

So naturally, he couldn’t place his hopes on doctors.

He didn’t understand medicine, but he had basic medical knowledge. What he could do was to start improving sanitation without reservation. When sanitary conditions were greatly improved, the probability of falling ill decreased considerably.

This matter had been worked on for several years and had almost become a psychological demon for Fang Zheng. No one wanted to deal with excrement and urine, but this was precisely the most important link in the city, and it was unavoidable.

Now seeing the condition of the examination compound, the main reason might be that his instincts were acting up.

Having understood the reason, Fang Zheng didn’t know how to respond.

He could only shrug helplessly.