"Gloev, Gloev!"

Alexei shook Gloev's shoulders vigorously, but the Duke remained completely still.

He lay across the table, eyes bleary from drink, blinking as if his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds.

Soon, he was snoring like thunder.

Looking back at the table, there were six fried bread rolls, two horner cakes, a large bowl of white flour-wrapped meat, a pot of lamb soup, and a jug of "spoiled sour plum water" emptied clean.

Alexei was a bit bewildered, could this spoiled sour plum water be that potent?

After checking, he made sure Gloev was not poisoned before he relaxed.

Though for some reason, he also felt a bit sleepy.

But he wasn't planning to nap here alongside Gloev.

Alexei had come on a mission; he was to travel throughout Leia and Falan within five years, time was tight.

He chose to start at the Thousand River Valley of the Holy Alliance because he'd heard a wealth of stories about the Holy Alliance's "miracles" from his Leia language teacher, and Busak, the envoy stationed at Fat Cow Castle.

Military miracles, economic miracles, religious miracles...

He had to see them with his own eyes and record them with his pen; otherwise, what would be the point of coming?

"You take care of the Duke, you, come with me."

After arranging for two guards and ignoring the snoring Gloev at the table, Alexei proceeded out of the small restaurant, strolling through Believers' Square.

Passing through the sparse midday crowds, Alexei circled the square several times until he figured out its entire layout.

Unlike the commonly seen irregular rectangular squares, the Believers' Square in Laver town was a standard square.

According to the Holy Alliance's metric scale, Alexei estimated it to be about sixty meters long and wide.

The ground was made of a layer of gravel, a layer of large stone bricks, fused and filled with mortar.

Right in the center of the square stood a five-meter tall stone clock tower, storing standard weights and measures inside.

Surrounding the clock tower was a ring of canvas shelters and shops.

On the north and east sides of Believers' Square were thin rows of canopies along the crossroad carriage lanes.

They were specifically for vendors to sell their goods, including merchants at the county level and small village vendors, as well as self-selling farmers.

There were vendors selling sour plums, honey, fish from their ponds, and butter from their cows.

Such sights weren't uncommon in Fat Cow Castle.

Yet Alexei felt something amiss; after a couple more rounds, he suddenly realized what it was.

In the past, and in his old hometown, most of those selling such goods were stewards and village chiefs.

But the sellers he witnessed here were mostly ordinary farmers, with no stewards or village chiefs following behind to tally accounts.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, both the quantity and variety surpassed those in Fat Cow Castle's market.

He was curious about the reason until halfway through thinking he realized it.

What else could it be?

Nobility and priests were driven away, and the naturally resourced but undeveloped lands were divided among the commoners.

The time saved through various measures was naturally used to develop various side businesses.

Just around this small town, there was a sawmill, an oil workshop, a quarry, and a cutting factory.

"Alright, I've seen enough of Believers' Square; let's check out Enqing Market."

As afternoon arrived, Alexei indeed felt tired and was ready to finally see what Enqing Market was all about.

Walking to the west end of Believers' Square, the sign for Enqing Market stood marked by road signs.

Enqing Market consisted of two parts, a row of shops in the front, followed by a super-large warehouse with wooden planks.

Among the row of shops, the very center one was the only three-story brick building, bearing the sign "Enqing department store."

Looking at the new term consisting of "Enqing," "One hundred," and "product," Alexei scratched his head.

He could understand the other shops, but what was this Enqing department store?

Loitering at the entrance for a bit, his curiosity got the better of him, and he stepped inside.

Inside were two L-shaped fir wood counters, with a walkway behind them, and shelves beyond the walkway.

Looking around, Alexei noticed not many people were in the department store; only some simply-dressed farmers asking questions with a few dinars in hand.

And behind the counter, the salespeople explaining were actually two women.

Alexei looked several times before daring to confirm.

Knowing the Holy Alliance was liberal, he hadn't expected it'd be this open.

Weren't you the purist holy warriors of fundamentalism?

"How about it?" The old man with a limp at the door tapped his pipe, actively striking a conversation, "Don't belittle them for being women; these two are actually nuns."

"Letting nuns work as salespeople?"

"Yeah, never seen it? They're still employees of Enqing department store, know what it means? Enqing Market, Enqing department store, Saint Chamber of Commerce, that's the crown of Holy Alliance commerce."

Alexei ignored the friendly old man, neither did he understand his words.

But he did understand that this unassuming Enqing department store turned out to be a "commercial crown"?

The young bear immediately took out his notebook and quill pen.

With such feelings, he wandered around the general store twice, yet the more he looked, the more his brows furrowed, his mood grew low and puzzled.

The entire Enqing department store, what surprised Alexei the most were these two nuns.

To call the entire department store refined was generous, it was essentially a general store, at best with more goods.

On the left side of the first floor's counter stood flour, rapeseed oil, salt, and other basic foods.

Below the counter, rows of pickled vegetables, sausages, beer, and other simple processed goods were stored in barrels or clay pots.

The right counter held oil lamps, rough linen, coarse wool products, and various daily necessities, as well as inexpensive cleaning agents and tools like sickles, hoes, and hammers.

Greasy and grimy, could this be called a crown?

Could there be secrets upstairs?

With new wooden stairs underfoot, Alexei ascended to the second floor.

The second floor had three counters, as the first floor's entrance had a counter as well.

Right opposite were iron farm tools (plowheads, shovels) and repair tools (nails, hemp ropes, wooden barrel parts).

On the left were verdigris paint, red lead paint, and spinning wheel parts.

The right was even less noteworthy, just seeds, clay pots, wooden basins, belts, saddles, and pans among other things.

Going up another level, paper, pen, ink, Holy Alliance Bank's loan counter, and convenience counter for proxy letter writing were sold.

Exiting Enqing department store, Alexei was muttering: "What Enqing department store, it's merely a general store."

"Hey, young man, I don't like hearing that," the limping old man immediately shouted, "This is not a general store." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Alexei was a determined person, even more so stubborn. It might not show in normal times but once he believed something, even nine oxen couldn't pull him back.

"If this isn't a general store, then what is it?"

"Hmph," the limping old man snorted coldly, "Do you think you've seen it all?

Go outside and look at the farm tool shops selling hand spinning wheels and horse-pulled seeders.

Breeding shops ordering livestock, saplings, fish seedlings, etc.

Specialty acquisition stations purchasing local specialties and animal furs, surplus acquisition stations acquiring grains and agricultural by-products, and raw material acquisition stations collecting timber, wool, and other types of raw materials.

These assorted shops and acquisition stations, along with Enqing department store, and the warehouse and wholesale market behind Enqing department store, are the entire picture of Enqing Market.

See a rural Enqing department store and consider it as Enqing Market? Go to High Castle City and see what Enqing department store is like there! It'll startle you."

The spitting old man delivering words was quite unreserved.

This piqued Alexei's curiosity; with towns and roads dazzling before him, he couldn't quite believe Enqing Market was this simple.

"Then tell me?"