Chapter 214: Elder of the Divine Nation

At the southwestern corner of the city.

Due to the low-lying terrain, it remained downwind throughout the year, shrouding the entire district in smoke and fog.

The walls were coated with thick soot, narrow streets overflowed with sewage, and the buzzing of mosquitoes and flies was infuriating.

Row upon row of neat brick houses, cramped, dense, and crowded, their history could be traced back to the time of Ancestor Zhou. As the rich relocated, South City became a complete slum, with less than twenty percent of the area housing half of the city's population.

The Imperial Censor had submitted proposals for renovation, but the senior officials from the Ministry of Revenue repeatedly rejected them, citing the emptiness of the national treasury.

No one knew why Ancestor Zhou, while waging wars on both the northern and southern fronts at the dawn of the nation, still had surplus funds to build housing for workers.

Nightfall.