Occasionally, they could spot tigers.

　　Packs of wolves were the most dangerous, but they didn’t encounter any.

　　Tigers, leopards, and even bears were not uncommon sights.

　　When Ethan Clark passed a certain stretch of road, he even saw a herd of elephants!

　　This wasn’t surprising—during the Spring and Autumn period, there really were wild elephants in the Central Plains.

　　They set out at dawn and, by the time the sun was slanting westward, after driving off a tiger that suddenly appeared along the way, they arrived at Clarksville.

　　This was a city with rammed earth walls.

　　From a distance, the city walls didn’t look straight; overall, they formed an irregular quadrangle and didn’t seem very large.

　　The walls were about four meters high, their thickness indiscernible, and there were no watchtowers, but there must have been a city gate.

　　The house elder paid the entrance fee.

　　Ethan Clark saw two spade coins handed over and thought, “There’s an entrance fee—how much purchasing power do two spade coins have? Is that cheap or expensive?”

　　What he didn’t know was that the elder only paid the entrance fee for himself, Ethan Clark, and the warriors; the dependents weren’t included.

　　The reason for this was simply that, according to the values of this era, dependents weren’t considered people—at least, not free people.

　　So, this was an era where even paying taxes required qualification.

　　Dependents could enter tax-free if they weren’t selling goods, but had to use a special low-status side entrance; if they bought goods and left, then they’d have to pay tax.

　　There weren’t many people entering or leaving the city.

　　A dozen or so soldiers were lazily on duty.

　　A minor tax official was responsible for collecting and recording taxes.

　　There were no stalls at the city gate.

　　Standing at the gate and looking in, one could see a wide dirt road and those single-story thatched huts.

　　Only after entering did they realize that within a hundred meters of the city wall, there were no houses at all; any buildings there were for military use.

　　“Hardly any people to be seen…” Ethan Clark wondered, “Is this really called a big city?”

　　What he didn’t know was that, in the Spring and Autumn period, living in a city didn’t mean settling there permanently.

　　In this era, cities were originally built for military purposes, and only later gradually shifted to non-military uses.

　　The city belonged to a great noble; those living inside were either dependents or temporary residents.

　　Temporary residents weren’t allowed to own even an inch of land within the city; if they wanted to stay, they had to rent.

　　After living in a city for a long time, for various reasons, the entire population might migrate elsewhere.

　　The main reason was the lack of underground drainage systems and insufficient labor to allow for professional city cleaners.

　　Of course, cleaning was done regularly, but over time, filth and disorder would accumulate, causing pollution, and people would need to move out. When or if they returned was another matter. More likely, the city would simply be abandoned.

　　The shop manager, upon hearing their purpose, asked in confusion, “Evil metal cauldron? What’s a cauldron?”

　　Of course, cauldrons existed in the Spring and Autumn period, but they weren’t called “锅” (guō); they were called “镬” (huò).

　　Because iron rusts, people of this time referred to it as “evil metal.”

　　Ethan Clark had already introduced himself, first stating whose son he was, then giving his clan and name, and finally saying where he was from.

　　This process was very aristocratic.

　　At present, the vast majority of people had no surname, only a given name.

　　Ethan Clark picked up a long object, walked outside, signaled the man to come over, and began drawing diagrams on the ground as he explained.

　　If there had been paper, it would have been clearer to draw on it, but there was none.

　　Parchment could be used for records, but it was prohibitively expensive.

　　Besides explaining how to make an iron cauldron, Ethan Clark also mentioned a few other things, but was very restrained.

　　The shop manager grew more and more excited as he listened, and finally knelt down in admiration, saying, “Little Ethan, Stone will certainly report to the master.”

　　“皂” isn’t a clan or surname; it means he was ordered to manage this place.

　　“石” is his name.

　　Ethan Clark laughed when he heard this. He already knew that everything was scarce in this era, and that everything depended on one’s status.

　　If he just wanted to dabble, he could do as he pleased, but if he wanted to accomplish something significant, it was dangerous for a minor noble to act as an inventor.

　　The best approach was to find a powerful patron.

　　The The Clark Family depended on the Webb, but didn’t have enough status to approach someone of Webb blood directly, so they had to go about it indirectly.

　　No matter what, Ethan Clark had noble status and wouldn’t become a mere tool—just more or less involved.

　　He needed to cling to the Webb first, and then see how ambitious the Webb were.

　　Depending on the Webb’s choices, he would decide how far to take his role as a “porter” of knowledge.

　　They came to Clarksville to make iron cauldrons, and Ethan Clark also wanted to prove his own value (talent). Unexpectedly, he encountered a clever person right away.

　　Now, it was up to whether the Webb could see Ethan Clark’s value (talent) in all this.

Chapter 4: Success or Failure Hinges on Today

　　Ethan Clark still underestimated the boldness and vision of the great nobles of this era.

　　He returned to his own fief, and half a month later, someone from the Webb arrived.

　　Half a month might seem long to modern people, but in this era where nothing could be done quickly, it was already highly efficient.

　　In other words, the Webb seemed very eager.

　　The one who came was Webb’s direct bloodline, Samuel Webb, the son of Brian Clark.