Early that morning, Gao Yiye arrived at the entrance of the tailoring shop.
The signboard still hung proudly overhead:
"Tailoring to Fit, Fair to All Ages."
Inside, the temporary prefectural yamen was already bustling.
The moment the bailiffs on duty spotted her, their spines straightened so fast it looked painful. One of them turned and sprinted inside to announce her arrival, while the other rushed forward, bowing so deeply his hat nearly slipped off.
"Madam Li," he said with a smile so eager it bordered on worship, "please—this way."
Gao Yiye nodded politely and stepped inside.
She barely made it three steps before Qiu Qianfan himself hurried out to greet her.
"Ah! Madam Li," he said, clasping his hands and bowing. "You're here quite early today. To what do I owe this… distinguished surprise?"
Gao Yiye smiled faintly. "There are some matters concerning the city's layout that I wished to discuss with Your Excellency."
Qiu Qianfan blinked. "The city's… layout?"
He looked around instinctively, as if afraid the streets might rearrange themselves on the spot.
"What's there to plan?" he asked, baffled. "Puzhou has stood like this for centuries."
Gao Yiye replied calmly, "Puzhou City is too small."
Qiu Qianfan froze.
"…Too small?"
"Our factories won't fit."
For a moment, the prefect genuinely thought he'd misheard.
"How could that be?" he said. "I personally oversaw the acquisition of the textile factory site. It wasn't that large."
Gao Yiye didn't argue. She merely gestured. "Please come and see for yourself."
Qiu Qianfan followed her.
And the moment the construction site came into view, his breath caught.
The original textile workshop—and everything around it—was gone.
Flattened.
In its place rose vast concrete structures, skeletal but unmistakably colossal.
Rows upon rows of factory buildings were taking shape, designed to house two hundred textile machines. Beyond them stood auxiliary workshops: dyeing facilities, garment production halls, storage depots.
And beyond those—
Dormitories.
A cafeteria.
An open sports field.
A park.
A school.
A clinic.
Qiu Qianfan stood rooted to the spot, his mouth slowly falling open.
"This…" he croaked. "This is one factory?"
Gao Yiye nodded. "Naturally."
This single textile factory alone threatened to consume several tenths of Puzhou City's inner space.
Puzhou, after all, was a classic square city—eight li and three hundred forty-seven bu from wall to wall, its dimensions recorded in history and confirmed by later scholars.
Perfectly sufficient for feudal workshops.
Utterly inadequate for modern industrial monsters.
Qiu Qianfan stared as if witnessing an invading army.
"Does it truly need to be this large?" he asked weakly. "And… what is that enormous empty field over there?"
"A sports ground," Gao Yiye said cheerfully. "Workers need exercise."
He swallowed. "And that?"
"A park."
His hand trembled. "Are you hiring workers… or raising nobles?"
Gao Yiye's smile didn't waver. "Ensuring people live well is our foundational principle."
Qiu Qianfan found himself at a loss for words.
She continued, her tone still mild. "And this is only the textile factory. We have many more planned. Some industries cannot be placed within city walls at all—cement plants, Celestial Fertilizer production, iron smelting, paper mills. These generate smoke, waste, and noise. They must be built outside."
Qiu Qianfan's jaw slackened.
When Xing Honglang first arrived, he had agreed to everything with a wave of his hand—build whatever you like, just keep the people alive. He had never imagined this scale.
If every factory was like this, Puzhou wouldn't just be crowded.
It would be devoured.
"I never thought…" he muttered, "that you would build like this."
Gao Yiye shrugged lightly. "Which is why we must re-plan the city."
Qiu Qianfan groaned, rubbing his temples. "This is beyond me. I no longer have the ability to handle such a thing."
He gestured wildly. "If the city expands outward by several li, how many li of walls would that require? Even a governor couldn't afford that! Let alone a mere prefect like myself."
Gao Yiye didn't respond.
She simply unrolled a blueprint.
Puzhou City sat at its center.
Around it bloomed multiple satellite towns, arranged like petals around a flower.
She pointed.
"This is a commercial town near Gudu Ferry—focused on transport and logistics."
Her finger moved.
"This is the Jiguanshan Iron Mine town."
"Here—an iron smelter and ironware factory, forming a specialized industrial settlement."
"Over here, limestone hills. Cement factory. Adjacent paper mill."
Then she circled everything with a wide arc.
"Together," she said, "they form a metropolitan ring."
Qiu Qianfan stared, his mind racing.
Gao Yiye continued, voice steady. "Puzhou City itself will no longer require traditional walls. If enemies attack, they will be engaged at whichever township they approach. Until they break through the outer ring, they will never reach the core."
"These townships will defend the city."
"And protect the farmland within."
She looked up and smiled faintly.
"Therefore—walls are unnecessary."
Qiu Qianfan's eyes widened until they nearly popped.
"This… this is…"
He had no word for it.
This wasn't town planning.
This was re-drawing an entire prefecture.
He shook his head slowly. "Magnificent—but dangerous. Such dispersed settlements would be difficult to defend if a large bandit force attacked."
"As for defense," Gao Yiye replied, "General Xing Honglang will oversee it."
Qiu Qianfan laughed hollowly. "How could I not worry? Even imperial armies can't stop these bandits."
"She will," Gao Yiye said simply. "Have faith."
He bit back his retort.
Faith doesn't stop arrows, he thought—but he kept it to himself.
Gao Yiye's voice softened.
"Prefect Qiu, Puzhou is called the 'Center of All Under Heaven.' Its population is more than three times that of surrounding regions. Hundreds of thousands are starving under this drought."
She met his gaze.
"If we don't build large enough to employ them, they will join the bandits."
"And that," she said quietly, "is when your real troubles begin."
Qiu Qianfan stiffened.
Then he exhaled slowly, deeply.
"…You're right," he said at last. "It's better to fear that we build too small than too large."
He straightened.
"Very well. Build as you see fit. Puzhou will follow this plan."
The blueprint fluttered softly in the morning breeze.
And the city's fate shifted with it.