10: Chapter 10: Is kneeling all it takes to get this over with? More money is needed!

"Welcome, Young Master Fusu."

When Zhao Fusu walked to the front of Xianyang Palace, three thousand Imperial Guards were all kneeling before the palace, welcoming Zhao Fusu.

"Young Master Fusu."

Arriving before Xianyang Palace were Li Si, Left Chancellor Feng Quji, grand marshal Wei Liao, and even General Wang Jian had come.

Behind them followed the Qin Army.

This wasn't the Qin Army they had brought; rather, they had insisted on leaving their estates. To prevent them from escaping, the Centurion had specifically ordered a Shi Zhang to lead ten Qin soldiers to follow Li Si, Feng Quji, Wei Liao, and General Wang Jian almost every step of the way.

At this moment, how could General Wang Jian still look like his usual drowsy self at court?

A sharp light exploded in his eyes.

He was also greatly surprised that Zhao Fusu could mobilize the two hundred thousand troops from Inside the Pass.

The two hundred thousand troops Inside the Pass only took orders from the First Emperor alone; he didn't know what methods Fusu had used to make the Guanzhong Army obey him.

But one thing was certain: when Zhao Fusu mobilized the two hundred thousand troops from Inside the Pass, Guanzhong was already under his control.

General Wang Jian had always thought he had seen through Zhao Fusu, but this move Zhao Fusu made was something he couldn't have even dreamed of.

Left Chancellor Feng Quji stroked his long, grizzled beard, looking at Zhao Fusu with satisfaction.

He had never been satisfied with Hu Hai becoming the Crown Prince in the first place.

Seeing Hu Hai's disastrous performance at court had left him utterly speechless.

Compared to Hu Hai, he still preferred Fusu to succeed and ascend the throne.

Wei Liao didn't speak, but instead watched the now unfamiliar Fusu intently.

*Thud.*

A dull sound rang out.

"Your servant, Li Si, pays respects to Young Master Fusu."

Li Si prostrated himself immediately.

"What is the Chancellor doing?"

Zhao Fusu's voice said coldly.

"Your servant is guilty,"

Li Si said.

Although Zhao Fusu was a prince of the Great Qin Empire, in terms of power and status, he was far inferior to Li Si.

When he met Li Si, Li Si greeting him with a cupped-fist salute was already showing him great respect.

Li Si didn't even have to kneel when seeing Qin Shi Huang.

But now he was kneeling to him; Li Si was apologizing for the matter of forging the imperial decree.

However, just by kneeling, this matter is over?!

In your dreams!

If he hadn't awakened the system, then to save his life, he would have had to disband the million farmers on the spot. Then, he would have had to use those million farmers as a shield to cover his escape to the south.

This requires extra payment!

After he launched the coup and created the political conditions suitable for an industrial revolution, promoting industrialization in Great Qin would require a massive amount of capital.

What kind of capitalist is a capitalist without capital!

"One thousand gold."

Zhao Fusu walked to Li Si's front, looking down at him from a height.

Even though Li Si was the second-in-command of the Great Qin Empire and the head of all civil and military officials, even Feng Quji, the Left Chancellor, did not have as much power as him.

Ordinary people would have already been trembling in front of a grand figure like Li Si, not daring to look him in the eye.

But Zhao Fusu was a modern person from over two thousand years in the future, while Li Si was an ancient person from 212 BC.

He stood on the shoulders of everyone throughout two thousand years of long history.

He stood high enough.

His vision transcended the limitations of the Qin Dynasty.

He was qualified to look down on Li Si!

*Hiss!*

General Wang Jian, Feng Quji, and Wei Liao, including Li Si himself, all sucked in a breath of cold air.

They had never imagined that Zhao Fusu could completely suppress Li Si in terms of presence.

*Gulp!*

Li Si swallowed hard; even when facing the First Emperor, he had never felt such immense pressure.

He felt as if a giant had crossed the long river of history, looking down at him from a higher dimension of history, across time.

Li Si originally felt some resentment in his heart.

But under the pressure of this powerful presence, Li Si's head bowed deeply.

Beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on his forehead.

"Your servant accepts the punishment!"

Li Si said without the slightest hesitation.

One gold equals sixteen taels, one tael equals four zi, which equals twenty-four zhu, and one zhu equals twenty-four coins.

One gold equals 9,216 coins, and one coin is roughly equivalent to 20 yuan today.

A thousand gold—that's one billion, eight hundred and forty-three million, two hundred thousand!

Zhao Fusu nodded with satisfaction.

"Rise."

Zhao Fusu also helped Li Si up.

"Thank you, Young Master Fusu!"

Li Si said gratefully.

"General General Wang Jian!"

"Chancellor Feng!"

"grand marshal Wei!"

Zhao Fusu greeted General Wang Jian, Feng Quji, and Wei Liao with a cupped-fist salute.

Dressed in white, he was elegant and poised, full of the air of a gentleman.

"Young Master Fusu."

General Wang Jian, Feng Quji, and Wei Liao all returned the greeting.

"Grandfather."

Wang Xia walked to General Wang Jian's side.

"What are you doing here joining in the commotion!"

General Wang Jian glared at her.

"Wherever my husband goes, I go!"

Wang Xia responded with a smile.

General Wang Jian stopped speaking.

He understood in his heart that Zhao Fusu bringing Wang Xia along was to make him stand firmly on Zhao Fusu's side.

Although General Wang Jian did not currently hold military power, his influence among the nobility of the Great Qin Empire was not small.

Zhao Fusu walked toward Xianyang Palace.

Xianyang Palace was the center of power for the Great Qin Empire, standing atop a platform over ten meters high.

To go up, one had to walk up the long steps of the platform, step by step.

General Wang Jian, Feng Quji, Wei Liao, Li Si, and Wang Xia all followed behind Zhao Fusu.

*Creak, creak, creak...*

The ancient and heavy sound of the palace doors echoed.

Under the combined push of a dozen Imperial Guards, the ancient doors of Xianyang Palace opened to both sides.

Zhao Fusu looked at Wang Xia, and under her shy gaze, he took her hand and stepped into Xianyang Palace.

At this moment, the 'Entrepreneurship March' should be playing...

Misty waves, river banks, fishing boats...

Tonight, the lights are dimming...

I am still, as if in a dream...

Smiling as I watch the world change like flowing water...

The beauty sighs, sighing endlessly at the bitterness of yearning...

"Eunuch Xiao Weizi."

Zhao Fusu called over the decree-passing eunuch of the palace.

"Young Master Fusu."

Xiao Weizi bowed his body before Zhao Fusu, incredibly humble.

"Arrange for people to pass an imperial decree to the civil and military officials, telling them to come to Xianyang Palace."

Zhao Fusu arranged.

"Yes."

Xiao Weizi quickly agreed.

During this time, Zhao Fusu, with a heart full of curiosity and reverence, went to the rear hall of Xianyang Palace.

That was precisely the hall where the First Emperor's coffin was laid.

*Sob, sob, sob...*

The First Emperor's concubines were weeping.

They weren't truly crying for the First Emperor's death.

They were crying for their own fate.

Although during the reign of Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, the Qin Dynasty implemented a series of progressive reforms and measures, regarding funerary sacrifices, there are no definitive historical records showing that he officially decreed the abolition of this cruel system.

From archaeological findings, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang contains a large number of Terracotta Warriors as burial objects. These Terracotta Warriors replaced living people with clay figurines, reflecting to some extent a weakening of the custom of using real people for sacrifice. However, after the First Emperor died, Qin Er Shi, Hu Hai, ordered many of the First Emperor's childless concubines to be buried with him.

The fate of these concubines was to accompany the First Emperor in death.

Is the First Emperor really dead?!

Zhao Fusu looked at that Large Bronze Coffin, his heart heavy.

Regarding this fascinating ancestor, he still felt it was a great pity that he couldn't truly meet him once.

With a thud, he knelt down.

Wang Xia knelt by his side.

They kowtowed three times to this Large Bronze Coffin.

...

An hour later, under the escort of the Qin Army, the civil and military officials entered Xianyang Palace.

They stood in order according to the sequence of the morning court.