125: Chapter 125 It's time to open the bank!

Facing such a terrifying and unfathomable enemy, Zhang Liang felt a deep sense of despair.

As long as Zhao Fusu lived, he saw no hope of overthrowing the Qin state.

On the contrary, under Zhao Fusu's leadership, the Qin state was becoming increasingly prosperous.

This meant that his hope of overthrowing the Qin state was becoming more and more remote.

Zhang Liang only felt a stifling tightness in his chest.

At the same time, a warm current surged uncontrollably from within his body, wanting to spray out.

Zhang Liang tried to suppress it, but ultimately he could not.

"Pfft!"

Zhang Liang opened his mouth and sprayed out a literal arrow of blood.

In the main tent of the Xianyang garrison, Zhao Fusu learned through interrogating the heavily wounded assassins that those who attacked him were remnants of the Mohist School and an assassin organization hired by Zhang Liang.

"Zhang Liang!"

Zhao Fusu's expression was grave; he hadn't expected to be targeted by the Sage of Strategy, Zhang Liang.

It seemed he would have to be even more cautious when traveling in the future.

The formation of the Ministry of State Security was also urgent.

Since there was no suitable person to lead the Ministry of State Security, he could only take charge of it himself.

Zhao Fusu selected a thousand clever soldiers from the army, taught them various disguise techniques, and then dispatched them to blend in with the common people and become his eyes and ears.

"His Majesty the Head of State!"

After Zhao Fusu returned to Xianyang Palace, Li Si, Feng Quji, Feng Jie, Meng Yi, General Wang Jian, and Wang Xia all came to find him, looking at him with worried faces.

News of the attack on Zhao Fusu had also reached their ears.

"I'm fine."

Zhao Fusu looked at Feng Jie and asked, "How is the summary of the grain harvest across the regions Inside the Pass coming along?"

"The summary is complete,"

Feng Jie replied. "The total for all types of grain is 3.2 billion jin."

Hearing this, Zhao Fusu took out an Abacus and began calculating.

3.2 billion jin of grain was enough to feed 5.92 million people for a year.

The population Inside the Pass was two million.

In other words, besides feeding the population Inside the Pass, the grain production could support an additional 3.92 million people!

Even if grain had to be sent to the 1.3 million people in Shangjun, there was still more than enough.

The previous shortage of grain Inside the Pass was actually a distribution problem.

Large amounts of grain were held in the hands of landlords and nobles, resulting in the common people at the bottom having no food.

Zhao Fusu knew that in addition to opening up the grain trade, grain taxes had to be lowered to better distribute the food.

Before the bird droppings from the Indian South Continent were shipped back, increasing grain production would rely on developing new farmland.

Zhao Fusu spread out a map and looked toward the Hetao Plain.

The Hetao Plain could be developed into over 9.6 million mu of farmland.

Even if each mu only produced two hundred jin of grain per year, that would be 1.9 billion jin of grain, which could feed another 3.55 million people!

Zhao Fusu decided to develop the Hetao Plain on a large scale as his next step.

Besides needing a large amount of heavy agricultural machinery, he also had to deal with the Xiongnu people.

Zhao Fusu also had an idea on how to deal with the Xiongnu.

He didn't intend to slaughter all the Xiongnu.

Wiping them out served no purpose.

If the Xiongnu were gone, there would be the Turks; if the Turks were gone, there would be the Mongolians.

The reason the steppe people of ancient times headed south was that they couldn't grow grain on the steppes.

The Xiongnu's primary goal in heading south was mostly for food.

Zhao Fusu calculated.

Assuming the Xiongnu numbered two million, once the Hetao Plain was developed, the grain production there would be enough to feed them.

Zhao Fusu looked at the items he had obtained from his check-ins over the past week.

"One Steam Spinning Jenny."

"Manufacturing blueprints for various types of spinning machines."

"One Steam Textile Machine."

"Manufacturing blueprints for the Steam Textile Machine."

"Introduction to the dairy industry."

"Detailed explanation of Pasteurization."

"Detailed explanation of milk powder production."

Looking at the items from the check-ins, Zhao Fusu had new ideas in his mind.

He could use grain to trade with the Xiongnu for wool and milk.

The wool could be processed with the Spinning Jenny into wool ingots, and then the wool thread could be used with the Steam Textile Machine to weave cloth and produce wool sweaters.

In ancient times, the weather was much colder than in modern times.

When winter came, a vast number of people could freeze to death.

Wool sweaters had excellent heat retention.

Many nobles would surely want to buy them.

The wool sweaters he produced could be sold not only to the nobles of Great Qin but also to the Xiongnu nobles.

Milk could also be sold for money.

Especially with Pasteurization, it could be stored for a long time and transported over long distances.

The Xiongnu would make money, and he would make money too.

Once he had money, he could invest in agricultural machinery to improve agricultural productivity.

He could also build an ocean-going fleet to bring back bird droppings from the Indian South Continent to increase grain yields by improving soil fertility.

To realize this strategic policy, he had to beat the Xiongnu into submission and make them fear war.

Next, he would produce revolvers on a large scale.

The frontline combat units would use revolvers!

In addition, striker shotguns would also be put into production.

The striker shotgun used a drum magazine for feeding and could fire twelve rounds of large-caliber buckshot in succession.

He would produce at least three thousand striker shotguns as weapons for the three thousand Iron Pagoda.

In a head-on collision, swords might not be able to hack through them, but the striker shotguns in their hands could wipe out large swaths of Xiongnu cavalry, riders and horses alike.

Even if the Xiongnu cavalry wanted to play at horse archery with them, each of his light cavalrymen would be equipped with two revolvers.

No matter how fast the Xiongnu shot their arrows, they couldn't keep up with the firing speed of two revolvers.

revolvers and striker shotguns were just small-scale tools.

Before starting the battle, he would use meiliangxin cannons to hurl explosive packs; regardless of whether they hit anyone, the earth-shattering explosions would first spook the Xiongnu's warhorses.

Zhao Fusu set aside a large area in the Industrial Zone and built a munitions factory.

At the same time, he purchased large quantities of sulfur and saltpeter from the market.

Zhao Fusu's massive military preparations soon left his funds stretched thin.

"It's time for the bank to open for business!"

Zhao Fusu was out of money; a trump card he had been arranging for a long time was finally going to be put to use.

The Great Qin Empire Bank was located right next to the Great Qin Empire Paper Shop, and the nobles all knew of its existence.

After the Great Qin Empire Bank opened, many nobles came to watch the spectacle.

Qin An was originally a centurion.

Due to his excellent arithmetic skills, he was selected by Zhao Fusu to be the Governor of the Great Qin Empire Bank.

On the day the Great Qin Empire Bank officially opened, he sent invitations to all the major nobles in Xianyang City.

This included Li Si and Feng Quji.

With these two premiers of the National Assembly coming to the Great Qin Empire Bank, how could the other officials of the National Assembly dare not come?