172: Chapter 172: Ten Thousand Revolver Soldiers Are Invincible!

Inside Xianyang Palace, Zhao Fusu was finalizing various matters regarding the military campaign against the Xiongnu.

He was a cautious man and disliked fighting unprepared battles.

With fifty to sixty thousand people working at full capacity, his munitions factory had produced a large amount of smokeless powder.

This smokeless powder was used to manufacture a vast quantity of revolver cartridges.

A large number of mortars were being produced at the Great Qin Empire Academy of Sciences.

The shells were sent to the munitions factory, where they were filled with smokeless powder, primers, and fuses, resulting in a full five tons of mortar shells.

At the same time, the nine million dan of grain that Zhao Fusu had purchased in bulk from the nobility had been stacked in the granaries.

The grain would be transported to Shangjun station by station via a relay of farmers.

Logistics must precede the movement of troops.

Back when Zhao Fusu first notified Meng Tian of the move against the Xiongnu, he had already transferred one hundred thousand laborers from the Lishan Mausoleum to transport grain.

He also ordered the five hundred thousand laborers producing armor at the Epang Palace factory to halt their work.

Over this period, they had cumulatively produced ten thousand sets of buren armor.

A single set of buren armor weighed sixty catties!

With such weight, it was naturally impossible to wear them while marching.

They would only be donned during combat.

Outside of combat, the ten thousand revolver infantrymen still wore leather armor.

He decided to draft fifty thousand men from those five hundred thousand laborers to transport the ten thousand sets of buren armor to Shangjun.

The ten thousand revolver infantry would travel with them to ensure the safety of the buren armor.

Each of these ten thousand revolver infantrymen was equipped with two revolvers and one hundred rounds of ammunition.

A steel saber was also standard equipment.

In this era of cold weapons, Zhao Fusu could only shout: ten thousand revolver infantrymen are invincible!

“His Majesty the Head of State, Xiao Weizi requests an audience.”

Deputy General Pang entered Zhao Fusu's study to announce the visitor.

“Let him in,” Zhao Fusu said.

Zhao Fusu said.

“Understood!”

Deputy General Pang cupped his fists, and after exiting the study, he let Xiao Weizi enter.

“His Majesty the Head of State!”

Xiao Weizi walked in softly, stopping a few paces away from Zhao Fusu. He bowed deeply with an incredibly respectful posture.

“Is there something the matter?”

Zhao Fusu inquired.

Xiao Weizi took a deep breath and said to Zhao Fusu with utmost respect, “Your Majesty, I have been so bold today as to recommend a great talent to you. This person's talent, especially his skill in persuasion, is comparable to Zhang Yi of the Warring States period. If he can be employed by Your Majesty, he will surely be of great benefit to Great Qin's hegemony.”

“I am willing to guarantee this with my own head!”

Zhao Fusu was slightly taken aback, then a smile touched the corners of his mouth as he teased, “Xiao Weizi, though you are usually clever, you aren't usually this impulsive.”

“Be honest, just how many benefits did you receive from them to work so tirelessly, even guaranteeing it with your own life?”

Xiao Weizi muttered, “Your Majesty is wise. I would not dare deceive you; I only received one thousand coins.”

“One thousand coins?”

Zhao Fusu was somewhat surprised. In his impression, while Xiao Weizi was a bit greedy, he wouldn't take such a risk for a mere thousand coins. This piqued his interest in the person Xiao Weizi was recommending.

He asked, “Who exactly is this person that makes you go to such lengths?”

Xiao Weizi said, “This man is eight feet tall, with a grand appearance that people find extraordinary.”

Zhao Fusu asked, “What is his name?”

Seeing Zhao Fusu's inquiry, Xiao Weizi hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, this man is called Lu Jia. He is overflowing with talent, and his art of persuasion is nothing short of miraculous.”

“In my village, he easily resolved a life-and-death feud between the Wu and Zhang families over a mill.”

“Lu Jia!”

Upon hearing the name 'Lu Jia', a light of pleasant surprise flashed in Zhao Fusu's eyes, and he couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh.

“Your Majesty, you know of Lu Jia?”

Now it was Xiao Weizi's turn to be bewildered.

How could Zhao Fusu not know Lu Jia? This man was Liu Bang's top lobbyist.

Twice Zhao Tuo had wanted to establish an independent kingdom, and both times he had been persuaded by Lu Jia to declare his allegiance to the Han Dynasty.

Having such a top-tier lobbyist come to seek him out was an absolute joy for Zhao Fusu.

Zhao Fusu was currently lacking in persuasive talent.

Especially since he was heading to the steppes next to conquer the Xiongnu.

He wasn't going there for genocide; he wanted the Xiongnu Tribes to join Great Qin.

Lu Jia's eloquence was so strong that he had made Zhao Tuo submit to the Han Dynasty twice.

With Lu Jia's allegiance, his confidence in conquering the Xiongnu grew even greater.

This was like wanting to sleep and having a pillow fall from the sky.

“Good, good, good!”

Zhao Fusu said in great delight, “Excellent, Xiao Weizi, you have recommended very well!”

Zhao Fusu patted Xiao Weizi's shoulder firmly.

His mood was truly excellent.

He hadn't expected the person Xiao Weizi recommended to be Lu Jia!

This was a top-tier lobbyist!

How could he not be happy when such a great talent came to join him!

Xiao Weizi was even more confused.

“Your Majesty, could it be that you already knew of the Lu Jia I was going to recommend?”

Xiao Weizi asked again.

“Indeed!”

Zhao Fusu said, “I have long heard of this Lu Jia; he is indeed a top-tier lobbyist of this age.”

“You have done very well in recommending such a great talent!”

Xiao Weizi quickly said, “To be able to help Your Majesty is the blessing of three lifetimes for me!”

“Mm!”

“You are as silver-tongued as ever.”

“However...”

Zhao Fusu said in a deep voice, “To have such a great talent come to us is also a blessing for Great Qin!”

“Bring him to see me.”

Zhao Fusu said, looking at Xiao Weizi.

“Understood!”

Xiao Weizi agreed.

On the way to bring Lu Jia into the palace, he constantly briefed Lu Jia on the various rules of the inner palace.

He also insisted that when meeting His Majesty the Head of State, he must be respectful, must not act arrogantly, and must not contradict His Majesty.

To Xiao Weizi's rambling, Lu Jia listened with one ear and let it out the other.

He was a man of strong opinions.

He was not good at flattery, nor did he deign to curry favor with others.

If he needed to speak out, he would speak out!

In history, the early Liu Bang was a local hoodlum who disliked reading, wandering around every day with his group of cronies and doing nothing. Therefore, he was not skilled at governing a country.

As for handling state affairs, he delegated everything to the Chancellor while he focused on leading troops in battle.

Lu Jia often advised him to read some Confucian classics.

“Books can teach people many principles and, of course, are of great benefit to governing a country.”

Since Liu Bang had always detested Confucianism, Lu Jia's insistence that he read it made him very unhappy.

Liu Bang cursed, “I am about to win the world from the back of a horse; what use is reading books!”

Lu Jia retorted, “Your Majesty won the world from horseback, but do you intend to govern the world from horseback as well?”

Although Lu Jia's words were disrespectful,

They were very logical, and they immediately made Liu Bang calm down.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Liu Bang had no words to retort with.