200: Chapter 200 You're smart, but that's all you've seen!

"Is it your His Majesty the First Emperor?"

Jin Xishan keenly sensed that the unusual actions of the Great Qin people were inseparable from His Majesty the Head of State.

"His Majesty the Head of State is not His Majesty the First Emperor."

After Lu Jia spoke, he watched his subordinates re-weigh a bag of wool and recorded its weight.

"His Majesty the Head of State is my lord."

After finishing his work, he said with a look of reverence, "My lord's inventions have era-defining significance."

Once Lu Jia mentioned his lord, he became more talkative.

"Compared to bamboo slips, this Paper is much cheaper and more convenient to carry."

"The content of a hundred catties of bamboo slips can be recorded on less than a catty of Paper."

Lu Jia lamented, "With Paper, it has become much easier for us scholars to read books."

"My lord also used this Paper to create Newspapers, which publish a large amount of news from Xianyang City."

Listening to Lu Jia's narration, Jin Xishan's heart grew curious about that unfamiliar His Majesty the Head of State.

She also became curious about the distant Xianyang City.

"Lord."

"If we collect any more wool, we won't be able to transport it."

Cao Jiacheng came to find Lu Jia and said.

"Mhm."

Lu Jia nodded and said, "Then we will transport this batch of wool back first."

He took out an Abacus, and after a round of calculation, determined the weight of this batch of wool to be five thousand catties.

Jin Xishan's gaze fell upon the Abacus in Lu Jia's hand; it was another thing she had never seen before.

Jin Tu was also curiously looking at the Abacus, guessing it was a tool for calculation.

He was amazed by how fast this thing could calculate.

The entries in the ledger were dizzying to look at, yet Lu Jia could easily calculate the total using this beaded tool, leaving him somewhat stunned.

"Lord Lu."

"What is this calculation tool in your hand called?"

Not only were Jin Tu and Jin Xishan curious, but Cao Jiacheng was also incredibly curious about the Abacus in Lu Jia's hand.

For businessmen like them, a tool like the Abacus was much more useful than Counting Rods.

Cao Jiacheng could see that the calculation speed using Counting Rods was clearly not as efficient as using the Abacus!

"Abacus."

"This is a mathematical tool invented by His Majesty the Head of State, capable of performing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division."

"The Abacus in my hand can calculate up to a hundred million!"

Lu Jia gave Cao Jiacheng a brief introduction to the Abacus.

"What!"

Cao Jiacheng was greatly shocked.

"A divine tool!"

"This Abacus is truly a divine tool!"

Cao Jiacheng's eyes lit up as he stared at the Abacus in Lu Jia's hand.

The larger the business, the more numbers there were to calculate, and Counting Rods were often difficult for very large numbers.

In the pre-Qin period, there was no scratch Paper, and the cost of writing calculation formulas on silk or cloth was too high.

They usually spread sand on the ground to perform calculations.

Once the calculation was done, they would use a scraper to smooth out the marks on the sand surface so they could calculate again.

This was very inconvenient.

This Abacus only required moving the beads to calculate values, and it could even reach the unit of a hundred million.

Such a calculation tool wasn't just convenient; it was frightening!

"The invention of this Abacus is absolutely the greatest invention!"

"That His Majesty the Head of State could invent the Abacus is simply incredible!"

Cao Jiacheng had never admired someone so much.

"My lord is far more formidable than you can imagine!"

Lu Jia said, "Do you know what my lord intends to do by collecting so much wool?"

"Is it to use profit to win over the Xiongnu Tribes?"

Cao Jiacheng voiced his guess.

"You are not stupid."

Lu Jia smiled, "However, you've only seen this much."

"Huh?"

Before Cao Jiacheng could feel happy, his expression stiffened.

In his view, this was entirely something Zhao Fusu did to buy off the Xiongnu Tribes.

Lu Jia smiled as he watched Cao Jiacheng's reaction.

Actually, Cao Jiacheng's statement wasn't wrong; his lord indeed wanted to buy off the Xiongnu Tribes for his own use.

Otherwise, when purchasing wool, he could have completely made the Xiongnu people exchange a hundred catties of wool for one catty of grain.

Lu Jia believed the Xiongnu people would certainly be willing to make that trade.

In Xiongnu, a wool coat was like a motorized vehicle; it could be passed down for several generations.

The Xiongnu people ate mutton every day, and after slaughtering sheep, most of them just threw the wool away.

Wool, which was like trash in their eyes, would still be a bargain even at a hundred-to-one exchange rate for grain.

His lord set the rate at five catties of wool for one catty of grain; this was a benefit his lord gave to the Xiongnu Tribes to buy their loyalty.

The spiritual totem of the Xiongnu people was the wolf.

Their character was similar to that of a wolf.

A wolf is incredibly fierce when it cannot eat its fill.

But once it is full, its gaze becomes clear.

They understood the difference between one full meal and being full every meal.

Lu Jia believed that with the benefits his lord provided to the Xiongnu people, more and more small tribes that originally relied on the Xiongnu Royal Court would surely surrender to his lord.

After Cao Jiacheng's caravan loaded the wool onto wheelbarrows, they began to laboriously push them toward the territory of Great Qin.

Jin Xishan frowned as she watched their strenuous and slow pace.

She walked up to Jin Tu and suggested, "Father, why don't we send some slaves to lead horses and deliver the wool to Great Qin?"

"That way, we can also see sooner what these Great Qin people are really up to."

"Very well!"

Jin Xishan's suggestion was approved by Jin Tu.

Jin Tu also saw that these people were truly serious about collecting wool; otherwise, they wouldn't need to record the weight of every bag.

He had already lowered much of his guard.

In any case, he was sending slaves to deliver the goods; even if these slaves were killed, he wouldn't feel any heartache.

With horses to carry the load, the return journey of Cao Jiacheng's caravan was significantly faster.

With Zhao Fusu's instructions, they didn't need to take the small paths through high mountains and deep valleys but could enter Great Qin territory openly through the checkpoints, making the journey much faster.

When Zhao Fusu saw the five thousand catties of wool brought back, he was very satisfied.

This wool was enough to make five thousand woolen garments.

He immediately arranged for laborers to transport these five thousand catties of wool back to Xianyang first.

After taking a thousand catties of grain, Cao Jiacheng's caravan headed back toward the location of the Tuan Tribe.

This time, Lu Jia did not go to the Tuan Tribe but instead reported his experiences there to Zhao Fusu.

Zhao Fusu admired Lu Jia's courage; to be able to remain composed while entering an enemy camp surrounded by foes, it was no wonder this man could historically persuade Zhao Tuo to surrender to the Great Han twice.