259: Chapter 259 What kind of person are you? Shang Ziling's curiosity

Zhao Fusu's Paper, whether office Paper, draft Paper, or toilet Paper, was popular throughout the Great Qin.

What amazed Shang Ziling the most was the Magic Box Napkins.

Through a clever design, the napkins could remain in a suspended state, making them convenient for the next use.

Shang Ziling couldn't help but marvel that the His Majesty the Head of State of Great Qin was even better at doing business than her, the leader of the Merchant School.

This was very interesting.

The First Emperor hated merchants the most and implemented policies to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce across the Six Lands. Under the First Emperor's suppression, their Merchant School was in a state of fragmentation, on the verge of disbanding at any moment.

Shang Ziling felt that she would be the last leader of the Merchant School.

Once she died, the Merchant School would likely disband completely.

From then on, merchants would each fight their own battles.

What she hadn't expected was that His Majesty the Head of State, who had seized power to ascend, placed such great importance on commerce.

He took the lead in doing business, making life much better for the Merchant School.

However, the competitive pressure on their Merchant School was still very high.

The core technology was all in Zhao Fusu's hands, and it was inconvenient for them to obtain goods.

The best way was to get the technology, but Zhao Fusu had already made preparations.

Anyone who revealed the core technology would face a capital offense, punishable by immediate execution.

Whether it was the person selling the technology or the one buying it, both committed a capital offense.

Unless Zhao Fusu himself was willing to share the technology.

Zhao Fusu used high-pressure tactics to build technological barriers.

Lacking a source of goods and not being in a position to get the first pick, Shang Ziling could only engage in the grain trade and the restaurant business.

Shang Ziling thought Zhao Fusu would stop there.

To her surprise, Zhao Fusu kept churning out new products.

For example, Newspapers.

Shang Ziling saw a World Map.

She saw Great Qin, and further west of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions was her mother's homeland.

This made Shang Ziling really want to visit her mother's homeland.

The appearance of the steam thresher and steam rotary tiller allowed Shang Ziling to see a huge business opportunity; if she could secure a source of goods, it would surely be a turning point for the development of their Merchant School.

Shang Ziling sent people to Xianyang to place a large order. Unluckily, as soon as the war between Great Qin and the Xiongnu broke out, the production lines for the steam thresher and steam rotary tiller were stopped; as military production lines, they were now producing artillery shells and bullet casings.

While Shang Ziling was waiting for the steam thresher and steam rotary tiller to resume production, Zhao Fusu proposed the First Great Qin King of Fighters Championship, which was highly commercialized.

Shang Ziling's mood was incredibly complex as she watched this.

She felt that Zhao Fusu was more suited to be the leader of the Merchant School than she was, even though she had been taught business methods personally by her grandfather and father since childhood.

But compared to Zhao Fusu, she wasn't even fit to carry his shoes!

"Just what kind of person are you?"

Shang Ziling took out a poster; who else could the man on it wearing a Wool Sweater be but Zhao Fusu?

Currently, besides Paper and glass products, the only thing she could stock was this Wool Sweater.

Shang Ziling heard that His Majesty the Head of State had obtained a large amount of wool from the Xiongnu.

After the wool was transported back to Xianyang, Wool Sweater factories opened one after another in Xianyang.

Only then did a large number of Wool Sweaters manage to spread out from Inside the Pass.

The people Shang Ziling sent also managed to acquire quite a few Wool Sweaters.

Shang Ziling touched the Wool Sweater she was wearing; she still found it hard to believe that such a finely crafted purple Wool Sweater only cost thirty coins!

Even if it were sold for three hundred coins, Shang Ziling would still think it was cheap.

She couldn't for the life of her imagine that this Wool Sweater only cost thirty coins!

Shang Ziling sold this Wool Sweater for one hundred coins.

Yet it was still in short supply and very popular.

Shang Ziling originally thought that Zhao Fusu's ability to create these products was already heaven-defying enough.

She never expected that Zhao Fusu's business mind could be terrifying to such an extent.

By hosting the King of Fighters Championship, he generated a massive amount of traffic, making merchants like them invest money for promotion.

He even collected ticket fees, setting different prices based on the proximity to the arena.

It was the first time Shang Ziling had seen business done this way.

Shang Ziling also heard that Zhao Fusu had established a Bank where one could earn interest by depositing money.

Many nobles had deposited their money into Zhao Fusu's Bank.

This move was equivalent to gathering the wealth of the entire Great Qin.

"What a terrifying man!"

Shang Ziling had a very keen vision.

By pooling the nobles' wealth together, if the nobles wanted to rebel in the future and needed money, they would have to withdraw it from Zhao Fusu.

If Zhao Fusu knew these nobles were planning to rebel, would he give them the money to rebel against him?

Certainly not; he would just find an excuse to seize all the money from those rebellious nobles.

Shang Ziling couldn't imagine how someone could be so incredible.

If Zhao Fusu knew she admired him so much, he would only say it was all thanks to his cheats.

Shang Ziling was pondering how to ride the popularity of the King of Fighters Championship to gain profits.

Teaching Boxing techniques to those fighters who wanted to learn?

Shang Ziling felt this wasn't impossible.

Recruiting fighters who had achieved certain results in Boxing matches to be instructors, and using their names to enroll students for profit.

The more Shang Ziling thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

The Chu Region War Zone King of Fighters Championship was drawing nearer by the day, and a large number of people entered Shouchun, making the inn business in Shouchun boom.

Shang Ziling rented several stalls at the Boxing match venue.

Besides selling alcohol, she also sold tea, Magic Box Napkins, and toilet Paper.

On the day of the Chu Region War Zone King of Fighters Championship, a large number of people entered the match site through the entrance after purchasing tickets.

The place was quite large, but it was incomparable to modern match venues.

It was just an open space outside the city, leveled out, with walls built around it and sentries on guard.

One could only enter through the entrance after buying a ticket.

In the center of the open space was a rammed earth platform, which served as the arena. The raised design allowed people nearby and far away to see the fighters competing on the arena.

There were elastic ropes around the arena, mainly made of ox tendons tied to wooden railings.

People gradually took their seats with their tickets in hand.

Those who could reach the top ten in the Commandery trials were all skilled.

They all had some martial arts skills, so their fights had clear offense and defense, making many ticket-holders shout in excitement.

The people coming to see the Boxing matches were relatively well-off, mostly nobles and landlords.

The seat numbers they bought were also relatively close to the front.

The main event they were most looking forward to was the fight between Fan Kuai and Xiang Yu!