37: Chapter 37 Even Young Master Fusu is nothing special.

"Fuhrer."

Li Si and Feng Quji entered Zhao Fusu's office within the Forging Workshop.

"Please, sit."

Zhao Fusu gestured for Li Si and Feng Quji to take a seat.

Li Si and Feng Quji looked at the High-backed chairs with quite a bit of surprise.

This was the first time they had ever seen such furniture.

They sat down and, following Zhao Fusu's example, leaned their backs against the backrests of the chairs.

Refreshing!

That was the only thought in their minds.

"Fuhrer, where can one buy these chairs?"

Li Si and Feng Quji were both men of advanced age.

Having to kneel and sit while working every day often left their legs unable to support them.

After experiencing the comfort of the High-backed chairs, they didn't want to go back to their hard lives anymore.

Zhao Fusu smiled and said, "If the two premiers like them, I will send someone to deliver High-backed chairs to your residences later."

"If these chairs are fitted with cushions made of cotton wadding, they will be even softer to sit on."

"However, one must not sit for long periods, as it easily leads to hemorrhoids."

"Yes, Fuhrer."

Li Si and Feng Quji both nodded in response.

"I wonder, is there a particular reason the two premiers have come to see me together?"

Zhao Fusu asked.

Li Si and Feng Quji were the most brilliant political minds of this era; for them to come to him together, there must be a major issue that was difficult to decide.

Li Si and Feng Quji glanced at each other, neither of them speaking immediately.

"premiers, do not worry; feel free to speak your minds."

"I will not take offense."

Zhao Fusu saw through Li Si and Feng Quji's hesitation at a glance.

"Fuhrer, the situation is as follows."

Li Si said, "The price of grain in Xianyang City is constantly rising."

"A dan of grain has already risen to two thousand coins."

"How much did you say?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fusu couldn't stay seated and stood up abruptly.

Two thousand coins for a dan of grain—that's six hundred and sixty-six coins per jin. Such a high grain price was beyond his imagination.

At this rate, the Remnants of the Six States wouldn't even need to incite them; the common people at the bottom of the Great Qin Empire who couldn't afford grain would already want to rise up in rebellion.

Food is the first necessity of the people.

Zhao Fusu was desperately trying to secure grain precisely so the people of the Great Qin Empire could eat their fill.

But now, not only were the people of the Great Qin Empire unable to eat their fill, but their lives were becoming increasingly worse.

Zhao Fusu's face was as dark as water.

If the common people at the bottom of the Great Qin Empire couldn't even fill their bellies, any talk of starting an industrial revolution in the Great Qin Empire was absolute nonsense.

It didn't matter how much the people had praised his previous actions.

Abolishing corvée labor and letting the laborers eat their fill were good deeds that benefited the people.

But for the grain price to rise from the already ridiculous height of one thousand six hundred coins per dan to two thousand coins per dan...

Didn't that mean that after he took power, things had become even worse than under the First Emperor?

The people of Xianyang would only curse him to death and wish they could kill him.

This was not what Zhao Fusu wanted to see.

"How did this happen?"

After composing himself, Zhao Fusu asked Li Si and Feng Quji.

Li Si and Feng Quji looked at each other, their faces once again showing expressions of hesitation.

"premiers, please do not have any reservations."

Hearing Zhao Fusu say this again, Feng Quji steeled himself. Disregarding the risk of offending Zhao Fusu, he spoke the reason for the crazy surge in grain prices in Xianyang City.

"Fuhrer, your leading the army into Xianyang City already caused the already high grain prices in the city to rise."

"Fortunately, the troops were withdrawn quickly, and you claimed it was just an act and not a real battle, so the grain price didn't rise much then."

"But Fuhrer, you allowed nearly two million corvée laborers to eat as much as they wanted, three meals a day. The rate of grain consumption has increased more than tenfold. Not only is there a shortage in the Xianyang grain depots, but the grain depots throughout Guanzhong are also scarce. The grain price in the entire Guanzhong region has reached two thousand coins per dan."

Feng Quji looked at Zhao Fusu helplessly.

During the wars to unify the six states, the grain reserves accumulated by Qin had been emptied.

In recent years, there have been continuous natural disasters and poor harvests, so the granaries of Qin were never filled to capacity.

By allowing the corvée laborers to have three meals a day and eat their fill every time, Zhao Fusu accelerated the consumption of grain in Qin's granaries. Naturally, the grain prices they set became higher and higher.

Zhao Fusu fell silent after hearing this.

The exhaustion of Great Qin was far more serious than he had imagined.

Just letting two million corvée laborers eat their fill—just plain food—was actually going to bankrupt Great Qin.

"Fuhrer."

Feng Quji said, "There are still more than two months until the autumn harvest. At the current rate of grain consumption, the grain price Inside the Pass will continue to rise."

"The pressure of supplying grain for two million laborers is too great. In my humble opinion, the policy of three meals a day and eating one's fill should be abolished."

"I concur."

Li Si nodded.

They had reached a consensus before coming to see Zhao Fusu.

"Fuhrer."

Li Si said, "I know you are benevolent, but even if you can support these laborers, what about the ordinary people? With grain prices remaining high, the commoners cannot afford food, and a large number of people will starve to death."

Zhao Fusu understood the underlying meaning of Li Si's words: only by letting these laborers eat a little less could more people be kept alive.

The thinking of Li Si and Feng Quji was similar to that of most people, but in Zhao Fusu's view, it was not the optimal solution.

"Fuhrer."

Looking at Zhao Fusu's expression, Li Si and Feng Quji knew that he did not want to abolish the policy.

"I understand your thoughts,"

Zhao Fusu said.

How could he not know the serious social problems brought about by excessively high grain prices?

The current absurdity of grain prices Inside the Pass was equivalent to a modern society where the price of rice was twenty thousand per jin, making it so that people could afford one meal but not the next.

The major grain depots Inside the Pass had to implement rationing every day.

With supply failing to meet demand, the grain price rose all the way up.

Two thousand three hundred coins per dan!

Two thousand six hundred coins per dan!

Three thousand coins per dan!

The degree of absurdity in the grain price caused the people to form long queues outside the grain depots as soon as the sky began to brighten.

Some people even began queuing outside the grain depots before it was even light.

Even more so, some never left the entrance of the grain depots at all.

They guarded the grain depots through the night, just hoping to buy some grain.

And even then, only wealthy families had the money to buy any.

Those who couldn't afford grain could only gnaw on tree bark.

Things that flew in the sky, swam in the water, burrowed in the earth, or moved in manure piles had long since been scavenged clean by those who couldn't afford grain.

They could only eat soil.

They were truly eating Guanyin Clay.

This Guanyin Clay was kaolin, the raw material Zhao Fusu used to make refractory bricks. In cases of extreme hunger, eating Guanyin Clay could temporarily alleviate the sensation of hunger.

However, Guanyin Clay cannot be digested or absorbed by the human body. If eaten in large quantities, it accumulates in the abdomen, leading to symptoms such as abdominal bloating, swelling of the limbs, and difficulty with bowel movements. One could even bloat to death from indigestion, and long-term consumption would endanger life due to malnutrition.

Grass roots and tree bark were the food of the common people who were hungry to the extreme.

"Young Master Fusu is no more than this."

A young man wearing cotton clothes, holding a volume of Taigong's Art of War in his hand, evaluated Zhao Fusu with a disdainful tone.