65: Chapter 65 Xia'er, as your father—no, as your husband—I have something to discuss with you.

Clatter, clatter...

The beads of the Abacus collided, producing a crisp sound.

Zhao Fusu took out an Abacus; this was an Abacus he had commissioned the carpenters at the Woodwork Workshop to make for him.

As soon as the Abacus appeared, it immediately drew the eyes of all the prospective bank personnel.

They all looked curiously at the Abacus in Zhao Fusu's hands.

They were all curious about what this thing was, as it looked so unique.

Zhao Fusu began to introduce the Abacus to them.

"This is called an Abacus. As the name suggests, it is used for calculations."

"Our bank's interest rates are generally quite small, involving calculations to two or even three decimal places."

"Therefore, this Abacus in my hand can calculate up to four decimal places."

Zhao Fusu began to teach them mathematics.

"These four positions, from smallest to largest, are Hao, Li, Fen, and Jiao."

"Then, above the decimal point, there are ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions, and hundred millions."

"In other words, this Abacus in my hand can calculate up to the unit of hundred millions!"

All the prospective bank personnel listened with amazement.

Zhao Fusu added, "The Abacus serves as a register, facilitating calculation. The main calculation steps actually still take place in the mind."

"This Abacus is equivalent to writing calculation formulas on scratch paper."

"Theoretically, as long as the Abacus is long enough, it can calculate extremely long numbers."

"For example, a seventeen-column Abacus can calculate seventeen-digit numbers!"

"Hiss!"

Everyone's expression changed.

A seventeen-digit number!

Just how huge of a number was that!

After introducing the Abacus, Zhao Fusu introduced Mental Abacus to them.

This Mental Abacus is the fastest mental calculation method in the world.

Huaxia contestants in world speed calculation competitions basically all use Mental Abacus.

Zhao Fusu began to teach these people Mental Abacus.

Just like the multiplication table, Mental Abacus also has a set of formulas.

In the Mental Abacus addition formulas, there are 'lower-five addition', 'carry-ten addition', and 'remove-five-carry-ten addition'.

In the subtraction formulas, there are 'non-carrying addition and subtraction', 'carrying subtraction', 'direct subtraction', 'break-five subtraction', and 'direct borrow-ten subtraction'.

Abacus division includes 'return-division' and 'quotient division'.

Abacus multiplication has two main calculation sequences: 'front-multiplication' and 'back-multiplication', with various specific calculation methods under each sequence.

Mental Abacus is very complex.

Zhao Fusu didn't expect to be able to teach them all at once.

These people could still use Counting Rods for calculations.

Given the current economic situation of the Great Qin Empire, even if the bank opens, there won't be many customers coming to deposit money.

The numbers these people need to calculate aren't that large either.

Counting Rods are sufficient to handle it.

Once the numbers they need to calculate increase, they will also be able to master Mental Abacus proficiently.

In any case, Zhao Fusu decided to make as much time as possible to teach them Mental Abacus and examine their ability to use the Abacus.

After dark, Zhao Fusu returned to Xianyang Palace.

"Husband."

Wang Xia looked at Zhao Fusu resentfully.

"Xiaer."

Zhao Fusu embraced Wang Xia.

To push forward the Great Qin's first industrial revolution as quickly as possible, he had been running around like a spinning top and felt he owed Wang Xia somewhat.

To strengthen their relationship, they not only had dinner together.

Zhao Fusu also planned to work with Wang Xia after dinner to create the first edition of the Great Qin Newspaper.

After dinner, Zhao Fusu looked at Wang Xia with a smile and said, "Xiaer, look at what your father—cough, your husband—has created."

Zhao Fusu clapped his hands, and eunuchs brought up the paper, Toilet Paper, and Facial Tissues that Zhao Fusu had brought back.

Zhao Fusu opened a pack of Facial Tissues and pulled out a sheet.

As he pulled the paper, it dragged the next sheet out from the opening.

Then, he pulled out another sheet, and another one followed in the same way.

"How magical!"

Wang Xia was like a curious baby, her large, watery eyes blinking as she kept pulling at the tissues.

Every time she pulled out one sheet, it would bring out the next.

She was having a great time.

Zhao Fusu, however, just shook his head at the sight.

How lacking in entertainment was the Qin Dynasty for a pack of Facial Tissues to be this much fun?

"Husband, did you also make paper that can be written on?"

Wang Xia clung to Zhao Fusu like a koala.

"Yes."

Zhao Fusu gave Wang Xia a stack of A4 paper.

Wang Xia's delicate hands trembled slightly as she took the stack of A4 paper.

Her fingers greedily stroked the surface of the paper.

During this time, she had served as the Chief Legislator of the Legislative Yuan, flipping through a large number of bamboo slips containing the qin law.

If the qin law were written into books using paper, that massive pile of qin law bamboo slips could be consolidated into a single book.

For law enforcement personnel, it would also become much easier to look up legal provisions.

"Husband, you're amazing."

Wang Xia loved Zhao Fusu to death.

The corners of Zhao Fusu's mouth curled up wildly; nothing made him happier than being praised by his own wife.

"Xiaer, as your father—no, as your husband—I have something to discuss with you."

Zhao Fusu's tongue slipped, almost making the same mistake twice by saying 'as your father' instead of 'as your husband'.

"What is it?"

Wang Xia was curious.

"It's like this."

Zhao Fusu said, "As the head of the Legislative Yuan, you should also listen to the voices of the people, right?"

"Living in the palace for so long, you can't hear the voices from among the people."

Hearing this, Wang Xia frowned slightly and said, "Husband, do you mean you want Xiaer to go among the people to listen to them?"

"No."

Zhao Fusu said, "I mean you can publish the public's opinions on the qin law in the Newspaper and have them send their concentrated suggestions to the Newspaper Office.

"You can just send someone to the Newspaper Office to collect the people's written opinions."

"Newspaper?"

"What's that?"

Wang Xia had never heard of a Newspaper, nor did she have any concept of one.

Zhao Fusu said, "A Newspaper is a publication issued regularly to the public, primarily featuring recent major news events and current affairs commentary."

"With a Newspaper, even in the most remote areas, people can learn about national affairs through it."

"Many people are not aware of the qin law; we can also use the Newspaper to popularize the qin law to the public."

"I see!"

Wang Xia nodded.

"Husband."

Wang Xia asked again, "Is this paper expensive?"

"The production cost is not expensive."

Zhao Fusu said, "Therefore, Newspapers can be issued in large quantities; it's just that we don't have Movable Type Printing yet."

"Movable Type Printing?"

Zhao Fusu's words had once again entered Wang Xia's blind spot of knowledge.

Zhao Fusu held Wang Xia and explained to her, "The method of Movable Type Printing is to first create reverse relief character molds for individual characters, then select the characters according to the manuscript, arrange them in a tray, apply ink for printing, and after printing, remove the character molds to be kept for reuse in the next printing."

Wang Xia was an extremely intelligent woman; her beautiful eyes lit up as she said, "It's similar to stamping!"