78: Chapter 78 Holy crap! The First Emperor's throne is gone!

"Sir, you were once the most outstanding warrior before the King of Han. It would be a great pity if such talent were to remain dormant in this sleeping forest."

"Speak. What do you want? Don't make me repeat myself."

Han Qiudao's voice was cold.

Zhang Liang said, "There is only one king in the world today. On the surface it is Hu Hai, but in reality, the true king is Prince Fusu."

"This man is an emperor without equal. He has only just begun his path to hegemony, yet he has already made my path of resisting Qin impossible to follow."

"I desperately need an outstanding talent like you, Sir, to eliminate him!"

"Fine!"

Han Qiudao agreed.

"Thank you, Sir."

Zhang Liang was overjoyed to hear this.

Han Qiudao did not look at him. Instead, he raised his head, watching a gust of wind blow through the trees, making the leaves rustle loudly. He spoke, "The wind is rising; it is time for Qin to fall!"

Xianyang City

Zhao Fusu had Li Si notify the members of the National Assembly to convene a meeting.

"Deputy General Pang, go and notify the military officers to attend the meeting."

Zhao Fusu had major matters to announce to the civil and military officials at this meeting.

After setting the time for the meeting, Zhao Fusu began arranging for soldiers to set up the conference site within Xianyang Palace.

The carpenters at the woodworking workshop had already finished making the oversized conference table.

Its length reached a staggering twelve meters, allowing forty people to be seated!

This was primarily for the key members of the National Assembly, the Legislative Yuan, and the Judiciary Yuan.

Zhao Fusu directed the workers to move the massive conference table into the main hall of Xianyang Palace.

He had originally intended to place the conference table in the center of the hall.

However, when he saw the high platform in the main hall—specifically, the massive throne where the First Emperor used to sit—he couldn't look away.

He wasn't looking at the throne, but at the high platform itself.

Besides allowing the First Emperor to look down upon his ministers from a position of superiority, this platform served another purpose: sound amplification.

That's right, this high platform had a sound amplification function.

It was only after Zhao Fusu questioned the artisans who built the platform that he learned nine massive vats were arranged in a V-shape inside it.

The vats served to both collect and amplify sound, acting as both microphones and speakers.

Consequently, sitting on the high platform not only allowed the First Emperor's voice to be clearly transmitted to the ears of the civil and military officials in the hall, but their voices could also be clearly transmitted to the First Emperor.

Zhao Fusu had the First Emperor's throne removed, cleared away some decorations on the left and right, and placed the large conference table there.

He arranged for rows of desks and chairs to be set up below the high platform for the other civil and military officials to sit during the meeting.

Zhao Fusu also ordered the Cloth Workshop to produce long red tablecloths to cover the tables.

At every seat, Zhao Fusu had nameplates and water cups placed, all arranged neatly. It looked very formal at a glance.

Given the limited conditions, this was the best Zhao Fusu could do.

Once the Great Qin Empire became wealthy and developed, he would build a proper auditorium for meetings.

As the meeting time approached, civil and military officials began arriving at Xianyang Palace one after another.

"This!"

When they saw the layout inside Xianyang Palace, their eyes widened in shock.

Wait, was this still the Xianyang Palace they knew?!

How had it turned into this!

They looked up again.

Holy crap!

Quite a few elderly officials lost their footing and nearly fell flat on their backsides.

"His Majesty the First Emperor's throne is gone!"

Since the First Emperor ascended the throne, he had always sat there to hold court.

The First Emperor's father's father's father's father's father's father...

They had all sat on that throne to hold court.

But now, that throne had actually vanished, replaced by a massive conference table and chairs.

The elderly officials were terrified and, at the same time, extremely uncomfortable with the change.

Next, they looked at the tables and chairs arranged in Xianyang Palace.

Ever since Zhao Fusu had single-handedly won the debate against the scholars in front of Xianyang Palace, the high-backed chairs he sat on had become all the rage throughout Xianyang City.

Besides being comfortable, sitting in a high-backed chair had become a symbol of wisdom.

Nobles would sit in high-backed chairs, waving folding fans, feeling as though they too could win a debate against a crowd of scholars.

It could be said that after Zhao Fusu's debate, he hadn't just made high-backed chairs popular; he had also popularized folding fans.

Nowadays, many flashy young noble sons in Xianyang City carried a folding fan. Especially when ladies were present, they would fan themselves incessantly, showing off their literary flair.

"One petal, two petals, three or four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or more, flying into the thicket, seen nevermore..."

When the civil and military officials saw the high-backed chairs in Xianyang Palace, with their intellect, it wasn't hard to guess that these were for them to sit on.

Sure enough, they saw nameplates placed on the tables covered with red cloth.

On the nameplates, their official titles and names were written on pieces of Paper.

"What is this!"

They looked at the Paper attached to the nameplates with immense curiosity.

Not all of the civil and military officials knew that Paper had been invented.

After all, Zhao Fusu had not yet begun selling Paper.

Usually, the civil and military officials didn't all gather together unless there was something important, like today's meeting.

They watched how the ink appeared so naturally on the Paper, which indicated that the Paper had extremely strong absorption.

And it was so white and smooth!

Their fingers brushed across the white Paper, enjoying the silky smoothness!

This tactile sensation was wonderful!

They absolutely loved this Paper.

If this could be used for writing, it would definitely be more comfortable than writing on bamboo slips, and much easier to carry.

"This is Paper, invented by His Majesty the Head of State!"

An official replied.

Li Si and Feng Quji had both purchased quite a bit of Paper from Zhao Fusu, and they had also given some to their subordinates.

Therefore, not all officials were ignorant of Paper.

"Paper!"

"Invented by His Majesty the Head of State."

When the civil and military officials learned that Zhao Fusu could also invent something as revolutionary as Paper, they were filled with admiration for him.

Not just the civil officials, but even the military Generals could see the extraordinary nature of Paper.

Not all military Generals were illiterate.

Of those who could become a General, which one wasn't well-versed in military texts?

The appearance of Paper was absolutely epoch-making.

It greatly improved the convenience of writing and record-keeping.

A rare look of excitement appeared on the face of General Wang Jian, the highest military commander of the Great Qin Empire.

He was about the same age as Li Si, both entering their twilight years.

Their wishes had become quite similar: they wanted to pass down their own schools of thought.

General Wang Jian likewise wanted to write down his lifelong experience in warfare and compile it into a book for future generations.

The advent of Paper not only made it convenient for him to write his book but also made it easier to promote his teachings.

Since Paper was invented by Zhao Fusu, General Wang Jian thought about asking him for some.

Time passed minute by minute, and only as the meeting was about to begin did Zhao Fusu finally make his appearance.