87: Chapter 87 Zhao Fusu: I said, I will support those three million corvée laborers!

"Those three million corvée laborers, I'll provide for them!"

"What!"

"What did you say!"

"Your Majesty, listen to what you're saying!"

When Zhao Fusu said those words, Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie all went crazy.

They all looked at Zhao Fusu with faces full of disbelief.

"I said, those, three, million, corvée, labor, I'll, provide, for, them!"

Fearing that Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie were getting on in years and their ears were failing them, Zhao Fusu popped the words out of his mouth one by one.

No!

Upon seeing Zhao Fusu's disdainful gaze, the expressions of Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie became unsettled again.

Even though they were all over seventy, which was definitely considered a long life in the Qin Dynasty where the average lifespan was only about thirty.

Normally, in the Qin Dynasty, it was very rare to live to fifty.

In the Qin Dynasty, if anyone could live to fifty, they would hold a birthday celebration.

At sixty, another celebration was held.

At seventy, yet another birthday celebration.

Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie had each held three birthday celebrations.

To say they were the longevity stars of the Great Qin Empire would not be an exaggeration.

Yet, their bodies were still very healthy.

Their hearing was still very sharp; they certainly couldn't have misheard what Zhao Fusu was saying, and they didn't need him to speak to them one word at a time.

"His Majesty the Head of State, you must realize, that's three million corvée laborers!"

Li Si said to Zhao Fusu with a serious face, "They can eat a lot; each one can devour an entire ox in a single meal!"

"Your Majesty, you want to be responsible for three million corvée laborers who can each eat an ox!"

"Do you know how much they can eat!"

"Indeed!"

Feng Quji said to Zhao Fusu with a solemn expression, "Your Majesty, that's three million corvée laborers, not thirty thousand, not three thousand, and certainly not three hundred—it's a full three million!"

"The consumption of these people is terrifying."

"Mhm."

Li Si nodded in agreement.

They didn't even dare to calculate how much grain supply these three million corvée laborers would consume in a day.

They were old, after all, and feared that knowing the truth would give them high blood pressure.

"I know."

Zhao Fusu's expression remained incredibly calm as he said, "You also know that I am quite the little expert at arithmetic."

Zhao Fusu's math wasn't actually that great; he had only scored 140 on his college entrance exam math section.

But to calculate how many catties of grain three million corvée laborers needed to consume every day, he just used Mental Abacus in his mind—without even needing an actual abacus—and the data was calculated.

"Each person can eat 2.4 catties of grain a day, which is a total of 7.2 million catties of grain per day."

"Currently, the price of grain is one thousand coins per dan. One dan in the Qin Dynasty is one hundred and twenty catties, so the price of the grain consumed would be sixty million coins."

Wait, Your Majesty, you're actually serious.

Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie couldn't help but widen their eyes when they saw Zhao Fusu calculate the amount of grain—and even the grain price—needed for three million corvée laborers every day as if he were reciting family treasures.

The fact that Zhao Fusu knew so clearly the specific daily grain consumption for three million laborers meant he wasn't ignorant, nor was he acting on impulse, and he certainly wasn't just speaking out of anger.

Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie had originally thought Zhao Fusu was intentionally speaking out of spite.

But seeing him accurately state the daily consumption of three million laborers, they knew he wasn't speaking in anger; he really intended to support three million corvée laborers by his own power alone!

But where was His Majesty the Head of State going to get so much grain!

This was what Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie found incomprehensible.

If he wasn't getting it through taxes, could it be that His Majesty intended to rely on buying it all?

Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie all couldn't help but shake their heads.

What a joke; His Majesty had already calculated that it would cost sixty million coins a day.

How much money would that be!

That would be 1.8 billion coins a month!

Did His Majesty have that much money!

Even if he went to rob the treasuries of the Six Kingdoms' royal families, he probably wouldn't be able to rob that much money.

Besides, the treasuries of the Six Kingdoms had long since been looted by their Great Qin.

Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie all frowned.

If His Majesty didn't have that much money, how was he supposed to purchase so much grain from the landlords?

Their puzzled gazes turned toward Zhao Fusu, all wanting to know where he would get so much money from.

"The wool comes from the sheep's back."

Zhao Fusu said indifferently.

He pulled a folding fan from his robe.

With a snap, Zhao Fusu opened the folding fan and fanned himself gently.

This wasn't Zhao Fusu trying to act cool.

It was just that the weather was truly getting hotter and hotter.

And he was wearing quite a lot of clothes.

So, it was indeed a bit hot, and he needed some air.

But in the eyes of Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie, it was not so.

At this moment, Zhao Fusu seemed like the incarnation of wisdom.

As Li Si looked at the folding fan in Zhao Fusu's hand, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He said excitedly, "Your Majesty, do you intend to sell paper?"

"Exactly!"

Zhao Fusu struck a pose like Master Ip, pointing his finger at Li Si and saying, "Prime Minister Li Si, not bad!"

This Li Si was indeed exceptionally brilliant!

After glancing at Li Si's bright, balding forehead, Zhao Fusu couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

Li Si saw that he had guessed correctly.

A smile also appeared on his face.

To receive recognition from His Majesty the Head of State made him feel immensely honored.

Feng Quji looked at Li Si; no wonder he used to be the Right Chancellor while he himself could only be the Left Chancellor. Now he was the main premier while he was only the Deputy Premier.

Li Si's brain was indeed more useful than his and turned faster too.

Of course, the one he admired most was still His Majesty; he had actually managed to invent paper that felt as smooth as grease and was incredibly delicate.

Every day, he would play with the paper, unable to put it down, writing on the white paper with a brush, releasing his ink freely.

Whenever he saw the ink spread across the paper, he felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart.

Writing on paper with a brush was completely different from writing on bamboo slips, whether in terms of the experience or the artistic feel.

Writing on paper was a cross-dimensional crushing of writing on bamboo slips!

Paper could also be used for painting.

Nowadays, all the civil and military officials loved paper. With those above setting the example, the nobles and landlords would only love paper more and want to obtain it even more.

If you don't give paper as a gift, let me ask you, do you still want to sell fish!

"Prime Minister Li Si, eat some roast chicken!"

"A-ha?"

Zhao Fusu's words made Li Si's eyes widen.

The expressions of Feng Quji and Feng Jie also became quite strange.