Chapter 62: It was this old man who miscalculated!

Bai Shao's ring-pommel saber.

It was an exquisite blade bestowed by His Majesty himself, forged from the finest materials.

Ever since it came into his possession, it had been invincible, cutting down enemies as easily as slicing melons and vegetables, possessing extraordinary sharpness.

Yet today...

Not only was Bai Shao dumbfounded, but Wang Ruonan, who had just finished handling some official business and rushed over to supervise Fusu's martial arts practice, was also frozen in place.

She had happened to witness this exact scene.

Looking at the ring-pommel saber snapped cleanly in half, Wang Ruonan found it somewhat unacceptable for a moment.

She also owned a ring-pommel saber of this kind. It was said that there were no more than a hundred such weapons in the entire Great Qin, forged by the nation's top blacksmith masters using rare metals collected from all over the world by the First Emperor of Qin.

Yet now, it had been directly hacked in half by a steel saber with a rather bizarre appearance.

This...

Wang Ruonan immediately walked over, circled around the steel saber in Bai Shao's hand, and asked, "What kind of saber is this?"

"How can it be so sturdy and sharp?"

Not entirely sure himself, Bai Shao looked toward Fusu and asked, "Your Highness, this saber..."

Without the slightest hint of surprise, Fusu said, "A defective product, nothing to make a fuss about!"

"It's merely an experimental piece."

"True fine steel has not yet been successfully forged; otherwise, the Type 38 rifle would have already been built!"

"With steel of this quality, I'd even worry about the breech exploding if I tried to make a traditional matchlock gun."

Bai Shao was completely bewildered by these words.

What did that mean?

What on earth was a Type 38 rifle?

And what was a matchlock gun?

Wang Ruonan reached out to touch the blade, but Bai Shao immediately pulled it back and said, "Since Your Highness says this is just a defective product..."

"And since this subordinate currently lacks a sidearm, might I have this saber..."

"Take it, it's yours!" Fusu waved his hand without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing this, Wang Ruonan withdrew her hand and said, "Then manufacture one for me as well!"

"No!" Fusu immediately shook his head.

Wang Ruonan instantly glared at him, looking somewhat displeased.

Fusu quickly added, "Those alchemists are quite skilled at concocting pills and conducting scientific research, but having them do blacksmith work simply won't work!"

"It just so happens that I should officially take up my post as the Director of the Palace Workshop, and I've been thinking of finding a few master blacksmiths."

"By then, we will definitely be able to forge even better steel."

"At that time, I will personally customize a weapon for you as a gift for our engagement."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruonan nodded with a look of modest satisfaction.

Suddenly.

The expression on Wang Ruonan's face turned stern as she abruptly lunged forward to grab Fusu.

Almost instinctively, Fusu sidestepped and dodged the move.

Forming her right hand into a fist, Wang Ruonan fiercely struck toward Fusu's chest.

Anticipating that he would dodge, she transitioned her technique with extraordinary swiftness.

Fusu stamped heavily on the ground, retreating rapidly backward.

Instantly, he pulled himself out of Wang Ruonan's attacking range.

Looking at Fusu in utter astonishment, Wang Ruonan said, "You've made quite a bit of progress these past few days!"

With a smile, Fusu replied, "Of course!"

"I've been exercising every day for the past two months without daring to slack off in the slightest!"

"Besides, the guards of the estate often spar with me, so my skills are decent, aren't they?"

Wang Ruonan nodded and said, "I pondered over those training methods of yours when I got back; they are indeed quite good!"

"However, I only used ten percent of my strength just now, you know!" Saying this, the corners of Wang Ruonan's lips curved upward slightly.

The smile on Fusu's face instantly froze. Ten percent strength???

Damn it all.

Ten percent strength was enough to force him into such a wretched state of dodging; if she were to use her full power...

Fusu dared not imagine what kind of terrifying scene that would be.

No wonder that old fox Wang Jian regarded Wang Ruonan as the apple of his eye and treasured her beyond compare.

In the past, the old fellow used to boast that although their Wang family was a lineage of military generals, no one could compare to his granddaughter when it came to talent in martial arts.

Fusu suspected that life after marriage might genuinely feature a strong wife and a weak husband...

Damn it!

Fusu felt somewhat discouraged.

Wang Ruonan walked over, patted Fusu on the shoulder, and said, "Your breathing and circulation just now didn't seem to come from the secret manual I gave you."

"It looked quite methodical!"

Treating it lightly, Fusu replied directly, "If you like it, I'll teach you!"

Wang Ruonan curled her lip and said, "You, teaching me!"

Speechless, Fusu turned around and walked away, saying, "If there's nothing else, I'm off to work."

With that, Fusu selected five or six sturdy young men and headed straight out.

Watching Fusu's departing figure, Wang Ruonan smiled and said, "I never expected him to progress so quickly!"

...

Inside the offices of the Palace Workshop.

Zhang Han had been organizing the financial assets confiscated by Fusu over the past few days, and the more he sorted through them, the more he felt the numbers did not quite add up.

This had given Zhang Han quite a headache recently.

In the end, he had no choice but to summon several Senior Secretaries to come and help reconcile and audit the accounts.

Finally.

After the audit was completed, they discovered that the inventory provided by Fusu genuinely did not match the confiscated wealth.

This drove Zhang Han to distraction.

Although accomplished in both civil and military affairs, his strengths leaned more toward martial matters. Now, facing a massive pile of seal script calculations, he felt as though he had one head and two swollen brains.

Just as he was worrying, Fusu walked in and saluted Zhang Han, saying, "Greetings, Lord Director of the Palace Workshop!"

Hastily standing up, Zhang Han respectfully returned the salute and said, "Your Highness, please do not mock this humble official. Please come in, Your Highness, and take a seat inside."

Glancing at Zhang Han, Fusu noticed his furrowed brow.

With a smile, he asked, "Has the Director encountered some difficult problem?"

Inwardly, Zhang Han wanted to curse. Wasn't all of this caused by you? It was one thing to confiscate the Zhou family's property, but why did you have to ransack several other families as well?

Even that wasn't the worst of it.

The crucial point was that because of this stunt of yours, the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers had all started handing over their lands and even half of their family fortunes.

While the wealth from each individual household wasn't massive, the sheer volume made it exceptionally difficult to calculate.

Especially using seal script to compute these figures—not only was it tedious and complex, but it also consumed an immense amount of time.

Furthermore.

Food was being distributed across the entire country, and the wealth obtained from these confiscations, along with the funds donated by various officials, all needed to be consolidated, broken down in detail, and then spent accordingly.

If there were even the slightest discrepancy and sharp-eyed individuals discovered it, Zhang Han would undoubtedly face impeachment.

And the position he had just acquired would be seized by someone else.

Zhang Han understood that the current political situation at court was delicate, and he did not wish to side with Li Si's faction.

Therefore, he could only diligently perform his duties and let His Majesty know that he remained loyal to Great Qin.

Seeing the troubled look on Zhang Han's face without receiving an answer, Fusu did not press the matter further.

Just as he was about to check on his own workshop for engineered arts, a Senior Secretary suddenly cried out, "It's calculated!"

"It's calculated!"

Holding a sheet covered in densely packed seal script, the Senior Secretary pointed to the contents and said, "The assets seized by His Highness Fusu match his records completely."

"Not only do they match, but there is actually quite a bit more!"

Fusu was startled: "More???"

That's impossible!

Fusu had calculated several times using his own methods; how could there be more?

Any excess had long since been stashed away into his spatial warehouse.

Glancing briefly at the densely packed seal script, Fusu felt a headache coming on and said, "Where is the inventory we submitted?"

"Bring it here and let me take a look."

Zhang Han pulled out several sheets of paper and said, "The inventory you submitted looks like something drawn by ghosts!"

"It's completely incomprehensible!"

Fusu looked at the inventory he had instructed his men to write, which listed the quantity of virtually every item.

Moreover, they were all written in Arabic numerals, appearing extremely concise and neat.

A single glance was enough for Fusu to understand the misunderstanding: Zhang Han and the others simply couldn't read them!

With a smile, Fusu said, "Lord Director, you are somewhat lacking in exposure when it comes to this."

"Come, this Prince will teach you."

"It's exceptionally easy; you'll learn it as soon as you see it!"

"Once you've mastered it, your computational efficiency will increase dramatically, and you'll even be able to handle much more complex mathematics."

As he spoke, Fusu wrote down the ten digits in seal script and paired them with the corresponding Arabic numerals.

Initially dizzy and disoriented by the symbols, Zhang Han widened his eyes once Fusu mapped out the correspondence one by one.

This...

If one followed this method—

Zhang Han immediately picked up the inventory provided by Fusu again, matched them one by one, and sure enough, he could instantly discern the quantity and weight of every single item.

Then.

Zhang Han pulled out the calculation list just compiled by the Senior Secretary.

Suddenly.

Pointing to several differing places across the two lists, Zhang Han said, "Here, here, and here—recalculate all of these!"

The elderly Senior Secretary, likely accustomed to managing documents and possessing abundant experience, simply picked up a writing brush and recalculated the figures on paper.

Only then did a look of shame appear on his face as he said, "Lord Director, this old official calculated incorrectly; His Highness's inventory is correct."

Consequently.

The old secretary recalculated everything using the numbers provided by Fusu, and his eyes involuntarily lit up.

Fusu knew that Great Qin already possessed the nine-nine multiplication table; once Arabic numerals were introduced, they grasped them instantly.

Such calculations proved far simpler and lighter.

Looking at the numbers on the paper with hands trembling with excitement, the old secretary suddenly shed tears of old age, bowed deeply to Fusu, and said, "Your Highness, did you invent this?"

Shaking his head, Fusu replied, "No, I accidentally came across it in a record from another country. Finding it practical, I simply adopted it."

The old secretary's eyes brightened as he asked, "Do you recall the name of this book, Your Highness? This old man would like to read it as well."

"I burned it!" Fusu spouted nonsense.

A look of mild regret crossed the old secretary's face, though he sighed and said, "The seal script of our Great Qin is far too complex, and tabulating various numbers is simply too tedious."

"This old man shall draft a memorial to inform His Majesty and have this writing system promoted universally!"

Hearing this, Fusu promptly reminded him, "Don't write that I told you!"

"This Prince still wishes to enjoy a few days of peace!"

A bitter smile appeared on the old secretary's face.

Seemingly recalling something else, Fusu said, "I see that you are still calculating everything by hand. You should send someone to any shop of the Sunan Paper Industry to purchase a few abacuses and bring them back."

"By the way, have them teach you how to use them. Calculating things in the future will be much faster with an abacus."

"It saves far too much trouble compared to this method."