Chapter 63: You Regard This Piece of Junk as a Treasured Blade?

The old minister's eyes lit up once more, and he asked curiously, "Abacus?"

"Just a tool to assist with calculations, exceptionally practical!" Fusu replied as he turned to walk outside.

Zhang Han hurried to catch up and said, "Your Highness, are you heading to the Directorate for Palace Armament?"

"Let's go. I happen to have nothing better to do, so let's go together!"

Fusu glanced at the towering stack of accounts on the desk. When he first walked in, Zhang Han had certainly not been idle; on the contrary, he was up to his ears in work.

What was the meaning of this?

Could it be that after seeing a glimpse of his capability, this fellow had suddenly developed a new level of respect for him?

Truth be told, Fusu had guessed correctly.

Ever since Fusu proposed the system of commanderies and provinces and invented paper, Zhang Han had been paying closer and closer attention to this imperial prince.

In particular, he knew that Zhao Gao and Huhai had deliberately promoted him simply to cultivate their own loyal confidants.

Yet, after observing and interacting with them over the past few years, Zhang Han realized that if those two were ever allowed to truly seize supreme power, the disaster would not be limited to Xianyang City alone.

Likely, the entire Qin Empire would be ruined!

Consequently, over the past year, Zhang Han had gradually distanced himself from those factions and begun dedicating himself wholeheartedly to serving His Majesty.

In his eyes, as long as he could make some contribution to Qin, he would have no regrets, even if he were eventually squeezed out of the imperial court.

Just as he was wondering how best to offer his contributions, Fusu's proposals coincided precisely with his own thoughts!

"Your Highness, if you leave the nobility no path to survive like this, once they seize upon your vulnerabilities, it might lead to a severe crisis!" Zhang Han walked ahead to lead the way, offering a cautious reminder in a low voice.

Fusu cast a few more looks at the man, smiled, and said, "Does the Minister of the Central Palace also know that this matter is fraught with danger?"

Zhang Han felt speechless inwardly. *It's not just me.*

Probably anyone with eyes could see that while Fusu currently appeared glorious and held the upper hand, once his enemies grabbed his Achilles' heel, he would be doomed beyond redemption.

Zhang Han kindly advised, "Everything should be done step by step. Why won't Your Highness proceed gradually..."

Fusu let out a cold laugh. "Proceed gradually!"

"What a wonderful phrase—*proceed gradually*!"

"Sigh!"

"Does the Minister know how many people in our Qin Empire work themselves to death in a single day, and how many freeze or starve to death?"

Zhang Han fell silent.

Fusu paused his steps, looked deeply at Zhang Han, and said, "It is not that your humble servant wishes to be more cautious, but I fear that if I proceed gradually and constantly look backward out of hesitation, I will lose this fierce and progressive drive for reform!"

"The moment I feel the resistance is too great, that nothing can be accomplished, or even harbor the slightest selfish desire and begin to seek comfort and leisure..."

"Our Qin Empire will truly be finished!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Han stood frozen in place. He said nothing more, nor did he offer any further persuasion.

He did not even utter a single formulaic phrase expressing his loyalty.

At that very moment, Zhang Han truly acknowledged Fusu from the bottom of his heart. Hearing those heartfelt words stirred deep emotions within him.

Your Highness!

This humble subject will stand by your side until death...

Zhang Han thought to himself inwardly!

...

The Estate of the Marquis of Wucheng.

It had completely broken away from its usual state of keeping the main gates firmly shut.

Instead, all the gates were thrown wide open. The pedestrians passing by were mostly managers of various bookstores within Xianyang City.

Naturally, there were also merchants hailing from all corners of the country.

Inside an accounting room, Huayang's slender and well-proportioned fingers, resembling tender spring leeks, danced swiftly and deftly across the abacus, tapping out a rhythmic sound.

With one hand operating the abacus, she held an ink brush in the other to record figures.

Suddenly, her fingers paused. She instantly knitted her brows, looked toward the estate's steward, and said, "Uncle Wang, the sales figures for several of these commanderies are not right. They are far too high."

"Go and investigate what is going on."

Hearing this, Uncle Wang immediately reported, "Your Highness, someone is buying up the paper in those commanderies at high prices!"

"As soon as the shipments arrive, they are completely bought out."

"Afterward, the people who purchased the paper resell it at three times the price, and some even sell it at ten times or more."

"They are attempting to monopolize the paper trade in those regions."

"Later on, after our people went to issue a warning, these individuals reined it in somewhat and expressed a willingness to split half of their profits with us!"

"Given that, we left them alone!"

Hearing this, Huayang furrowed her brows even deeper.

She turned her gaze toward Wang Li in the courtyard and called out, "Li'er, come over here for a moment!"

Wang Li had been in the middle of physical training. Hearing Huayang's summons, he hurried over and asked, "Grandmother, what is it?"

Huayang quickly jotted down several location names on a piece of parchment and said, "Send some men from our escort agency to check things out and find out what is truly happening."

Wang Li glanced at the names and replied without even thinking, "It must be the local noble clans!"

"Only they have the ability and influence to drive up prices like this."

Huayang nodded, continuing to write as she spoke, "Then have a few palace guards accompany the escorts."

"Kill a batch, co-opt a batch. This kind of thing must not happen again!"

Hearing this, Wang Li nodded immediately. "I will go make the arrangements right away!"

Huayang turned her head, glanced at Uncle Wang, and said, "Younger Brother mentioned that several manors belonging to the Zhou family have become vacant, and His Majesty has not yet sent anyone to repossess them."

"Have someone manage this, buy them out, expand our operations, and build a few more paper mills!"

"In addition, you must pay strict attention to wastewater discharge to minimize environmental pollution. Remember this clearly!"

After Uncle Wang departed, Huayang nibbled on the end of her brush and pondered for a moment longer.

Her gaze drifted to the latest planning document sent by Fusu, which clearly bore the words "Soap Factory."

It was probably time to get started on soap production.

As Huayang was thinking this, the voice of Wang Ruonan drifted in from outside: "Bishao, stop being so stingy!"

"If my father finds out, he will certainly scold you!"

Bishao hugged his steel saber to his chest and chuckled, "Young Lady, please do not compete with me for this. His Highness said he will forge an even better one for you!"

"Why are you always eyeing mine?"

Huayang rose and walked out just as Wang Ruonan entered. She smiled and asked, "Weren't you going to look for my younger brother?"

"Why are you back so soon?"

Wang Ruonan bowed to Huayang and replied, "Grandmother, that fellow Fusu went to take up his post under the Minister of the Central Palace. Seeing that he had so many matters to attend to, I didn't bring it up with him!"

Huayang nodded. "We can discuss it when I see him next. Preparations for your engagement should also begin ahead of time."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruonan still felt a sense of reluctance.

To her dismay, the day had still arrived.

Originally, their engagement should have been finalized long ago, but various recent events had forced it to be postponed repeatedly.

At that moment, Wang Ben happened to walk in. Seeing the stream of people coming and going through his courtyard, though displeased, he dared not voice any complaints.

He could only drop veiled hints and say, "Quite lively, aren't we?"

The moment Bishao spotted Wang Ben, he hurried over and said, "Milord, this subordinate has obtained a precious saber!"

"Yet the Young Lady insists on taking what others cherish. I had no other choice, so I came to you for justice!"

Wang Ben glanced at Bishao, raised his foot, and gave him a kick. "What precious saber?"

"That you treasure it like this!"

Wang Ben was already somewhat out of sorts, and upon hearing Bishao's words, he immediately vented his frustration on him.

Sensing that things were taking a bad turn, Bishao prepared to flee.

However, Wang Ben kicked him a couple more times. With no other option, Bishao handed over the steel saber and said, "Milord, look, this is the precious saber."

Examining the uniquely shaped steel saber, Wang Ben frowned and said, "You consider this piece of junk a precious saber?"

"Someone, bring me my ring-pommel saber!"

A personal guard immediately stepped forward and handed a ring-pommel saber to Wang Ben.

Bishao hastily advised, "Milord, don't! This subordinate's..."

"Father, don't..." Wang Ruonan also chimed in anxiously.

Yet Wang Ben raised his ring-pommel saber and brought it down hard against the steel saber. The two blades collided with a crash.

*Clang!*

A blinding spray of sparks erupted from the weapons.

And then, Wang Ben watched in utter astonishment as a massive notch appeared on his own ring-pommel saber.

In contrast, the uniquely shaped steel saber only bore a tiny nick. A comparison of the damage on both blades instantly revealed their respective qualities.

Wang Ben felt a sharp pang of heartache. His ring-pommel saber was among the finest blades meticulously forged by His Majesty out of one hundred and eight ring-pommel sabers.

Yet, upon clashing with this steel saber, it had suffered such a massive notch.

Throughout his military career fighting battles, Wang Ben had never encountered a weapon that could remain undamaged under his blade.

That was why he had rashly engaged in a direct blade-to-blade clash.

The outcome of that clash, however, made him regret it so deeply his bowels turned green.

As Wang Ben stood there cradling his damaged ring-pommel saber in utter dismay, Bishao clutched his own chest, equally heartbroken.

He felt like cursing aloud!

*Damn it, damn it, damn it!*

*I finally managed to get my hands on a fine saber, but the two of you—father and daughter—first the daughter tries to snatch it from me, and now the father goes and notches it!*

The hatred burning in Bishao's heart was palpable!

He snatched the steel saber back from Wang Ben's hands, cupped his fists with a stern face, and said, "Milord, this subordinate takes his leave!"

With those words, a furious Bishao strode away.

Wang Ben opened his mouth as if to say something, but he lacked the face to do so.

In the end, he could only sigh helplessly and mutter, "Someone, see if my precious saber can be repaired!"

Little did Wang Ben know that Wang Jian, who had just finished inspecting the factories with his pockets stuffed full of silver coins that jingled noisily with every step he took, had witnessed the entire scene.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

He knew the exact quality of Wang Ben's ring-pommel saber inside and out!

Back in the day, had Wang Jian not earned immense military merits and begged His Majesty for seven days and seven nights until His Majesty grew weary of it, that top-tier ring-pommel saber would never have been bestowed upon Wang Ben.

Furthermore, throughout the entire realm, there were only nine swords of this caliber in total!

How could today...

Wang Jian thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, yet that glaring notch clearly indicated that his ring-pommel saber was indeed inferior to the steel blade he had just witnessed.

"Nan'er!" Wang Jian called out.

Wang Ben heard his father's shout, but chose to ignore him.

He had already abandoned the notion of having anyone attempt repairs.

Ordinary blacksmiths were utterly incapable of fixing such a blade. Unless he sought out Fu Ju, but even if that old eccentric agreed to take action, his fees were exorbitant, and dealing with him required catering to his mood.

Even His Majesty would not easily ask that man to act unless it was an absolute emergency.

It was simply too difficult.

Therefore, Wang Ben's heart ached profusely!

As Wang Ben continued to cradle his ring-pommel saber with a heartbroken expression, Wang Ruonan, unsure of how to comfort him, heard her grandfather calling her and hurried over. "Grandfather, what is it?"

Wang Jian pointed toward the departing figure of Bishao and asked, "Whose craftsmanship is that saber?"