Chapter 291: Marquisship
Zhao Gao, who had just taken on the part-time job as the Imperial Chariot Officer, had been guarding the palace gate.

Today is the grand court meeting. He knew that Chang'an Jun was going to court, so he came specially and prepared a carriage that could travel in the palace.

He knew very well why his predecessor, Li Feng, the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, was deposed.

All the triggers came from touching Chang'an Jun's horse...

Although anyone with a discerning eye knows who did this.

In order to get a good start and to show his favor to Cheng Jiao, Zhao Gao got up very early, even earlier than Zhao Ji did now.

I waited before daybreak.

Among the officials attending the court, Zhao Gao spotted Cheng Jiao who was greeting them politely.

She walked to Cheng Jiao with the small steps unique to the palace.

"Changan Jun, the carriage is ready."

Zhao Gao said with a professional smile, even a little flattering.

He overheard from Gai Nie, the sword-fighting teacher of the King of Qin, that he was able to concurrently serve as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, and that it was Cheng Jiao who recommended him.

Therefore, Zhao Gao was now extremely grateful to Cheng Jiao.

He even felt embarrassed that he had cursed Cheng Jiao because of Zhao Ji.

But then again, why did he feel a little relieved from what Gai Nie said?

Could it be that the Minister of the Imperial Chariots was to blame?
Cheng Jiao took a look at Zhao Gao's new official robe. Without the Dongchang flying eaves and shoulders, he felt very uncomfortable.

"Old Zhao, change your clothes."

Zhao Gao originally called Cheng Jiao "Old Zhao" and was a little scared. He even thought Cheng Jiao was setting a trap for him.

Now hearing Cheng Jiao calling him Lao Zhao, he felt so relieved. If he had not been clear about his own identity, he would have wanted to become Cheng Jiao's brother and try to see if he could become sworn brothers with him.

In a word, after having Cheng Jiao, he became a little arrogant...

"Thanks to Lord Chang'an, I started to serve as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots yesterday and changed into official robes."

Zhao Gao's face was beaming. Although the title of Zhongchefuling was not high, he was still an official of high rank. As the current head of the Zhao family, he, Old Zhao, had made great progress.

At least there is no need to worry about the rumor in Xianyang city that he is a dead eunuch.

As he was talking, Zhao Gao discovered something strange, as if someone was trying to frame Cheng Jiao.

Through some of the people in Luowang under his control, he discovered that the source of the name of the dead eunuch was Cheng Jiao's mansion.

This made him alert, wondering if Lu Buwei had planted some evil Luowang people among the Luowang people under his control in order to sow discord between him and Cheng Jiao.

After all, everyone in Luowang knows that it is divided into three camps.

One is Lu Buwei, one is Cheng Jiao, and one is Zhao Ji.

As we all know, Zhao Ji is now obsessed with reading, writing and other self-cultivation things, and doesn't care about anything related to Luowang.

Zhao Gao quietly pulled Cheng Jiao aside and explained the matter to him in an extremely serious but tactful manner.

Cheng Jiao grinned.

This doesn't seem to be done by Lu Buwei.

He really said it unintentionally as a joke.

He also made up a story based on Lao Zhao and "Myth" to entertain the women in the mansion.

Cheng Jiao patted Lao Zhao on the shoulder.

He said solemnly: "Old Zhao, those who are innocent are innocent. You are a real man. Why do you care about these things? Okay, the court meeting is about to begin. I will leave first."

Zhao Gao nodded slightly, indicating that he agreed with Cheng Jiao's words.

Watching Cheng Jiao get on the carriage and leave, I always felt something was not right.

He actually wanted to remind Cheng Jiao not to be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives.

Having just taken office as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, he didn't want to have to serve Zhao Ji before he even had time to get comfortable in the position.

Why did Cheng Jiao say that he cared a lot about whether the eunuch was dead or not?

The more Zhao Gao thought about it, the more he wondered if he was going crazy.

Why do you care so much about whether you are a eunuch? Even if you are a eunuch...

Uh, Zhao Gao quickly threw away this terrible thought.

If you want to be a eunuch, you have to let the four sword slaves try it first.

……

The hall is exceptionally quiet today.

Everyone seemed to know what was going to happen today.

The issue that has been going on for the past few days, regarding who will lead the army to attack Zhao, will be concluded today.

The final candidate will be chosen between Wang Ben, the eldest son of the Wang family, a powerful military family, and Li Xin, a young and promising minister of the Qin nobles and now quite influential in the military, as the general to attack Zhao.

Everyone knows that no matter who leads the army this time, as long as he captures a few cities, he will be promoted to general and have the power to command the army alone.

If that's the case, then so be it.

But behind these two, each of them has the support of the current Qin State No. 1 in the dark and the Qin State No. 1 in the open.

Today's court meeting will probably be even more intense than the last confrontation between the King of Qin and Lu Buwei.

Cheng Jiao walked to the front.

Although he has no official position now, as the trusted brother of the King of Qin and the Lord of Chang'an who can hold his fiefdom at any time, even Lu Buwei would not say anything about it.

Ying Zheng was very pleased that Cheng Jiao could attend court on time.

He glanced at the court, which seemed like a stagnant pool of water, and sneered.

They are all a group of thousand-year-old foxes. I only spread a little bit of rumors, but they have already guessed that I will make a big fuss in the court today.

In this case, the first sword I use when I go to court is to kill—

"Cheng Jiao!"

Cheng Jiao, who had just stood still and had not yet changed to a more comfortable standing position, was shocked by Ying Zheng's sudden loud shout.

Cheng Jiao winked at Zheng Ge.

I don't understand what Zheng Ge is up to.

But we should cooperate with Zheng Ge's performance and not turn a blind eye.

He immediately stepped out and bowed.

"Brother Wang."

Ying Zheng stood up slowly and clapped his hands gently. A servant holding an exquisite sandalwood tray walked towards His Majesty from the palace door, seemingly walking slowly and intentionally.

Both the officials and Lu Buwei could clearly see that on the exquisite tray was a piece of extremely inferior "bark" that was brown with green mixed in it.

Lu Buwei couldn't help but frown.

I thought that Ying Zheng would first use Yan Dan's entry into Qin as a starting point to involve the attack on Zhao, and then unite with Changping Jun and Chang'an Jun to target me, and decide on Li Xin as the person to attack Zhao.

I don't understand why Ying Zheng did this.

After a moment of hesitation, he could only wait and see what would happen.

Ying Zheng picked up the paper and there were two words on it.

The officials who had not noticed it just now clearly saw two words on it after Ying Zheng picked up the paper.

people.

king.

In the court, people immediately began to look at each other and communicate with their eye contact.

Lu Buwei suddenly had a ridiculous idea.

Could it be written by Cheng Jiao?

He dared to put the people above the king, and was brought up in front of him by Ying Zheng. Was he going to be punished?
There were many people who shared the same idea as Lu Buwei, including Lord Changping.

Who made Ying Zheng's cold shout, which was devoid of any emotion, directed directly at Cheng Jiao?

Cheng Jiao's eyelids twitched, and he couldn't help but think of the day when Zheng Ge said he would make him a marquis.

I thought it was a promise I made when I was in a good mood.

Are you serious about this?

He really has no interest in being a marquis.

Chang'an Jun sounds much better than Chang'an Hou~
Ying Zheng walked down the stairs slowly, while Gai Nie was alert and looked around silently. Lü Buwei and Changping Jun only glanced at Gai Nie, who had a stern face, and then looked away.

This generation of Guiguzi disciples are not very good. They are so stupid as to want to be bodyguards. They are not worthy of their attention.

If it were any of the Guiguzi from previous generations, they would have started to get involved in politics and military affairs at this time, stirring up the situation in the seven kingdoms.

Gai Nie was not angry at these contemptuous looks.

No matter who it is, after knowing that he is the descendant of Guiguzi, they will not understand what he does.

His ideals are incompatible with this era, and almost no one can understand his pursuits.

But he is still willing to go on, he believes that his path is correct.

Even if I haven't completed it, I believe that those who come after me can complete it.

Just like Mozi, the ancestor of Mohism, who never regretted his death and lived towards death.

Ying Zheng had one hand behind his back and the other holding a piece of rough paper.

"My dear ministers, do you know what this is?"

Cheng Jiao certainly knew, but anyone could tell it except him.

If Zheng Ge wants to show off, we can’t just turn a blind eye to it.

When Lord Changping saw that no one in the court spoke, he sighed inwardly. The power that Lu Buwei had accumulated in the court over the years would not be so easy to eliminate.

"I see there are words on this thing. I wonder what kind of tree bark it is made of?"

Changping Jun had never seen this thing before. He just thought it looked like the bark peeled from a tree, so he cooperated with Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng was very satisfied with the speech of his cousin and brother-in-law.

“This is paper.”

Changping Jun subconsciously said: "Paper? Snow-white paper?"

He had a lot of snow-white gauze paper in his mansion that was awarded to him by the Queen Mother Huayang. The surface of the paper was like white snow gauze and was extremely delicate.

How can the bark of this crude and rotten thing be called paper?

There were many officials who owned or knew Xue Shazhi, and they all looked incredulous.

Ying Zheng said coldly: "It is indeed made of snow-white paper. Would I lie to you and wait like that?"

All the officials said they dared not.

Ying Zheng stared at Lu Buwei, who lowered his head slightly and whose expression could not be seen clearly.

"Master Xiangguo, is there anything you want to say?"

Lu Buwei slowly raised his head, knowing that Ying Zheng wanted to test him.

"Your Majesty said this thing is paper. I see it is very rough. I think the material used is definitely not as precious as snow gauze paper. I don't know what the material is, how much it costs, and whether it can be produced on a large scale. If it is very cheap and easy to make, it will be a blessing for Qin."

He was born into a businessman family and had been in officialdom for decades.

In his view, all of Ying Zheng's actions were walking instruction manuals.

Unless Ying Zheng wanted to play a trick on the officials, otherwise, this piece of paper must have a special meaning behind it.

He also often used snow gauze paper, but sometimes it was a pity. If he had cheap snow gauze paper, he and his followers would not have to set aside a special place to place the reference bamboo slips and the book bamboo slips for the "Lüshi Chunqiu" compiled by them.

Even he didn't know how many bamboo slips there were in the library where they were placed.

A rough estimate is that there are at least tens of thousands.

Therefore, when Ying Zheng said that this was a paper similar to snow gauze paper, he analyzed that this paper must be cheap and available in large quantities.

I just don’t know whether Ying Zheng has made any improvements.

If not, Lu Buwei could not help but sneer.

He guessed that this was probably done by Cheng Jiao.

If there is no improvement, he will not be polite and will ask Gongshu's people to make improvements and take some of Cheng Jiao's credit.

Ying Zheng saw that Lu Buwei had seen through him, so he didn't care.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister is right. That's right. Cheng Jiao figured it out accidentally. The materials he used are extremely easy to obtain. As for the improved product..."

After a brief pause, Ying Zheng turned to Cheng Jiao and said, "You go ahead and tell me."

He found that he seemed to be led by Lu Buwei.

This action also made people in the court understand that this ugly thing was made by Cheng Jiao.

Wang Jian, who was in his prime, stroked his beard and realized the role of this thing in the army after hearing what Lu Buwei and Ying Zheng said.

It is no exaggeration to say that it can change the situation of a battle.

In any era, the transmission of information is extremely important.

Unfortunately, even though the military is wealthy, they cannot afford lightweight snow-grained paper crane silk cloth, let alone anything inferior.

I would only do that if it was an emergency military matter.

Cheng Jiao, who had been just listening and saying nothing, secretly rolled his eyes.

He firmly believed that Zheng Ge was just trying to be lazy.

However, the one who is one level older can crush the person...

Cheng Jiao had to give some more scientific information to all the officials.

By the way, the extent to which the old team leader can improve is also mentioned.

Gai Nie and Ying Zheng were both shocked.

Is Cheng Jiao so capable?
It's only been two days since we last met, and it's gotten to this point?

Without considering the quality, you can produce something half the quality of snow gauze paper at only one thousandth of the price.

Cheng Jiao's words completely caused an uproar in the court.

All the officials who can attend the court are smart people. Even if there are some, there are not many.

I can't figure out what the meaning is.

Now the only thing to look at is how the King of Qin and Lu Buwei view this issue.

But what is certain is that as time goes by, this thing will become more and more recognized.

As long as Lu Buwei is not stupid, he will not demote him, but at most suppress him.

Changping Jun couldn't help but ask, "Changan Jun, is it really only one thousandth of the cost of snow gauze paper?"

Changping Jun knew very well what this meant. It was no exaggeration to say that in five years at most, the Qin State would be able to throw away the bulky bamboo slips.

Cheng Jiao didn't quite believe it at first, but after listening to Master Ban's description and looking at the simple diagram, he was convinced.

He had to admit that the mechanical technology in Qin's Moon was, to some extent, no different from that in modern times.

I originally thought that one percent would be good enough, but Master Ban made a few random sketches and managed to get one thousandth, which is still a conservative estimate.

A piece of snow gauze paper costs nearly half a gold coin.

And half a gold coin, in an era without famine, is enough to buy one or two hundred kilograms of food.

In other words, the paper given by Cheng Jiao can be purchased with just a little grain.

It is even cheaper than the cheap bamboo slips of today, and only one forty to one fifty-tenth of the cost of bamboo slips.

Lu Buwei closed his eyes. He was somewhat unconvinced about the data given by Cheng Jiao, but he also knew that Cheng Jiao would not falsify the data in this regard.

Pity.

Before he had time to plan, Cheng Jiao had already done everything he should and shouldn't do.

He was left helpless.

After the initial surprise, Ying Zheng clapped his hands and laughed.

"Well, you are worthy of being my brother!"

After the voices of discussion in the court died down.

Ying Zheng directly dropped a depth bomb.

Even with Lu Buwei's great composure, he was shocked.

"Then I would like to make Cheng Jiao the Marquis of Chang'an, with the fief of Chang'an and 50,000 households. What do you think, my dear ministers?"

　Thanks to [Uesugi Fushigiinden Mamimitsu Kenshin] and [Naked Fox] for the monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)