I was fucked by Zheng Ge as soon as I crossed over

Following the word "no", the old man walked out of the desk, walked into the hall, and bowed.

"Your Majesty, brushes, inkstones, and paper are indeed beneficial to the people. However, those who have not made great contributions to the country should not be granted a title of nobility. Moreover, the great craftsman is still young, and if he is granted a title of nobility, it may be difficult to convince the people."

This man was another leading figure of Confucianism. He respected etiquette and was conservative. He believed that "it is unheard of that something can last long without following the ancients." Seeing that Chunyu Yue had not taken any action for a long time, he spoke out himself and opposed Su Jinyue's enthronement.

As soon as he finished speaking, several old men stood up one after another to object, asking Ying Zheng to think twice before acting.

There were opponents and there were also those who agreed. The debate gradually arose, and Li Si and Feng Jie began to express their opinions on the matter.

Li Si: "I suggest that Da Shangzao be granted the title of Marquis of Guannei and the title of Doctor."

Feng Jie stepped out and said, "I second the motion."

"I second the motion." Most ministers agreed and echoed it.

Ying Zheng issued an order directly.

"The third princess, Zhao Jinyue, is erudite and talented, benevolent and kind. She invented the method of drying salt in ditches, alleviating the people's salt shortage. She also invented writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, alleviating the suffering of people learning calligraphy and teaching. She has made great contributions to the enlightenment of the people. She cares deeply about the world and helps the people, and her achievements are outstanding. I now specially confer upon her the title of Marquis of Guannei, and grant her the title of Doctor, and reward her with gold, silk, pearls, and jade to honor her achievements."

Su Jinyue stepped out and kowtowed, "I bow to thank you for your grace. Long live Your Majesty."

The ministers who were arguing just now kowtowed at the same time, "We will obey the imperial decree. Your Majesty is very happy, and the Great Qin is very happy."

Ying Zheng laughed heartily: "Hahaha, this is indeed a great joy. We should hold a grand feast for three days to celebrate for the Great Qin and for all the people of the world!"

From that day on, a grand feast was held in Xianyang for three days. The common people took to the streets and asked each other what was going on.

After careful inquiry, they heard that the third princess had created a new thing that could relieve the suffering of teaching calligraphy all over the world. They were overjoyed and sang loudly that the third princess was truly a disciple of the immortal and the rumors were true.

The promotion of books requires a large amount of paper. Even though the paper mills expanded several times, they were still not enough to supply the entire Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng had already made plans for this. He did not delegate this method to the master craftsmen and workshops in various places. Instead, he secretly ordered Handan to allocate some of the slaves who were building the imperial mausoleum to secretly make paper.

As to why he did this, no one knew.

The well-informed people from hundreds of schools and the nobles of the six kingdoms all knew about this item. They tried every possible means but still could not obtain it, and they were inevitably anxious.

Deep in the darkness of the night, several nobles from the six kingdoms gathered in a secret room in the basement of a house and whispered to each other.

"What should I do? The man in the east also failed. It seems that this method of making paper is impossible."

"We must not let that thief Zhao succeed in this, otherwise he will win over the people's hearts."

"What else can we do? It's all the fault of the Third Princess. Should we just..." the man said, making a gesture of wiping his neck, but was violently pulled back by the person next to him.

"No, absolutely not. The enemy has the advantage. Taking a risky tactic will only anger the Zhao thief. It's only been a few years since Bai Qi massacred the city, and you've forgotten?"

"This won't work, that won't work. Are we just going to do nothing and wait for that thief Zhao to win over the people?"

"Someone in the west has already started studying this thing. There's no rush. Just wait and see."

However, people from Ganjun, Taiyuan, Cangwu and other places have already started their journey towards Xianyang. Smart people know the importance of paper and books, and many people who are waiting and watching have already made their choice.

As time goes by, the balance of history begins to shift quietly.

On this day, the Minister of Justice reported that the salt pond in Langya County had been completed.

Ying Zheng was overjoyed and ordered generous rewards for his officials.

While the emperor and his ministers were celebrating together, they were interrupted by a piece of news.

The Neishi prefect reported: "There has been little rain in Neishi this summer, resulting in a poor harvest. However, local merchants have taken advantage of this opportunity to hoard grain and jack up prices, buying low and selling high. This has left many people unable to afford food, and some have even starved to death."

Ying Zheng was furious. He hated cunning merchants deeply. When he learned about this, he ordered a thorough investigation and severe punishment, and showed no leniency. At the same time, he sent special envoys to coordinate with nearby counties and allocate food.

For a moment, the entire hall was silent, for fear of triggering Ying Zheng's anger.

Su Jinyue stepped out.

This was the first time she had taken the initiative to step out of the court after attending it for a long time, which inevitably aroused everyone's curiosity.

She bowed and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have a plan that may alleviate the disaster faced by merchants."

Ying Zheng was interested when he heard this. "Oh? Tell me in detail."

"Yes."

Su Jinyue stood up straight and began to tell the story.

"Merchants, after all, are engaged in reselling and profiting from the difference. They are able to influence the common people because they monopolize a large amount of materials and make a lot of money. They use this money to purchase large amounts of land, shops, and houses, and then sublease them to others, making money from money and profit from it."

When the ministers heard this, they nodded secretly, believing that this was indeed the truth.

Su Jinyue continued.

"But, under heaven, the whole land belongs to the king. The entire Great Qin belongs to your majesty. They can make money, but they cannot control people's lives. Now, why do they dare to do so? Because no one controls them. As long as they pay enough taxes, no one can control them unless they poke the sky to pieces."

Ying Zheng nodded approvingly, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Yes, I have a method that may be able to solve it."

Ying Zheng: "Tell me in detail."

Su Jinyue: "My method is foolish. I only think that the big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp. Set up a Ministry of Commerce to manage merchants across the country, and set up chambers of commerce in each county to manage each region. They will all obey the Ministry of Commerce to coordinate supplies, control prices, and transfer goods."

An old man objected, "That's foolish! Wouldn't that make the Ministry of Commerce the largest merchant in the world? This is competing with the people for profit! It's not what a gentleman does!"

Su Jinyue argued, "Why compete with the people for profit? Even if the Ministry of Commerce is the largest merchant in the world, what does it matter? The money earned by the Ministry of Commerce can be directly put into the national treasury, or used to build roads and bridges, provide aid to disaster areas, adopt orphans, or even provide armor for soldiers. What's wrong with that?"

The old man was furious: "Sophistry, as the old saying goes..."

Su Jinyue interrupted him directly, "Don't talk anymore, listen to me."

"If there is a disaster somewhere, like here in Neishi County, with a Chamber of Commerce, they can cooperate with the Junshu Order and report it to the Ministry of Commerce immediately to allocate grain from other places. They can also control grain prices in a timely manner and not sell them at several times the price. There is no harm in that."

"You! You! Sophistry! Sophistry!" The old man was so angry that his whole body was shaking. He pointed at Su Jinyue and cursed, "You are competing with the people for profit. You are putting the cart before the horse!"

Su Jinyue didn't care about him. It wasn't the first time that she had angered the old man. She had experience and knew that ignoring him was the best counterattack against him.

Ying Zheng, who was at the top, was frowning in thought. He was extremely reluctant to do such business, but he was willing to seriously consider the pros and cons of this matter.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Commerce can set up business licenses. Each merchant can only operate with a license. They can also build an official merchant shop in each county to sell goods from all over the place."

Ying Zheng was still thinking, and the ministers were also thinking. Only the merchants were anxious and angry.