“Who’s there?!”
Li Yuan Ba was startled, immediately standing in front of Ying Su!
At the same time, swoosh swoosh swoosh, five guards appeared, surrounding the girl!
Some of them even started to draw their swords!
This…
The girl was immediately frightened by the scene before her.
Her face turned pale.
Thankfully, at that crucial moment, Ying Su came out. He waved his hand and pushed away Li Yuan Ba, then ordered the guards to disperse.
Then, with a harmless smile, he looked at her and said, “Who are you?”
“Humph! I’m not telling you!”
She finished speaking and ran away quickly. As she left, she turned back and saw Ying Su looking at her. She was startled and ran even faster.
Ying Su watched her run away, and at that moment, the smile on his face, which had been glum, finally emerged!
Wang Jian, oh Wang Jian.
You old fox always try to distance yourself from me, but you didn’t expect this, did you? Your granddaughter doesn't listen to you!
She’s interested in me!
Ying Su was delighted. At the same time, without any delay, he called over a guard and commanded:
“Go investigate, find out everything about this little girl's likes!”
“Yes!”
The guard quickly left!
..............
Great Qin, Left Chancellor’s Mansion!
There were a lot of people in the Chancellor’s mansion today!
How many?
It was packed, and they were almost all high officials and nobles.
Each one of them had a distinguished background.
Why were they all gathered at Li Si's residence?
Of course, they were invited by Li Si!
It must be said that Li Si was a clever man.
Just by knowing that Ying Su was going to sell high-priced paper, he immediately knew who to sell it to.
High officials and nobles, as well as aristocrats and merchants!
As for selling it to the common people?
Li Si didn't even consider it!
Not only would it be difficult to sell to the common people, but they couldn't afford it!
More importantly, they wouldn't even use it!
You see, they couldn't even read. What was the point of selling it to them?
So Li Si didn't even consider them!
He was focusing on the aristocrats and merchants!
These people were very wealthy!
Many of them were descendants of powerful families from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
These powerful families only collected about 20% of the rent each year, but… even if they only collected 20% of the rent per acre, after accumulating it for thousands of years, it would be a huge family fortune!
Not to mention that land rent was only a very small part of their income sources!
Most of the aristocrats’ income came from business and private land!
With the advantage of their noble status, they were like fish in water when it came to business!
More importantly, no matter how much money they earned, it was all theirs, they didn't have to pay any taxes!
And besides business, there was also private land!
Yes!
The court stipulated that all citizens would pay taxes based on the land they rented, with each person paying 50% of the tax!
Remember, this is the tax for rented land!
But what if the aristocrats chose not to rent and instead hired people to farm the land?
Heh… they wouldn’t have to pay any tax!
They wouldn't have to pay a single grain of tax!
Therefore, in the current world, all the top nobles didn't pay taxes. They all hired people to farm their own land.
Only those nobles who were not wealthy enough to hire people to farm would rent out their land.
There were also some who were morally pressured, afraid that others would say they were rich and unkind, so they would symbolically rent out a portion of their land.
And then there were those who were truly kind!
They would let the court take 50% of their land, the common people take 40%, and they would take 10%!
These were true philanthropists!
So… no one would control them?
Of course, no one would control them!
Since the Xia Dynasty, when Xia Qi usurped the throne, changing the system of public election to hereditary succession, turning the public world into a family world, it had been like this for almost two thousand years.
No one cared about the lives and deaths of the common people. The nobles were paramount, and this was the rule of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties for two thousand years!
If it wasn’t for the appearance of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, and Yang, the saints of the Spring and Autumn Period!
If it wasn’t for Guan Zhong of the Qi State, who forcefully established the four classes of nobility, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, placing farmers in second place!
If it wasn’t for Wei Wujie, the Marquis of Xinling of the Wei State, who fiercely suppressed the nobles and wanted to distribute the nobles’ grain to the common people, who would care about the common people!
They wouldn’t!
No one would care about ordinary people!
And even though they did so much, after they died, the common people were still pigs and dogs, still slaves!
It was still the same even now!
In short, they had money!
The nobles were very wealthy!
The wealth of the world was monopolized by the nobles!
The remaining 30% was for the state and the common people!
Selling this expensive paper to them was the right choice!
Only they could afford it!
And the process of selling the paper was also very simple!
Li Si didn't even need to introduce it, he directly followed Ying Su's example and laid out a piece of paper, writing the word "paper" on it!
Instantly, the entire room went crazy!
Everyone realized one thing, that… this could replace bamboo slips!
It was much larger than bamboo slips, and it was also much thinner and more convenient.
More importantly, the amount of text it could hold was simply not comparable to bamboo slips!
Almost everyone saw its usefulness!
But at the same time, some people also focused on its price.
They wanted to see if its price was higher than silk!
If its value was higher than silk, then its value wouldn't be that high!
After all, silk was cheaper!
When it came to quoting the price, although Li Si knew in his heart that three qian was enough, after all, Ying Su had said that 100 sheets of paper only cost less than one qian to make!
He understood Ying Su's intentions, which was to sell high-priced paper!
And he, as someone who had followed Lü Buwei, was a master of the merchant’s ways, so he didn't directly state the price, but instead said:
“This item was given to me by an immortal. There isn’t much of it, I only have 50 sheets here. If you want them, then bid. The highest bidder wins! Also, this item is sold by the sheet!”
He first used the gimmick of "an immortal" to promote this item, and then told them that there wasn’t much of it, and it was sold by the sheet, further emphasizing its scarcity!
He asked them to bid, which was an auction. No matter what, let them fight for it, maybe as they fought, the price would go up!
This wouldn't be a waste of the new emperor's intentions, the higher the better!
And with Li Si’s voice, everyone was shocked!
They were shocked, not by what Li Si said about immortals.
Only foolish and uneducated common people would believe in ghosts and gods!
Aristocrats and merchants, they only believed in one thing!
Money!
And profit that was in hand!
But they were still shocked!
They were shocked by the total number Li Si mentioned, only 50 sheets, and they were sold by the sheet?
He even suggested an auction!
The highest bidder wins!
At that moment, everyone unconsciously began to calculate!
First, this item must be valuable!
But… no matter how valuable it was, its function was the same as bamboo slips and silk!
Its price could not exceed silk!
So, someone made an offer!
“Ten qian, per sheet!”
“Ten qian?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Si was surprised!
Good!
It was good that he didn't state the price immediately, but instead chose an auction. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how much money he would have lost!
But at the same time, he was also overjoyed!
Because Ying Su had told him, he knew the cost of this item, 100 sheets didn't cost more than one qian!
And now, one sheet was sold for ten qian, this was really…
He was still excited, but then, someone shouted again: “Thirteen qian!”
“Thirteen qian?”
Li Si was even more shocked.
But before he could be shocked for long, someone directly offered a high price: “Thirty qian!”
..............................................................................................................................................................
ps: Please give flowers and evaluation tickets!