Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 6906 Fighting but not breaking

"To put it bluntly, if I really think so, you, Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong and the others will all get slapped in the face today." Chen Xi said unhappily, "You guys dare to play this trick in front of me. To put it bluntly, you know I am a rule-abiding person. As long as it is within the rules and not excessive, I will allow and agree to it."

Over the years, there was only one thing that made Chen Xi break the rules in official business, and that was the trick Yang Xiu played on Yuan Shu during the grand court meeting at the beginning of the Yuanfeng period. Only that time did Chen Xi feel like or dislike, but even so, Chen Xi did not kill him. After the Yang family wiped out Yang Biao's lineage, Chen Xi did not get involved in subsequent overseas expansion.

As for other matters, Chen Xi would not say that he is overly cautious, but at least he does try his best to deal with them by integrating legal principles, human feelings, morals and other factors. After all, the country is big, and although a one-size-fits-all approach is good, there will inevitably be accidental injuries. Therefore, Chen Xi will give comprehensive consideration to any matter that is handed to him.

Chen Xi actually doesn't need to care about the matter brought up by Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong.

In fact, if the person sitting in the position of Shangshu Pushe and Prime Minister was not Chen Xi, this incident would not have happened, because Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong should not have brought this matter to the surface. The most important point that Pang Tong and Zhuge Jin were able to respond to this matter semi-neutrally and come together was that they understood Chen Xi.

If you replace me with anyone else, I don’t care what you want to do. This is the third five-year plan. The annual feed grain demand must be met if it can be completed. If it cannot be completed, replace someone else.

Is Zhou Yu really unable to stop Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong? Not really. Even if Zhang Zhao did discover this secret by accident, Zhou Yu could sit down with Zhang Zhao and others to discuss and redistribute the benefits. After all, this kind of thing itself is reasonable.

Just as Zhou Yu said, did the Jiangdong family headed by Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong really not know that Zhou Yu made money from such a large transaction? They knew, and they knew it very well. Even Chen Xi actually told Zhou Yu what proportion to share the profits. It was just that Zhou Yu made a more reasonable distribution method based on his understanding of Jiangdong.

So after being discovered for making excess profits, what should Zhang Zhao and others do? Should they come to Chen Xi to complain?

No, what should be done is to take Cai Mao to negotiate with Zhou Yu. After reaching an agreement with Zhou Yu, just like what happened just now, kick Cai Mao away.

This group of people are not fools. Cai Mao is just a reason for them to negotiate. If they really can't reach an agreement, they have to wait ten years to get on board. What is the purpose of this ten-year buffer period? It is used to continue negotiating with Zhou Yu. There will always be a time when they can reach an agreement, right?

After all, Jiangdong needs Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu also needs Jiangdong's cattle and horses. Although it is always said that the Jiangdong family has various problems, throughout the ages, the Jiangdong family has always been first-class in making money and development. Therefore, as long as they are willing to talk, they will reach an agreement sooner or later. It is really just a matter of time.

"But after using this loophole once, I won't give you a second chance." Chen Xi waved his hand and said to Zhou Yu, "Next time, if Jiangdong reports to me again instead of you relaying it..."

Zhou Yu crossed his legs and looked at Chen Xi, while Chen Xi pressed his temple, "Okay, this time you didn't report to me, but you relayed it, and then I called everyone to the meeting."

Chen Xi pointed at Zhou Yu and scolded with a smile, "You guys are a little too smart."

"Anyway, I don't want to hear about grain production reduction in the Yuanfeng Dynasty again. In the past five years, you have exceeded the target every year. I hope you can do the same in the future." Chen Xi said seriously. He didn't care if Jiang Dong and others played a little trick on him, but if the average intake of the three animals by the Han people was less than ten kilograms next year, Jiang Dong would be dealt with.

"You should be very clear about the situation in the southeast. There will be a lot. Next year will be the fifth year of enfeoffment for the people of Jiangdong. Bofu and I will also take a boat to all the island fiefdoms for field investigations to determine the construction progress and development degree of these people." When Zhou Yu said this, there was an obvious smile on his face. These people are the real foundation of the Wu State.

"Then be mentally prepared." Chen Xi said after a moment of silence.

"?" Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi in confusion, wondering what this meant.

What else could it mean? After fighting for more than ten years, going through life and death, we finally survived, got the island, built the pond and lay down on the spot.

After all, there are fruits in the forest. If you scatter a handful of seeds, you can rely on the weather for food. Even if you are short of food, you can go to the swamp and find a mature sago palm tree, cut it down on the spot, and take out the heart of the tree. It will be enough for the whole family to eat for a month.

If you think steamed buns alone are not tasty enough, you can get a few coconuts on the outskirts of the island, take out the coconut milk and coconut meat, then boil the tapioca pearls, then boil the coconut milk, mix them together, and add some fruits that you like in the forest, and you will have authentic coconut milk tapioca pearls.

This is really filling, and because of the natural sugar content, it can quickly replenish energy. More importantly, it is zero-cost, all locally wild, and delicious. This is why, for a long time, the savages in Southeast Asia did not farm directly.

What to plant? Eat the forest!

"Humans have the freedom to indulge in self-degradation as long as it does not affect others." Seeing Zhou Yu's confusion, Chen Xi explained to him with a smile.

"I don't understand what you mean?" Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi in confusion, with some vague guesses, but he still thought it would be better to listen to Chen Xi's detailed explanation.

"The freedom of self-degradation?" Zhuge Liang repeated Chen Xi's strange words, with a frown on his brow.

"Maybe in your opinion, people shouldn't indulge themselves in depravity, but in my opinion, as long as it doesn't affect others, this choice is acceptable. So my uncle gave up his spiritual talent, and another uncle chose his own path, and I respected them. Although from my standpoint, I hope they can become more useful to society, but I accept their choice." Chen Xi said calmly, "Only when you love yourself first can you love others."

"Some of the so-called depravity is a crime. I won't talk about that part. I will only talk about the part that does not involve crime. In my opinion, whether it is moving forward or backward is a personal choice. What I do is essentially to allow everyone to face life with more ease, rather than not making progress and having no way forward." Chen Xi looked at Zhou Yu and said with a smile, "The islands in Southeast Asia will wear down the will of some people, but this is not a mistake."

If you don't want to work, then don't work. When society develops to the point where ordinary people can survive without working, it is itself a kind of progress. Aren't the benefits brought by the society promoted by the powerful like us just to allow more people to rest more quietly and calmly when they need it?
It is a good thing to make progress, but it is not a bad thing to stop or even take a few steps back.

At the very least, from Chen Xi's perspective, when he looks at the world with his own morals, he can have such goodwill and accept such a fact - what have I been working for for twenty years? Isn't it just so that I can have a few candies when I squat at the door and see the next generation playing outside? Isn't it just so that those who have experienced hardships can have a few more pieces of meat in their bowls?

If the progress of the times does not bring benefits to ordinary people, is it still progress?

"You mean, I may not be able to get the food I need by going to those islands?" Zhou Yu asked with some doubt after regenerating Chen Xi's words in his mind.

Chen Xi was silent for a while. "It's possible. After all, they are from the Central Plains. In a place where they can harvest three crops a year, they must grow a lot. I just want you to not be dissatisfied when you see them enjoying themselves."

"They enjoy theirs and I collect my grain. Even if what they enjoy is excessive, is it still excessive compared to what you and I enjoyed in the past?" Zhou Yu looked at me as if he was looking down on me.

"Okay, you're quite right." Chen Xi thought for a while and said, indeed, with Zhou Yu's background, he had enjoyed everything in his life.

"Come to think of it, when we were in Jiangbei, Bofu and I were almost ten years old, and I took Bofu to visit many families." Zhou Yu recalled the time when he first met Sun Ce more than 20 years ago.

"Stop, go and reminisce about the past with Sun Bofu. I'll let it go." Chen Xi waved his hand and said.

Seeing Chen Xi like this, Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment, then changed the subject, "After this incident, Zichuan, you should realize that I do know Jiangdong better than you do."

Chen Xi nodded slowly. When Chen Xi gave Zhou Yu the price list, he was actually worried that Zhou Yu would not be able to survive for more than five years with such trading. As a result, Zhou Yu held on to this price list for five years. If there had not been problems with Cai Mao, he would probably have continued to do so.

"I was born in Jiangbei, but my social circle is mainly in Jiangdong, so I know a lot of things that seem difficult for you to understand. It's indeed a good thing that you are upright and take the right path, but the general environment here is more suitable for things that seem completely unreasonable to you." Zhou Yu said with a sigh.

"You may think that what I did may alienate Zhang Zhao and his people, but in fact, it won't. They will remain the same as before." Zhou Yu said seriously, "In their eyes, I have this channel, so it is natural for me to do such a thing. If they were in Zhang Zhao's shoes, he might directly increase taxes on the Jiangdong families."

Zhuge Liang was stunned when he heard this. Damn it, directly raising taxes, what kind of nonsense is this?

"Although it sounds outrageous, but when it comes out of your mouth, it somehow seems trustworthy." Chen Xi said with a helpless smile.

"It's not outrageous. In fact, this is a normal method. Tell the Jiangdong family clearly that the Han Dynasty's animal husbandry needs feed grain and it is now distributed." Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi with extremely sharp eyes. You said I have low morals? Zhou Baopi? Nonsense, I have already taken your existence into consideration and adopted this completely reasonable policy that the Jiangdong family can fully accept.

In fact, if there was no idiot like Cai Mao, this policy could have been used to establish the State of Wu. If Cai Mao was not really stupid, and Chen Xi's morals were indeed high, Zhou Yu might have suspected that Chang'an was doing bad things. Well, Zhou Yu had already suspected it and found that no one was doing bad things, it was just the idiot Cai Mao!
You are so stupid that you can be tricked by Zhang Zhao into revealing this, and you still believe that Zhang Zhao will use his channel. Are you mentally retarded? Your channel is actually my Zhou Yu's channel, okay!
"Can this be distributed?" Chen Xi pursed his lips. Although he asked this, Chen Xi already had the answer in his heart. Yes, it can be distributed, and the Jiangdong family will at most curse and swear, and will not confront head-on.

"Isn't this a harsh policy?" Zhuge Liang said helplessly, but he also knew that this was not even a harsh policy, because it was too normal, so normal that everyone in this era was used to it.

"The above are still normal means. Zichuan, do you know what the best plan is?" Zhou Yu asked Chen Xi calmly, and Chen Xi looked at Zhuge Liang. He really couldn't think of the so-called best plan, but he believed in Zhuge Liang's brain.

"The best solution is for the Marquis of Wu to pay tribute and collect zhujin. Then, to save trouble, they can ask the Shangshu Pushe to find a channel to exchange grain, fruit, and sugar for zhujin." Zhuge Liang sighed and said, "Because according to the division of the Central Plains, the entire Southeast Asia is the fief of the Marquis of Wu, so the Marquis of Wu needs to pay zhujin for everyone, that is to say, the portion of the Jiangdong family will also be paid by the Marquis of Wu."

There is no need for Zhuge Liang to say the following words, Chen Xi also understood. If I say these are chujin, then these are chujin.

After all, after Sun Ce granted these Jiangdong families fiefs and established their country, they were required to bear this part of the zhujin according to the rules. However, Liu Tong and Chen Xi had been holding Liu Ye back and confiscating the full amount of zhujin. Now that Sun Ce wants to collect the full amount of zhujin, will the Jiangdong families resist?

No, not only I won’t, I would like to pay it all!

Money paid for taxes is legal money, and similarly, money paid for zhujin is legal. For the Jiangdong noble families, Sun Ce's collection of zhujin is even a way to strengthen their claims. So if this method is really used, all the Jiangdong noble families will pay it, at least this generation will pay very actively.

During the process of paying the zhujin, Sun Ce issued a policy that if everyone's zhujin was insufficient, I would ask the big boss to exchange it for money. We have more food, fruits, sugar and other things here, so we can use these to exchange. Will the Jiangdong family bother about this? As long as Sun Ce issued a certificate of paying the zhujin and Sun Ce himself went to Chang'an to pay the zhujin, there would be no entanglement.

There is even no need for a price list in this process. Zhou Yu can just buy whatever he needs and ask Liu Tong to issue a reward list for the tribute, or ask Chen Xi to issue a return list, and that's it.

The Jiangdong noble families had nothing to say when they saw this, because the issue came down to its essence: only Wu Gongsun Ce and Shu Hou Zhou Yu were eligible to pay tribute; no one else was qualified.

Similarly, you are not qualified to pay tribute, so what is returned has anything to do with you?

As for the zhujin you paid to Sun Ce, it was also included in the zhujin Sun Ce gave to the emperor. What does it matter? Your zhujin was used to buy fiefdoms and claim titles. Don't you know that?

Only the things presented by Duke Wu and Marquis Shu are used as tribute. As for why they are the same as your things, you must be blind!
That’s right. At this time, even if the things sent by Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were not even packaged, and were sent by the Jiangdong family, the Jiangdong family would have to cut them off quickly, saying that these were the things of the Marquis of Wu and had nothing to do with me, and they were absolutely not qualified to appear in this link.

It can be said that this is the orthodox way to play the rules.

It's just that Zhou Yu has been following Chen Xi, and his morals have improved a bit in the past few years. He did not choose this plan, but chose the current method. This is also the reason why after Zhang Zhao discovered this huge benefit, he did not report it to the higher authorities himself, but let Zhou Yu speak up. In essence, he was telling Zhou Yu that they knew about it, and it also gave Zhou Yu time to buffer and adjust.

To be honest, when Zhang Zhao knew about it, he was shocked at first by the huge benefits, but later he realized that Zhou Yu had actually restrained himself and was not completely inhuman. He was really inhuman. If you were to pay tribute to the entire Wu Dynasty and levy tribute, you would not be able to find out anything. And even if you found out, you would never be able to enter the system - as long as you were a normal person, it would be impossible to add another prince at the level of Marquis of Wu in the current situation!

"In essence, everyone does have their own stance on this matter, but this stance is only for this matter." Zhou Yu looked at Chen Xi without the slightest fear. "At other times, we are still a collective and need to work together to solve problems, so we can't do anything to the extreme."

"I can't understand you Jiangdong people, but your best option is indeed to give me a punch. With this analogy, I can understand that group of people's attitude towards you." Chen Xi said with some complexity. As expected, there are some things that non-locals cannot understand at all. Things that seem to be very decisive in the eyes of Chen Xi actually have a lot of room for maneuver in the eyes of locals. It is really incredible.

"By the way, this has further strengthened my original intention to tour the west. You guys are really amazing." Chen Xi gave Zhou Yu a thumbs up. He really felt that this group of people was too amazing.

"Western Tour?" Zhou Yu raised his eyebrows, recalling Chen Xi's Eastern Tour, and nodded involuntarily. At his level, he also knew why Chen Xi made the Eastern Tour that year. Some things can only be understood by going there in person.

"Although everyone's basic logic for building this country is different, I still want to say one thing. Please make life better for the ordinary people under your rule." Chen Xi actually doesn't like to care about these guys who were released, but from the perspective of the people, Chen Xi still has to give them a few words of advice.

"Given the current situation in Jiangdong, the most suitable way for the people to develop is Bofu's laissez-faire approach." Zhou Yu waved his hand and said, "Although it is definitely not as good as yours, where you have to keep an eye on them from time to time to see if there is any progress, but the bonus of defeating Celian is there. As long as we don't exploit them recklessly, they will live well on their own."

Chen Xi nodded. This was indeed the case in Jiangdong.

"Okay, don't bring this kind of thing to my side in the future." Chen Xi waved his hand, signaling Zhou Yu to go back to where he came from and stop making trouble here.

Zhou Yu thought that his goal had been achieved and there was no point in bothering Chen Xi, so after Chen Xi spoke, he left quickly.

"Kong Ming, how do you feel?" After Zhou Yu left, Chen Xi looked at Zhuge Liang and asked.

"Although everyone has their own stance, the overall stance is the same. Even Doctor Zhang and others hold the attitude of fighting but not breaking in this matter." Zhuge Liang said without hesitation.

"Yes, so I am willing to give some benefits. If you really dare to stand on other positions, then it will not be handled this way." Chen Xi nodded and said, "Although I am not teaching you to deal with things based on your position, I still have to say that it is important to pay attention from time to time to see how many people are standing behind you. Of course, it doesn't matter if you can defeat them by yourself."

Chen Xi did not unite others by defeating them on his own. Instead, he united this group of people by relying on one success after another and being right on major issues, forcing his opponents to realize one by one that they could only have a future by following Chen Xi.

But with this method, after Chen Xi leaves, the successor will be under tremendous pressure. It is not only to test the successor's ability, but also to vent the previous grievances - yes, yes, yes, everything you Chen Zichuan did was right, but I don’t believe your successor will do the same. As long as your successor makes mistakes, it proves that not everything you Chen Zichuan did was right.

Therefore, after Chen Xi retreats, Zhuge Liang will inevitably face challenges.

"Are you worried about what will happen after you retire?" Zhuge Liang reacted quickly. "That shouldn't be the case. Don't you still have ten years before you retire completely?"

"But next year I will go to verify the deployment of troops. At the latest I should be on tour to the west the year after next, and Lord Xuande will be on tour on behalf of the emperor. I estimate that Lord Xuande will go to Xinzhou with me first. After I finish touring Xinzhou, Lord Xuande will go to Pamirs with the imperial seal, and then go north to Yuan's family. Lord Xuande must go to see the Yuan family." Chen Xi said solemnly.

Zhuge Liang had heard related statements before, but he did not expect Chen Xi to tell him so clearly now. However, before he could speak, Chen Xi continued, "When Lord Xuande finishes his inspection of Yuan and Central Asia, he can visit Cao and Jiangdong if he has time. If he does not have time, he can come back directly. But when he comes back, we will start a decisive battle with the Kushans."

"In other words, I haven't had much time in Chang'an these years." Chen Xi looked calm, but somewhat melancholy. "And the decisive battle between the Han Dynasty and the Kushan Empire, Lord Xuande asked me to go with him, which resulted in you lacking military power. If Zijing was still here, Zijing would be in charge of Chang'an, and I would be in charge of the front of the Ganges River, with you as the chief of staff or the commander-in-chief of a unit. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned."

"Let's wait and see, there's still time." Zhuge Liang shook his head and said.

Damn, I found a new way to write, writing in my dreams. I was shocked. I actually dreamed that I was writing a novel in my dream. It was so scary.