Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 7232 Arrangements One by One
After listening to Chen Xi's words, Guan Yu didn't say anything. As a commander of a large army of 500,000, Guan Yu had a very clear understanding of the situation on the Ganges River. At this stage, it was true that the morale of the troops on the front line of the Ganges River was good, but it was also true that they were arrogant soldiers.

However, if we look at it purely from Guan Yu's perspective, the current Ganges Army is definitely not as good as before. This is because the front-line soldiers of the Ganges Army, while having high morale, also maintained a relatively cautious attitude. As soldiers, they were concerned with life and death, and no matter how high their morale was, they at least had this awareness.

However, in Guan Yu's opinion, the morale and individual combat effectiveness of the Han army have not changed much, but there are significant problems in their mentality and cognition.

"I hope it's as Zichuan said, that Wenze wins, that would be good too," Guan Yu said in a deep voice. Although he was dissatisfied with Yu Jin's words, their more than 20 years of comradeship were not to be taken lightly. He had tolerated those words back then, so naturally he hoped that Yu Jin would return victorious now.

“That’s what I think too.” Chen Xi nodded and said, “If Wen Ze wins, it will actually be the easiest thing for me. You know, calculating the compensation every time is the most troublesome thing. Giving out rewards after winning is actually the simplest thing for me.”

As long as a person is alive, they can always generate profits. Even if they are injured and unable to work for a short period of time, as long as they are alive and can recover, they can continue to generate profits. Therefore, for Chen Xi, living people are always more valuable than dead people.

On a slightly excessive digression, Chen Xi sent many young men who had served in the military for several years to the front lines to fight, not really expecting them to achieve any great results.

To be honest, apart from certain special breeds, most ordinary people, even after years of military service, would find it difficult to perform well on the battlefield. However, Chen Xi still preferred to send young men to the battlefield for a while. On the one hand, the Han Dynasty was in a period of great advantage, and the safety of going to the front lines was actually not low.

On the other hand, it is because after military service, young men who have experienced such an extended march and the battlefield will have a significantly improved sense of discipline and teamwork. After such an ordeal, if they are put into state-owned factories and mines and given certain orders, their execution will be much more reliable.

In addition, there's the "Sunshine Award," which means that even young men who just want to coast through life after winning a battle will receive a first-class noble title for free, which is equivalent to a hundred acres of land as a reward. This effectively creates young people with stable property, and social stability will be greatly improved.

To put it bluntly, if you had a hundred acres of land and the government had arranged a job for you, you would definitely rush up and beat up any antisocial elements you saw, and society would be stable.

Therefore, Chen Xi liked to organize young men to experience it. Although there was indeed a mortality rate, those who were willing to come here to fight were mentally prepared for it. Moreover, when they came, Chen Xi told them that this was a gamble. Although the probability of winning was over 85%, the probability of getting injured and receiving a reward was over 80% of the remaining 15%, and the actual death rate was only about 5%.

To be honest, the level of security here is already higher than when the Xiliang cavalry trained new recruits back then, so there's really nothing more to say.

“At this stage, there are relatively few new recruits in Ganges. Most of them are veterans who have participated in more than two major wars. In addition, there are the main shield guards, which is indeed reassuring.” Guan Yu thought for a moment and said. Even he had to admit that changing the basic troop type to shield guards was indeed reassuring.

Well, one of the reasons Yu Jin dared to play a defensive counter-attacking game in Prayaga after giving up Ayodhya was the sheer number of shield guards and the elite troops with a dual talent of adaptive defense as the foundation and heavy armor defense as the second talent, numbering in the tens of thousands.

As I said before, as long as we don't encounter those things like the Dawn Legion that use spears of willpower to attack, with this setup, even if we can't beat them, at least we won't lose. How overpowered does Oswin have to be to quickly crush those things, right?

"Pretty much, it's generally reliable. Anyway, I've told Wenze all my speculations, so as long as nothing major goes wrong, we'll be fine," Chen Xi said calmly.

"I'm all set," Guan Yu said, nodding to Chen Xi.

"Next, I plan to go to Jizhou to conduct verification. As for Chang'an, I'll leave it to Kongming. Chen Changwen, Xun Youruo, and Zhang Zibu are all here in Chang'an. With them around, there shouldn't be any problems." Seeing Guan Yu's expression, Chen Xi confirmed that Guan Yu's assessment was similar to his own, and then explained the upcoming arrangements.

"Does that mean I need to be stationed in Chang'an?" Guan Yu asked, somewhat taken aback.

“Although I didn’t understand why you wanted to stay in Chang’an at the time, we made this arrangement with the attitude of making the best use of everyone’s talents. After all, Lord Xuande went to the Ganges, and I was going to Ye City. We needed to leave someone in Chang’an who could keep things in order. Obviously, the only suitable person was you, my second brother. It was unrealistic for anyone else to be here,” Chen Xi said solemnly.

This statement is not just empty talk. Back then, Chen Xi and Liu Bei went to the Ganges together, while Lu Su was stationed in Chang'an. Then they made a big move. This time, Liu Bei went to the Ganges, and Chen Xi went to Ye City to conduct a test, leaving only Zhuge Liang to oversee things. To be honest, Chen Xi was confident in his civil officials and internal affairs, after all, he still had Chen Qun, Xun Chen, Zhang Zhao and their group, so there shouldn't be any major problems. But what about the generals and officers?

Although Huangfu Song is capable enough, he is too old and not a core member of Liu Bei's faction. Since Guan Yu has stayed in Chang'an, it is also a viable option to have Guan Yu oversee the city before Liu Bei and Chen Xi return.

From a certain perspective, this approach also enhances Guan Yu's actual authority.

Even if we take a step back and assume Guan Yu goes to the Ganges, we can't expect Zhou Yu to stay in Chang'an. That would be a disaster. Given Zhou Yu's incredible condition, if he were to stay in Chang'an, who knows what kind of incredible things Chen Xi might do when he returns from his trip?

"Should I be stationed in Chang'an?" Guan Yu frowned slightly upon hearing this, but after a moment's thought, he understood the current situation. He was indeed the only one suitable to be in charge. Appointing any of the other people in Chang'an would be a huge mistake, so he really had no choice but to be the one to take charge.

"Hmm." Chen Xi didn't say much, just nodded, and then looked at Liu Tong.

"Looking at me won't help. Didn't I tell you before that I'm not in the palace? I'm also planning to go out and take a look." Liu Tong said quite naturally. Chen Xi had slipped away. Did she expect Liu Tong to remain in the palace like a clay sculpture? Without Chen Xi, Liu Tong didn't even have anyone to communicate with on an equal footing.

"I'll go out for a bit." Guan Yu saw Chen Xi looking at Liu Tong, but didn't say anything. He turned and left naturally. Chen Xi wanted to call Guan Yu back, but thought about it and decided against it.

Liu Tong looked at Chen Xi with a half-smile, as if to say, "Do you even know what it means to be with me again, you little brat?"

Guan Yu casually cleaved through the sealed secrets of the government office from the inside out with a single strike, then pushed open the door and went out. Guo Jia and his entourage were waiting for them at the door.

"How is it?" Guo Jia asked Guan Yu.

"I can't go into details, but all the problems have been solved." Guan Yu directly blocked any possible questions and then gave everyone the good news they were hoping for.

"All the problems are solved?" Fa Zheng frowned, looking at Guan Yu with an incredulous expression.

"Hmm," Guan Yu said in a muffled voice, "Zichuan has provided answers to all the problems we will face from now until the enfeoffment of Ganges, and in my opinion, he has indeed solved them."

For Guan Yu, it wasn't really about solving the problem anymore. If problems still arose after Chen Xi's handling of the situation, then there was no need to seek Chen Xi's help; he could simply take up his sword and kill him himself.

"It seems that, like the answer to the previous enfeoffment of the Ganges, it's something that can't be said, because saying it would lead to oversights," Jia Xu said with a smile. "See? I told you that Zichuan definitely had the answer, he just couldn't say it."

After speaking, Jia Xu glanced at Zhuge Liang with a cryptic look, while Zhuge Liang lowered his head in thought. Although Guan Yu didn't say anything in detail, since he indicated that the problem was solved but couldn't give a detailed answer, it meant that the answer must be something that would have a certain impact if they knew it.

With this understanding, Jia Xu, with his wisdom, was already able to deduce part of the truth.

"Zichuan, is the answer related to Zijing nominating me as his successor, and then you confirming it?" Zhuge Liang asked Chen Xi directly via telepathy.

“Yes, this is one of the hurdles that Zijing can’t overcome.” Chen Xi said softly. He knew very well that as long as Guan Yu went out and told them, Guo Jia and Fa Zheng might not be able to guess what it was, but Jia Xu would definitely have a direction, and as for Zhuge Liang, he would probably get the answer directly.

Because Zhuge Liang was the first successor to follow the formal process of being nominated by Lu Su and then confirmed by Chen Xi, and it was precisely because of this action that Lu Su may have realized something.

Although this concept is somewhat biased, at this time, the weight of trust may be heavier than in later generations. Chen Xi's actions, even if they were for the sake of formalization, were indeed a huge upheaval in terms of trust for Lu Su.

However, Chen Xi didn't realize this at the time. Even though Chen Xi had Lu Su follow the procedure, Chen Xi only considered formalization and didn't consider what this operation meant for the smart people of this era.

This is distrust!
In other words, no matter how many officials Lu Su can appoint, the most crucial position, even if Lu Su thinks someone is suitable and that person is indeed suitable, still requires Chen Xi's approval when Lu Su later inherits that position and wants to pass it on to that suitable person.

In other words, Lu Su's logic was that after Chen Xi gradually withdrew, he would serve as a substitute, and after he fully took over, he would hand it over to Zhuge Liang. However, the reality was that as Chen Xi gradually withdrew, Lu Su, as a substitute, gradually took over, but instead of handing it over to Zhuge Liang, Chen Xi appointed Zhuge Liang. This small difference was somewhat stimulating to Lu Su.

Zhuge Liang only realized this after Lu Su's downfall. Logically, as Lu Su's superior, Lu Su's downfall should have affected Zhuge Liang. However, in reality, after Lu Su's downfall, Zhuge Liang gradually took over Lu Su's work.

What does this mean? It means that Zhuge Liang did not succeed Lu Su by following Lu Su's line, but by following Chen Xi's line, which completely exceeded Zhuge Liang's expectations.

Of course, Zhuge Liang did not make any statement on this matter at the time. Although he was puzzled as to why Chen Xi would make such an arrangement, he did not question Chen Xi's actions. After all, that was Chen Xi, the real Lone Moon, and all his political actions must have their own profound meaning.

There is no doubt about Zhuge Liang's extraordinary talent. With this in mind, when we look at Chen Xi's behavior, it's only a matter of time before Zhuge Liang realizes how beneficial this approach is. Compared to trust between people, a system is clearly more trustworthy.

Clearly, Zhuge Liang saw the beauty in Chen Xi's actions as a result of the rational transmission of a system, but this system planted a time bomb the very first time it was used.

Zhuge Liang believed that Chen Xi's initial verification of the system may have been flawed in understanding certain details, but even so, it did not detract from the fact that the system was a very good one that could be applied to many areas, such as solving the problem of the Ganges River enfeoffment.

"So that's how it is, Zichuan. You didn't consider Zijing's problem at all back then, did you?" Zhuge Liang asked with a touch of emotion.

"At the time, I was only thinking about the rigor and stability of this system, without considering the trust issues it contained," Chen Xi sighed. "However, Zijing's current situation was not solely due to this; there were many reasons, but of course, my existence was the biggest reason."

"Will General Guan be stationed in Chang'an next?" Zhuge Liang changed the subject upon hearing this.

"What? Worried about cooperating with General Guan? That depends on your ability. Although General Guan is arrogant, it is very important to get along with him. After all, you will definitely be facing the Ganges Legion in the future. It's unlikely that you will fight, but how to coordinate is very important." Chen Xi said with a light smile, "and General Guan is a very important link in this."

It was not only a very important link, but if we were to be precise, Guan Yu, who was enfeoffed on the Ganges River, was the boss. In name, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Yu Jin were all under Guan Yu's supervision.

"You've actually arranged everything a long time ago, haven't you?" Zhuge Liang asked tentatively, because it didn't seem like something that had just been said and arranged.

“It wasn’t planned in advance. It’s just that we’ve reached this point step by step, and it’s just right. You need to work things out, and General Guan needs to work things out too,” Chen Xi said calmly. “Alright, don’t stay outside any longer. Come in. I have some things to tell you, and then we need to consider the verification process.”

As the palace gates opened, Jia Xu and his entourage quickly returned to their positions in the government compound. No one asked Chen Xi what he had said earlier. At their level, they knew very well that some things were better left unknown.

"Alright, everything that needs to be arranged in Ganges has been arranged. After I pack up and have a brief discussion with Gongyou, I'll head to Jizhou. I'll leave Chang'an to you then." Chen Xi said solemnly to the group, "Please don't let this kind of unbelievable thing happen again, where I come back from a trip to Chang'an to find that a huge mess has been created."

"Don't worry, we won't," Fa Zheng said with a grin. "You've already solved the most troublesome thing. If we still mess up the rest, then we're really underestimating ourselves."

"That's good. However, there will definitely be some unexpected issues in the upcoming verification. The logistics test at the end of the year has exposed quite a few problems, as everyone here has already experienced. To be honest, I never thought that after I wiped out bandits and thugs, something like road bullies would appear so quickly." Chen Xi said with a hint of sarcasm, but also with a sense of entitlement.

The "road bullies" Chen Xi was referring to were not villains who robbed people on the road, but rather local strongmen who monopolized the logistics and transportation business in a region.

These people cannot be simply called bad guys. On the contrary, those who can do this have considerable prestige and background in the local area. Only in this way can they effectively dominate the local logistics and transportation.

Often, these people have official connections.

It can only be said that with the development of the times and the completion of the social structure, many bureaucrats naturally extend their reach to emerging industries in order to build new networks.

During the tests at the end of last year, some items that Chen Xi had Liu Tong check off on the list failed to be delivered on time because of the road bully's outrageous behavior, and were detained for several days for inspection.

How to put it? In some places, there really is such a regulation—large items sent from afar must be inspected, and only after inspection and issuance of a certificate confirming that everything is correct can they be allowed to pass.

The operation itself isn't wrong, but if it turns into leaving large items there and only allowing them to pass inspection after you pay, then that's a disaster.

If even the large items Chen Xi used for testing could encounter this situation, then don't blame Chen Xi for taking drastic measures. By the way, Chen Xi estimated that there were quite a few prefectures and counties with this phenomenon, but most of them would have a special case handling logic. When encountering such special items, they would definitely find out what the situation was before discussing inspection and fees.

As mentioned before, directly confiscating Chen Xi's test pieces only shows that they are both stupid and wicked, and they deserve to be hit by Chen Xi's iron fist.

I'm currently staying home. The temperature here today is 23℃, which is absolutely unbelievable.