Chapter 6717 Important and unimportant

Chapter 6717 Important and unimportant
The middle-level officers with evil thoughts may not all die next, but a large number of ordinary soldiers involved in this incident will definitely die, and their deaths will be meaningless.

This is what Chen Xi is most depressed about right now. Although many problems were solved directly after Ganges lost the last battle, even the middle and upper-level officers with evil thoughts would naturally realize after being hit so hard that pulling each other's legs would not only prevent them from getting what they want, but would also trap themselves. In this case, it is self-evident what choice to make.

But how to calculate the ordinary soldiers who died in this defeat? The criminals did not receive the punishment they deserved, and even got fiefs later. The ordinary soldiers who rushed to the front, with blood in their hearts, fighting for the country and laying a foundation for future generations died on the front line. Is this fair?

This is the point that Chen Xi cannot accept the most. If he has a choice, Chen Xi even hopes that even if the middle and upper-level officers on the front line hold each other back, their Han Dynasty can still win. At least in this way, the soldiers rushing at the front will not be sacrificed because of the slight interests of the officers in the rear. At least in this way, the soldiers rushing at the front can get the benefits they deserve.

However, this is impossible. If the middle and upper-level officers who have such thoughts can still win by pulling each other's legs, it will only make the situation worse.

After all, before the building collapses, those who poached employees always think that their pickaxe will not be the last one. But when the building really collapses, it doesn’t matter whether it is the last one or not, because the people who were killed are not only the ones wielding the pickaxe!

"You can say that I have some kind of moral cleanliness in this regard, but from my point of view, except for a very few people in the entire Ganges Army, the others are no different to me, so the death of an ordinary soldier is not much different from the death of a mid-level officer." Chen Xi's face showed a gloomy look, "They are essentially the same."

For Chen Xi, in the place of the Ganges, except for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and other brothers and friends who have been with him since the Taishan years, there is no difference between other people to Chen Xi, whether they are middle-level officers or low-level soldiers, they are all the same.

That's why Chen Xi, who usually doesn't show strong emotions about anything, showed strong dissatisfaction with what happened in Ganges.

"Someone needs to be responsible for this matter." Chen Xi said softly. When he said this, Chen Xi slowly closed his eyes. "It's not just talk, but there must be a result. I'm waiting for that response. Even if it's not the best response, at least I need a response."

The whole audience was silent, and Liu Bei was also silent. If he thought about it carefully, the root of the problem was indeed with Lu Su. If Lu Su had not instigated this matter, let alone dividing the cake, at least the knife would have been stuck in the cake, waiting to be cut.

"Although I, Chen Xi, have had some strange ideas in the past twenty years, I can at least say that I have a clear conscience towards this country, the people under my rule, and the soldiers who have conquered all directions. I have selfish desires and personal desires, but when I sit in this position, what I do is never just for myself!" Chen Xi's eyes swept across everyone present.

"Zijing apologized to me before he left. To be honest, I was just a little upset and somewhat depressed at the time. But speaking only of myself, how much impact did Zijing's actions have on me?" Chen Xi said indifferently.

Lu Su was indeed the second best in the world. Maybe when they were at Mount Tai, Chen Xi still feared Xun Wenruo, but Liu Bei's power had grown to the point where he had conquered the world. How could Chen Xi not know who was the big and small king?
But what can he do if he is the second in the world? Lu Su integrated all the power he could borrow, and only knocked down Chen Xi's defense, forcibly reducing his blood by one drop, and then rebounded to kill a group of people behind Lu Su. Chen Xi was really upset because Lu Su finally chose this path.

It was clearly stated at the beginning that this path could not be chosen! I was clearly prepared and knew that Lu Su might take this path, but in the end, they parted ways.

But if we talk about the harm, apart from making Chen Xi depressed for two months, the actual harm caused by Lu Su is basically zero. So what if he is the second best in the world? So what if he jumped out of the earth and saw Chen Zichuan's true face and faced the reality? There is still no impact, right?

In the imperial prison, Lu Su had actually apologized to Chen Xi, but Chen Xi did not need to apologize because, apart from being in a bad mood, he had not suffered any loss. The real losses came from those who had surrounded Lu Su to bring up the matter and to question Chen Xi.

Can Chen Xi really not see this result?

Chen Xi could see that he knew the result the moment he gave the answer. He didn't want to say it because he couldn't say it. If he said it, the result would be what it is now. But Lu Su forced Chen Xi to give the answer, and then everything developed to the present moment.

"Zi Jing has been in the Ganges for such a long time. If you haven't realized it before, you should be clear about it now. It's useless to apologize to me, and it's also useless to apologize to those soldiers who are in danger of death because of this problem. Apologies are a courtesy when things are minor, but when things are so big..." Chen Xi said softly, and the faces of everyone present couldn't help but become much gloomier.

"I have already made a budget for the pension for the eleventh year of Yuanfeng in advance. This is all I can do." Chen Xi said quietly to Liu Bei, while Liu Bei fell into endless silence.

What Chen Xi said was very right. If we really wanted to trace the matter to the bottom, we had to find someone to take the blame, and it must be Lu Su. Admittedly, the officers who asked Lu Su to inquire about this issue also had some ideas, but if Lu Su had not asked, the matter would have been suppressed until the last moment of the enfeoffment.

Saying that Chen Xi did not understand human nature and that Chen Xi let the hunting dogs eat first overlooked a very important point, that is, the development documents and fiefdom orders under Liu Bei's rule were issued at the same time as those in Jiangdong. If one really believed that the loser got more than himself, he could just take the fiefdom order and leave.

If you can't even get the title of a fiefdom, then you don't even have the qualifications to say this!

In essence, the officers and soldiers under Liu Bei's command are guaranteed to exceed those of the Jiangdong aristocratic families, because the total area of ​​the Indochina Peninsula alone is equivalent to that of Jiangdong as a whole, and the land and climate are more suitable for farming. In addition, there are no aristocratic families under Liu Bei's command to share the benefits, as the aristocratic families were driven out by Chen Xi early on. As a result, no matter what, the benefits that the officers and soldiers under Liu Bei's command can get are greater than those of the same level in Jiangdong.

So Chen Xi's judgment from the beginning was like this. Even if the middle and upper-level officers had doubts, the bottom line was that they were already better than the other guys. The prestige and morality of Chen Xi and Liu Bei, as well as the confidence built up over the years, were not enough to offset it?

The fact is just as Chen Xi estimated. After Liu Bei clearly began to issue development documents and fiefdom orders, the middle-level officials with titles above level seven already understood that their own bottom line was at least not weaker than that of members of the same level in other forces. The credibility of Chen Xi and Liu Bei over the years has further strengthened this understanding.

Even now when Chen Xi thinks back, he was indeed stunned by Lu Su's boxing skills and was confused for two months. If he had the rationality he has now, he would definitely laugh at Lu Su on the spot!

Because if you think about it now, those people asked Lu Su to inquire, probably because they were curious about how much they could get in the future. But Chen Xi didn't say anything, just smiled and said, you guys, you haven't even defeated the Kushans yet, and you're already thinking about rewards, how can this be? Of course, I can't tell you, but you have followed the Taiwei for so many years, and you know what kind of person I, Chen Xi, am. I have never let my own people down over the years, so just think about it boldly, I guarantee you will be overjoyed then!

Chen Xi seemed to have said nothing, but in fact he had said everything.

The officers and soldiers who heard this must have been confused. Due to the circumstances at the time, it was impossible for them to think that what Chen Xi said was actually the answer. The so-called reward was to enfeoff the most important areas of Kushan.

However, Chen Xi's credibility for more than ten years, and the Han Dynasty's prosperity under Chen Xi's management over the years, the middle-level officers can clearly feel the country's growing prosperity. Under such multiple guarantees, this group of people will still maintain their previous state and work hard to fight for the country.

Then the Kushan Empire was defeated and divided on the spot. What Chen Xi said back then would be instantly interpreted by all the officers and soldiers, and the so-called guarantee of great joy was real!
It can be said that Chen Xi even prepared the lines for the final division on the spot - I said it back then, but you guys didn't think of it, so don't blame me! Just tell me if you are happy or not!
Unfortunately, Lu Su's combination of punches really made Chen Xi a retard, and he directly revealed the answer. As a result, the matter developed to this point. Whenever Chen Xi thought about it, he felt that he was indeed angry at the time and messed around with his mind in a mess. Of course, there is no doubt that Lu Su should take the biggest blame!

This is also the reason why Chen Xi tried hard to clean up the mess after the matter had come to this point. After cleaning up for a while, he felt something was wrong. Why was I the only one cleaning up the mess? Where was Lu Su? If you hadn't beaten me into a retard with a combination of punches back then, how could I have made such a mistake!

Liu Bei sighed upon hearing this, but in the end he said nothing. Chen Xi and Lu Su used to be his right-hand men, but Lu Su made a wrong move!
Well, Liu Bei also knew that Lu Su did not make a mistake in the moment, but when he thought of the days when everyone was drinking and chatting happily, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Lu Su.

"Now the problem is, can Zijing solve the problem that Zichuan can't solve?" Fa Zheng folded his arms and said with a bit of sarcasm, "How can the Government Office let you, Chen Zichuan, lead the way to depression alone? I, Fa Zheng, am still here, and I must work hard to liven up the atmosphere."

"It may be solvable." Chen Xi said seriously.

Fa Zheng was stunned when he heard this, and recalled Lu Su's voice, appearance and smile. He completely forgot that Lu Su had such ability.

"Suppose you were on the front line, could you find those officers who have ulterior motives?" Chen Xi raised his eyebrows and asked, "If the time is extended to more than a year, can you find these people?"

"Even if we can't find all of them, we can find 90% of them." Fa Zheng raised his eyebrows and spoke confidently, then with a look of embarrassment on his face, "But even if we find them, it won't solve the problem, because some things are judged by deeds rather than intentions. I can sense their thoughts, but if they don't do it, I can't deal with it. Even if they do it, but there are no serious consequences, I can only reprimand them."

This is the most uncomfortable part. The idea of ​​preventing problems before they happen is correct, but others are just thinking about it in their minds and have not put it into action, so we cannot hold them accountable for this. Considering that these people already have certain merits, even if they have done something, as long as it has not caused serious consequences, it is impossible to deal with them severely according to the first offense.

After all, people who can do these things, or are qualified to do these things, have accumulated at least twelve or thirteen levels of nobility over the years, otherwise they would not even be qualified to do such things.

To a certain extent, their past qualifications and merits became their amulets at times like this. Considering the number of these people, even if Fa Zheng knew that these people had some ideas, it would be difficult for him to deal with them directly before something happened. And when something really happened, even if Fa Zheng sent people to keep an eye on them, it would be impossible to deal with it. What's more, things like surveillance cannot be done too obviously.

From a certain perspective, this is also a difficulty that decent people cannot avoid when doing things - even if you know that the other party has problems, or even are sure that the other party will do bad things in the future, but you don’t have evidence and sufficient reasons, you will not be able to take the other party down directly.

"Zi Jing is the same as you. Zi Jing has stayed in the Ganges for more than a year. By now, he should have found everyone he should have found. Although I dare not say that all the middle-level officers have been found, but 90% of them should have been found." When Chen Xi said this, he even showed some conviction in Lu Su.

"So what's next?" Fa Zheng asked with a raised eyebrow. The problem was not finding these people, but what reason to use to take them down. It was not easy to come up with a suitable reason.

"Next, it depends on what kind of determination Zijing is willing to make." Guys like Li You and Jia Xu, who have no bottom line, have already realized what the possible operations are.

"But if that's the case, the fundamental problem hasn't been solved." Jia Xu looked at Chen Xi and asked, "It's just treating the symptoms but not the root cause."

"I don't need to cure the root cause. I just need to reduce the losses and bring them back to an acceptable range. As I said before, I just hope that those passionate frontline soldiers will not waste their time on unnecessary battlefields just because of the momentary desires of the middle and upper-level officers." Chen Xi said calmly, "Cure the root cause? It's impossible to cure the root cause since the point was picked out."

"This is a completely bad idea." Man Chong said unhappily.

"It's not that I want to give up, but none of the solutions can solve the problem from the root, so I can only choose this solution." Chen Xi said very seriously, "From the time this incident was exposed two years ago, to the situation taking a sharp turn for the worse, to the time when I couldn't control the chaotic people's hearts no matter what, I knew that at this point, I shouldn't think about making a big profit, and it would be good enough if I could stop the loss."

"Why don't I go to the Ganges River and talk to them?" Liu Bei suddenly said, "Or I will go there in person when the next battle of the Ganges River comes."

"It can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. I have already considered this. Moreover, it will cause a certain loss to your prestige. In fact, the most correct choice is to lose a battle and wake these guys up. It's just the mistake of the middle and upper levels, why should the lower levels bear the responsibility?" Chen Xi said with some dissatisfaction.

“If I can accurately make the mistakes of the upper-middle level backfire on the upper-middle level, I don’t care about winning or losing the next game. However, the mistakes made by the upper-middle level officers in tactical response will only have the biggest backlash on the lower level. The risk resistance of both sides is not at the same level at all, and the lower level will always be the first to face backlash in this wave.” Chen Xi crossed his hands, supporting his head, with a hint of coldness in his eyes. He was very dissatisfied with this situation!

This is no longer a matter of looking at the problem from a military perspective, but the most practical, moral and fair perspective. Chen Xi does not ask for much, but even this little is difficult to achieve under the current situation!
"Okay, let's put this matter to an end for now and wait for Zijing's reply." Liu Bei interrupted Chen Xi. Having worked with Chen Xi for so many years, Liu Bei had long realized Chen Xi's stubbornness in certain aspects. Continuing to dwell on this matter that would not produce results in a short time would only waste Chen Xi's energy, in Liu Bei's opinion. It would be better to get Chen Xi out of this matter first, and let Chen Xi clean up the mess after the dust settled.

"..." Chen Xi was silent for a while after hearing this, and turned his head to look at Liu Bei, but in the end he did not refute. After all, Chen Xi really couldn't come up with any result for this matter now, and could only wait for Lu Su's reply. If Lu Su didn't reply, this matter could only wait for another result.

"Zichuan, come with me for a walk. You won't be able to work properly if you stay here. Go out and relax." Liu Bei called to Chen Xi. He was more or less aware that Chen Xi had been entangled in this matter that would not end well. To be honest, Liu Bei had never seen Chen Xi embarrassed over the years. Everything was easy for Chen Xi.

How to say about this matter? Liu Bei felt it was indeed very bad, but it was just bad. Li You, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, Fa Zheng, and even Liu Ye in the palace had analyzed it for Liu Bei. There was no solution to this matter, but it was not a big deal to be honest.

After losing a game, the front-line soldiers will naturally adjust their mentality. Even if they have ambitions and want to obtain a larger fiefdom, they will restrain themselves if they act recklessly and harm others and themselves, even if they are truly bad people.

What's more, the evil deeds of most officers and soldiers were only because they went too smoothly, which made them think that the Kushans were nothing special. They wanted to hinder them and really want to kill their old brothers, but in Liu Ye's opinion, that stage had not yet come.

Just like Huo Nu back then, before he first acquired the shop on North Street, he had no ambition. Before he accidentally killed Han Zijiang, the greatest evil Huo Nu had done was to be a talker, make some money, and be corrupt, but he didn't play big.

At the very least, considering Huo Nu's status as the sixth-level smelter and the chief military instructor of Jizhou, even if these things were brought to the attention of Liu Bei, the worst he would do was to go to jail.

Chen Xi even asked at that time, if Liu Bei had discovered Huo Nu's problem before accidentally killing Han Zijiang, how would Liu Bei deal with it. Liu Bei said that he would deal with it according to the law, but also said later that when Huo Nu reformed and came out, Liu Bei would still help him. After all, Liu Bei was such a benevolent leader.

Huo Nu's transformation into a bad person went through such a process, so the degeneration of the officers of the Ganges River must also have been a process. Liu Ye, a wise man who could analyze from the perspective of others, easily simulated dozens of middle and upper-level officers according to Liu Bei's description, and then gave the answer.

Liu Ye even mocked them in front of Liu Bei: "Those guys who now think their comrades have changed, it's because Chen Zichuan protected them too well. The world shouldn't be white, it's just that Chen Zichuan's lonely moon illuminates the night, so that these people who have experienced darkness and hell think that the world should be like this. In fact, the world is also cannibalistic!"

"It only takes one defeat, and most people who have this idea will give up on it. Most people in this world are just mediocre. Even if they want to be bad guys, it is impossible for them to completely abandon their conscience from the beginning. Most ordinary people have to do it step by step even if they want to become bad guys." When Liu Ye said this, the sarcasm on his face was not concealed at all.

Liu Bei thought about it and realized that it was true. It would take time for most ordinary people to become bad.

With this foundation, although Liu Bei still felt dissatisfied with what happened in the Ganges, he was not as heartbroken as Chen Xi.

After all, the era in which Liu Bei lived and the era in which Chen Xi lived were completely different things. No matter how benevolent Liu Bei was, he had seen the devastation and the world falling apart. He was able to make his own choices in pain and accept sacrifices. Even if these sacrifices should not have been made in Chen Xi's opinion, from the overall perspective, Liu Bei could still accept such facts.

It is precisely because of this understanding that Liu Bei can fully understand Chen Xi's kindness, but it is also because of this understanding that when Liu Bei discovered that Chen Xi was in a dilemma because of his own morality, he decisively ended the discussion on the matter, because it was meaningless and no one could solve it. Now that things have come to this point, it is better to wait until it happens and then find a way to solve it!

After dragging Chen Xi away from the Council of State, Liu Bei and Chen Xi wandered around the palace and soon came to Shanglin Garden. They picked up some edible things from the Cookie Garden and started to eat them without washing them. They just stroked them a few times and started to eat them.

To be honest, this is also the reason why Cookie ran away after farming in Shanglinyuan for a while, because there were too many pests in Shanglinyuan, and you couldn't kill them.

"Zichuan, why don't you study how to get people to eat more meat during the New Year?" Liu Bei brought up the topic casually and greeted Chen Xi while chewing a cucumber.

"I've been talking about this for many years, and I've worked hard on it over the years." Chen Xi took a bite of the cucumber and said casually, "Look, six or seven years ago when we were eating pickles in that private residence, we still used minced meat. Three or four years ago, we started to use diced meat, and the year before last, it became meat chunks. I've been making progress in this area."

Whether or not people can eat meat is a critical point. Being able to eat this stuff universally means an overall improvement in the social foundation.

The current average height of Han soldiers is ten to fifteen centimeters taller than that of Nangui, and their average weight is more than forty kilograms heavier than that of Nangui soldiers. Let's put it this way, if we throw our weapons and equipment aside and fight each other, the probability of Han winning is much greater than that of Kushan.

To be honest, the two sides are not even in the same heavyweight class.

And this is the significance of Chen Xi's research over the years on allowing ordinary Han people to eat meat. Compared with the past when they could only taste it in good years, now they can see it at least every few days. The question of how much is put aside for now. Chen Xi has really solved the question of whether there is meat or not.

"The development of technology has solved a lot of problems. Ever since Her Royal Highness the Princess reminded me of this, I have had people research the technologies for making ham, bacon and smoked meat. Because these technologies already exist and just need to be improved, it only took one or two years to produce results." Chen Xi took two big bites of the cucumber. To be honest, the food in the Cookie Garden is really delicious.

"In fact, even in the past, I was more limited by the shelf life issue and could not transport meat from the large ranches in the north to the densely populated areas in the central part of the country. Now, things like bacon, cured goose, and ham, which have a shelf life of as short as half a year, are enough for me to rely on the current immature logistics industry to deliver these things to various places." Chen Xi said with some pride.

As for the fact that eating too much of these things can cause cancer, how should I put it? Just eating too much is not something most families can afford these days. Also, cancer can be considered a disease of the rich for ancient people, because ordinary people would never live to see cancer...

So compared to the benefits of eating meat to strengthen the body, the probability of getting cancer increases several times after the age of 60, and at a time when the average life expectancy of ordinary people is less than 30, and after the birth of Chen Xi, the average life expectancy increases by 50% but still does not reach 60 years old, is this a problem? It is not!

This is just like telling an ordinary person in modern times that if you drink alcohol, eat meat, beer and barbecue every day, you will be plagued by diseases when you are 140 years old. Who will care? Just have fun!
In short, the roast meat and ham industries are booming. For this reason, roast meat and ham factories have been established near major ranches in the north, effectively reducing losses.

"General, Marquis Chen~" Just when Chen Xi and Liu Bei were chatting nonsense, Si Niang passed by carrying a basket. Seeing Liu Bei and Chen Xi, she waved at them in a very un-royal concubine manner, and then refreshed aside.

"Greetings, Empress Xian." After all, Liu Bei was beside him, so Chen Xi couldn't greet him casually. He just bowed and Si Niang also returned the greeting with a smile.

"Here, we just happened to meet. Let me treat you to some duck legs." Si Niang took out a box from the food box and handed it to Liu Bei.

I don't want to talk, everyone, remember to participate in the 10th anniversary event. You can participate in some small draws by voting for a monthly ticket. If you are interested, but don't know how to participate, you can go to the main group and find Xiaozhi, and wait for me to send an announcement or something like that.