Chapter 7053 Everything That Needs to Be Said Has Been Said

Chapter 7053 Everything That Needs to Be Said Has Been Said

Yi Ji had nothing to say. For him, this was a case of aiming high and getting somewhere in the middle, or aiming for the middle and getting somewhere low. There was really nothing to say about it.

Moreover, Yi Ji could sense from Chen Xi's words that Chen Xi might have wanted to do this for a long time, and he just happened to be there at the right time.

As for Liao Li, Shi Xie, and the others, they whispered among themselves. In their view, Chen Xi's words had a deliberate punitive meaning, which was to say, "You think I, Chen Xi, am not doing a good job? Then I'll give you a chance to try it yourself and see how you do."

Try it yourself, and then tell me how well I did. At least you'll have a comparison.

"Lord Chen, could you offer some guidance? I do have some ideas, but to succeed, we need to learn from the experiences of those who have achieved success." Yi Ji was silent for a moment before quickly giving his reply. Although Chen Xi's answer was not what he wanted, at least he had gained some autonomy. Even if he couldn't obtain funds from agriculture, making money and spending it himself was still an option.

Relying entirely on himself and bearing all the profits and losses made Yi Ji somewhat uneasy, but he also felt a sense of breaking out of his comfort zone and trying a new future. For a moment, he felt both worried and excited.

“I don’t have much time. In fact, I rarely even get involved in the operation of the agricultural and food industry itself now. So if you want to do anything, just contact the agricultural and food industry directly. They have exceptional experience and strategic planning.” Chen Xi shook his head and said.

This was not just empty talk from Chen Xi, but a fact. Before the Yuanfeng era, Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain had already appeared in Yanzhou. This is why Agriculture and Grain was called Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain. Because Agriculture and Grain existed first, and then the world was unified, the state-owned enterprise Agriculture and Grain had higher authority than many other enterprises.

Conversely, Nongfu Springs was one of the earliest companies that Chen Xi let go of and allowed to be operated by its own managers. This is why the Nongfu Springs case is the first major case. To put it bluntly, other state-owned enterprises were only established at the beginning of the Yuanfeng era, while Nongfu Springs had already provided Chen Xi with a large sum of money at that time. Only enterprises that have developed to a certain level can withstand this scale of corruption.

Even with government support, it's impossible for a newly established state-owned factory to have billions of dollars siphoned off without anyone noticing.

Zhao Yu was able to achieve this level of success not only because of technological innovation, but also because of the crucial factor that Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain's revenue could mask these discrepancies. This also demonstrates just how massive Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain's business truly was.

Of course, Chen Xi guessed that the managers of Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain were not unaware of this, but were testing the waters with other intentions. However, Chen Xi did not like to discuss such matters that judge by appearances rather than intentions. As far as Chen Xi was concerned, as long as these people could complete their targets, even if they had some selfish motives or extraneous thoughts, Chen Xi did not care much. After all, he was very clear about what he wanted.

As for the petty thoughts of his subordinates, even if they discovered them, so what? What Chen Xi has always needed is not to completely restrict the personal freedom of his subordinates, but to let them do as they please, as long as they achieve their goals, and ignore everything else as long as they do not break the law or violate the rules.

From a certain perspective, Chen Xi does indeed possess some of the Taoist principles of non-action.

“Very well, after I return to Yanzhou, I will have in-depth discussions with Commander Su.” Yi Ji said after thinking for a moment. The Commander Su that Yi Ji referred to was Su Shuang’s son, Su Yong.

It's absurd to say, but neither Su Shuang nor Zhang Shiping's sons were particularly capable. When Liu Bei and Chen Xi made arrangements for them, the two men insisted that they were not suited for official positions, fearing that they might hinder Liu Bei and Chen Xi's plans. They also claimed that their investment in Liu Bei and their immediate response to Chen Xi's invitation were indeed the biggest investments they had ever made in their lives.

However, the two then said that they were not suitable to be officials and that they should continue to make money. So Chen Xi gave the original arrangements for the two of them to their offspring, which was the "thousand-stone official" mentioned earlier. Again, a thousand-stone official may not seem high, but the deputy of a prefecture only has six hundred stones. The deputy of the Nine Ministers in Chang'an only has a thousand-stone position. This level of honorary position is already very high.

Of course, in addition to arranging the thousand-stone positions for their children, Chen Xi also opened up certain channels for Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, allowing them to enter certain professions with high barriers to entry without any obstacles.

This is why Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping became well-known businessmen in the Central Plains in a very short time. However, compared to these things, what truly made Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping feel that they had turned their lives around was that although their sons were not good at being officials, they were good at strategic planning and management in large state-owned factories.

That's right. The sons of these two men had long since given up their nominal positions of 1,000 shi (a unit of grain), and now both of them were managers in state-owned factories. Su Yong, in particular, was the agricultural and grain supervisor of Yanzhou, a position equivalent to 2,000 shi.

Compared to the past when a normal person could tell it was a nominal position obtained through favoritism, Su Yong can now stand up and say that he earned it through his own abilities. Perhaps it really is true that trash is a treasure in the wrong place. Su Yong has indeed done a good job in the agricultural and grain sector in Yanzhou. Although he has some of his own little schemes and shrewdness, he has made the agricultural and grain sector thrive and has been able to guarantee the scale of taxes and fees paid every year.

From a certain perspective, this can be considered a complete escape from the rather shameful identity of a "good-for-nothing second-generation."

Chen Xi was relatively satisfied with this. After all, it was very troublesome to arrange positions for those senior members who were not capable enough but had a lot of experience. If they were not arranged, their followers would feel somewhat resentful, since they had worked hard even if they hadn't made any contributions.

Just think of Journey to the West. When Pigsy and Sandy were finally discussing their merits, Buddha said, "You have made merit by carrying the load" and "You have made merit by leading the horse up the mountain," so he gave them rewards.

In other words, sometimes, merit is not due to your ability, but because the people you follow are right, and that's why you get merit.

In reality, it's not just about merit. Often, the reason you can make money isn't because you're more capable than others, but because the industry you're in is constantly expanding and on the rise. It represents productivity and is very close to you, so you naturally make money.

Just like how authors can earn a living by writing novels, it's not only due to the author's ability, but also because the era in which the author started writing was relatively good. Nowadays, not to say "just wait to die," it's enough to cover food expenses.

Therefore, the old followers are not very capable, but their descendants are. This is the best outcome for Chen Xi, because it means that he can give the task to the descendants of the old people instead of the old ones. In China, it is a practice that everyone can agree with, as it is a reasonable way to reward one's descendants rather than the fathers.

More importantly, when a descendant who has risen to power in this way talks to important figures above him about how he once drank with his father and how he never expected that his son would drink with him now, it carries a sense of inheritance and helps to stabilize the organization.

After all, many people who have descendants live for the sake of their descendants.

"Consider this my support for your Yanzhou government in developing local enterprises. In the eleventh year of Yuanfeng, I will slightly increase your rebate amount," Chen Xi said after thinking for a moment. This was something that needed to be promoted, and since Yi Ji had brought it up at this juncture, Chen Xi decided to go with the flow and give it a try.

"Thank you, Lord Chen." Yi Ji bowed respectfully.

Sun Qian looked at Chen Xi thoughtfully, but then thought it was unlikely. How could he possibly break down the thing he was working on? How could he let the local government get involved in what he was doing? To put it bluntly, the local government could only offer suggestions to him at most.

"Boning, what do you think of this?" Chen Xi asked Man Chong.

“Dereliction of duty is dereliction of duty, and should be punished.” Man Chong shook his head and said. Chen Xi didn’t say much after hearing this, and could only let Yi Ji pray for good luck. There was nothing he could do. Many things are like this. If it doesn’t reach Chang’an, then there’s nothing to worry about. But since it has reached Chang’an, then there has to be a result.

"Take this file back with you," Chen Xi said, handing the file to Yi Ji.

Yi Ji sighed softly. This matter didn't work out, but fortunately, some other things did happen, so it wasn't too bad. He then reached out and took the dossier that Chen Xi had returned.

“Keep working hard and stay true to yourself. You did a good job in Yanzhou, so I won’t say much more. But Uncle Ji, do you know why I rejected your proposal? Besides the reasons I mentioned, there’s another very important reason.” Chen Xi stood up and said to Yi Ji.

Upon hearing this, Yi Ji seemed to be deep in thought, and then sighed softly.

"You can be a saint and use the money you receive to support the poor areas of Yanzhou and build roads that Gongyou planned but didn't have time to build. But what about your successor? Or to put it more bluntly, after this happened, will this kind of thing happen again?" Chen Xi said with a touch of emotion. These are all things that have happened in history.

Chen Xi couldn't comment on the issue of "drifting" (i.e., the loss of employees). For state-owned enterprises like Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain Group, since no one else was involved, Chen Xi could clearly set targets for them, promoting the capable and demoting the incompetent. However, if local forces intervened, causing bottlenecks in the process, systemic drifting, and overall contamination of the entire upstream and downstream, Chen Xi's targets would inevitably be reduced.

This is something Chen Xi would not allow, and besides, just because Yi Ji is acting out of public interest does not mean that others are acting out of public interest as well.

To put it bluntly, does Chen Xi really not know that the dormitory buildings that Yanzhou Agricultural and Grain built for its workers in a certain place were seized by local officials after completion? If the Agricultural and Grain Company hadn't had a security department that directly expelled these people, it wouldn't have been so easy to drive them away once they moved in.

Then there are education facilities and preschools, which are things that the agricultural and food industry provides for its own workers. These are internal accounting projects that don't charge employees but charge externally. In some places in Yanzhou, when people are sent in, they may not necessarily pay.

Chen Xi actually knew all about these things, but he turned a blind eye because he couldn't manage such details, and some of the behaviors were simply not something anyone realized was wrong.

The reason the veteran told Liu Bei that the nursery was quite good was because the veteran's child had also been enrolled there without being charged. Liu Bei wouldn't have realized this during a normal inquiry, and even the veteran himself didn't realize that something was wrong.

Since the employee's child didn't have to pay tuition to attend school there, it's naturally fine for his child to attend school there without paying tuition either.

Conversely, if the kindergarten needs Song Lin, a centurion, to do something, as long as it doesn't violate principles, Song Lin will handle it readily. Many troublesome procedures are nothing to someone of Song Lin's rank. Do they look down on the Han Dynasty's five-fold smelting, which only has a little over a thousand people?
If you really look into these behaviors, they're not actually compliant with regulations. But if it were local authorities, it would be a case of "if the people don't complain, the officials won't investigate." It's a matter of doing others a favor and doing yourself a favor. It's something that Chen Xi would know about, but as long as it wasn't serious enough, he could just turn a blind eye and let it go.

Because it's pointless to delve into these details, society is made up of people, and interpersonal relationships are inevitable. As long as it doesn't exceed a certain range, Chen Xi can only turn a blind eye. Surely no one thinks that bureaucrats are made of special material and have no human feelings.

Frankly speaking, if it were made of special materials, the lack of human compassion would be a problem, since the foundation of law is human sentiment!

In short, Chen Xi knows a great deal. Just as Liu Bei had veteran soldiers who had penetrated deep into the local areas as his tentacles, Chen Xi also had state-owned factories and mines that had penetrated deep into the local areas as his tentacles. Both of them could see a great deal, and both of them were unconsciously deceived by their own information channels.

That's why Chen Xi needs to talk to Liu Bei from time to time to clarify some things. Because some things require different perspectives to understand the problem. What is normal in Chen Xi's perspective may not be normal in the veteran's perspective. This kind of misalignment is the basis for understanding the diversity of the world. Without this misalignment, there is only one channel of information, and what is learned...

“For this kind of thing, we just need to strengthen supervision,” Yi Ji said very seriously. “It’s difficult to make everyone a saint, but reducing their chances of making mistakes is the meaning of a system.”

"So that's how you see the problem?" Chen Xi sighed, then thought for a moment and looked at Yi Ji to ask, "Suppose that Su Yong, the head of Yanzhou Agriculture and Grain, built a large industrial park for the sake of the workers in the agricultural and grain industry. This industrial park has accommodation, medical care, entertainment and education, but because of planning problems, uh, never mind, let's not say planning problems, it's just that the industrial park is short of manpower."

When Chen Xi said this, he had a faint smile on his face, but for some reason Yi Ji was already trembling. He realized that this was what was happening in Yanzhou.

"There aren't enough workers in the industrial park, but the park has already been built. What should we do with the surplus workers?" Chen Xi asked with a hint of regret.

Before Yi Ji could answer, Chen Xi naturally gave his own answer, "Of course, we should invite government personnel at all levels to move in. We can first rent this part of the property to government personnel, such as schools, hospitals, and entertainment facilities. The government can use these first, and then we can transfer them when we have enough staff. If we can't transfer them then, we can just build more, right?"

Why do so many children of government officials attend state-run kindergartens, primary schools, and middle schools? Why do government officials also move into residential communities built by state-owned enterprises for their own use? These questions are actually quite clear.

"Alright, alright, I'm not blaming you." Chen Xi waved his hand, looking at Yi Ji who was already showing faint sweat stains, and didn't take it to heart, because he knew from his time developing businesses in the local area that such behavior was unavoidable.

The so-called state-owned enterprise ecosystem, in essence, is actually an ecosystem of state-owned enterprises and the government. Without the government, there is no ecosystem at all. Only with the government can it become a complete ecosystem.

If we really delve into the core of this behavior, it's not just the actions of the Governor of Yanzhou or Chang'an itself. In any country, when it comes to things like the fiscal budget, the central government, local governments, and specific taxpayers will all engage in a power struggle.

The so-called state-owned enterprise ecosystem, in essence, is a process in which enterprises, as specific taxpayers, involuntarily gravitate towards the side that benefits them, thus forming a game with the other side.

These physical expenditures inevitably end up at the local level. The central government can only take away the money, not the factories, hospitals, schools, and other facilities that have already been built. In essence, these are already local assets when they are implemented.

Even if the company is to be relocated someday, these assets cannot be moved; they will ultimately remain in the local area.

This part is actually about financial power. Chen Xi didn't want to think about whether Yi Ji realized this, but Chen Xi wanted to warn Yi Ji that these things from state-owned enterprises are not easy to take. It's no joke that if you take too much, you'll be indebted to them.

Admittedly, people at Yiji's level look down on these paltry things, but most bureaucrats in the world still care a lot about things like housing, education, and healthcare. After all, only a tiny fraction of people throughout history have been able to be assigned as personal secretaries, special caregivers, or to be included in the official ranks.

The vast majority of officials do not rely on these things; they, like ordinary people, also have to consider their livelihoods. Therefore, the reasonable arrangements of state-owned enterprises are equally important to them.

When the government wants to implement a policy, it doesn't rely on the words of those at the top, but on the actions of those at the bottom. Now that those actions are tied down, there are some things that need to be considered.

"In short, you should think it over carefully. Although state-owned enterprises are on your turf, they are not entirely on your side. I can't be sure of their individual motivations, but it's certain that they want to form interest groups with the local authorities," Chen Xi said with a light laugh, patted Yi Ji on the shoulder, and then walked out.

Anyway, I've said what I needed to say. The rest is up to you to figure out.

It's almost the end of the month, time to cast some votes. *sigh*