Chapter 7055 Handle with care

Chapter 7055 Handle with care
Sun Qian hadn't been in Chang'an for years and wasn't entirely clear on the political landscape, but as a high-ranking official, he instantly understood what Chen Xi meant after she put it that way and realized what was going on.

"In that case, isn't the Prefect of Zangzhou also one of Wenru's men?" Sun Qian asked with some doubt. Based on this premise, whether Xinzhou was Li You's man or not, Li You's status as the King of the Northwest didn't seem to have changed much.

“Zhang Derong from Zangzhou is not a Wenru person. You can’t assume that everyone from Yongliang is a Wenru person. In fact, you need to realize that many people in Yongliang actually have a great grudge against Wenru.” Chen Xi said to Sun Qian with a sigh.

To be honest, Li You does indeed have the qualifications to be the hidden Northwest King. After all, he is a powerful figure who rose from Liangzhou in the last era and has deep roots in Yongliang. However, on the other hand, Li You has committed enormous sins in Yongliang.

Especially in the Sili Commandery, there were quite a few people who wanted to kill Li You. Not to mention anything else, just the relocation of the capital from Luoyang back then really killed far too many people. So in the Yongliang region, there were people who supported Li You, and there were also people who opposed him.

However, Li You is still in the position of Imperial Censor, and with Liu Bei's help as a guarantor, no problems have arisen so far. But to be honest, did those righteous men who truly experienced the turmoil not have the intention to kill Li You?
Yes, there are!
Therefore, among the officials who came from Yongliang, more would choose to follow Fazheng than Li You. After all, Fazheng has not caused any major trouble so far. Even though he is somewhat vindictive, that kind of personality is actually a good thing for his own people!

This means that as long as you do your job and move in the direction of national development, if someone bullies you, the law will naturally stand up to solve the problem.

A boss who is protective of his subordinates is actually a good thing for those below him.

Just like in the Investiture of the Gods, as a disciple, would you rather follow Yuanshi Tianzun or Tongtian Jiaozhu? Putting aside the concept of "the victor is king and the loser is villain," just in terms of protecting one's own, Yuanshi Tianzun is clearly more reliable. Everyone knows the situation, so there's really nothing more to say.

Furthermore, Zhang Ji and Fa Zheng's cousin are from the same hometown, so the choice is self-evident.

However, compared to Li You's style, Fa Zheng is more low-key in this regard.

Zhang Ji was able to escape unscathed in the Yanzhou case not only because he himself had not committed any crime and because of Li You's help, but also because Fa Zheng intervened and protected him.

So if we really have to say which faction Zhang Ji belongs to, it must be the faction of Fa Zheng.

To be fair, Fa Zheng has considerable power and a group of allies. At the very least, Xinzhou and Jingzhao Yin are his true allies.

"Is that so? I didn't expect that my absence these past few years would have uncovered so much behind the scenes," Sun Qian replied with a hint of amazement.

"There are many interesting things. Let me put it this way: if we don't count me, the only one who hasn't changed much is probably Wenhe." Chen Xi glanced at Jia Xu out of the corner of his eye. Guo Jia wasn't there, so the only one who hasn't changed from beginning to end is Jia Xu, who is always protecting himself.

"I'm somewhat disappointed," Sun Qian sighed twice.

"Conquering the world and governing the world are completely different." Chen Xi said with a touch of emotion, "If it were just about conquering the world, it would have ended after the Battle of Guandu. What followed was about finding ways to govern the country and make the people of the world live better lives."

“But what you said before is clearly not true.” Sun Qian looked at Chen Xi with a hint of doubt, and Chen Xi remained silent for a while after hearing this.

“Everyone has their own way of governing the world, their own kind of thieves, and their own sense of justice,” Chen Xi replied to Sun Qian after a while.

Chen Xi realized long ago that without him and the industrial and agricultural miracles he had created over the years, this group of people would probably be fighting each other for their own justice by now.

Royalists, conservatives, people-oriented, those who suppress powerful families, those who kill powerful families, reformists, industrialists, and, oh, those who protect themselves—the list goes on and on!

Sometimes Chen Xi had to admire himself for truly managing to subdue this group of people and get them to follow his commands and move in a direction that was reasonably correct.

"Sometimes I admire myself," Chen Xi complained to Sun Qian.

"You really deserve admiration." Sun Qian agreed with this statement, especially after understanding the current state of his teammates. Sun Qian felt that it was indeed not easy for Chen Xi to keep this group of people in check.

“If you include aristocratic families, there are even more types. Fortunately, I created a prosperous era, allowing idealism to survive.” When Chen Xi said this, the light chuckle made Sun Qian realize Chen Xi’s true feelings—in this situation, Chen Xi was actually in a pretty good mood.

How could it not be good? Because of its rapid development and its own economic operations, the country has prospered at an astounding pace, leading some realists to accept the possibility of realizing their ideals.

This is quite interesting. To be honest, what's supporting Chen Xi and the Han Dynasty now is no longer these elders or those Han aristocratic families, but that seemingly unattainable ideal that appears possible under Chen Xi's leadership.

In this world, there is never a shortage of dream chasers, but most of the time they are beaten down by reality and eventually give up their dreams in silence. But now Chen Xi has given an opportunity, a real chance to pursue one's dream.

It can be said that Chen Xi is not using laws, morality, or rules to govern these multi-headed monsters, but rather relying on a potentially achievable ideal to make these people naturally follow him.

The Han aristocratic family class is absolutely unreliable, but when there are dreams to pursue, there are individuals within the Han aristocratic family who are willing to betray their class and become true followers of Chen Xi, rather than just paying lip service to the cause.

Chen Xi wasn't entirely sure how many of these people there were, but idealists were definitely made of special stuff; one of them was worth ten of them.

Despite the numerous hidden dangers and conflicts within the Han Dynasty, it continues to roll forward precisely because the relatively controllable power struggles at the top, concealed by layers of cover, rarely affect those at the bottom. This perfectly aligns with Chen Xi's requirements.

"However, generally speaking, these are not really problems. I am quite satisfied with the current situation." Chen Xi summarized simply. He was not just being perfunctory or talking nonsense. He genuinely felt that the current situation was quite good. Although there were some conflicts between different levels due to their respective ideas and sense of justice, the overall situation remained at a level of fighting without breaking apart, which was very good.

The idea of ​​having no factions within the party is simply impossible.

"Just keep that in mind. Anyway, I'll be heading back to the southwest after the Grand Court Assembly. I think it's better if I stay in Chang'an for a shorter time. I've learned some things this time, which has broadened my horizons. I'll break down the two points I mentioned later, and you can handle them as you see fit." Sun Qian said honestly. Over the years, he had come to terms with his own abilities. With his current capabilities, he shouldn't be fighting with others. He should just focus on his own work and try to get into a temple.

"That works too. I'll just separate this part and let them arrange it." Chen Xi thought about it and felt that separating the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Public Construction would be appropriate. As for whether Lu Yu and Wang Xiu could get the substantive positions, that was another matter.

After all, while the substantive position of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measure) was important to Chen Xi, he mainly focused on the results and the impact on the future of the country, and didn't care much about who got the position.

Over the years, Chen Xi's mindset in this regard has never changed: as long as I achieve my goal, you can do whatever you want with me.

This is why local governments, powerful families, and all sorts of other troublemakers like to test Chen Xi after they've calmed down. It's because Chen Xi doesn't care about their actions, only the results. As long as they don't cross the line, Chen Xi rarely shows his personal likes or dislikes when it comes to serious matters.

"Then I'll leave it all to you." Sun Qian was also carefree, and in order to save trouble, he directly passed the burden to Chen Xi.

Led by Liu Bei and Chen Xi, the group turned left and right and eventually ended up back at the palace.

"I thought we'd find another place to talk, but we've come back here again." Man Chong's tone was flat, but Chen Xi could still detect a hint of sarcasm in it.

“There’s no other way. It’s better to discuss such important matters in the government affairs hall.” Chen Xi said with a smile. “Since Yi Jibo has brought this matter up, I can no longer pretend to be ignorant about many things that I could have done in the past. After all, everyone knows how I’ve done things conveniently and easily over the years.”

Jia Xu turned his head to the side. He had realized this years ago, but Chen Xi always pretended to be dead. What could Jia Xu do? Expose it? How could he? Was he that kind of person? Exposing this would basically put him on the opposite side of the lower and middle levels of the bureaucratic system.

While clarifying this matter would certainly benefit the country, as the saying goes, what benefits the country does not necessarily benefit the individual.

There are people in this world who put public interests before private ones, but most are ordinary people. They will consider the country and the government, but it is impossible for them not to consider themselves.

So even though Jia Xu realized early on that this thing seemed to be a shady business, when he was developing large-scale ranches, couldn't he have taken the opportunity to build dormitories for the employees of those ranches? And when he was industrializing it, couldn't he have also built some dormitories for Zang Hong, the governor of Bingzhou?

To put it bluntly, when Sun Qian was asked to build the road in that direction, Li Zhe's village was located three to five miles west of the planned county road. Sun Qian simply created a side road to connect the entrance of Li Zhe's village to the county road. Is that a problem?
This is not a problem!
Jia Xu would never say that this approach wouldn't work. Instead, he would say, "We happen to have extra materials. Get the able-bodied men in your village to help with the repairs. It's a good opportunity for the military and civilians to get along and strengthen their bond, and to cleanse our habit of treating bandits like combs and soldiers like fine brushes."

Those in the lower and middle classes really couldn't do anything about Jia Xu, but if they offended too many people and threatened their livelihoods, there would definitely be a backlash. However, Jia Xu knew very well whether this was right or wrong, so when he was doing it, he insisted that the local people and the army work together to build it.

Even if this were to be brought up to Chen Xi now, Jia Xu could say that this was to change the image of the army and make it develop in the direction that Chen Xi described as the people's army that Liu Bei desired.

Naturally, this unreasonable expenditure was considered reasonable by Jia Xu, which was the so-called expenditure on the image of the army, to reconcile the relationship between the local people and the army, and to strengthen the army's military skills while enhancing the army's ideological level.

In short, Jia Xu couldn't avoid this matter either, but there was no way to investigate Jia Xu's affairs, since the nature of the matter was different. At the very least, Jia Xu's expenditure could be discussed at the grand court assembly, and everyone had to acknowledge it. Moreover, as long as you continued to talk about the rites and the rule of the king, Jia Xu's expenditure would be considered reasonable.

However, let alone the third century, even in the 21st century, we still need to talk about etiquette and the rule of the king. Naturally, Jia Xu, with his clear mind, knows everything and is fearless.

“I’m also involved in this,” Jian Yong said frankly. His situation was the same as Sun Qian’s, and all of Sun Qian’s possibilities would be reflected in Jian Yong’s situation again. This was an unavoidable situation, since Jian Yong’s nature was the same.

"It's alright, I didn't mean to pursue this." Chen Xi waved his hand, interrupting the others who might be preparing to plead guilty and accept punishment later. "Since this happened at Chang'an Bank and large state-owned factories and mines, I cannot shirk my responsibility, so you don't need to worry. But now that it's all out in the open, some things need to be more closely monitored."

"Have Xiaozhi strengthen oversight in this area," Li You said solemnly.

“That works too.” Fa Zheng thought for a moment and knew that this job was not easy, but he was the only one in the room who was suitable for it. Moreover, he had enough internal control intelligence. It’s just that he hadn’t considered this a problem before. Now, Chen Xi’s words at the Court of Justice were indeed reasonable. Local interest groups really need to be more closely monitored.

“Let Ziyang and Xiaozhi supervise,” Chen Xi said, looking at Liu Ye sitting at the end. Although his stance differed greatly from Liu Ye’s, Chen Xi knew very well which matters Liu Ye was absolutely reliable on. In matters like undermining the country, Liu Ye’s hostility was definitely the greatest.

“Very well, I will transfer Cui Yan to my command.” Liu Ye said without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi looked at Liu Bei, who was standing to the side. Liu Bei thought for a moment and then nodded.

“If Bo Ning agrees, then transfer Cui Yan to your command.” Chen Xi nodded to Man Chong. Although he knew very well that Man Chong must have agreed since Liu Ye brought this up here, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

“I have no problem with him. Cui Yan is very capable, but Xun Yue is enough for me. It is appropriate to let Cui Yan give up his work in the Court of Justice and fully switch to the Supervisory Office.” Man Chong said slowly with a blank face. “When Cui Yan was recruited, he was intended to be used as a supervisor, but he had been working in the Court of Justice before, which was a bit of a waste.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi said nothing more. Even so, Chen Xi already understood that Cui Yan's job under Liu Ye was not just for surveillance, but also likely for supporting the Cui family and suppressing the Yuan and Yang families.

However, Chen Xi had no intention of delving into this kind of task. He never took the Central Asian balancing strategy seriously from the beginning. If someone was willing to do it, then they would; if no one was willing, the major families would just keep going and eventually create a relatively balanced situation.

“Speaking of which, Yi Ji’s case should be the kind that the officials won’t investigate unless the people report it. The fact that you’re conducting an investigation means that someone has brought the case to Chang’an.” Liu Bei asked Man Chong. He had previously wondered what Yi Ji had done wrong, but after learning more about it, he realized it was just a small matter. Although Chen Xi had asked for stronger supervision, Liu Bei still hadn’t realized the problem.

In Liu Bei's view, if it's something he has the ability to do, then it's just like how one person's success brings benefits to their entire family and friends. What's the big problem with that?
As for the local interest groups and such, Liu Bei understood that they were indeed something to be wary of, but were the things mentioned earlier really a problem?
“It was Wei Jun who brought the letter from the people of Yanzhou,” Man Chong said truthfully.

The whole incident started simply because non-agricultural residents in Yanzhou were charged to attend schools affiliated with agricultural and food enterprises. This was not a big deal in itself, but when it was discovered that some children who were not children of agricultural and food enterprise employees were also attending school without charge, a disturbance ensued.

Wei Jun happened to be passing by this place and was making a living at a farm. He went to find out what was going on, but he couldn't quite understand what was happening. However, one good thing about Wei Jun was that he was willing to deliver a message, so that's how it happened.

"If Wei Jun has a grandson, will it cost money for him to attend the agricultural school?" Mi Zhu, who had been keeping a low profile, asked a very crucial question. No one answered, but everyone had the answer: if Wei Jun brought his grandson, it would most likely not cost money.

"In essence, it's a problem of encroaching on public resources," Chen Xi said, waving his hand. "These resources belong to the state, but they are being used by individuals."

“This kind of thing is bound to happen, and we can only rely on institutional constraints. It’s not very realistic to completely stop it,” Chen Xi said, shaking his head. “So everyone should carry out their own publicity efforts and strengthen supervision. I won’t pursue the past, but those who go too far in the future should be dealt with accordingly.”

Seeing that Chen Xi was so easy to talk to this time, everyone present was amazed. After all, in their opinion, this matter had crossed the line, but he was treated so lightly.

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