Chapter 7058 Recognize the reality

Chapter 7058 Recognize the reality
Throughout the entire Han Empire, only Chen Xi didn't regard the Kushan Empire as human. Everyone else, including Jia Xu and Li You, thought the Kushan Empire was such a great country with such a strong foundation, but it was just plagued by a bunch of lunatics. It had three harvests a year, rain and heat at the same time, and abundant resources, yet it ruined itself.

As for the major clans, they look down on the Kushan Empire as if it were a celestial being. To put it bluntly, most clans' ultimate goal is questionable whether they even have the strength and status that the Kushan Empire has shown. And what is the current situation of the Kushan Empire?
Damn it, the Kushan Empire, a force of nature, has been reduced to a mere roadside stall by Liu Bei and Chen Xi. Even without knowing Chen Xi's plan to bring in three million troops, just looking at the current situation, all the powerful families understand that victory for Liu Bei and Chen Xi is only a matter of time.

They're too strong, so strong it's unreasonable. They're developing their country while waging war, and they've still managed to develop to this extent. Even the major families are a little scared just looking at this prosperous era.

The living standards of the people within a country best reflect its current state. The major clans all know what state the Han Empire is in now, especially those that are still alive today. They all have a long history and have witnessed the true state of people's livelihood during the foreign wars. Just look back at Emperor Wu of Han, not even the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods!
When Emperor Wu of Han fought the Xiongnu, the people suffered greatly. Although the Xiongnu's strength was indeed forged, the national treasury was also overflowing. This is the kind of all-out effort that the Han aristocratic families could understand.

It's important to know that there were figures like Sang Hongyang and Zhao Guo. The former proposed measures such as the salt and iron monopoly, entry thresholds, and stabilization granaries, making him one of the most economic geniuses in history. Zhao Guo further optimized the basic theories of agricultural cultivation, directly doubling grain output. Even in the late Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu still lacked money, but during the Yuanfeng era, the emperor was simultaneously waging war against foreign powers and developing domestically.

Both hands must be grasped, both hands must be hard!
The internal affairs were causing the Han aristocratic family a lot of trouble. The more knowledgeable a person was, the more they could understand how terrifying Chen Xi was. Unfortunately, the average level of education in the Han aristocratic family was far higher than that of ordinary people.

While ordinary people believe they are living a good life simply because they have encountered good officials, the Han aristocratic family clearly knows that even if everyone in the world were good officials, they would not be living such a life without a monster like Chen Zichuan. Perhaps with the development of the times, it may naturally progress to this level in the future, but that would probably take hundreds or even thousands of years.

The people's historical perspective does not deny the significance of heroes, but merely clarifies that heroes are pioneering figures born from the people. Without these heroes, it would take much longer for society to advance to this point, rather than saying that the people could never advance to this era over time.

The problem is that Chen Xi's operation of leaping across a thousand years in one step is no different from the situation of immortals and gods personally intervening, which is somewhat too outrageous.

The so-called curse of knowledge is that once you know something, you can no longer face things you once knew with ignorance. This is clearly the case with the Han aristocratic family.

Therefore, they hoped that Chen Xi would abide by the rules, that he would not handle government affairs based on personal feelings or preferences, and that he would be a celestial being, a perfect person, and a saint.

As they expected, Chen Xi's behavior was just as they had anticipated. Even though the Yang family had caused such a huge mess at such an important time as the founding of Yuanfeng, Chen Xi's expressions of likes and dislikes did not reach the point of completely exterminating the Yang family. In fact, later on, he truly did not hold them accountable for their past actions.

If any of the major clans were in charge, given the immense achievements the Yang family made back then, they would definitely not have a place in the current Central Asian fiefdoms. However, Chen Xi said he would let bygones be bygones and he really didn't interfere. The Yang family remains the Yang family, and although they are not as powerful as the Yuan family, they are still a top-tier clan.

For the aristocratic families, this was a great thing to be thankful for, because Chen Zichuan was truly a man who respected the rules. Such a powerful and invincible person was actually willing to follow the rules he set and lead them on their adventures. That was truly wonderful!
The aristocratic families hoped that Chen Xi could maintain this facade forever, but they also knew that sooner or later Chen Xi would tear through this layer of warmth and choose the rules that suited him.

As for what to do when that day comes, the answer is, of course, to kneel down, admit your mistakes, confess your guilt and accept punishment, and move Lord Chen with your sincerity.

The major clans no longer expect to fight Chen Xi directly; that's beyond human capability. The prosperous era of the Yuanfeng era has already proven that even with all the accumulation and heritage of the Han clans combined, they cannot reach the level Chen Xi has reached.

Coupled with Liu Bei's absurdly strong control over the army, the major clans had no choice but to kneel down and admit everything the other side wanted them to admit.

Therefore, from beginning to end, all the actions of the Han aristocratic family were based on one point: Liu Bei and Chen Xi were big shots who respected rules.

But now Liu Bei is stepping onto the jade steps and ascending the crimson steps. What rules? I am the rule!
Regardless of whether he is about to ascend the throne, the implications of this action alone are enough for all the heads of the aristocratic families in Chang'an to think carefully.

"Alas, this day has finally come. The strong can go back on their word, and the rules they once spoke of can be taken back. Who is the master and who is the follower is self-evident." Chen Ji's face, covered with age spots, twisted in pain when he saw this intelligence. Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness are rules used to bind people under heaven, but if someone breaks through the limits of people under heaven, then these constraints are useless.

"These are turbulent times." Yuan Sui said with a hint of weariness. Liu Bei's ascension to the throne was not a good thing for the Yuan family. It wasn't a matter of hatred, but simply that the strongest person in the world had taken the most rightful place, and no one could stop him anymore.

The King of Jin saying "You gentlemen, seize the Ganges for me" and the Emperor saying "You generals, seize the Ganges for me" are two different concepts. In the former case, as long as the Han aristocratic families handled things well and got a share of the spoils, Liu Bei would at most be displeased. As long as they didn't go too far, the Han aristocratic families could do what they wanted. After all, the greater good was not on Liu Bei's shoulders. Even if Liu Bei was indeed the strongest, in any era, reputation itself is a kind of power.

But if it's the emperor, it's completely different. The saying "All land under heaven belongs to the king, and all people within the realm are his subjects" was something that the Han dynasty aristocratic families neither accepted nor rejected. They accepted it when you had the power, but they didn't when you didn't have the power to govern your own small territory.

The unfortunate thing is that Liu Bei really had enough power, enough to push the imperial power directly into the ancestral temples of the powerful families. Did he not understand what it means to grant favors, to wield power, and to enjoy the finest food? The emperor's righteousness combined with enough power allowed him to act arrogantly and domineeringly.

Many things that are forbidden at the level of kings and nobles are things that can be done freely at the level of the emperor.

If a king or nobleman says, "I forbid it," then so be it. Even if we get caught, we won't be wiped out along with our entire family if we don't have enough power.

But the emperor has already spoken, saying I forbid it. If you do it and your power is insufficient, your entire family will perish with you!
Therefore, when Yuan Sui learned that Liu Bei had stepped onto the jade steps and performed the Eight-Row Dance in front of him in Zhaoyang Palace, he was filled with a sense of oppression. The title of emperor should eventually be returned to the person who deserves this status.

Without a doubt, Liu Bei fully embodies this identity.

"What are you worried about?" Deng Tong said to Yuan Sui with annoyance. "It's just that Grand Commandant Liu stepped onto the jade steps. What does that have to do with us? We can marry off our daughters and develop our businesses as usual. Are we going to stop Grand Commandant Liu from doing this?"

As he spoke, Deng Tong probably felt that it wasn't interesting to be alone, so he turned to look at Yong Kai, who was full of great wisdom. Indeed, in Deng Tong's eyes, Yong Kai was full of great wisdom, acting in a calm and deliberate manner, and possessing the wisdom of thinking thrice before acting and planning carefully before making a move.

"What do you think, Marquis of Shifang?" Deng Tong asked Yong Kai.

“My home is in the Arctic Circle.” Yong Kai was like a wound-up machine; after a moment of silence, he gave his answer, which was very insightful and explained all the logic.

“See, right? It was an inevitable event, and we’re far enough away from it,” Deng Tong chimed in. “So why bother? Thinking about it won’t solve anything. We might as well do something practical. For example, I’ve already sent people to investigate Empress Xiao’s social connections and contact my brothers to see if they know any suitable young women. I think these immediate matters are more important to us than the matter of Prince Jin.”

"Look, how clear-headed the Marquis of Shifang is. Is this something we can control? At most, we can create some auspicious omens or something, but we won't even be at the top of the list in the memorial, right?" Deng Tong said to Yuan Sui with great magnanimity. "So we might as well just do what we're supposed to do. I saw so many veterans at the previous military exercise, and I saw several old widowers. Shouldn't we make some arrangements for them? Such good young men!"

If living to forty was considered difficult in the past, now, with five levels of refinement and above, and with enough to eat and drink, and some medicinal herbs to treat common ailments, living to sixty or seventy is something to look forward to. Therefore, when Deng Tong saw some widowers in their forties with high refinement, he felt that his family's matchmaking genes were activated.

He didn't know if others wanted these veterans, but he felt it was worth it to help them out. He had so many daughters at home, it would be a waste if they didn't get married, so he might as well arrange a marriage for these veterans. Whether it worked out or not didn't matter.

"You really are magnanimous, Marquis of Gaomi." Yuan Sui looked at the wooden-faced Yong Kai and Deng Tong, who did what he was supposed to do after hearing the news, and thought that his two teammates were really outrageous. They were both the kind of people who were composed and could do things in a calm and focused manner.

"It's not about being magnanimous, but knowing that my anxiety is useless. On the contrary, if I don't hurry up and make arrangements for these old widowers with high-level skills, other families might get involved. Compared to things like the Grand Commandant's possible ascension to the throne, which are beyond our control and from which we can't gain any benefit, why not do something we can control that can enhance our strength?" Deng Tong said calmly, taking a very open-minded view.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Sui gave a bitter smile. He really couldn't be as magnanimous as Deng Tong. Once Liu Bei ascended the throne, the Yuan family would be the first to be affected. Not to mention anything else, Yuan Tan would definitely come to Chang'an to pay his respects to Liu Bei, and then admit his mistakes from back then, attributing all the blame to the Yuan family.

Of course, this is a fact, but Liu Bei didn't pursue it before. However, the Yuan family still had some lingering feelings about it.

"Alright, alright, you're right. We can't stop this kind of thing. And even if we had any ideas, it wouldn't be us who submit the petition. As for creating some auspicious omens, I have a golden dragon here. I'll send it over as an auspicious omen." Yuan Sui sighed. His Yuan family had spent a lot of effort to have the Wu family raise this golden dragon, and it even had all its scales and horns. They originally planned to use it to ward off bad luck for their family. Now, they might as well prepare themselves.

"See, that's good. Put aside those unnecessary thoughts, kneel when you should, bow down to the strong, admit defeat, that's the right choice." Deng Tong said matter-of-factly. This was the experience of their Deng family. Of course, Deng Tong misunderstood power. The Deng family's real experience was to obey the emperor's orders and follow the emperor. However, Deng Tong simplified it and changed it to following the strong.

However, generally speaking, there doesn't seem to be much difference.

"Lord Shifang, what's your opinion?" Deng Tong asked his teammate, who seemed somewhat lost in thought, as he finished speaking.

"I don't have any thoughts on this," Yong Kai said after a moment of silence. "I just feel that these things really have nothing to do with us. We can just do our own thing."

Yong Kai truly believed this. His region was truly far from the reach of the emperor, and his family was indeed within the Arctic Circle. Neither the Han Dynasty nor Rome bothered to fight against such people. The biggest enemy in the entire Yong family territory was actually the savages!
"Very good, keep it up!" Deng Tong gave Yong Kai a thumbs up.

On the other side, when Zhou Yu was talking to Pang Tong, Zhuge Jin and others about the grand military exercise, he received a message from Liu Bei about stepping on the jade steps and the eight-row dance in the courtyard. After a moment of surprise, he was somewhat unable to continue his conversation with Pang Tong and others about finding some people to recruit those widowers in the high-level molten metal and pimp them.

Just as everyone else who wasn't present thought—had it finally come to this? Did Liu Bei ultimately choose to step onto the jade steps and retract his promise?

Although these words may not sound pleasant, no one would think that Liu Bei was wrong. Although they hoped that Liu Bei could continue to follow his promises and maintain his previous state, doing what he was supposed to do for the past ten years, and not having any ambitions for the throne.

But the throne is there, and Liu Bei himself has that power. If the other party decides to seize the throne on a whim, he can do so. Now, no one can stop Liu Bei's will. Ascending the throne is something that Liu Bei can do without even preparing, as long as he wants to.

Even under such circumstances, all the powerful families and nobles, out of self-interest, hoped that the old order could be maintained, because only by maintaining the old order could the major families and nobles continue to reap the benefits they had previously enjoyed.

Unfortunately, it now seems that the rules that the various powerful families and nobles used to bind Liu Bei and Chen Xi may have gone a bit too far, and they no longer want to play along with these people.

"What's wrong, Gongjin?" Zhuge Jin looked at Zhou Yu, who seemed dejected after reading the secret report, with a hint of surprise. He rarely saw Zhou Yu with such an expression.

"Take a look too. There probably won't be another good opportunity like this in the future." Zhou Yu sighed and handed the secret report to Zhuge Jin. Zhuge Jin was stunned after reading it, and then handed it to Pang Tong, Gu Yong and others. After reading it, everyone fell silent.

"What should we do now?" Zhang Zhao asked Zhou Yu after a moment of silence. Although Zhou Yu had embezzled a lot of their money and treated them like dirt from time to time, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were still the ones who could handle things in Jiangdong. Even though Zhang Zhao had a thousand words in his heart, he had to let Zhou Yu speak first and set the tone.

From a certain perspective, Chen Xi's judgment was correct. Regardless of whether Jiangdong is now a Jiangdong aristocratic family federation or an even more exaggerated Wu Kingdom and other confederations, it doesn't matter. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu definitely have a way to suppress and completely control this power. At most, it is impossible to achieve such a deep level of control under normal circumstances. But Chen Xi does not believe that Jiangdong is completely out of control.

“We are helpless.” Zhou Yu shook his head calmly. “Let alone now, even five years ago, or even nine years ago, we were helpless. Our last chance was actually ten years ago, but ten years ago, none of us could make up our minds to turn against Liu Bei under those circumstances. As for after that, we no longer had the right to turn against him.”

"So we're just going to watch like this?" Gu Yong's face was somewhat bitter. This was a coronation, a chance for those who had followed the emperor to get a share of the spoils, but they didn't even have that chance.

"Shouldn't we just watch and wait for the results? Then we'll submit our reports and sing praises as needed, so as not to put them in a difficult position. As for other matters, if we make any moves now, it might be misunderstood..."

"The iron fist is really coming down." Zhuge Jin said with a light laugh. He was mentally prepared for this. After all, Liu Bei was already so strong, yet he was still willing to play games with them like this. Now, he's just not pretending anymore. Do you really think the other side doesn't have that kind of power? What a joke! If you're looking for death, don't drag us down with you!

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