Chapter 7075 Interests are the Key

Chapter 7075 Interests are the Key
"Alright, let's leave it at that. Sometimes, some things can't be changed by an individual's will. As for Lao Cao, let's just leave it at that and pretend we don't know anything about him." Chen Xi clicked his tongue twice, giving a seemingly casual answer.

Liu Bei smiled upon hearing this and said nothing more. In this day and age, whether Cao Cao's side was doing well or not, what was there to say? The current era was no longer Cao Cao's era. So, since the letter urging him to ascend the throne had not been sent and no one had come, it was actually meaningless to Liu Bei.

Of course, some things are just like that. Just because something is meaningless to Liu Bei doesn't mean it's meaningless to Cao Cao and others. Putting aside everything else, the Yuan family, Jiangdong, and Kunwu all came this time, but the Cao family didn't enter Zhaoyang Palace. It's hard to say what the other powerful families will think.

Just like Chen Xi said back then, when I developed to this point, I could no longer remember many things from the past, but others would remember them. The same was true for the Cao family. Liu Bei and Chen Xi didn't care about this result, but others, no, even the people within the Cao family, would care a lot about this result!

"Keep the music playing, keep dancing!" Liu Bei put all thoughts of the Cao family to the back of his mind. Twenty years ago, Cao Cao was someone he admired; ten years ago, Cao Cao could barely keep up with him; but now, what did Cao Cao mean to him?

Whether that petition from Cao Cao to accept the throne existed or not is actually not important. At most, it made Liu Bei sigh that time flies and sweeps away the dust left by history!
"Gongjin, who is the most capable internal affairs officer in Jiangdong?" Chen Xi asked with a smile after exchanging a few words with Zhou Yu. At this time, Zhou Yu's expression had improved a lot. On the one hand, the Yuan family was there to back him up, and on the other hand, the atmosphere had improved a lot after Huangfu Song and Kou Feng arrived.

"The most capable internal affairs officer?" Zhou Yu asked Chen Xi with a hint of doubt.

“Since the Yuan family contributed Xun Youruo, then your Jiangdong must also contribute one, right? Of course, the Cao family can’t escape it either.” Chen Xi said with a smile, “So who is the best internal affairs officer in Jiangdong? Recommend one.”

"It's not that I can't recommend someone, I'm just curious what you need these internal affairs personnel for?" Zhou Yu didn't say he was giving one, but just gave a list, but that didn't stop Zhou Yu from being curious about Chen Xi's need for such manpower.

"Next, we need to conduct tests. Although Kongming will be stationed in Chang'an, it's still quite difficult for him to take over everything I left behind. So we need the help of several civil officials skilled in governance." Chen Xi didn't hide this aspect. In fact, just as Si Niang had complained earlier, Chen Xi often gave Zhou Yu a lot of face.

“Then let’s go with Zhang Zibu, but I don’t know if he’s willing to come. After all, everyone knows the story from back then. Although the two Zhangs have proven themselves, they are still considered to be blind to talent. So I’m not sure if he will come.” This time, Zhou Yu honestly gave his recommendation.

"I never spread such jokes." Chen Xi said seriously. Back then, Liu Bei invited Zhang Er Zhang, who was in Xuzhou at the time, three times. Moreover, Liu Bei's foundation was just beginning to take off. If Zhang Er Zhang had joined him, he would most likely have become Chen Xi's deputy. Unfortunately, he refused all three invitations. Later, after Liu Bei took off, he did not specifically suppress Zhang Er Zhang, but there were quite a few people who spread jokes about Zhang Er Zhang.

"You just need to tell them, and they'll definitely come," Chen Xi said nonchalantly, waving his hand. "From a certain perspective, this is Zhang Zibu's last chance to wash away his shame. Of course, there's really nothing to say about what happened back then. I, Chen Xi, am pretty amazing, but I've never been invited three times. If we really bring that up, I'll feel uncomfortable too!"

Zhou Yu chuckled upon hearing this, then shook his head repeatedly. Who among those present had been invited three times?
"Speaking of which, are you really going to test this so-called army of several million?" Zhou Yu chuckled twice and then looked at Chen Xi with a strange expression before asking.

"What I'm curious about now is, where did you get this intelligence from? This kind of thing should be classified, right?" Chen Xi asked, frowning. Although he hadn't kept this kind of information completely under wraps, it shouldn't have leaked out. So how did Zhou Yu find out?

"There are no secrets in this world. I've heard some rumors, and considering your request for top internal affairs personnel from our three families, I think what I heard before might not be entirely unfounded." Zhou Yu smiled but didn't answer directly, after all, he had only guessed and speculated about this information.

"I see." Chen Xi nodded slowly, acknowledging Zhou Yu's answer.

"Speaking of which, what are the third five-year plans?" Zhou Yu didn't dwell on the previous question and changed to something that interested him.

"If you can get the information on the one above, how could you not get this?" Chen Xi frowned at Zhou Yu. This is too much of a case of being biased towards one subject.

"No, it's mainly because we've acquired too much stuff. I've looked into it roughly and think it's a bit outrageous, so I'm asking you to confirm it." Zhou Yu poured Chen Xi a glass of wine and said. To be honest, given Zhou Yu's personality, he was just toasting Liu Bei and Chen Xi without any displeasure. Oh, and Huangfu Song too, after all, his seniority wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"Salary increases, road and logistics transportation, troop deployment verification, local small-scale industries, primary agricultural mechanization, expanding the scale of animal husbandry from grass-fed to grain-fed, expanding the scale of technical education, and increasing the promotion of certain improved varieties of vegetables and fruits." Chen Xi gave a simple explanation, that's about all the content for Sanwu, but he only got a general idea of ​​many of the points.

The "three horizontal and five vertical" road logistics and transportation plan is estimated to be completed before the end of the Yuanfeng era.

The promotion of basic agricultural mechanization will likely take 10 to 20 years. However, large-scale agricultural areas, such as Northeast China, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou, may complete the promotion within the next five years. As for other places, frankly speaking, they are not large enough to achieve this level of mechanization. They lack both efficiency and cost advantages.

Similarly, the improved varieties of vegetables and fruits that Qu Qi spearheaded have been promoted for quite some time, and this was only done under the name of Qu Shennong; otherwise, the promotion would have been even more troublesome.

However, state-owned farms can promote basic agricultural mechanization and improved varieties of vegetables and fruits together, but it won't be widely adopted by ordinary people for five years.

It can be said that what the Three-Five Emperors could achieve was to raise salaries, verify troop deployment, destroy the Kushan Empire, expand animal husbandry, and establish a local small-scale industrial system.

As for the other things, Chen Xi basically started them and then slowly made progress.

"Oh, no wonder when Zhang Zibu and those people suggested reducing production, you immediately gathered a bunch of people as if you wanted to kill them all." Zhou Yu recalled what had happened some time ago and couldn't help but add. Chen Xi sneered twice upon hearing this. This mess was still Zhou Yu's fault, wasn't it?

"Speaking of which, when I was running a large ranch before, it was partly to prevent the northern barbarians from making a comeback, and partly to provide meat for the Han Dynasty. I just didn't expect that in just ten years, this thing would develop to this extent." Although Chen Xi was unhappy with Zhou Yu's previous actions, he still had to say that it was really great to have the support of the vassal states.

Grass-fed beef cattle are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but grain-fed beef is easier, although the cost is relatively higher. However, since the Jiangdong Group in Southeast Asia is willing to provide grain, the cost issue is not a problem. Moreover, the continuous grain purchase is also a very considerable benefit for the Jiangdong Group in Southeast Asia, since this grain, once it enters Chen Xi's channels, can be exchanged for all kinds of supplies.

Chen Xi originally planned to take the grass-fed route, but now the advantages of grain-fed are too great. If whole silage is combined with grain-fed, the livestock industry in the Northern Xinjiang ranch can support a higher upper limit. Moreover, grain-fed can further shorten the livestock industry cycle. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Chen Xi decided to take the grain-fed route.

Although choosing this path will lead to a deeper dependence on the Jiangdong Grain Group, it seems that the only way to ensure that the Han people consume 10 kilograms of meat per year in the next five years is to choose the Jiangdong Grain Group.

To date, the average annual meat consumption of Han Dynasty citizens is less than ten catties. According to Chen Xi's estimate, in the eleventh year of Yuanfeng, with the Jiangdong Grain Group actively expanding production, the average consumption of three kinds of meat by Han Dynasty citizens could reach ten catties. This consumption would continue to increase over the next five years, doubling by the end of the third and fifth years.

Compared to this grand goal, increasing reliance on Jiangdong Grain Group is perfectly acceptable in Chen Xi's view.

Besides, while those separatist forces in Jiangdong may be a bit crazy, at least they know what they can do. Moreover, Chen Xi has a propaganda channel. If all else fails, he can flatter the Jiangdong Grain Group and let the people of the world know about it. Then, he can wait for the Jiangdong Grain Group to go crazy one day, and then countless people will naturally be willing to step forward to stand up for the people.

"Don't worry, I've already discussed it with the Jiangdong aristocratic families. Next year, the starch output will double!" Zhou Yu acted as if he treated the Jiangdong aristocratic families like cattle and horses. As he said before, although there were a bunch of guys in the Jiangdong aristocratic families who wanted to rebel against Zhou Yu, only Sun Ce and Zhou Yu could appear in such a high-end setting. Those guys who wanted to rebel against Zhou Yu didn't even have the qualifications to come here to participate in this tea party.

"How did it turn into starch?" Chen Xi asked, somewhat puzzled. "Didn't you always use grains or something like that before? Why did you change it to starch?"

Of course, Chen Xi didn't say anything like he wouldn't buy starch. To be honest, feed needs starch, and turning grains into starch requires a process. If Jiangdong is willing to directly turn it into starch, it can save some trouble.

"They're originally meant to be used as animal feed. We can process them directly into feed over there. I've calculated that we can earn more that way," Zhou Yu said casually. Zhang Zhao had told him about this when he was doing the calculations earlier. It would probably increase their earnings by about 15%. Just based on that figure, Zhou Yu felt that it was worthwhile to add an extra step, and it would also give the people on his island something to do.

After all, by this point in time, the various warlords and powerful families had already learned a lot from Chen Xi's various methods, such as improving employment rates, maintaining local stability in large state-owned enterprises, and strengthening management.

Of course, these were not what Zhou Yu valued. What he valued was the more efficient exploitation of human resources by large state-owned enterprises. In normal feudal times, it was difficult to maintain a ratio of one soldier to twenty civilians, but under the super-efficient exploitation of human resources by large state-owned enterprises, the ratio of quasi-professional soldiers to civilians could even reach one to five, and yet there was not a single disturbance.

More importantly, with such exaggerated efficiency in exploitation, society not only avoids turmoil but also remains extremely stable, and people can benefit from their labor. Given this, what else is there to say? Of course, we should just copy Chen Xi's approach, even if we don't understand the underlying principles.

Whatever rules and regulations, whatever management manuals, copy them all, don't miss a single one, just copy them all!
Unfortunately, from a realistic perspective, the so-called liberation of productivity and improvement of efficiency, in addition to the increase in human value brought about by technology, also involve the covert improvement of exploitation methods.

After all, only by obtaining more benefits from individuals can more people be supported. It is clear that in the feudal era of pure agriculture, the number of people who could be supported was limited. However, when pure agriculture evolved into semi-mechanized agriculture and the pre-industrial revolution era with state-run factories and mines, the number of people who could be supported would naturally increase significantly!
Zhou Yu didn't actually understand the logic in detail, but that didn't prevent him from applying it where appropriate.

After all, Zhou Yu might not be good at other things, but he was truly skilled at using oxen and horses. The people of Jiangdong who called Zhou Yu "Zhou the Skinflint" weren't entirely unfounded; there were reasons for it.

"Alright, do you guys know how to gelatinize starch? If so, gelatinize it too." Chen Xi thought for a moment and said to Zhou Yu, "Oh, if you have time, you can also test what kind of defensive power starch has after gelatinization. Maybe you'll come up with some interesting conclusions."

Chen Xi generally doesn't suppress those who strive to earn money and achieve a better life. After all, finding a suitable path is a skill in itself, so he rarely obstructs them and may even offer some special advice.

If you're going to work with starch, then work with starch. But since it's intended for animal feed, why not gelatinize it a bit? That way, it can be used as feed for cattle and sheep, as well as for poultry. It's a multi-purpose feed, and more importantly, it saves you some trouble.

"I'll have someone look into it. If it's feasible, we'll try to gelatinize it. If it's difficult, we'll wait until the technology is more advanced in two years." Zhou Yu didn't stand on ceremony when he heard this. He would listen to Chen Xi's guidance. After all these years, Zhou Yu knew that apart from constantly advising him to stop having fun, Chen Xi always gave him honest advice, even if it was unpleasant to hear.

"I think you have something on your mind. Speak up." Chen Xi looked Zhou Yu up and down, thinking that this guy had acted up again, so she asked with a bit of weariness.

"I do have my eye on something, but it's hard to say. I feel that if I say it, it might be taboo, but in my opinion, it really has a lot of potential." Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment. He had his eye on the core workshop of one of Chen Xi's industries and wanted to replicate it, but this was somewhat taboo.

"Tell me what it is first." Chen Xi looked at Zhou Yu with a strange expression. "And what you dare not say? I remember last time you even wanted to ask me if you could dismantle a special steel furnace from the Donglai Smelting Bureau and take it back. I didn't punish you then. What are you thinking this time?"

"The East China Sea Distant Water Fisheries Bureau has a complete set of fishery processing workshops, producing salt collectibles, dried products, fish and meat seasonings, oils and fertilizers, and so on," Zhou Yu said very seriously.

Compared to steel furnaces, coconut processing plants, shipbuilding, and so on, Zhou Yu carefully studied them and found that this thing was the most meaningful to Jiangdong, especially the oil and manure workshops, which produced fish meal, bone meal, and a series of other things. These were the most meaningful things for Jiangdong at the moment.

Because this system, combined with the abundant feed grains currently available in Jiangdong, is sufficient for Jiangdong to establish its own livestock and poultry farming industries in Southeast Asia, thereby forming a very long industrial chain.

Jiangdong also has the relevant technology for this, but the fishmeal produced by Jiangdong is not on the same level as the stuff produced by the workshops under the East China Sea Distant Water Fisheries Bureau. Not to mention the scale of production, efficiency and cost, after all, the above-mentioned stuff is meaningless to Jiangdong. They are all caught from the sea, and the cost can be controlled to be extremely low.

However, the fishmeal produced in Jiangdong and the fishmeal produced by the workshops under the East China Sea Ocean Fisheries Bureau, when used to raise pigs and chickens with the addition of fishmeal from Jiangdong, takes about 240 days to raise the best current pig breeds, which is already one-third faster than raising pigs for a year. But the genuine Han Dynasty product, when used to raise pigs, only takes 180 days with the best current pig breeds.

The efficiency of raising broiler chickens is similar to that above, but the egg production rate of laying hens differs by 10%, which leaves people in Jiangdong speechless.

"Do you want it for human consumption or animal consumption?" Chen Xi asked, glancing at Zhou Yu.

"Can we have both?" Zhou Yu didn't stand on ceremony. Anyway, he didn't care too much about saving face in front of Chen Xi. Besides, it was just the two of them. Losing face to Chen Xi wouldn't be a big deal.

“There’s only one. You can choose one. I’m only doing this because you were the first to submit your applications. I told you then that I would give you a big reward!” Chen Xi said irritably. “You can’t just take this thing away. And even if you want to replicate it, you can’t complete the process without professional personnel. The slight technical gap is hard to overcome without someone giving you special guidance.”

"Then let's make feed. I'll send you feed too." Zhou Yu thought for a moment and realized that he had already developed cryogenic etching for human food, so even without the relevant technology, there was still fish to eat.

Starting today, it will gradually be released! Hooray, the author is back to life!