Chapter 7092 Turmoil at the Upper Level

Chapter 7092 Turmoil at the Upper Level
"Oh my, it's rare to see you paying attention to this kind of thing. You know, you never cared about these things before, except for farming. What are your thoughts on going into politics?" Chen Xi said to Qu Qi with a smile, but the teasing look on his face was enough to show that Chen Xi was just joking.

"Nonsense!" Cookie said irritably. "Me, going into politics?"

It's not that they couldn't go into politics, but at the level of Quqi, there was absolutely no real value in politics. Unlike later generations where there were no privileged classes with titles on the table and bureaucratic power was real power, in this feudal era, marquises were a cut above the rest.

No further explanation is needed. Having a title is definitely more powerful than not having one. Without a title, if you do something illegal or disorderly, you'll be finished on the spot. But with a title, even if you do something that seems very serious to ordinary people, your title can still offset it.

As for marquises, who were high-ranking individuals who shared the fate of the state and held shares in it, they were practically immune to punishment unless they rebelled. Punishment? Let's put it this way: to punish a marquis, it would take the emperor's intervention. Even those cruel officials recorded in history who opposed marquises were all instigated by the emperor.

Normally, as long as one doesn't act recklessly, a marquis is a truly superior person, and the kind of noble and wealthy person who has little to do and much money. In this day and age, most officials are just so-so to a marquis. If you don't become a marquis, you're just a handful of yellow earth after you die, something that leaves nothing behind.

As for someone like Qu Qi, who holds a single title, that's already at the highest level. Politics is basically meaningless for him; it's better if he doesn't hold any position at all, so he can point fingers at anything and everything, and you have to listen to what he has to say.

“But since you’ve come all this way, I’ll explain it to you. However, I must say that you’re really not suited for these strategic, tactical, and situational analyses,” Chen Xi said with a smile. He found it somewhat interesting that Qu Qi had come to learn about these things. In the past, Qu Qi had really kept her distance from these things, but today she actually gave him a special reminder, which showed that she really cared about it.

"What? Is there anything here that I don't know at all?" Cookie asked curiously. He didn't think there was anything wrong with his analysis. Even if there were some deviations, they shouldn't be so big that Chen Xi needed to explain them to him in detail.

“Yes, there are indeed some unknown things. As for the Kushans borrowing manpower from Rome using grain, your judgment is correct. It is indeed a win-win situation, and the Kushans can certainly produce enough grain to do this. But the problem lies with Rome. The Romans cannot lend manpower.” Chen Xi said with a sigh.

The Han dynasty was also quite concerned about the situation in Rome. After all, the destruction of the Kushan Empire had to be swift and decisive, with the Kushans being annihilated in the blink of an eye, precisely because of the existence of the Roman Empire.

The Han dynasty would face little pressure in a one-on-one confrontation with the Kushan Empire. However, if the Roman Empire continued to provide support to the Kushan Empire, and the Kushan Empire fought on its own soil, thus prolonging the conflict, it would be difficult for the Han dynasty to achieve a swift victory once the Han dynasty's military strength reached its peak.

Normally, it takes a very long time to destroy an empire. The fact that the Han Dynasty was able to cripple and seemingly kill the Kushan Empire so quickly was due to many preconditions. But even with so many preconditions, as long as the Kushan Empire survived the most difficult period, it would be time for its fortunes to turn around.

If we're being honest, aside from Liu Bei's forces, none of the other factions in the Han Dynasty really wanted to continue attacking the Ganges. Even some within Liu Bei's forces didn't really want to take over the Kushan heartland. After all, from the perspective of the country, the Liu family, and the future Liu Shan, some members of Liu Bei's forces were unwilling to simply distribute such immense wealth.

Currently, Liu Bei and Chen Xi are actively pushing this matter forward, so there is very little such noise. However, if Chen Xi goes all out to attack and is still defeated by the Kushans, even if the Kushans are severely injured or on their last breath, the resistance will increase rapidly.

In fact, Chen Xi agreed with the analysis from Zhu Helai that he had obtained from Kushan. What Zhu Helai said was correct: as long as Kushan survived the final battle, the Kushan Empire could continue to exist. However, this was the biggest point of contention: Chen Xi did not want Kushan to live.

Whether from the perspective of potential or the actual situation, India, this major South Asian country, is actually the greatest potential threat to the Central Plains. As for the northern nomadic peoples, they are really insignificant. Even if they can achieve a temporary victory and rush into the Central Plains, they will be assimilated in no time.

Even if a northern country were to create a bug by borrowing a supermodel thinker or revolutionary, everything caused by geography, climate, and ideology would eventually disintegrate along with geography, climate, and ideology. In addition, the overall population carrying capacity of the north is there, so even if there is a threat for a while, it will eventually cease to be a threat.

As the most intelligent beings and the actual carriers of wisdom, the significance of ordinary humans is to accumulate geniuses for the race. Therefore, the quantity and scale determine the probability of selection, and education determines the development after birth. So, given the order of magnitude difference in population, it is self-evident which threat is the real threat in the future.

Therefore, in Chen Xi's view, the Kushan Empire must be eliminated, its customs changed, and it completely assimilated. Chen Xi did not believe that a race that occupied the area from the Arctic Circle to Australia and had the largest population could lose in the subsequent struggle.
This is also why Chen Xi only treated the arrangements in Eastern Europe as a game. If Xiprian wanted to test the waters, then let them have it and let them experience it. But Australia and the Ganges must be controlled. The former is a resource pool, while the latter is the foundation of the primary industry and the basis for keeping the population at the top of the world!

Chen Xi refused to believe that the five major grain-producing areas of the Central Plains, the Indus-Ganges Plain, and the grain-producing areas of the Indochina Peninsula, which could theoretically support a population of 5 billion, could still lose when Han culture held them firmly in its grasp.
Population is a very important foundation at all times.

Conversely, after killing Yuan Shao before the first year of Yuanfeng, Chen Xi was thinking about concentrating the power of the Han Dynasty to take over the Ganges. As for whether the opponent there was the Kushan, Baicheng, or the so-called Chola Dynasty, it made no difference to Chen Xi.

"Just wipe that place out, it doesn't matter who the opponent is," that was Chen Xi's thought at the time.

The Roman Empire may be the only empire that can stop this from happening, but things have come to this point, and unless the Roman Empire is willing to drag itself into hell for the sake of the Kushans, Chen Xi's belief in destroying the Kushans will not change in the slightest.

As for what we are doing now, it is very simple: while the Roman Empire is busy, we must take advantage of the situation and crush the Kushan Empire in one fell swoop, even if it means taking some risks.

After this point, the Roman Empire will recover and may invest more resources in the Kushan Empire. In that case, the Han Dynasty will waste more time to conquer the Kushan Empire. Chen Xi understands the principle that delay will lead to unforeseen changes, so it is necessary to strike while the iron is hot. Even according to Chen Xi's original estimate, the thirteenth year of Yuanfeng was not actually the best time to kill the Kushan Empire.

If everything is to be prepared, it would be best to wait another year or two. Some technologies and equipment will be improved, and Chen Xi may be able to completely crack the etched plate armor. As a result, the armor used by all the veterans of the Han Dynasty will have a layer of light energy shield.

But there was no time for that. Sometimes opportunities come so suddenly. The appearance of the Lord of All Spirits made Chen Xi realize the dangers of this era, and the outbreak of the locust plague made Chen Xi realize that the Han Dynasty could not spend more time on territorial stability.

The turmoil in the Roman Empire caused by food shortages made Chen Xi determined to stop delaying. In the thirteenth year of Yuanfeng, he directly used all his trump cards to fight the Kushans. Even though this was not the biggest card he could accumulate, he thought, "I, Chen Xi, am not ready. Are you Kushans ready?"
What a joke! Of course we weren't prepared. Since we weren't prepared, what's there to panic about? Our advantages will remain our advantages, and our disadvantages will remain our disadvantages. We can't delay any longer, let's get started!
After all, with Rome no longer a potential source of interference, the Han dynasty would have fewer factors to consider when suppressing the Kushans.

“Especially the nature of the turmoil in the Roman Empire, which you seem to think is due to food shortages, but in our judgment, food shortages are actually just a trigger.” Chen Xi said with a hint of reminiscence, “Fengxiao’s initial judgment was correct. He believed that food shortages could not defeat the Roman Empire, but Claudius’s absolute dominance in the Roman Empire would cause the contradictions in Rome to erupt in this event.”

"The Claudius family?" Cookie lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He had met several young people from the Claudius family, and they were indeed quite outstanding. Some of them could even be described as possessing extraordinary talent and beauty, which was simply terrifying. Such a family, such inheritors? What's wrong?

“The Claudius family has a fatal problem that has never been resolved. In the past, their fatal problem was that they had no direct descendants after Emperor Nero, which led to serious internal divisions within the family. However, after Caesar was resurrected and crowned Emperor Severus, the Claudius family had a direct descendant again,” Chen Xi said with a somewhat detached expression.

The Roman Empire's adoption system meant that legitimate heirs did not necessarily have to be born of the family; they could be designated by the gods. This is why Julius Caesar designated his nephew Augustus, and Augustus then designated his adopted son Claudius, which led to the merger of Julius and Claudius.

The arrival of Caesar, and the appointment of Caesar as the person in charge, enabled the Claudius family to successfully unite, resolving the most fatal internal rift problem of the previous era.

But after this problem was solved, a new one arose: the Claudius family could no longer explain who the Roman Empire truly belonged to!

The fact that the Claudius family did not unite does not need to be explained, because they were all just ordinary senatorial families. However, the fact that the Claudius family united requires an explanation of whose Rome it was: the Rome of the Claudius family, or the Rome of the Romans!

“You have to understand one thing: the emperor, treasurer, praetor, reserve praetor, commander of the Praetorian Guard, and head of the Roman Council Guard were all Claudius’s protégés.” Chen Xi was actually quite dazed when he said this, but it was a fact now.

Severus, Pompiannis, Papinian, Ulpian, Perennis, Giulio, and others were either direct descendants of the Claudius family or part of the Claudius family's dowry. What difference did it make? They could all be considered members of the Claudius family.

Even Galen, Rome's most renowned physician, was a member of this family. It can be said that this family had completely penetrated every aspect of the Roman Empire. In the past, this was a fact that the Claudius family was proud of, but now, it is necessary to explain whose Rome this is.
Even if the Claudius family tacitly acknowledged that the Roman Empire was their Claudius family's Rome, they still had to say that the Roman Empire was the empire of Roman citizens, the empire of the Romans. This was political correctness. Pompiñus was the first to discover this problem, so he actively encouraged the Roman Empire to use the Claudius family's money to acquire the Claudius family's assets.

This line of thinking was undoubtedly correct, but things are unpredictable. Pompiñus had just taken the right first step when he was hit with a barrage of blows, especially the fact that the Roman Empire was short of food due to a locust plague, which directly exposed this biggest contradiction.

Theoretically speaking, treating everyone equally is the right thing to do at this point. But putting aside whether it's possible or whether there's the management capability to do so, just the question of why a member of my noble Claudius family should eat this kind of thing is enough to leave everyone speechless.

Therefore, this approach was unrealistic from the beginning. So the only way to distribute grain was to use reverse tax farming. After all, the grain shortage was just that, and we could endure it and let some of the lower classes die. But there's a saying that if there's a 10% shortage of grain, 50% of the people will have to die to solve the problem.

This is exactly what happened in Rome. What's worse, the anti-Claudius family were the real Roman elites who could distribute food according to the rationing system in their localities. They were the backbone of the citizens, and their unrest was the reason why the Roman Empire has been plagued by war ever since.

This issue is compounded by the political correctness of the Roman Empire, namely that the Claudius family was a noble family of the Roman Empire, the noblest of nobles, but the Claudius family belonged to Rome, not the Roman Empire to the Claudius family.

Now that things have escalated to this point, guess how many truly powerful figures in Rome have been fueling this situation?

To put it bluntly, the current situation in Rome is that the lower classes can die, can be abandoned, since things have come to this point, let the barbarians starve to death, but the Claudius family must explain to us clearly whose empire the Roman Empire is!
This is a question that all the senators who are watching from the sidelines, or even those who are fueling the unrest or spreading rumors, want to ask. It can be said that at this stage, the newly appointed Duke of the Eastern European Borderlands is the most honest. Even the senators under the Duke of the Eastern Borderlands are probably curious about this answer.

Every era has its own political correctness, and this is no exception.

"You mean the Roman Empire is currently experiencing internal turmoil due to a lack of unity among its upper echelons?" Cookie asked, somewhat shocked. But then she realized that this was just a repeat of Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han throne. The emperor's title was correct, so I, Wang Mang, was chosen by the people of the world and could therefore become the king of the world. Wasn't that a matter of course?

Similarly, the current situation of the Roman Empire is that Claudius controls almost all aspects. In addition, he was the emperor and the founder of the country. They were born with the capital to become emperors. Therefore, after eliminating the problem of internal division, they naturally began to expand.

However, the Roman Empire also had a parliament, a system that embodied democracy. What's worse, the very existence of this parliament was the ultimate manifestation of Augustus's political abilities, allowing the imperial system and democracy to be combined. It was one of the greatest masterpieces of the Claudius family!

To put it bluntly, the current situation is one of ideological upheaval.

“Yes, in fact, there has been some ideological turmoil within the Claudius family. Because things have become clear at this point, the question of who the Roman Empire belongs to must be resolved, and there are disagreements within the Claudius family on this issue. One faction, led by the two important figures Pompiannis and Sergio, believes that the Roman Empire belongs to the Roman citizens of Rome.” Chen Xi said with some weariness. Even if Chen Xi had been caught up in this problem, he couldn’t solve it.

"The other faction is?" Cookie said, somewhat speechless.

"Exactly. With us as a reference, some people who know what's going on have to say it out loud. What's with the pretense? Does the Roman Empire not belong to us?" Chen Xi said with a hint of exasperation. "They suggested abolishing the parliament and going straight to an imperial system, learning from the Han Dynasty. After all, our country is developing very well, and it's quite stable even without a parliament..."

When Chen Xi heard this statement, he was somewhat speechless, but Guo Jia said that many of the young people in the Claudius family felt the same way, because many young Claudius had come to the Han Dynasty and were quite satisfied with the current situation of the Han Dynasty, and felt that the Han Dynasty could be a model for them.

As a vast global empire, the Han Dynasty operated very successfully, especially at this stage, where it can be described as extremely successful. Therefore, when the Roman Empire was looking to carry out reforms, it was inevitable that it would draw on its experience to create a system that suited the characteristics of the Roman Empire.

Chen Xi was somewhat frightened upon hearing this. If things really went to extremes, Rome might end up self-destructing!
　After carefully studying the Roman Empire in my book, I realized that Caesar's coronation of Severus was indeed a very correct move. It unified the Claudius family and greatly strengthened the state's rule. However, the unified Claudius family created new problems: to whom did the Roman Empire belong? This was a political question, and one with a standard answer, which was extremely problematic.
　　(End of this chapter)