Chapter 7121: Taking sides

Chapter 7121: Taking sides
Chen Xi was also helpless about this, but at the same time, he also had some thoughts that he had actually done a pretty good job and that the feudal era was really trash.

Unfortunately, what Chen Xi considered a problem was very different from what the veterans thought. For the past two years, Chen Xi had sent snow disaster reports to Bingzhou every year, but the veterans from Bingzhou who could come to Chang'an always said that the snow was a sign of a good harvest, and that this year's heavy snow was really good!

After all, in the eyes of this group of people, the snow was heavy, but it didn't collapse my house or starve me to death. In fact, after the government announced that there might be a snow disaster in winter, local residents would go to the government office to collect several tons of smokeless coal and other such things for free.

Although Bingzhou had many open-pit coal mines in later generations, it wouldn't cost much to distribute some smokeless coal during the cold winter. After all, once a good location was found and the mines were dug, a large amount of stuff could be produced quickly.

Such things existed before, but ordinary people didn't even have the right to use them. You have to understand that in the past, the firewood in the mountains and forests all belonged to someone. If you went to collect firewood, someone would manage it, and you might even have to pay.

So in the past two years, when I asked veterans from Bingzhou how the winter was there, they generally said it was great. Staying up all winter was really enjoyable, especially since large vegetable gardens had opened up in Bingzhou. They would load up several cartloads of cabbage, add some vermicelli from Shandong, and some cured meat. It was simply amazing!
Well, Chen Xi had no answer to that. What Chen Xi was actually asking was whether there had been any problems in this situation, such as the house collapsing or the snow burying people and causing them to suffocate. But the answers from these people were all positive, and that nothing had happened.

The problem is that Chen Xi knows a bit about things in Bingzhou. There were indeed houses that collapsed. Of course, none of these collapsed houses were built by Sun Qian. If the standard main house built by Sun Qian could be collapsed by the blizzard, then the number of people to deal with it would not be just one or two, but hundreds of thousands or even millions.

All the houses that collapsed under the weight of the blizzard were secretly rebuilt by locals.

Liu Bei had complained to Chen Xi earlier that the population had been rising rapidly in the past two years. He had seen families with seven or eight children who couldn't even fit in the standard housing. In such cases, there were only a few options: to send their children to live with relatives, to try to squeeze them in, or to build a new house in their own backyard or elsewhere in the village so that their children would have a place to live.

Although the requirements for merging villages and hamlets generally prohibit the construction of houses without permission, there is really no way to control such matters. A family with seven or eight children would indeed have nowhere to live if they did not build houses without permission. In addition, since ancient times, villages have been formed naturally, so it was very normal for villagers to build their own houses in ancient times.

In other words, this is a behavior that has existed since ancient times. Therefore, even though Chen Xi has regulations to stop it, it is generally a matter of "if the people don't complain, the officials won't investigate." In addition, many village chiefs are retired veterans or respected elders in the local area, and most of them approve of villagers building houses without permission.

In addition, the most important point is that people didn't build their own houses before because they didn't have the money. Now that the Yuanfeng Dynasty is in a prosperous period and Chen Xi is working hard to regulate the economy, the people do have money. So those people who can't find a place to live but have some money will secretly build their own houses.

Building houses requires skill, especially for most ordinary people. They used to live in thatched huts that were even worse than earthen buildings. Now they build their own houses, and they look fine, but they often collapse when blizzards hit.

However, in the eyes of the veterans from Bingzhou who came to Chang'an, this kind of problem was a problem of the common people themselves. What did it have to do with the country if their own house collapsed and buried them? If they were killed, it was just bad luck and fate.

In Chen Xi's view, this actually involves a series of issues such as the baby boom and the country's development process. These are all things that Chen Xi needs to consider. However, most veterans—no, not just most veterans, but all veterans—would not escalate the issue to this extent. If they could say a few words and, if possible, let these people pay for the repairs themselves and have the country's construction team help them, that would be a very progressive example.

Therefore, Chen Xi had to go and see for himself, especially the inhumane situation Chen Deng mentioned in the southwest, and the historically inhumane situation in the northwest. In short, Chen Xi had to go and see for himself to determine how far things had progressed.

After all, in some places, it's not that the government is unwilling to lend a hand, but rather that the government has offered a helping hand only to be kicked back twice, which is very serious.

"In that case, we'll verify it next year, and then conduct the western tour the year after. The Grand Commandant should also be on the western tour then, right?" Zhuge Liang asked thoughtfully. "I've heard that there are some other factors involved in the Grand Commandant's western tour?"

“Hmm.” Chen Xi nodded. Liu Bei’s western tour would take him beyond the country’s borders. Whether he went to the Pamir Plateau, that is, the Pamir Mountains, or continued northwest to visit the Yuan family, and then went south to visit the Central Asian aristocratic families, Liu Bei’s western tour mission was very different from Chen Xi’s mission.

Chen Xi was essentially going to see just how powerful the bureaucratic system could be, while Liu Bei was going to assess the situation of the Yuan family in Eastern Europe and the aristocratic families in Central Asia, as this was related to what the overall situation would be like after the Kushan conquest.

"Understood." Zhuge Liang nodded. With Chen Xi's simple response, Zhuge Liang knew that what he had heard before was probably true.

"Then it will mainly depend on you and those three guys. Of course, a lot of information will be leaked as a result, but don't worry about it. The more others know about certain things, the less they dare to have any other ideas. And those three guys are smart, so just keep an eye on them," Chen Xi said with a smile. Zhuge Liang nodded, indicating that he understood.

Meanwhile, the Huangfu family's banquet began to be served at a frenzied pace. Of course, the food was served at the main table at a slower pace, because those sitting there were all somewhat respectable nobles. The real layabouts were on the other side. Although everyone's dishes were exactly the same, the food served to the layabouts was served at an astonishing speed!

"Awesome! I've brought a giant Yellow River carp, and to be able to eat at such a feast, I'm not at a loss!" Jiang Guang picked up the braised pork knuckle, ate half of it in one bite, and then said with a rosy face. Although Huangfu Song did not give Jiang Guang and the other veterans who had followed him a formal invitation, he did send someone to invite them and said that there was no need to bring a big gift, as long as they came, it was a thoughtful gesture.

Jiang Guang was one of Huangfu Song's personal guards. He brought his entire family with him, including a large carp from the Yellow River. It could be said that half of the people at this table were from Jiang Guang's family.

"Bring a few more of those braised pork knuckles!" Baxiu, sitting opposite Jiang Guang, called out to the waiter serving the dishes. This was why the food came out so quickly. Huangfu Song understood what his veteran soldiers were thinking, and he also understood what the villagers wanted when they came to eat at the banquet. He would just have a few portions on the table and enjoy his meal here! As for the dishes inside, it would be a waste if each person had a braised pork knuckle!

So, in terms of quality, the banquets at Huangfu Song's house were exactly the same. But if you wanted to enjoy a good meal, it was better to come to the banquet hall. The nobles inside were more refined and couldn't pull off the fancy things that were served outside. So, not long after, Zhang Yong, Sun Er, and their group also came out to enjoy the banquet.

The group of big shots inside didn't seem to be eating; they were just blabbering on and on, and no one knew what they were babbling about. This made the newly promoted marquises feel like they weren't even enjoying their food.

After a while, even Xu Chu, Zhang Fei, Hua Xiong, and their group came out. It didn't feel like they were eating inside; it felt like they were chanting scriptures.

"It's good to be out here. Hey you, get me a big bowl of rice with a braised pork knuckle on top!" Xu Chu called out to the waiter who was constantly refilling the dishes.

"Indeed, we still have to eat out!" Zhang Fei picked up a large piece of meat, about the size of a fist, and braised it to a dark red color. He threw it directly into his mouth. His satisfied expression made him feel that it was better to eat out. Inside, it felt like a grand court meeting was being held in advance.

With the departure of Zhang Fei, Xu Chu, and others, only two military generals remained in the large hall of the Huangfu family, which was used for banquets: Guan Yu and Zhao Yun. Of course, if Chunyu Qiong were included, there would be three, but Chunyu Qiong was Huangfu Song's lackey and could not be counted!

"I have a question. It's like this: the Leijitai in Liangzhou region is not even finished, or rather, it's not even started. Why have they already started setting up Leijitai in the Congling region, and there are already quite a few?" Wang Rou, the person in charge of the Three Kings in Chang'an, gave Hu Zun a look. Hu Zun stood up decisively and asked with some doubt.

"Get out of the way." Wang Liang glanced at Hu Zun, not bothering to explain the problem at all. He was so busy every day that he didn't even know whether Liangzhou had been repaired or not, let alone whether the Congling Mountains had been repaired. But he knew that anyone who discussed whether Leijitai had been repaired or not was going against the Wang family of Huiji. So Wang Liang glanced at Hu Zun, since he didn't know him, and attacked him directly.

Wang Liang's actions were completely devoid of political awareness, yet he was aggressive, launching personal attacks against the other party regardless of the matter.

"Uh, is the Thunderclap Tower already under construction in Congling?" Chen Xi was stunned upon hearing this, then naturally looked at Jia Xu and asked. If this was true, Li You deserved to be impeached.

After all, there's no clear plan on where or how the Leijitai (Thunder Platform) will be built, but it's actually very important, belonging to the national-level construction. So if Li You secretly arranged for someone to do this in the Congling Mountains, it would be normal for him to be imprisoned after it was exposed.

"I don't know," Jia Xu shook his head and said. Chen Xi was relieved to hear Jia Xu's words, which meant that it was definitely not Li You who did it. Jia Xu's observation skills and his ability to grasp policies and people's hearts were absolutely commendable.

In other words, if this was done by Li You, Jia Xu would definitely be hinting to Chen Xi now. But Jia Xu directly shook his head and said he didn't know. So either Li Jue and his group built this Lei Ji Terrace by enduring lightning strikes, or they stole it from somewhere.

However, thinking about it, neither is very likely. Even the Xiliang Iron Cavalry could probably only manage a few while being struck by lightning, and they would suffer heavy casualties. But I haven't heard of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry suffering heavy casualties in the past two years. Judging from Hu Zun's words, the number should not be small, at least a dozen or twenty.

If it were a theft, there would definitely be a police report. In the past seven years, there have only been four cases of theft of the Lei Jitai, and the last one failed. It is impossible that the theft occurred and no one reported it.

"Lei Jitai?" Wan Zhen, who was eating a pancake, looked at Wang Rou and tapped the table. "I fixed it. Do you have any complaints?"

The Wan family and the Wang family used to have a good relationship, but after the Wan family took control of the Congling Mountains, their relationship quickly cooled down. So when Wan Zhen saw Hu Zun jump out, he knew who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

"Did you fix it?" Chen Xi asked Wan Zhen.

“Yes, I can learn to repair these things by watching others do it. It’s not difficult.” Wan Zhen said casually. He had repaired the more than twenty thunder platforms over the Congling Mountains for the Wan family, so he did know how to repair them.

After all, the prerequisite skills for the Thunder Platform were completely non-existent for Wan Zhen. He was well-known worldwide for his knowledge of geomancy, celestial phenomena, and climate, as these were essential skills for global travel. Therefore, after Wan Zhen obtained them for free from the Gan and Shi families, he leveled them up very high. The only difficulty was the electricity part.

He could simply learn from the Wang family of Kuaiji. Wan Zhen's spiritual talent was called "knowing everything," and he himself was a master of piecing together and integrating. By learning the necessary prerequisite skills, Wan Zhen spent some time learning how to build the Thunder Platform.

Although a few unlucky ones were struck by lightning during the first construction, it didn't matter. The Xiliang Iron Cavalry were tough and resilient. A mere lightning strike was nothing compared to the miraculous power of the system. Surely no one could be so unlucky as to receive a super lightning bolt as their first strike, right?
In short, thanks to the sacrifice of the Xiliang cavalry, Wan Zhen built the first barely usable Thunder Platform. Once the first one was built, the rest was just optimization. Now, Wan Zhen's skill in building this thing is not much worse than those young men from the Kuaiji Wang family.

"Fine, it's you then." Chen Xi was silent for a while, feeling that what others said was a bit outrageous, but if it were Wan Zhen, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to be able to build the Thunder Platform.

"Do we need to investigate and collect evidence on the Hu family's side?" Fa Zheng asked with a half-smile. He trusted Chen Xi's judgment. Lei Jitai was indeed difficult to deal with, but Chen Xi believed that Wan Zhen could do it, so Wan Zhen definitely could. But thinking about it, it didn't matter. Wan Zhen was also a very peculiar person.

"We're just curious why there's a Thunderclap Platform in the Congling Mountains," Wang Rou said, deciding it was better not to let the Hu family investigate and collect evidence. Hu Zun's expression, which had been somewhat frightened after Chen Xi and Fa Zheng spoke, calmed down when he heard Wang Rou speak.

"It's better to investigate things thoroughly in the future," Fa Zheng nodded to Wang Rou. Wang Rou smiled. Was it because the investigation wasn't thorough enough? No, it was thorough enough, but Wan Zhen had to say it, because there were several powerful families in Central Asia who could ask the Wan family to do so.

This is very important. For the Wang family, weakening the power of the Pamir Mountains is almost instinctive. It doesn't matter if they can't act now; they can weaken it first and wait for the right opportunity.

Wan Zhen glanced at Wang Rou. With his intelligence, he knew that the Wang family was doing this on purpose. However, the fact that the other party had spoken up did not actually harm the Wan family. On the contrary, it helped the Wan family build bridges with other families. The problem was that the three idiots had offended too many people. If the Wan family and the Central Asian aristocratic families became deeply involved, many new problems would arise.

Whether to wholeheartedly help San Sha or to help San Sha normally is a question that even Wan Zhen is considering. Now that this situation has been exposed, Central Asian aristocratic families will definitely come to Wan Zhen. Given the Wan family's more than 100 years of influence among Han aristocratic families, there are some favors that they cannot refuse.

If we repair these things for these people, it will naturally create a feeling of closeness to them.

When what you say and what you do are different, people always look at the results, which is why it's so frustrating.

It's obvious that the Wang family doesn't want to fight the Wan family to the death; their target is the Three Fools, so they plan to have the Central Asian aristocratic families take the Wan family away first.

Helping the three idiots is fine, you certainly have that reason, but why are you so determined to stake your entire family on it? It's unnecessary, right?

You have many choices, and many large, established families are willing to help you make those choices. You have a brighter future ahead of you, right?

"Speaking of Lei Jitai, I studied electricity with the Wang family of Kuaiji for a period of time, and then studied etching in Chang'an for a period of time. Later, I saw the etched circuit board made by Lady Zhuge, and combined them to make this thing." Wan Zhen did not want to take sides. Although he was now the head of the Wan family and his decision was the Wan family's decision, he still had to consider this matter.

However, Wang Rou was already quite satisfied with this scene. As long as she didn't stand on the Congling Mountains on the spot, it meant that the Wan family was actually evaluating and thinking. And for many things, as long as you choose to think, others will have a way to consider and dissect them according to your thinking.

Wang Rou's biggest worry is that Wan Zhen will be like Wan Peng before him, blindly siding with the Congling Mountains. In that case, it's basically useless to say anything.

But it's obvious that Wan Zhen is different. Wan Zhen is intelligent and extremely clever, even among the top in the world. And a clever person will inevitably make an assessment and believe in their own assessment. In this way, the opportunity that the three kings need has come.

　Damn, it's November already! Hurry up and vote, everyone!
　　(End of this chapter)