Chapter 7137 The light of the sword and the shadow of the sword

Chen Xi genuinely didn't know about this matter. On one hand, Chen Xi didn't care much about such details. Even though this matter was a major issue concerning the rise and fall of the families in the eyes of the major clans, it was nothing special in Chen Xi's eyes. On the other hand, and very importantly, Chen Xi's view on human resources was that as long as the meat was cooked in the pot, it would be fine.

In other words, if the major clans manage to obtain it, that's their achievement; but if they fail and it disappears, that's someone else's achievement. Since it's all within the Han Empire, it doesn't matter. Even if the case really goes to Chen Xi, he will maintain the same attitude.

"Uh, you really took 70% directly?" Chen Xi looked at Jia Xu and Sun Qian with a little interest. As the saying goes, although Chen Xi always criticizes Jia Xu for being unable to even get into the livestock industry and then trying to show off, if you exclude Chen Xi, Jia Xu is indeed first-rate in the livestock industry.

Of course, this doesn't mean Jia Xu will actually delve into matters related to animal husbandry, but rather that he will organize and manage the industry to ensure its success. After all, Chen Xi has already set up the framework, and the professional talent is in place. All that remains is to deal with issues like bribery, extortion, and various bizarre practices, and the animal husbandry industry will naturally develop.

Well, actually, the later stages are also very difficult to handle, but if Jia Xu is in charge, he can do a very good job. This time, when Cao Sikong fell from power, Jia Xu smoothly rose to the position of one of the Three Dukes, and the livestock industry deserves a lot of credit for that.

To reiterate, compared to the achievements made on the Ganges, the main merits of the leader actually came from the construction in the rear. Chen Xi's establishment of the livestock industry framework accounted for 50% of the credit, while Jia Xu's personnel management, which safeguarded the livestock industry of the Han Empire, accounted for at least 20%.

This is a great achievement that can allow all people to eat meat. If it accounts for 20% of the credit, excluding Chen Xi and other outsiders, wouldn't that be the greatest achievement? It would be a problem to give it the title of one of the Three Dukes.

Of course it's not a problem. Besides, Jia Xu doesn't have the same moral issues as Li You, so it's only natural that he became a Minister of Works.

In fact, even the major aristocratic families had no objection to this, since Jia Xu's achievements were indeed worthy of everyone's recognition, and eating meat could truly bring a sense of happiness.

"No, I just proportionally removed people related to animal husbandry," Jia Xu said calmly, as if he were talking about what he would eat tomorrow.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi glanced at Jia Xu, then naturally looked at Sun Qian, and then at Jian Yong and Liu Yan. He understood. Sun Qian had recruited personnel related to civil engineering and construction, and even some math experts, according to the quota. Jian Yong had recruited personnel related to logistics and human resources organization. After Liu Yan had done a screening, he decided to use whatever was left, recruiting according to the quota.

If they manage to leave 30% of their manpower to the major families, frankly speaking, these guys are already showing mercy.

“I need to explain this,” Liu Yan said. “This isn’t a recruitment for individuals. The country needs to fill the vacancies in the bureaucracy. As you know, with the emergence of various state-owned enterprises and logistics parks, the talent gap is constantly widening. Moreover, the bureaucratic system has limited management capabilities for new things. To avoid laymen directing experts, it is necessary to fill the bureaucratic system with officials who understand these new things.” Liu Yan was an honest man. Seeing that none of the other three had answered, he felt that he needed to explain this matter after a while, so he stood up as an elder to explain.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi glanced at Liu Yan sideways. To be honest, he couldn't figure out whether Liu Yan was an honest person or someone who deliberately caused trouble in sensitive areas.

If these four people had pretended to be dead, Chen Xi could have smoothed things over and let it go. After all, if they could steal it, that was their skill. All the major families must have their own ways of stealing. Besides, there was another very important point: Chen Xi didn't believe that among the more than 13,000 graduates every year, there weren't any servants from the major families.

Even though Chen Xi had gradually severed the Han dynasty's control over slavery in the homeland, the relationship of being born into a family could not be dissolved so easily. The major clans had outwardly abolished slavery in accordance with Chen Xi's will, but it would be a miracle if the implicit personal dependence could be dissolved so easily.

To put it bluntly, the Chen family still has assassins!

Some time ago, Chen Xi asked Chen Ji if there were any assassins in the clan, saying that he had some personal business to attend to. Although Chen Ji was suspicious, he probably wanted to improve his relationship with Chen Xi and said that there were still several hundred people willing to die for him. He then asked Chen Xi what he wanted to do.

These are suicide squad members, and not the kind controlled by drugs, but the real backbone members who are willing to risk their lives for this family, with their own beliefs and ideals.

There are several hundred beings at this level. So, what if we relaxed the conditions a bit, instead of letting them die, we simply allowed them to study hard, to absorb the existing framework and knowledge of the Han Dynasty, to work for the Han Dynasty for several years or decades, and then bring these things back?
Without a doubt, the number has increased by more than double, or even tenfold.

To put it bluntly, Chen Xi suspected that of the 13,000 people that year, more than half were people sent in by various powerful families. While there were certainly young people who would leave their families to fight for the country, there were also those who would withdraw and return to their families when necessary.

Considering the overall situation of the Han Dynasty and the national education of aristocratic families, Chen Xi estimated that the two sides should be split equally, which is why Chen Xi initially demanded that 70% be taken.

It wasn't because the teachers were key personnel that Chen Xi had selected from various state-owned enterprises, and the internships were also conducted at major state-owned factories of the Han Dynasty. Rather, Chen Xi always felt that if he didn't take 70% of the profits, he would be working for the aristocratic families for free.

After all, given the peculiar nature of the Han aristocratic families, if they don't take 70% of the talent, their control over elite personnel might be compromised. If this continues, these people might seize the opportunity to withdraw their entire workforce, forcing existing state-owned factories to shut down. Therefore, it's better for the Han dynasty to take 70% of the talent, and then provide them with more in-depth training once they're in the workforce. This way, even if some people try to escape, those who remain should be barely enough.

These days, powerful families control the education system. No matter how extraordinary Chen Xi is, it's nonsense if he can't conjure up a literate teacher.

However, Liu Yan's words left Chen Xi with no way to smooth things over, because Liu Yan's words were actually a way to make the fifteen governors present step down and show that their actions were correct.

There's a saying that only the unreasonable and the weak need to provide evidence; the strong simply step in and crush their opponents. This means that when two sides are vying for power, talking about being right only makes people think you're not strong enough.

Liu Yan's words were as if he were addressing the various powerful families, explaining that they were doing this because of a certain reason that everyone knew and that was righteous enough.

The problem is that the major families don't listen to this stuff, or rather, they can make up a bunch of reasons on the spot. Explanations are just cover-ups, and cover-ups are the truth!
This line of reasoning is meaningful in many situations.

So when Liu Yan spoke, Chen Xi realized something was wrong. Was he going to open the Martial Arts Hall on the first day of the grand court assembly in the eleventh year of Yuanfeng?

"Wei Shuo, you shouldn't be explaining." Jia Xu said to Liu Yan with some helplessness. He knew very well that Liu Yan was an honest and reliable person. He was indeed very reliable in personnel matters, but he was still weak in other aspects.

"Huh?" Liu Yan was taken aback. He glanced at the various powerful families who were already somewhat agitated and immediately prepared to ask where he had said something wrong.

“Alright, it’s true that 70% was collected.” Just as Yuan Tao was about to lead the charge, Chen Xi coughed lightly, indicating that he had only just learned of this situation. Then he looked at Chen Ji and asked, “Lord Yuan Fang, you were also present when we reviewed the university education during the grand court assembly in the sixth year of Yuan Feng. At that time, it should have been 70%.”

Chen Xi wouldn't explain what this 70% meant. As for the fact that 70% of those who paid their own way into the education program were also conscripted, what's that to me? Was I conscripting based on 70% of those who entered university or 70% of those who graduated from university? What's it to you!
Isn't this all just a matter of a word from me, Chen Xi? We were discussing a 70% chance back then, right? We didn't even specify exactly how much of a 70% chance it was.

The students you created entered the university and were recruited, which also falls within this 70% range, so there's no problem, right?

Chen Ji was somewhat stunned when he heard this, and then naturally looked at Yang Zhong, the old man of the Yang family, Yuan Sui and Yuan Tao of the Yuan family. As for the Xun family and the Sima family, the two who participated at the time were no longer alive. As for Wang Rou of the Wang family and Guo Zhao of the Guo family, they had stood on the opposite side of this group at the time, and now they wished that this group would suffer.

There's a saying that if one's own development is slow, as long as others develop slowly, then one's own development is essentially accelerated. This is the attitude of the Three Kings and the Guo family in this matter.

Yuan Sui and Yang Zhong felt a headache coming on when they felt Chen Ji's gaze. They really couldn't do anything about Chen Xi's way of playing. The other party didn't reason with them at all. After all, what was said at the time was 70%, but how much 70% was depends on the individual's ability. Chen Xi's meaning is very clear now: if you haven't played this game before, don't come to me. I accept this 70%. If you can play this game later, give me what you think is a reasonable 30%, and I will accept that too.

The three exchanged glances and understood the underlying logic. Chen Xi didn't care if others took advantage of loopholes; everyone present had done so. So when Jia Xu and the others started taking advantage of loopholes, they really couldn't criticize them. Moreover, those who had initially discussed university matters with Chen Xi—such as Yuan Yang and Chen Xun Sima—had all adopted a gentlemanly attitude of deceiving others with integrity.

At the time, these guys were actually just looking to seize the opportunity to fleece him. After all, Chen Xi wouldn't pay too much attention to such things. If they succeeded, Chen Xi wouldn't target them specifically. As for if they failed, given Chen Xi's previous habits, if he said he'd get 30%, he would get 30% and wouldn't cut back.

But who would have thought that although Chen Xi did not focus on this aspect or deliberately cut back, Jia Xu and a few others did the same thing as the aristocratic families. They were all taking advantage of the situation and playing the game of "I did this, I'm just exploiting loopholes." Anyway, Chen Xi didn't care much.

In the end, everyone relied on their own methods, and the likes of Yuan, Yang, Chen, Xun, and Sima were naturally defeated. After all, Jia Xu and others had the support of righteousness and could also drag Chen Xi down with them, which was something that the aristocratic families could not imitate at all.

"We agreed on 70%, so let's keep it at 70%." Chen Xi added, proving that he hadn't paid attention to it and was too lazy to bother with these people arguing about it.

"So, can we only recall 30% of the students we've arranged for university?" Yuan Tao finally couldn't help but ask, forcing himself to be brave. If other families didn't need so many professionals at this stage, then the Yuan family was truly at a point where they needed so many talents.

"Hmm, if that's the case, it is indeed a bit unreasonable. How about this, you will be allowed to build your own specialized universities. I will select suitable personnel from the currently operating state-owned enterprises to provide certain support. The Han Dynasty will only charge 30% for the specialized universities you build yourself." Chen Xi glanced at Yuan Tao, thought for a moment, and, based on the idea that his family could further insert the power of education into the power of the aristocratic families, offered a new suggestion.

Although this operation has the tendency to seize the core power of the major families, it is essentially still using the power of the major families to fight against them. Of course, it is indeed a win-win situation.

The established rules of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, Teacher; Ruler as Ruler, Minister as Minister; Father as Father, Son as Son have been perfected to their current level thanks in no small part to the major aristocratic families. In fact, the aristocratic families themselves are bound by these rules.

In other words, the educators selected by Chen Xi, who are entirely state-centric, will inevitably pass on their ideas to the elite core members chosen by the major families through rules and regulations; the only difference is the depth of their understanding.

This behavior will not change just because the major families choose elites. After all, a teacher is a teacher, and the theory of Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher is a more profound rule than other rules during this period.

Incidentally, this is also why Chen Xi didn't allow members of the Han aristocratic families to enter the army to provide literacy education for the soldiers. On the one hand, the literacy rate was already very low in the early days, and those who could provide literacy education were the backbone of the major aristocratic families. On the other hand, the literacy method in this era was a purely academic one, rather than the pure literacy method of later generations. In this era, recognizing characters was accompanied by the stories and explanations behind the characters. This was an academic literacy method, which essentially not only taught you to recognize characters, but also disciplined your thinking.

This method is incredibly powerful. It's impossible for someone who isn't exceptionally gifted to escape this kind of discipline. And those who remain illiterate into adulthood are mostly ordinary people, with only a handful being truly gifted. Ordinary people simply cannot cope with this kind of ideological discipline.

What Chen Xi needs is the simplest, purely science-based way of learning to read. You just need to recognize the character and know its meaning. The teacher doesn't need to explain the story behind the formation of the character, because such stories themselves involve the understanding of the person who created and modified the story.

The so-called power to define universal morality is actually built upon these details. For example, when learning the character "赵" (Zhao), the science-based approach is to directly teach the pronunciation, the meaning of the character, its use as a surname, and at most, to elaborate on the origin of the character and its original meaning in ancient times. That's the limit.

The way liberal arts learners tell you the meaning of a word, how it is used in surnames, and talk about the surname itself. They then discuss the story behind the surname and casually introduce you to things like "The Orphan of Zhao." If you read this a lot, some people will agree with the moral values shown in "The Orphan of Zhao" and take them as a standard.

In reality, if we look at the moral values displayed in The Orphan of Zhao from the perspective of normal, undisciplined people, whether it is the princess of Jin, Cheng Ying, Han Jue, or Gongsun Chujiu, all of them are essentially anti-human in their behavior.

However, the fact that such completely inhumane behavior can be achieved is essentially due to the power of morality to control humanity. And how to define this as morality is the significance of the humanities.

Would Chen Xi dare to let his soldiers learn such things?

Whether one becomes a soldier protecting the Han dynasty or a slave within the moral framework of aristocratic families after completing their studies is truly questionable.

However, considering that the literacy rate of the Han Dynasty was indeed less than 10%, it was unrealistic to carry out large-scale literacy campaigns in the army.

Various thoughts related to education, literacy, and literacy swept through Chen Xi's mind, and then she looked at Yuan Tao and the others with a smile.

This seemingly good suggestion made Yuan Tao and the others think deeply, because unlike other things, education is the most core power of aristocratic families. Whether it is defining universal morality or monopolizing officialdom, the right to education cannot be bypassed.

Even the schools and universities that Chen Xi is currently running wouldn't be able to get off the ground without the support and manpower of powerful families. The reason Chen Xi is willing to compromise with these families is because they control the largest number of elites in the world, and no matter what Chen Xi does, he can't get around them.

After all, even for the simplest literacy campaign, teachers need to be literate. And every single literate teacher in the world had some connection with aristocratic families ten years ago, whether as a collateral branch or as a student. There was no such thing as an illiterate old farmer suddenly becoming literate on his own.

While there are certainly some conscientious geniuses, those who study in aristocratic families will inevitably be tainted with certain problems that they are unaware of. The simplest point is that all literate people in the late Han Dynasty, no, and even all literate people today, subconsciously accept the so-called rules and believe that the rules bring order.

Whether this is true or not is questionable.

Regardless, after more than a decade of expanded education, Chen Xi finally had a group of young people who were not bound by certain old ideas and could convey new thoughts.

Chen Xi had no desire for reform, but he could pass on these insights and ideas to those who came after him. It didn't matter whether these people came from humble backgrounds or were from aristocratic families who had abandoned their class system; knowledge doesn't care about your origins.

However, the major families are clearly very wary of this.

　It seems the author is really going to send it; the heating here is terrible. It's not just cold, it's freezing! They'll have to move back to their hometown.

　　(End of this chapter)