Chapter 7139 The World Is Like a Tide

Chapter 7139 The World Is Like a Tide
Chen Xi glanced at Deng Tong. This guy wasn't his shill. To be honest, it was normal for Yuan Yang and the others to disagree with his plan, and he wouldn't bother with him. He'd deal with it later.

Even Chen Xi didn't expect that the head of the Deng family would so resolutely support his proposal; frankly, it was somewhat unbelievable.

Of course, this is a good thing. As I said before, even if there are many backup plans, it would be a good thing for Chen Xi if they could be approved when this matter was raised.

Indeed, in Chen Xi's view, once Deng Tong agreed, the matter was already a foregone conclusion. Despite the determination of Yuan Yang and others, and even their direct conflict with Deng Tong through the telepathic channel, once one top-tier wealthy family agreed, it was impossible for others to refuse.

To put it bluntly, fighting Chen Xi is a paradox in itself, especially for the Han aristocratic families now. It's a complete paradox that following Chen Xi is an action that all Han aristocratic families have to take at this stage.

More than a decade has proven one fact: only by following Chen Xi can the Han family have a future. Although the share of the country held by the Han family has been decreasing since then, from 70% to 60%, and then to half, and may continue to decrease in the future, the Han family still needs to follow Chen Xi.

To put it bluntly, only by following Chen Xi can one keep up with the times. Following him only means a smaller share, not being eliminated by the times. Not following him means having no future.

More importantly, unlike anyone they had faced before, the previous rulers and emperors, even if they wanted to deal with the aristocratic families as a whole, the Han aristocratic families would rely on a certain collective consciousness to form the right means of resistance and thus fight back.

Chen Xi is completely different; there's no way to counter Chen Xi's methods.

Even now, older generations like Yuan Yang have realized that to face Chen Xi, they can only hold onto the core power of their aristocratic families and wait for Chen Xi's era to end. As for other methods, they are completely useless. Chen Xi is too strong, so strong that they cannot fight against him and can only stall.

But procrastination isn't something that can be easily delayed.

Even though Chen Xi knew very well that if he colluded with Chen Ji in private, all he needed to do was give Chen Ji a clear attitude and give the Chen family some definite benefits. On this stage, Chen Ji could betray Yuan Yang without hesitation and become Chen Xi's lackey.

But Chen Xi didn't do it because it was too low-class and too boring. It was nothing like the interesting way the Deng family of Nanyang chose the most correct answer based on their intuition, even though they knew nothing and hadn't received any prior promises.

Indeed, Deng Tong's choice was the only one that could be considered the correct answer.

As for Yuan Yang's choice, well, he can't beat Chen Xi, and he can't outlive Chen Xi either. So what choice is there to drag things out? Only Chen Xi can drag them out to death, not the other way around.
It's better to just go all in like Deng Tong. At least Chen Xi is really respectable. If you bet on Chen Xi from the beginning, as long as you don't cross his red lines, he will definitely help you out if you get into trouble later.

[Interesting. The choice made by the Deng family of Nanyang is truly interesting. Compared to Deng Zhen, the current patriarch, Deng Tong, is actually more interesting.] Chen Xi glanced in Deng Tong's direction. Even he thought Deng Tong was quite good, and just as Deng Tong had thought, he would indeed lend a hand if the opportunity arose.

As for Yuan Yang, we'll just give him a helping hand as usual, since he didn't agree in the first place, right?

Chen Xi shifted his attention away from Yuan Yang and the others, and then continued to explain the progress of the 25th Five-Year Plan targets.

To be fair, agriculture during the Second Five-Year Plan represented a clear leapfrog development.

Unfortunately, sickles weren't widespread during the first five years because the number of steel furnaces was limited. By the second five years, sickles were common, and the Craftsmanship Bureau and the Xiangli Clan had produced many of the manual farm tools that Chen Xi needed. In addition, with the emergence of the first generation of electric motors, various forms of semi-mechanization began in the early stages of the second five years, and then we were beaten by the Heavenly Change.

With the gradual promotion and popularization of Leijitai and Jiangdong volcanic ash, by the time of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Han Dynasty, the food problem had been almost completely solved.

Of course, this is only on the surface, but at the very least, the grain output did meet Chen Xi's basic requirements, which led to the development of various non-staple food products and food processing industries. It can be said that the Second Five-Year Plan was the only time when the Han Dynasty truly began to move from simply surviving to living well.

Of course, these agricultural-related indicators did not have as great an impact on the Han family as the previous steel production. After all, they had already heard about it once at the end of the first five years. Although the indicators had increased significantly again on top of the original indicators, it was completely different from the several-fold increase in steel production.

However, the agricultural indicators, data on non-staple food products, and the food processing industry were very impactful for many senior soldiers who were able to attend the meeting. They finally realized when they suddenly began to enjoy this kind of life, which is very important.

“It seems that this pastry only came into existence in the sixth year of Yuanfeng. I rarely ate this kind of thing before.” Zhang Liang looked at the pastry on the table for a while before speaking. They didn’t notice many of the changes around them that they took for granted, but when Chen Xi began to explain, they realized that this kind of thing that they took for granted had not actually been around for very long.

“Indeed, before Yuanfeng five years ago, the government only distributed these kinds of things during festivals. But after that, it seems like families started keeping them on hand. I don’t know if it was because my children wanted to eat them or what, but suddenly we had them all the time.” Jiang Guang, who was next to Zhang Liang, nodded in agreement. “But thinking about it carefully, it really has only been a few years.”

"It's really strange, I hardly feel anything at all." Mu Yan listened quietly to Chen Xi's explanation, looking at the familiar things on the table, somewhat surprised. Only five years? It's only been five years, it feels like I've had them since birth.

Thinking back carefully, it seems like I was still eating dirt more than ten years ago?

The changes are too great and too fast, causing us to lose our sense of time span.

"That concludes the agricultural-related content." Chen Xi closed the documents in his hand, then went back to drink a couple of sips of tea. The grand assembly began with a tea break, something Chen Xi had suggested earlier. He didn't know if others could keep up if it went on all day, but he himself couldn't, so he made a special modification.

"Will you talk about the military this afternoon?" Jia Xu asked Chen Xi. The morning's explanation made Jia Xu realize that Chen Xi had actually deleted some content, so he was somewhat curious about Jia Xu's content.

"After we finish eating, we'll present the gifts to Her Highness the Princess first," Chen Xi said irritably. Because of the ancestral worship ceremony at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the gifts that were supposed to be presented to Liu Tong in the morning—that is, the New Year's red envelope ceremony—were postponed until noon.

After all, for Liu Tong, receiving red envelopes during the Lunar New Year is an activity that cannot be canceled. Even if she misses the time due to the ancestral worship at the Temple of Heaven, she will definitely make up for it. After all, this is the only time of year when Liu Tong can legitimately receive money. After this time, it will not be so easy for Liu Tong to openly receive money.

Besides, it doesn't matter whether he accepts other people's New Year's money or not, since it's not worth much anyway. But Liu Tong absolutely has to accept Chen Xi's New Year's money. He should at least give her several hundred million yuan. The royal family is not easy to support.

To be honest, Liu Tong's gaze had been falling on Chen Xi from time to time since this morning. Of course, from Chen Xi's perspective, this was not a matter of desire, but simply waiting for the right time to take advantage of Chen Xi.

After all, Chen Xi had caused Liu Tong a lot of trouble over the years, even causing Liu Tong to lose money from time to time. But even so, during the Chinese New Year, Liu Tong would still ask Chen Xi for lucky money without any hesitation, and his attitude was very clear: You're not going to cheat me again this year, are you?

Chen Xi didn't know what to say about this, so this year Chen Xi specially prepared a very high-end gift in advance, a gift that would definitely be worthy of Liu Tong and make her stop talking about it.

"No, are you really planning to give that thing to Her Highness the Princess? Honestly, isn't that a bad idea?" Jia Xu looked at Chen Xi. Sometimes he really couldn't understand Chen Xi. What was the point of giving this thing to Liu Tong? Wouldn't it be more valuable to give it to someone else?

Although it doesn't sound very nice, giving it to Liu Tong is really meaningless; it's just a way to fool him. Even if, in terms of value, this thing can indeed replace New Year's money, it's pointless to give it to Liu Tong!

"It was originally prepared for Her Highness the Princess, how could we not give it to her, right?" Chen Xi said with a smile. Jia Xu was speechless upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything more. After all, he had seen the item, and even he thought it was outrageous and didn't know what to say. But Chen Xi had made up his mind, so there was nothing to say. After all, he was the Prime Minister, and he was just the Minister of Works. He couldn't argue with him.

Meanwhile, Liu Tong was also eagerly awaiting her New Year's gift this year. She had been tricked by Chen Xi's methods over the past few years, but even so, it did not change Liu Tong's excitement about the New Year's money Chen Xi gave her. After all, it was all good stuff, even if she had been tricked out of her money, it was still good stuff.

"Tongtong, you seem very excited today, you don't even seem to care much about the grand court assembly." Si Niang looked at Liu Tong with some surprise, and felt that the other person was not eating well.

Upon hearing Si Niang's words, Liu Tong naturally reached out and tugged at Si Niang's cheek, causing her to pause in her eating.

"My dear Consort Xian, you must know that today is the day I receive my annual New Year's money. How could I not be excited?" Liu Tong said with a happy smile, pinching Si Niang's little face.

"But didn't you just criticize Chen Zichuan for being a heartless child last year?" Si Niang tilted her head, wanting to continue eating, but Liu Tong grabbed her tightly, saying with a hint of helplessness.

"That was last year. Maybe Chen Zichuan will be alive this year, right?" Liu Tong said with a smile. She didn't really care about Chen Xi's trickery. She just enjoyed receiving New Year's money from Chen Xi. As for whether there was anything wrong with the money, Liu Tong didn't care.

After all, Liu Tong had solutions for large state-owned enterprises like Chang'an Textile City that had been losing money year after year since she took over. For minor losses, she would turn a blind eye for the sake of so many people. But if Chen Xi went too far, Liu Tong would simply sell the company. There were plenty of people willing to take it, since it was a truly valuable asset.

"I don't think so." Seeing that she couldn't eat anymore, Si Niang said with a hint of resentment, supporting her head with her hand.

“That’s true. That guy can be a bit unreasonable sometimes, but his actions are definitely for the greater good.” Liu Tong paused for a moment after hearing this, then patted Si Niang’s head, signaling her to continue cooking. To be honest, Liu Tong was sometimes curious about where all the food Si Niang cooked in a day went. Frankly, an ordinary family couldn’t afford to support such a glutton.

In the side hall of Weiyang Palace, the Han Dynasty's true governors, after finishing their meal, gathered together for some unknown reason and naturally came to the side hall. As a result, after just a few words, the fifteen governors split into several factions and started arguing with each other.

"Zhongkang, take some men to separate the governor and the others, and tell them not to actually make a move here at Weiyang Palace." Liu Bei was helpless after receiving the message, but he roughly knew what was going on. After all, this matter could not be explained, and there had to be a solution to the Leiji Terrace issue no matter what.

"Yes." Xu Chu didn't even finish his meal. He led a group of burly men to the side hall of Weiyang Palace. When the dozen or so governors who were on edge saw Xu Chu arrive with a group of imperial guards, they scattered in all directions. It can only be said that no matter what a person becomes, whether they are shrewd or foolish, they still have some kind of inherent nature.

"Boda." Sima Lang ran into Chen Xi while wandering around aimlessly. Unlike before, when Chen Xi would always give Sima Lang some pointers whenever he returned to Chang'an, this time was different. This time, Chen Xi didn't even send anyone to inform Sima Lang. This encounter was their first official meeting.

"What should I call you?" Sima Lang asked with a hint of wistfulness.

"You can call it whatever you want," Chen Xi said after looking at Sima Lang. "I've roughly understood the situation in Xinzhou, and to be honest, I'm not entirely satisfied."

"I understand. After all, he is Marquis Chen. It's normal that you don't think much of the level I can achieve," Sima Lang said with a hint of resentment.

“There’s no point in being sarcastic,” Chen Xi said, shaking his head. “I should be going to New Jersey early next year. Get ready, I’ll go and see for myself what’s going on. It concerns your future.”

“Actually, even if you go, you won’t change much. It’s not just a people problem there, but also a lot of geographical issues.” Sima Lang was slightly taken aback when he heard Chen Xi’s words, then composed himself and said very formally.

To reiterate, regardless of what the young people of Chen Xi's generation are like, or what dissatisfaction they may have with Chen Xi's systems and policies, as long as they live in the same era as Chen Xi, they will all hold a certain respect for him.

No matter how much resentment Sima Lang harbored, he would suppress all his extraneous thoughts when faced with Chen Xi's very formal announcement.

“I think I understand what’s going on.” Chen Xi nodded. “The emperor is far away, and the area is remote and impoverished, so the management costs are too high, which has led to many problems.”

"The summary is very simple, but that's exactly what happened," Sima Lang said with a hint of helplessness. "The problem in Xinzhou cannot be solved at the level of a governor, but you can't give me the authority to mobilize troops as a governor. In addition, after the operations of leaving people and keeping land, and settling people in the border areas were stopped, I am now facing a situation where I am stuck on both ends and can't get out of it."

Sima Lang is actually quite capable, but the situation he faces in New South Wales is beyond his level to handle. In fact, he can't gather all the pieces needed to solve the puzzle, which is extremely dangerous. Of course, Sima Lang really has no choice but to stabilize the situation first before considering anything else.

“I’ll go take a look first. If it doesn’t work out, Chang’an will review it and grant you some military power. But Boda, you know your earlier actions were very suspicious.” Chen Xi looked at Sima Lang very seriously. “Your stance is a bit ambiguous.”

"Regarding the question of whether to stand with the aristocratic family or the nation, Lord Chen, I'm sorry, I can't give a very accurate answer either. This answer is constantly wavering in my heart." Since he was facing Chen Xi, Sima Lang spoke the truth. He couldn't help but waver, sometimes prioritizing the nation and sometimes prioritizing the aristocratic family, after all, this was the kind of education he had received since birth.

"How about we transfer you back?" Chen Xi asked Sima Lang formally.

Liu Ye was at ease knowing that Sima Lang was in Xinzhou, and Li You could also accept it, because Sima Lang had known Li You for a very long time and had been hanging around with the Marquis of Chiyang and his group for a very long time. Therefore, Sima Lang would not deliberately harm the people in the Congling region. If they really needed anything there, Sima Lang would definitely help them.

Conversely, Liu Ye was very confident that Sima Lang, being from a prominent family, would never make peace with the Pamir Mountains or with Li You, thus allowing the gateway to the Northwest to completely belong to Li You's faction.

This is also why Sima Lang has been able to remain in Xinzhou. No one else is more suitable than Sima Lang. In addition, the situation in Xinzhou is too complicated. Sima Lang may not be able to handle it perfectly, but he can at least maintain a relatively stable level. If someone else were to handle it, it would require the top leadership in Chang'an to step in.

These factors combined are the reason why Sima Lang made a series of mistakes and is still suspended in New South Wales.

However, if things continued like this, Chen Xi worried that New State would become unstable in two years, so he directly confronted Sima Lang about it.

"Go back where? Who will take over?" Sima Lang was stunned. Could he really go back?
I'm off to now. By the way, where should I file a complaint about home renovation issues? And what's the most effective way to file a complaint if Oppein doesn't replace items within the warranty period?