Chapter 7162 The Expansion of Reputation is the Foundation of Prosperity

Chapter 7162 The Expansion of Reputation is the Foundation of Prosperity
“You should say that to Chen Zichuan.” Zhou Yu, who was wandering around aimlessly, heard Zhuge Liang’s words and thought they made a lot of sense. “But I have to say something. Before I met Chen Zichuan, I had never tasted such good things. I can only say that the Chen family, who came from Qi, are indeed a family that created the word ‘fresh’ on their own territory. They have somewhat regressed to their ancestors.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi glared fiercely at Zhou Yu, practically telling him to get lost.

"Staring at me like that won't do any good. Do you need me to teach you a few tricks?" Zhou Yu said, completely unconcerned about Chen Xi's expression, even with a hint of sarcasm.

"Teach what?" Chen Xi asked Zhou Yu, puzzled.

“Her Highness the Princess is a little unhappy. You should go and comfort her. I’ll teach you a few very effective tricks that will definitely appease her,” Zhou Yu said truthfully.

"No, don't you know what happened a few days ago? Don't you understand? Why are you all sending me?" Chen Xi said irritably. Zhou Yu had warned him before, and now he's being asked to take the lead?

“Everyone wants you to go, which means we all agree. It would be a problem if you didn’t go. If you go, it’s just normal social interaction, understand?” Zhou Yu said with a smirk. “In this situation, I, Zhou Yu, can’t go myself. You should go now.”

Chen Xi glared at Zhou Yu, but had no choice but to bite the bullet and go ahead. Zhou Yu was right; it would be a problem if Chen Xi didn't participate, but if he did, it would just be normal social interaction.

"Your Highness, you don't seem to be feeling well today," Chen Xi transmitted to Liu Tong, asking tentatively, "Has something happened?"

"Ah, Zichuan, don't worry about me. I'm just thinking about something right now." Upon hearing Chen Xi's telepathic message, Liu Tong's somewhat dazed expression returned to normal for a moment. He then composed himself and spoke to Chen Xi with as much authority as possible.

It's clear that Liu Tong doesn't want to discuss this matter with Chen Xi.

"Alright, who are you trying to fool? Do you think I'm stupid? Is there something you can't figure out? I'll explain it to you. Some things, if you think about them too much, you're bound to get stuck on them." Chen Xi said to Liu Tong in an annoyed tone. Sometimes, if you put the other person on too high a pedestal, they might take advantage of you. On the other hand, if you treat the other person like a normal person, the two of you can have a normal conversation.

"Actually, it's nothing, it's just that I realized everyone is actually selling official positions." Liu Tong looked at Chen Xi with some resentment, and this time it wasn't an act, but a genuine feeling of resentment.

For the past ten years, Liu Tong has spent most of his time entangled in the sins of the Spirit Emperor. Most of his efforts were for one result, even though he knew that he could not get the best result. Liu Tong has been entangled in this matter, and he still has not let go of it to this day.

As a result, Chen Xi's words today made Liu Tong realize certain things, and Chen Xi's analysis put Liu Tong in a predicament from which he could not escape.

Because Chen Xi had previously combined morality, reputation, power, and money into assets and traded them together, Liu Tong clearly realized a reality—the reason her father was being blamed, after removing everything else, was simply because of the food!

A conclusion worse than doing evil has emerged: for an emperor, you can be bad, you can be immoral, but you cannot be incompetent.

Liu Tong had always believed that all of his father's mistakes stemmed from a lack of morality, dissatisfaction with the officials in the court, a path dependency that led to the deterioration of the situation, and the practice of selling official positions. Under the combined influence of natural disasters and man-made calamities, this resulted in a tragic end.

As it turns out, after Chen Xi analyzed his own performance today and eliminated all external influences, the underlying truth was just one word: terrible!

Liu Tong never considered his father's talent. He was enthroned at the age of ten and was able to kill the powerful minister who supported him at the age of eleven, and carry out a major purge of the court. No matter how turbulent the world was, he was able to maintain his power. Even in the face of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when the whole world was in rebellion, he was able to appoint the right generals and quickly defeat the Yellow Turbans. It should be noted that for an emperor, the ability to use people is very important.

Many dynasties ultimately perished because their emperors failed to place the most suitable people in the most suitable positions during times of crisis. In fact, every dynasty that falls can eventually assemble a team capable of stabilizing the country. The problem is that most of the time, the person sitting on the throne cannot place these people in the right positions and allow them to exert their due abilities.

Internal strife is never the problem; the real problem is not knowing who to use.

Liu Tong recalled his father. Even with the added filter, the people his father used, even from Liu Tong's perspective, were not particularly problematic. As for the power struggles between eunuchs and scholars, frankly, from a balance perspective, there wasn't much of a problem. If they weren't fighting each other, they would be fighting the emperor.

Furthermore, during the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the struggle between powerful families against the emperor was one of the rules of the game. It was also a well-known fact that Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling launched the Party Prohibitions to openly attack officials from powerful families. Therefore, Liu Tong could completely understand the idea of ​​using eunuchs as a shield to fight against powerful families.

The Yuanfeng Dynasty didn't have these kinds of games because Liu Bei and Chen Xi were just too capable, and the Han family had important matters to attend to. Didn't you see that they were just free recently? They were already preparing to give Liu Tong and Chen Xi a big project, even though this project was guided in the right direction under Chen Ji's influence.

But do those other people spreading rumors and chanting scriptures really have no idea what they're doing? How could that be? If Zheng Xuan can see it, then it means that others can see it too.

Therefore, Liu Tong never considered Liu Hong's abilities; what he was actually arguing about was Emperor Ling's own wickedness and irresponsibility.

In other words, as the emperor, he failed to fulfill his duties and continued to shirk responsibility. He had the ability to judge right and wrong and to distinguish between good and bad, but due to the circumstances, he gave up the ability to distinguish right from wrong and instead pursued the so-called political balance in order to better control the court.

These were all the sins of her father in Liu Tong's eyes. In her opinion, her father was simply bad, not bad. But Chen Xi's answer today shattered all of Liu Tong's understanding, even her basic judgment of her father.

Her father, Liu Hong, might not be a problem of being bad or lazy; he's just utterly incompetent. Selling official positions isn't the issue—Chen Xi has been doing it consistently—but the problem is that he can't even do that well, and he can't even get a good price for his positions. That's just outrageous.

Therefore, Liu Tong was very confused, and even in a daze. Chen Xi's answer shattered many of her beliefs from the root, and even her idealized image of her father was broken.

"I thought it was something serious." Under Chen Xi's insistence, Liu Tong finally managed to recount his confusion. After listening, Chen Xi said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Isn't this serious enough?" Liu Tong said, sounding quite exhausted.

“It all depends on who you’re comparing it to. If the person you’re comparing it to is me, then there’s really nothing I can do about it,” Chen Xi said calmly. “Compared to me, your father’s actions were indeed very problematic. He couldn’t even get a good price for selling official positions, which was a huge problem. That was his biggest asset, and he just squandered it.”

When Liu Tong heard Chen Xi's words, which were seemingly calm but were undeniably hurtful, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. However, at the same time, she also felt that there was some truth to them. After all, it was Chen Xi, and she had witnessed his extraordinary abilities over the years, so she could completely understand him.

So even if it were a matter of selling official positions, it's completely understandable if one's own father couldn't outbid the other party...

What a load of rubbish! This is blatant selling of official positions!
"Go away, let me think about this myself, don't talk to me." Liu Tong was in a bad mood and didn't want to communicate with Chen Xi. He gestured for Chen Xi to get lost and planned to comfort himself. However, Chen Xi's words made Liu Tong's mentality recover a little. Although they were somewhat incorrect, they were still compared to Chen Xi, so he could barely accept them.

"Well, Your Highness, you only need to remember one thing: merit comes from farming and warfare. In fact, what I've been saying is already written down from this sentence. I've just summarized it. But Shang Yang, who wrote this, understood this point back then." Chen Xi felt it was necessary to explain this to Liu Tong so that Liu Tong wouldn't overthink things and still not understand.

"Huh?" Liu Tong was stunned for a moment and didn't turn around.

"I'm not joking with you. When Shang Yang wrote the words 'merit comes from farming and warfare,' he was already hinting at what was to come. Donating grain could earn you a title, and titles were originally official positions. The fact that grain could be exchanged for titles clearly indicated that even if there was a limit to the number of titles, as long as this path existed, it would eventually be pushed to its limit." Chen Xi solemnly warned Liu Tong.

Shang Yang was terrifying. Chen Xi knew this from the beginning. Many policies in later generations were essentially optimized and adjusted versions of Shang Yang's system. But no matter how much optimization or adjustment was done, some fundamental aspects could not be changed.

For example, the principle of "profiting from a single source" has been used by almost all dynasties in later generations, or rather, all dynasties, to govern the country. This is because it is the simplest governing strategy to strengthen state control. In addition, the use of a single channel to allocate social resources makes state control easier and more concentrated. Therefore, no matter how many dynasties changed, this approach remained basically unchanged.

These are all things that Shang Yang proposed, implemented, and then inherited from generation to generation. The so-called foundation of civilization is inevitably tainted by these things.

Therefore, if we are to talk about selling official positions and titles, we can only start with the loophole left by the person who built this system, that is, the loophole that existed in the military merit system from the beginning, and how this loophole has extended all the way to the present day, and the problem of selling official positions and titles has been staged countless times in the Han Dynasty.

Liu Tong seemed to understand something upon hearing this. Some things are hard to think of if you don't say them out loud, but once you do, it's like a magic jar being punctured. For a smart person, it's instantaneous. Liu Tong was by no means stupid, so when Chen Xi mentioned that merit comes from farming and fighting, he already understood what was going on.

"So, fundamentally speaking, this system actually includes the sale of official positions, and it also provides a completely legitimate channel for doing so, right?" Liu Tong asked with a somewhat heavy tone.

Although Liu Tong didn't think all the older generation were good people, if even someone like Shang Yang, who was capable enough to be called a patriarch but morally bankrupt, thought this way from the beginning, then this society was truly rotten to the core!
“Yes, a perfectly reasonable passage was left from the very beginning.” Chen Xi did not deny Liu Tong’s judgment, and even gave a clear answer directly.

"Really, it was rotten from the very beginning," Liu Tong said with a hint of complexity.

“It’s not rotten; it just left behind a perfectly reasonable passage.” Chen Xi shook his head and said, “How to use this passage and how to maximize its value is what future generations should learn and master. The late emperor did a very poor job in this regard.”

“Selling official positions also requires careful operation. If you just sell them blindly without any other value attached, you are actually continuously damaging the credibility of the country and the government. When even the titles of Marquis of Guannei and the Three Dukes are put up for sale, the credibility of the country and the government is basically bankrupt.” Chen Xi said to Liu Tong with a look of disbelief.

"From this perspective, the late emperor's actions were almost entirely wrong. He sold official titles and ranks too cheaply, destroying the sanctity of the state's official positions and ranks. It's not that one can't profit by damaging sanctity, but at least one should be worthy of that sanctity," Chen Xi said with undisguised contempt.

Liu Tong fell into complete silence upon hearing this. She had truly learned something, something far more cruel than anything she had learned before, but it also gave her a clearer understanding of the true nature of this world.

"Both emperors sold official positions, but Emperor Wu did it far better than your father. At least during Emperor Wu's reign, his series of actions ensured that even in times of turmoil, the Han dynasty's titles were still recognized by everyone," Chen Xi said directly. "Things that are too easily obtained have no value. The biggest problem with selling official positions, to be honest, is not that those who buy the positions will inevitably become corrupt, but rather the heavy blow such behavior deals to their own credibility."

"A heavy blow to one's own reputation?" Liu Tong was silent for a while, repeatedly chewing on the question, her expression shifting between conflict and heaviness. Finally, she let out a long sigh. This time, she didn't even want to argue with her father anymore, because the problem they faced at this stage was no longer just that the food was bad, but that the vegetables were bad, which was very serious.

"Your Highness, please remember one thing: the expansion of reputation is the foundation of prosperity. This is extremely important, and it applies not only to the country but also to individuals," Chen Xi earnestly advised. Upon hearing this, many of Liu Tong's previous doubts suddenly became clear.

"An expansion of reputation?" Liu Tong nodded and said.

“Yes, the expansion of credibility is the foundation of prosperity. This is also why a great power, and an individual standing at the top, must fulfill the promises and rules it sets out,” Chen Xi said with a touch of solemnity. “That’s the reason.”

This is why Chen Xi always emphasizes the rules. Everyone can trample on these rules, but those who established them cannot. The interests protected by the rules are determined by the establishers when they were created. If those who established these rules start to trample on them, then revolution is not far away. Therefore, Chen Xi has always been trying to mend the fence after the sheep are lost.

“I think I understand now why you can print money,” Liu Tong said after a moment of silence. “Actually, this isn’t printing money, but rather using this operation to materialize your own credibility and the credibility of the country that you can mobilize.”

"Yes, congratulations, Your Highness, on catching up with the former Zhuge Liang in this regard." Chen Xi nodded and said. Why did Chen Xi dare to withdraw at this time? Because without Chen Xi's guidance, Zhuge Liang finally understood the true nature of Chen Xi's money printing.

Unlike Liu Tong, Zhuge Liang repeatedly witnessed this behavior and, by combining it with reality, understood its essence on his own. Therefore, in Chen Xi's view, Zhuge Liang already possessed the basic ability to wear this crown. As for the remaining question of how many to print, that falls under the category of conscience and morality, aside from mathematics.

The former can naturally be solved by someone; even if Zhuge Liang himself couldn't figure it out, Xu Yue could help calculate the most suitable scale. But the latter can only be solved by the person in charge.

Clearly, throughout history, Zhuge Liang is the most trustworthy example in this regard. Therefore, the seal of the Marquis of Zhuye Township has been handed over to Zhuge Liang. From the first day of the first month of the eleventh year of Yuanfeng, Zhuge Liang has already possessed financial power, and it is financial power in the true sense.

Even if this financial power is only temporary, it is still very important.

Of course, this is also part of the test, but Chen Xi estimated that the problem would not be too serious. In this matter, Zhuge Liang's own caution and superior morality are enough to solve many problems. With these two qualities, even if a problem arises, it will not be a serious or unsolvable problem.

It's simply that the amount of money printed was a bit too small. We can print more when Chen Xi returns, or print a slightly larger amount of money and then raise the interest rate a little to recover some of the money in the market.

After that, by delaying the release and slowing down the pace, given the current size of the Han Dynasty's reservoir, there should be virtually no problems. Besides, there are the two major markets of Rome and Kushan to act as a buffer.

They've already gone to Hainan; I heard it's going to snow in Xi'an.