Chapter 7173 Systemic

Chapter 7173 Systemic

For most people in this world who want to cause trouble in the Han Dynasty, there is one point they can't get around no matter what, and that is the scope of Chen Xi's knowledge, and exactly where the boundaries of his knowledge lie!
This thing directly affects the probability that Chen Xi will discover them when they cause trouble. However, even now, the people in the bureaucratic system at this border who want to cause trouble have not been detected. Judging from the current feelings of this group of people, the most likely reason why Chen Xi has not taken action to deal with them is not that Chen Xi cannot tell what they have done, but that Chen Xi's gaze has not yet fallen on them.

This left many bureaucrats speechless. So, Chen Xi could spot any bad intentions they might have? So, he really had everything laid bare?

However, even if many bureaucrats have this understanding, it does not stop this group from continuing to do things secretly, because for them, being identified as having bad intentions and being taken down is actually no different from being discovered doing bad things and then being taken down.

Anyway, it doesn't matter as long as they are taken down. Since that's the case, they can do it secretly and gamble that Chen Hou won't notice them as lackeys. After all, at their level, they can't afford to offend Chen Xi. And as long as they can't offend Chen Xi, even if they have some bad intentions, they generally won't be chased down until it gets too serious. Only Chen Xi's ability to see through small things is really too bad for the bureaucratic system.

"To be honest, I knew about this situation a long time ago, and I even tried to curb things like creating auspicious omens a long time ago, because I roughly knew what kind of fun the bureaucratic system could give me," Chen Xi said calmly. "However, as long as the methods are correct, these things can still be suppressed. After all, it is the bureaucratic system's instinct to flatter superiors. The saying 'King Chu loves slender waists, and many starve to death in the palace' is all too normal."

Over the years, Chen Xi has witnessed the monsters and demons of the bureaucratic system. Coupled with the strange things he had seen in books and history, he was somewhat wary of the tricks the bureaucratic system could pull.

Of course, the most important thing is to prevent things that, once started, will cause huge trouble, such as agricultural tax. In feudal times, this was the foundation of the country and a Achilles' heel that officials at all levels were watching closely. It was also the biggest pretext to force the people to rebel.

So when Jizhou and Yuzhou set a harsh target of five shi per mu for Chen Xi in the second or third year of Yuanfeng, Chen Xi made a special trip to Jizhou and then to Youzhou. At that time, Chen Xi's plan was to have the aristocratic families who had moved to the Northeast send some people to manage their hometowns.

However, after arriving there, Chen Xi met Wang Liang and realized that Lei Jitai's research on mental illness had a significant advantage in grain production, so he changed his approach.

To be honest, the good cookie seeds could indeed achieve a yield of five bushels per acre back then, but you have to understand the difference between experimental fields and normal planting. Experimental fields are no longer about fertilizer; they are about maximizing the yield by optimizing light, climate, water, fertilizer, and so on.

If all conditions were perfectly met, an average yield of over five shi per mu could indeed be achieved. However, in most parts of the Han Dynasty, how could most fields possibly reach this level? Even if the superior seeds of Quqi were specially optimized for the climate and soil of the Central Plains, the grain yield per mu for ordinary families was unlikely to exceed four shi and two dou.

This was the result that Chen Xi specifically asked Qu Qi about back then. Although this output was truly incredible, it was still far from the average output of five shi (a unit of dry measure) reported by Yuzhou and Jizhou, which were local counties.

Given that the system was not yet fully unified at the time, the tax rate was roughly 40%. With an average yield of five shi per mu, the tax would be about two shi. If the actual yield per mu was around four shi, then the actual situation of agricultural tax in the Central Plains in the second and third years of the Yuanfeng era was already moving towards the reality of Cao Cao's 50/50 split in official history.

Chen Xi felt that it would be really too much for someone like him to sit at the same table as Lao Cao.

For Chen Xi, he didn't lack agricultural tax revenue, but he lacked popular support and wealthy people. So after realizing this, Chen Xi decisively began to take action. First, he changed the agricultural tax to a fixed tax, which meant that no matter how much you produce, I will only collect this much.

This could actually be considered tyranny, but the yield per mu of the Han Dynasty is indeed very high now. In the past, it might have been a fixed tax rate of 30%, but now it might be only 20%, or even lower.

After this was implemented, other prefectures and counties stopped making claims about high yields, because no matter how high the yield per mu was, the agricultural tax was actually paid according to the area of ​​the land.

In other words, the yield per mu was no longer linked to promotions within the bureaucratic system, because the Han court knew exactly how much agricultural tax was collected. Li You would send people to investigate any arbitrary increases or decreases in the amount of land, and this was no small matter.

So later on, there were far fewer people who would cheat in this area.

However, Chen Xi's next concern is what to do if someone falsifies the scale of land ownership. After all, with the development of the times, the number of state-owned factories, mines, and workshops of the Han Dynasty is increasing. Some officials, in order to save trouble, will definitely choose to seize the land of local people, and then make the people landless, and continue to collect taxes according to the fixed tax. To be honest, this is another problem.

In short, this kind of thing doesn't exist at the present stage because it hasn't developed to that point yet, but it will definitely happen in the future, or to put it more directly, it will develop to that point sooner or later.

"Is that why the tax rate is fixed?" Sun Qian realized at this moment that Chen Xi had insisted on changing the agricultural tax rate to a fixed tax rate, so there was a reason for that.

“Yes, Hanmou’s superior seeds are very effective, that’s for sure. But when ordinary people plant them, they usually don’t exceed four and a half shi (a unit of dry measure), while the bureaucratic system likes to push the limits.” Chen Xi said with a hint of helplessness, “Actually, five shi is not a serious problem, and six shi is barely manageable, but what about more than that?”

"What if some bureaucrat shouted out 'ten bushels per mu'?" Chen Xi said with a hint of sarcasm.

"How could that be? Even a fool wouldn't believe it. How could it be ten shi per mu? We've all farmed before; ten shi per mu is absolutely impossible." Sun Qian shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this, feeling that Chen Xi's words were too exaggerated. "Even if bureaucrats have no integrity, they wouldn't go to such lengths. Besides, our superiors have also farmed before; do you think they would really be fooled by such a claim?"

Sun Qian shook his head and said with a smile that looked at him like he was an idiot, but he fell silent under Chen Xi's indifferent gaze. Then he asked hesitantly, "It can't be that bad, can it? No matter how outrageous they are, they can't be this crazy. This is too outrageous."

“Sometimes, it’s not a matter of knowing or not knowing, but rather doing it intentionally. Conscience is important, but you can make more money if you don’t have a conscience,” Chen Xi said calmly. “As long as you have a brain, as long as you’ve farmed, as long as you’ve looked around, and so on, even if everyone knows right from wrong, it doesn’t matter.”

“It’s not that we don’t know, it’s that we’re pretending not to know, that’s the real problem,” Chen Xi said with a hint of helplessness. “Besides, you can’t expect people sitting here like us to be normal. If it were someone like the Ten Attendants who used to sit here, do you think they would have let go even if they knew?”

Sun Qian remained silent for a while, pretending to be ignorant, of course. He said, "I don't know anything. It was all done by the people below. They called for ten shi (a unit of dry measure), but I didn't add any tax. I just collected the tax according to what they said. No, it wasn't even me who collected it. They voluntarily reported it and sent it to the warehouse. It has nothing to do with us. We were just deceived by them."

If the disaster really does happen, just kill them. Or, if you have any sense, pretend to be confused, distribute some money, do some disaster relief, and you can stabilize people's hearts.

After all, the hierarchical separation makes the lower class have certain aspirations for the upper class. They inevitably think that those who oppress them are not the upper class's indulgence, but rather that the upper class has limited energy and cannot pay attention to this place. Once the upper class takes action to deal with this group of people, they can live a few good days.

But is it really that we can't see it? It's hard to say. Some systems were designed this way from the very beginning, and that's the most terrifying thing.

"So using corrupt officials, killing corrupt officials, using the blood of corrupt officials to buy fame, using most of the money of corrupt officials to stabilize the system, and using a small portion of the money of corrupt officials for disaster relief can achieve a certain balance." Chen Xi said with a hint of sarcasm, "This is actually a solution, and it is a stabilization solution that will inevitably occur when the bureaucratic system operates to a certain extent."

“It sounds a bit outrageous, but if you think about it carefully, given the degree of separation between ordinary people and the upper echelons of the bureaucratic system, this operation is completely reasonable and realistic. After all, there are many layers between the evil at the top and the evil at the bottom. Even if it falls on the bottom, it is released by the people at the very bottom who can come into contact with it. It is very difficult to clearly recognize the source of this evil,” Sun Qian said with a hint of depression.

There are some things that Sun Qian doesn't actually pay much attention to, but after spending a lot of time with Chen Xi, even things that he doesn't usually care about, when actually brought up, Sun Qian will realize that Chen Xi once told and explained them to them.

“Yes, sometimes the upper echelons are the source,” Chen Xi said calmly. “So, many times, those who sit in these positions must be upright and have the awareness to be responsible for history, otherwise, it’s really easy for problems to arise. It’s just a pity…”

Sun Qian sighed upon hearing this. What a pity! What's a pity is that most people sitting in this position not only don't have this idea, but also, due to certain political views and perceptions, they bring a certain malice, ultimately leading to an irreversible reality.

"Zichuan, what are you and Gongyou researching this time?" Liu Bei asked with some curiosity.

"It's just complaining about the bureaucratic system causing trouble again," Chen Xi said nonchalantly. He was genuinely calm about it; let them do what they want, as long as they don't create anything big, it doesn't matter. When they do create something big, Chen Xi will crush them with one punch.

Expecting a completely transparent bureaucratic system is pointless; we might as well just use AI. Well, even AI can't be completely transparent, since it's written by humans and has people behind the scenes.

"Oh, what outrageous thing has happened again?" Liu Bei tried his best to force a smile, but he couldn't hold back. When Chen Xi talked about this kind of thing, Liu Bei always felt an urge to kill. Every time, Chen Xi thought it was alright, still normal, not outrageous enough, but Liu Bei always felt the same way: "It's already like this, why don't you take him down?"
"It's nothing much. It's just that when you were traveling around Yizhou, those villages were actually putting on an act for you. In reality, the problem in Yizhou is not that serious, but the problem in Li Ermu's village in Bingzhou is more serious. But I think that Li Ermu's village might really be taking advantage of your resources right now," Chen Xi said nonchalantly.

When Liu Bei went to Bingzhou, he often chose to stay in Li Ermu's village. As a result, Li Ermu's village developed rapidly in recent years, even having village-level workshops engaged in coal mining and metal smelting. They lived quite well. Every time Liu Bei went there, he felt that if most villages in the world could reach the level of Li Ermu's village, then the world would truly be at peace.

Of course, Chen Xi wasn't saying that Liu Bei's idea was wrong. To be honest, villages like Er Mu's were indeed very well-developed, but that was because Liu Bei had visited several times. To avoid problems, the local officials in Bingzhou allocated some resources to the village. In addition, the village's location was indeed very good, and with people taking care of it, it naturally developed.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei fell silent, seemingly unsure how to explain himself.

"It's normal for bureaucratic systems to curry favor with superiors. After all, promotions depend entirely on whether those above approve, and have no direct relation to those below." Chen Xi had no complaints about this practice. In his view, the actions taken by Bingzhou towards Li Ermu Village were entirely reasonable and normal. More importantly, this action was not a haphazard investment, but rather a result of adapting to local conditions.

Therefore, Chen Xi did not intend to pursue the matter further. He merely made a complaint and tried to guess the superior's intentions. He felt that this was truly the instinct of the bureaucratic system. In essence, even if this thing is said to serve the people a thousand times, its core logic is to flatter the superior and serve even higher-ups.

Even if some of them are clear-headed and know what they are doing, the responsible logic of power dictates that things will develop in a certain direction.

All I can say is that the humanities, once studied extensively, can indeed have a certain degree of constraint, but don't expect that this constraint to change the core logic.

"Actually, I know a little bit about it, but if it's not too serious, I usually won't make a fuss," Liu Bei said after a moment of silence. "After all, I'm not stupid."

Chen Xi chuckled upon hearing this. Liu Bei was indeed a good person in this respect; he could put aside his pride, knew right from wrong, and was willing to actively correct his mistakes. That was very good.

"Actually, there's not much that can be done. Even with multiple layers of supervision, it won't solve the problem. This is because the core logic of the regulatory teams is the same as that of other bureaucratic systems. In other words, they are just a branch of the bureaucratic system, not a system that is different from the bureaucratic system. So the core logic will not be different," Chen Xi said frankly.

"There are simply too many unsolvable problems in this world," Liu Bei said with a hint of lament.

“Yes, there are many problems that are actually unsolvable, but generally speaking, there is no need to solve them. As long as things can keep running, that’s enough.” Chen Xi said calmly. “As long as things can keep running, even if there are some problems, they will change with development. They will either gradually become solvable or evolve into new routines. The only constant in this world is change, so it is meaningless to get entangled in static things.”

"Alright then." Sun Qian nodded, indicating that he understood.

"I'll be setting off in a few days," Liu Bei suddenly said.

"Huh?" Chen Xi looked at Liu Bei in surprise. "Why are you in such a hurry? Shouldn't we have plenty of time?"

"With you here in Chang'an, I feel very at ease. You handle almost everything perfectly. So, whether I'm here or not makes little difference to the Han capital. But as for the Ganges, I've thought about it and I still need to get there as soon as possible," Liu Bei said earnestly.

Liu Bei thought about this matter twice more and felt that going there as soon as possible would be beneficial to the situation. Since that was the case, he decided to take Zhang Fei ahead of him.

“In that case, the arena competition…” Chen Xi said with some helplessness.

“That’s easy, it will be over in a day or two, and Jiang Guang will most likely be number one.” Liu Bei interrupted Chen Xi’s reasoning. “Actually, after watching the first stage of the Grand Martial Arts Competition, the strength and weakness are already very obvious. In the second stage of the arena competition, the participants are also aware of the situation.”

"Moreover, if I go there in advance, I can make arrangements for the officers and soldiers at all levels." Liu Bei closed his eyes slightly. "Although I am not as good as you in literature and not as good as my second brother in martial arts, I am still good at recognizing people. Moreover, I need to meet with the officers and soldiers on the front line this time. It is indeed a problem that Yun Chang cannot recover in a short period of time."

"Let Wen Ze be the commander," Chen Xi suggested again.

"No, as the commander-in-chief, I will leave the command to Wen Ze." Liu Bei shook his head.

Chen Xi was helpless. Liu Bei was determined to cover for Yu Jin. If he, as the commander, was stationed at the Ganges, Yu Jin could lose if he lost. Who else could bypass Liu Bei to fight Yu Jin?
"I'm leaving the country to you. I probably won't be back for the next few years." Liu Bei patted Chen Xi on the shoulder, his expression extremely solemn.

Silently lying in bed, not saying a word.