Mythical Three Kingdoms

Zhang Fei had left, and seeing that excited look on his face, Chen Xi knew there was an eight out of ten chance that the guy would get into a big fight at Mount Tai before coming back.

The next day, Liu Bei came again and looked somewhat helplessly at Chen Xi who was leisurely drinking tea in the Political Office. After such a long time, Liu Bei no longer worried that Chen Xi might work himself to death. He had come to see that no matter how troublesome the matter, it usually only caused Chen Xi to frown for a moment. He truly believed what Chen Xi had said on the road, that political strategy was his forte.

”Zichuan, are you becoming bored again?” Liu Bei asked with a smile. He hardly dealt with governmental affairs anymore; aside from holding the rights to promote or discipline his subordinates, he basically let Chen Xi handle everything else. He spent most of his time selecting refugees with good physical quality and then training them. By now, it had started to show some results, although the ten thousand or so new soldiers really just had the semblance of it.

”Digging canals, wells, paving roads, and the city walls have also been renovated. It took a lot of effort to have tens of thousands of people at my disposal, but by getting everything done at once, we can save a lot of trouble later on.” Chen Xi pretended to be serious as he took out a scroll of letters to look at while speaking, putting on a show for his superior. He knew Liu Bei understood his personality, but still, it was a habit to keep up appearances, not to overdo it.

Jian Yong snickered at the side, sneering at Chen Xi’s pretentious act of reading the letters, even holding the scroll upside down and yet still looking at it.

”How is Zilong doing with the land cultivation? Can he meet Zichuan’s expectations?” Liu Bei inquired. He was still not entirely confident in Zhao Yun’s ability, as it was not easy for someone skilled in martial arts to also make contributions in the realm of political strategy.

”There are probably only a handful of people in the world who could compete with him in land cultivation,” Chen Xi boasted confidently, ”and virtually none who could definitely beat him.”

It wasn’t Chen Xi bragging. After all, land cultivation was a relatively new concept at the time. Although it had been done before, Zao Zhi’s renovation had fundamentally changed it. Now Chen Xi had informed Zhao Yun of Zao Zhi’s land cultivation decree that he knew of, allowing Zhao Yun to make his own modifications.

Zhao Yun was not lacking in intelligence. Even though he had never experienced this new form of military farming before, he could judge its merits and naturally analyze the decree with his own understanding. According to Zhao Yun himself, the decree was indeed a rapid way to accumulate national strength, but wasn’t it a bit too much? A fifty-fifty split seemed somewhat harsh on the common people.

Chen Xi couldn’t be bothered to explain to Zhao Yun that after a fifty-fifty split, the common people would still live better than before, as the intermediary layer was cut out. With land taxes at thirty percent and land rent at fifty percent, they were only left with twenty percent of what they grew in a year, and that was why, despite the Han Dynasty not lacking land, people would still starve to death.

As for the fifty-fifty split mentioned by Chen Xi, it was based on the average yield determined by random checks. Without the private levies, Chen Xi guaranteed that even a minor disaster year would not lead to starvation with sixty mu of land. However, Zhao Yun insisted on arguing with Chen Xi. Since he couldn’t out-debate Chen Xi, he went off grudgingly with a group to gather data, and he had returned once a few days ago.

Indeed, field investigations proved to be extremely necessary. After studying for half a month, Zhao Yun found that what Chen Xi had said was true, that even during disaster years, one could get by with a fifty-fifty split. Was there even any justice left? Why then did the Yellow Turban Rebellion happen in the past?

When Zhao Yun came back, he was holding his spear with a sullen face. It seemed if he couldn’t win the debate against Chen Xi this time, he was ready to put two holes in Chen Xi. Armed with his spear, he engaged Chen Xi in another debate about everything from tax systems to farming practices, from yield per acre to disaster years, for an entire hour, even leaving Jian Yong in shock, as he had never realized Zhao Yun could be so talkative.

Finally, Chen Xi just shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had left the matter of the Tuntian Decree to Zhao Yun to handle. There was no need for him to review the laws that were drafted; if necessary, Zhao Yun could consult the books and carry out field investigations on his own. If any issue arose, he only needed to bear the responsibility himself.

And so, Chen Xi sent Zhao Yun away. Although he could find many loopholes in Zhao Yun’s Tuntian Decree, Chen Xi preferred to believe that Zhao Yun would notice those things himself. Of course, this realization would come with the passage of time and actual inspections on the ground. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that Zhao Yun had already taken his first steps.

Listening to Jian Yong recount past events, Liu Bei sighed, ”The decrees of the Great Han Dynasty are not mistaken; the problem lies in those who always find loopholes to exploit. The scholar families and local tyrants are not lacking in talent, but they are using it in the wrong direction.”

”Every decree will have its loopholes; it’s just a matter of degree. After all, the ’King’s Way’ evolves with time. It’s normal for the ancient laws and regulations to no longer fit the present. What’s important is to keep pace with the times,” Chen Xi said helplessly.

Chen Xi realized he had to instill some new ideas in Liu Bei. If they clung to the past, even if they eventually unified the land, Liu Bei would end up just like Emperor Guangwu. Chen Xi aimed for the grandeur of a ’Qin Emperor and Han Martial Emperor,’ pursuing the Northern barbarians, seeking a determination that could press down an entire era and aspire for supremacy. He would rather have Liu Bei emulate Emperor Wu of Han, who ultimately resorted to excessive warmongering in his quest for unparalleled dominance, than see him constrained by scholar families and outer relatives like Emperor Guangwu.

Although Emperor Wu of Han finally led to instability among the people due to his excessive warmongering, the Liu Family still ruled for four hundred years. Even by the Three Kingdoms Era, the Western Regions and areas beyond the passes still acknowledged the sovereignty of the Han Dynasty. The unmatched spirit of Emperor Wu subdued all the regions, making it difficult for them to even raise their heads. Even as the Han Dynasty declined, which foreign clan dared to reach out?

The rise of Emperor Guangwu marked the gradual fading of that unyielding martial spirit. Bending to the scholar families, bowing lower and lower until it became a habit, they had forgotten the determination of ”Without the destruction of the Huns, how can one call this home?” They had forgotten the resolve to bear indignities and wash away past humiliations.

To be frank, Chen Xi was not afraid of another Emperor Wu of Han. Even if his campaign against the Huns led to domestic instability and even uprisings, what of it? At the very least, that battle provided more than a hundred years for recovery. A hundred years—in exchange for one generation, what was there to worry about?

In the later years of Emperor Wu’s reign, there was indeed domestic unrest, but the Huns were effectively destroyed. The decisions to recover and rejuvenate were made at will. During Emperor Jing’s reign, you would have to check with the Huns if you wanted to ’recover and rejuvenate,’ but under Emperor Wu, there was no need to worry about border incursions. Emperor Xuan continued the recovery, and it led to a golden age, indicating that the trouble caused by Emperor Wu was not insurmountable if stability was maintained.

Moreover, if another ruler as ruthless as Emperor Wu emerged after Emperor Xuan and the cycle continued, it would basically be equivalent to a global shearing of the wool. The Great Han State could consume all of Asia...

Looking back at Emperor Guangwu, after his rise, the scholar families and outer relatives came into power. Without a supremely ruthless leader to suppress them, the scholar families grew increasingly powerful within a hundred years, until they aspired for the throne and played the Great Han Dynasty to its demise. Stability could not be maintained—it was a complete tragedy.

It was because of this understanding that Chen Xi preferred to see a warlike Imperial Uncle Liu rather than have him follow the old path of Emperor Guangwu. At least the path of Emperor Wu could be managed as long as there was enough money, grain, and people to support it, whereas the path of Emperor Guangwu was a dead end leading to an inevitable fate. Even if it didn’t reach the extreme of ”no humble family among the nobility, no scholar family among the lowly,” it wouldn’t be much better considering the nature of the scholar families—it was bound to cause problems without strong suppression.

With this thought in mind, Chen Xi, whenever he met Liu Bei, would seize the opportunity to instill into him thoughts about the supreme ’King’s Way,’ ’Heaven’s Way,’ and other such philosophies.