Mythical Three Kingdoms

Liu Bei’s affairs are Liu Bei’s own to handle; when the time comes, just lead the army and take seat to fight, that’s all. Liu Bei himself is not without experience in battle, and with a large group of civil officials and military generals at hand, when it’s time to fight, that’s all there is to it. Chen Xi truly isn’t worried about Liu Bei.

”Greetings, Lord Xuande.” ”Greetings, my Lord.” A jumble of two kinds of voices.

After pointing to the chairs, and once everyone was seated, Liu Bei ordered the maids to present tea and refreshments and then dismissed them, ”How is the situation? Have all the aristocratic families turned against us?”

”Thirty percent of the aristocratic families were not involved in this rebellion at all, and some seemed to be caught off guard due to unexpected incidents with the Wang Family of Mount Tai, and were coerced into joining the revolt. Others are simply opportunists,” Li Youu calmly recounted the events of the previous night.

”Well, at least they have some conscience,” Liu Bei said with a forced smile, looking somewhat relieved.

Though Liu Bei was not pleased with some of the aristocratic families’ behavior, he knew that the backbone of this era’s middle class mainly came from these families. Cutting off the strong while sparing the weak could work momentarily, but to eliminate them all would truly cause problems in the short term.

”It’s probably not entirely a matter of conscience; the benefits we offer them are greater than going to Yuan Benchu’s side. It’s half and half,” Chen Xi sipped his tea. He hadn’t slept the previous night and was not tired before because of the tense situation. But now, as he relaxed, sleepiness surged, and he could only drink his tea quietly.

”For an individual, moral integrity can bind a person, but for a family, relying solely on their morality is far from sufficient. Even the current Wang Family of Mount Tai that has been taken down, do they really have such major issues with their moral conduct?” Chen Xi set down his teacup and perked up his spirit to continue.

Chen Xi’s words left everyone silent. The importance of moral conduct has always been a tradition, but Chen Xi’s blatant exposure of this truth is indeed somewhat embarrassing for everyone.

”Zichuan speaks sensibly. Moral quality can constrain a person’s heart, but not everyone has such moral fiber, and within a family, only a minority can be bound by their moral quality. Most are ordinary people.” Surprisingly, this time it was Liu Bei who first responded and agreed with Chen Xi’s words.

Liu Bei was already accustomed to Chen Xi’s blunt way of speaking and did not mind having his own words countered later by Chen Xi. On the contrary, Liu Bei believed that Chen Xi’s ability to refute meant that his own thoughts had flaws, which also indicated that better methods were available.

”That’s the situation. Ordinary people have always been the majority in this world. Saints only educate, not demand everyone to become saints. It’s like what Wen Ru said, ’use both kindness and severity.’ It really would be a pity to kill them all. For families like the Wang Family of Mount Tai, execute the main culprits, confiscate most of their property, and exile them,” Chen Xi said, unable to help it.

Improving moral quality is the most important, but to reach a point where everyone has a conscience, the level of moral quality needed is something that even Chen Xi himself deems unreliable.

”Then let’s handle it this way,” Liu Bei said after thinking it over, ”As for Fenggao, if the commoners suffered losses last night, fully compensate them. For those who went out to fight, whether injured or killed, the commoners are entitled to the same support and consolation as ordinary soldiers.”

”There is no problem with the finances,” Li Youu nodded and said.

Although much of Mount Tai’s financial reserves had been converted into supplies, there was no shortage of money in the Treasury. Moreover, today’s action would certainly involve seizing several families’ assets, and with the opportunistic families inevitably paying for their lessons, the Treasury of Mount Tai would face no issues at all.

”The buildings on Central Avenue and the walls of Fenggao City will enter the second phase, as Zichuan mentioned. When Zichuan first planned the Central Avenue buildings on a city-level scale, he said it wouldn’t take many years to rebuild. I laughed then, not expecting it to indeed become a reality so soon,” Liu Bei said with a face full of wonder.

”This is also a good opportunity to make another fortune,” Chen Xi said with a smile. When they were first built, the walls were a full ten feet thick, and even in the thinner places, they were several feet thick. Now, with the demolition and reconstruction, the internal area will naturally expand considerably.

”It’s also time to collect the land deeds back and redistribute them,” Li Youu estimated the time and said.

”I plan to open up papermaking technology,” Chen Xi suddenly proposed.

”It’s about time. We’re now capable of guarding this thing,” Liu Bei nodded. In the past, they were concerned both about the aristocratic families and other feudal lords, but now their strength has matured, and they no longer fear any challenge.

”When the time comes, let Xianhe come back and compile the great dictionary and the origin of characters first,” Chen Xi opened his mouth to say, ”Let’s stand at the pinnacle of culture and morality first and talk after that.

”The origin of characters and the great dictionary, I’ve heard Xianhe mention a bit about them. It seems he’s been working on them for years. What are those two things?” Liu Bei first nodded and then asked. He truly didn’t know what Jian Yong was doing; relative to the earliest group of people, Jian Yong was almost invisible.

”Lord, when you see the actual object, you will naturally understand,” Xun Yue said with a smile, aware of Jian Yong’s ambition. If the matter succeeded, Jian Yong would surely be famous for the ages.

”Let’s talk about that when the time comes. As for those families that are weathercocks, give them two options. One is to let us duplicate a set of their family education for review, and the other is for eighty percent of their offspring to teach. We have a significant shortage of teachers in Mount Tai, sending eighty percent of their offspring to teach is not a big issue to let pass,” Liu Bei, in no uncertain terms, said. He was quite keen on the family education of the aristocratic families.

”This strategy…is brilliant,” Xun Yue weighed in and said.

For the aristocratic families, having their family education duplicated would be a significant blow. Even if the aristocratic families selectively duplicate what they offer, such duplication would likely result in only a core remaining, and with more content, the core ideas might also be deduced.

Likewise, having eighty percent of their offspring teach sounds good, but if so many of their offspring are teaching, how many of them will remain to become officials? If they don’t become officials, how can the aristocratic families maintain their status?

”That settles it,” Chen Xi nodded. He had no objections to Liu Bei’s suggestion, understanding that while the aristocratic families will definitely contribute some of their education for duplication and will let half of their offspring engage in basic education, this was already enough for Chen Xi. They couldn’t ask for too much.

Moreover, if they demanded all the family education from the aristocratic families, it might backfire and cause chaos. As for having all the offspring of the aristocratic families teach, if they couldn’t see a way out, they might add their biases to the educational material. If so, the students receiving fundamental education could become victims of manipulation.

”However, what about Zizhong? He was supposed to go with me tomorrow to appease the aristocratic families, but now it’s been changed to Zichuan. I hope Zichuan hasn’t scared Zizhong away,” Jia Xu looked around and did not see Mi Zhu, which was clearly a bit strange. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)