Mythical Three Kingdoms

”That should be fine.” Jia Xu took a deep look at Chen Xi. He knew that if Chen Xi proposed any policies, he probably already had plans laid out years ago, just waiting for the right moment.

It seems that after this, if nothing unexpected happens, the era of aristocratic families owning large numbers of private armies might end. The next era of private armies might only appear after the Han Dynasty enfeoffs major aristocratic families out of the Central Plains.

As Chen Xi put it, internal stability surpasses everything else at the moment. Conflicts can exist, but no one other than the government is allowed to turn conflicts into wars, and he would handle anyone who crosses this threshold.

From this perspective, Sunx Ce and Cao Cao are essentially considered massive tumors, but Chen Xi plans to remove these tumors and transfer them onto others to harm them instead. He is waiting for a suitable opportunity to act to maximize impact.

As for the aristocratic families that may stir trouble later, Chen Xi would decisively act, treating it as a forced buy and sell. The fertile land in the Northeast and the promise of enfeoffment could be thrown in their face for a clear-cut deal.

After all, the aristocratic families did not earn merits in annihilating the Northern Huns, which substantially puts them in debt to Chen Xi’s favor. Although there were exchanges of land discussed before, in reality, everyone knows the aristocratic families received far more than they gave. Although such deals are favored by aristocratic families, it also depends on whom they are dealing with.

Being weaker in strength and owing such a significant debt of gratitude, even though there’s an element of imposing in this favor, once it becomes a fait accompli, the aristocratic families have no choice but to acknowledge this debt. Isn’t this handing them a handle?

A debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid will eventually cost them their lives. All the aristocratic families are well aware, so the sooner they repay it, the better. Yet Chen Xi did not give them the chance; instead, he directly seized their private armies. At first glance, it seemed he was turning against them, but as long as Chen Xi exercises restraint, all aristocratic families will understand.

In this way, although there are certainly many points of dissatisfaction among the aristocratic families, when Liu Cao Sunx jointly take action, it basically represents the entire will of the Han Empire. Even if the aristocratic families are dissatisfied, it is most wise to take the land and head north given the reality.

Although this approach seemingly gravely offends these aristocratic families, as long as Chen Xi only seizes the private armies without touching the core of the families, just imposing only without deprivation, and makes promises, it essentially counts as an alternative exchange of interests. Although this method has a tyrannical aspect, the ultimate promise is sufficient to dissolve all dissatisfaction, while also indebting the aristocratic families anew.

This blatant bait may seem like fishing for fools, but Chen Xi can assure that with his current credibility, any one of the aristocratic families under heaven, even those who previously disliked Liu Bei, will choose to take the bait.

Chen Xi acknowledged that until now, aristocratic families, relying on their abilities and networks, held approximately sixty to seventy percent of the official positions in the country. However, unlike during Emperor Ling’s reign, the current Han Empire, if willing to pay the price, can forcibly strip these people from the entire system. Of course, without significant benefits, Chen Xi would not undertake this.

Considering that whether or not the common people wish to admit it, Chen Xi was clear that, in the current social environment, officials of aristocratic descent are more beneficial than harmful to the broader social context.

At least until Chen Xi has trained enough officials to replace the entire bureaucratic system, he would not significantly disrupt this system, and even after cultivating enough officials for a replacement, Chen Xi would remain sufficiently cautious in this regard.

After all, during this period, these people have not fully turned bad, and there is no need to eliminate them entirely. Moreover, if they were truly to become class enemies, Chen Xi felt that he himself would also belong to the condemned ranks since, in both his past and present life, he counted as a beneficiary of the status quo.

Therefore, Chen Xi’s positioning for himself was to sympathize with these people where possible and was willing to support them, but if they attempted moral coercion or played the Holy Mother card, Chen Xi wouldn’t mind rendering them extinct.

Seemingly harmless, Chen Xi was, after all, a rule-maker at the apex of the food chain, fundamentally different from those who rose from the lower ranks.

This was precisely why Chen Xi could undermine the aristocratic families, leaving pathways for advancement to the lower ranks, but he would never collapse it entirely—for one, he lacked such ambition, and for another, because the land of the Central Plains continuously fostered new aristocratic families.

So, maintaining stability is prioritized, although using some radical methods at times isn’t entirely unacceptable, as long as compensations are made afterward. At any rate, ensuring that those in the middle layers of society taste both the stick and the sweet, so they wouldn’t have the time or resources to stir trouble every day.

”Then let’s do it this way. Coincidentally, there’s some time left to deploy a batch of cotton clothing.” Chen Xi turned to Zhuge Liang and said, then looked at Xun Yu and Zhou Yu and inquired, ”Are your preparations for winter clothing sufficient? If not, I have a batch of woolen garments to send your way.”

Speaking of woolen garments, ever since the initial establishment of Mount Tai, Chen Xi started collecting the wool of Northern Barbarians’ sheep, and over the years, a complete supply chain for wool procurement, textile, and knitting had been established.

However, these last two years haven’t been as prosperous as the earlier ones. Previously, a standard coin of Five Zhu could procure over ten Jin of wool, whereas now a standard coin of Five Zhu pretty much exchanges one-to-one with the wool.

Inexplicably, the Hu People began using wool as a general equivalent, even though those fellows had no idea what the Han Dynasty intended to do with their wool across the region.

The vast quantities of gathered wool were cleaned, sorted, opened, and fluffed repeatedly until they could be used. Following this, regardless of whether it was spinning yarn or anything else, it was ready for utilization.

As for the claim that Han Dynasty China’s wool wasn’t suitable for textiles and was only good for making carpets, with nurturing this kind of terrifying black science, as long as the material composition remained the same, it could achieve the desired result. Hence, Liu Bei’s side already had woolen clothing.

The initially estimated wool industry, which could create a great merchant, saw its profits, under the disruption of the Northern aristocratic families, driven by slim margins and mass sales, and the assault of cashmere on the high-end market, each year’s total profits surpassed any of the Five Great Merchants’ revenues.

Ultimately, those Northern businessmen, backed by aristocratic families, even discovered that this was an inexhaustible gold mine, as wool yarn had the potential to become as indispensable to the Han Dynasty as silk and hemp yarn.

Unlike silk, which could only supply the upper class and was for export, or hemp yarn, which mainly served the middle and lower classes, wool yarn could cover the entire map, the finest cashmere at the top and the coarsest wool at the bottom, seemingly capable of dividing the ”clothing” component of the four necessities of life in half.

What kind of profit was this? With a slight calculation, the Northern aristocratic families, the earliest to board the big ship of the commercial guild, realized this was an inexhaustible gold mountain!