Mythical Three Kingdoms

The atmosphere in Ye City became even more lively in the following days. Fa Zheng seemed less like a buffoon, although he still argued with Ma Chao occasionally. However, his mood had obviously improved a lot.

Of course, Ma Chao had not been spared from Zhang Fei’s beatings recently, to the point where even Zhao Yun was somehow tired of saving Ma Chao from himself. Every time he saw Ma Chao, the latter was battered and bruised.

”Hmm, I heard the Xiahou Brothers have arrived.” Even within the Political Office, Chen Xi could hear the disturbance caused by the soldiers’ training. Ever since Guan Ping, Taishi Ci, and others returned, the training noise before the military parade had grown louder. It became even crazier after the Xiahou Brothers arrived.

”That’s true. After all, the Xiahou Brothers are relatives by marriage, so they definitely had to come, and they brought along Cao Zixiu, representing Minister of Works Cao Sikong.” Li Youu said casually, ”But, aren’t you going to attend your cousin’s wedding? Recently, I hear that Chen Changwen is marrying a member of the Xun Clan.”

”Hehehe, I’ve prepared a gift, but I won’t personally attend,” Chen Xi replied with a smile. ”After the military parade, if I rush, I might make it on time, but I’m not a military general like the Xiahou Brothers; the journey would leave me in ruins.”

”But next time I see Changwen, I’ll have to tease him about lowering our standing. How can he bow his head to Xun Wenruo?” Guo Jia said with a laugh.

”Come on, I don’t believe you don’t understand what that means. Even though Changwen and I have split the branches of our family, and the Xun Family has fragmented into three parts, for the older generation, it’s still one family, so we need to align in major matters,” Chen Xi said as he glanced at Guo Jia. Even without thinking, Chen Xi could figure out what the Xun Family and the Chen Family were up to.

”Exactly, for the older generation, no matter how much noise the next generation makes, they are ultimately one family. Besides, you haven’t caused any discord,” Lub Su thought and said, ”By the way, the Lul Family has sent a report saying that Ziyi ordered ten Seventh Generation Ships. They think it’s unnecessary and plan to build two Seventh Generation Ships and use the rest of the resources to create other warships for combat readiness.”

Liu Ye listlessly looked up at Chen Xi; the others did the same, as the Navy was always overseen by Chen Xi.

”Ten Seventh Generation Ships? Wow! Ziyi seems to have become wealthy again. Speaking of, the Seventh Generation Ship costs a lot; even though we have plenty of resources, we should still cut back. Have the Lul Family build only two, and I’ll notify Ziyi,” Chen Xi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, surprised that Taishi Ci planned to build ten.

”If I remember correctly, a Seventh Generation Ship costs one hundred million coins each,” Lub Su said, his breath heavier. While the finances haven’t collapsed, holding onto some capital gives Lub Su a bit more peace of mind. Even though with Chen Xi around he doesn’t have to worry, money is still very important.

Chen Xi has always reinvested the industrial profits into new industries, extending a single industry into a chain to increase its resilience against risks.

This approach means that no matter how much money there is, it’s never enough. Although there’s always been money, to Lub Su, it often feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

”I remember when Ziyi reported back, apart from keeping a third for the Navy, there were still about thirty billion coins worth of gold and silver on the books. I intend to invest this into subsidizing economic crops like cotton and the Northern Frontier’s National Ranch. This is a short-term gain that can bring returns within the year,” Chen Xi said, stroking his chin.

Thirty billion coins sounds like a lot, but in such a large country, it’s like a drop in the ocean.

”Denied, save some for solving public dissent issues,” Liu Ye said irritably; he had been criticized by Cui Yan so much lately that he almost started questioning his own existence.

That damned Cui Yan had even criticized Liu Ye in front of Liu Bei. Upon learning of this, Liu Bei had harshly rebuked Liu Ye, almost removing him from his position. Fortunately, Li Youu explained the entire situation to Liu Bei, calming him down. However, he warned Li Youu and Liu Ye to resolve the public dissent by November this year, or they would both be dismissed.

As a result, Li Youu continued doing his own things, paying no mind to the public dissent caused by forced relocations. Instead, Liu Ye was left feeling depressed, trying to find solutions to the issue.

”I heard the public dissent is boiling over, and many people are looking for trouble with you, Ziyang. Are you afraid?” Chen Xi teased Liu Ye with a mischievous smile.

Liu Ye glared at Chen Xi, feeling vexed whenever he saw Chen Xi’s smiling face these days. ”If it weren’t for your idea, I wouldn’t be in this mess. Honestly, I should have dragged you down with me.”

”Alright, seeing as how you didn’t drag me down with you, let me tell you something. Just don’t do anything for now. Give it some time, and things will settle down. Most people don’t live in the past, and compared to the rough past, their current life is better. They’ll stop complaining after a while,” Chen Xi reassured him, ”Look how calm Wenru is.”

Li Youu quietly stopped writing and sat up straight, looking at Chen Xi, ”Ziyang’s problem isn’t public dissent; it’s that he’s being chased and beaten by a group of noted scholars. The public dissent isn’t the issue; the issue is how to deal with these scholars, who are maligning Ziyang as if he weren’t his father’s son!”

Liu Ye’s face grew longer and longer as he listened, barely able to keep his composure.

”So my plan now is to resolve public discontent, turn this group of bastards into rootless trees, and then find someone to boast about it.” Liu Ye said angrily, considering Cui Yan to be nothing more than a stone.

”Actually, you should start organizing people to boast about the benefits of village mergers now. Didn’t I tell you before to write down the benefits of village mergers and give it to Weishuo, so he could organize people to start boasting before you even begin? That way, those opposing you would question whether they’re right.” Chen Xi said, yawning.

”Whether they question their life is irrelevant. What’s important is that once you start promoting it, the noted scholars will follow and believe you’re right. Even if there’s public discontent now, those noted scholars who have taken the wrong stance won’t turn back due to face and will have to follow you to the end. Besides, what you’re doing is correct, not a wrong stance.” Jia Xu said, sitting upright after finishing his paperwork.

”Sure enough, when everyone comes to work, it only takes a morning to finish, and we can still drink tea, eat snacks, and chat during the period, you lot.” Lub Su said unhappily, tossing the last piece of paper aside, crossing his arms to support his head.

Comparing the workload, Lub Su always felt he was previously cleaning up messes for this bunch, thinking that if everyone honestly worked, it would be simple.

”Not everyone is here obviously; Zhongyu didn’t come, Xiaoo Zhi didn’t come, Kongming isn’t here, and Ziyang has been sighing and not working.” Chen Xi reflexively refuted Lub Su.

”I suspected before, Zichuan, that your civil official group was established to handle the affairs of a state, yet we are less than half now.” Lub Su said irritably, ”Ziyang, this situation isn’t a big deal; it’ll naturally disperse over time.”

”Forget it, next time, I’ll remember to promote before working. This time was really disgusting.” Liu Ye waved his hand dismissively, saying, ”Going back to rest.”

Chen Xi and others watched Liu Ye’s back, shrugging. The feeling of being besieged isn’t pleasant, but being besieged and then knocking all those people down greatly boosts confidence. Chen Xi once faced a siege and then established his absolute invincible, unwavering status.

Outside the city, Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun were watching Yu Jin train soldiers. As for Zhang Fei, they had already seen him, very majestic and strong, but because Xiahou Yuan often felt not satisfied with Zhang Fei, he went to another camp to watch.

”Miaocai, what do you feel?” Xiahou Dun said gravely, looking at more than thirty thousand well-coordinated, relatively synchronized, menacing Qingzhou Soldiers.

”These thirty thousand soldiers are all elite soldiers.” Xiahou Yuan also looked grave. They all recognized Yu Jin’s ability, especially since capturing an Inner Qi Manifestation during the Northern Frontier war, everyone had to pay attention.

”How do you both feel?” Yu Jin handed commanding to his deputy Sunx Guan, then rode over to wave at the Xiahou Brothers, after all, almost all military generals owed Yu Jin one for his actions in the Northern Frontier war, suggesting to invite him for a drink.

”Indeed impressive, these thirty thousand soldiers seemingly have acquired the first elite talent.” Xiahou Yuan said earnestly.

”Back then, I trained more than a hundred thousand Qingzhou Soldiers, sifted through them over time, transferring unsuitable soldiers to other suitable generals, leaving these thirty thousand entirely compatible with our Legion Talent Chaos Formation, a Chaos Battle Talent.” Yu Jin said with slight pride, having put much effort to train these men.

”Uh...” Xiahou Dun’s eyes, somewhat inflexible, moved slightly, looking at Yu Jin with confusion about what this meant.

”We all have Legion Talent, and soldiers have elite talent. Speaking of it, our Legion Talent doesn’t have obvious discrepancies, same for elite talent, but after evaluating many talents, I found that talents can actually complement each other.” Yu Jin stroked his short beard with slight pride.

The Xiahou Brothers instantly understood Yu Jin’s meaning, talent complementing or reinforcing each other is definitely much stronger than simple usage.

”So I trained thirty thousand elites with complementary talents to mine. These soldiers, in synergy with my talent, even if possessing dual elite talent, once caught in chaos, will be countered by me, relying on army cooperation to deal a fatal blow.” Yu Jin said confidently.

”Indeed impressive, but how do you train elites with talents complementing your own?” Xiahou Yuan asked curiously.

Yu Jin gave the Xiahou Brothers a mysterious smile and stopped speaking, as this involved his core expertise, since Juo Yi had passed, the only general in the realm understanding how to train elites with specific talents probably remained Yu Jin alone.