xymnovel Chapter 7300 Taking Direct Action
Chapter 7300 Taking Direct Action
Chapter 7300 Taking Direct Action
Chen Xi's intelligence and insight are among the best, especially after training for so long in this era, he has developed some things that he originally lacked.
Before and after the grand court assembly, Chen Xi had some suspicions about the Xuzhou incident, but he didn't think about it that way at the time. He just felt that the frequent operations in Xuzhou might be something they were trying to cover up. So, Chen Xi secretly informed Yuan Shu and Liu Zhang, asking them to go to Xuzhou with Liu Yi to see what was going on.
After all, people like Yuan Shu and Liu Zhang are extraordinary individuals who can randomly appear anywhere, and you can't even say they have a problem. What's worse, these two can ignore the rules and do some outrageous things. At most, they'll end up in solitary confinement in the imperial prison for a while, and someone will naturally bail them out.
Therefore, when these two investigate certain uncertain matters, they can easily obtain results because they don't need to go through any procedures. It's purely out of a momentary interest, so they can just lock their heads directly. Of course, some unexpected things are bound to happen, but none of that matters. Anyway, with Liu Yi leading the way, there shouldn't be any major problems.
After all, Liu Yi was the kind of person who wanted to become a god and actually managed to get himself into the ranks of the true spirits, so he did have the ability.
So Chen Xi had some doubts when he sent the three brothers to Xuzhou, but he didn't expect things to get this big. At most, he thought there might be some minor problems in Xuzhou.
But now it seems like something big is about to happen.
"To be honest, I still don't understand what's going on in Xuzhou. I can't see anything from these files." Zhou Yu put down the files in his hand and asked with some doubt. Although he wasn't particularly proficient in government affairs, he was quick-witted and understood things. In Zhou Yu's opinion, there was nothing wrong with these files from Xuzhou. In fact, it should be said that Xuzhou was making efforts to develop.
"Yes, the biggest problem is that there is no problem at all." Chen Xi sighed. If Man Chong and Liu Ye hadn't learned about the shipyard's antics and sent people to Yangzhou, passing through Xuzhou, to witness the scene firsthand and investigate further, discovering that it wasn't just one village or region involved, and promptly reported it to Chen Xi, no one would know about this matter now.
“Fundamentally speaking, all the reports submitted by Hao Zhou, the governor of Xuzhou, over the past two or three years have actually been efforts to develop Xuzhou.” Chen Xi picked up the file beside him. “It is precisely because every application was made for the development of Xuzhou that Hao Zhou, who should have been a temporary governor after Zhang Hao’s retirement, was able to secure his position in Xuzhou.”
Chen Xi said this with some helplessness. Back then, Zhang Hao, as the elder statesman, was stationed in Xuzhou without any problems. But then the Yanzhou case happened, and Zhao Yu was from Xuzhou. This had to be traced back to the source. In addition, the case was indeed very big. Even though Chen Xi was restrained and didn't allow a mass killing, Liu Ye personally got involved in the investigation. It was the case with the largest amount of money involved in the past four hundred years.
Therefore, nearly a thousand officials were executed, a scale equivalent to replacing the entire officialdom of Yanzhou. The governor of Xuzhou was also inevitably affected. In addition, Li You had indeed reached his limit of tolerance for this matter, and the governor of Xuzhou, Zhang Hao, bore some responsibility and was subsequently removed from office.
Later, a group of people were vying for the position of governor of Xuzhou, but Chen Xi and Lu Su felt that none of them were suitable. So they let Hao Zhou temporarily take over. After taking office, Hao Zhou made great efforts and did a lot of things, and finally successfully secured the position of governor of Xuzhou.
That was the end of it, and Chen Xi didn't pay much attention to it.
To be fair, it was precisely because Hao Zhou had submitted numerous official documents in order to secure his position as the governor of Xuzhou that these subsequent documents, which were for the benefit of the local people, were easily approved. After all, when reading these documents, Chen Xi subconsciously thought that Hao Zhou might still be worried about losing his official position. Well, he was still doing his job, so a review wouldn't be a big problem. If something went wrong, Hao Zhou would take the blame. Okay, it was approved.
There's always the risk of messing things up when you're doing something, so Chen Xi still has a certain good impression of Hao Zhou because he's really working hard and trying to develop Xuzhou. During this time, Hao Zhou takes responsibility for every single application he receives. In Chen Xi's eyes, this is already a very good bureaucrat.
By the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Chen Xi had even signed some case files, which meant that if Hao Zhou really had a loophole because of this new plan, Chen Xi was willing to help clean it up, of course, within his capabilities and without breaking the law.
After all, Chen Xi still prefers bureaucrats who are energetic and actually get things done.
Until the end of the ninth year of Yuanfeng, when Chen Xi looked at the subsequent official documents, he actually had some doubts. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with these documents, but rather that Chen Xi's subconscious told him that something was not right.
Because of the official documents over the years, Hao Zhou has actually been doing three things. One is to lead the people of Xuzhou to develop high-yield cash crops. This is not a problem. Although Xuzhou is a grain-producing area, it is possible to develop high-yield crops. Increasing income is a big deal.
The second thing is to develop the fishing industry so that the people of Xuzhou can eat more meat. This is also a reasonable approach.
The third thing is to slightly increase the price of grain so that the people of Xuzhou have more money in their hands, and then use that money to develop, whether it is planting high-yield cash crops or doing other things. All of these require initial start-up capital, and Haozhou solved this initial start-up capital problem to some extent by raising the price of grain.
Overall, there were no problems with these three types of plans. However, when Chen Xi reviewed the entire five-year plan in the ninth year of Yuanfeng, he noticed some hidden dangers. At that time, Chen Xi thought that there were risks involved in doing the work. He would go and see how Hao Zhou was doing. If there were any risks, it wouldn't be a big problem. He would help clean it up. There was still money available. He couldn't hurt the feelings of the workers.
In other words, until this point, Chen Xi did not believe that the Xuzhou officials harbored malicious intentions.
But now, even if these things can be packaged as public-spiritedness, as petitioning for the people, as increasing people's income, and as considering the interests of all people, Chen Xi is basically certain that these bastards probably never intended to do anything good from the beginning!
"I don't feel there's anything wrong," Zhou Yu said, looking at Chen Xi with some doubt. Chen Xi sighed upon hearing this.
“The way these people fight me is getting more and more sophisticated. Now, there are no loopholes in their procedures, methods, or operations. In essence, these operations are all correct, and the local people agree with them. There are no problems. But some things, even if every link is correct, if the starting point is wrong, can still kill people in the end,” Chen Xi said with a sigh.
In essence, if the official practices in Xuzhou were not driven by the wrong motives, all those applications could be considered efforts to increase the income of the people.
But now that such a thing as a total crop failure has occurred, all the above-mentioned actions can be viewed from a different perspective, namely, emptying the people's grain reserves.
Because as long as the people have no grain reserves, even if the officials of Xuzhou take the initiative to open the granaries and distribute grain, it will not change the fact that the people will be degraded from free citizens to tenants, and the process of personal dependence will be reasonable and justifiable, and no fault can be found in the whole process!
“There’s nothing wrong with any of the steps, but the result will be different just because the starting point is different?” Zhou Yu seemed to be thinking about this.
"Yes, it's quite normal. One's true intentions are important in many things," Chen Xi sighed. He had seen this kind of operation far too many times in history. They would use the guise of doing what's best for you, and after careful observation, you would be sure it was for your own good, but in the end, due to a problem in some link, they would ruin you. How to put it, it's all too common.
For example, if a country wants to upgrade its industries and break out of the middle-income trap, it must import materials from other places to complete its own systemic upgrade. In this process, it must increase investment and spare no expense, because as long as it completes the industrial upgrade, it can break out of the middle-income trap, get back on track, and become a bigger and stronger country.
As a result, the upgrade failed halfway through. Not only would they not be able to overcome the middle-income trap, but everything they had accumulated would also be wiped out, and their lives would be even worse than before.
This is what is meant by having the right idea and being able to execute it without any problems, but failing halfway through; it would have been better not to execute it at all.
In fact, besides this situation, there are other examples, such as when your economy is doing well, banks lend you money and the government provides you with better living facilities; but then the overall situation collapses, your economic cycle breaks down, causing a link in the middle to break, and the original positive cycle collapses directly.
This will cause your current life to collapse completely, making it worse than before you took off.
In short, the whole operation is basically to make you collapse halfway through, and your original high-quality resources can only be sold off cheaply. People with money and resources can take away your high-quality resources at a low price with the intention of helping you. Of course, if you can put on a layer of national credibility, it will be even easier.
Now, after realizing what had happened in Xuzhou, Chen Xi's first reaction was to take this action. As for the more detailed things, Chen Xi didn't need to know at all. This was definitely a move to harvest high-quality resources. And what is the best resource at this stage? It's people. They directly plunged the people into debt in one round, forcing them to be unable to escape their current environment and to consider survival issues, making it impossible for them to think about development.
Chen Xi even suspected that Xuzhou had already prepared a lot of handicrafts and large workshops just waiting to recruit people. To be honest, the requirements weren't really pushing people to their limits, but in Chen Xi's view, at this point, there was no difference in the process.
After Chen Xi's brief explanation, Zhou Yu's eyes lit up.
“Gongjin, if you do that, do you think I’ll skin you alive?” Chen Xi said to Zhou Yu with great seriousness. “My appreciation for you is limited to the fact that you are still a person.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu coughed twice, quickly suppressing his own thoughts, and joined Chen Xi in criticizing those beasts in Xuzhou.
"That's not right. Legally, you can't find any provisions to punish them like this." Zhou Yu joined Chen Xi in criticizing the situation for a moment, then suddenly realized something was amiss. There was no loophole in this operation. Even Chen Xi could only say that the other party had impure intentions and was aiming to harm the area from the beginning, but that was a matter of subjective judgment…
"There's only one loophole in the whole thing, which is where the grain came from." Chen Xi didn't explain how to solve the problem when there was no loophole, but simply pointed to the only loophole in the entire process.
“The grain grown by the Han Dynasty was approved, and there were procedures for using grain from other sources,” Chen Xi said, shaking his head. “The grain that couldn’t be grown was definitely not from the government, so there must be another origin.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu gave a cold laugh. Chen Xi sighed as well. He knew that this connection was definitely broken. The officials of Xuzhou weren't fools. Whatever their intentions, the person who sent them the seeds was definitely dead.
Even if they are dead, it is still a form of evidence. However, this evidence is not enough to bring down those people. To be precise, going through legal procedures is not an option. There is nothing that can be done about the Xuzhou officialdom right now. They are relying on the credibility of the state and the reputation of the government, and all their procedures are compliant. In recent years, they have indeed made efforts to increase production and income for the local people.
At least that's how it appears on the surface.
Furthermore, this plan, like the map of the Yan state, has too many fronts, and the time for its true intentions to be revealed is too far off, making it difficult to deal with now.
"And there are times when you're in a difficult position," Zhou Yu said with a hint of teasing. Chen Xi was silent for a moment, then looked serious.
"Do you need me to handle this?" Zhou Yu asked calmly.
Zhou Yu was relatively normal in front of Chen Xi, but when Zhou Yu went to the provinces, he became completely arrogant and domineering. Even if he killed the governor of Xuzhou, what could you do with someone of Zhou Yu's rank?
Can a noble title atone for a crime?
Does a governor of that rank even deserve to make Zhou Yu confess? What a joke! When you start considering that you don't have to confess, you have to consider the possibility that someone else could kill you and you wouldn't have to confess either.
Those who abuse privileges will naturally also be subject to those who seek to eliminate them.
"He should be dead by now," Chen Xi said, stroking his chin. Did Yuan Shu have that kind of patience? No, Yuan Shu didn't. Why do I like Yuan Shu? Because Yuan Shu was also a beast; he was truly capable of biting people. As for what to do if Yuan Shu bit someone to death, if I wanted him to bite people, I should send him to the imperial prison for protection; if I didn't want him to bite people, I should send him to the imperial prison to calm down.
In short, the situations were similar; both ended up in prison.
"?" Zhou Yu was stunned for a moment. What? What are you talking about?
"It's a normal situation. I'm just a rule-abiding citizen, but I didn't say I had to follow the rules. I was just giving them face. Now I don't want to give them any more," Chen Xi said calmly.
Zhou Yu broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this. For someone of Zhou Yu's caliber, what was the most terrifying thing? Of course, it was Chen Xi, who had no regard for the rules.
"With Xuzhou doing this, why should I give them any face?" Chen Xi said indifferently. "At this point in time, Hao Zhou should have already committed suicide out of guilt."
Chen Xi said that Hao Zhou committed suicide out of fear of punishment, so he committed suicide out of fear of punishment. As for how he committed the crime, there's nothing to say. Anyway, he's definitely dead. Whether it was Yuan Shu or Liu Zhang who did it, it doesn't matter. Anyway, one governor died first, and the rest will be answered naturally.
Of course, if the officials of Xuzhou could unite and remain unresponsive and stubbornly resist after the governor inexplicably committed suicide out of fear of punishment, then Chen Xi would acknowledge that they were qualified to challenge him.
Yes, that's true. There's nothing more to say. After pacifying Yunmeng, they'll go pacify Xuzhou. Chen Xi is very curious about how stubborn the officials in Xuzhou are.
"No, aren't you afraid of being wrongfully killed?" Zhou Yu said with a hint of seriousness. When Chen Xi started to go crazy, the others' intelligence returned to normal, their thoughts became more complete, and their previously confused minds became clear.
"It's alright. Every temple has its share of wronged ghosts," Chen Xi said calmly. Besides, Hao Zhou was definitely involved. Let's send one of them away first and see how things go.
"Don't you consider the consequences of doing this given your current status and position?" Zhou Yu asked with a hint of seriousness, as if he were concerned for Chen Xi.
"It wasn't me who did it. I just figured the other party should be dead by now," Chen Xi said calmly. Before Liu Ye and Man Chong sent over these case files, Liu Zhang and Yuan Shu should have killed Hao Zhou by now, based on the timeline.
After all, Liu Yi's abilities are trustworthy, and he will definitely be able to detect the problem when he arrives in Xuzhou. Considering that even Chen Xi cannot find a normal way to break the deadlock, the only normal person who is definitely problematic is the key to breaking the deadlock, and that person is Hao Zhou, the governor of Xuzhou.
Since that's the case, what else is there to say? Of course, Yuan Shu and Liu Zhang, one on the head and the other on the foot, killed Hao Zhou on the spot, and the remaining problems were solved immediately.
What does this have to do with me, Chen Xi? Yuan Shu and Liu Zhang, along with Liu Yi, passed through Xuzhou and clashed with the governor of Xuzhou, hanging him from a roof beam. What does that have to do with me, Chen Xi? Wasn't that just Yuan Shu and Liu Zhang being arrogant and domineering?
Even if we take a step back and assume that Yuan Shu is my dog and my blade, I only received the problematic case file from Xuzhou today. But the governor of Xuzhou committed suicide out of fear of punishment before I received the case file. Did I have some kind of premonition?
What's it to me!
"Is he really dead?" Zhou Yu asked after a moment of silence.
"Yes, at this point in time, he's definitely really dead. Because everything was done too perfectly, so perfectly that I can't find any loopholes. The only way is to create a breakthrough, and the clear breakthrough is actually Hao Zhou." Chen Xi sighed and said. Sometimes, being too perfect is a problem, especially when someone doesn't want to accept it at all.
Silent and dared not speak.