Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 7316 Another person has gone into exile

Chapter 7316 Another person has gone into exile

Chen Xi used to think he could ride the waves of the times, but after so many years, he realized that he could create a dream, leave a landmark, and write an insurmountable page in history, but what was destined to collapse would still collapse.

This is what is meant by history spiraling upwards.

The saying "what has been will be again" applies here as well.

Pomponi was strong, but what Rome needed next was not how strong you were, but that you had enough morality to act as a net to restrain the falling hearts of men, and as a dam to firmly hold back the rampant greed that was like a flood.

The problem is that both the historical Pomponi and the Pomponi of this era are very good at blending in with the crowd. Of course, it's not that blending in with the crowd is bad, but in the current situation, being in the position of Roman treasurer, you really need to have a very high level of morality in order to prevent the overall morality of the country from declining.

"I hope we don't get to that point for too long," Chen Xi said with a hint of helplessness.

"Your hopes for him have become so low now," Liu Tong said sarcastically. "You're now hoping it will happen later, instead of hoping it won't happen at all."

“There’s really no other way. Sometimes, you can tell the ending just by looking at the beginning. Pomponi is a genius, but what the Roman Empire needs right now is not a genius.” Chen Xi said with a sigh. “If the Roman Empire can avoid collapsing, then it should not collapse. Of course, if it is inevitable to head towards the abyss, I still hope that it will go slowly.”

"The situation couldn't possibly get that bad, could it?" Liu Tong asked with a hint of doubt. The Roman Empire was practically an impregnable empire, if not an ironclad one. With its military strength, its outstanding leaders, its large number of supporters, and its wealth, even if problems arose, it would at most experience turmoil, not collapse.

Chen Xi remained silent for a while after hearing this. There are many empires that seem impossible to collapse, but in history, such empires have all collapsed one by one, and there are countless reasons for their collapse, especially after the empire has truly collapsed. It seems that countless reasons for the collapse have already been buried under the prosperous era.

"I hope so," Chen Xi said after a moment of silence, her voice tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"It seems there really is some hidden trouble in Rome," Liu Tong said thoughtfully.

“Actually, you’ve already seen the root of the problem.” Chen Xi finally couldn’t help but say, “You know about what happened in Xuzhou, and you even realize that it was the right path. Do you know what that means? It’s a terrifying fact.”

"With so many barbarians in the Roman Empire, this path was probably the right fit for them." Liu Tong had previously thought that Rome might fail in this regard, but upon further reflection, he realized that wasn't the case. The Roman Empire's approach was very different from that of the Han Dynasty. Although the Han Dynasty also emphasized class, it still maintained a degree of ambiguity in certain details and couldn't be too explicit. Moreover, the highest levels of the Han Dynasty still had to offer some hope to the lower levels.

Rome was different. The barbarians of Rome were not included in the concept of humanity. The Roman Empire was Rome of citizens. Although this statement is a bit far-fetched, the Roman Empire really did operate in this way. Citizens were the masters of the country. In other words, it was perfectly reasonable for the Roman Empire to follow the path of Xuzhou and drive the barbarians to work in factories. There was nothing to cause turmoil.

After all, it is the country's masters using the country's resources, which is a perfectly reasonable behavior.

“Yes, the barbarians of the Roman Empire were naturally suited to this path.” Chen Xi nodded, not denying it, then looked up at Zhou Yu, who was kneeling in the corner, eavesdropping while writing furiously. “Have you finished copying, Gongjin?”

"I've already copied over a hundred copies. I heard that Pompiñus has passed away," Zhou Yu quickly replied. He didn't want to copy anymore, and over a hundred copies were more than enough. Although the Han Dynasty had nearly two hundred marquises, many of them were from the same family, so over a hundred copies were more than enough.

"More than a hundred, that's about right." Chen Xi glanced at Zhou Yu, no longer intending to let him copy any more. This amount was already sufficient. The purpose of this action was to make Zhou Yu remember this incident and not cause any more trouble. The last time he drowned while fishing was truly outrageous.

Zhou Yu had long since given up on copying, but since Chen Xi wouldn't tell him to stop, he had no good options. Now that Chen Xi had given his approval, it would be masochistic of him to continue copying. So he immediately stopped, walked over, and found a seat.

"Come, Your Highness, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Yu, the supreme exploiter of Eastern Wu. Ah, no, I should say the supreme skin-peeling master of Eastern Wu." Chen Xi pointed at Zhou Yu and introduced him. Liu Tong covered her mouth and sneered when she heard this. She actually knew why Zhou Yu was called Zhou the Skin-Peeler. It was because this guy really skinned people, skinned them ruthlessly.

"That's going too far. I only took advantage of you a little." After sitting down, Zhou Yu retorted irritably upon hearing Chen Xi's words. "Besides, I've already been very restrained."

"No, I'm just explaining to Her Highness the logic behind what's going to happen in Rome next," Chen Xi said, glancing at Zhou Yu. Upon hearing this, Liu Tong and Zhou Yu both straightened up and listened attentively.

“The citizen group of the Roman Empire is like Gongjin, with both power and political background. The non-citizens are like the other aristocratic families in Jiangdong. Logically, those non-citizens who want to contact me at the core can only do so through Gongjin.” Chen Xi explained simply. Although Liu Tong and Zhou Yu felt that this logic was a bit excessive, they did not refute it.

"If I, at the very top, were to completely disregard the other powerful families in Jiangdong and only be responsible to those who can come into contact with me—in other words, if I only take care of Gongjin's level—what do you think would happen?" Chen Xi asked calmly.

"That's just a replay of what happened back then. If you, Lord Chen, hadn't intervened, those people in Jiangdong would still be paying 100% of the taxes." Liu Tong said with a hint of sarcasm. Of course, although it was a joke, without Chen Xi's moral guarantee and without Chen Xi personally intervening to restrain Zhou Yu, what could the Jiangdong aristocratic families do even if they knew that Zhou Yu was skinning them alive? They could only endure being skinned alive.

It can be said that as long as the situation doesn't become irreversible, this group of people will definitely continue to endure it. After all, under Zhou Yu's leadership, they are certainly living better than if they were to survive independently. Similarly, the barbarians of the Roman Empire were in the same situation. Therefore, even if they were exploited, they would most likely continue to choose the Roman Empire in the end. And since they chose the Roman Empire, the sunk costs were too high, and there was a glimmer of hope to become citizens, so the probability of them enduring it would be very high.

Unless a certain line is crossed, it will eventually become unbearable.

"Gongjin, what do you think?" Chen Xi asked Zhou Yu with a half-smile.

Zhou Yu was helpless when he heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he finally nodded and said, "I will definitely maintain this tax rate. Even if they find out, I will still choose to maintain it for the sake of building Tiannan County. Sometimes, even if the truth is out, everyone will pretend that nothing has changed and continue to act."

“Look, this is human nature.” Chen Xi nodded and said, “Those in power will naturally ignore the needs of those below them. As long as those below are still enduring, still considering the big picture, and still bowing down for any possible hope, normal leaders will not stop their behavior.”

Chen Xi didn't say what he was going to say aloud, but he added in his mind that most of the time, the system can't restrain the top level, because their very existence is a destroyer of the system, just to varying degrees.

"So the Roman Empire will inevitably go in the direction you mentioned?" Liu Tong pondered for a moment, then naturally connected with Jia Xu, who was far away in Chang'an, using his spiritual talent to consider this possibility. To put it another way, it was somewhat biased, but Chen Xi's direction was correct.

“Yes, once the upper echelons of the Roman Empire begin to unite, no one can stop them.” Chen Xi nodded. “And in the current situation, there is a substantial group, and the existence of this group makes the merger of the upper echelons inevitable.”

“The Claudius family.” Zhou Yu sighed, understanding the reasoning behind this.

“A small boat is easier to turn around, but the Claudius family is too big. Once they embark on this path and begin rapid development, even if they realize they’ve made a mistake, they can’t turn back. They can only keep going,” Chen Xi said very seriously.

"Barbarians are indeed resources, but once exploitation begins, it will inevitably extend from barbarians to the lower-class citizens. This is inevitable; it has always been so, just like when a dynasty collapses," Chen Xi said calmly. "Next, guess what the first law the Roman Empire would explicitly enforce?"

"It's the supermodel cloud tax, right?" Before Liu Tong could figure out why Chen Xi was asking this, Zhou Yu gave the answer, which left Liu Tong speechless.

"Then the question is, where will the Supermodel Cloud tax ultimately go? Who will manage it? The citizens?" Chen Xi asked with a hint of sarcasm. This is why, even though Chen Xi knew that Supermodel Cloud was very useful, he firmly refused it. Whether it was out of malice from Hua Xin or good intentions from Liao Li, it was a refusal for Chen Xi.

"In fact, the Han Dynasty also faced the same situation." After all, Liu Tong was the nominal emperor, and his position was high enough that he would naturally have some understanding of certain things. For example, regarding the supermodel cloud phenomenon, Chen Xi hadn't mentioned it before, so Liu Tong didn't have a deep understanding of it. But now that Chen Xi had brought it up, Liu Tong had a clearer and more conscious understanding of it.

"Even if it's completely brought under state control, what is a state?" Chen Xi asked earnestly. "Are aristocratic families part of the state? Is the bureaucratic system part of the state? The high-ranking officials in the court are part of the state, they are all, they are all part of this country! But they are not the state!"

“Yes, they are not the state.” Liu Tong sighed and said, “Even if you recite ‘I am the state’ countless times, it’s useless, because you can’t exercise the power of the state by one person. Since you can’t exercise the power of the state by one person, this power must be divided. And after being divided, it can no longer be the state. This is the basis for the formation of the ruling class. It’s not one person, it’s a group of people!”

"So the collection of cloud tax will become something like military power, and it can be transferred. And military power..." Chen Xi sighed. Although Chen Xi always said that he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world, he actually knew in his heart that he who wins the strength of the people wins the world.

With enough power, public opinion can be distorted; with skillful means, wrong can be made right. Lies can truly deceive everyone for a period of time, or even deceive a portion of the population until their deaths.

This is also why military power is so important. And like military power, whoever holds this will naturally have power. This is a very dangerous design. It is something that will cause disaster if the holder is coerced and lacks morality. It is more serious and troublesome than war.

"This is the reality the Roman Empire faced. Once capital starts operating, it will expand infinitely, because it's the instinct of the concept. Just like once power is exercised, it will inevitably try to penetrate every aspect of life, which is also an instinct. Therefore, both of these must be restrained by systems and morality." Chen Xi's expression turned somber, reflecting his helplessness about the future.

In this world, you can't do whatever you know. Even if you know you're on a dead end, you still have to keep going. Because exposing certain things is not only useless, but it will also backfire on you. That's reality, a helpless yet real reality.

"So, the Roman Empire would eventually descend into the abjection of its citizens?" Liu Tong asked with a hint of speculation, "and then the citizens and barbarians would merge, eventually joining forces to fight against the core strength of Rome?"

“Yes, that’s almost inevitable. Once capital expansion begins, it’s only a matter of time before we reach this point. Moreover, given the situation in the Roman Empire, the control at the grassroots level simply couldn’t bring all the barbarians under management, just as it couldn’t bring all the citizens under management. And the failure of the management system…” Chen Xi shook his head repeatedly. The reason why some things have to be slow is because rushing them can really kill people!

"I see, I think I understand now." Zhou Yu stroked his chin, already starting to think about what he should pick up if the Roman Empire really came to this.

"How long will this take?" Liu Tong asked, frowning. Although she realized that Chen Xi was right, she was more curious about how long it would take Rome to get to this point. If it took too long, there would be too many variables.

"It's hard to say. It depends on how greedy Rome is," Chen Xi said with a hint of speculation. But as he said before, it depends on how greedy Rome is. In reality, once greed takes hold, the shift from state-owned to private, from the Claudius family being acquired by Rome to the Claudius family acquiring Rome, is probably just a matter of a change in ideology.

Considering that no one can change this line of thinking at present, but there will inevitably be poaching behavior during the implementation, it is very likely that at the same time as the Claudius family being acquired by Rome, the Claudius family will acquire Rome, which is the so-called cycle. And the cycle is good, because empty spinning can really turn money away!

"Looks like this has nothing to do with me. I probably won't live to see the Roman Empire reach that point." Liu Tong leaned back, calm and collected. After all, no matter how much fun the Roman Empire had, it was none of Liu Tong's business. By then, she, Liu Tong, might not even be around anymore.

"It's hard to say." Chen Xi thought about the situation that crony capitalism would encounter when it began to expand, and the outrageous behavior that would result.

“Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered something.” Zhou Yu raised his hand. Chen Xi was puzzled and gestured for Zhou Yu to just say it.

"Well, Pompiannis is dead, isn't he? So, are some Romans going to go into exile?" Zhou Yu asked earnestly. Upon hearing this, Chen Xi paused for a moment, then nodded. Indeed, with Pompiannis dead, some Romans should indeed go into exile.

In the eastern province of the Roman Empire, Tacitus, who was living a carefree life, received terrifying news: the death of Pompiannis. His initial reaction was grief, but he didn't realize his predicament. A while later, as his grief subsided and he prepared to take a group to Rome to mourn Pompiannis, Tacitus finally realized: Wait, Pompiannis is dead? Does that mean I'm going to die too?

This speculation terrified Tacitus. Although he had complained to Caesar and to the Roman Senate about Pompiñus withholding funds from their Spanish legions, he had primarily defended himself by stating that he hadn't taken more money than he was entitled to, and that the lion's share had been distributed among the others. Moreover, Pompiñus had specifically listed Spain's output, which is why Tacitus hadn't been executed by the Senate.

But now that Pompiñus is gone, Spain's top-tier cold-blooded horses, chalcedony and bloodstone, sugarcane plantations, silkworm farms, saffron bases, and other strategic imperial resources and commodities are enough for the Senate to kill Tachito outright.

Unfortunately, Spain's climate is known as "Little China." What can be grown in China can also be grown there. As a result, Tacitus and the Ninth Legion's tax-farming zone contained many strategic materials needed by the Roman Empire. Before these materials were available, Tacitus was only of average quality, but with them, Tacitus was exploited. Possessing such a treasure is a crime!

"Brothers, we cannot go to the Senate. Those who are willing to come with me to the Eastern Provinces, go to the Eastern Provinces. Those who are not, each of you should pay your own way to be settled!" Tachito ordered.

It's mid-month, those with votes, please cast your votes! *sigh*