People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 398 Right and Wrong

On the riverside of the mountains of Peking, there is a team of soldiers on duty in the woods. The person they are guarding is a man sitting by the river and fishing with a rod. This is none other than the Prime Minister of Xuanxia and the leader of the Yellow Turbans—Xu Chen.

Xu Chen did not want to be a workaholic like Qin Shi Huang and Zhu Yuanzhang. Even though state affairs were complicated, he also needed time to rest.

After all, the world will not collapse without anyone, and Xu Chen would not think that Xuan Xia must have him. When it is time to rest, he is not vague at all. After all, he is just a salaried person and he cannot make things difficult for himself.

Of course, being in this position, it is a luxury to want some quiet time to rest. Even if you don’t look for trouble, trouble will find you.

It was a breezy and cool day and Xu Chen was enjoying his leisure time. But less than an hour later, his personal guards reported that Ju Shou and Xun Chen had come together to report on the affairs of the office.

Being in this position, it is impossible to distinguish between public and private affairs. Xu Chen certainly would not really refuse and just nodded in agreement.

Fortunately, Ju Shou and Xun Chen were both very smart people. When they saw Xu Chen fishing, they knew it was not good to disturb his leisure time.

The two looked at each other and smiled, but they were not in a hurry to talk about business. Instead, they looked at the fish basket under Xu Chen's feet first.

They are waiting to see the results so as to brag about them and liven up the atmosphere.

But when they stretched their heads and saw the empty fish basket, their faces froze.

Xun Chen laughed dryly: "My lord, you are in a good mood today. This place is a rare and beautiful place with beautiful mountains and clear waters. If I can draw a picture of fishing in the mountains and waters, it will definitely be a masterpiece."

Ju Shou was frank and said, "It is indeed a good place. It seems that the fish are also obsessed with the mountains and rivers, and have forgotten to bite the bait of the lord."

Xu Chen would not be angry about this, he just smiled silently.

I am actually not good at fishing. On the surface, I am here to fish, but in reality, I just want to get close to nature and experience the mountains and rivers.

Since he was being disturbed, he simply stopped pretending.

After standing up, he handed the fishing rod in his hand to the guard beside him, then led the two of them forward and strolled along the forest path.

"You guys can't even let me take a break. I've come all the way to this mountainous area, and you guys just followed me." Seeing that the two men were not in a hurry, Xu Chen knew that it was not an urgent matter, so he simply started chatting and laughing with them.

Ju Su followed closely behind him and said with a smile: "My lord, you always regard yourself as serving the people. If that is the case, how can you be lazy in the slightest?"

Xun Chen also echoed: "That's right. The burden of all the states and counties in Xuanxia is borne by the lord alone. The burden of the people of the world cannot allow the lord to be lazy."

Seeing that the two of them were actually blackmailing him, Xu Chen was also amused. He stopped and asked dissatisfiedly: "I have been fighting for more than ten years. Can't I take a break?"

After the words were spoken, the three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

After some chatting and laughing, the atmosphere became relaxed. Ju Shou and Xun Chen no longer worried about disturbing Xu Chen's interest, and then they started talking about business.

"We came here today to calculate the expenditure reports of the various prefectures and counties of Xuanxia this year, and also compared the many public projects of the local governments. We have sorted out all the complicated matters, and you can review them, my lord."

After Ju Su finished speaking, he glanced at Xun Chen next to him, and Xun Chen quickly handed him a paper document, which was the report he was talking about.

Xu Chen nodded slightly, then took the document and found an exposed stone to sit down and read it.

The personal guards who had followed the escort all the way quickly spread out to guard the surroundings for safety. Ju Shou and Xun Chen stood on either side of Xu Chen, quietly waiting for Xu Chen to check the documents.

Xu Chen nodded as he read. After being sorted out by Xun Chen and Ju Shou, the messy project and expenditure reports from various places were now clearly itemized and the clues were clear. The actual situation could be seen at a glance. It was clear how much money the local government spent and how much work was done, as well as how good or bad the results were.

But after reading it, Xu Chen sighed, closed the document and handed it to Ju Shou: "Once the war breaks out, it will inevitably affect people's livelihood. Compared with the previous peaceful years, the progress of public projects in various places this year has slowed down a lot. This war must end soon, so that I, Xuan Xia, can fight with fists and feet."

Ju Shou smiled and put away the documents, saying, "This is inevitable. It's not the fault of the local governments. As long as the war breaks out, they have no choice. The money and grain that should have been used to build schools, roads, water conservancy projects, etc. will inevitably be squeezed out, and the progress will naturally be slowed down."

Xun Chen said: "However, in order to seek military victory, these costs are inevitable. We may have some impact, but the enemy will only suffer more."

Xu Chen nodded and said, "I naturally understand the truth, I just felt emotional for a moment."

Ju Su then handed over another document: "This is the budget plan for the prefectures and counties next year. If you have no opinion after reading it, the court can allocate money and grain according to this plan next year."

Xu Chen took it over again, and Ju Shou and Xun Chen also made a detailed report on this, which not only summarized the budgets of various places, but also estimated the annual revenue of the central government next year. If all expenses including military expenses are taken into account, Xuanxia's overall budget expenditure and annual revenue can be roughly equal.

"Not bad. It looks like this business is doing well. The profit and loss are balanced and acceptable." Xu Chen handed the document back to Ju Shou and said something jokingly, but then he sighed: "You don't know how difficult it is until you run a business. You have to spend money everywhere. It's really not easy to do things well."

After saying that, Xu Chen stood up again and walked forward again.

Ju Su and Xun Chen looked at each other, put away their documents and followed.

The three of them walked in silence for a while. Ju Su hesitated for a moment and said, "It is indeed not easy for the court. But to put it bluntly, I feel that this is mostly the court's own fault. For example, the court has taken on all the tasks of education, medical care, sanitation, roads, etc. It has to work hard but gets no reward. It has to allocate money and grain like water but does not see any profit. It only goes out but does not make any profit. How can it be easy?"

Xu Chen paused for a moment, then turned to look at Ju Shou with a meaningful look.

But he only glanced at it, and soon he moved forward again, his eyes looking forward, and answered as if chatting: "Gong Yu is good at considering the court."

Xun Chen's eyes flashed, and he also took a step forward: "I feel the same way. The Qin and Han dynasties did not see such a heavy burden on the court, and they could not last long. And I, Xuan Xia, have taken on all the affairs, which is like walking on the mountain with my back to the mountain. Every year, I only see the investment but no return. Isn't it like throwing a stone into the sea? In the long run, it will definitely not be sustainable. If the court does not make a choice, it may collapse in the future."

Xu Chen did not stop, still maintaining a steady pace, and nodded from time to time, seeming to agree with their words.

"In that case, what suggestions do you have?" Xu Chen asked calmly without even turning his head.

Ju Su's face became serious, and he followed closely: "I think the court may seek to reduce its burden. Since Xuanxia is promoting the development of industry and commerce, why can't education, medical care, roads and other undertakings be implemented with the help of industry and commerce? Private commercial forces can allocate private resources to undertake such undertakings, and even do better than the court. This may be a better choice."

After hearing these words, Xu Chen just walked forward in silence, neither saying whether it was right or wrong, which made Ju Shou and Xun Chen behind him a little uneasy.

Xun Chen pondered for a moment and also stepped forward to speak: "This kind of business is costly and inefficient for the court to do, and after a long time it will inevitably lead to bloated organizations, which can be said to have many disadvantages. Private business is more flexible, and the court does not have to work hard to manage and build it, and can still achieve its goals. In comparison, the latter is obviously a wiser choice."

Xu Chen remained silent, and Xun Chen and Ju Shou looked at each other in silence. They didn't know what Xu Chen was thinking or what his attitude was.

On the country road, there was only the sound of their slow footsteps. Although the environment was very quiet and elegant at this time, it was obvious that the atmosphere was beginning to become subtle and dull.

Xu Chen didn't say anything, but he was just feeling a little emotional in his heart.

These people react too quickly and are too smart
Xuanxia has only been promoting industry and commerce in recent years, and although this force has developed by leaps and bounds under the guidance of policies, Xu Chen still did not expect that they would adapt to the new ways of playing and rules so quickly, and keenly perceive the interests.

Today's conversation might not be an attempt by Ju Shou and Xun Chen as a new business force to expand their interests and power. If it were someone else, he would probably be easily fooled by their words.

After all, their theory was really convincing. Xu Chen was even sure that Ju Shou and Xun Chen did not have any malicious intentions, but they sincerely believed so.

From their perspective, everything they just said was true.

The reason is that although the new era is just a step-by-step process for him, it is like crossing the river by feeling the stones for others.

In the process of moving forward, everyone will have different ideas and routes based on their own positions and wisdom, which will inevitably lead to conflicts and contradictions. If Xuan Xia does not use this time loophole to control the direction, it is certain that his future path will be bumpy.

But after all, what Ju Shou and Xun Chen are discussing now is nothing new in later generations. Regardless of which of these two routes is right or wrong, at least based on Xuanxia's system, they can only choose the former.

At this time, Xu Chen had only one thought in his mind.

Should we ban this kind of thought?
There are definitely more people who think this way than just Ju Shou and Xun Chen. If this trend of thought is allowed to develop, there will certainly be no problem while I am here, but if I am no longer here, it might lead the course astray.

But on second thought, he smiled at his own thoughts.

This kind of thing cannot be banned at all, and as industry and commerce develop, it will surely intensify. This is a natural result of the nature of business. Business instincts will surely seek more profits and will continue to work hard for this.

Banning thoughts is just a self-deception. Instead of doing so, it is better to face the problem.

Spread it out and break it down into every detail to make it clear where the pros and cons are and what the political foundation of the court is. Once all of this is made clear, people will have their own opinions on what path to take.

Thinking of this, Xu Chen finally stopped. He was not angry because of what Ju Shouxun Chen said today. Instead, he laughed.

"I will not comment on whether Gong Yu and You Ruo's words today are right or wrong, but I think this is a good topic. Let's just let everyone in Xuan Xia discuss it. Whether it's the officials above, the students of the academy, or the people in the society, as long as they have opinions, they can express them and see if we can determine who is right or wrong!"

(End of this chapter)