NOVPUBIt was precisely because of this that Liu Yan, a scholar in the art of conversation, found himself mingling with people like Lub Su. Now even Lub Su and Liu Ye both held this man’s abilities in high esteem. Gaining reputation isn’t something you can just speak into existence, but this guy seemed to have hacked the system—say the word, and his reputation soared!
Of course, this had a lot to do with Liu Yan’s agreeable personality. Apart from being a bit of a playboy and enjoying literary debates with other scholars, he wasn’t much different from Jian Yong. Moreover, he was extremely self-aware. He didn’t meddle in politics, and even when in high positions, he never gave reckless advice.
Obviously, spouting off about military administration like he did this time was a total fever dream—or else, he was the type who’d normally just watch and keep his opinion to himself, letting others do as they pleased. Lub Su brought this guy along precisely to show, "Look, we all value you a lot, so please do us a favor and help us boost our reputation."
After Liu Yan shut up, everyone looked expectantly at Chen Xi, hoping he could come up with a solution. The issue seemed knotty to them, but given Chen Xi’s past miraculous methods, perhaps he could work something out. With that thought, they all stared at him intently.
"Select some minor officials, then. Right now, insert officials from Qingzhou into higher positions and make them official on record. We shall recruit new minor officials," Chen Xi proposed after some thought.
"But from where should we select them? I bet even if all the literate people from Mount Tai went to Qingzhou, it wouldn’t be enough," Lub Su said, half laughing and half crying. If it were that easy to select officials, then why would they need Chen Zichuan?
"Why do they need to be literate? We’re just selecting minor officials. Ziyang, you’re also an official who previously handled affairs in Qingzhou, tell us about its current situation," Chen Xi casually said, then called upon Liu Ye, expecting an answer. A good solution may not be at hand, but a suitable one—surely there must be one? His vision surpassed the era by two thousand years, not for fun. He had a way to handle such matters.
"Mainly, it’s a shortage of officials," Liu Ye answered honestly, not overthinking, and thus he replied with a rather foolish response.
"..." Chen Xi covered his forehead and turned to look at Lub Su, his gaze practically shouting, "I hand over to you a great Sage, and this is how you’ve trained him?"
"Ahem, Ziyang, what Zichuan was asking is what issues among the people of Qingzhou have led to the current situation," Lub Su said, somewhat embarrassed, quickly clarifying for Liu Ye.
"Oh, the issues with the people in Qingzhou mostly revolve around land, customs, and vendettas. Each type of issue comes with three to five causes and three to five situations, making it very complicated," Liu Ye said, his headache apparent as he spoke. If it wasn’t for these issues confusing him, he wouldn’t have given such an answer earlier.
"There you have it, break it down a little, and we’re looking at just about thirty types of situations. You should be able to handle each one, right Ziyang?" Chen Xi asked, exasperated. There were, in total, about twenty types of situations, and yet they could still mess things up this badly.
"Those aren’t issues at all, I can come up with fifty methods to handle each one, enough to deal with any scenario. The problem is the people down there—they’re not, they’re not... Huh? You’re saying that would work too?" Liu Ye had been somewhat frantic, but as he spoke, his brain began to turn, and then he looked at Chen Xi in astonishment.
"Well, it’s just that simple. It’s a task that anyone can do. The demands of the Yellow Turban refugees are so minimal, just throwing some people at it should solve the problem. And yet, you’ve all been struggling with this for so long. I really feel helpless for you..." Chen Xi sighed and said, "You, Liu Ziyang, are a sage with many stratagems. Can’t you think of something? Can’t you create a bunch of people capable of handling these things? With your plethora of methods, just explain them all to them, and then follow the steps. Isn’t that good enough!"
Liu Ye and Lub Su exchanged glances, finding this method quite novel. But then it seemed like it could actually work. The Yellow Turban Refugees’ major demands were limited to a few scenarios, almost universally applicable. These problems were a matter of minutes for Liu Ye. He could spend a day thinking about every possible scenario in great detail, distribute the solutions, and then just pick some people to solve it...
"Alas, draft some petty officials. We need virtuous and talented people for the official positions, but for the petty officials, anyone would do. Their power isn’t great enough to be a disaster, and the higher-ups’ control means serious problems are unlikely to arise. Ziyang, you and Zijing go write a book detailing all possible administrative situations in Qingzhou along with their solutions. Then print it and distribute a copy to each of the hundred or so officials. That’ll be enough," Chen Xi said casually, handing over what seemed like a simple task to Lub Su and Liu Ye, but he was certain that with Liu Ye’s brain, the scope of the task would skyrocket...
"Okay!" Lub Su and Liu Ye nodded. It was indeed a good solution.
"As for the petty officials, recruit them directly from Qingzhou, literate or not. If they claim they can do it, let them take office. Investigate their jurisdictions after a month. Keep them if there’s no issue, remove them if there’s a problem, and execute the ones with serious offenses! Oh, and make sure the officials teach them how to handle various situations, and remind the officials to be vigilant," Chen Xi said coldly. He had been killing a bit too easily lately, but sometimes executions were necessary to quell public anger...
"That works. Ziyang and I will start working on it right away. We’ll deliver within three days, and you have the craftsmen print it within two. We’ll resolve this matter within a ten-day period," Lub Su said, accustomed to acting decisively. However, he thought the workload wasn’t substantial since the thinking part was covered by Liu Ye. Being there to decide what strategy to use in different circumstances was his strength.
"No problem," Chen Xi said nonchalantly. "The craftsmen aren’t too busy, so if there aren’t enough, big deal, we add an extra shift. What’s the big deal?" After all, he was just giving orders; others did the work.
After sending Lub Su and Liu Ye off to work, Chen Xi planned to bring the administrative tasks back home. As for Liu Yan, today he had officially invited noted scholar Liu Xi, Wu Fan, and Zhao Da to go drinking, play the lute, and then take some time to climb Mount Tai. He even submitted the budget for the expenses. Life was incredibly good for him.
However, according to a message from Hua Xiong, Mount Tai would soon be graced by the presence of a famous personality. But what to do with Cai Yan, whom he had inadvertently brought back, was a profoundly difficult issue. Right now, Cai Yan’s reputation, based on her father’s prestige, was enough to make her untouchable, and she was a woman on top of that. Taking her to Mount Tai would be quite troublesome. It might even turn out that Liu Bei would have to welcome Miss Cai, considering he had accepted the Cai Family’s library collection.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, noteworthy scholars during the Three Kingdoms Period sure lived well! Chen Xi, while carrying the administrative documents out, thought about whether to give himself the halo of a noted scholar. It seemed only scholars could roam freely among the territories of the Feudal Lords and enjoy great treatment. Apart from Mii Heng, the berserker, he hadn’t heard of any other scholar suddenly losing their head...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
