NOVPUBOf course, the fact that the Zhen Family had gone to Mount Tai was also part of the reason. Mi Zhu felt that it was very possible—quite likely, in fact—that Chen Xi would give a money-making enterprise to the Zhen Family! So, for safety’s sake, it was best to hurry back. As for the Wu Family of Yizhou, there was nothing that could be done; things would just have to stay as they were. Even if the Wu Family was out of the picture, it was still possible to bring the Zhen Family into the fold later!
In the business world, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Mi Zhu felt that the Zhang Clan could probably be persuaded more easily, and they were closer too. It was worth going back to have a good talk and possibly bringing the Zhen Family into the Commerce Alliance. As for the Wu Family, one might say that it was fate—no point in forcing what’s not meant to be~
Once Chen Xi learned of Mi Zhu’s return, he was relieved. As long as it wasn’t too long a wait, Chen Xi was willing to be patient. The idea of letting the Zhen Family manage Liu Bei’s commercial lifeline was just a joke. Who was he kidding? It went beyond a mere issue of money—it was a matter of life...
One’s lifeline should naturally be in one’s own hands. No one would feel at ease having it controlled by another, even if that other had intentions of allegiance. But how could their reliability compare to the Mi Family’s?
Even if Mi Zhu truly had matters to attend to and couldn’t return, Chen Xi would never hand over power to the Zhen Family. He knew how to separate public and private matters. This situation wasn’t like last time when the Zhen Family had no choice but to follow the script set by Chen Xi!
If Chen Xi were to give power to the Zhen Family this time, and they didn’t try to use it to resist Liu Bei and expand their power, then they wouldn’t be worthy of the name ’noble family’! So, if Mi Zhu didn’t return, Chen Xi would have to take matters into his own hands. Although he might not be as efficient as Mi Zhu at the outset due to reputation, age, and a host of other issues, given a little time, people would come to recognize him.
However, Chen Xi was very clear that it was best for him not to take on this task. Even though Liu Bei might not mind, Chen Xi didn’t want to accidentally bring trouble upon himself. Serving under Liu Bei, who treated him well and dared to delegate authority, why would he want to ’grab everything’ concerning military, money and grain if it wasn’t necessary? That would just be looking for trouble.
That’s why Chen Xi, despite clearly having the power to control all of Liu Bei’s officials, did nothing and stayed in the Political Office, holding multiple posts related to military, political, commercial, and agricultural affairs—an extremely broad but messy scope. Yet, in reality, he took on none of it! He only did one thing: he delegated these affairs to others and focused solely on what he wanted to do, which was generally something unique...
Like now, Chen Xi’s main task was to sit in the Political Office and drink tea. He and Mann Chong had already made quite a headway with the new laws. As for criminal law, Chen Xi turned many of Mann Chong’s death sentences, flogging, and corporeal punishments—any punishment he found undesirable—into reformation through labor...
Mann Chong was, of course, dissatisfied with a criminal code composed mainly of reformation through labor. He could accept petty thieves being reformed through labor, but manslaughter too? Eventually, he debated with Chen Xi and then reserved his opinion.
After all, there was some reason in Chen Xi’s words. The dead can’t create any value. In an era short of people, instead of beheading the person, it was better to use them as labor—there was always some hazardous work, like mining. Even if it wasn’t too humane, as long as it didn’t result in execution, it showed a bit of Liu Bei’s benevolence.
As for the tax laws, there wasn’t much to say about agricultural taxes. With Zhao Yun holding a spear by your side, he’d firmly hold taxes to thirty percent, not a filament more! And Zhao Yun, being a straightforward person, consolidated all excessive miscellaneous levies into the agricultural tax. Anything over forty percent meant having an extra invisible hole in your body, so eventually, the tax rate became flexible, based on what Liu Ye and Lu Su had researched and included within the agricultural tax.
Once past agriculture, Zhao Yun turned a blind eye. Whether or not merchants were exploited was none of Zhao Yun’s concern. However, Chen Xi’s tax laws still gave many headaches for being too lenient; even with a luxury tax that collected fifteen times the normal amount, having no entry tax for entering the city just seemed unfathomable!
To people like Lu Su, the transaction tax seemed unreliable; such a thin tax rate simply couldn’t support Fenggao, with merchants taking all the money! The operating tax was acceptable, but even combined, it surely couldn’t match the original commercial tax revenue! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
