NOVPUBLiu Bei distributed the land deeds so generously that every one of his old associates received one, each worth at least thirty-five thousand strings of cash, instantly filling everyone with the drive to strive. As for the new recruits, Liu Bei had already hinted that once he was a bit more financially comfortable in a couple of days, he wouldn’t mind doling out money, grain, and beauties.
After handing out the land deeds and money and grain, Liu Bei felt that a private treasury was very handy to use. In the past, even if he had earned all those billions, should he dare to spend it so lavishly, his subordinates would still curse him despite benefiting from it.
Now, it’s my own money, what can you all say? I’ll support whoever I want to support, and if the government treasury doesn’t provide the funds, I’ll just use my own. You bunch of officials want to bite me for it? Come on then, let’s have a painful fight, who’s afraid of whom?
Liu Bei spent the money such as it was blown to him by the wind with much gusto. As for the admonitions from the officials, what’s there to fear? Now that the government treasury and private treasury are separated, and at the time of the division, I, Liu Xuande, didn’t take a single copper coin from the government treasury. The houses were built with my own money. What do you want to say now? Go ahead, I’m all ears. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
In short, with money in hand and newfound confidence, Liu Bei has been feeling very good lately. These past few days, he’s been spending money freely; he used to consider the impact on government finances, but now, if there’s a problem with government finances, these officials should all step down—it has nothing to do with me. The state’s money is the state’s; my money is my own. I keep all my money in my pocket, and if I run out, I’ll just make more. After tossing out billions, Liu Bei began to feel that money isn’t that important after all.
Watching Liu Bei after knowing the exact value of each land deed go from initially being somewhat pained to becoming numb after distributing a dozen, and then simply not caring, Chen Xi understood that his education seemed to be taking effect.
You should know that even if the billions were blown in by the wind, this had become Liu Bei’s property. No matter how easily it came, it still gave one a sense of possession. To watch tens of billions go out in a flash, all thrown out by Liu Bei himself—if his old attitude towards money wasn’t completely shattered, that would have been the real shock...
"Zichuan, there’s no problem with our Lord spending money like this, is there?" Li Youu casually handed his land deed, worth about one hundred twenty thousand strings of cash for a shop, to Chen Xi, then expressed some concerns about Liu Bei’s recent spending habits. Chen Xi’s method was very much a crash course; although effective, it seemed rather costly.
"Are you saying it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to return to frugality?" Chen Xi turned and asked, "Don’t worry, at most, they’ll become a little extravagant. The good thing is, I just can’t believe there’s anything in this prosperous world that can dazzle Lord Xuande’s eyes. To be honest, as long as Lord Xuande doesn’t lose himself to pleasures like Dong Zhongying and forget his true nature, his foundational enterprise will only get better, and its foundations will only become more solid. What I fear most is Lord Xuande losing his own nature."
Li Youu fell silent, thinking about what he had done in the past. A minor oversight had completely caused the fall of Dong Zhuo’s vast forces. With the education typical of an aristocratic family member, if there was such a thing as regret medicine, Li Youu felt he would spare no cost to administer it to Dong Zhuo— at the very least, to avoid the embarrassment of him being seduced by Luoyang’s splendor and women and eventually becoming thoroughly degenerate. Indeed, a monarch must be properly cultivated, at least so they don’t grow up crooked.
"It’s just that recently Lord Xuande has been quite the big spender." Li Youu said helplessly, seemingly approving of Chen Xi’s crash course in education. At least this way, Liu Bei’s fondness for gold, silver, and jewelry had greatly diminished.
"Don’t worry about it. Lord Xuande at least has a set of scales; just compare them and you’ll know," Chen Xi took out the year-end bonus that Liu Bei had given him to make up for what he was owed and then took out Li Youu’s hardship pay. One was appraised at two hundred fifty thousand strings of cash, the other at one hundred twenty thousand strings," See, not muddled at all. If you’re going to spend, then spend. In a couple of days, I’ll convert these land deeds into cash. Even if Lord Xuande were more extravagant, he couldn’t do what we’re doing now. Just let it be; there’s really nothing to it."
Li Youu glanced at the land deeds in Chen Xi’s hands, and with that, he seemed to understand. He nodded and didn’t say much more. As for converting everything into money, Chen Xi felt that was not the right choice.
In this age of chaos, cash might not always be the hard currency. Taking advantage of this year’s good harvest, it would be wise to quickly convert a few billion cash worth of food to stockpile for Liu Bei. Since it’s a seller’s market now, we’re selling land and decide what to accept in exchange. If you want to buy, then buy; if not, haven’t you seen how many people are waiting behind you? Don’t waste time.
The talk is that if there’s no natural disaster like droughts or floods next spring, the outbreak of an epidemic would be quite terrible. Although it looked like Hua Tuo popped up and suppressed it from spreading further, it still killed hundreds of thousands of people. The mere thought of it is chilling. So now, Chen Xi is stamping official and personal seals non-stop, collecting medicinal herbs. No idea how much is needed for a million people, so just keep collecting.
During the agricultural offseason, notices for collecting medicinal herbs are basically a boon. As for doctors, Chen Xi is now scouring the map for Hua Tuo, but obviously, he hasn’t found him. Heaven knows where the guy is.
As for the money, Chen Xi isn’t worried at all. Misappropriating Liu Bei’s private funds has become a habit for Chen Xi, after all, because he has always been making money for Liu Bei. As for how it’s done and what’s earned, even Liu Bei himself isn’t clear about it, right? Misappropriating ninety percent of the cash turnover from the Zhen Family’s stores to buy up medicinal herbs across the map, ginseng at ten copper coins per pound, regardless of size or other factors, one can only imagine how much Chen Xi has collected.
As for the remaining ten percent, Chen Xi claims he is honestly working it for Liu Bei. As for how it’s being worked, "Jian’er, what do you want to buy? Oh, this, alright. Ran’er, do you want it too?" This is the stark reality...
However, considering Liu Bei’s trust in Chen Xi and how Chen Xi often does things that people can’t understand, as well as his fondness for long-term plans and profiting from nothing, Liu Bei never even considered that Chen Xi would embezzle funds. Time passes and Liu Bei is likely to forget, happiness all around, happiness all around!
Because of this, Chen Xi has recently been spending Liu Bei’s money without any pressure. There’s a good chance Liu Bei will forget, and Chen Xi predicts it will take a year or two for Liu Bei to spend all this cash. A year or two later, Chen Xi suspects there might be another good business opportunity, like capturing Hu People for infrastructure projects—not a huge profit, but it’s good for building popular support and reputation.
Speaking of reputation and popular support, Chen Xi seems to remember something. It appears that recently, there’s been a rare opportunity to boost Liu Bei’s reputation, where money can be spent to buy popularity and public favor. This chance must be seized.
Thinking this way, Chen Xi realized that even if he spends all of Liu Bei’s money, he could still give a good explanation. Wasn’t buying public favor one of the best things Feng Yuan did back in his prime? Money buying public favor is simply too good for a monarch! (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to recommend votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
