Chapter 64: As for the Turning of the Tides...

Confronting the aristocratic families was something every emperor in history had to do, but from ancient times to the present, those who could truly force the elite families into submission could be counted on the fingers of two hands. Chen Xi did not believe that Liu Bei, whose wings were not yet fully grown, could subdue these fellows. Even a time-traveler armed with the ability to court fortune and avoid disaster, along with vision transcending the era, probably could not pull it off. After all, confronting the aristocratic class directly at this stage violated the self-preservation instinct of a time-traveler seeking to avoid catastrophe.

Operating on the principle of having a dual plan—a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other—it would be for the best if Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping could squeeze the Zhen family's shops out of business and make them understand the difference between a warlord and a noble house. A simple apology, as long as it saved face, would suffice, and there would be no need for Liu Bei to keep stoking his anger.

In the event that the Zhen family truly possessed connections reaching the heavens, Chen Xi would simply have to take matters into his own hands. Whether through commercial strangulation or a ruthless strike to wipe out the Zhen family's upper echelons, granting them a respectable funeral and the like—in short, Chen Xi could guarantee that even if Lady Zhen truly possessed the bearing of a phoenix, she would likely be reduced to someone else's plaything, and Yuan Shao would at most feel humiliated without directly going to war against Liu Bei.

"Zichuan, just how much money do you actually have? Ever since you entered Fenggao, you have been continuously pouring in funds and grain, and to this day we haven't seen any return on investment, yet you've somehow managed to keep it going. Do we really have this much wealth?" Seeing Chen Xi slip into his habitual daze, and with the autumn harvest about to begin, Jian Yong could finally no longer contain his curiosity and blurted out the question. Even Zhao Yun, standing nearby, raised his head curiously upon hearing Jian Yong's words; everyone in Fenggao city was deeply interested in this matter.

"We do, lots of money, and it's constantly growing. What's wrong?" Chen Xi said, yawning. "Lord Xuande, don't just stand outside. If you want to listen, come on in. You're probably all very interested in this, right?"

"Hahaha!" Liu Bei laughed heartily, trying his best to mask the awkward expression on his face. However, seeing that Chen Xi looked thoroughly listless and wasn't focusing his attention on him, he didn't laugh much longer.

"Indeed, many people now think that you, Chen Zichuan, are a boy dispersing boundless wealth," Liu Bei chuckled teasingly. Others might not know, but how could he not? Chen Xi simply sat here every day drinking tea and reviewing documents, not hauling cartloads of money out from various places every single day as the rumors in the streets suggested. Yet, he truly had managed to make everyone live and work in peace and contentment.

"I only have this many copper coins on me." Chen Xi casually untied a brocade pouch from his waist and tossed it onto the table with a clatter. This was the one Chen Lan had made for him only after he arrived in Fenggao. As for the sachet hanging on his left, that was crafted by his wife, Fan Jian, and was very delicate.

"What is the meaning of this, Zichuan?" Liu Bei found an empty seat, sat down, and looked perplexedly at the money pouch Chen Xi had thrown on the table.

"It means I haven't invested a single copper coin into Fenggao, and the seemingly immense wealth of Fenggao doesn't actually exist at all," Chen Xi said, sitting up straight with a solemn expression. "Of course, the displaced refugees we've gathered are constantly creating value, so it looks like I'm continuously pouring money into it, but in reality, I have no money at all to pour in."

Liu Bei couldn't understand. Jian Yong stared with blank eyes, and Zhao Yun scratched his head and rubbed his ears.

"Fine, to put it simply: you see me distributing daily wages to them, right? Though it's not much, over time the amount flowing from my hands has already exceeded tens of millions of coins. But have you ever thought that not only am I spending money, but the common people who earned the money are also spending it? After all, once they are given wages, we no longer need to provide their evening meal," Chen Xi said listlessly, looking thoroughly depressed.

They still didn't understand. The few of them maintained blank expressions.

"I had people open several steamed bun shops," Chen Xi said, yawning.

This was something Chen Xi had been forced to research only after he could no longer stand the unleavened steamed bread. It had failed quite a few times, but once the first batch succeeded, things got much better. Compared to unleavened bread, it was properly a super-profitable industry. At the very least, steamed buns made from leavened dough were delicious, filling, and aided digestion. Furthermore, no one knew that a large steamed bun weighing two taels used less than one and a half taels of flour, so business was booming...

Moreover, acting on the principle that the midday meal provided for labor should only make people full rather than pamper their palates—unleavened bread would fill the stomach, and millet porridge was barely clear enough to reflect a face—once the bun shops opened, the number of people eating the official midday meal instantly dropped by half. It was eating either way; previously, having no choice, they thought the official food was pretty good, but now that they had a choice, with the bun shops charging the same price, why eat unleavened bread that was as hard as stone? The shops even provided a small dish of pickled vegetables. Mm, the bun shops Chen Xi had people open became even more prosperous.

After some time, the authorities seemed to wake up as fewer and fewer people stayed for the midday meal. Consequently, the authorities negotiated with the bun shops: the authorities would issue chits to the refugee laborers, and the laborers could take the chits to the bun shops to eat buns. Because of bulk discounts, it was relatively cheaper. As a result, the refugees were deeply grateful, and the authorities saved themselves the trouble of cooking midday meals. Everyone was happy.

Afterward, Chen Xi transferred all those unemployed cooks who used to make midday meals to open bun shops everywhere. Truly, everyone was overjoyed. Most of the official expenses vanished. New refugees arriving without chits, having only copper coins, would see others eating buns while they had to spend dozens more coins a month than everyone else. Instantly, they refused to accept this and strongly demanded that their copper coins be exchanged for chits. Very well, that also prevented a shortage of cash...

After a while, Chen Xi noticed there seemed to be too many refugees and cash was running short. Then, one of the refugees discovered that these white chits could actually be used to eat buns at the bun shops even at night, sparing them from spending the same amount or even more money at home on that unleavened bread as hard as stone...

This secret quietly spread, and as a result, even fewer cash wages were distributed. Every day, Chen Xi's task was simply to use his official seal to stamp the newly researched white paper, then have Zhao Yun chop it into neat strips of ten. Zhao Yun was genuinely deft at this; over a thousand sheets placed on the table could be neatly sliced with a single flash of Zhao Yun's sword, without even damaging the table.

For such history-changing paper to emerge and immediately be used as a general equivalent was absurdly simple. But it didn't really matter; after all, no one else could forge it. Even if they forged the paper, they would still need Chen Xi's seal. Besides, wasn't privately carving seals in the Han Dynasty a crime punishable by the extermination of three clans? Perhaps nine clans. Anyway, forging this was far better than making small coins like Dong Zhuo did; at least nobody interfered with this, and at worst the people under their rule would just have a slightly harder time. Furthermore, using paper as currency could be considered reasonable.

To tell the truth, Chen Xi originally intended to have people carve the characters "Two Buns" out of wood, but he eventually realized that such slender pieces of wood would require him to stamp far too many times. To keep it simple, it was faster to just use the seal of Liu Bei's rank as General Who Pacifies the East, since it was large enough. Following the standard valuation where one thin strip equaled two buns, Chen Xi declared that he only needed to disburse a tiny amount of actual wages every month, while paying the rest in these chits.

Even a tiny amount of wages was still money, though. What was he supposed to do with half a million people? Bandits and mountain outlaws transforming into refugees, the Yellow Turbans near Mount Tai in Qingzhou transforming into refugees—in short, the refugee population grew larger and larger. Afterward, the refugees transformed into citizens within Mount Tai, and Mount Tai appeared increasingly prosperous.

Consequently, Chen Xi opened a few more stores selling daily necessities. Since the entire Mount Tai Commandery was under his governance, and the bandits were all his Mount Tai bandits, he could do whatever he liked. In this way, most of the copper coins he distributed could be recovered and then redistributed. Moreover, the shops Chen Xi ordered to be opened had the distinct advantage of accepting white chits...

A single policy like this wiped out over ninety-nine percent of independent merchants. A general equivalent that couldn't be used once you left Mount Tai—accepting that was simply courting death! Were they planning to hoard them and trade them for buns in Mount Tai? Could they possibly eat that many?

To speak bluntly, if any merchant was genuinely willing to accept the white chits, Chen Xi would evaluate their character. For instance, obedient merchant families like the Mi family—Chen Xi was quite willing to trade grain for the white chits back from them. As for merchant families like the Zhen family that had infuriated Liu Bei, Chen Xi wouldn't mind sending a whole warehouse full of white chits their way. As a human-shaped banknote printing machine, he felt zero pressure. Thus, the Zhen family fleeing so quickly showed they possessed a bit of self-awareness.

Chen Xi explained his previous actions in detail to them, but Liu Bei and the others remained completely in a fog. Looking at the listless, head-propped Chen Xi, they finally couldn't help interrupting his speech.

"Stop. Zichuan, even though I don't understand a single word of what you're talking about, judging by the actual results, you are truly formidable." Liu Bei cut off Chen Xi's discourse with a bewildered expression.

"As expected, nobody can understand. It seems I must find a domestic affairs expert with an IQ over ninety. It's far too lonely right now." Chen Xi rested his head in his hand, striking the pose of an expert lamenting his solitude.

"Why does Zichuan always look so fatigued, as if you're constantly on the verge of falling asleep?" Liu Bei shifted the topic. He felt that continuing to listen to this heavenly scripture was truly challenging his limits. Anyway, regardless of what method Chen Xi used, as long as development was happening, the rest didn't seem all that important.

"Sleepy in spring, weary in autumn, drowsing in summer, lying in bed during winter. Right now, I'm in the autumn weariness phase," Chen Xi said with a weary look. "Rest assured, Lord Xuande, there won't be any major problems with the state affairs." As he spoke, Chen Xi slightly adjusted his posture, trying his best to make himself more comfortable. Doing nothing had this one downside: it made it very easy to fall asleep.

Liu Bei, Jian Yong, and Zhao Yun all looked at Chen Xi with helpless expressions. Was that even a reason? You feel drowsy the entire year round—are you a pig? Eat and sleep, sleep and eat. It really makes one wonder how you managed to learn all these skills; could there truly be such a thing as divine beings imparting knowledge in dreams?

"Report!" Just as the entire room lapsed into silence, a messenger rushed in and shouted at the top of his lungs. Instantly, Chen Xi snapped awake. Zhao Yun and Liu Bei, both martial artists with exceptionally sharp vision, clearly saw a fine layer of sweat burst out on Chen Xi's body, presumably caused by a startled shock—he had been frightened awake while dozing.

Chen Xi looked sternly at the messenger below. The sleepiness he had taken such pains to cultivate was thoroughly scared away, and he had been frightened half to death. Sighing inwardly, (*I can't sleep in the administration hall anymore. It's too terrifying.*)

"Is there something to report?" Chen Xi asked calmly.

"Mi Zizhong from Xuzhou and Lu Zijing from Linhuai have arrived together on a visit," the messenger shouted in reply.

"Hm?" Chen Xi was startled, but his expression quickly recovered, and great joy filled his heart. "Lord Xuande, great wealth and great talent are about to arrive."