Chapter 1119: New Year's Gift

"As the bearer of credit, which is essentially me, if I were to collapse, the entire system would be destroyed instantly. And since its influence has spread so widely now, it would bring down not only artisans but also workers who rely on manual labor," Chen Xi said coldly.

"The result would be disastrous, much like the situation after Emperor Xiaowu issued the White Deer coins. Except it would be worse because the White Deer coins were only worth 400,000 coins, while I rarely issue promissory notes worth less than a million," Chen Xi added casually, though his words sent chills down Li You's spine.

"In the end, the burden would fall on the common people, and they might revolt," Chen Xi speculated after a moment of thought.

"What's your opinion, Wenru?" Chen Xi suddenly shifted the conversation, smiling at Li You.

"I think it's better to stop this dangerous behavior. You can't always predict every outcome," Li You said solemnly. Indeed, every advantage has its drawbacks. While Chen Xi's methods rapidly accelerated the prosperity of their territory, Li You now realized it was like walking a tightrope.

"Hahaha!" Chen Xi laughed heartily. "It's not that I underestimate everyone, but if I didn’t personally explain it, there's no one in the world who could figure out the underlying issues. Besides, now that the banks of both Cao and Sun are tied to ours, unless all the noble families decide to withdraw at the same time, there's no way to destroy this system."

"If you're confident you can control it, then I won’t say more," Li You responded, feeling somewhat defeated by the sheer complexity of the situation.

"Wenru, just focus on your responsibilities, and I’ll manage the financial side as best I can. But you can't expect to get everything you ask for. I work with a budget too, so please stop padding the numbers every year," Chen Xi said with a grin.

"I’ll inform Baining to quickly finalize the reward and punishment lists for the various officials, and we will review the budget for the coming year accordingly," Li You said seriously, realizing that his grand plans for next year might have to be scaled back.

"As for the official audits, have Baining and Zhongyu put more effort into it. We need results quickly for Ji and Yan provinces. If it ends up like Yuzhou, with Xiaozhi adding his own people, things could get messy," Chen Xi said, shifting the topic. Letting those two handle such matters would be ideal.

"We’ll report everything to Lord Xuande after the New Year. Let’s deal with it after the holiday," Li You nodded, filing away Chen Xi's earlier explanations in the back of his mind.

"Yes, let's not worry about that for now. Has the altar for the New Year's sacrifice been completed?" Chen Xi asked.

The sacrifice for the Tianren Erding (Heaven and Earth) ritual was well-known by now, but the event would be kept small. Despite the value of the items involved, making it too grand would require too much construction, so they decided to keep it simple.

Thus, only a small group of Liu Bei's closest ministers and their families would participate. Others like Jian Yong and Sun Qian had their own obligations and wouldn’t return to Yecheng for the festival, leaving their sons to represent them. Guan Yu was in a similar situation.

In the end, the ceremony would be simple: reading the sacrificial text, burning it, and recounting the accomplishments of the year, followed by a brief homage. Because of this, Liu Bei didn’t require the attendees to wear their formal robes.

After some complaints, Li You left, clearly eager to do more but constrained by a lack of funds. He would now have to work with Lu Su to see if they could divert resources from other areas.

Despite the approaching holiday, all government matters still needed to be dealt with, a reality that couldn’t be ignored.

"It's the end of the year... let me think," Chen Xi muttered, patting his forehead as he pondered what gifts to give to Chen Lan and the others this year.

Lying in his rocking chair with a book, Chen Xi considered his options. For the maids in the inner courtyard, he would give cash. For Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, and Lu Yu, he would gift them books. Guan Ping, Huang Xu, and Ma Zhong would receive fine bows. For the generals, he would send military manuals and distilled wine, and for the civil officials, he would select personalized gifts according to their tastes.

As for Liu Bei, Chen Xi realized there wasn’t much he could give him. He had thought about forging a sword, especially since he still had the male sword of the Yin-Yang Twin Swords.

But when Chen Xi attempted to forge something, all he ended up with was a Golden Snake Sword, which he quietly melted down, deciding it wasn’t worth the embarrassment.

He even considered writing a tribute, but after reflecting on it, Chen Xi found the idea too cringeworthy. Although he had plenty of poetry in his head and occasionally liked to show off, writing a eulogy for Liu Bei seemed too embarrassing.

In the end, Chen Xi decided he would shamelessly show up at Liu Bei's place with a jar of wine, feast heartily, and take whatever gift Liu Bei gave him, exchanging a few New Year's pleasantries.

Speaking of which, last year Liu Bei had given Chen Xi an illustrated erotic book as a gift. It was such an awkward choice that even Liu Bei must have felt at a loss for what to gift him, and money or women seemed too tacky.

"Ah, forget it. I’ll give A'dou a jade scepter. Let’s keep it simple," Chen Xi thought with a sigh.

Liu Bei, on the other hand, was also racking his brain about what to give Chen Xi this year. Last year’s embarrassing gift of the erotic book had been humiliating, and if he couldn’t think of anything better this year, he would have to resort to something even more mundane.

As Chen Xi pondered, the little creature, barely the size of his palm, jumped onto his lap like a cat. Recently, this critter had finally recognized who the true master of the household was and no longer bared its teeth at Chen Xi.

Using two fingers, Chen Xi lifted the small animal, watching it flail its short legs. A smile crept across his face as he observed its antics.

"Go, find Jian'er," Chen Xi released the critter, which immediately darted off like a rocket.

"Whatever, I’ll just throw together some simple gifts later. For now, I need to find someone to help me pick out a present for the lady of the house," Chen Xi mused to himself, just as Xin Xianying appeared.

"Xianying, what’s up?" Chen Xi asked, patting the girl on the head as he noticed her with her hair done up in two small braids.

"Sister Mi’er wanted me to ask you if you'd like to go shopping for some gold ornaments with her," Xianying relayed, like a little messenger.

"Uh, I’ll pass on that," Chen Xi waved her off. He thought it would be better to take both Fan Jian and Chen Lan along—or even all three of them—rather than going with just Zhen Mi alone.

"Anything else?" Chen Xi asked, seeing that Xianying seemed hesitant to leave.

"Well... Lord Chen, do you have any wishes you want to make for the New Year?" Xin Xianying asked, scratching her head adorably.

"I have lots of wishes," Chen Xi said with a grin. "By the way, don’t forget to come to my house on the second day of the new year. If you miss it, don’t blame me for not giving you any gifts!"

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