Chapter 953: Becoming Routine

Chen Xi didn’t want to explain the full reasoning behind minting coins. Minting was just the surface issue—his real aim was to reclaim the power to set prices for essential goods. Although, for now, the noble families wouldn’t cause major disruptions with his group in charge, there was no guarantee that the future would be as stable. The only way to ensure lasting peace was to nationalize certain key resources.

Some things simply couldn’t be left in the hands of any one class, as that would be too dangerous. To prevent such problems from arising, Chen Xi had to prepare in advance and use the promise of massive profits to take back control of these essentials.

Chen Xi believed in the concept of equivalent exchange. After all, knowledge, information, and military power all had their own inherent values. Putting aside military force for the moment, both knowledge and information were clearly valuable: merchants could sell scraps of paper for the price of gold, and scientists could turn waste into treasure.

This was the inherent value of knowledge and information, whether one acknowledged it or not. Counting in the additional value of information, knowledge, and military power, the phrase "exchange is always equal" held a great deal of truth.

“Just do it. In this area, we have nothing to add; we can only wait for the results,” Li You said after thinking for a long time.

“You’ll see in time. At the very least, I won’t harm ordinary people. Or rather, my core intention has always been the stability of the country. Though the results may not seem immediate, this is the reality, and time will prove everything,” Chen Xi said with a smile.

He had noticed that people had become wary of him. Even when his political strategies seemed to go against conventional wisdom, people would now observe first rather than stop him outright.

The people present were all wise, which made them more aware of Chen Xi’s power. Compared to all their efforts combined, none of them could have propelled Liu Bei to his current success in just a few years. Yet everyone knew what Chen Xi had told Liu Bei upon returning from Hulao Pass to Taishan.

At that time, Chen Xi had been a mere youth, barely in his twenties, and yet he had already set the current trajectory. That was the most terrifying part—everything seemed to have been decided at that moment, unfolding slowly but surely toward a goal that had once seemed laughable but was now within reach.

In short, everyone knew that Chen Xi had an extraordinary grasp of large-scale trends and was equally brilliant at managing internal affairs.

“Just like before, you do what you need to do, and we won’t interfere—unless there’s a major error. We’ll only step in if you ask for help,” Jia Xu said calmly. He wasn’t particularly skilled in governmental affairs, so he agreed readily.

“As long as it doesn’t involve me, I won’t concern myself with what you’re doing,” Lu Su added, as a peacemaker, making it clear that he wouldn’t meddle.

“If you need help, you can come to me, though I’m not sure how much assistance I can offer. When you have time, help Zijing with the administrative work,” Li You said. Though he wasn’t busy with the census at the moment, he couldn’t be idle while not following Liu Bei around.

“Actually, minting coins is quite simple,” Chen Xi said, pulling out a box of pastries from his sleeve and offering them to the others. They began eating casually.

“Not bad, this red bean cake,” Guo Jia commented lazily.

“Indeed, it’s pretty good,” Fa Zheng agreed. Their ability to divert the conversation was impressive.

“You’re only focused on the red bean cake? Didn’t you notice the imprint on it?” Chen Xi rolled his eyes.

“Oh, that’s just the pattern pressed onto the rice flour before steaming, right?” Guo Jia, who had some experience cooking, naturally understood the significance of the imprint.

“That’s exactly it. The important part of minting coins is making something like this imprint,” Chen Xi explained with a smile. Mother coins and ancestor coins, the traditional methods of coin-making, didn’t exist yet. But these things were like woodblock printing—commonplace yet often overlooked.

“...,” Everyone paused for a moment before they understood. Many things were incredibly simple and in use every day, but were often ignored because they had become routine.

“So, it’s really simple—you’re just overthinking it,” Chen Xi said with a smile. The process was essentially like stamping a seal.

“I suppose the more familiar something is, the easier it is to overlook. We use seals every day, but never gave it much thought,” Li You said with a bitter smile as he looked at the seal on his belt. So many things were ignored simply because they had become habitual.

“This red bean cake is minting too,” Guo Jia said, pressing his finger into the cake to leave an imprint. In this era, the quality of materials made a significant difference, and with softening techniques, there was virtually no difference from Guo Jia’s example.

“We’ll make it easier by using the hydraulic power of the Yellow River,” Chen Xi added with a smile. Manual work would be too slow; water-powered machinery would be far more efficient.

“What an ingenious idea. But have you designed the machinery for this process?” Liu Xie asked. He had already noticed that this approach was quite different from previous coin-making methods, significantly reducing material waste.

“Once Zheng Gong and Miss Huang arrive, they’ll handle it. Their expertise in machinery and tools far surpasses ours,” Chen Xi said with a smile.

Although the problem hadn’t been solved yet, Chen Xi had great confidence in Zheng Hun and Huang Yueying. The goal was set, and the basic principles were understood—it was up to them to figure out the rest. Even if the first attempt produced defective results, there would be improvements in the second try, and eventually, a perfect system would emerge.

“As for the special drawing rights, I need to enhance the regulation capabilities of our banks. We don’t have enough money in circulation right now, and much of our current income comes from methods that can’t be tampered with. While we are indeed prospering, it hides certain risks,” Chen Xi explained after thinking for a moment.

“We don’t have enough money?” Li You rolled his eyes. Not long ago, after the Taishan Bank set up a branch in Ye City, he had cashed out 70 million coins in promissory notes to ensure Liu Bei could reward civil and military officials.

Though titles and ranks could still be awarded, Li You had always felt a sense of crisis about granting them so freely. The upper ranks were advancing too quickly, and many of the leaders were still young. If this continued unchecked, there would eventually be nothing left to grant, and once that happened, rebellion among the aristocracy wouldn’t be far off.

Thus, Li You had advised Liu Bei to limit promotions in official rank and nobility, except for those who had made exceptional contributions. The rest were rewarded with money, food, and land. Li You had even begun allocating land in the northeastern plains in advance.

With ample land available, he decided to reward people with it while controlling the census and reducing the number of private slaves. Then, by granting them the right to own more private slaves, he essentially created a weakened form of nobility.

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