PFC Chapter 6983 The Inevitable Future
Chapter 6983 The Inevitable Future
Chapter 6983 The Inevitable Future
Hearing Chen Xi say this, Liu Tong felt somewhat helpless. After all, these words, which sounded unpleasant, were actually very correct when you looked at them from the root. They even gave him a sense of seeing the truth through the fog of history.
Sometimes, what people need isn't the truth, but self-comfort. Facing harsh reality isn't a good thing, at least for Liu Tong. Some things are better avoided if possible, especially since Chen Xi isn't incapable of avoiding such things.
“Aren’t you sometimes a bit extreme? You clearly have the ability to avoid these things, and you clearly have the ability to guide them in the direction you need, so why do this?” Liu Tong looked at Chen Xi with a bit of a headache. “You can clearly guide them in the direction you need without making a sound, and even make them think it’s your own idea.”
Yes, such things are possible, just like public order and good customs in society. You may think they exist innately, but in reality, they can be guided out. This is why sometimes you suddenly realize that the law and public order and good customs are actually misaligned. What you consider correct, the values established by universal morality over decades, are actually wrong in the face of the laws established by the ruling class.
This is what is called social guidance and the manifestation of the collective will of the ruling class. Therefore, when you realize that everything you have learned and the values you have come to know are in conflict with the laws of reality, you need to think carefully about what is going on.
Liu Tong didn't quite understand this, but he knew to some extent that Chen Xi could indeed use other means to transform his own thoughts into the thoughts of others, making them believe that this was what he wanted to do, the future he desired, and the ideals he believed in.
This method is not brainwashing, but rather a more sophisticated and natural guidance and shaping, almost like a gentle spring breeze.
Just like the generation before Yuan Feng, most people now agree with Chen Xi's ideas, moral values, and sense of right and wrong. Even if there are some biases, the overall trend is positive and progressive. This is the significance of the overall social trend.
Conversely, if Liu Tong is at a higher level and can use Chen Xi's thinking to view the world and its people, then many things, even if Liu Tong cannot achieve them, should at least have a good outcome. Yes, the most important thing is this good outcome.
"From a certain perspective, that's actually skipping class. There are some things you can't skip; you have to make up that gap." Chen Xi gave a very calm answer. Liu Tong's judgment was correct; he could indeed do what Liu Tong said, but being able to do something doesn't mean you have to do it.
"Skipping class is fine, what's the big deal?" Liu Tong rarely showed such a willful side. "No matter how bad the consequences of skipping class are, they can't be as bad as what happened before. Since we've already experienced the worst-case scenario, why dwell on the possibility of something even worse?"
Just like the older generation who experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, their perspective on issues is completely different from that of today. For them, things like pots and pans can be smashed if necessary, even if it hurts them a lot. But they have come all the way from nothing to where they are today, so now that they are stronger, why should they be afraid of you?
At worst, we can just smash everything and start over.
Liu Tong shared this understanding. Having lived through that era, although she hadn't eaten people because of her royal lineage, she at least knew what kind of era it was. Therefore, when she chose to throw caution to the wind, as long as she didn't fall to that level, Liu Tong felt it was at least acceptable.
"What you're saying..." Chen Xi glanced at Liu Tong and thought that Liu Tong was quite ruthless, actually saying such things. He was quite something.
"I've just considered it all. Your abdication and letting Zhuge Liang succeed you will definitely cause a lot of turmoil. Plus, I will also step down and replace Liu Shan with Liu Shan. Considering that most of the generals from Ganges will be there by then, it basically means that the entire circle will be replaced. I don't believe you don't know what that means." Liu Tong didn't take Chen Xi's teasing expression and tone to heart. Over the years, she had known what kind of person Chen Xi was.
Liu Tong's words actually placed him on a very high pedestal, but as the saying goes, Liu Tong's position is also a process of constantly strengthening his rule. Just like Chen Xi was changing other people's core like a gentle spring breeze, Liu Tong has been strengthening his rule in a subtle and silent way over the years.
Even without actively seeking out Liu Bei and Chen Xi, the long and prosperous ten years of Yuanfeng were enough to make Liu Tong a symbol among the people.
To put it simply, back in the first year of Yuanfeng, if Liu Tong sent a reprimand to a certain aristocratic family, they would accept it without hesitation, and even pretend to be submissive, which was already considered giving them face. But now, if Liu Tong sends a reprimand to the Yuan family, the Yuan family will have to seriously consider whether they have done something wrong and upset them.
Without going into too much detail, at the very least, you should provide a formal response, stating your mistake. Okay, regardless of whether there was a mistake or not, just kneel down and state your mistake before talking about anything else.
This is the majesty an emperor should have after ten years on the throne, a time of prosperity for the land. Even if he relied mainly on his connections for ten years, it would be difficult for others to deal with him half-heartedly. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that Liu Tong has a spiritual talent. With both spiritual talent and sufficient resources, Liu Tong's potential is actually very high.
This gives Liu Tong the right to overwhelm many people. Of course, if one is completely mindless and doesn't discuss politics or legal system, one could say that Liu Tong is nothing in front of Chen Xi. His mere spiritual talent is just the threshold for entry, and he is nothing more than a mayfly compared to the heavens when he sees Chen Xi.
However, if we take into account political factors, legal system, and public opinion, Liu Tong can indeed have a serious discussion with Chen Xi about world affairs. After all, even if someone is a puppet in this position, as long as you don't want to cause chaos in the world, you still have to show some respect.
Of course, this respect is not about respecting the person sitting in this position, but about respecting the position and the era. From a certain perspective, this is wrong, but let alone feudal times, even if later generations are no longer feudal, the essence is the same most of the time.
That's why after Liu Tong abdicated and passed the throne to Liu Shan, there were bound to be some twists and turns. These twists and turns were not simply caused by Liu Tong's supporters, but more realistically, by some ambitious people who saw an opportunity and saw a profit to be made, and thus fueled the flames.
From a certain perspective, this is the most realistic and natural situation.
"This is a necessary test." Chen Xi's eyes were fixed ahead, but her pupils were clearly somewhat lifeless. It was obvious that Chen Xi was well aware of what this meant, but there were some things that had to be done.
"My suggestion is this: since this is a necessary test, I'll step down first, you help Liu Shan up, and then I'll step down too. This way, at least we can reduce some of the commotion. Although I don't like to stand on high ground and point fingers while saying that this is for the benefit of the people, I have to say it this time." Liu Tong had a look of utter despair, as if he had suddenly gone from being a hands-off manager to someone who had to consider the well-being of the people.
It can only be said that one should do one's duty in one's position. There's nothing one can do about it. Especially since Liu Tong has truly suffered, he still wants to do something. Even if he doesn't actively interfere, Liu Tong at least hopes that this prosperous era can continue, even if it means letting the people enjoy the benefits for a few more days.
If Liu Bei and Chen Xi had treated her as a puppet, she wouldn't have said these things. But since neither Liu Bei nor Chen Xi treated her as a puppet, she had to at least fulfill her responsibilities. This wasn't about Liu Tong being responsible for anything, but rather about being more realistic. Liu Tong understood his place—when I sit in this position, I must at least be responsible to this country and its people.
“If everyone retires at the same time, there will be big problems. Even if you do a good job of handing over power, the pressure on Liu Shan and Zhuge Liang will be immense. The new emperor and the old ministers, as well as the core of the central government, will all be replaced. This is very dangerous.” Liu Tong thought for a moment and then added a sentence, even though she knew that Chen Xi understood everything, but the other party had his own considerations.
"It seems you are well aware of how much turmoil there will be during the leadership transition, right?" Chen Xi said with a smile. "But without this, Your Highness, do you think A Dou and Kongming can cooperate seamlessly? Only those who have faced crises together can become comrades-in-arms. Without this, their mutual trust can only be within a certain range, and with only a certain range of mutual trust, they will shatter even more when facing real problems later on."
Chen Xi believed in Zhuge Liang's abilities and also believed in the limits of A Dou's delegation of power. However, this required a foundation of mutual trust. In this life, A Dou and Zhuge Liang had not experienced as much as they had. Even if there was a foundation of mutual trust, it was only at the level of a close personal relationship between ruler and subject, not at the level of a father and son.
Therefore, even though Chen Xi initially helped suppress it, it was bound to erupt sooner or later. No matter how good the personal relationship between ruler and minister is, they are not comrades-in-arms. Even if Liu Shan was magnanimous and benevolent, once he fell into some kind of scheme, it would be too difficult for Zhuge Liang to get out of it.
So it would be better to have the two of them team up from the beginning, and have one of them be a trial that can only be done by the two of them.
"Can Kongming withstand it?" Liu Tong went straight to the point. "For A Dou, those guys' goal is at most to take some power from this position and restrict the emperor's power as much as possible. There's unlikely to be any problems with the person; at most, there will be some distortion and adjustment of the rules. But what about Kongming?"
A Dou would absolutely not be in any danger. They wouldn't even attack him, but would use some special means to erode the emperor's authority and confine his power. However, considering reality, even if A Dou failed, he would only lose some power at most, which wouldn't be a big deal.
The problem lies with Zhuge Liang. Those people are truly capable of ousting Zhuge Liang. I can accept that I couldn't beat Chen Xi and his group, but how could I possibly lose to Chen Xi's successor after he's gone?
Therefore, Zhuge Liang will face very heavy attacks. This is a scene that the second generation of successors will inevitably experience after the first generation has passed away. It is a test and a backlash.
After all, the invincible first generation suppressed others and made them afraid to make any rash moves. After dragging out the time until the first generation died, the damage they suffered at the hands of the first generation would be returned to the second generation.
Of course, it's not that exaggerated, but in essence, whether it's the bureaucratic system, the aristocratic alliance, the so-called landlord class, or anything further down the line, even if they achieve fairness and integrity under the suppression of a super strong person, there will inevitably be an upward backlash force later on.
This is not a simple alliance, a group, or a collective. To put it bluntly, there was no aristocratic family alliance in the Han and Tang dynasties, and no civil official group in the Song and Ming dynasties. These things that were grouped together were only because they had the same interests and would unconsciously make the same choices in certain matters. This tendency made them appear to be a collective.
In fact, if you look at the Yang family selling off other families, the Yuan family selling off other families, the Cui family selling off other families, and the Wang family selling off other families, you can see that they are not an alliance. They are just like a group because of the same interests.
However, interests are limited, so alliances naturally tend to split, and they will fight each other to the death.
Conversely, due to their shared tendency, they can be considered as a unified whole in certain matters. For example, in suppressing imperial power and gaining greater benefits, they would naturally choose this path even without communication or exchange, only their methods would differ.
Similarly, Zhuge Liang would face this kind of targeted situation. In other words, the best way to suppress Liu Shan without harming him, and also to erase the terrifying mark left by the previous ruler, was to defeat Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang will certainly not die, but it is necessary for many people to remove him from the core circle of the second generation. Whether it is to suppress Liu Shan, to prove Chen Xi, or to prove Chen Xi's mistakes, etc., all these things are enough for them to try.
“We can hold out.” Chen Xi answered very formally. “It’s not about believing in such things, but a very realistic point: at that time, Kongming should be able to kill them all.”
Liu Tong was taken aback upon hearing this. Then, she turned to look at Chen Xi, who was originally just transmitting her thoughts. Was this some kind of horror story? Who else but you could kill all those guys? Even Liu Bei, with his method of annihilation by force, would inevitably have some who escaped. Only you could make them willingly die.
“It’s true. If nothing unexpected happens, Kongming should be able to kill them all by then. After all, the current direction is correct. The rest is just the puzzle pieces, and Kongming should have finished them by then.” Chen Xi gave a very serious and positive answer. “My choice of Kongming is not as complicated as you think. It’s just that Kongming is very strong.”
"Really..." Liu Tong was silent for a while after hearing this, and even stared at Zhuge Liang for a moment, but she did not feel that invincible in Zhuge Liang, or to put it more directly, Liu Tong acknowledged that Zhuge Liang was strong, but she did not think that Zhuge Liang had reached the level of a monster like Chen Xi.
"It's just a different approach. The method I use is unusable by others. Similarly, the method Kongming used is not easy for me to use either," Chen Xi said with a sigh. The military strength of the Four Saints, combined with the foundation left by Chen Xi, plus Zhuge Liang's superior domestic administration ability, was enough to conquer the world. After becoming invincible, he naturally had the means to deal with others.
"I see, that's good then." Liu Tong smiled. She didn't actually care about Zhuge Liang's rise to power. In fact, she said so much because she really hoped that this prosperous era could continue, preferably for another few decades or a hundred years, and ideally, it could continue forever.
Having experienced hardship, witnessed the suffering of others, and known that cannibalism had actually occurred at the bottom of society, and even personally witnessed those human tragedies, compared to the current prosperous era, not to mention Liu Tong, any normal person with a modicum of morality would hope that this prosperous era would continue.
"Watch the grand martial arts competition, the Xiongnu are about to leave." Chen Xi transmitted his voice to Liu Tong. He wasn't really bothered by Zhuge Liang's matter. In Chen Xi's view, the future development of this matter was already determined. He had left behind the foundation, the plans, and the teammates for Zhuge Liang. More importantly, Chen Xi had chosen the opponent for Zhuge Liang, or more accurately, the cushion.
"I suddenly remembered something." Before the chain broke, Liu Tong suddenly realized something. After all, the talent of playing with silk threads is indeed quite extraordinary. As long as Liu Tong is willing, there are basically no blind spots in his thinking. So he quickly realized something else.
"If you remember, don't ask anymore. Just wait and see. There are still ten years to go. Maybe things won't turn out the way I expect in ten years." Chen Xi already knew what Liu Tong wanted to ask, so he immediately interrupted Liu Tong's question. Well, some things can't be said.
"Ah, it really is, Zichuan, aren't you going a bit too far sometimes?" Liu Tong was silent for a while after hearing this, before transmitting his voice to Chen Xi and saying, "Are you really not afraid of being chased and killed?"
"It wasn't me who did it. I just saw this possibility. After all, with Kongming chosen as the core of the next generation, I would definitely keep an eye on who would challenge him," Chen Xi replied calmly. "It wasn't me who instigated it. What did I do wrong? Is this my problem?"
"Would you give me some pointers?" Liu Tong asked in a muffled voice.
"Why should I give you pointers?" Chen Xi said realistically. "We're all adults, and I've already given you pointers many times. Let me put it this way, I'm not the kind of person who would punish someone without teaching them. And Your Highness, you know that I really have given you pointers many times."
Liu Tong was speechless upon hearing this. To be honest, Chen Xi had indeed given him many pointers, but he never learned his lesson, or more directly, he still had some reservations. However, compared to others who no longer wanted to get involved with Chen Xi, the fact that he could still hold on made him an exceptional individual.
"Sigh, Zichuan, I think you should tone it down a bit and give them some face. Everyone has their difficulties, and besides, the other party isn't..." Liu Tong hesitated for a moment, trying his best to persuade them from his own perspective, but as he spoke, Liu Tong didn't know what to say anymore, and it didn't seem right either.
"See? You can't keep going now. This really isn't my fault," Chen Xi said with a light laugh. "Some things are self-inflicted. I gave them choices, guidance, opportunities, and a lot of help, but it seems that these things have also emboldened them, to the point that they seem to look down on everyone except me. I guess this is just a final pull."
"You call that helping someone out?" Liu Tong's eyebrows shot up. Even Liu Tong was a little angry at these words. This was what they called helping someone out?
“Why not?” Chen Xi said with a smile. “It’s also important to make people face reality. They’ve already accepted reality by losing to me, but they’ll still consider themselves the best of their generation and look down on others. So let them lose to the next generation. That way, we can completely solve their mentality problem.”
"..." Liu Tong was speechless. Is this how you treat a mental illness? Are you afraid that the other party won't die? What do you mean by losing to you? Losing too many times makes one accept reality, but one will still look down on others equally. So let them lose to the next generation. This will shatter one's Dao heart.
"Isn't this a good thing? If you really want to talk about it, this is the simplest way to solve the problem." Chen Xi's eyes were as calm as water. If the other party didn't do it, Chen Xi wouldn't encourage them, but if they did, he wouldn't stop them. From Chen Xi's perspective, this was all advantageous. Since that was the case, why not just go with the flow? Moreover, Chen Xi had a clear feeling that after Zhuge Liang truly took charge of the central government as the second-generation core ten years later, the other party would definitely test him.
After all, when Chen Xi was around, he would always test the waters, and actively at that, sending greetings every now and then. Zhuge Liang? Where did this guy come from? The Langya Zhuge clan, what level do you think you are to sit at the same table with me? Get lost!
As long as the other party made a move to test the waters, given the situation at the time, a group of people would inevitably flock to him. After all, no matter what, that guy was the most powerful person of this era, and even now, one can honestly say that he was one of the most powerful individuals.
Therefore, as long as the other side takes the lead, there will definitely be a group of people who have the same idea following along, forming a force no less powerful than Lu Su back then, and then charging forward.
Based on Chen Xi's understanding of the other party, as arrogant as he was, he wouldn't care at all what these guys who had jumped on his coattails were thinking, even though he knew perfectly well!
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