CHAPTER 1100: CHAPTER 1056: THE MOMENTUM OF STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

"Ah, a leaf knows that autumn is coming." Zhou Yu thought silently. He had long realized that Liu Bei would be extremely difficult to deal with, but seeing him in person made it even more daunting.

"No wonder the aristocratic families have been restraining themselves lately, no wonder many unprincipled actions have gradually been curbed, the source lies here." Zhou Yu pondered silently, his heart filled with deep admiration.

It is indeed difficult to make the aristocratic families empathize with the common people. It is even harder to make them appear upright and honest. But compared to the strength Liu Bei is showing now, all of that seems much easier.

The aristocratic families seek survival, and better survival, not destruction in the manner of a fish in a net. In the face of Liu Bei’s absolutely powerful position, the aristocrats must display goodwill; without such goodwill, survival is impossible.

Precisely because of this powerful goodwill, the behavior of the aristocratic families has been significantly restrained. Chaos in troubled times is due to lack of order; when an absolutely powerful force establishes order, it ceases to be chaotic times.

In other words, since the Heavenly Cauldron came into Liu’s hands, the land is practically no longer chaotic but has returned to a set of rules prescribed by strong authority!

No matter how stringent the rules, they are far better than total chaos without rules. Moreover, the rules Liu Bei has set are not considered harsh; on the contrary, as long as one is willing to mend their ways, Liu Bei is open to acceptance.

The collective is more realistic than the individual; collective thinking is more rational, whereas individuals tend to be more emotional. Therefore, in the face of survival versus destruction, the aristocratic families choose survival, rather than seeking a hopeless possibility leading to destruction. Consequently, as Liu Bei rose to power without depending on the aristocratic families, they have become more restrained in their actions.

This is also the reason why the era is gradually becoming stable. Would you do good deeds if someone pointed a gun at your head and forced you? Especially when there is already a group of presumptuous people lying dead in front of you.

This is why the social environment within the Han Dynasty has been trending towards harmony, or at least stability, because the largest supporter of bandits, the greatest colluder with officials and criminals, and the biggest land annexers, have all restrained their actions since the strongest force is reckoning with them.

A force strong enough to seemingly operate independently of the aristocratic families, openly threatening them to cease their dangerous behaviors, and then resolving conflicts through the method of "persuading with virtue."

Well, Chen Xi admits that his "persuading with virtue" is entirely based on the huge disparity in power. The most obvious point is that when he visited Yingchuan before, he was the same person as now, yet back then no one listened; now, whatever he says is easily understood by others.

Similarly, many strategies are extremely difficult to counter when one’s strength is slightly weaker or about equal to the opponent’s. But when one’s strength far exceeds the opponent’s, regardless of the myriad cunning plans, I can break them with sheer force!

Just like in Yanzhou, Ju Shou’s plotting had no flaws, but Chen Xi did not even think about it and attacked Ju Shou directly. It didn’t matter; even if they were all enemies, there was no fear of failure. What’s there to worry about?

As seen in Fa Zheng’s expedition against Yuzhou, every step was extremely accurate. He even thought that by combining forces from Jingzhou, Yizhou, and the Zhuge clan, he could eradicate Sun Ce in one swoop, or at least dampen Sun Ce’s flourishing momentum. But what was the outcome?

Zhou Yu indeed followed Fa Zheng’s plan, but Sun Ce reversed the strategy with tactics, directly demolishing Yizhou’s army. Then Zhou Yu took control of Jingzhou; it can be said that if Kuai Yue hadn’t dug the Yangtze River to flood Jing-Xiang, Zhou Yu would surely have had the strength to raise an army and reclaim Yu Province. In that battle, Zhou Yu and Fa Zheng had won, but Jingzhou lost.

Whether the strategists or commanders on both sides were stronger or weaker cannot be seen just by victory or defeat. Wang Jian fought Li Mu five times and won three, but that doesn’t mean Wang Jian was stronger than Li Mu. Weak forces rely on ingenious strategies, while in times of strength, the simplest way to win is by regular soldiers.

This is the so-called power dynamics. It’s evident that Liu Bei indeed is extremely strong, so it’s natural for many aristocratic families to learn to bow down. Of course, those purely foolish like Yuan Shu should be excluded, and those like the Cao Family, Xiahou Family, Sun Family, and Zhou Family who came to gather intelligence should also be excluded.

But even so, there’s still thirty percent of the aristocratic families who have not come. They’re not die-hard loyalists of Cao Cao or Sun Ce; their reasons are simple. In a positive sense, they claim to rather be shattered as jade than survive as tiles. In a negative sense, they’re sticking to old traditions, planning to be crushed by the wheels of history.

This is why Chen Xi was satisfied with seventy percent who came. Alright, later some left, leaving sixty percent. Regardless of what mindset this sixty percent of the aristocratic families have, at least they are willing to be "persuaded with virtue" under Chen Xi’s authoritative support!

Since they have come and bowed down, these aristocratic families have already prepared to follow Chen Xi’s directives. Having bowed down for survival, there’s no need to keep standing rigidly.

Chen Xi desires harmony, and the aristocratic families, reaching this point, naturally wish to offer Chen Xi harmonious relations. For the aristocratic families, everything they’re doing now is for a better future. Without this period of dormancy, what future could there be?

This is also why Chen Xi offers benefits to the aristocratic families. He seeks not a white-eyed wolf; as long as they’re human, coordination is possible. While the aristocratic families are bowing down, he lets them genuinely accept the rules Liu Bei set and enjoy benefits from them.

Of course, there will surely be some who jump out, but where there is rain and dew, there will naturally be thunder and lightning. Strategies are prepared, not even needing Chen Xi to do them, a think tank—a complete think tank capable of responding to any unexpected situations.

Upon witnessing Liu Bei’s complete infrastructure under his governance, the reasonably distributed irrigation network, and the educational system benefitting everywhere, Zhou Yu felt an overwhelming suppression and could instantly see through the behavior of the aristocratic families.

"Half of the aristocratic families have sided with Liu Bei; the remaining half belongs to the forces we can unite with. However, our approach to uniting the aristocratic families is completely different from Liu Bei’s; Liu Bei is adjusting the aristocratic families..." Zhou Yu thought to himself.

Zhou Yu was already making plans in his mind, "To counter Liu Bei, it’s inevitable to unite with the aristocratic families, and merely uniting with them won’t be enough; there’s also a need to unite with Cao Cao. Considering the previous call from a distance, Cao Cao should have already made plans, now just waiting for his response."

"Regardless of your strength, without a single confrontation, we absolutely won’t give up. If you are so forceful in establishing rules during chaotic times, then come and see whether it’s you, Chen Zichuan, giving others a chance or you completely shattering old systems to build new ones on the ruins."

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