Mythical Three Kingdoms

As Chen Xi informed Liu Bei of the matter, what was originally Zhang Fei’s proposal for a major drill turned into a grand military parade, a heavenly sacrifice, and other comprehensive political tasks, swiftly organized by Chen Xi.

This meant that Liu Bei planned to win a wave of popular and military support, and naturally, he wanted neighbors like Cao Cao and Sunx Ce to feel his power.

Although Liu Bei expressed that the expenses were a bit too much, blah blah blah, when Chen Xi brought out the ledger and pointed at the various military supplies listed, Liu Bei waved his hand grandly, "Do it, make it glorious," he said, acknowledging that after so many years, even a poor family deserved to indulge a bit, hiding things away wouldn’t do!

With Liu Bei’s decision, the timing was set for after the autumn harvest, and Chen Xi began spreading the word, mobilizing troops, arming the army, and notifying all generals for exercises. Of course, he couldn’t forget to inform Cao Cao, Liu Zhang, Sunx Ce, inviting them to send people to join in the spectacle.

While they would receive relevant intelligence even if they didn’t send anyone, witnessing it firsthand was quite different from reading about it on paper.

Various elites and armies were drawn in advance, and soon Ye City gradually gathered two hundred thousand troops with elite talent, leaving Zhang Fei, who initially proposed the idea, feeling his eyes would roll out.

Of course, achieving this alone exhausted Chen Xi to no end; venue arrangements, logistics, personnel organization, all sorts of miscellaneous matters, it was utterly despairing. Fortunately, the workaholic Lub Su lent a hand, allowing progress without major oversight.

"Uh, Zilong, what’s up, how’s the training of the White Horse Soldiers?" Exhausted, Chen Xi raised his hand slightly as he saw the silver-armored elder handsome Zhao Yun, tiredly speaking.

"It’s alright." Zhao Yun looked at the almost exhausted Chen Xi with a gloomy expression.

Chen Xi, lying on the desk, silently used force from his waist to pop his upper body straight up, swaying slightly as he spoke, "What’s wrong, is there something you need?"

"Um, Zichuan, could you lend me some money?" Zhao Yun said awkwardly, he had patched together funds from various places but still lacked half the amount. It’s peculiar for someone who had reached the level of Marquis to be short on money, indeed.

"Ha, speaking rationally, wasn’t it just Harvest Festival a while back? The shops at Mount Tai should have just given you a sum of rent money, logically speaking that amounts to three to four million coins." Chen Xi said with a puzzled face, recalling Zhao Yun was an Elder when land shares were distributed back then.

It’s known that after Chen Xi took office, credit currency was bound to the Five Coin Money, with very reliable purchasing power. Three to four million coins, for someone like Zhao Yun whose food and drink were state-supported, might not be spent in a lifetime.

"Cough cough, still somewhat short." Zhao Yun said awkwardly, he found his dowry aiming at the gifts for the Feudal Lords was inadequate. Just the basics of two Jade Bi Discs were enough to give him a headache, although merely waving could find many willing to offer them to Zhao Yun, truly something against Zhao Yun’s character.

"A wedding? When’s the date? Speaking of which, normally you’d notify beforehand about such an occasion, how come I haven’t heard an exact date until now? We’ve heard lots about your wedding news, but the precise day remains unknown." Chen Xi curiously asked.

"Next month, I’ve completed the Three Books and Six Etiquettes, with just the pre-wedding dowry left, that’s intended for gift to the bride’s family next month." Zhao Yun said awkwardly, noting once done with the etiquette, his family was down to just a house and land.

Zhao Yun said the main reason he hadn’t confirmed the wedding date was uncertainty about when he’d gather enough money, thinking his income should suffice in a few months, but as time dragged, realized it couldn’t wait anymore, decisively borrowing money.

Actually, Zhao Yun, once a bachelor noble, boasting family assets worth billions wasn’t hype. Well, mainly because of the Mount Tai land allocation, cash amounted to well over a thousand million coins.

Yet, over a thousand million coins sufficed for Zhao Yun’s expenditure; for a bachelor noble commanding a territory’s troop, spending was unnecessary.

Well, the root lay in the fact that during bachelorhood no spending was needed; hence, as a wealthy general, Zhao Yun rewarded his soldiers and trusted aides generously.

The perk of fighting alongside Zhao Yun was evident, if victorious, the credit wouldn’t be siphoned, and Zhao Yun himself would provide rewards, highly securing military morale.

However, such actions resulted in Zhao Yun facing insufficiency for wedding funds, surely partly owing to investment with Qu Qi, who absconded with the money.

As back then, bachelor noble Zhao Yun cared little about spending, living on state provisions with carefree extravagance, large sums of silver coins were casually expended, without regard for tomorrow’s living, funds exhausted meant living in barracks, or seeking hospitality elsewhere.

Then, they were all single, today I treat, tomorrow you treat, today Bronze Cauldron boiled lamb, tomorrow charcoal-grilled rib steak, they drank and lived for the moment, never pondering the morrow.

At that time, Zhao Yun’s carefree life had no issues, living meant joy, earning money anew once spent, thus earlier years Zhao Yun barely saved, until recently discovering others either had children or were wed.

Once, looking around Liu Bei’s upper echelons, you would see a sea of bachelors, but now it seems only a few remain.

Even his nephew Guan Ping has a concubine now, making Zhao Yun suddenly realize he couldn’t just muddle along any longer. Resolutely, he started saving money, accumulating ten million in a year, figuring there would be no problem in marrying a legal wife. Then, the money was swindled away by Qu Qi.

Thinking back on that situation, Zhao Yun felt like an idiot for getting his money swindled by Qu Qi, who was now nowhere to be found.

Originally, it wasn’t a big deal. After all, though Zhao Yun had no savings, his earning speed was close to a billion annually, which was no joke. Saving for two years, even if Zhao Yun wanted to marry someone with the ceremonies of the Feudal Lords, it wouldn’t be an issue.

After all, when a Marquis married in this era, they didn’t just spend all at once. During the six-month waiting period, to put it bluntly, it was an installment payment. Zhao Yun said he could completely handle it.

However, having his wife’s fund swindled by Qu Qi was one thing, but Zhao Yun even wanted to marry two at once, which naturally made the already tight funds completely insufficient. Breaking up the marriage was out of the question; Zhao Yun resolutely gave up, as it would only cause family conflicts.

Thus, when the new policy on drilling soldiers was issued, Zhao Yun decisively returned to Ye City to borrow money, first seeking loans from familiar people. Among them, the most familiar and richest was undoubtedly Chen Xi.

Chen Xi sized up Zhao Yun. Frankly speaking, over the past few years, Zhao Yun had been winning battles everywhere, defeating various top-notch warriors without a single loss. With seized resources, even using a standard distribution method, Zhao Yun should have amassed wealth exceeding hundreds of millions. Yet here he was, out of money.

"Cough cough, I previously funded Hanmou’s research." Zhao Yun coughed lightly twice, trying to cover his embarrassment, as he honestly didn’t even know where the big sum had gone.

"Go to the Money Exchange to withdraw part of your stipend." Chen Xi, understanding the mentality of a single noble who doesn’t save money, was very empathetic to Zhao Yun’s current mindset.

"I withdrew the stipend that year." Zhao Yun said that when he had taken Ma Yunlu around, he withdrew a large amount.

"That was just the tip of the iceberg, don’t worry." Chen Xi glanced at Zhao Yun and said casually.

The easiest way to make money in business? High-tech products? You clearly don’t understand. The easiest is collusion between officials and businessmen, especially when it involves someone like Chen Xi, whose national policies he orchestrates himself. If it were purely business-motivated, such a straightforward matter couldn’t be explained further.

Therefore, Chen Xi wouldn’t lose money, nor would he really take it to make money. In fact, he provided fixed-amount finance planning for Zhao Yun and others. Alright, if real investment were involved, it wouldn’t be called risk investment, but playing rogue.

Thus, how much a surfed one million in investments stuffed into one’s pocket could generate wasn’t determined by market trends, but by how high a rate Chen Xi intended to set.

"I initially spent two million coins!" Zhao Yun said incredulously.

Chen Xi thought for a moment, and if calculated by the current economic breadth, from starting as a pauper to owning one-tenth of Mount Tai’s assets, Zhao Yun, originally holding such stocks, now at Liu Bei’s Faction sweeping across, holding a tenth of the initial stock, could even take on Central Plains’ wealthy merchants with a flick.

Of course, that was impossible, but accounting for Chen Xi’s miraculous operation skills, solely calculating growth rate, Zhao Yun’s initial investment of tens of thousands of coins now increased by roughly one to several hundred thousand times, including land and other assets, the value should be even higher.

"A mere two million coins..." Chen Xi chuckled, "How much do you want to borrow? However, I will deduct it from your stipend later."

Zhao Yun couldn’t understand why Chen Xi had that expression, but as soon as Chen Xi spoke, whatever number Zhao Yun filled out would be genuine.

"Ten million coins, mainly to buy a Jade Bi Disc, the item has already been decided." Zhao Yun said, a bit awkwardly, knowing that sending double the gifts in such matters was quite costly.

"Alright, no problem. Later, Zilong, you’ll be someone with a family." Chen Xi joked, helping Zhao Yun write a note, "When the time comes, I’ll give you a generous gift."

"By the way, Zichuan, I haven’t seen Xingba for two years." After signing the note, Zhao Yun no longer appeared embarrassed, regaining his usual calm demeanor.

"Hmm, he has some matters to attend to." Chen Xi’s face darkened for a moment upon hearing, but he quickly recovered, showing no sign for Zhao Yun to notice. Instead, he laughed, "Are you waiting for a gift from Xingba?"

Feeling awkward, Zhao Yun realized he couldn’t say he, who was recently so poor that his eyes turned red, was waiting for Gan Xingba’s gift money. After all, compared to other military officers, Gan Ning was a real tycoon. At Chen Xi’s wedding, the gifts Gan Ning gave, including jewels, were counted by the bushel.