Chapter 2401: The Right People for the Job

Chapter 2401: Chapter 2119: The Right People for the Job

“Don’t worry, every single one of them is very obedient,” Liu Yan said with a smile.

“You didn’t use some unconventional methods, did you?” Chen Xi looked at Liu Yan suspiciously and said. Ever since the issue with Ji Xiang came up, Chen Xi had been a bit concerned about this.

Hopefully Liu Yan didn’t also resort to methods like drug control and brainwashing. That would be a bit too much. Actually, Liu Yan doesn’t really reject this sort of thing, to be accurate, Chen Xi hasn’t noticed Li Youu rejecting it either. Li Youu just considers it dangerous.

“I do want to use some unconventional methods, but I can’t even meet Madame Lub’s people.” Liu Yan said in frustration, as one of the Twelve Elders of civil officials, although he only manages publicity and doesn’t interfere with other matters, many things require him to be present.

Thus, Sunx Qian now actually knows what’s going on with those Hu People, but judging from Sunx Qian’s indifferent expression, you can tell what he thinks. But it’s understandable; regarding the Hu People, the Han Dynasty here doesn’t really care, even though many people disapprove of the methods of Gongsun Zan, only a few truly oppose it; others don’t care at all.

“Weishuo, don’t go too far,” Lub Su lifted his eyelids and said, although he doesn’t really reject brainwashing itself, he still protects his own wife, because this kind of ability can really be too dangerous if left unchecked.

“Just joking,” Liu Yan said with a smile, but no matter how you look at it, there was no expression of joking on his face. It’s evident Liu Yan definitely considered it this way, just hasn’t had the chance to meet Ji Xiang.

“Alright, Zichuan, don’t worry. Weishuo just took out a batch of Mountain-moving Warriors leaders, didn’t use Madame Lub’s method, even though both of us agree that Madame Lub’s method is more reliable.” Sunx Qian quickly pulled the topic back when he saw the few of them starting to stray.

Sunx Qian is also quite busy. A while ago, tens of thousands of people were tasked with building resettlement housing. Fortunately, all resettlement houses were required to be identical. After working for a while, they became proficient, working overtime at night, rotating in three shifts, and they barely completed the resettlement houses before Liu Ye finished the village merging.

This is still due to the specialization of resettlement housing, easy construction, modular manufacturing without affecting each other, etc. Even so, Sunx Qian rushed hard but still had some citizens come over while the resettlement houses were still not dry. But it’s fine, it’s not a big issue.

In short, Sunx Qian figured it out that the closer it gets to unification, the more things Chen Xi has to do, like convergence, gradually focusing to a single point at this time, making everyone’s work denser and dense, but it will get better after passing this point.

“Oh, killed a batch of Mountain-moving Warriors,” Chen Xi nodded upon hearing this. Liu Yan isn’t a naive good person; if he wants to make a move, he can be tough.

“Bah, those guys digging up Extinct Family Tombs, they deserve to die.” Liu Yan snorted disdainfully at tomb robbers. Frankly, if it weren’t for knowing Chen Xi has use for these people, Liu Yan’s habit would probably demand executing all these tens of thousands of tomb robbers.

Even in this era where living like dying, even in later generations, digging up ancestral tombs makes descendants eager to kill tomb robbers daring to dig graves.

Plus, Liu Yan’s thinking pattern tends to be extreme; simply put, his view on criminals is, since you chose crime, don’t talk about human rights, he often circled Mann Chong hoping he would increase sentences.

Originally, if it was just increasing sentences to further raise the crime cost, carefully considering such matters might actually possibly pass, but the issue is Liu Yan pursues governance over legal systems, naturally getting chased out by Mann Chong leading a group.

You’re a random governance pursuer talking about increasing sentences and raising crime costs? Random governance inherently means noble blabbering, random governance pursuer get lost, legal system is the most stable and suitable system for mankind, random governance is only suitable to assist legal systems, pure governance relies entirely on moral standards, this kind of noble rogue system, scram!

Before humanity’s moral standards reach an extremely high level, when mentioning pure governance it’s either nonsensical or intentional.

All things considered, after that, Liu Yan stopped proposing governance. Besides propaganda which he can manage excellently, he causes trouble whenever he involves other areas but he luckily has self-awareness, rarely speaking in areas he isn’t skilled at.

“Alright, let’s move on from this topic. Concerning Madame Lub’s matter, let’s avoid mentioning it, though everyone knows, that approach isn’t quite good,” Chen Xi sighed.

While brainwashing a group to work is indeed quite effective, there’s still a need for a baseline regarding one’s own people, not to mention Chen Xi released this to counter psychology in the first place. If it keeps going astray, it won’t be beneficial.

“We’ve already conducted military training for those tomb robbers, now they are barely usable, and compared to maintaining a lifetime hidden identity, our proposal is quite tempting.” Sunx Qian said steadily, although Ji Xiang isn’t around, he’s capable of incentivizing tomb robbers’ enthusiasm through other methods.

After all, Sunx Qian has managed basic construction for many years, managing a significant number of people; having undergone trials, he has his assurances for many tomb robbers who trust him, of course, Liu Yan acts as the dark face for this.

“Actually, at this point, if it were just road construction and conventional basic construction, we wouldn’t come to you. This underground infrastructure work we have never done before, even though we referred to some imperial palace underground infrastructure materials, we still need to work together with you for the planning phase before daring to proceed with large scale construction, because compared to buildings above ground, this is quite challenging.” Sunx Qian focused the conversation back and explained reasons.

“Speaking of which, ideally pipelines should be laid before construction; unfortunately, the cities have already been built, dismantling them to lay pipelines would be too costly, tomb robbers are the best choice for this task, but to complete it within five years, I’d be so grateful,” Chen Xi said helplessly.

“Here’s the issue, plus it’s underground work, putting aside the danger of engineering, even the accuracy of a project alone is quite problematic.” Sunx Qian also looked conflicted; undertaking this is truly difficult thus the first construction must involve Chen Xi.

“I’m no expert either, at most I’ll accompany you guys to monitor.” Chen Xi said honestly.

“It’s alright, just monitor the first stage project with us, after completing it, we will have the experience needed, and won’t require further involvement.” Sunx Qian didn’t mind; Chen Xi lacking expertise wasn’t surprising, considering that this task hasn’t been done before, Chen Xi approached it from a waste utilization perspective.

“Hmm, the first stage project?” Chen Xi thought for a while, nodding. “Alright, did you find those experts I asked you to look for who understand mechanics, water management, and are skilled at preventing urban flooding?”

“Of course, we found them,” Liu Yan said smugly. “But we don’t dare send him to the frontline. He’s quite old though still robust; no one currently surpasses him in water management, and it was he who came forward with suggestions for the overall plan of the Grand Canal.”

“And there’s actually such a person?” Chen Xi looked puzzled.

“Indeed, Sang Chief, he’s the author of Water Classic.” Sunx Qian nodded; initially, they assumed that families with legacies like Langyue Royal Family and Li Family of Sichuan and Shu were the big figures in water management, but evidently, there’s someone even greater in this world.

“Uh, he wrote the Water Classic?” Chen Xi was stunned; if he’s the author of Water Classic, then this isn’t just a big figure, this is practically an ancient giant, right?

Many people may not have heard of Water Classic, but have heard of Commentary on the Water Classic; it annotates Water Classic.

Although Li Daoyuan added a few parts, the essence remains as Water Classic’s outline, and Commentary on the Water Classic is one of the most comprehensive and systematic ancient geographic works of China, thus estimating the strength of that era’s Water Classic author roughly paints a picture.

Despite being limited by the period using bamboo slips for writing, with over ten thousand words unable to register overly detailed content, at the time China had 137 rivers, all recorded.

This is why even the Li Family and Wang Family boasting oftentimes were overwhelmed by Sang Qin who came from Luoyang and beat them down; according to Liu Yan, unless Li Family and Wang Family’s ancestors resurrect, presumably no one can compare to Sang Qin.

“Right, Elder Sang is currently at my home, I dare not let him wander; although a diviner named Liu Liang says he can live to 101, with thirty years of lifespan left, I’m not letting this eighty-year-old elder roam.” Liu Yan felt immense pressure, used to entertaining guests in their thirties or forties, now confronted with eighty-year-old Sang Qin, Liu Yan felt fearful.

“What’s he doing now?” Chen Xi asked curiously.

“He’s rewriting Water Classic in my side room, saying he traveled the nation back then but was limited by bamboo slips unable to write too detailed, taking advantage of himself not being confused yet, he intends to write all his nationwide observations and prepare a fifty thousand-word manuscript.” Liu Yan sighed speaking, sure enough, a guy who traveled the nation without incident, physical condition is indeed robust.