Chapter 80

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"May I ask, Sir, where do you come from?" Chen Xi smiled and bowed to the drunkard, unable to be too lenient with a talented drunkard.

"Chen Zichuan?" The drunkard tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then asked, "I come from the north."

Chen Xi was startled. He had not revealed his identity, so how did this guy figure it out? He then turned his head and glanced around, understanding the situation. Not far away, a fat man with a large waist was holding a knife and staring at this place.

After hearing the drunkard say he was from the north, Chen Xi instantly understood, "Guo Fengxiao?"

"How did you know?" The drunkard asked curiously, but without much surprise.

"Fa Xiaozhi, though young, is not someone who can be easily refuted. And someone from the north, with a figure and age like yours, and reeking of alcohol, a carefree and unrestrained scholar, the only person I can think of is Guo Fengxiao." Chen Xi laughed heartily, "I didn't expect that today, Lord Xuande's talent recruitment platform would finally attract a great sage."

"Even in the newly built Taishan, intelligence has not been overlooked. Chen Zichuan truly lives up to his reputation as a genius of the age. But back when Prince Yan Zhao had the Qingyu case banquet, what kind of treatment could I, Guo Fengxiao, receive?" Guo Jia said with a playful smile.

Speaking of which, Guo Jia had been in Taishan for half a month and had traveled around the area. Because of this, he was very satisfied with Liu Bei, who dared to delegate power, valued talent, and did not judge people by conventional standards. Compared to Liu Bei, Yuan Shao was just a hypocrite.

Today, while he was lounging in a nearby tavern watching the talent recruitment, he saw Fa Zheng. This child made Guo Jia feel a sense of familiarity; he himself was once just as smart and arrogant.

However, Guo Jia thought that when he was that age, this child was a bit lacking. Hmm, probably because he hadn't seen the world, or rather, he hadn't met anyone smarter than him who could intellectually dominate him.

Beating up children was one of Guo Jia's perverse pleasures, and beating up high-IQ children gave him even more pleasure. Back in the day, he was constantly beaten up by others, and the one who beat him told him that only through constant beatings could high-IQ children continuously grow.

Guo Jia quickly came down from the tavern because he had already seen that the guy who was likely Chen Zichuan also had the idea of beating up children. Seeing a child so arrogant, it would be unnatural not to give him a slap, and high-quality children like this were rare...

Sure enough, the arrogant child didn't need any provocation; he started the battle right away, quoting classics and histories. Guo Jia almost couldn't hold his ground, breaking out in a cold sweat. If he couldn't beat up the child and instead got beaten, it would be embarrassing. Fortunately, when the child switched to discussing the state of the world and strategic planning, Guo Jia was familiar with it. He was very proficient in this area, and even the one who used to beat him up couldn't defeat him in this. A series of combinations left the child stunned, completely defenseless, and with a look of enlightenment. Guo Jia sighed, patted his shoulder, shook his head slightly, and walked away.

As he walked away, Guo Jia felt a great sense of accomplishment. He finally understood why that bastard used to do this every time. High-quality children were rare, and these guys were tenacious. He estimated that in a couple of days, they would come back for more.

Beating up a child to the point of near-death, then letting him get some inspiration from his words, and watching the child work hard to read and study, and then come back to fight again, only to be beaten up again, and the cycle would repeat.

Guo Jia thought about how he himself was once so foolish. From the age of fourteen, when he first showed his talent, he started getting beaten up. The worst part was that despite his intelligence, he was beaten up by that bastard for five years. Each time, he would go with full confidence and return in a daze, and the cycle would repeat.

Turning to look at Fa Zheng, he estimated that he could beat up this guy for a few years. The poor kid, according to Guo Jia's estimate, if he wasn't beaten up by him, it would take another five to six years for him to be able to withstand Guo Jia's strategic planning, and to surpass him would depend on luck.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm, Prince Yan Zhao's talent recruitment on the Gold Platform and the Qingyu case banquet are nothing!" Chen Xi shook his head. There was no need to be overly polite with a rogue like Guo Jia. The more arrogant and comfortable, the better.

"So what? The Qingyu case is quite valuable, worth a lot of gold." Guo Jia patted his money bag, indicating that he was currently broke.

Chen Xi felt the veins on his forehead pulsing, "What about your literary integrity? Shouldn't you be ashamed to talk about money?"

"Confucius didn't feel ashamed, so why should Zichuan feel ashamed?" Guo Jia said with a righteous face, looking very much like a righteous scholar at that moment.

"Oh, I feel ashamed that you said that, not that you talked about money. The focus is on you. As for what I want you to see, hmm, wait, Lord Xuande is coming soon." After Fa Zheng was refuted, Chen Xi ordered Zang Ba, who was in charge of the talent recruitment platform, to notify Liu Bei. He thought that Liu Bei would arrive shortly.

Chen Xi's thinking was different from most people in this world. In his view, a ruler didn't need to handle too many daily affairs. The ruler's job was to maintain the balance among subordinates, place suitable subordinates in suitable positions, and gather all the strength, while serving as a spiritual symbol for the people.

These ideas Chen Xi carefully instilled in Liu Bei, and it seemed that Liu Bei was doing very well. He only did what he was good at, sat in the center, distributed government affairs, and served as a spiritual symbol for the people. Every task Liu Bei accomplished perfectly.

This was the king Chen Xi needed, and as long as he could maintain it, as the governance area expanded over time, the final ascent to the throne would be without resistance. From an uncrowned king to a crowned emperor, no one could stop him, because the driving force would no longer be the officials, but the common people!

Because of this, Liu Bei didn't handle too many affairs. Most of the time, he just trained the new army with Yu Jin, and the rest of the time, he arranged for every scholar or hero who came to Taishan.

This was a special request from Chen Xi. Regardless of the strength of the scholars or warriors, Liu Bei had to handle them personally. Some historically famous figures would be given a separate banquet by Liu Bei, while the rest, Chen Xi specifically instructed Liu Bei to give a collective banquet and send them out of Fengao City after recruiting and arranging them, so that everyone could feel Liu Bei's sincerity.

Liu Bei was very good at this. Originally, the poor scholars and powerful warriors who came to Taishan were impressed by Liu Bei's courage, and after the banquet, everyone felt Liu Bei's benevolence and sincerity, naturally becoming more grateful and willing to serve him with their lives!

Naturally, Liu Bei clearly felt the power of the banquet and personally sending them out of the city. If originally they were 80% loyal, after Liu Bei showed such respect for talent, they were almost ready to cut open their chests to prove their loyalty...

Of course, Liu Bei also discovered that this strategy seemed to have the effect of attracting more talent. Every time a batch of people was sent away, someone would be so grateful that they would bring their friends to Liu Bei, so Liu Bei was even more enthusiastic about it.

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