Chapter 976: The Meeting

"It's been long enough. Time to go take a look," Guo Jia remarked, noticing Chen Xi's somewhat dejected expression. He couldn't help but feel speechless. Everything had been fine between Chen Xi and Zhen Mi, but for some reason, Chen Xi had abruptly ended it, and now he was constantly distracted.

"What are we going to look at?" Chen Xi collected his thoughts and asked Guo Jia. His mind had been elsewhere lately.

"What do you think?" Guo Jia glanced at Chen Xi, took a sip of wine, and continued, "The envoy from Gongsun Shengji has been waiting for days."

"Oh, give me the dossier. I’ll skim through it and then go meet them. Also, let the heads of the aristocratic families know that I’ll hold the end-of-year meeting in ten days. And if Xingba returns, notify me immediately," Chen Xi said as he slightly relaxed, acknowledging that he still had plenty to deal with.

Without looking, Guo Jia pulled out a few prepared documents from his sleeve and handed them to Chen Xi. "Gongsun Shengji sent a whole envoy, but the key figures are his son and Liang Bo Fang."

Chen Xi skimmed the documents, quickly grasping the essentials. However, he was slightly surprised by how detailed their intelligence network was, even uncovering Gongsun Gong's hidden illness. Jia Xu truly had no limits.

"As for the year-end meeting, the heads of the aristocratic families are likely getting impatient by now," Guo Jia added with a smile, recalling the growing number of families gathering in Ye City. Things were no longer as they once were; with the clear shift in power towards Liu Bei, the great families no longer dared to hedge their bets recklessly.

"Have any of the families I’ve been waiting for shown up?" Chen Xi asked without looking up. For several years, a few prominent families had been conspicuously absent.

"They’re all here now. The Yang family, the Yuan family, the Taiyuan Wang family—those that couldn't appear openly have sent representatives," Guo Jia said with some emotion. "Even the Xiahou and Sun families have sent members from their collateral branches, though you understand the significance."

"It seems like almost all the major families are here. After taking the first step towards unifying the realm, I can finally prepare to take the second step," Chen Xi said, his earlier gloom slowly dissipating, now replaced by a sense of resolution.

"Zichuan, can you level with me? What exactly are you planning? You've already taken what most would call the first step toward unifying the world, yet you say it’s only the beginning. What is your ultimate goal?" Guo Jia asked, baffled. Chen Xi’s so-called "first step" had already laid the foundation for a unified empire. What more could there be?

"I simply want to see how vast this world truly is. And to achieve that, relying solely on ourselves isn't enough. Some things are more suited for the aristocratic families to handle than for us to take on directly," Chen Xi slowly explained.

Though Guo Jia couldn’t fully grasp Chen Xi’s ambitions, Chen Xi’s deliberate tone gave him a strange sense of awe. For some reason, Guo Jia felt deeply moved by Chen Xi's words.

"Don’t you want to see the far corners of the world, like those described in the wild tales of the Classic of Mountains and Seas?" Chen Xi turned to Guo Jia. "Gathering all the aristocratic families is just preparation for that time."

Chen Xi needed the aristocratic families to venture beyond the Central Plains. Not just one or two, but more than half of them needed to go. The plan was now ready for its initial execution, and it was time for Chen Xi to start laying the groundwork.

"I’m going to meet with the Gongsun clan’s envoy from Liaodong. You go ahead and inform the aristocratic families. Judging by your recent situation, I’m guessing you're running low on funds again," Chen Xi glanced at Guo Jia. "You should take it easy, or better yet, get married soon. At least that way, you’ll have some savings. You're not exactly young anymore."

"Forget it. I still want to enjoy a few more years of freedom. Worst case, I’ll marry Wenhe’s daughter. Look, wouldn’t that be fitting?" Guo Jia grinned mischievously.

Among Liu Bei’s officials, there were generally two ways they handled their salaries. Some, like Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, rarely spent money—either handing it over to their wives or leaving it in the bank, to the point that they didn’t even know how much they had. Then there were others like Guo Jia, who were perpetually broke.

In fact, Guo Jia himself didn’t even know where all his money went. Fortunately, when Chen Xi realized that people like Hua Xiong, Zhang Fei, and Guo Jia couldn’t hold onto their money, he took measures to ensure that only part of their salaries was paid directly, with the rest being invested in various industries. It was a way of building a nest egg for them.

Of course, for those like Guan Yu and Zhao Yun who were good with money, Chen Xi would also recommend that they invest part of their salaries, though he didn’t push them if they weren’t interested.

For Chen Xi, even a small amount of income was still valuable. The accumulation of those seemingly insignificant salaries helped fund the construction of a few more basic infrastructure projects each month. Over time, it added up.

"Wenhe would never agree to marry his daughter to you," Chen Xi said, exasperated. Although Jia Xu had been trying to arrange a low-profile marriage for his daughter, marrying her to Guo Jia was far from low-key.

"Jia Xu is being too particular. Marrying her to Yuan Zhi would be perfect, but he insists on finding an ordinary person. It's such a waste," Guo Jia scoffed, clearly disapproving of Jia Xu’s over-caution. "Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. I’ll make sure to notify the aristocratic families."

Of course, with Guo Jia personally visiting the families, they would surely reciprocate with gifts. Guo Jia could head out empty-handed, but when the families returned the gesture, they certainly wouldn’t be empty-handed. One way or another, Guo Jia would have enough to splurge for the next six months.

"I still think you should hurry up and marry someone suitable from a prominent family or invest in some businesses," Chen Xi advised calmly.

"I'll think about it," Guo Jia waved his hand dismissively, clearly uninterested in Chen Xi’s suggestion.

"Well, I’ll make sure to have a word with Wenhe. Who knows, maybe he’ll agree," Chen Xi said casually. Jia Xu had been dragging his feet on his daughter’s marriage for so long that teasing him a little was only fair.

"Even if he agrees, it won’t matter," Guo Jia waved Chen Xi off, signaling him to get going and deal with the Gongsun clan’s envoy. They had been left waiting for quite some time.

When Chen Xi arrived at the inn in Ye City, it was clear that Gongsun Gong had prepared well. Despite being kept waiting for several days, he showed no sign of displeasure. Instead, he greeted Chen Xi with a warm smile, along with Liang Mao, as they welcomed him into the inn.

To be fair, Chen Xi had handled things with enough tact. Though he had made them wait, in the end, he came in person rather than sending someone to bring Gongsun Gong and the others to him.

If you looked back a bit, Liu Bei’s relationship with Gongsun Du had been quite good. They had frequent trade exchanges, and Liu Bei had even provided grain and winter supplies to Gongsun Du. However, once Liu Bei’s power grew, Gongsun Du unilaterally ended their horse trade and even severed relations with Liu Bei for a time.

From that perspective, Gongsun Du’s actions certainly warranted a reckoning now that Liu Bei had solidified his position as a hegemon. It was time to settle old scores.

This was a major reason why Gongsun Gong had been so uneasy since arriving in Ye City. It also explained why, despite being made to wait for several days, he hadn’t dared to voice any complaints.

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