Chapter 716: The King is Wise
According to Zhou Xu's current analysis, those with a loyalty level below 70 will basically rebel at any time.
However, this is consistent with Li Bowen's current performance. As soon as Xianyang City fell and the news of Yan Sheng's death came out, he immediately ran over to show his goodwill. This is enough to illustrate this person's character and he cannot be a loyal minister.
Fortunately, by now Zhou Xu had come to terms with it.
People's hearts are complicated. To develop a country, too many people are needed, and we cannot expect everyone to be loyal.
As a supreme ruler, what he needs to do is to put the right people in the right positions and let them provide value to the Great Zhou.
There is a suitable position for loyal people, and there is also a suitable position for those who are capable but not very loyal.
Take Li Bowen for example. Don’t talk about friendship with this kind of person. Just treat him as an employee. You pay and he does the work.
As long as he can always do his job well and satisfy you, you can keep paying him. If one day he fails to do his job well, just let him pack up and leave.
Just as Zhou Xu was thinking this, he didn't know that in the blink of an eye, Li Bowen, who had lost all his money, immediately lowered his posture, knelt down respectfully, and paid a great salute to Zhou Xu.
"I am Li Bowen, a lowly person, and I am here to pay my respects to the king! Long live the king!"
Watching Li Bowen's three cheers of "Long live the emperor", Zhou Xu sat on a throne with one hand on his chin, looking at the other party with interest.
"No need to be polite. I wonder why Prime Minister Li is here?"
After hearing this, Li Bowen stood up and was about to answer, but when the words came to his lips, he was startled as if he realized something was wrong, and immediately knelt back down, hitting his forehead on the floor tiles.
"Your Majesty, you are joking. The tyrant Yan Sheng is dead. Now Xianyang City is your territory. How can I still be the prime minister? I am just a commoner."
Li Bowen had cold sweat soaking his entire back as he said this. At the same time, the atmosphere at the scene fell into an eerie silence until Zhou Xu's laughter broke it.
"Hahahaha, Mr. Li, you can relax a little and don't need to be so nervous."
Hearing this, Li Bowen could only laugh dryly and say yes, but he did not dare to relax at all.
[This King of the Great Zhou is no pushover! ]
"Then why did Mr. Li come here this time?"
Zhou Xu already knew Li Bowen's background clearly, and he was not in the mood to play along with him at the moment, so he got back to the point.
Faced with this question raised again, Li Bowen simply did not stand up and just answered while kneeling.
"I have abandoned the dark and joined the light, and have come to seek refuge with the king. I am willing to serve the king like a dog and a horse! If the king does not abandon me, I am willing to persuade those officials of the old dynasty in the city to be loyal to the king!"
This answer was within Zhou Xu's expectations. The other party came to him to show goodwill at this time just to surrender.
However, while surrendering, Li Bowen did not forget to enhance his own value a little bit, and indirectly revealed to him the fact that the officials in the city followed his lead.
Zhou Xu did not reject this and gave the other party a look of approval.
"It is a blessing for the people of our Great Zhou to have Bo Wen's help. Come, please take a seat."
It was just a meaningless compliment, but Zhou Xu didn't mind saying a few more words. It wouldn't hurt him anyway.
During this period, Li Bowen acted ashamed and behaved very humbly.
If I hadn't understood this person's personality in advance, I would have been easily fooled by his appearance.
From Prime Minister Li to Mr. Li, and then to Bowen, the change in title, coupled with the current throne, made Li Bowen feel greatly relieved.
In his opinion, this showed that he had passed the initial test.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat!"
After kneeling on the floor tiles for a long time in the cold winter, his knees really hurt. Now that he was given a seat, he quickly got up from the ground.
After seeing Li Bowen sit down, Zhou Xu spoke again.
"Since Bowen has already joined me, I have something I want to discuss with him."
"Please tell me, my lord. I will do my best to help you solve your problems."
After hearing this, Zhou Xu put on an expression of satisfaction and began to speak.
"It's not a complicated matter. Now that our Great Zhou has annexed the territory of the tyrant Yan Sheng, the people of the two countries have become one country. For the convenience of management and also for future development, many things here must be unified."
Li Bowen, who had just sat down, hadn't even settled down yet when this topic made him unconsciously tense. He vaguely felt that something bad was about to happen.
But he didn't dare to speak rashly, and finally he gritted his teeth and waited for Zhou Xu's next words.
Seeing this, Zhou Xu didn't keep the matter in suspense and directly made the matter clear.
"For example, coins."
When Li Bowen heard those two words, his heart skipped a beat, and even the expression on his face changed because he could no longer hold it in.
Zhou Xuchun pretended not to see this and continued talking to himself.
"You all use silver here, and it's a bit troublesome to calculate these taels and coins, so I plan to unify all the silver and money into coins."
"The current currency of our Great Zhou is mainly copper coins, with the current denominations of one copper, five coppers, and ten coppers. Now that we have gold and silver, I plan to make silver and gold coins according to this template."
"Silver coins are also made into denominations of one, five, and ten silver coins, and gold coins are made in the same way."
"One hundred copper coins are equal to one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins are equal to one gold coin."
"Based on this, I also plan to fix the prices of gold, silver and copper. Even if adjustments are needed later, the relevant departments will be fully responsible."
As early as when Zhou Xu mentioned the need to unify the currency, Li Bowen was already sweating profusely. Now that he had said this, the color on his face faded even more.
But Zhou Xu seemed not to notice and continued talking...
"That is to say, the copper used to cast a copper coin is worth one copper, the silver used to cast a silver coin is worth one silver, and so on. What do you think, Bowen?"
At this moment, Li Bowen was sweating profusely. Facing the question that had been handed to him, he hesitated for a long time before speaking cautiously...
"I am afraid that the people are used to using silver and it will be difficult to promote this new currency."
Hearing this, Zhou Xu waved his hand.
"How difficult is that? We will set up currency exchange counters in various cities and require all citizens to go there to exchange their currency. At the same time, we will prohibit transactions directly using gold and silver! Violators will be punished. What do you think, Bowen?"
In an instant, Li Bowen looked as pale as death. He had never been so sad even when his father died.
Now facing Zhou Xu's burning gaze, Li Bowen could only force out a smile, his voice trembling slightly.
"Your Majesty is wise! I admire you!"
(End of this chapter)
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