Chapter 291: Lord Yuan Shao: Sun Sun Jian, hand over the Imperial Jade Seal; that is not something you can covet (2nd update!)

"This..."

Cao Cao frowned slightly, pondered seriously for a good while, and then nodded affirmatively: "I have to admit, Su Boyuan, you are very forward-looking, and what you say makes a lot of sense!"

"It's just that to achieve this, one is bound to clash with the gentry and powerful families. By then, it will be very difficult to even control one's own territory, and there will be no one to use."

"How would you deal with that then?"

In any case, he couldn't think of a good way to deal with it for the time being.

And he didn't want to think about it now.

First, trying his best to win over a group of gentry and powerful families to serve him, support him, and carve out a suitable piece of territory—that was what he needed to consider next.

He was not Su Xuan, who, at a young age, had already conquered nearly the entire Jingzhou.

That territory made him green with envy!

A winner in life—that's what you call someone like Su Xuan, right?

His background was not high, but it seemed not to have affected his promotion at all; it was simply enviable, jealous, and hateful.

"Sure enough, my damned identity as the descendant of a eunuch is a huge pitfall! It's not as good as Su Xuan's background!"

Cao Cao couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Of course, he also knew that his complaint made no sense.

If he didn't have this identity and was replaced by Su Xuan's background, he would absolutely never have reached the point Su Xuan had today.

Su Xuan's growth path was not replicable.

At the very least, he didn't think that if he were replaced by Su Xuan, he could achieve what Su Xuan had today.

Precisely because of this, he admired Su Xuan very much.

"This is unavoidable!"

Su Xuan also shook his head helplessly: "So, I can only try my best to win over those willing to follow me, use other benefits as exchange, and strive for the support of more gentry and powerful families!"

"As for those who do not cooperate and are unwilling to submit, then I cannot be blamed for being ruthless!"

"Since I have walked through these troubled times, if I don't make some changes and achievements, I might as well not fight for hegemony! Don't you think so, Mengde?"

"Heh!"

Cao Cao shook his head, feeling a bit between laughter and tears: "Su Boyuan, you are truly arrogant! But you do have the qualifications and ability!"

"I can't do it! I can only honestly take it one step at a time!"

"Let me see who will have the last laugh in the future!"

"Don't worry, even if you fail in the end, I will keep my promise and let you go to the Western Regions to be a King of the Western Regions, haha!"

He wouldn't try to persuade Su Xuan.

Su Xuan's choice was a good thing for him.

Whoever persuades is a fool!

"Haha!"

Su Xuan couldn't help but laugh: "Don't even think about that; the one who will be the King of the Western Regions in the end can only be you! Shall we wait and see?"

"Wait and see!"

Several hours later,

Su Xuan, Cao Cao, and their party arrived in Luoyang.

Leaving Zhao Yun to settle the troops, Su Xuan took Xu Chu and over a hundred personal guards to a relatively intact side hall of the burned-down imperial palace, where he saw the various warlords drinking and making merry.

"Oh?"

Just as he approached, Su Xuan used his powerful spiritual perception to sense that a large number of people were buried near this side hall.

Moreover, it wasn't just one group, but several groups of people.

He immediately thought of something, and as he sensed, he immediately sensed the location of the fake Imperial Jade Seal he had forged somewhere in the city.

And that place was precisely the station of Sun Sun Jian's army.

"Interesting! Did Sun Sun Jian get the Imperial Jade Seal after all? The inertia of history is truly great!"

Su Xuan thought with a click of his tongue in his heart.

With such thoughts, Su Xuan and Cao Cao walked into the hall.

Immediately, they attracted the attention of the lords.

"Oh?"

Lord Yuan Shao looked at the two, raised his eyebrows slightly, and spoke first: "Are Mengde and Su Boyuan here? Quickly, take your seats!"

Su Xuan and Cao Cao immediately took their seats at Lord Yuan Shao's invitation.

Only then did Lord Yuan Shao continue to ask: "Mengde! Didn't you go to pursue Dong Zhuo? Why have you returned so quickly?"

"And, how did you end up walking with Su Boyuan?"

"Su Boyuan, where did you go before? Why didn't we see your troops?"

The other warlords also looked over one after another, listening intently.

Cao Cao drank a cup of wine and said with some depression: "Don't mention it! I met Su Boyuan halfway!"

"Only after hearing him did I know that Dong Zhuo had already taken the Son of Heaven across Hangu Pass to Changancheng!"

"With Hangu Pass there, and Xu Rong and Lu Bu guarding it, what can my few men do?"

"I could only return!"

Lord Yuan Shao nodded in realization: "So that's it! It seems Dong Zhuo was very well prepared! He didn't leave us any possibility of pursuit at all!"

"What about you, Su Boyuan? Did you manage to pursue Dong Zhuo?"

Lord Yuan Shao said, looking at Su Xuan again.

Su Xuan shook his head directly: "Naturally not! Didn't Mengde just say it? I only intercepted and killed over ten thousand Xiliang troops covering the retreat along the way, and intercepted a group of homeless people. By the time I rushed to Hangu Pass, it was already too late!"

"In addition, after I broke through Yique Pass, I came to Luoyang first, but unfortunately, Luoyang was already ablaze, and it was impossible to even get close, let alone put out the fire!"

"Therefore, I made a prompt decision at that time to attempt to pursue Dong Zhuo and rescue the Son of Heaven!"

"Unfortunately, it was still too late!"

"Oh?"

Lord Yuan Shao raised his eyebrows slightly: "Su Boyuan, you caught up with the tail of Dong Zhuo's migration? You slaughtered over ten thousand Xiliang troops? Did you have any spoils?"

"As far as I know, Dong Zhuo looted the entire Luoyang clean, and even dug up the imperial tombs!"

"The money, wealth, and grain there must be massive!"

As soon as he said this, the warlords looked at Su Xuan with greedy eyes like old gluttons.

Su Xuan sneered coldly: "Heh! Alliance Leader Lord Yuan is truly naive!"

"If it were you, would you put money, grain, and treasures at the very end of the migration?"

"I didn't even see Dong Zhuo's shadow; do you think I could have intercepted any money, grain, or treasures?"

"There are no treasures! But there are tens of thousands of homeless people with nothing to their names. Do you want them?"

"It just so happens that my grain is a bit insufficient, and I haven't sent these people to Jingzhou yet. They should not have passed Yique Pass yet. How about I call them back and hand them all over to you?"

Population was something only Su Xuan valued right now; the other warlords might not value it much.

Especially someone like Lord Yuan Shao, who came from a great gentry clan, he didn't look down upon these common people whose lives were as cheap as grass.

Not to mention, these common people had been looted of their money and grain by Dong Zhuo, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them refugees.

What would he want them for?

Of course, if he knew that Su Xuan had obtained three hundred thousand people and was preparing to relocate them to Jingzhou, although he didn't want them, he would definitely not want Su Xuan to obtain so many people.

He would probably cause trouble.

Therefore, Su Xuan directly reduced the population number by ten times, and it was completely different.

Not to mention other places, there were tens of thousands of homeless refugees gathered near Luoyang city right now.

"That won't be necessary!"

Although Lord Yuan Shao was very unhappy with Su Xuan's attitude, feeling that he did not respect him as the alliance leader, he waved his hand: "Since these are the people you rescued, Su Boyuan, it is naturally better for you to handle them yourself!"

A group of lowly people, what would he want them for?

To consume his own grain?

He wasn't stupid.

Of course, he also believed Su Xuan's words, certain that Su Xuan should not have intercepted any wealth, otherwise, he wouldn't have let it go like this.

The other warlords also withdrew their greedy gazes upon hearing Su Xuan's words, looking regretful.

They didn't continue to ask.

After all, what Su Xuan said made a lot of sense!

Unless Dong Zhuo was a fool, it was absolutely impossible for him to put wealth at the end of the migration.

"Alas! What a pity! Now, all this wealth and grain has benefited Dong Zhuo, that thief! With these riches, he will truly have deep pockets and be even harder to deal with!"

Tao Zou Qian couldn't help but sigh.

"Who says it isn't? We can only blame ourselves for reacting too late!"

"Since Dong Zhuo has run away, shouldn't we distribute the gains next?"

"Correct! What does Alliance Leader Lord Yuan say? Although we didn't manage to conquer Dong Zhuo, and we didn't manage to rescue the Son of Heaven, we did manage to take back Luoyang city and Sili, didn't we? Shouldn't we distribute the benefits?"

"Agreed! I don't want much, just give me a few hundred thousand shi of grain! Also, Wang Kuang, shouldn't you return the two cities you took from me?"

"Fart! Since those cities were taken by me, they naturally belong to me. You want them back? What kind of joke is that?"

"Are you trying to start a war with me?"

"Fight then! Who is afraid of whom?"

"..."

Soon, the originally harmonious scene began to become chaotic.

A group of warlords even started fighting for the sake of benefits.

Su Xuan and Cao Cao were both speechless watching this.

At this time, Gongsun Zan couldn't watch anymore, stood up and bowed to Lord Yuan Shao: "Alliance Leader Lord Yuan! Since everyone doesn't intend to continue to conquer Dong Zhuo, I won't stay long, I will take my leave now!"

"The Great Han is in turmoil, and the Hu Ren on the border of Youzhou are likely not going to be quiet. I must go back to preside over the overall situation! Farewell!"

Saying this, Gongsun Zan stood up directly, took the three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang, and left.

"This..."

Lord Yuan Shao saw this and raised his hand, wanting to persuade him to stay, but Gongsun Zan was too decisive, and before he could, the person was already far away.

This made Lord Yuan Shao very unhappy.