Chapter 401

And he had no intention of letting them integrate into the Han people.

“~I wonder what those indigenous people did to offend the Lord?”

“Perhaps the Lord saw that these indigenous people would be detrimental to our Han people in the future? And would do things to disgust our Han people?”

Hmm! Thinking of this, everyone instantly felt it was reasonable!

It must be like this!

After all, their Lord had always been based on benevolence and righteousness and was kind to others.

(People annihilated by Su Xuan: Do you want to hear what you are saying?)

This time, Su Xuan treated the indigenous people of Annan like this; it could only be that their character was too despicable!

“The Lord is wise!”

Cheng Yu praised: “Treating these indigenous people who are not even as good as barbarians, this is exactly what should be done!”

“My Lord, rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter well!”

“I will leave a clean Annan Peninsula for our Han people in the future!”

He felt he completely understood the Lord’s thoughts.

“Hmm!”

Su Xuan saw Cheng Yu’s thoughts and nodded with a smile: “Zhongde, you are very good! Work hard! I believe in your ability!”

“Understood!”

Cheng Yu cupped his hands to receive the order.

Tian Feng and the others saw him like this and seemed to see the bloody storm about to be set off on the Annan Peninsula.

However, they had no intention of dissuading him.

Since those indigenous people were not even as good as barbarians, what was there to dissuade?

Within the territory of Kuaiji Commandery in Jiangdong,

“What? A few days ago, Su Xuan sent troops to conquer Taking Jiaozhou?”

Sun Ce, because he was very close to Taking Jiaozhou, naturally learned about the situation in Taking Jiaozhou from the people fleeing from there and was shocked.

He couldn’t help but look at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu frowned: “It seems that His Majesty the Zou Qian Prince hasn’t really been completely idle developing internally! He actually set his sights on Taking Jiaozhou?”

“Why?”

“Taking Jiaozhou cannot be considered a prosperous place; it is even very barren and remote. It has absolutely no value to take, right?”

Taking Taking Jiaozhou is not as good as taking Guanzhong or Yizhou!

Anyway, the warlords in these two places should also be existences that Su Xuan can easily handle.

But Zhou Yu also understood that Su Xuan was certainly not a stupid person; he would make such a choice, and there must be his intentions and reasons for it.

“Hmm!”

Sun Ce nodded and asked doubtfully: “This is also my thought! But clearly, there must be something here that we don’t see!”

“At the very least, Taking Jiaozhou is located in a remote area, and the Zou Qian Prince taking it won’t make other warlords feel vigilant;”

“On the contrary, they will probably laugh at the Zou Qian Prince for being short-sighted, actually making such a stupid choice.”

But is the Zou Qian Prince really stupid?

The answer is definitely negative!

“In addition, perhaps it is precisely because Taking Jiaozhou is barren and has a small population that it requires fewer personnel to govern?”

Sun Ce suddenly thought of this and couldn’t help but speculate.

“Eh?”

Zhou Yu was stunned: “It’s really not impossible!”

This reason seems absurd, but it is the most consistent with Su Xuan’s current situation.

Isn’t it because he lacked the officials to implement the New Policy that he stopped and didn’t continue to expand?

“However, this is a bit too much of a loss, isn’t it?”

Zhou Yu shook his head again: “Taking Jiaozhou is barren and remote, and its development level is very low! Taking it won’t bring the Zou Qian Prince much gain; instead, it will involve a lot of his energy and troops, requiring him to invest heavily!”

“I completely don’t understand the Zou Qian Prince’s operation!”

“Perhaps there are other factors we don’t understand!”

Anyway, Zhou Yu didn’t think Su Xuan was a stupid person, someone who would suffer a loss!

They must have overlooked something important!

In the end, it was because they didn’t know Su Xuan well enough; otherwise, they would definitely be able to guess some of the truth.

Xuchang, Yanzhou,

Cao Cao, who was already prepared and about to attack Xuzhou, also received the news that Su Xuan had sent troops from Jingzhou to attack Taking Jiaozhou!

Of course, Cao Cao had also received partial news about Su Xuan’s ironclad ships before, but it wasn’t clear enough, making the naturally suspicious Cao Cao unable to fully believe it.

“Su Boyuan actually chose to attack Taking Jiaozhou at this time? Why? I completely don’t understand his intention in doing this?”

“Could it be that Taking Jiaozhou is not a remote and barren place? Has the world been deceived by the officials of Taking Jiaozhou?”

Cao Cao said, looking at Xun Yu for verification.

“My Lord! Absolutely impossible!”

Xun Yu shook his head decisively: “Taking Jiaozhou is desolate and remote, and it is a barren place; this is recognized and can be verified!”

“It was once the territory of the Shanyue barbarians, and later, during the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang sent Zhao Tuo to conquer it;”

“After the Qin Dynasty perished, Zhao Tuo became the King of Nanyue;”

“But its development level has never been high! The territory is mostly mountainous, with countless barbarians, and it has never been a wealthy place!”

“Otherwise, the scholar-clans would have moved long ago!”

Since ancient times, wherever there is profit to be made, there is no way the scholar-clans wouldn’t be there.

Even in the barren Taking Jiaozhou, there are still scholar-clans like Shi Xie there, aren’t there?

“The Zou Qian Prince’s actions have always been a bit hard to understand, but every time he acts, there must be an important reason;”

“This time is clearly no exception. I’m afraid that for him, Taking Jiaozhou is a treasure land!”

“Didn’t we hear before that he built an ironclad fleet? Perhaps it’s related to this!”

“In addition, Taking Jiaozhou is located in a low-population area, and the officials needed for reform are also few, which might also be an important reason;”

“Furthermore, he might not want to overly stimulate the sensitive nerves of us and Lord Yuan Shao for the time being, and doesn’t want to go to full-scale war with us at this time, causing us to unite against him, right?”

He could only think of so many reasons for now; he couldn’t think of any more.

But what is certain is that Su Xuan’s dispatch of troops this time will definitely not be a loss.

“Hmm!”

Cao Cao nodded: “Wenruo, your analysis is very reasonable!”

“This close friend of mine has always been one who doesn’t get up early without profit and likes to plan before acting;”

“From his every move and every word in the past, one can see that every time he has a big move, he can eventually achieve great gains!”

“This time will definitely be the same!”

“Taking Jiaozhou might have been barren and remote in the past, but if it falls into his hands, it won’t be for long!”

“I’ve long heard that Jingzhou has been developed by him into something like another world!”

“High-rise buildings stand in great numbers, and flat cement roads connect all the commanderies and counties of Jingzhou, making transportation extremely smooth and convenient;”

“The people are also becoming more and more prosperous!”

“The development there seems to have completely disconnected from the territories of us warlords, becoming two worlds of different levels!”

“Although I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I can see a glimpse of it through the reports of my spies!”

“I can only say, as expected of Su Boyuan!”

With such a Su Xuan, he really doesn’t know how to win.

Fortunately, he had already made an agreement with Su Xuan, so he didn’t need to worry about the safety of his family after failure.

In fact, he even had a chance to start over.

Cao Cao also didn’t worry at all that Su Xuan would go back on his word.

Because, looking back now, this agreement was promoted by Su Xuan from the very beginning.

— Author's Notes —

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