Chapter 449: The Aftermath of the Coalition

"Hehe!"

Su Xuan chuckled upon hearing this and said, "I was wondering when you would ask! As expected, you couldn't hold back after all!"

"My pursuit along the way wasn't without its gains!"

"Didn't I intercept some commoners?"

"My Jingzhou region is vast but sparsely populated, and I am in dire need of people. Luoyang has already been burned to the ground by Dong Zhuo, and the Sili region has been essentially looted clean by him;"

"If these commoners were to remain in Luoyang and Sili, they likely wouldn't survive, so it is better to take them to Jingzhou;"

"This way, they can survive, and I gain plenty of manpower for land reclamation and other tasks. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

He did not specify the exact number of people, so as to avoid giving others a handle to use against him and causing unnecessary trouble.

It was better to let them collect intelligence and news on their own.

By then, he presumed, these people would already be safely settled, and he would have long since departed from Sili and Luoyang.

By that time, whatever thoughts they might have would be too late.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Cao Cao was slightly surprised upon hearing this, but soon nodded in understanding, looking at Su Xuan with a meaningful gaze: "Boyuan, you truly are kind-hearted!"

Some people?

How many people would require an army of over ten thousand to escort?

Likely no fewer than one hundred thousand, right?

This was indeed a massive number of people. If they were all taken to Jingzhou, it would certainly be of great benefit to Jingzhou's development...

Of course, the prerequisite was that one had enough grain to support these commoners.

At the very least, one had to ensure these commoners could settle down, cultivate fields, and feed themselves before they could be considered safely secured.

Thus, Cao Cao felt a measure of envy and, conversely, a sense of admiration for Su Xuan.

Most people would not be willing to do such a thing.

It was thankless work.

In the eyes of the vast majority of warlords, the lives of these refugees were as cheap as grass, and there was absolutely no need to spend such a high price to relocate and settle them.

Even Cao Cao himself held similar thoughts in his heart.

"Haha!"

Su Xuan couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, pointing at Cao Cao: "Meng De, you are the first person to call me kind-hearted!"

"That can't be right?"

Cao Cao looked at him with disbelief: "I know you are a Divine Doctor; I don't believe you haven't treated patients;"

"In the eyes of those people, are you not a kind-hearted person?"

"You governed Nanjun quite well back then; don't the people of Nanjun think you are a kind-hearted person?"

"You! You are just being modest!"

"Compared to many other warlords, you are certainly worthy of being called kind-hearted!"

From the policies and situation of Su Xuan's governance of Nanjun, he had already seen through him: Su Xuan was a benevolent lord who put people first.

It was true benevolence, not a facade.

Of course, Su Xuan was not lacking in a cold and ruthless side either.

For instance, his methods of purging and reforming the Jingzhou gentry and powerful clans a few months ago were quite cold and ruthless.

It was said that many gentry clans were broken, suppressed, and divided, causing the rift between many gentry clans and Su Xuan to expand rapidly.

There were even gentry clans that had become hostile toward Su Xuan.

Yet, Su Xuan himself seemed not to care much about these things.

Clearly, he had his own ideas and would not be easily swayed.

"Perhaps!"

Su Xuan shook his head slightly, looking a bit silent: "Born in troubled times, the ones who suffer most are the common people. As the saying goes: when it rises, the people suffer; when it falls, the people suffer!"

"Whether in troubled times or prosperous ones, the ones who suffer are always the common people;"

"What I have done is merely a trivial matter!"

"If one truly wants the people to live and work in peace, to be well-fed and clothed, the road ahead is still long and arduous!"

Cao Cao looked at Su Xuan in astonishment, staring at him earnestly for a good while before sighing: "Sigh! I didn't expect you to consider things this way, Boyuan?"

"The common people, you say?"

"You really are quite different!"

In the process of vying for hegemony, Cao Cao felt the common people were important, yet also unimportant. Shouldn't the truly important ones for a warlord be those gentry and powerful clans?

The world was ultimately in the hands of those gentry and powerful clans.

Talents also basically came from the gentry and powerful clans.

If one offended these people, how could one vie for hegemony in the future?

Cao Cao felt Su Xuan was somewhat too idealistic and naive.

Yet, he hadn't noticed this before.

He could only wish Su Xuan success in the future.

Of course, Su Xuan increasing the difficulty of his own hegemony in this way brought Cao Cao a sense of relief to some extent.

In this way, Su Xuan's future development speed would be greatly restricted.

For him, who wanted to vie for hegemony, this was actually a good thing.

Su Xuan shook his head noncommittally: "Perhaps it is because I myself rose from the lower levels! I cannot bear to see this, and I always want to do something for them!"

"I don't ask for fairness or justice, but at least I should give the people a way to survive, shouldn't I?"

"Why has the Great Han reached this point today?"

"Why did the Huang Jin Rebellion and the countless rebellions that followed occur?"

"Isn't it all because the gentry and powerful clans constantly annexed land and seized benefits, while the Son of Heaven constantly increased harsh taxes, leaving more and more people unable to survive?"

"No matter which warlord wins the world in the future, if they do not restrict and suppress the gentry and powerful clans, then the world will never be stable!"

"Brother Meng De, do you agree?"

In his past life's memories, didn't Boss Cao also constantly suppress the gentry and powerful clans, widely recruit talents, and promote those from humble backgrounds?

The reason was the same: as someone in a high position, he felt the dangers of the gentry and powerful clans being too strong.

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