Chapter 933: What It Means to Be Magnanimous!

To someone like Cao Cao or Sun Ce, who had great ambitions, this so-called benevolence was nothing but an insult. It was clear that Liu Bei had never truly regarded them as rivals from the beginning. Just like the oath he made at the altar back in the day, quietly whispered throughout the Han Dynasty: "I, Liu Bei, have only one rival — history itself."

Though Liu Bei had never explicitly said he didn’t consider Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, or Sun Ce as his opponents, the reality of the situation showed otherwise. His sights were no longer set on the various warlords of the realm but instead on transcending the sages and great figures of history.

As for uniting the land with a single decisive battle, the issues of preparation, the public's support for Cao Cao and Sun Ce’s governments — Chen Xi had never really cared about these. Whether it was Cao Cao or Sun Ce, as long as Liu Bei was alive, neither of them would dare, or even think, to proclaim independence. Such a taboo would only be broken by fools.

The mightiest force in the land, no matter how you looked at it, still belonged to the Liu family, the imperial clan of the Han Dynasty. Even if the emperor changed, the empire would still belong to the Han. No matter how daring Cao Cao or Sun Ce were, they would not dare to declare themselves kings or split the land.

Similarly, as long as Cao Cao and Sun Ce didn’t proclaim themselves kings, the so-called "Cao Government" and "Sun Government" were just jokes. When Liu Bei eventually crushed them both in one fell swoop, the unified Han government would only need to replace some local officials, and there’d be no need to worry about public sentiment.

This wasn’t some scenario like the Qin conquering Zhao — it was merely changing a few officials. The Han Dynasty would still be the Han Dynasty. Chen Xi didn’t believe that Zhou Yu and Xun Yu’s development policies could surpass their own. With a vision ahead of its time by two millennia, if they lost in development to ancient officials, they might as well hand themselves a sword and be done with it.

Therefore, Chen Xi had never been concerned about Cao Cao and Sun Ce growing stronger while they themselves did as well. After all, their own growth was faster, more stable, and they had more time to prepare for future challenges.

As it stood, the population ratio between Liu Bei, Yuan Tan, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce’s forces was about even — an important factor in warfare during the era of cold weapons. They could fight, but it wasn’t worth it at the moment. The war with Yuan Shao shouldn’t have even started the way it did, but sometimes things don’t go as planned.

At this point, the only thing Chen Xi was certain of was that the inertia of history had been thoroughly disrupted, leaving him feeling more at ease. The plan was simple: stabilize the internal situation, continue to develop, and once Yuan Tan was dealt with, increase their military strength ratio to three-to-two or more, allowing them to easily overpower Cao Cao and Sun Ce.

Additionally, during times of war, certain construction projects could be done more efficiently. In peaceful times, some practices that were illegal, unethical, or illogical could still be pushed through under the guise of war necessity. At worst, they could just be slightly underhanded about it.

After the wars were over and domestic development was nearly complete, they could even consider colonial expansion. With millions of Han citizens to work with, the Han Dynasty’s population would far surpass that of the English and French during the 18th century. They could open up colonies and assimilate those lands easily, carving out territories across the globe.

Because of this, Chen Xi always suppressed any tactics that would result in mass population destruction. In this era, nothing was more precious than people. Ordinary citizens might not have the capacity for aggression and colonization, but what about the aristocratic families? Those who could commit atrocious acts in their homeland? Why not send them to wreak havoc in colonies instead?

Send them off to be a menace in faraway colonies. If they ruin everything there, Chen Xi wouldn’t care. And if they somehow managed to gather enough strength to come back and invade China after two hundred years, well, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

Even a top-tier noble family sent off in full, with servants and private soldiers, could number at least fifty or sixty thousand — more than enough to colonize a small country. The end of the Han Dynasty was overflowing with such noble families, each following their own doctrines.

If their strength and ideologies conflicted, and they were being suppressed in their homeland, why not let them colonize? Let them turn their family doctrines into national ideologies in their respective colonies. They all claimed their teachings were the best — well, here’s a nation for each of you. Prove which one is truly superior. Start a global land-grabbing movement and let them see just how vast the world beyond China truly was.

The idea seemed wonderful — but was it feasible? Could it solve all problems? Would military power really make it possible? Sure, their navy would eventually build up the necessary experience, but all of this hinged on one key factor: population!

Without solving the population issue, everything else was just a pipe dream. But if the population problem was addressed, many other issues would cease to be concerns. If the noble families weren’t satisfied, let them leave China. Let them become kings elsewhere. And if they had the guts, they could try coming back and reclaiming China!

In truth, both Cao Cao and Sun Ce were like test cases for Chen Xi. In any other era, they would have undoubtedly been heroes. Unfortunately, they were up against an era dominated by an even stronger force that kept them in check.

Chen Xi’s hope was that by the time Liu Bei’s power had grown to an overwhelming level, making it clear to Cao Cao and Sun Ce that they had no chance of victory, they would nonetheless have contributed greatly to their people, much more than the corrupt officials of the late Han era.

In such a situation, while it was inevitable that they would be defeated by Liu Bei, it wouldn’t be necessary to kill them. Yet their presence would still be dangerous, so exile would be the most suitable solution.

Both Cao Cao and Sun Ce had such powerful charisma that even in defeat, they would still have countless followers. Among these loyal followers were bound to be talented individuals who were otherwise limited by their circumstances.

Killing all of these die-hard followers, regardless of their merit, would be a huge loss to the nation. After all, some of these fanatics were undoubtedly people who could rank among the best in history. Unfortunately, their loyalty to Cao Cao and Sun Ce was so strong that it had to be addressed. Thus, Chen Xi’s solution was exile.

Take your family and loyal followers, leave China, and go wherever you like. Chen Xi didn’t care. He would even give them two years' worth of food, supplies, and a world map with China marked small and the rest of the world marked large. They were free to conquer.

If Cao Cao could conquer India, they could make him the King of India. If Sun Ce could take Australia, he could be crowned King of Australia.

There were plenty of fertile lands beyond China, and it would be a surprise if Cao Cao or Sun Ce even wanted to return. They’d probably settle for ruling over the lands they had taken, and any thoughts of returning to China would be mere passing fantasies. Both Zhou Yu and Cao Cao were far too pragmatic to waste time on such dreams.

Wasn’t overpopulation a frequent complaint? That China could no longer sustain its people? Well, there were plenty of lands outside China. If necessary, they could relocate there!

More importantly, Chen Xi was confident that these relocated Han citizens would become the seeds of future conquests. With both Cao Cao and Sun Ce fiercely loyal to the Han, they would no doubt see the indigenous peoples as barbarians, forever outsiders, cementing their status as colonizers.

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