Zhao Hanzhang set down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and asked Zhao Cheng, “Was Uncle’s journey smooth?”

Zhao Cheng spoke frankly, “Not smooth at all. From Yuzhou to Luoyang, there were refugees all along the way. We were traveling in the opposite direction, and along the route we saw refugees robbing each other of money and food. Some even dug up corpses to eat. If Zhao Ju hadn’t sent five hundred men to protect us along the way, we wouldn’t have been able to reach Xiangcheng smoothly, let alone Luoyang.”

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, “The outside has been this difficult all along.”

Zhao Cheng said, “As I understand it, this batch of refugees scattered everywhere are all common people who fled Luoyang following the Prince of Donghai. Since you’ve repelled Shi Le, why didn’t you properly settle them?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Even a clever woman cannot cook without rice. First, I don’t have that much money, grain, and provisions. Second, I don’t have that many soldiers. How could I keep over two hundred thousand people?”

Actually, her original plan was that out of two hundred thousand people, she should be able to keep one hundred seventy or eighty thousand at least, with fifty or sixty thousand leaving being acceptable. Who knew that more than half would run away?

In the end, fewer than one hundred thousand came back.

Zhao Cheng said, “That’s because your reputation isn’t sufficient.”

He continued, “When Liu Kun called out, he could summon one hundred thousand refugees to join him. A single tune on the nomadic flute could make one hundred thousand enemy troops retreat. When has he ever had money or soldiers in his hands?”

Zhao Hanzhang fell silent.

Zhao Cheng saw she was rather affected, but didn’t stop. He continued, “If you only wanted to be the Yuzhou Regional Inspector, then the people under your command are indeed enough. I wouldn’t advise you. But you’ve now occupied Luoyang as well, and I hear you’re also stationing troops in Gucheng. You’re planning to take the entire Henan Commandery into your hands.”

He raised his eyes to look at her, “In the future, are you also going to compete for and seize Jingzhao Commandery and Bingzhou?”

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyes to look at him.

Zhao Cheng said, “Since you want to become a regional power, then you can’t act entirely according to your own preferences. The people in this world who are best at governing the common people, who can best serve as your right and left arms, are still within the great clans and powerful families.”

“When there are ready-made candidates available, why would you expend effort and energy cultivating them from scratch?”

Zhao Hanzhang narrowed her eyes slightly, “Uncle, these aren’t thoughts you came up with. Whose suggestion is this?”

Zhao Cheng sighed and said, “On the journey from Yuzhou to Luoyang, I was greatly affected. I couldn’t help but write to your Uncle Ming. These are his thoughts, and now they’re mine as well.”

She knew it. On the issue of the great clans and powerful families, Zhao Cheng had always shared her views. How could he suddenly change?

“Regardless of whose thoughts they are, you just say whether they’re right or wrong, whether you’ll follow them or not.”

Zhao Hanzhang lowered her eyes in thought. After a moment, she turned her head to look at Fu Tinghan.

Fu Tinghan said, “Actually, what they said isn’t wrong. The people we cultivate only need five years before they can be put to use, but they can only do the most basic level work. To cultivate those who can truly be useful requires at least ten to twenty years, and we can’t wait that long.”

He continued, “The talented people from the great clans and powerful families can be used immediately. There will certainly be many drawbacks, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. We can slowly correct things in the future.”

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