Mythical Three Kingdoms

”That’s because you have the Han Empire as your backing and your own strength is strong enough; otherwise, people there wouldn’t dare to say anything, and would simply move themselves and look for new places to live.” Chen Xi sighed and said, ”Manage it well, and there will be benefits for you in the future.”

Guo Si was silent for a while and nodded. ”Some things might be hard to explain clearly to you in our country. Only when you go abroad will you truly understand. I have stepped out, and thus I find it hard to feel as I did before.”

Guo Si suddenly became a bit poetic, and Hua Xiong felt deeply embarrassed, silently turning his head, finding it hard to accept Guo Si’s words.

”What kind of feeling is it?” Chen Xi asked with a smile.

”It’s probably a form of recognition.” Guo Si opened his mouth, unable to articulate, after a long pause, he dryly said, causing Hua Xiong to burst into laughter on the spot, ”Oh, Aduo, what are you pretending about, recognition, who recognizes you?”

”It’s self-recognition,” Chen Xi replied on behalf of Guo Si after a moment of silence. ”Knowing clearly what you’re doing and that all your actions are without shame, your determination unshaken by slaughter or any other matters.”

”...” Guo Si thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously, ”Zijian, you don’t understand. You don’t know what it feels like for others to look at you with a mix of awe and longing. You have no idea what your identity and abilities mean there.”

Watching Guo Si whose eyes seemed to be burning, Hua Xiong couldn’t fully understand, not having seen Guo Si so excited and bold for many years.

”Can you imagine, when we subjugated all those countries one by one, our soldiers walking on the territories of those countries just like our Marquises walking on their own fief lands?” Guo Si said, his eyes practically ablaze.

”Can you imagine, when we clearly knew they were a regular army, but still killed those disguised as bandits outside their capital before their king, and then went to meet their trembling king covered in blood?” At this point, a wild expression had appeared on Guo Si’s face.

”They fear, those high-ranking ones fear our soldiers.” Guo Si turned to look at Hua Xiong. Hearing this, Hua Xiong’s heart also started pounding intensely, feeling that power from Guo Si’s words.

”Alright, alright, I’ve got the gist. Don’t get too excited, you’ll get used to it in a few years.” Chen Xi curled his lips and said, ”This is the path of the First Generation nobles, you’ll grow accustomed as you walk it.”

”The path of the nobles?” Guo Si downed a bowl of wine, barely suppressing his excitement and the wildness in his eyebrows, and turned to ask Chen Xi.

”Yes, the earliest nobles took their family names from the lands they conquered with their own hands. It’s based on this that they gained the right to govern, which is why nine out of ten later nobles are trash.” Chen Xi shrugged.

”They used to be as arrogant and self-satisfied as you are now. By the way, don’t you currently lack the habit of exploiting commoners? And perhaps you’re even thinking of bringing some to your rule? To let them feel your glory?” Chen Xi said casually, referencing the fourth and fifth stages of human needs, which are either honor or self-realization.

”Now that you mention it, there’s indeed some truth to it. I feel the same way about capturing Han People.” Guo Si raised his head to think for a moment, then nodded, realizing Chen Xi made good points.

”If you capture them, will you treat them the same as before?” Chen Xi smirked. The early conquerors, although they might have had crooked thoughts about bringing people to their new territories, were not about exploitation but self-validation.

”I’d have to be stupid to haggle with those people. After they get there, apart from paying some taxes for military funds, everything else is provided by me. They’ll surely live much more freely than here. I’m going to grant each household one thousand acres of farmland and three thousand acres of pasture; anyone can live well.” Guo Si said arrogantly, leaving Hua Xiong dumbstruck.

Chen Xi covered his face, realizing he had truly encountered a madman.

Chen Xi had long known that the first wave of ”nobles” in any era were extraordinarily generous with their subjects.

After all, to those people, the populace wasn’t there for taxation, but to fulfill a sense of self-realization, to earn genuine recognition from others. But Guo Si taking it to such an extent was indeed somewhat outrageous.

This is also why Feudal States originally divided their subjects into National People, wild people, and slaves. National People could prepare their own armor and weapons during attacks against the Enemy State.

The reason being that the early nobles waved their hands generously, granting an abundance of land to these people. As long as one was a person, they could sustain themselves.

Though not as extreme as Guo Si’s arrogant allocation of four thousand acres per household, it was common in that era for First Generation nobles to give a hundred acres per person.

It also marked the beginning when nobles and commoners were distinctly divided into two classes. For the earliest nobles, commoners were like decorative pieces in their own mansions, and none would quibble with their own decorations.

Although they would keep them meticulously clean, it wasn’t for the subjects’ sake, but to please themselves. Naturally, with this mindset, they often solved many issues for their subjects.

Furthermore, because they saw their subjects as fulfilling their sense of satisfaction, they never plundered or targeted them, leading these subjects to view them as sages and support them willingly.

This also explains why numerous historical accounts depict early nobles as peculiar or even twisted in behaviors toward their peers but were notably benevolent to the commoners.

Honestly, who would be on bad terms with their own parrot? Although parrots also speak human words, they seldom vent their anger on them, contributing significantly to the early nobles’ high reputation.

Of course, that was just the beginning. Later nobles, even the subsequent aristocratic families, merely inherited the pride of their ancestors, with few inheriting their abilities. To say it bluntly, even the current Chen Family and Xun Family are formidable only within their circles.

If they truly conquered a country like Guo Si, capturing people and granting them land for praise, there would be plenty of people willing to do so.