Chapter 158 Zhuge Liang's New Later Han Dynasty

It turned out that Mr. Zhuge's thinking was the same as his own. After hearing Zhuge Liang's response, Liu Fu finally felt a little more at ease.

It seems my idea was correct.

After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Liu Bei suddenly realized the problem, but he didn't think it was a big problem. He thought, "Why not unify the world first, and then slowly govern this land?"

Liu Laowu didn't mince words, but asked directly:

"Could Mr. Zhuge please elaborate?"

Zhuge Liang nodded:

"May I ask Your Majesty, when it comes to conquering a place, a person, or even an entire country, what should be conquered first?"

Upon hearing Zhuge Liang's question, Liu Laowu was suddenly stunned.

He pondered for a moment, and then responded:

“Naturally, we should first conquer their cities, capture their people, defeat their army, kill their emperor, then change dynasties and bring their territory into our sphere of influence.”

Zhuge Liang nodded and asked in return:

"Is this the conquest Your Majesty envisioned? Does Your Majesty have any further comments or explanations?"

Liu Laowu was completely bewildered:

"Is there anything else? I would like to hear your insightful opinion, sir."

Zhuge Liang nodded, and then said:

"To conquer a people, a person, a country, or even a territory, the most important thing is not to conquer their cities or their king, but to conquer their hearts."

"Winning over the hearts of the majority and winning their sincere and willing submission is far more effective than resorting to force to solve problems."

Zhuge Liang began to use his own experience of conquering the southern barbarians to tell everyone.

"I once did something similar. There was a place that resembled a barbarian tribe. They kept rebelling. When the court sent a prefect there, they would kill the prefect. When the court sent an official to govern them, they would kill the official."

"Because they have always opposed the court, we have sent troops to conquer them. But every time we subdue them, they will rise up again soon after. Then the court will have to send people to fight them again and conquer them again. But they will rebel again in a few years. It is an endless cycle."

Zhuge Liang countered with the question:

"Your Majesty, even if we conquer them by force, they will still rebel incessantly. So how can we prevent these people from rebelling? I believe you must have your own brilliant ideas."

Liu Laowu immediately chimed in:

"That's easy. Give them enough to eat and clothes to wear, let them live a good life, and they won't rebel, right?"

Zhuge Liang nodded:

"Your Majesty is right, but the Later Han Dynasty only has a population of about ten million, and most of them are illiterate. Your Majesty has no officials at your disposal, so you can only allow those corrupt officials to continue to serve in the court and continue to erode the people and oppress the local people."

"Your Majesty, you cannot even manage the affairs of the Later Han Dynasty properly, so how can you talk about conquering the whole world and governing it?"

As soon as you said that, Liu Laowu immediately understood.

"I see. It was I who failed to consider this."

Zhuge Liang continued:

"Although we have briefly conquered these people, they are also deeply embroiled in war. If they cannot obtain a better life, they will hate us and regard us as invading enemies, and thus they will continue to rise up in rebellion."

“If we conquer a place by force, there will be people in that place who rebel against us. If we conquer ten places by force, there will be people in all ten places who rebel against us.”

"If we conquer the world but fail to govern it well, then all the tribes under heaven will rise up in rebellion and attack our Later Han. Even if we have giant beasts, a massive army of ferocious beasts, and the Eighth Prince in charge, we will still face endless wars. At that time, the trouble will be immense. Even if we can overcome their consciousness, can we overcome their rituals? Can we overcome them for a few decades, or for 100, 200, or 300 years?"

“One day they will rise up just like us, and that will be the time of crisis for the Later Han Dynasty.”

When Zhuge Liang got to this point, Liu Laowu already understood.

"I understand what you mean, sir. You want us to proceed steadily and surely, step by step, and make sure the path is solid. By using sincerity to win sincerity, we can make the people truly submit willingly and wholeheartedly, and then they will no longer be troubled. I think I understand the meaning of winning hearts and minds."

Seeing that the emperor understood his thoughts and approved of his attitude, Zhuge Liang was very pleased.

He continued:

"Although we cannot forcibly conquer all countries in the world with force, we also do not need to let all countries in the world accumulate strength to turn against us."

"Therefore, I suggest that Your Majesty may use force to coerce, but there is no need to actually send troops. The Eighth Prince can display a large army of giant beasts and ferocious beasts as a threat to make all the countries under heaven submit to the Later Han and become vassal states of the Later Han, paying tribute to the Later Han every year. Together they will honor the Emperor of the Later Han as the ruler of the world, and that will be enough for the time being."

At this point, Zhuge began an even more important speech:

"What I've said so far is actually just the beginning of the whole plan."

"As long as the Later Han Dynasty continues to treat its people well, and as long as we do better than others, more and more people will come from other places to join the Later Han Dynasty. The population problem of the Later Han Dynasty will be alleviated quickly. By absorbing the population of all countries into the Later Han Dynasty, it will indirectly weaken other countries and ethnic groups, which will also strengthen the Later Han Dynasty."

"As long as we do better than others, this effect will be produced. When, decades later, there are hardly any civilians left in our enemy countries, their people have long since migrated out and become our people, we can pacify the world without fighting. Why would we need to use force?"

"Once the Later Han Dynasty has enough talented people to govern the country, it can then pacify the country and persuade people to serve it. At that time, what will Your Majesty have to worry about?"

When Zhuge Liang said this, Liu Fu and Liu Laowu nodded at the same time, both appearing extremely excited.

Zhuge Liang's method was essentially an unbreakable open strategy, which was truly brilliant. Upon careful consideration, his method was definitely the right path, a crucial decision that led the Later Han Dynasty step by step to prosperity, conquer the world, and bring the entire world's territory under its control.

After Kongming said these words, even Xun Yu, Changsun Wuji, and others gave him a thumbs up, and none of them disagreed.

Liu Laowu said excitedly:

"Alright, from now on we'll follow Mr. Zhuge's words as our national policy. Let's do it this way from now on!"