The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

Therefore, Qiao Yelan was happy to explain to the other party at this time.

"Because this is an external enemy, and a very powerful one at that—which means that no matter how much the families pretend to be friendly, they have to unite at this time, because only in this way can they be qualified to try to defeat the Sarkaz Legion."

"However, the struggles and hatred between families mean that it will be a big problem no matter whose name is used, who calls for this coalition, or who leads it. Fortunately, the Grey Hall, which the lady symbolizes, is the best name to launch this coalition, and you are the most suitable leader of the coalition."

The one who reaped the biggest prestige benefits from the coalition of eighteen warlords against Dong Zhuo was none other than Yuan Shao.

As I said before, if you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, someone else will.

Moreover, the current situation is that even Dong Zhuo's command is in Qiao Yelan's hands, and he can decide the outcome of this battle at will.

"The Sarkaz enter Syracuse and capture several cities. These [brutal demons] will uproot the family forces within, and they will gain a large amount of wealth and fixed assets from this—once they are well-fed, they will no longer allow their soldiers to plunder civilians."

"In order to maintain the Sarkaz rule, they will not only not harm civilians, but on the contrary, they will try to win them over. After dividing up the wealth and granaries of those families, the Sarkaz will distribute the difficult-to-manage real estate and a small portion of surplus grain to the civilians."

Qiao Yelan picked up her water glass, took a sip, and remained as calm as if she were simply reciting lines.

"However, most of the Syracuses who were not invaded still eagerly hope to repel these Sarkaz. Therefore, Madam, you will call on all the major families to unite and form a large Syracuse army to completely defeat the Sarkaz legion and drive them back to the wilderness of Kazdel—this will of course take a long time, because of the circumstances of Syracuse."

"The people will rejoice, and your prestige will reach its peak, while those families will not pay attention to any of this. Their attention will only be focused on tangible benefits—such as cities, lands, and civilians that have been reclaimed but are not controlled by other families."

silence.

A long silence.

Madame Sicily gripped the hilt of her sword once more—but this time she did not intend to draw it.

Only by gripping the sword hilt could she find a sliver of courage to keep listening.

The lands that the families were eyeing were meaningless—because whether the lands were divided equally among several families or involved in an unfair division, in the end, the ruler of those lands could only be Madame Sicily.

The answer is simple: the people on those lands have already experienced life without families.

They could have continued to endure oppression, but instead they enjoyed "freedom."

When other families enter the city, or when family members who had fled the city return, what will be the first thing they do?

Of course, the goal is to reclaim all the wealth that the Sarkaz distributed from these "troublemakers," and then even more ruthlessly extract double the losses from them.

In Qiao Yelan's memory, these people once had a name that could stop children from crying at night—

Homecoming party.

Chapter 159 Congratulations on getting the chance to become a chess piece

"In this war, it is meaningless no matter how much land these families seize or how many Sarkaz they kill—because after trying different lives, people will make their own choices: whether to continue to accept the oppression of their families or to live for themselves."

Qiao Yelan chuckled and opened her hands.

Just as Qiao Yelan said before, the Ruperts always have a strong enough rebellious spirit.

In the name of "freedom" and "democracy," these cities, having been cleansed by the Sarkaz, could ultimately only submit to Madame de Sicily's Grey Hall, not to any particular family.

"Therefore, Madam, you need not limit your sights to those recovered territories, because those things will eventually come to you on their own—if the outcome is already predetermined, then the process is the key to this plan."

"......process?"

The Sicilian woman's voice was hoarse.

She thought Qiao Yelan's plan was over, but she received a dizzying answer instead—

Qiao Yelan believes that there is still residual value in this plan that has not been fully exploited.

"Yes, the process—the land and the people will inevitably fall into your hands, so why should you waste your energy and your army fighting for these things?"

He continued to smile gently.

"Let the families fight over these. How can you drive a wolf pack without enough bones?"

What is the foundation of the existence and development of the Syracuse family, no, any power?

It is land, and population.

Land determines the upper limit, population determines the lower limit.

Therefore, every power greedily desires to expand its territory.

The power structure in Syracuse was already fixed. Madame Sicily had once created an opening, but the power she wielded limited her ability to exert influence, so the opening was quickly closed again, and the stalemate continued.

As we all know, a stalemate is difficult to break without external forces.

Qiao Yelan's Sarkaz army is undoubtedly a powerful external force.

Those "occupied territories" that were once occupied by the Sarkaz but were not touched by any other family forces were a feast in the eyes of every family—how much they could swallow in this feast determined how much of a gap they could widen with other families.

Every wolf's eyes will be blinded by this piece of fresh meat; they will regard it as their own possession, which will lead to biting, fighting, and struggle.

They wouldn't mind how much power they might lose in the process, because they believed that these losses would bring them the hope of the family's future rise.

They value the future, but Qiao Yelan values ​​the present more.

Because the future has already been determined.

The man's voice was gentle and calm, but his words were cruel and bloodthirsty.

"Therefore, as long as you reach an agreement with those families before the allied forces set out to fight, the future of Syracuse will be in your own hands."

Qiao Yelan's words caused Madame Sicily's pupils to shrink sharply.

"...What agreement?"

"The content of this agreement is that after the victory in this battle, the spoils of war that have become the 'Free Zone' will be distributed by taking into account the casualties and merits of each family."

Madame Sicily and Agniel looked at Qiao Yelan, one gripping the hilt of her sword and the other touching the barrel of her gun.

At this moment, only this familiar coldness could barely calm their thoughts.

Because these two leaders of the Gray Hall have realized one thing—

The purpose of this agreement is to make the people of Syracuse shed more blood.

However, this agreement would not be resisted by the other family patriarchs—because it conformed to the traditional values ​​of Syracuse, where prey must be obtained with claws and blood.

The Sarkaz's initial invasion will inevitably cripple several families, and may even wipe out one or two families altogether.

Later, when forming their own coalition, if such an agreement is proposed, the clan chiefs will disregard the casualty figures and instead become increasingly greedy, eyeing the spoils of war they are about to obtain.

Because they didn't know what kind of potent poison these spoils contained.

They even hoped that Madame Sicily would fall behind, because that way they could minimize her gains and keep the reclaimed territory for themselves—so even if Madame Sicily could openly slack off, the alpha members of those families would even thank her for her "lack of ambition"!

Generally speaking, the spoils of war are divided based solely on merit, which makes it impossible to eradicate the phenomenon of "claiming credit" and the "unyielding stance" among friendly forces becomes increasingly common.

But what if casualties were also included as an indicator in the assessment of combat merits?

This will reduce the phenomenon of reaping benefits without contributing, but at the same time, it will make those in power even less concerned about the casualty figures—no, they will actually crave casualties even more, because it will give them a greater advantage in the distribution of benefits.

Because they don't need to go to the battlefield to die.

The only thing these people are wary of is that if the casualties are too high, it will weaken their own strength, and even if they get a share of the spoils, they won't be able to make up for the gap between themselves and other families.

"At that time, we will share information and cooperate with each other to ensure that each family is consumed evenly, without any one family gaining at the expense of the other. Then they will not have such worries."

Bright red blood flowed freely between the words.

"Of course, under your artistic command, Madam, the Syracuse coalition will surely achieve final victory and reclaim those spoils of war."

Yes, we will win.

But what's the cost?

The call for the coalition was initiated by Madame Sicily, and she was also the commander-in-chief. All the benefits of public opinion would fall on her alone. Every civilian in Syracuse, whether or not they participated in the war, would have more respect and love for this lady.

The casualties in war are almost always paid for by these family forces. From the early invasion to the mid-term battles, and then to the later recovery of lost territory, it is the family forces that are worn down.

The reclaimed land becomes a festering sore on the families that settled there. These families, who have suffered enormous casualties and acquired these spoils of war, are certainly not doing charity—they want to make up for their losses as quickly as possible, and then it's their profit.

People are willing to endure the exploitation of their families because they can still survive and have some hope for the future.

When the conflict becomes irreconcilable, when the family tries to take away the last piece of bread from them, there is no longer any possibility of them continuing to coexist peacefully.

Qiao Yelan is most adept at arousing people's desires.

The desire for survival is also a kind of desire.

Why did Madame de Sicily's reforms fail to be implemented?

It's because the people are unwilling to open the windows and only want to maintain the current situation.

Therefore, Qiao Yelan planned to blow up the roof directly.

Look, everyone! It was clearly the Sicilian woman who led the coalition, and it was she who won the victory, yet all the spoils have been stolen by her family—and these thieves are even oppressing us more ruthlessly, their methods and actions are even more despicable than those of the Sarkaz!

In fact, the families did pay a fair price, and these lands were their due reward.

However, the truth has never mattered.

Families that had suffered heavy losses in the war needed more money and resources to restore their strength and suppress their new territories. However, Qiao Yelan had enough power to cut off all external funding.

Their only option is to further exploit the people in their original territory.

The power of the clan will gradually diminish. Not only will they be unable to recover their losses in the war, but they will also have to invest more and more of their resources in suppressing the common people. The more they suppress the common people, the less they can collect.

Then they fall into the same cycle again, until even their once-secured territory is engulfed in war.

And the people will gradually become more and more supportive of Madame Sicily—she won't even need to do much; she just needs to continue upholding the laws she has made and continue to toughly prosecute guilty family members.