Duzun Fort (Part 2)

"He really dared to make a move."

Among the onlookers, when they saw that the Imperial Guards truly dared to attack the Turks throughout the entire compound, quite a few were badly startled. Inwardly, they cursed the King Tang as nothing but a madman, utterly unscrupulous.

Of course, some cheered for Shen Fei and the Imperial Guards, loudly berating the Turks. The arrogance of the Turks and other foreign peoples had long dissatisfied many Luoyang citizens, but for various reasons, as long as these foreigners did not cause too much trouble, most of those in power would merely try to smooth things over.

Just as those Confucianism scholars had told Shen Fei before, one had to display the bearing of a great nation. Small countries and scant populations might not understand propriety, but did their great nation not understand it either? After all, the other side consisted of foreigners.

Being friendly to outsiders while being ruthless toward those within was one of Confucianism's defining traits. Even when that friendliness sometimes descended into fawning, it did not matter. So long as their own interests were not harmed, a few dead or injured commoners were nothing worth caring about.

"Excessive rigidity invites breakage. Nothing more." There were also some people in the crowd who prided themselves on their intelligence. They shook their heads in disappointment. A great nation that delighted in war would surely perish. It was impossible to govern a country by being overly hardline. Some actions that appeared weak were not necessarily bad strategies.

If the Turks were treated this way, and other foreign peoples left Luoyang out of fear of suffering the same fate, it would be no good for Luoyang. Commerce was indispensable to Luoyang's prosperity. Although foreigners were somewhat arrogant in Luoyang, it could not be denied