The area centered around Shang Nan Commandery had once belonged to Gu Ren. Everyone within its borders had been loyal to him. After Shen Tang took over these places peacefully, she treated Gu Ren's former subordinates courteously out of respect for him, and even exempted the common people from taxes for a year. She only implemented the more severe policies here after carefully weighing them again and again.
As a result, the common people had a very good impression of Shen Tang.
She truly was a benevolent ruler renowned alongside the late Lord, Duke Gu.
As the days went by, this notion began to take root in people's hearts.
Especially after this great battle, everyone was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Before Shen Tang, warlord battles meant either seizing people or killing them. The two sides paid no attention to where they fought. If ordinary people got caught in the fighting, they could only blame their bad luck and wait to die. Those lucky enough to survive often couldn't make ends meet, leaving them no choice but to sell themselves. Better to become a slave or servant than lose their lives. Those high-and-mighty officials and nobles, so removed from everyday life, wouldn't give a damn about the lives of commoners. They might even be glad to see them sell themselves. If commoners didn't sell their land or themselves, where would the aristocratic clans and warlords get so many tenant farmers?
They couldn't just rely on people having children.
The old tenant farmers alone couldn't produce that many.
In troubled times, everyone accepted this unspoken rule.
But Shen Tang's army had offered a different answer in this battle. Not only had they refused to abandon the common people in the city, they had even spared some of their already meager garrison troops to