Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu's eyes flashed, and he instantly understood the hidden meaning, immediately nodding in agreement.

"Indeed."

"Yangtze River pirates?"

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then inquired, "Zikun, is the threat of the Yangtze River pirates severe?"

Li Ji's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice.

"My lord, whether it's severe or not is not the point; the key is that Wu Commandery cannot allow the existence of Yangtze River pirates."

Immediately, Li Ji walked towards the map of Wu Commandery hanging on the side, pointing to the northern part of Wu Commandery, and said.

"My lord, please see, Wu Commandery and Xu Province are now facing each other across the river, and all connections between Wu Commandery and Xu Province, as well as the Central Plains, must cross the Yangtze River. Once the Yangtze River is cut off, Wu Commandery will be isolated on the south side of the Yangtze River."

"This is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, regardless of whether the threat of the Yangtze River pirates is severe now, the Yangtze River must be firmly controlled, and no bandits should be allowed to breed. Otherwise, it will be a major event affecting Wu Commandery and even the entire Yang Province."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Jia Xu's eyes flickered slightly, understanding that Li Ji was merely putting it nicely. Seemingly, it was to eliminate the Yangtze River pirates and ensure stable communication between Wu Commandery and the Central Plains.

However, fundamentally, it was to seize control of the Yangtze River. At least, judging from Li Ji's tone, he intended to take advantage of Liu Bei's current position as the Inspector of Yang Province to firmly control the entire Yangtze River basin in northern Yang Province.

Waiting for the opportune moment to seize the Yangtze River.

Then, Liu Bei could either cross the Yangtze River to the north and enter the Central Plains or retreat and dominate one side by locking down the Yangtze River.

"Zikun is right. I just don't know who to send to clear the Yangtze River pirates?" Liu Bei asked.

Li Ji thought for a moment, glanced at Jia Xu, and then said, "My lord, Jiang Qin was originally a pirate. I believe it is appropriate to have Jiang Qin as the main commander, with Wenhe checking for omissions by the side."

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu directly asked, "Zikun, what about the ship problem… how will it be solved? With just Jiang Qin's original few small sampans, nothing can be accomplished."

"This matter requires your trouble, my lord."

Li Ji cupped his hands and said.

"The Wu Commandery aristocratic families must have mastered a lot of shipbuilding technology. The lord can ask for it from various aristocratic families, and then find and transfer craftsmen from the Mi family and the refugees to establish a shipyard on the east side of Lou County. In less than two years, large ships can be built."

Mi Zhu, who was on the side, couldn't help but speak out.

"My lord, the Mi family's craftsmen can be driven by the lord, and the Mi family also has some shipbuilding technology, but whether it is building a shipyard or building large ships, it will cost countless money and grain."

"Therefore, if you only want to clear the Yangtze River pirates, in my humble opinion, there is no need to make such a big fuss, just purchase a few large ships."

Without a doubt, from the perspective of Mi Zhu, who is now in charge of finance, Li Ji's suggestion is a huge loss.

Mi Zhu agrees with clearing the Yangtze River pirates!

Whether it is to maintain the security of Wu Commandery and Yang Province or to ensure the Mi family's commercial routes, clearing the Yangtze River pirates can only be beneficial.

However, building a shipyard specifically for this purpose would be a complete waste of money and grain.

This time, Liu Bei couldn't help but hesitate, feeling that what Mi Zhu said was not without reason.

Now that the chaotic world has not yet arrived, the basic order of the Great Han still exists. Li Ji's suggestion basically sounds like the local government, in order to maintain security and deter criminals, deciding to independently develop and manufacture tanks.

Liu Bei's hesitation was seen by Li Ji.

However, Li Ji knew very well that the few years before the chaotic world arrived were the most important time for accumulation. If a large amount of shipbuilding technology could be accumulated during this stage.

Then, when the chaotic world arrives, the entire Yangtze River can instantly become Li Ji's back garden. This is an unparalleled advantage.

"Store grain widely, build high walls, and postpone becoming king."

These nine words are also the main purpose that Li Ji secretly planned for Wu Commandery.

Among them, "store grain widely" naturally refers to developing Wu Commandery, accepting refugees, reclaiming fertile land, etc., intending to turn Wu Commandery and even the entire Yang Province into a large granary for hegemony.

As for "build high walls", perhaps Yang Province does not have any large cities, but the Yangtze River is the most perfect natural "city wall" for Wu Commandery and Yang Province.

As long as the Yangtze River is firmly occupied, then the foundation of Liu Bei's hegemony will be established.

It's just, how to persuade Liu Bei at this stage…

Li Ji's thoughts moved, and he walked to Liu Bei's side, whispering a few words.

Then, under the gaze of Jia Xu and Mi Zhu, Liu Bei's face, which usually doesn't show emotions, first showed uncontrollable shock, and then overflowed with joy and doubt.

Immediately, Liu Bei grabbed Li Ji's arm and asked.

"Zikun, what you just said… is it true?!"

"Naturally." Li Ji nodded and replied.

The next moment, Liu Bei couldn't help but slap his thigh hard, wincing in pain, but his face was still full of joy as he said.

"The shipyard must be built, and the Yangtze River pirates must also be eliminated. This is a major event that must not be delayed!"

"Zizhong, please allocate this part of the money and grain first after you take office, and recruit a large number of shipbuilding craftsmen. I will also visit the Wu Commandery aristocratic families one by one tomorrow to ask for shipbuilding technology, in order to build the shipyard as soon as possible."

Mi Zhu was extremely puzzled about what Li Ji had secretly said to Liu Bei, so that Liu Bei's attitude had changed so quickly and so firmly.

However, since Liu Bei had already spoken, even if Mi Zhu still had some objections in his heart, he still respectfully cupped his hands and said.

"Yes, my lord."

Immediately, Liu Bei looked at Jia Xu and said.

"Wenhe, then please go to the Yangtze River with Jiang Qin to suppress the bandits after you and Zikun re-hand over the government affairs tomorrow. I will allocate the required ships to you within the scope of Wu Commandery as soon as possible, and I will also give you the authority to recruit soldiers yourself, initially limited to three thousand sailors."

"Yes."

Jia Xu also responded, feeling slightly happy in his heart.

In any case, at least he could get rid of those tedious and grinding government affairs, which was a great joy for Jia Xu.

As for going to clear the Yangtze River pirates, with Liu Bei's support, Jia Xu felt that it was just a trip and a formality.

Immediately, after Jia Xu and Mi Zhu left, Liu Bei finally couldn't help but look at Li Ji and asked.

"Zikun, is what you said just now really true?"

"True, true."

Li Ji said with some amusement. "There are indeed grain seeds overseas that yield ten times more than the current grains, and there are countless gold and silver mines, but only shipbuilding can find them overseas."

Liu Bei didn't ask Li Ji how he knew this news, or rather, in Liu Bei's opinion, Li Ji was someone who knew astronomy and geography, and was proficient in everything. It was normal to know what ordinary people didn't know.

In fact, Li Ji didn't deceive Liu Bei, and everything he said was the truth.

Let's not mention the gold and silver mines!

As for the grain seed problem that Liu Bei was most excited about.

Perhaps unless there is some plug-in-style epoch-making shipbuilding expert who allows the shipbuilding technology of the Han Dynasty to catch up with the level of the Ming Dynasty in a very short period of time, otherwise the most important sweet potatoes and potatoes are unlikely to have the opportunity to cross the ocean to find them.

But it is still possible to find the most important rice grain seeds!

As for the land of Wu Commandery, Li Ji had secretly sent people to confirm it before.

Although there are also very few areas in Wu Commandery that grow rice, the grain yield of those rice is not high and the conditions are harsh, so the common people have not spontaneously promoted it.

Even when Li Ji left Wu County before, he specially inspected many local rice varieties in Wu Commandery, which was completely different from the "fruitful" in Li Ji's memory.

And now in the Jiangnan area, the more south you go, the more miasma there is, and it is extremely difficult for Li Ji to send people deep into various deep mountains and dense forests to find good rice seeds.

In fact, Li Ji suspects that if he really wants to find that kind of rice seed, he may have to cross Jiaozhou and go to Yizhou, Annam, or the islands of Southeast Asia to gain something.

And if you want Wu Commandery's grain production to undergo a leapfrog change, then rice that can be harvested twice or even three times a year is essential.

Even Li Ji's large-scale development of water conservancy is to ensure that most of the fields in Wu Commandery meet the water resource conditions for planting rice to the greatest extent.

Therefore, under this circumstance, a shipyard is necessary.

And with the current shipbuilding technology, it is difficult to build ocean-going ships, but it is not difficult to build coastal ships.

To put it another way, even if you can't find the grain seeds at that time, with the accumulation of the shipyard, you can easily dominate the Yangtze River.

Furthermore, finding grain seeds depends on God's will and luck, but how can Li Ji not know where there are a lot of gold and silver mines overseas?

At worst, he will develop those gold and silver mines first, which is enough to respond to Liu Bei's expectations and make the shipyard's expenses generate a thousand times or ten thousand times the return.

'No, it should be said that those gold and silver mines must be developed…'

A trace of ferocity flashed in Li Ji's gentle and refined eyes.

It's just that Liu Bei, who was immersed in joy and anticipation, didn't notice the change in Li Ji's expression at that moment. Instead, he stood up excitedly and paced back and forth for a while before gradually recovering from the joy of the seemingly endless food.

"Zikun, if successful, then you and I can be said to have made contributions in this era and benefit future generations."

Liu Bei said with emotion, still feeling difficult to suppress the joy in his heart.

"Jiang Gongyi and Wenhe's navy must also be urged to establish themselves as soon as possible. After the ships that can sail at sea are built, a fleet can be formed as soon as possible to find grain seeds."

"My lord, don't be excited. Shipbuilding is not a matter of a moment. It may take at least a year to build ships that can withstand the wind and waves of the sea."

Li Ji comforted.

Furthermore, the growth of rice requires demanding climate and irrigation conditions. Only after the water network of Wu Commandery is fully transformed can large-scale rice cultivation be guaranteed.

And the completion of Wu Commandery's irrigation system will also require at least a year to show initial results.