Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Mr. Zikun's 'City Without Walls' might not be impossible to realize."

Mi Zhu first expressed his support and then began to speak.

"I will immediately send people to the vicinity of 'Rende Academy' to conduct on-site assessment and measurement, confirm suitable areas for building the city, and whether there have been any disasters in this area in previous years. Then, I will calculate the money and food needed for the initial construction of the market and report it to the lord for a decision."

"Regarding the site selection, Zizhong, you don't need to worry about it."

Li Ji smiled, pointing to the area he had just circled on the map, and said with a smile.

"The entire central and northern parts of Wu Commandery have no recorded disasters in the past fifty years, and after the subsequent improvement of the water conservancy of Wu Commandery, even if there is a typhoon, this area will not be at risk of being flooded."

Mi Zhu couldn't help but look at Li Ji with shock…

However, he immediately mocked himself in his heart, this kind of thing is worthy of the word "great talent" for others, truly having a plan in his chest and mountains and rivers hidden in his belly.

But for Li Zikun, it seems to be just basic operations.

Mi Zhu, who is in charge of finance, is fortunate to have access to a part of the overall picture of the Wu Commandery water conservancy plan, knowing how grand the plan is, and even more shocked at how Li Ji made this plan by himself.

If it were Mi Zhu, even with the full assistance of more than fifty scholars proficient in water conservancy, I am afraid that a preliminary plan would not be available in three to five years.

Moreover…

'So, Mr. Zikun seems to have already planned all of this when he selected the site for 'Rende Academy'?'

This thought flashed through Mi Zhu's mind, and he became more and more admiring of Li Ji, and he was even more looking forward to the future of the entire Wu Commandery.

"Understood, I will come up with a plan as soon as possible and present it to the lord."

Mi Zhu replied in a deep voice, inexplicably feeling a sense of urgency and pressure, fearing that he would drag down Li Ji's rhythm and plan.

Li Ji nodded and continued.

"Zizhong, however, regarding the idea of building this 'City Without Walls', the treasury is afraid that it will not be able to come up with any extra money and food. Those money and food need to be used as a guarantee for the water conservancy development plan and cannot be moved lightly."

Suddenly, Mi Zhu was stunned.

No money, what are you talking about!

Mi Zhu's face flushed red for a while, isn't this making things difficult for me, Zizhong?

Li Ji naturally knew that Mi Zhu could not create something out of nothing, but the money and food in the treasury and granary must not be moved lightly, and it is even more impossible to invest in the "City Without Walls", which is likely to be a bottomless pit with insufficient short-term benefits.

Although the treasury is now full of money and food, considering the two most important gold-swallowing beasts, water conservancy planning and shipbuilding workshop, there is no room for squandering at all.

Immediately, Li Ji continued.

"Therefore, Ji's idea is to jointly build this 'City Without Walls' in the name of the government and the Mi family. The Mi family can share 50% of the ownership of all the shops for thirty years…"

"And when continuing to expand this 'City Without Walls' in the future, it will inevitably continue to attract other aristocratic families and merchants to join it. The government will take the opportunity to take the lead in establishing a chamber of commerce, and the Mi family will serve as the first president."

"In the future, the construction of the 'City Without Walls' will be carried out in the form of a chamber of commerce, and the shops will also be divided into 50% ownership for thirty years and distributed within the chamber of commerce."

Greedy!

Too greedy!

It can be said that Li Ji's idea is that the government does not spend a penny, only responsible for providing land, not only directly taking away more than half of the shops and all the residences, and also collecting all the huge taxes generated by the "City Without Walls", but also using it to settle the living needs of the outer disciples of "Rende Academy".

However, the more Mi Zhu listened, the more tempted he became.

From a businessman's point of view, this is still a profitable business.

How much money, food, and materials does construction consume?

As long as the flow of people is sufficient, the shops for up to thirty years will definitely earn back the cost paid.

From a long-term investment perspective, as long as the "City Without Walls" continues to develop, the rate of return is extremely high.

And once the "City Without Walls" truly reaches a certain scale, it can be regarded as a commercial city in the true sense…

Even, with a more distant vision, if Li Zikun's proposal to vigorously develop the territory south of the Yangtze River becomes a reality, then this "City Without Walls" will not only be able to become a commercial city south of the Yangtze River, but may also be a commercial city directly connecting the north-south hub.

"Wait, Mr. Zikun… what do you mean by the chamber of commerce you mentioned just now?"

Mi Zhu suddenly thought of a term Li Ji had just said and asked.

When Li Ji heard this, he generally explained to Mi Zhu what a chamber of commerce is.

Li Ji didn't even need to explain it thoroughly, and with Mi Zhu's ability, he instantly understood the meaning and importance of the chamber of commerce.

And Li Ji's promise is… the Mi family will become the first president of the chamber of commerce.

In an instant, Mi Zhu was very excited, understanding that this would be a huge opportunity for the Mi family, and even the Mi family would be completely recorded in the annals of history and become a symbolic name for merchants.

Compared with the risk that Mi Zhu initially took to build a market, this is undoubtedly not an exchange, and it can even be said that Li Ji is repaying the Mi family's previous investment in Liu Bei on behalf of Liu Bei.

Realizing this, Mi Zhu immediately bowed to Li Ji and thanked him.

"Zhu, thank you, Mr. Zikun. From now on, Mi Zhu will definitely do his best to serve the lord."

"Now that Zizhong understands my intention, then go down and get busy. And compared to assisting Yuan Tan in handling those trivial government affairs, it is better to put more energy on his own job. The word 'finance' is nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure."

Li Ji said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Zikun, for your guidance. Mi Zhu keeps it in mind."

Mi Zhu said gratefully, and then hurriedly left the main hall, obviously going down to arrange for someone to come up with a practical plan.

Only Gu Yong, who had lost such a hard-won helper as Mi Zhu, looked even more bitter, and looked at Li Ji faintly.

"County Magistrate Li, Master Mi just helped me deal with a little bit of government affairs. Is this intentional or accidental…"

"Yuan Tan, don't praise yourself. If you can't judge the meaning and benefits of that 'City Without Walls', then perhaps Ji should consider whether to replace someone to handle government affairs."

Li Ji leisurely took a sip of tea while casually saying.

Immediately, Gu Yong stopped talking.

Gu Yong has always been skeptical of Li Ji's intentions and character, but he only admires Li Ji's ability, and cannot understand why someone's political vision can always transcend the times so much.

Gu Yong, who had been listening carefully, also calculated it in his heart and found that Li Ji's prediction was correct.

Now, the area centered on "Rende Academy" is indeed just a barren land unsuitable for farming, but in the circle drawn by Li Ji, ten years later, the "City Without Walls" that rises from the ground may become the most prosperous city in the entire Han Dynasty.

At the same time, Gu Yong also knew that perhaps this was Li Ji's reward to himself, and decided that after he left work and returned home later, he must persuade his father to follow the Mi family and get a share of the pie as soon as possible.

However, before Gu Yong could think about how to persuade his father, his head was directly knocked.

"Bang!"

"What are you doing in a daze? Hurry up and deal with government affairs."

Li Ji raised the bamboo slip that he had knocked on Gu Yong, and then threw the bamboo slip in front of Gu Yong, and replied.

"This one is not handled properly, redo it! The lord upholds the wind of benevolence and virtue, and does not need to be too harsh on the refugees. Where it is possible to give profits to the people, try to give profits to the people as much as possible."

"You are now the lord's minister, my subordinate, you should handle government affairs from the standpoint of the lord and me, not from…"

Speaking of this, Li Ji paused, slowed down a little, and said word by word.

"The mentality and style of a son of a noble family."

In an instant, Gu Yong, who was originally honest on the surface, but actually disapproving in his heart, only felt a chill in his heart, subconsciously looked up at Li Ji and met the pair of eyes that seemed to completely see through his thoughts, and instinctively lowered his head and replied respectfully.

"Yes, County Magistrate Li."

"Yuan Tan, you must have a long-term vision. I am optimistic about you, but don't let me down."

Li Ji said, and tapped the table three times lightly before returning to his seat to deal with some bamboo slips that should not be handed over to Gu Yong for processing.

As soon as he got the first volume, Li Ji couldn't help but twist his eyebrows slightly after unfolding it.

Guan Yu reported: There are some unusual movements among the mountain Yue in the south.

Guan Yu didn't mention anything about support, but Li Ji knew that with Guan Yu's arrogance, what was worth Guan Yu's special report was enough to show that it was probably not a small fight.

Immediately, Li Ji took the map of the vicinity of Fuchun Mountain from the county government and looked at it.

Without a doubt, Wu is after all close to the Yangtze River, and it has been developed for hundreds of years since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period by the Yue, Wu, and Chu states.

Therefore, there are not many mountain Yue in Wu, and even if there are mountain Yue tribes, they are in the south of Wu Commandery.

Guan Yu only needs to guard the Fuchun Mountain area to block the possibility of the mountain Yue looting Wu Commandery.

However, what Li Ji is worried about is the problems of other prefectures and counties in Yangzhou, and how to truly integrate the mountain Yue and barbarians into the Han Dynasty.

… …

At the same time.

Guo Tu, who was lost in spirit, didn't even know how he left "Rende Academy". Besides the full of "Four Crossings of the Red Water" situation changes in his head, there was also a deep sense of frustration.

Perhaps, in the eyes of outsiders, Guo Tu's performance has been good enough, with various wonderful plans emerging one after another, forcibly in an extreme situation of being surrounded and with a huge gap in troops and equipment.

Exchanged more than 15,000 enemy troops with more than 30,000 light infantry!

However, actually being within the sand table exercise, Guo Tu was clear about the desperate situation the blue team faced. All his actions were just a trapped beast's futile struggle and meaningless resistance.

What Guo Tu found even harder to accept was how Li Zikun could do better in such an extreme and desperate situation…

This is impossible!