Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

But before Li Can could show any relief, Jia Xu changed his tone and said.

“However, even if I believe you are innocent, who else will?”

This immediately dumbfounded Li Can.

The grain entered the granary, only to turn into sand. For Li Can, the official in charge of the granary within the camp, this was an undeniable responsibility.

At best, it would be dereliction of duty punishable by death. At worst, he would be branded as a grain-embezzling rat, and his entire clan would be exterminated.

“Please, Chief Clerk, save me! I will repay your kindness in this life and the next!”

Li Can kowtowed to Jia Xu repeatedly, begging for help, knowing that his only chance of survival was to seek the protection of the Chief Clerk Jia Xu, who knew the truth.

Who in Wu Commandery didn't know the name of Li Ji?

And it was rumored that Chief Clerk Jia Xu had distant kinship with Li Ji, so Li Ji often entrusted important tasks to Chief Clerk Jia Xu.

As long as Chief Clerk Jia Xu was willing to protect him, he would surely survive.

To Li Can's pleas, Jia Xu's face seemed both reluctant and helpless.

This made Li Can beg even more earnestly, grabbing Jia Xu's trouser legs with both hands while kneeling before him, constantly pleading for intercession.

“Very well, very well, who asked Jia Wenhe to be so kind-hearted?”

Jia Xu sighed, saying with a hint of reluctance, then bent down and helped Li Can up from the ground, saying.

“The ground is cold, let's talk standing up, lest you catch a cold.”

For a moment, Li Can didn't know if he was cold, but he felt deeply moved, tears welling up in his eyes.

Really, I'm so touched, Chief Clerk is so gentle.

“Moreover, since I know you are innocent, I cannot stand idly by,” Jia Xu said gently, comforting Li Can.

“From now on, if Chief Clerk has any orders, I will go through fire and water without hesitation.”

Li Can said excitedly, the light of unwavering loyalty and yearning shining in his eyes as he looked at Jia Xu.

However, Jia Xu obviously wouldn't leave anyone with a handle to accuse him of forming cliques for personal gain. Even though he knew Li Can's death was not far off, and that he was just a tool who had been kept in the dark from beginning to end, Jia Xu still wouldn't take such a risk.

‘Li Can's death is his own, but I must not leave an image in the lord's mind that he died for Jia Wenhe. What would that look like?’

The thought flashed through Jia Xu's mind, but his face remained gentle and calm as he said.

“Just do your best to be loyal to our lord, and that will be repaying my protection of you.”

“Yes, Chief Clerk.”

Li Can responded quickly, then asked nervously, “Chief Clerk, what should we do with this grain?”

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and said.

“You must not publicize this matter. Find two or three trusted aides and re-tie these sacks, making sure no one else knows they are filled with sand, or you will surely die.”

Li Can's heart tightened, and he nodded quickly in agreement.

Just as Jia Xu had said before, the granary was managed by the grain official Li Can, and if something happened to the granary, Li Can had an inescapable responsibility.

Jia Xu's voice became even more serious, saying.

“As for the person truly embezzling the grain, I'm afraid they hold a high and powerful position. I still need to contact the Prefectural Assistant by letter and have the Prefectural Assistant personally mobilize people to investigate secretly, so as not to alert the enemy. Until then, you should just act as if you know nothing about this matter.”

“Yes.”

Li Can responded, then frowned and asked carefully, “But the granary needs to allocate a large amount of grain every day to cook porridge for the refugees, what should we do?”

“This is easy.”

Jia Xu said casually, “If the warrant orders you to allocate one hu, you only give out two dou, and so on.”

Li Can said with some concern, “If we cook the porridge like that, I'm afraid it won't meet the requirement set by Master Gong Cao that chopsticks can stand upright in it.”

Jia Xu said calmly, “If you want chopsticks to stand upright in the porridge, I'm afraid your head will soon be hanging above the gate.”

Immediately, those words made Li Can shiver.

“Moreover, I am also in charge of allocating grain. When the time comes, if you want to save your life, I will just turn a blind eye.”

Jia Xu said earnestly, as if all of this was only due to Li Can's previous pleas, and was all to save Li Can's life.

This made Li Can no longer dare to question, and he repeatedly thanked Jia Xu with tears of gratitude.

Afterward, Jia Xu once again reminded Li Can that he must do his best to keep this matter a secret, and must not reveal it to outsiders, before leaving the granary and returning to the main tent.

And as he returned to the main tent, Jia Xu's image of a gentle gentleman immediately collapsed a lot, and he squeezed out three words from between his teeth.

“Li! Zi! Kun!”

The difference between being full and not starving to death is extremely large.

Jia Xu had already clearly guessed that it was probably not just this time's supply convoy, but that the grain sent by subsequent supply convoys would generally only have about 20% of the stated amount, just enough to prevent the refugees from starving to death.

And Jian Yong's previous principle for distributing grain was to make the refugees full, while Jia Xu's task was to prevent the refugees from starving to death, and to prevent the refugees from causing unrest, while also not damaging Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence.

This was truly like being a prostitute who also wanted to erect a monument to chastity.

In fact, Jia Xu had already sensed a hint that he would be the scapegoat.

Fortunately, Jia Xu, known for not being a sticky pot, immediately found Li Can as a backup.

‘However, Li Can's position is still too low. I still need to show an attitude of extreme importance to him, and outwardly give the impression that all matters are handled by Li Can. In this way, even if things are exposed, I can use Li Can's head to directly quell the refugees' resentment.’

Jia Xu thought silently, then began to make a series of backup arrangements, starting to insert some manpower into the refugees to prepare for guiding public opinion.

And in the next three days, under Jia Xu's instructions, Li Can gradually reduced the grain used to cook porridge, from 80%, 70%, 60%, to the final 20%.

The porridge became thinner and thinner!

And after reaching the original 50%, Jia Xu found that among the refugees, some strong and sturdy local ruffians and hooligans, after receiving a bowl of porridge and not being full, began to secretly snatch the porridge from the old, weak, women, and children.

This made Jia Xu add another patch, ordering Li Can to add a handful of sand to the porridge, ensuring that every bite was sour and refreshing.

Unless they were really hungry, they would never easily drink this thin porridge.

And popular resentment gradually began to sprout.

Despite having a three-day buffer period to gradually reduce the thickness of the porridge, the refugees were obviously not fools.

Perhaps most of the honest and grateful refugees did not say anything, but there was also a considerable number of local ruffians and hooligans who frequently protested, made trouble, and even began to secretly organize people to stir up trouble.

However, all those small actions undoubtedly could not escape the eyes of Jia Xu, who had been observing in secret.

Those ruffians and hooligans who intended to cause trouble disappeared silently into the night in the crowded and chaotic refugee camp.

The “earthwork laborers” of Wu Commandery were always short of manpower, and these ruffians and hooligans were just right to let those former bandit predecessors teach them a lesson and contribute their own strength.

Unlike the relatively loose management of the refugee camp, the “earthwork laborers” were essentially still prisoner-of-war camps, implementing the most strict and cruel military management.

It was just that Jia Xu could easily solve those ruffians and hooligans who intended to cause trouble, but for a considerable number of refugees who frequently protested, Jia Xu could only guide public opinion to divert the problem to Li Can.

Anyway, in Jia Xu's view, this refugee camp was generally just a place similar to a transit point.

With Li Ji's ability, it would not be long before he could find a way to settle the refugees, dispersing these large numbers of gathered refugees to different areas.

After everything was over, he could easily quell all resentment by displaying Li Can's head throughout Wu Commandery.

Just as Jia Xu was preparing to secretly inspect the porridge distribution points within the refugee camp again, Jian Yong suddenly broke into Jia Xu's tent, looking angry.

“Jia Wenhe!”

Jian Yong walked up to Jia Xu in three steps, and before Jia Xu could get up to salute, he slammed the bowl of porridge he was holding heavily in front of Jia Xu.

Bang!

A somewhat harsh sound.

Jia Xu looked down at the thin porridge in the bowl, a small bowl the size of half a palm, with scattered grains of rice floating in it. Gathering all the grains of rice and squeezing them tightly would roughly be the amount of one meatball, and faintly, some impurities such as sand and pebbles could occasionally be seen floating in the bowl.

“Xianhe, what's the problem with this?” Jia Xu asked calmly.

“Nothing wrong?”

Jian Yong was even more furious, shouting. “Is this bowl of porridge fit for human consumption? I'm afraid it can't even be considered pig feed!”

Jia Xu chuckled and retorted.

“Are starving refugees still considered human?”

“You!!”

Jian Yong widened his eyes, unable to imagine that Jia Xu could actually say such words, to the point that the finger he was pointing at Jia Xu was trembling, saying.

“You have failed the lord's trust, failed the trust of the people. I will report this matter to the lord and Master Zi Kun to have you punished!”

“Please do.”

Jia Xu still had that indifferent look, responding nonchalantly.

Jia Xu's fearless attitude made Jian Yong even more angry, his face flushed with obvious redness, shouting.

“Before that, immediately hand over the grain you have hidden, or don't blame me for being rude!”

“Grain?”

Jia Xu glanced at Jian Yong, replying unhurriedly. “The grain sent by the supply convoy regularly has all been used to cook porridge.”

“Nonsense!”

Jian Yong shouted angrily, saying.

Before coming here, I checked the grain depot's inventory records. The grain shipments from Wu County have been steadily increasing daily, corresponding to the increasing number of refugees in the refugee camp.

You, Jia Wenhe, are greedy for money, but you must have some measure! This is all life-saving grain for the refugees; you dare to lay your hands on it?

(End of Chapter)