Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

However, that page who often acted out of line in secret seemed to be growing faster than Li Ji had anticipated.

Faced with the flattery of the crowd, Xiahou Lan did not respond directly with a boast, and even lightly declined the bribes.

For a young man who had not yet reached adulthood, Xiahou Lan's temperament was quite good, at least not disappointing Li Ji.

If Xiahou Lan had really accepted the gold cake, then Li Ji would have had to consider placing Xiahou Lan in an unimportant position.

"Everyone, please conduct yourselves with respect,"

Suddenly, Xiahou Lan's voice rang out, saying.

"If you are determined to study, you can observe how others play chess in the 'Four Crossings of the Red River.' Sooner or later, you will reach the standard for entering the Rende Academy. Otherwise, if you have no intention of studying, what is the point of entering the Rende Academy?"

"Even those who are not good at military strategy can choose the 'Politics' option for assessment. As long as they are determined to do practical things and are not afraid of hard work, passing the assessment is not difficult."

As soon as these words, spoken in a childish voice but with a steady tone, came out, the voices that had been praising Xiahou Lan stopped, and even the atmosphere seemed to fall into awkwardness.

Afterward, the atmosphere on Xiahou Lan's side was obviously not as enthusiastic as before. With Xiahou Lan making it clear that he would not accept bribes, the topic naturally turned more to current affairs.

In addition to discussions related to the "Four Crossings of the Red River," there was more talk about the large-scale "work-for-relief" and the refugees within the Wu Commandery.

It's just like playing chess, different people can come up with different games.

And the "Four Crossings of the Red River" sand table improved by Li Ji is countless times more complex than chess, also involving terrain, marching speed, morale, and other issues.

Blind imitation is simply impossible.

Guo Tu's game in the "Four Crossings of the Red River" has been widely spread and is often studied by a large number of scholars, but so far, no one has been able to replicate Guo Tu's achievement of sticking to more than twenty orders and defeating more than 10,000 enemy soldiers.

This is precisely the charm of sand table deduction, especially since the "Four Crossings of the Red River" is like a problem that seems to never have an end, making a large number of scholars who aspire to military strategy unable to stop.

As the sky grew darker, the gathering on Xiahou Lan's side seemed to come to an end. A group of scholars talked about various topics, which allowed Li Ji to deeply understand the current scholars' views and attitudes toward current affairs.

Overall, the imperial court should be criticized. The frequent natural disasters must be related to the Ten Attendants holding power in the imperial court, and heaven will use this method to warn.

As for the Wu Commandery accepting a large number of refugees, even if most outsiders do not understand the deep meaning of "work-for-relief," they generally recognize Liu Bei's benevolence.

In particular, a group of refugees fled from north to south, crossing many states and counties along the way, but only the Wu Commandery took the initiative to accept them, which is even more precious.

Li Ji felt quite satisfied with this, at least he didn't hear any voices cursing him behind his back.

Otherwise… a thorough investigation!

Li Ji is not a stingy person, but Li Ji considers himself a noble person. If there are any cursing voices circulating in the streets, there is likely to be a pusher behind it, and a thorough investigation must be carried out!

Seeing that the tea party was over, and Xiahou Lan was about to leave surrounded by a group of scholars, Li Ji got up and walked out of the tea house to catch up with Xiahou Lan, saying.

"This brother, I have just arrived at this market and am not familiar with many things. I wonder if I can ask this brother to be my guide?"

Xiahou Lan just stared blankly as Li Ji walked out of the tea house behind him, and then walked up to him and said these words. Suddenly, his original childish and steady expression almost cracked!

Before Xiahou Lan could react and speak, the group of scholars who had been surrounding Xiahou Lan frowned.

The scholar standing next to Xiahou Lan looked even more displeased, as if he felt that a scholar who didn't know where he came from had embarrassed him.

Immediately, the scholar looked Li Ji up and down. The simple blue scholar's robe looked clean, and the folding fan in his hand…

The scholar's expression became slightly stern, and his eyes narrowed involuntarily as he looked at the folding fan in Li Ji's hand.

Paper was extremely expensive at this time. The fact that this person used paper to make a fan was enough to show that he was by no means a poor scholar. Moreover, upon closer observation, the scholar found that Li Ji's demeanor was unusual and admirable.

This made the displeasure on the scholar's face disappear a lot, and he looked at Li Ji with a bit of a desire to make friends, and took the initiative to speak.

"I am Zhen Yan from Zhongshan. Perhaps this brother does not know the identity of the person next to me. He is Xiahou Lan, the personal page of Mr. Zikun, and he is also responsible for hosting the 'Four Crossings of the Red River.'"

"Therefore, Mingzheng may not be suitable as a guide for this brother, but if this brother needs a guide, I can volunteer."

These clear and well-reasoned words made Li Ji take a second look at Zhen Yan, and he realized that he was the one who had expressed his idea of making progress to Xiahou Lan before.

However, unlike the纨绔子弟 that Li Ji had originally thought, Zhen Yan was actually quite outstanding in dealing with people. At least these words secretly showed respect for Xiahou Lan, and also conveyed goodwill and a desire to make friends with Li Ji.

Li Ji thought for a moment and said. "Zhen Yan from Zhongshan? Could it be the son of the wealthy Zhen family in Ji Province?"

"My family has a little wealth, I'm ashamed to say,"

Zhen Yan said modestly, and then cupped his hands and said. "May I ask what this brother's name is?"

This question made Li Ji a little embarrassed.

Li Ji didn't want to reveal his identity, lest it cause any riots.

But this era emphasized not changing one's name or surname, and falsely claiming an identity would not only make people despise you, but also be an extremely disrespectful act to the other party.

What's more, the Zhen family in Hebei was one of the wealthiest in the entire Han Dynasty, even more so than the Mi family.

Although the Zhen family's status and reputation among the Han Dynasty families were not top-notch, in Li Ji's eyes, the value of the Zhen family was much greater than most families, so naturally he didn't want to do anything rash or rude.

Xiahou Lan finally reacted and subconsciously wanted to salute Li Ji, but stopped abruptly, realizing that Li Ji intended to hide his identity.

Immediately, Xiahou Lan turned around and cupped his hands to Zhen Yan and other scholars, saying.

"Thank you for your invitation, brothers. I have urgent matters now, please allow me to take my leave first, and we will gather again another day."

Immediately, before Zhen Yan and others could react, Xiahou Lan hurriedly took Li Ji away, making Zhen Yan and others a little confused.

After Xiahou Lan took Li Ji away, his face was almost bitter, and he no longer had the steady demeanor he had just had in front of Zhen Yan and others, and said weakly.

"Sir, I… I can explain."

"Then explain,"

Li Ji said with a smile, looking at the surrounding environment with interest.

Xiahou Lan swallowed and said in a low voice.

"Zhen Yan donated a lot of money to the Rende Academy, just to invite me to the tea party. I considered that this might reduce the financial pressure of maintaining the Rende Academy, so I agreed."

"But… but I have absolutely never done anything to betray the lord and the master, so… will the master believe me?"

Li Ji smiled freely and said.

"Why not believe it? Just now, Zhen Yan said that you are my personal page. How can this identity be exchanged for money? Mingzheng will naturally not be so foolish as to covet some gold and silver."

When Xiahou Lan heard this, he relaxed, and was quite moved by Li Ji's trust.

For Xiahou Lan, he was originally just a peasant from a remote mountain village in Changshan. He naturally understood why he had such a status in just one year.

Walking near the Rende Academy, everyone would treat him with courtesy, and Xiahou Lan knew that it was because of Li Ji's face.

Li Ji then continued.

"However, what makes me gratified is that Mingzheng can remain calm and not be complacent in the midst of all the flattery, and already has some composure."

As soon as these words came out, Xiahou Lan's face immediately turned red, realizing that Li Ji had probably heard all the words that those scholars had praised him.

This made Xiahou Lan feel a buzzing in his head, and a sense of social death arose spontaneously.

After a long while, Xiahou Lan replied with an embarrassed face. "The gap between Lan and the master is like a chasm, how dare I have any sense of complacency?"

As the first person to come into contact with the "Four Crossings of the Red River" sand table and the person who has been hosting the "Four Crossings of the Red River" during this period, the more Xiahou Lan understands, the more he understands that the gap between himself and Li Ji is unattainable.

During this period of time, Xiahou Lan has seen countless solutions from different scholars.

Although Xiahou Lan felt that he had benefited a lot and broadened his horizons, even reaching Guo Tu's achievements were few and far between, let alone touching Li Ji's realm of completely cracking the "Four Crossings of the Red River."

The gap… is too big.

When he first understood, Xiahou Lan only felt that Li Ji's talent was unmatched, but as Xiahou Lan continued to study in depth, he suddenly had the feeling of an mayfly drilling out of the water and seeing the boundless night sky for the first time.

Under such circumstances, how could Xiahou Lan have any pride or complacency even if he heard more flattery?

"Very good."

Li Ji praised Xiahou Lan, and then said. "Next, you will continue to host the 'Four Crossings of the Red River' for two years. After you reach adulthood, you will be able to stand on your own."

"Yes, sir."

Xiahou Lan replied, and then couldn't help but whisper. "Sir, can I continue to stay by your side to study?"

"You have a good heart."

Li Ji smiled, but didn't agree.

For Li Ji, a page was easy to find, but Liu Bei's forces were still short of generals, and having Xiahou Lan continue to act as a page was undoubtedly a waste.

(End of Chapter)