Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Currently, the financial and grain issues in Wu Commandery are already complicated. To calculate the logistics for military operations in a single night is no easy task.

An army marches on its stomach!

And what needs to be calculated now is not just food and fodder, but also various military equipment, flags, armor, and a whole series of other things.

Often, just preparing the logistics can take more than half a month, which is quite normal.

Of course, Li Ji is only mobilizing the forces of one commandery, but to figure out all the logistical issues in one night is still a huge workload.

… …

The next morning.

When Li Ji, still radiant, reopened the side hall door and walked out, Jia Xu, following behind him, was shaking his hands and swaying, looking haggard.

At that moment, Jia Xu deeply regretted not getting drunk last night. Instead, he stayed awake and was dragged over by Li Ji to be used like a beast of burden.

For Jia Xu, who was nearly forty and hadn't stayed up all night in over a decade, it felt like he had lost half his life.

Compared to Li Ji, who was still refreshed after staying up all night, Jia Xu felt that perhaps he also needed to regularly exercise his body, otherwise, if he was constantly tormented by Li Ji like this, Jia Xu felt that he would most likely have a shorter lifespan.

Thinking of this, Jia Xu looked at Li Ji with a bit more resentment.

However, calculating the series of related items needed for the army's logistics is a major and important matter.

On this point, Jia Xu still knew the priorities and knew that this kind of thing should be done as quickly as possible.

Speed is essential in war, not just referring to the speed of marching, but more often referring to the time it takes to assemble a large army.

After Li Ji left the side hall, his gaze swept over a minor official standing in the corner, seemingly waiting for something, and then he spoke.

"Wenhe, you've worked hard last night. Go to the council hall to rest for a while. I'll go wake up the lord and the other colleagues."

"Okay."

Having stayed up all night, Jia Xu felt that he had been used like an old man. He couldn't defy his age anymore. His head was a little heavy, and he walked towards the main hall of the council with somewhat unsteady steps.

After Jia Xu left, Li Ji then walked towards the minor official standing in the corner.

"Sir."

The inconspicuous minor official within the government office was also a young man. He respectfully bowed to Li Ji and took out a bamboo scroll from his sleeve, handing it to Li Ji.

Li Ji frowned as he looked at the large patches of blood on the bamboo scroll, and his gaze towards the minor official contained a hint of inquiry.

"Liu Xin is dead."

When the minor official said this, he couldn't help but reveal a bit of sadness in his eyes.

The image of Liu Xin from the Taoyuan group involuntarily appeared in Li Ji's mind. Perhaps Li Ji visited the Taoyuan camp far less frequently than Liu Bei, but Li Ji's ability to remember everything he saw was enough for him to easily remember everyone.

Liu Xin, a thin and silent young man.

Even after becoming a member of the Taoyuan group and being guaranteed food and clothing, Liu Xin's physique was still quite small among his peers, and he was usually silent and not good at speaking.

However, Liu Xin's eyes were always quite bright, leaving a deep impression on Li Ji.

And if Li Ji didn't remember wrongly, Liu Xin went to Qiantang County to build an intelligence network.

"Killed by mountain bandits?"

"Yes, sir," the minor official replied.

"I will do everything I can to bury that group of mountain bandits in the land of Wu Commandery, so that they can accompany Liu Xin in the underworld."

Li Ji's tone didn't sound like he was making a promise, but more like he was stating his inner feelings and determination.

Upon hearing this, the minor official's pupils trembled slightly, but he cupped his hands and lowered his head, saying.

"Please, sir, do not let us interfere with your decisions. We have been able to survive in this chaotic world because we have received great kindness from the lord and sir, and we should repay this kindness with our lives."

Li Ji smiled and patted the minor official's shoulder, saying with emotion.

"You are the children of the Han Dynasty, and also the children of the lord. In my and the lord's eyes, your lives are equally precious. You are the foundation of the great ambition that I and the lord want to accomplish, and I also hope that you can witness the day when the great ambition is realized together."

"We dare not fail to serve the lord and sir with our lives!"

The minor official's body trembled noticeably, and he bowed before leaving.

After the minor official left, Li Ji then opened the bamboo scroll that had been sent to Wu County overnight with the seal intact.

Unlike the official military emergency report sent by Xu Wen of Qiantang County, the Brocade-Clad Guard was not slower in reporting efficiency.

Instead, after confirming that the official military emergency report had been sent out, the Brocade-Clad Guard secretly conducted a more detailed intelligence investigation, and then delivered the intelligence at a time that could just reach Wu County in the morning, so that Liu Bei and Li Ji, who were in Wu County, could make timely decisions.

Li Ji walked towards the room where Liu Bei was resting without stopping, while opening the bamboo scroll and quickly browsing through it.

The military emergency report only mentioned that there was a group of mountain people, suspected to be three thousand in number, and the rest could not be investigated and explained in time.

In Li Ji's current intelligence, it almost described in detail a series of details of the mountain people's attack. The more he read, the more Li Ji's eyebrows almost unconsciously furrowed, and his expression became more serious.

Soon, Li Ji arrived at the room where Liu Bei had rested after the banquet last night.

The two personal guards guarding the door saw Li Ji and took the lead in opening the door for Li Ji.

This instead made Li Ji's footsteps pause in front of the door, and he asked.

"Don't you need to report first?"

After all, barging into the lord's room is a major taboo no matter how you look at it, especially when the lord is still asleep.

Li Ji would naturally pay attention to this kind of taboo.

However, the personal guard who took the initiative to open the door for Li Ji respectfully replied.

"The lord once left an order that as long as the Prefect Li arrives, he must not be stopped at any time or place, and there is no need to deliberately report. Please, Prefect Li, enter directly."

Li Ji was really unaware of this.

After all, this was the first time Li Ji had looked for Liu Bei early in the morning before he woke up. Usually, as soon as he heard that Li Ji had appeared, Liu Bei would often take the initiative to greet him at the door, so Li Ji had never noticed this order.

However, since Liu Bei had left this order, Li Ji didn't deliberately act pretentiously in this urgent situation, and quickly walked into the house, and then saw Liu Bei lying on the couch, sleeping in his clothes and still having some alcohol on his body.

Seeing this, Li Ji walked to Liu Bei's side, pushed Liu Bei's shoulder, and called out softly twice.

"Lord, Lord…"

Hearing the sound in his ear, Liu Bei almost instantly opened his eyes, a moment of vigilance appeared on his face, but when he found that it was Li Ji who appeared in front of him, his expression subconsciously relaxed.

"Zikun, I'm sorry, I seemed to have been a little greedy and失态last night, so that I didn't know you were coming."

Liu Bei rubbed his temples, which seemed to be aching, and then sat up from the couch.

However, this was also not Liu Bei's fault. After initially settling the problem of refugees properly through "work-for-relief", although there were still many troubles to be solved little by little, it was still worth celebrating greatly.

Whether it was to unite the people's hearts or to let the subordinates vent their pressure, it was very necessary from the perspective of Liu Bei as the lord.

As Liu Bei woke up, the scenes from the banquet last night were quickly remembered by Liu Bei, and then he asked.

"Zikun, there seemed to be a military emergency report last night? And you, Wenhe, and Zilong left in the second half of the banquet. Did something happen?"

Hearing this, Li Ji handed the bamboo scroll in his hand to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei took the bamboo scroll and opened it to read, while Li Ji went to the side to pour a cup of water for Liu Bei and put it on the table beside Liu Bei's couch.

Liu Bei, who was thirsty after a hangover, naturally picked up the water and drank it, but just as Liu Bei took two sips, his expression froze as he looked at the contents of the bamboo scroll, and a clear look of anger appeared on his face.

When Liu Bei barely finished reading the bamboo scroll, under the anger in his heart, he subconsciously raised the wine cup in his hand filled with clear water and wanted to smash it on the ground.

But then he thought that this was at least the water that Li Ji had poured for him personally, and the action stopped abruptly, and instead he slammed the bamboo scroll in his other hand heavily on the couch, venting the anger in his heart, and said.

"How dare these villains! How dare they harm my people!!!"

Liu Bei's words obviously spoke to Li Ji's heart, and a faint fire of anger also emerged in his eyes.

Currently, almost everyone up and down in the entire Wu Commandery is carrying out "work-for-relief", especially in the southern plains of Wu Commandery around Qiantang County, Yuhang County, and Fuchun County.

The sudden appearance of that group of mountain people can be said to have caught everyone in Qiantang County off guard.

Although Xu Wen, who was on the front line of digging the river outside Qiantang County, reacted in time, ordering everyone to quickly retreat into the city, and summoned the commandery soldiers and young men to assist in defending the city.

However, without any prior warning, the chaos of the situation can be imagined.

Even if Qiantang County barely managed to hold the city gate under the impact of the mountain people who were not good at attacking cities, there were many people outside the city who did not have time to hide in the city.

Xu Wen could only quickly write down the military emergency report to notify the government office, and also send fast horses to notify the surrounding counties to be prepared.

As for the tragic situation outside Qiantang County, the Brocade-Clad Guard's description was almost bloody, with young men being killed, women and children being plundered, and money and food being robbed…

And after the Brocade-Clad Guard risked their lives to investigate at close range, they found that a Han Chinese man in a robe was suspected to be standing next to the leader of that group of mountain people.

At this moment, both Liu Bei and Li Ji felt like their hearts were bleeding.

Those refugees were settled down with great difficulty by Liu Bei and Li Ji, and under the "work-for-relief" system established by Li Ji, both Wu Commandery and the refugees were working together towards a promising future of peace and prosperity.

However, this sudden change made Liu Bei feel as if he had been struck on the head, reminding him once again of the chaotic nature of this era.

"Kill!!"

"Slaughter all who harm the people of my Great Han!" Liu Bei shouted in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)