Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 23: Manipulating the World's Affairs with Ease

A signal to attack?

Liu Yan had prepared not only the soldiers lined up outside the main hall but also twenty axemen hidden behind the hall.

As long as the soldiers blocked the main entrance, cutting off their retreat, the twenty axemen could easily chop people into mincemeat within the relatively confined space of the main hall.

However, just as Liu Yan raised his wine cup to its highest point, ready to smash it down forcefully, he suddenly noticed Guan Yu's phoenix eyes slightly opening, the blade of his Green Dragon Crescent Blade faintly pointing in Liu Yan's direction.

In an instant, Liu Yan inexplicably felt a chill on his neck.

Li Ji also raised his wine cup, played with it for a moment, and said,

“Lord Governor, please consider that Yun Chang killed the Yellow Turban commander Cheng Yuanzhi with a single blow, achieving the merits of slaying generals and seizing flags, and greatly defeating the enemy. Please forgive Yun Chang's rudeness for now.”

The one who killed the Yellow Turban commander was this red-faced warrior?!

Liu Yan's heart tightened, and he suddenly became somewhat frightened.

After all, every Yellow Turban commander was a person of outstanding martial prowess. For Cheng Yuanzhi to be killed by this red-faced warrior in one exchange, he must not be an ordinary person.

At such a close distance, Liu Yan realized that the moment the cup fell to the ground, his own head might follow suit.

Immediately, under Li Ji's seemingly smiling gaze, Liu Yan smoothly retracted his signal to attack. He respectfully raised the wine cup even higher, indicating his intentions, and said,

“Today, we have greatly defeated the Yellow Turban bandits. Both of you have made unparalleled contributions. How could I possibly mind such a small matter? My heart is filled with excitement, and I wish to celebrate for the Emperor, for the Han Dynasty, and for the countless people of Zhuo County.”

According to Li Ji, this was why Liu Yan could become a dignified Governor. Such quick wit and understanding of when to advance and retreat were truly beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

Not only did he conceal his original intention of using the cup as a signal with a smooth and fluid reaction, but he also immediately elevated the conversation to a higher level.

In response, Li Ji could only raise his wine cup and echo,

“Celebrating for the Emperor, for the Han Dynasty, and for the countless people of Zhuo County.”

Subsequently, the two exchanged glances and drank the wine in their cups in one gulp, as if the tension that had just appeared was merely an illusion.

This caused the County Chancellor, who was hiding behind the main hall, carefully peeking, to experience a rollercoaster of emotions. When he saw Liu Yan raise the wine cup, the County Chancellor was already prepared to lead the axemen in for the kill at a moment's notice.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yan actually made a feint and retracted the wine cup, almost confusing the County Chancellor.

Then, Liu Yan stroked his beard and said with emotion,

“Mr. Zikun, now that Xuande has greatly defeated the Yellow Turban bandits, I am greatly gratified. It was not in vain that I entrusted Xuande with great expectations, supporting Xuande in leaving the city to defeat the bandits despite a great deal of opposition, and even fully supplying Xuande with weapons and armor.”

Li Ji nodded in deep agreement and replied,

“Indeed, Brother Xuande was able to defeat the Yellow Turban bandits, and he also knows that Governor provided full assistance. Therefore, after the war had subsided slightly, Brother Xuande immediately sent me and Yun Chang back to Zhuo County, firstly to report the great victory, and secondly to save the Governor's life.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan's expression changed slightly, and he asked,

“Could it be that there are still a large number of Yellow Turban remnants heading towards Zhuo County?”

“It is…”

Li Ji paused, then deliberately looked around, as if observing his surroundings, before whispering,

“Lord Governor, this matter is highly confidential. Please allow Yun Chang to retreat outside the room to patrol the surroundings and prevent others from approaching.”

Liu Yan pondered for a moment and nodded, seemingly unintentionally saying loudly,

“In that case, please trouble Yun Chang to withdraw first. After I and Mr. Zikun have finished discussing military affairs, I will hold another banquet for Yun Chang.”

Guan Yu ignored Liu Yan and looked down at Li Ji.

After Li Ji nodded obscurely, Guan Yu cupped his fists towards Li Ji and Liu Yan respectively and retreated outside the main hall.

The County Chancellor and the axemen, who were originally ambushed behind the main hall, also slowly retreated under Liu Yan's secret instructions.

Then, Liu Yan maintained his composure and said,

“Now that there are no third parties in the room, Mr. Zikun, please explain in detail where the Yellow Turban remnants are now and how far they are from Zhuo County?”

“It is not the Yellow Turban remnants, nor is it the danger of Zhuo County, but solely the danger to the Lord Governor himself. Therefore, Brother Xuande hastily asked me to come and inform the Lord Governor,” Li Ji replied.

“My danger? Where does the danger come from?” Liu Yan asked.

“Now, the Lord Governor sent Brother Xuande to greatly defeat the Yellow Turban bandits, whose numbers reached as high as sixty thousand. His merit is an unparalleled one. However, how should the Lord Governor conduct himself?” Li Ji asked.

Liu Yan narrowed his eyes and asked,

“What do you mean?”

Li Ji rotated the wine cup and said meaningfully,

“You are a Governor with a salary of two thousand piculs. With such an unparalleled merit, if the Emperor were to bestow a reward, it would be necessary to summon you back to the court and place you among the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers to be convincing. However, the disaster of the Party Purge has just been resolved, and within the imperial court, eunuchs, consort kin, and scholar-officials are mutually vying for power.”

“If you, as a member of the Han imperial family, were to enter the imperial court, all three parties would definitely believe that the Emperor intends to cultivate the Han imperial family, intending to make the forces within the court stand with four legs.”

“In this way, you will inevitably suffer the rejection of all three parties. How can you gain a foothold? How can you survive?”

In an instant, after being told this by Li Ji, Liu Yan felt a great sweat break out on his back.

At the same time, Liu Yan, who was well-versed in politics, was very clear that what Li Ji said was not impossible.

Since today's Emperor took power, he has extensively employed eunuchs to balance the power of the court. The three parties have been mutually vying for power for many years, and countless officials have died or been exiled.

And if the three parties unanimously believe that the Emperor wants to cultivate the Han imperial family as a fourth force to balance the court, it will inevitably be jointly attacked by the three parties.

Eunuchs, as the Emperor's close confidants, cannot tolerate the Han imperial family. Consort kin cannot tolerate the Emperor's true kinsmen. Even the scholar-officials who have just been relieved of the "Party Purge" would not want to see the Han imperial family snatching their cake.

If he were to be uniformly opposed by the eunuchs, consort kin, and scholar-officials, not to mention that Liu Yan could not withstand it, even wanting to replace the Emperor would not be impossible.

However, even if Liu Yan does not want to enter the imperial court, that is also impossible.

Now, the highest official position in the local area is only the Governor with a salary of two thousand piculs. The Inspector of the province, who nominally governs and supervises the Governor, is actually only six hundred piculs.

Therefore, Liu Yan is now facing a situation where he cannot be promoted in the local area, but entering the imperial court is fraught with crises.

The more Liu Yan thought about it, the more frightened he became.

When Li Ji had not yet pointed out this point, Liu Yan, who was in the midst of the situation, had not yet realized this, but at this moment, he clearly understood that the merit of greatly defeating the Yellow Turban bandits was nothing more than a hot potato for him.

Even if the situation within the imperial court was not as dangerous as Li Ji said, Liu Yan has now completely extinguished the thought of getting involved in the darkness and chaos within the imperial court.

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.

Liu Yan poured himself another glass of wine with a rather unsightly expression, then looked at Li Ji and said meaningfully,

“Mr. Zikun's eloquence is rare in the world, but it seems that this is not quite enough, is it?”

At this moment, Liu Yan no longer concealed his intentions and simply expressed the meaning of exchanging benefits nakedly.

Anyway, at this moment, there were only himself and Li Ji in the main hall, and Liu Yan was too lazy to pretend with Li Ji any longer.

Liu Yan admitted that he was persuaded by Li Ji and no longer intended to swallow Liu Bei's merits alone, but he was obviously unwilling to let Liu Bei take away this great merit for nothing.

If Liu Yan intended to manipulate it, even letting Zou Jing swallow most of the merits would not be difficult.

As for what Liu Bei was purely out of concern for his uncle, hastily letting Li Ji return to Zhuo County to remind him of this kind of thing, Liu Yan would naturally not take it seriously.

However, Li Ji really needed that fig leaf and said seriously,

“Lord Governor is mistaken. Now, in the imperial court, many public officials are merely holding positions without performing their duties, causing popular grievances to boil over, and even the rebellious Yellow Turbans have gathered millions of people and wreaked havoc in eight provinces.”

“Brother Xuande and the Lord Governor are both members of the Han imperial family. Seeing this situation, they must also be filled with grief and indignation, but they are powerless to do anything about it.”

Liu Yan nodded, also wanting to see what Li Ji wanted to sell, and replied,

“Mr. Zikun is right. What I desire in my heart is also that the Han Dynasty can be peaceful and prosperous.”

“That's right. Therefore, Brother Xuande is willing to dedicate his merits to help the Lord Governor enter the imperial court and become a clear stream to wash away the filth of the court,” Li Ji said loudly.

However, Liu Yan only wanted to sneer in his heart.

If Li Ji had said this as soon as they met, Liu Yan would still believe it a little, thinking that Liu Bei was sensible.

However, now, after explaining the harm of entering the imperial court, Liu Yan would not be willing to enter the imperial court, and naturally understood that Li Ji was basically wanting to be a whore and deliberately setting up a chastity archway in front of the door first.

“However, I have this intention, but one person is ultimately weak and powerless. It is better to wait for me to report to the Emperor and enter the imperial court with Xuande. Uncle and nephew working together may not be able to achieve anything,” Liu Yan said passionately.

‘Old fox, he really doesn't release the eagle until he sees the rabbit…’

Li Ji cursed inwardly, but he also roughly understood Liu Yan's psychological bottom line through repeated probing, and even probed out an important piece of information.

Then, Li Ji said solemnly,

“However, facing the Lord Governor's predicament, I have thought for a long time and came up with a method that can both allow the Lord Governor to not have to enter the imperial court and allow him to fulfill his ambitions and restore peace and prosperity to the Han Dynasty.”

“Oh? Mr. Zikun, please speak,” Liu Yan asked with some curiosity.

Li Ji slowly said,

“I wonder if the Lord Governor knows that in the first year of Suihe, Emperor Cheng of Han changed the Inspector to Governor.”

In an instant, Liu Yan's eyes shone brightly, and he even couldn't help but stand up abruptly!

An Inspector only has supervisory power; a Governor is a true regional official who controls the military and political power of a province.

Seeing Liu Yan's reaction, Li Ji further confirmed that Liu Yan hadn't thought of the "Governor of the Province Plan" yet, otherwise, he wouldn't have been so失態 (shī tài - lost his composure).

But at this moment, Liu Yan couldn't care less about his失態 (shī tài - lost composure), and walked straight to Li Ji's side, and said in a low voice.

"Sir Zikun, do you have a way to teach this old man?"

"If Grand Administrator can establish enough merit in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and then offer this suggestion to the Emperor, just when there is a chaotic situation of infighting among the three parties in the court, the Emperor may implement this strategy to ensure peace in all directions and prevent the reappearance of the Yellow Turban rebels," Li Ji replied.

"Is the merit of Liu Bei, Cao Xuande, the Officer in charge of bandit suppression under my command, in destroying 60,000 Yellow Turban soldiers, enough?" Liu Yan asked.

"No!"

Li Ji shook his head and said.

"If Grand Administrator acts like this, it may make the Emperor think that Grand Administrator is just for his own promotion path, so he offered a plan. At that time, the Emperor will grant titles of Governors of the Provinces to all directions, but only transfer Grand Administrator into the court, what will happen then?"

Liu Yan nodded, habitually rubbed his beard vigorously, squinted his eyes while thinking, and asked. "Then what does Sir Zikun think should be done?"

After a pause, Liu Yan grabbed Li Ji's wrist with one hand, shook it, and said.

"If I become the Governor of the Province, I would like Sir Zikun to be my Second in Command."

This promise can be said to be extremely important. The position of Second in Command of the Governor of the Province is enough to be called the head of the civil officials in a province.

Obviously, after Li Ji proposed the word "Governor of the Province," Liu Yan was completely moved, willing to do everything to fight for the position of Governor of the Province.

Even in Liu Yan's view, what is the Governor of the Province, who controls the military and political power of one side, different from a true feudal king?

Instead of entering the court and infighting with various forces, it is better to sit in a province as a member of the Han imperial family, watch the changes in the world, and enjoy the happiness, peace, wealth and honor of the world.

Regarding the promise given by Liu Yan, Li Ji remained noncommittal, but continued to say.

"This matter is easy, Grand Administrator can set an example of selflessness!"

"On the one hand, present the good news of the great defeat of the Yellow Turbans to the Emperor, on the other hand, order Xuande, the Cao Xuande brother in charge of bandit suppression under his command, to lead the army to immediately go south to directly support Jizhou. If Brother Xuande makes contributions in defeating the demonic Zhang Jiao, how can the Emperor forget the Grand Administrator's contribution?"

When Liu Yan heard the words, his face flushed with excitement unconsciously, even comparable to Guan Yu guarding outside the door.

Liu Yan saw Li Ji's purpose very clearly!

Under the circumstances that he could not swallow the credit for the great defeat of the 60,000 Yellow Turban soldiers, Liu Bei would surely be greatly rewarded by the imperial court, and it was not impossible for him to take advantage of the situation to rise again by leading his troops south to support the war in Jizhou.

However, once Liu Yan took the opportunity to offer the "Governor of the Province Plan," then Liu Yan, who was invisibly bound to Liu Bei, would also gain great benefits.

As the Grand Administrator of one side, a member of the Han imperial family, in addition to leading the Zhuo County under his control to defeat the Yellow Turban bandits, he does not forget his public heart, and then orders his nephew to immediately lead his troops to fully support the war in Jizhou!

This is called professional!

This is called a model!

Looking at the countless officials of the Great Han, how can anyone compare with him?

In any case, this is a great example of a selfless member of the Han imperial family, and he will surely be trusted by the Emperor. Once the "Governor of the Province Plan" is implemented, how can there be no place for Liu Yan among the Governors of the Province in the world?

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Extremely wonderful!"

Liu Yan praised three times in a row. In addition to his excitement, the way he looked at Li Ji also underwent some complete changes.

Before, in Liu Yan's eyes, Li Ji was just a usable talent!

However, in Liu Yan's eyes now, Li Ji is playing with the general trend of the world between his palms. In fact, without paying anything, he completely induced himself to help Liu Bei with all his strength.

"Sir Zikun, the Prefectural Assistant in my mansion is unfortunately seriously ill and is about to pass away. I intend to invite Sir Zikun to temporarily take the position of Prefectural Assistant," Liu Yan said seriously.

As for whether the Prefectural Assistant is really seriously ill now, that is just a trivial matter. Liu Yan can make him die immediately.