Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Besides these, there was also the progress of the Rende Academy, the City Without Walls, work relief, and other technologies overseen by various artisans, such as the curved plow, the salt drying method, and improvements to papermaking...

After Li Ji had reviewed and dealt with all these matters, it was already noon.

Just as Li Ji stretched lazily, Liu Bei, who was beside him, spoke.

"Zikun, you've worked hard."

Li Ji, seeing this, quickly wanted to get up and salute.

"When did Master arrive? I was unaware. Please forgive me, Master..."

But before Li Ji could finish speaking, Liu Bei stopped him, saying, "What is there to forgive? On the contrary, Zikun, you toil day and night for the affairs of the state and the people. You have worked hard indeed."

Having said that, Liu Bei beckoned to Xiahou Bo outside the door and said.

"Jichang, tell the kitchen to send over the meal. I want to dine with Zikun in the side hall."

Clearly, it was already time for the usual midday meal, but Liu Bei was deliberately waiting for Li Ji to eat together.

Dining with Liu Bei might be a great honor for other subordinates, but for Liu Bei and Li Ji, it was merely a routine to enhance their relationship.

During their meal and casual conversation, an unintentional remark from Liu Bei stunned Li Ji.

"Yide has fallen in love at first sight with a niece of Xiahou Miaocai. He has already sent a betrothal gift to Xiahou Miaocai, intending to marry her as his principal wife."

(PS: The age of Madam Xiahou here is inconsistent with history. In history, Madam Xiahou should have been around thirteen or fourteen years old around 200 AD when Zhang Fei accidentally encountered her in the suburbs and married her as his principal wife without knowing that she was Xiahou Yuan's niece. At that time, Zhang Fei was already nearly forty years old.)

"Xiahou Yuan... is actually willing?" Li Ji blurted out subconsciously.

After all, in the original timeline, Xiahou Yuan didn't seem to think much of Zhang Fei, and he regarded that niece as his own daughter. He was actually willing to marry his niece to Zhang Fei.

But Liu Bei was rather puzzled and asked, "Zikun, is there another reason why Xiahou Miaocai would be unwilling?"

Suddenly, Li Ji realized the problem.

In the original timeline, Xiahou Yuan's dislike of Zhang Fei was probably due not only to their incompatible personalities but also, more importantly, to their different positions. Furthermore, Zhang Fei had followed Liu Bei, wandering and struggling for half his life. No one would have considered him a good match.

But now, things were clearly different. Liu Bei was the governor of Yangzhou and the administrator of Wu Commandery, and he also had a great reputation for benevolence and virtue in the Han Dynasty. As Liu Bei's sworn brother, Zhang Fei's status naturally rose accordingly.

Moreover, the Xiahou family was not considered a truly noble or prominent clan at the moment. Zhang Fei's willingness to marry their niece as his principal wife was, in a sense, elevating Xiahou Yuan.

In that case, it would be strange if Xiahou Yuan had any objections.

"It's nothing, I misheard for a moment."

Li Ji waved his hand and then said.

"In that case, congratulations are in order for Yide. No wonder Yide hasn't seemed to be moving around these past few days. It turns out he has other concerns."

Liu Bei also smiled and said.

"Yide has been drinking with his future father-in-law every day these past few days, wanting to entertain him well. He really can't spare any time for us."

Immediately, both Liu Bei and Li Ji couldn't help but laugh together.

Li Ji, in particular, was curious about what Zhang Fei's dark face would look like when he saw the woman he admired.

"What about Master? Do you have a woman you admire?"

Li Ji then asked a question that clearly caused Liu Bei, who was originally chewing food in his mouth, to choke. He repeatedly waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about this, don't talk about this."

However, Li Ji noticed the slight unnaturalness in Liu Bei's expression, and his heart couldn't help but stir.

However, Li Ji didn't expose Liu Bei and instead shifted the topic to other areas.

After all, the three of them, Liu, Guan, and Zhang, had been preoccupied with their great cause and had not considered matters of love between men and women at all. It was not surprising that they would soon be moved when they shifted some of their attention to this area.

However, Xiahou Bo, who came in at this moment with a slightly hurried expression and a scroll of bamboo slips in his hand, made both Liu Bei and Li Ji realize that this lunch would probably not be finished leisurely.

"Jichang, has something major happened?" Liu Bei asked.

Xiahou Bo, knowing Li Ji's position, knew that Liu Bei would not hide anything from Li Ji except for some private family matters, so he said directly.

"Master, a rebellion has broken out in Liang Province. Beigong Boyu, Li Wenhou, Han Sui, Bian Zhang, and others have colluded with the Western Qiang, claiming to have a force of 200,000 men to attack the Three Auxiliary Regions."

In an instant, Liu Bei's face darkened, and he threw his chopsticks to the ground with a loud bang, roaring.

"How dare these rebels?!"

This news undoubtedly angered Liu Bei, who highly valued the Han Dynasty, but he also knew that he was far away in Yangzhou and helpless.

This made Li Ji, who was sitting next to Liu Bei, feel a bit guilty for some reason.

Although the Western Qiang in Liang Province had not been properly appeased for a long time due to corrupt officials and corrupt politics, the Western Qiang rebellion was almost inevitable.

Moreover, the Western Qiang rebellion in the original timeline occurred more than half a year earlier than now.

However, the current Western Qiang rebellion was far greater in scale than in the original timeline, which must be due to Liu Yan's secret funding of money and grain, which, in a sense, was inextricably linked to Li Ji.

Although the 200,000 men were only a self-proclaimed number, the actual strength of the Western Qiang, including auxiliary soldiers and retainers, usually needed to be halved, but even then, there were 100,000 men.

In addition, the Western Qiang in Liang Province were almost all cavalry. 100,000 cavalry attacking the Three Auxiliary Regions was no wonder it would cause shock throughout the world.

At this time, the imperial court was probably in complete chaos, with various factions fighting for power and urgently deploying troops to the Three Auxiliary Regions to quell the rebellion.

'However, in this way, as expected, even if some rumors about Kuaiji Commandery spread to the imperial court at this time, they will be completely turned into minor matters that no one cares about.'

Li Ji secretly weighed the situation.

After learning of this news, Liu Bei naturally had no intention of continuing to eat leisurely. Instead, he left the side hall anxiously to prepare letters to contact Lu Zhi.

Among the current officials in the imperial court who could truly be considered the backbone of the country, none were better than Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song. Compared to these two, Zhu Jun was slightly inferior in terms of ability and reputation.

Therefore, the commander-in-chief of the Liang Province rebellion must be one of Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song.

The war was fierce and dangerous. The Western Qiang were coming on strong, and the internal factional struggles in the imperial court were intense. If Lu Zhi, as the commander-in-chief, suffered a temporary setback, even if he managed to save his life on the battlefield, he might be purged by the imperial court afterward.

This made Liu Bei, who was becoming increasingly sensitive to politics, feel anxious and worried about his mentor's situation.

After Liu Bei left, Li Ji also found a map of the thirteen prefectures of the Han Dynasty from the side hall and stared at it intently.

Compared to Liu Bei's heavy worries, Li Ji knew that this Liang Province rebellion was large-scale and even threatened Sili no less than the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

However, even if the Three Auxiliary Regions were captured by the Western Qiang, or even if Chang'an fell into enemy hands, Sili, with the natural barrier of Hangu Pass, would be impossible to invade Luoyang even if the Western Qiang doubled their forces.

Therefore, in terms of the outcome, the Western Qiang rebellion was bound to end in failure.

Moreover, the imperial court still relied on Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song, two famous generals. Even if the Western Qiang had the advantage of cavalry, it would not be easy to defeat Lu Zhi or Huangfu Song.

Therefore, what Li Ji was worried about was not the outcome of the war but the possible movements of various forces during this Western Qiang rebellion.

Liu Yan, of course, goes without saying.

In addition to him, there was Dong Zhuo. He didn't get enough military merit in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. This time, the Western Qiang rebellion started in Liang Province, and Dong Zhuo was originally from a good family in Liang Province, so he would definitely be reused.

Therefore, as long as Dong Zhuo made enough military contributions in this Liang Province rebellion, the ultimate beneficiary would undoubtedly be Dong Zhuo.

What Li Ji was particularly concerned about was the movements of the other aristocratic families.

Especially the Yuan family, whose name as "Four Generations, Three Dukes" was often heard by Li Ji even though he was now in Yangzhou.

Yuan Shao, serving as a staff member under General-in-Chief He Jin, already had a reputation for seeking fame.

In addition, Xu You's secret collusion with Guo Yi made Li Ji suspect that Yuan Shao might already have harbored ulterior motives at this time, so he could not tolerate Liu Bei, whose reputation was rising.

With the Yuan family's reputation, status, and connections, if they wholeheartedly regarded Liu Bei as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh, Wu Commandery might face a constant stream of trouble.

Once Lu Zhi, Liu Bei's biggest backer, truly suffered a setback in the war, there might be no one in the imperial court who would genuinely protect Liu Bei.

'I need to prepare early, otherwise, it will be a big trouble when the time comes.'

Li Ji stood on the map and thought for a long time, then unconsciously rubbed his slightly swollen temples.

But how to prepare?

That was the problem.

Compared to the aristocratic families, Liu Bei's advantage lay only in his status as a member of the Han imperial family and his reputation for benevolence and virtue. Therefore, Liu Bei certainly could not defile himself in front of the world.

But besides defiling himself, what other way could make Yuan Shao and other aristocratic families no longer value or antagonize Liu Bei?

Li Ji thought for a while, and a seemingly simple but actually brilliant method flashed through his mind.

"Fengxiao! Fengxiao!"

Immediately, Li Ji shouted towards the door.

Guo Jia, who was dining in a small room outside the side hall, hurried over when he heard this and asked.

"Sir, is there anything urgent?"

"Fengxiao, I have an important task that I want to entrust to you." Li Ji said solemnly.

Immediately, the frivolous expression that Guo Jia usually had on his face was replaced by a solemn one, and he said.

"Please instruct me, sir. I am willing to serve you like a dog or horse and will certainly not fail your trust."

"I intend to secretly establish an agency, with you as its director," Li Ji said in a deep voice.

In such an atmosphere, Guo Jia also felt a bit of nervousness and anticipation, and asked, "What agency is it?"

"This agency is called... the Strategist Bureau."

Strategist Bureau?

Guo Jia was stunned.

With Guo Jia's extensive knowledge, he had never heard of this agency's name, and it was difficult to understand its meaning from the literal words alone.

Li Ji explained with a solemn expression.

"The Strategist Bureau's duty is to emulate Zhang Yi, disrupting the vision of all parties, concealing our strategic intentions, and guiding the direction of public opinion inside and outside Wu Commandery."

(End of this chapter)