Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

As the end of the year approached, several carriages from Luoyang arrived in Wu County, escorted by Xiahou Bo and his personal guards.

Liu Bei, along with Li Ji, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and other trusted aides, personally welcomed them at the city gate.

Once the carriages came to a stop, Lu Zhi slowly emerged from one of them.

It had only been a little over a year, but Lu Zhi looked as though he had withered away.

Previously, even in simple clothes, Lu Zhi's every word and action exuded the demeanor of a great scholar, commanding respect.

Now, wearing an even more tattered scholar's robe with several patches, coupled with his disheveled silver hair, deeply lined face, and eyes that seemed to have lost much of their luster, Lu Zhi resembled a destitute old man.

'He looks like an old man whose lifelong beliefs have suddenly been reduced to nothing,'

was the feeling that arose in Li Ji upon seeing Lu Zhi for the first time.

As soon as Lu Zhi stepped down from the carriage, Liu Bei burst into tears, saying,

"Master, you have suffered! I regret that I cannot be by your side to serve you at all times, leading to your persecution by treacherous men and exile to Wu County."

"Xuan De, do not act like a woman. Such is the way of the world, what can be done? I only seek to have a clear conscience before heaven and earth," Lu Zhi said, as he shakily helped Liu Bei up.

Lu Zhi brushed away some snowflakes from Liu Bei's body and said with a hint of relief,

"I have heard much of what you have done in Wu County, Xuan De. Not only have you enabled the people of Wu County to live in peace and prosperity, but you have also provided shelter for countless refugees. A great deed indeed."

Liu Bei quickly supported Lu Zhi and humbly said, "All thanks to your teachings, Master, and the assistance of virtuous men. I dare not take credit."

Lu Zhi nodded and looked at the group of trusted subordinates behind Liu Bei, his eyes first landing on Li Ji, who stood at the forefront.

Before Liu Bei could introduce him, Lu Zhi slightly nodded and praised,

"Zi Kun is even more handsome and refined than he was a year ago, and his gentlemanly demeanor is even more pronounced. The people of Wu County are fortunate to have you as their Deputy."

"I dare not call myself a gentleman before Lord Lu," Li Ji replied, bowing respectfully.

Compared to someone like Jia Xu, the Lu Zhi before him was a true gentleman of the late Han Dynasty.

In an era rife with corrupt officials, Lu Zhi had held high positions and was a renowned scholar, yet he remained incorruptible. Upon his death, he was buried in simple clothes, a model of virtue.

Especially in this turbid era, Lu Zhi stood out as particularly bright and noble.

Then, without standing on his reputation, Lu Zhi greeted and befriended each of the trusted subordinates who had come with Liu Bei to welcome him.

After Lu Zhi insisted on meeting everyone, Liu Bei eagerly said,

"Master, it is cold outside. Please quickly come with me to the residence to escape the cold and warm yourself. You must also be weary from your long journey and need to rest."

Lu Zhi did not decline his disciple's filial piety and nodded in agreement.

"Then I shall trouble you, Xuan De."

Liu Bei had naturally prepared a residence for Lu Zhi long ago, large enough for his family to live in.

Although Lu Zhi's energy and spirit were not as good as before, his condition was still decent, which relieved Liu Bei, who had been worried.

After all, according to the average lifespan of this era, Lu Zhi was already an elderly man, and it would not have been surprising if he had died on the road of exile.

Especially since Lu Zhi had suffered such injustice, he might have been unable to think it through and passed away.

However, Li Ji noticed that Lu Zhi's youngest son, Lu Yu, who had come to Wu County with him, was only two or three years old.

This made Li Ji sigh inwardly, marveling that the old man had indeed been vigorous in the past two years, worthy of being entrusted by the court to single-handedly suppress the Yellow Turbans in Ji Province.

For the next few days, Liu Bei attended to Lu Zhi almost constantly, fulfilling his filial duties and preventing any illnesses caused by acclimatization.

However, Lu Zhi had previously served as the governor of Jiujiang and Lujiang Commanderies in Yang Province and was already accustomed to the climate of Yang Province. Not only did he not show the listlessness that other northerners often experienced upon arriving in Yang Province, but with Liu Bei's companionship, his mental state was noticeably better than before.

Lu Zhi also wanted to understand what achievements Liu Bei, who had once proposed "governing the world with one commandery," had made in Wu County, so he simply had Liu Bei and Li Ji accompany him to inspect the area.

Although Lu Zhi had never served as the governor of Wu County, his experience as the governor of two commanderies in Yang Province undoubtedly made him quite familiar with the overall situation in the area.

However, as soon as they began their inspection outside the city, Lu Zhi suddenly saw a group of Mountain Yue people swaggering by, wrapped in furs and humming some mountain tunes. His expression changed abruptly as he looked at Liu Bei and said urgently,

"Xuan De, Mountain Yue bandits have infiltrated the territory! Quickly send people to arrest those Mountain Yue people, or they will thoroughly survey the commandery and plunder it on a large scale."

"Mountain Yue bandits? Where?"

Lu Zhi's anxious tone made Liu Bei nervous as well. He quickly moved closer to Lu Zhi and looked out of the carriage.

"There's no mistake!"

Lu Zhi said with certainty and a hint of anxiety.

"I served as the governor of Yang Province twice, both times because of the disturbances caused by the Mountain Yue and Southern Man. I have fought with them several times. I may not be able to say much else, but when it comes to identifying Mountain Yue bandits, even if they are wrapped in furs and disguised, I will not be mistaken."

"Xuan De, do not hesitate! It is currently winter, with few fruits and animals in the mountains. It is the time when the Mountain Yue are short of food and will go out to plunder. If these Mountain Yue bandits, who may have infiltrated to scout the area, are not captured, the rest of the Mountain Yue bandits will swarm in."

At this point, Liu Bei finally saw clearly the group of Mountain Yue that Lu Zhi was referring to and couldn't help but smile wryly. He quickly explained,

"Master Lu, do not worry. That group of Mountain Yue are from the mountains and have come to Wu County to work as laborers."

"Mountain Yue? From the mountains? Work as laborers?"

Lu Zhi recognized each of these words, but when put together, he felt at a loss as to how to understand them.

"That's right."

Liu Bei nodded and quickly said to Li Ji, who was also sitting in the carriage, "Zi Kun, quickly explain to Master Lu to ease his worries."

Upon hearing this, Li Ji cupped his hands and then roughly explained the current situation between Wu County and the Mountain Yue.

Facts proved that people's adaptability is sometimes far stronger than imagined.

Even the wolves of Hoh Xil can be tempted further and further away by the lure of custard pies, let alone the Mountain Yue, who are not truly wild beasts of the mountains.

Perhaps when they were first forced to work as laborers as a form of punishment, the hearts of many Mountain Yue warriors were proud, aloof, and filled with resentment.

However, after enjoying the Han people's food, these Mountain Yue warriors ate one after another without a word, and no longer knew the way back to the mountains.

In particular, after the fishing and pickling techniques of Wu County were developed, fish meat with a strong salty taste was an unimaginable delicacy for the common people of this era.

Especially for the Mountain Yue warriors, they ate with gusto.

After all, for the Mountain Yue warriors of the past, if they wanted to replenish salt in the mountains, they would often directly lick the rock slabs.

Don't even think about refined salt or fine salt.

Of course, the fact that Wu County had mastered the technology of sea salt was essentially a violation of the Han Dynasty's salt and iron monopoly system and was naturally classified as confidential by Li Ji and would not be disclosed to Lu Zhi.

Wu County absolutely did not have any private salt production or sale. Wu County only mastered a technique for drying and preserving sea fish.

As for the sea fish being very salty and containing a certain amount of salt, that was entirely inherent in the sea fish.

In order to avoid attracting the attention of the imperial court, Li Ji also released many rumors, claiming that the saltiness of sea fish was a special impurity formed by excessive contact with seawater, which was harmless to the human body, but was not salt.

In this way, the aristocratic families would naturally not be interested in studying this dross food, but instead despised it as a way for ordinary people to comfort themselves that they had eaten salt.

And this kind of rumor had no impact on ordinary people.

First of all, the price of pickled sea fish was low. It was originally meat that ordinary people rarely ate throughout the year, and it also contained a salty taste similar to salt, which was enough to be sought after by countless people.

Even the Han people were still like this, so how could the Mountain Yue warriors resist this temptation?

Therefore, earning points to exchange for technology for the tribe and bring some salted fish back to their families, this simple idea may have seemed a bit outrageous to Li Ji, but it really became a beautiful expectation for many Mountain Yue warriors to go to Wu County.

After Lu Zhi listened to the general outline, he still found it quite incredible.

It wasn't until the carriage passed by the group of Mountain Yue warriors, who continued to walk forward on their own, that Lu Zhi completely believed that the group of Mountain Yue people had not infiltrated secretly.

"Then how does Wu County distinguish whether these Mountain Yue people are entering Wu County to work as laborers or have malicious intentions?" Lu Zhi asked with a frown, obviously realizing the hidden dangers involved.

"Before each Mountain Yue warrior enters Wu County, they need to register in Fuchun Mountain and be issued an identity wooden plaque. Each time they enter the city, they also need to be inspected."

After a pause, Li Ji continued to take the initiative to say,

"The personalities of many Mountain Yue people are indeed rude and uncivilized, and they do not understand the etiquette of our Han Dynasty. In the early stages, many conflicts did occur."

"How did Zi Kun solve them?" Lu Zhi asked.

"In addition to punishing the corresponding Mountain Yue people, the Wu County government will further punish them by reducing the number of places available to the corresponding Mountain Yue tribes to work in Wu County."

At this point, Li Ji smiled with refined gentleness and said.

“Compared to the direct control of the Han people, the management and warnings from their own tribes are undoubtedly more effective, and this will also make those Yue warriors value the preciousness of this quota even more.”

“In this way, after establishing a few role models, those Yue warriors will naturally not dare to easily violate the laws of the Great Han.” (End of this chapter)