Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Liu Bei's tears completely bewildered Li Ji.

Even when Cai Zhaoji saw him off this morning, she forced herself to maintain a smile to avoid causing Li Ji worry or reluctance.

“Lord, do not worry. Even if this journey to Yingzhou proves fruitless, I, Li Ji, will surely bring the army back completely intact,” Li Ji reassured him gently.

“What I worry about is not the army, but you, Zikun. This journey to Yingzhou is more than a thousand miles. Moreover, you, Zikun, may not return for over a year at the earliest. If anything untoward should happen, how could I, Bei, ever forgive myself?”

Liu Bei couldn't help but express his worries.

Li Ji and Zhang Fei were both going on a distant expedition to Yingzhou. If they were to perish at sea, Liu Bei felt that half his life would go with them.

To this, Li Ji could only reassure Liu Bei in a gentle voice.

“Lord, rest assured. I have already seen the future. Though I dare not say that everything is within my grasp, the changes in celestial phenomena are as clear to me as the lines on my palm.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's expression faltered.

Previously, Liu Bei had truly been unaware that Li Ji possessed such an ability.

Li Ji, who did not particularly like to show off, had only revealed this to Guo Jia, who had always been closely by his side.

And Liu Bei's first reaction at this moment was, "My Zikun seems to have become even more formidable."

“Then, does Zikun foresee rain today?” Liu Bei asked tentatively.

“The date of the expedition was set five days ago, based on calculations to ensure no rain today, lest it affect the morale of the army,”

After a pause, Li Ji lifted the carriage curtain to carefully observe the celestial phenomena, and then used the "Strategy Simulator" to deduce, before saying,

“However, there will be heavy rain tonight at midnight, with winds from the northwest, lasting for approximately one and three-quarters of an hour. Your Lordship can verify this yourself.”

Listening to Li Ji's calm and refined voice, Liu Bei immediately believed more than half of it, knowing that Li Ji would not speak so confidently without a ninety percent certainty.

And with this, Liu Bei truly felt much more at ease, saying,

“Zikun, why didn't you say you had such an ability earlier? It caused me many days of worry.”

Li Ji blinked, looked at his folding fan placed in the corner of the carriage, simply picked it up, opened it, and fanned himself slightly, saying confidently.

“Lord, please have more trust in me. If I am not confident, I will certainly not engage in dangerous ventures.”

Upon seeing this, Liu Bei smiled and said. “Good, good, good! In that case, even if Zikun travels ten thousand miles across the vast ocean, it will be like walking on flat ground. Now I can rest assured.”

As long as the sea would not become an obstacle for Li Ji, as long as Li Ji did not face the risk of perishing at sea, Liu Bei had absolute confidence in Li Ji's conquest of Yingzhou.

A mere small island nation, how could it be a match for Zikun and Yide?

As long as Li Ji's judgment of the celestial phenomena was verified tonight, then the conclusion would be clear.

When the carriage arrived at the port, many soldiers were already fully prepared.

Forty thousand men!

Even though this port was quite large, it was still completely filled.

Before the expedition, there was a customary practice of boosting morale. Liu Bei and Li Ji walked onto the prepared high platform, overlooking the soldiers below.

In addition, some great Confucian scholars, renowned figures, and officials were observing the ceremony on the side.

The expedition to Yingzhou, with such a grand scale, could not be concealed no matter what. Li Ji had never intended to conceal it from the beginning.

On the contrary, Li Ji had Liu Bei proactively report the matter of the Yingzhou Wa Kingdom to the imperial court, and supplemented it with a series of evidence regarding the remnants of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty.

Gold and silver!

Combined with the creation of a justified reason.

For a time, Emperor Liu Hong's interest in Yingzhou was even stronger than Liu Bei's.

It was just that the rebellion in Xiqiang had not yet been quelled, and the Wuhuan people east of Youzhou had also begun to blatantly plunder Han civilians. Even if Emperor Liu Hong had the intention to conquer, the imperial court currently had no spare strength at all.

Moreover, the Han Dynasty had previously not paid any attention to technology related to seagoing ships.

The only bit of seagoing ship technology that existed was inherited from the Qin Dynasty. Even if the imperial court had the intention to build seagoing ships, it would require a lot of effort.

Therefore, after using his monetary power and the connections of great Confucian scholars such as Zheng Xuan, and after a series of political confrontations, Liu Bei smoothly obtained permission to proceed to Yingzhou to investigate the truth.

Even Emperor Liu Hong gave Liu Bei the title of "General Who Protects the Wa," intending to encourage Liu Bei to further actively investigate whether Yingzhou was truly a place full of gold and silver.

If the news of gold and silver was indeed confirmed, Emperor Liu Hong, who was forced to sell official positions every day, would definitely not talk about martial virtue with Yingzhou.

It could be said that both sides had their own intentions.

But Li Ji knew that with Emperor Liu Hong's health, he was afraid that he would not see the day of pacifying Yingzhou, and Yingzhou would only become Liu Bei's possession.

Anyway, no one stipulated that bringing a little bit more troops to investigate the truth of Yingzhou was not allowed.

As long as there was no substantial evidence, who could prove that these troops were aimed at conquering Yingzhou? Couldn't it be that Li Ji cherished his life, so he brought more troops to protect himself?

And with Liu Bei's reputation and personal charm in the Wu area, he had instantly mobilized the morale of the army.

Especially for the Han people, conquering foreign races, in a sense, was equivalent to hitting the G-spot hidden in the bloodline of the Han people who loved farming.

Looking at the morale that had been completely mobilized by Liu Bei, Li Ji, wearing only a simple scholar's robe, walked to the front of the stage, did not say much, just drew out the sword from his waist and pointed it at the sky, shouting.

“Becoming a marquis and being appointed a general starts today!”

“Gentlemen, please follow me to flatten the four seas and let the Yingzhou Wa people know the name of our strong Han!”

“Line up and board the ships!”

Responding to Li Ji was the almost uniform voice of the soldiers.

“Yes, sir!!!”

Immediately, the soldiers who had been maintaining the formation began to board the ships in order according to the pre-determined sequence, and the many supplies needed were loaded onto the ships early on.

This time, the seagoing ships for the expedition to Yingzhou were mobilized, including the "Yingzhou," "Yizhou," and "Wujun" county-level seagoing ships, as well as twenty district-level seagoing ships to form a fleet.

As for Gan Ning and the "Kuaiji," due to identity issues, they would not appear at the port, but would meet the fleet midway, and then lead the fleet to the route to Yingzhou.

Perhaps, the Han Dynasty did not lack inland river warships, and even if it mobilized warships with all its strength, accommodating hundreds of thousands of soldiers would not be a problem.

However, a fleet of this scale composed of seagoing ships was still the first time, which made many Confucian scholars and famous figures who watched the ceremony quite emotional, and secretly recorded this scene.

When it really came to the moment of parting, Liu Bei looked at Li Ji and Zhang Fei with particular reluctance, and kept giving instructions.

This made Zhang Fei, who was originally a little sad about the parting, couldn't help but become a little impatient, saying.

“Big brother, don't worry, with Mr. Zikun personally leading the army, it is impossible to lose, and with me and Zilong protecting Mr. Zikun, we will definitely not let Mr. Zikun encounter any danger.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei could only nod heavily, and then bowed deeply to the group of civil and military officials who were about to go on the expedition, saying.

“Then I will entrust everything to you all. I, Bei, will wait for your triumphant return in Wujun.”

“We will definitely not fail the Lord's trust.”

With Li Ji as the leader, a group of civil and military officials also returned the salute.

Immediately, Li Ji pressed his hand on the sword at his waist, and the usually indifferent and refined eyes also had a bit of sharpness, leading the generals to board the flagship "Yingzhou."

As the soldiers of each seagoing ship completed boarding, each seagoing ship reported to the Yingzhou with flag language.

Finally, with a long and heroic horn sound from the Yingzhou, this mighty fleet, led by the Yingzhou, left the port and slowly disappeared from the sight of Liu Bei and his party standing at the port to see them off.

At this moment, Liu Bei sighed leisurely, and his eyes gradually became firm.

Yunchang will pacify Yizhou, Zikun and Yide will pacify Yingzhou…

What they are doing is for the ambition in their hearts.

Liu Bei may be particularly concerned about Li Ji, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, but he is by no means an incompetent and weak person.

After Liu Bei returned to the government office from the port, he did not disperse directly like the other officials, but went straight to the side hall in the government office that was originally used only by himself and Zikun to handle official business.

When Li Ji needed to go on an expedition to Yingzhou, and had to hand over all the major plans that had been prepared in advance to Liu Bei, Liu Bei realized how magnificent the blueprint that Li Ji had prepared to draw for Wujun was.

Because of this, Liu Bei did not dare to slack off at this moment, diligently and earnestly trying to maintain the implementation of Li Ji's plans step by step.

And this busyness, after Liu Bei came back to his senses, was awakened by the noisy sound of rain.

“What time is it?” Liu Bei asked quickly.

“Lord, it is exactly midnight,” Xiahou Bo replied.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but get up and walk to the door of the side hall, looking at the pouring rain outside the door, murmuring. “Midnight is good, midnight is too good.”

Xiahou Bo, who was protecting Liu Bei on the left and right, was a little puzzled, but whispered. “Lord, the madam has sent people to inquire three times, asking whether the Lord will return to the mansion tonight?”

“No return, no return…”

Liu Bei waved his hand and said.

“Before Zikun's expedition, he did not hesitate to spend his mind deducing major events. Now that Zikun is far away, how can I be like in the past, entrusting everything to others, focusing on personal matters with peace of mind? I should always focus on official business. Forget about returning to the mansion. From now on, I will live in the government office.”

After a pause, Liu Bei's gaze once again fell on the heavy rain in front of him, and a few relaxed arcs could not help but appear on the corners of his mouth, murmuring. “Jichang, you send someone to inform the madam, let her take good care of Adou. I will not have much free time to return to the mansion in the future.”

"Zikun's words are indeed true, predicting rain at midnight and it rains... With Zikun's ability, I can be completely at ease!"

And Liu Bei stood at the doorway watching the rain for a full hour and fifteen minutes, secretly timing it. Seeing that this sudden heavy rain truly stopped after an hour and fifteen minutes, he was even more delighted.

In that moment, Liu Bei felt much more relaxed, and then he suddenly felt sleepy, falling asleep fully clothed in the side hall. (End of Chapter)