Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“Zikun, I originally intended to let you rest for a few more days, but the situation in Luoyang has changed drastically, so I had to invite you from your residence to discuss important matters.”

As he said this, Liu Bei's expression revealed unconcealed anger.

“When I first met Dong Zhongying, I thought he was a straightforward fellow from the Western Liang region, but I didn't expect him to have such wild ambitions. He is truly unfilial and unworthy of the Han's bounty!”

Li Ji was naturally well aware of what Liu Bei was talking about.

The information sent back by the Jinyi Si ( Embroidered Uniform Guard ) clearly recorded Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital, taking control of the troops of Grand General He Jin, General of Chariots and Cavalry He Miao, and other generals within Luoyang, completely controlling the city's defenses.

Dong Zhuo then completely tore off his mask of loyalty and directly proposed the matter of deposing and establishing a new emperor during the court meeting, intending to depose the emperor Liu Bian and establish his younger brother Liu Xie as the emperor.

How could such actions not enrage Liu Bei, who had the Han Dynasty at heart?

The last thing mentioned in the information sent back by the Jinyi Si was that among the court officials, only the Zhi Jinwu ( Commandant of the Capital ) Ding Yuan directly opposed him, which led to a major battle between Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, each leading their troops in Luoyang.

Liu Bei sighed, saying with some loneliness, “Now, I only hope that the Zhi Jinwu can defeat Dong Zhuo, execute this traitor, and restore order to the court.”

Although Liu Bei was also very clear that the current court was in such chaos, coupled with the young age of the emperor, even if Ding Yuan greatly defeated Dong Zhuo, who had revealed his wild ambitions, the Han Dynasty was already beyond help.

However, Li Ji poured a bucket of cold water on Liu Bei with a rather calm tone, saying.

“My lord, judging from the current situation, the Bing Province soldiers led by Zhi Jinwu Ding Yuan are probably no match for Dong Zhuo and will inevitably be harmed by him. It is a foregone conclusion that the power of the court will fall into Dong Zhuo's hands.”

“What?”

Liu Bei first said in surprise, and then, thinking that Li Ji had not been in the Han Dynasty for the past two years, he explained.

“Zikun, you may not know this, but previously, the Xiongnu barbarians invaded Bing Province, killing the former Inspector of Bing Province, Zhang Yi. After the Zhi Jinwu took over as the Inspector of Bing Province, he widely recruited brave and heroic men from Bing Province in the Henei commandery, garrisoning tens of thousands of soldiers, and defeated the barbarians in one battle, fully demonstrating the elite of the Bing Province cavalry.”

“During this time, the Zhi Jinwu had an adopted son named Lü Fengxian, who led the Bing Province elites to charge into battle, slaying generals among the thousands of troops as if entering an uninhabited land, causing the Bing Province barbarians to retreat at the mere mention of Lü Fengxian's name, gradually earning the reputation of being the number one fierce general of the time.”

“With such an adopted son to assist him, coupled with the elite of the Bing Province cavalry, even if the Zhi Jinwu's forces are inferior to Dong Zhuo's, they should not be completely defeated.”

After a pause, Liu Bei said, unable to hide a trace of pride in his words.

“Speaking of which, Zikun probably doesn't know that there are many rumors circulating among the people now, saying that in terms of courage, Lü Fengxian of Jiuyuan is unparalleled in the three armies, and in terms of wisdom, the national scholar Li Zikun is second to none.”

Li Ji, who had just returned to Wu Commandery for only a few days, was indeed completely unaware of this rumor, and he didn't expect that he would unknowingly become the literary scholar equivalent of Lü Bu in the eyes of the world.

However, Li Ji was very clear about one thing, and that was that after the battle between Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, compared to Lü Bu's reputation as the number one fierce general of the time, the reputation of "Fang Tian Hua Ji ( Halberd ) specially stabs adoptive fathers" would also gradually spread among the people.

“My lord, no matter how brave Lü Fengxian is, can he cut off wisdom with weapons?”

“Furthermore, the power in Luoyang has now completely fallen into Dong Zhuo's hands, giving him all the advantages! Even if Dong Zhuo finds it difficult to defeat the Zhi Jinwu in a field battle for a while, he only needs to tightly close the gates of Luoyang and seal off the surrounding strategic passes. The Zhi Jinwu will be a turtle in a jar, a skeleton in a tomb, with only death as his fate.”

Li Ji slowly analyzed the situation in Luoyang to Liu Bei, which made Liu Bei break out in a cold sweat, suddenly realizing that Zhi Jinwu Ding Yuan probably did not have any wise men to assist him, otherwise he would not have been unaware of this.

Luoyang, as the capital, is protected in the center by a series of strategic passes.

And with the power of the court already controlled by Dong Zhuo, as long as Dong Zhuo seals off the strategic passes in all directions, then Ding Yuan, let alone defeating Dong Zhuo, even wanting to escape from Luoyang would be a luxury.

Liu Bei sighed and said.

“In that case, the Zhi Jinwu is bound to be defeated?”

“Bound to be defeated! And judging from the current situation, once the Zhi Jinwu is defeated, there will be no more voices opposing the deposition and establishment of a new emperor in the court, and the emperor Liu Bian will be deposed…”

After a pause, Li Ji continued.

“Given the time it takes for intelligence from Luoyang to reach Wu Commandery, I'm afraid that Ding Yuan has already been defeated at this moment, and the prince Liu Xie has been installed as emperor by Dong Zhuo.”

The atmosphere in the side hall fell into silence for a while, and Li Ji silently waited for Liu Bei to digest this outcome.

However, Liu Bei's state of mind was obviously not shaken by the deteriorating situation of the Han Dynasty.

Only a moment later, Liu Bei completely understood that the situation in Luoyang could no longer be hoped for, and it was also not something that Wu Commandery, far away in Jiangdong, could influence.

“Zikun, what should I do now?” Liu Bei asked Li Ji.

Upon hearing this, Li Ji also had a draft in his mind.

The influence that Wu Commandery can have on Luoyang is quite limited. Judging from the intelligence coming back from Luoyang, Cao Cao's assassination of Dong Zhuo and then calling on the lords of the world to raise an army to讨伐 Dong will probably continue to happen.

The eighteen lords' 讨伐 of Dong in the original trajectory seemed to be the last act of the world to维护 the Han Dynasty.

However, as Dong Zhuo hijacked the emperor Liu Xie and moved the capital to Chang'an, he also completely tore off the last fig leaf of the Han Dynasty, ushering in a chaotic world of real lords' melee.

This trend is also something that the current Liu Bei Group, which is beyond reach, is powerless to stop!

Li Ji can play with the entire Yingzhou in the palm of his hand, turning Yingzhou into his own shape in just two years, but the size of the Han Dynasty is far from comparable to the small Yingzhou.

What Li Ji can do now is to争取 enough opportunities and foundations for the Liu Bei Group in the coming chaotic world.

And the lords of the world 讨伐ing Dong in the original trajectory, on the surface, failed, but in fact, what the lords争取ed was the political assets left behind after the decline of the Han Dynasty.

Among them, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are the most important!

Cao Cao, with the reputation of刺杀 Dong and being the convener of the allied forces, not only widely received talents who came to投奔 him, but was also given the land of Dong Commandery by Wang Gong, the governor of Dong Commandery, to start his career.

As for Yuan Shao, who was the leader of the allied forces of the lords, Han Fu, who was originally the governor of Ji Province, was afraid of Yuan Shao's reputation, and seeing countless people归附 to Yuan Shao, not only was forced to give up the entire Ji Province, but was even scared to commit suicide in the toilet with a carving knife in the end.

It can be seen from this that the use of prestige is sometimes even greater than tens of thousands of雄兵.

Therefore, even if stopping Dong Zhuo is currently beyond his ability, Li Ji will not let go of such a huge reputation.

Immediately, Li Ji pondered for a while, then said.

“Now that the Han Dynasty is declining and the power of the court is being逆乱ed by the Dong贼, it is time for my lord, as a member of the Han Dynasty, to do something and興扶 the Han Dynasty.”

Liu Bei's expression became solemn and said. “Please Zikun teach me.”

Li Ji immediately said with a serious face.

“The Dong贼 wants to do the事 of Wang Mang and perform the deposition and establishment of a new emperor, causing the皇纲 to lose its统, and there is a danger of翦覆 the四海!”

“And the衮衮诸公 in the朝中 are afraid of his威势 and do not发一言, but you must know that天下兴亡,匹夫有责, and there are still many members of the Han Dynasty who牧守 the四方, how can we allow the董贼 to独断专行,禍亂天下, and no one can制?”

Immediately, Li Ji waved his大袖 and said loudly.

“My lord can wait for the消息 from Luoyang to arrive, if the董贼 really劫奪国柄 and妄行 the事 of deposition and establishment! My lord should immediately修书 to the汉室宗亲 Liu Yu, Liu Yan, and Liu Biao who are牧守ing the四方, calling on the宗亲 of the四方 to斥责 and討伐 the董贼!”

Liu Bei frowned and asked with some doubt.

“This? Is it feasible?”

It's no wonder that Liu Bei hesitated, because calling on the宗亲州牧 who control the重兵 of the四方 to討伐 Dong Zhuo, if not done properly, would be no different from being a叛逆.

“As long as we can convince Liu Bo'an, the governor of You Province, to support us, then大义 is on our side.” Li Ji replied.

Liu Yu's position among the汉室宗亲 can be said to be无人能比.

Liu Yu was previously宗正, and then迁为幽州牧, after defeating the乌桓, he was further加封为三公太尉 by the先帝 Liu Hong.

And in a sense, the汉室 Liu family is the largest世家 in the entire汉 Dynasty.

Liu Yu, as the most德高望重 clan elder in the汉室, now that the事 of changing the clan leader is being操持 and controlled by outsiders, as long as Liu Yu is willing to speak out and斥责 Liu Xie as the偽帝扶持ed by the董贼, the汉室宗亲 of the四方 should进京勤王,匡扶 Liu Bian to复坐 the帝位.

Then, logically and righteously, it will only be in Liu, not in Dong.

In fact, this is much more persuasive than the矫诏 that Cao Cao传 to the四方 calling on the lords to勤王 in the original trajectory, and it will only make the people of天下 more convinced.

And in this way, there is one more advantage than in the original trajectory!

Even if everyone in天下 knows that董卓 is a贼子 who is把持ing the朝政 and禍亂ing the大汉, what董卓 represents now is undoubtedly the大汉朝廷.

And the allied forces composed of many lords headed by Yuan Shao in the original trajectory essentially still represent the地方.

Whether the討董盟军 defeats董卓, or董卓 moves the capital to西安, this will send a signal to the people of天下 that the大汉朝廷 is no match for the地方势力, which is even more damaging to the汉室 than the禍 of董卓.

As a朝廷, corruption and tyranny may not lead to滅亡, but decline and weakness will inevitably lead to滅亡.

Therefore, if it is possible to call on the宗亲 of the四方 in the name of Liu Yu to联合 the地方诸侯 to討董, then at least a一丝遮羞布 can be left for the大汉.

Even if the大汉朝廷 is no match, it is also no match for the汉室宗亲 in hand, and it does not mean that the汉室 has衰败ed to the extreme.

After Liu Bei斟酌ed for a moment, after Li Ji analyzed the利弊 of this举一点点, he understood that perhaps this is one of the ways for the汉室宗亲 to preserve a一丝大汉颜面 at present.

In addition, Liu Bei, who had尽去 the侥幸之心, began to召集 the文吏 武将 under his command, and began to全力整军 and筹备 various军械物资 in吴郡 to应付 the seemingly迫在眉睫 的大乱之世.

It's just that, when the Jiangdong世家官吏 headed by Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong looked at Li Ji, who was still稳坐 in Liu Bei's次座 at the会议, many people's faces were a little难看.

At Zhang Hong's prompting with a look, a minor official seated at the end of the table suddenly spoke up.

"This is a discussion for Wu Commandery. What is Marquis Zhaoting doing here?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the voices in the main hall quieted down for a moment.

Immediately afterward, the military generals, led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, all turned their gazes towards the minor official, scaring him so much that his legs trembled. He hurriedly explained,

"This subordinate was just wondering…" (End of Chapter)