Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Precisely because Xiahou Bo needed to be stationed in Wu Commandery, Li Ji temporarily had to take responsibility for many direct arrangements concerning the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Otherwise, Li Ji's remaining main tasks would only be occasionally teaching and guiding Xu Shu and Shi Tao.

However, Liu Bei clearly didn't think so. He felt that although Li Ji had put down many trivial matters, the slight furrowing and relaxing of his brow still showed that he was constantly worried about the overall situation.

"Zikun, now that we have won a great victory in Wu Commandery, the general trend is set, and there is nothing to worry about for the time being. You should relax properly…"

After a pause, Liu Bei continued.

"Zikun, didn't you come to Qiao County this time to visit the virtuous? How about I take Zilong and Yide with me, and the main army will be stationed in Qiao County, and then we will travel light, just as if we are going for a spring outing, what do you think?"

"That's good. Then I, Ji, will thank you for your concern, Lord."

Regarding Liu Bei's suggestion, regardless of whether it was out of kindness or for the public good, Li Ji had no reason to refuse.

The movement of a large army naturally affects all aspects.

The dismantling and construction of temporary camps require a lot of effort.

In addition, infantry marching is far less convenient than cavalry. Therefore, after arriving in Qiao County, it is most convenient for the infantry to be stationed in place, with the cavalry escorting them.

However, Li Ji then smiled and said.

"Lord, the Battle of Yangxian ended much faster than expected. The original marching plan was to visit the virtuous in Qiao County and then return to Wu Commandery via Xuzhou or Qingzhou by water."

"But now that the overall situation in Yangzhou is settled, even if we return directly to Yangzhou from Yuzhou, passing through Lujiang and Danyang all the way back to Wu Commandery, there is no need to worry about alarming the enemy. Not only can we save a lot of effort, but we can also use the strength of our army to deter those villains."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly reacted.

Yangzhou itself borders Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Jingzhou, but Wu Commandery is only adjacent to Xuzhou, while Lujiang and Jiujiang Commanderies are adjacent to Yuzhou.

Therefore, before the battle situation became clear, Li Ji's plan to detour to Qingzhou or Xuzhou to return to Wu Commandery was essentially to avoid alarming the enemy.

However, even Li Ji was quite surprised by the end time of the Battle of Yangxian. Now, returning to Wu Commandery via Lujiang and Danyang would not have any impact, and the marching time could be shortened a bit, and there would be many benefits.

"That would be excellent. After the matter in Qiao County is over, leading the army south all the way, I'm afraid it won't take more than half a month to return to Wu Commandery."

Liu Bei also said with some joy.

"Moreover, the army entering from Lujiang can also send a portion of its forces to garrison in various commanderies of Yangzhou, quickly stabilizing the situation."

"Indeed."

Li Ji nodded with a smile.

At present, Liu Bei is about to become the de facto Governor of Yangzhou. With righteousness on his side, coupled with the great defeat of the anti-Wu coalition, Liu Bei's complete control of Yangzhou can be said to be a natural outcome.

If Chen Gong knew about this, he would definitely find it unbelievable.

After all, compared to Chen Gong's original prediction of the time it would take for Liu Bei to control Yangzhou, this was at least a year earlier.

In troubled times, one step faster means every step faster!

This almost instantly raised Liu Bei's starting point in the troubled times to the same level as Liu Yan, Liu Biao, and Liu Yu, these members of the Han imperial family.

Even for state governors like Liu Yan, Liu Biao, and Liu Yu, they did not completely control the entire state in their hands.

Liu Yan's control over the southern commanderies of Yizhou is still quite limited. The Yizhou aristocratic families are deeply rooted, and there are also various barbarians rampaging.

Liu Biao's situation is similar. Liu Biao, who entered Jingzhou alone, had to marry into the Jingzhou aristocratic families to gain their support before he could firmly control Nan Commandery and Jiangxia Commandery.

But in Nanyang Commandery, Yuan Shu's words were more effective than Liu Biao's. Even the four commanderies of Jingnan nominally submitted to Liu Biao.

Previously, powerful Jingnan commandery administrators like Sun Jian had never paid much attention to Liu Biao.

As for Liu Yu, who had a softer personality, there was even less to say.

To this day, Gongsun Zan still firmly controls most of the military power in Youzhou. It is only under the constant mediation of Liu Bei and Li Ji that Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan have maintained a fairly good relationship.

Otherwise, Liu Yu, as the Governor of Youzhou, might have been directly emptied by Gongsun Zan.

But now Yangzhou has been completely cleared of all obstacles, waiting for Liu Bei, the Governor of Yangzhou, to arrive and become the true hegemon of Jiangdong.

Liu Bei gradually realized this, and a bit of anticipation could not help but be revealed in his eyes, and said.

"I'm afraid no one would have thought that I would travel thousands of miles to form an alliance to defeat Dong Zhuo, and I was just appointed Governor of Yangzhou, but I would take down the entire Yangzhou one step ahead."

"This just shows that you, Lord, are destined by Heaven."

Li Ji subconsciously complimented him, and then realized the problem with his wording.

Looking up, he found that Liu Bei's expression was also slightly stagnant.

If someone else had said this, Liu Bei might have rebuked them on the spot, asking what their intentions were, and whether they wanted to slander him for having the heart to usurp the throne?

The current Liu Bei may have the ambition to dominate the world and support the Han Dynasty, but at least he still maintains respect for the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, after hesitating for a while, Liu Bei leaned closer to Li Ji and said in a low voice.

"Zikun, do not say such things in front of others, it would be bad if there were any misunderstandings."

Li Ji was slightly stunned, and his gaze subconsciously looked up at Liu Bei, instantly understanding the multiple meanings contained within.

Dominating the world and supporting the Han Dynasty.

This is Liu Bei's current goal.

And under Li Ji's gradual and subtle influence, Liu Bei's direct goal to emulate was Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.

At first, Liu Bei hadn't reacted, but afterwards, he inevitably thought of the fact that Liu Xiu had taken the opportunity to become emperor after unifying the world.

Even if Liu Bei originally didn't have such disrespectful thoughts, it was inevitable that he would be influenced by thinking about it too much.

With an example from his ancestors, Liu Bei gradually felt that after he supported the Han Dynasty, it seemed that following the example of Emperor Guangwu from beginning to end was also following ancestral customs, instead of steadfastly wanting to be a Duke of Zhou.

Especially the words "following ancestral customs" were too convincing for Liu Bei himself.

Li Ji, who knew Liu Bei quite well, instantly felt that subtle change.

"Yes, yes, yes, I misspoke for a moment, please don't blame me, Lord…"

Immediately, Li Ji smiled and repeatedly admitted his mistake.

However, at this moment.

A burly figure rushed straight into the military tent like a whirlwind. Before the person arrived, a thunderous voice rang out first.

"Mr. Zikun, I'm here! You said you could let me…"

Suddenly, Zhang Fei, who had rushed in, saw Liu Bei and Li Ji, who were whispering together at the table, and his voice suddenly stopped, and then he subconsciously said.

"Tch, Brother, why are you here…"

Originally, Liu Bei and Li Ji were in a state of mind where they each had their own thoughts, in a state of "I don't need to say it, you know what I'm thinking."

Being suddenly rushed in by Zhang Fei like this, almost startled Liu Bei and Li Ji at the same time.

This made Liu Bei's face darken visibly, and he asked back.

"Why can't I be here? Moreover, you barged into Zikun's tent without reporting, do you know what etiquette is? Aren't you afraid of offending Zikun?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji looked at Liu Bei with a slightly shocked gaze.

Why did these words have a strange sense of familiarity?

Has the Lord, who has always admonished himself with benevolence, also learned to be double-standard?

Seeing this scene, Zhang Fei subconsciously thought that Liu Bei and Li Ji were discussing something important, and he naturally lost his confidence. He smiled sheepishly and said.

"Shouldn't I have come in at this time? That… Brother and Mr. Zikun, you continue, I'll come in later."

"Alright, alright…"

Li Ji couldn't bear to see such a burly man looking so awkward and helpless, so he quickly stopped him.

"Yide, come over too. The three of us can just discuss the matter of visiting the virtuous later."

Hearing Li Ji's order, Zhang Fei almost subconsciously nodded. Just as he raised his foot a little, he instinctively looked towards Liu Bei.

"Since Zikun has asked you to come over, Yide, what are you still standing there for?"

Liu Bei said unhappily. Naturally, he was not really displeased with Zhang Fei.

Just now, Liu Bei was just thinking wildly about what would happen after unifying the world, and then being startled by Zhang Fei like this, he inexplicably felt like he had been caught with an unspeakable secret, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and angry.

"Yes, Brother."

Receiving Liu Bei's order, Zhang Fei walked to the table in a few steps and sat down obediently.

In front of his elder brother Liu Bei, the usually reckless Zhang Fei was just a younger brother, highlighting the word "obedient."

However, after Zhang Fei sat down, his copper-bell-like eyes looked expectantly at Li Ji.

The reason why Zhang Fei suddenly rushed in early in the morning was because Li Ji had sent someone to tell Zhang Fei to come to the military tent to explain something.

And Zhang Fei was the most impatient person to be bored, and the long march was naturally quite boring.

If it were normal times, Zhang Fei might have found a way to find some fun for himself.

But being under the watchful eyes of Liu Bei and Li Ji at the same time, Zhang Fei hardly dared to think about it, for fear that Liu Bei and Li Ji would see through his thoughts and punish him.

"Mr. Zikun, you sent someone to tell me that you could let me have a really good time. What was that about?"

"It's about having a really good fight," Li Ji corrected.

Zhang Fei subconsciously retorted.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

However, feeling Liu Bei's gaze upon him, Zhang Fei grinned and immediately changed his tone, saying.

"Indeed, they are not the same. I can't compare to Mr. Zikun's meticulousness. I just got used to saying it that way. Please forgive me, Mr. Zikun."

Li Ji also knew that Zhang Fei was a person whose body reacted faster than his brain, so he didn't bother arguing with Zhang Fei and directly opened his mouth and said.

"The reason for coming to Qiao County this time is that I heard there is a brave warrior in Qiao County named 'Xu Chu', who has the courage to defeat ten thousand men..."(End of this chapter)