Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Of course, the aristocratic families of Jiaozhou were by no means benevolent or people-loving.

With the imperial court's authority declining daily, the aristocratic families in Jiaozhou became increasingly reckless.

If Zhu Fu's head were not still hanging on the walls of Panyu, the administrative seat, serving as a warning, the aristocratic families in various places would likely exploit the local people even more ruthlessly.

Currently, Shi Xie (same as Xie), the Prefect of Jiaozhi Commandery and a member of a prominent Jiaozhou family, is extensively sending trusted aides to the imperial court to lobby for promotion to Governor of Jiaozhou.

Coincidentally, the trusted aides dispatched by Shi Xie also traveled by sea, making a stop for repairs at the port of Wu Commandery. Through an investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, their purpose was discovered and reported to Li Ji's desk through layers of bureaucracy.

For Li Ji, the emergence of a Jiaozhou completely controlled by local aristocratic families was naturally undesirable.

Especially since Shi Xie himself was a member of a prominent Jiaozhou family. If Shi Xie were to firmly establish himself as the Governor of Jiaozhou, the influence of the Shi clan of Cangwu would rapidly expand in Jiaozhou, ultimately turning Shi Xie into the local emperor of Jiaozhou.

Although, due to development reasons and the complex local situation, Jiaozhou could not provide substantial assistance to Liu Bei's group in their struggle for supremacy in the short term,

in the long run, if he didn't seize the opportunity to intervene and control Jiaozhou now, it would be extremely difficult to intervene in the future.

However, Jiaozhou was sparsely populated, plagued by miasma, and riddled with intertwined forces such as aristocratic families, the Southern Man, and the Baiyue. Even if Li Ji went there himself, it would be impossible to completely control or pacify Jiaozhou in the short term.

The only way was to slowly win them over with virtue, awe them with power, bestow them with grace, and gradually develop the Jiaozhou region. This was the only right path.

According to Li Ji's estimate, even if the route and strategy were correct, it might take more than ten years, a whole generation, to slowly integrate the people of Jiaozhou, the Southern Man, the Baiyue, and other forces, and make them identify with the Han people.

Li Ji naturally couldn't go to Jiaozhou and stay there for more than ten years.

Moreover, the person going to Jiaozhou to preside over the overall situation needed to have sufficient political and governance skills, as well as a thorough understanding of various grassroots matters, to balance the various forces and gradually achieve unification.

In Li Ji's eyes, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, who had devoted their lives to practicing the art of "checks and balances," were the best candidates.

However, Zhang Zhao couldn't understand for a moment that Li Ji, who was still content with being in a relatively isolated corner, was already considering the long-term plan of completely civilizing Jiaozhou and developing it to a certain extent while unifying the world more than ten years later.

Zhang Zhao's face looked slightly unpleasant as he said,

"If Marquis Guoshi only intends to exile this old man to Lingnan, there's no need to go to such great lengths."

What developing Jiaozhou?

In the eyes of the scholars of this era, that was no different from being exiled to Lingnan.

"Narrow-minded!"

Li Ji couldn't help but coldly evaluate with two words upon hearing this.

"You?!"

Li Ji ignored Zhang Zhao's reaction and said, "Military generals take pride in expanding territory, shouldn't civil officials take pride in governing a region, stabilizing a region, and developing a region?"

"Since the First Qin Emperor sent Tu Sui to lead 500,000 Qin soldiers to push across Lingnan in five routes, and then Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty destroyed the Nanyue Kingdom and established the Jiaozhi Inspectorate, it has been hundreds of years. Jiaozhou has repeatedly experienced rebellions and has not achieved long-term stability. Isn't this the shame of the Han civil officials?"

(PS: Today, while checking information, I discovered a bug in the text. Historically, before 207 AD, it was called the Jiaozhi Inspectorate, not Jiaozhou. The name "Jiaozhou" was changed during the reign of Emperor Xian of Han.)

Zhang Zhao opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know how to refute.

After Li Ji paused slightly, he asked, "Zibu, how do you think your talent compares to mine?"

The corner of Zhang Zhao's eye twitched slightly, and he cupped his fist and said,

"Like the light of a firefly compared to the bright moon, far inferior."

The person who knows a person best is often their enemy.

This saying also applies to Zhang Zhao.

Precisely because Zhang Zhao constantly imagined Li Ji as a political enemy, he would study all the policies that Li Ji had implemented in Wu Commandery in detail afterward.

And it seemed that Wu Commandery had undergone earth-shattering changes in the few years that Zhang Zhao assisted Liu Bei in governing, making Wu Commandery leap to become the most prosperous place in the Han Dynasty, second only to Luoyang.

But Zhang Zhao was very clear that the work he did was more like following the old rules.

If Li Ji was Xiao He, then he was Cao Can.

Before Li Ji left to lead troops overseas, he clearly formulated the development direction of Wu Commandery, large and small. Zhang Zhao only steadily implemented everything according to what Li Ji had specified.

But it was precisely because Zhang Zhao watched Wu Commandery flourish visibly under this trajectory that Zhang Zhao became more and more clearly aware that Li Ji's talent was far above his own.

His talent far surpassed his own, his age was much younger than his own, and even his relationship with the lord was above his own.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Zhao became more and more frightened and unwilling, understanding that as long as Li Ji existed, he would never have a real chance to rise to the top, to the point of making foolish moves.

Moreover, this was only the difference in ability in government affairs. In terms of strategy, which Zhang Zhao was not good at, there was no comparability between the two sides.

Facing Zhang Zhao's answer, Li Ji then continued, "Since Zibu also admits that I am slightly better than you, does Zibu think that continuing to stay in Yangzhou will give you the opportunity to govern a region?"

"In contrast, Jiaozhou is the place where Zibu can truly display his governing talents."

"Now, Jiaozhou and the Han Dynasty can be said to be estranged, and there are also the Southern Man and Baiyue tribes who have not yet submitted to royal authority. If Zibu can properly govern Jiaozhou, making Jiaozhou completely return to the Han Dynasty and bestow virtue upon the Southern Man and Baiyue,"

"perhaps thousands of years later, Li Ji's name will have long been buried in the torrent of history, but the descendants of all the tribes in Jiaozhou will surely still remember Zhang Zhao's name and be grateful."

After a pause, Li Ji looked directly at Zhang Zhao and asked, "Does Zibu think... is that so?"

At this moment, Zhang Zhao's heart was indeed moved by what Li Ji said.

Zhang Zhao... is a worldly man!

What Zhang Zhao pursues is power, fame, status, and so on. It is precisely because of this that he subconsciously regards Li Ji as an imaginary enemy and competes with Li Ji.

As long as Zhang Zhao goes to Jiaozhou, as long as he governs Jiaozhou properly, then even if Li Ji's name shakes the entire Han Dynasty,

to the people of Jiaozhou, Zhang Zhao will always be the most respected person.

Moreover, allowing the Southern Man, Baiyue, and other tribes of Jiaozhou to integrate into Jiaozhou and return to the Han Dynasty, is this not a matter of leaving a name in history?

Even thousands of years later, Zhang Zhao's name may still be circulated on the land of Jiaozhou.

This has a great attraction for Zhang Zhao, a very traditional and worldly person.

However, before this, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but stare at Li Ji again and ask, "Is this really not just simply exiling this old man to Lingnan?"

Li Ji couldn't help but smile, then faced north, pointed in the direction of the Yangtze River, and said loudly,

"I swear to the Yangtze River today that everything I have said to Zhang Zibu is out of public interest, and there is absolutely no intention of exiling Zhang Zibu to Lingnan. Moreover, in the future, I will definitely work together with Zibu to assist the lord, so that Jiaozhou will be civilized and have long-term stability as soon as possible."

"If what I, Li Ji, have said above is even half false, what does it matter if I am pierced by ten thousand arrows?"

Seeing that Li Ji was willing to swear to the Yangtze River to reassure himself, Zhang Zhao's heart was shocked and moved at this moment. (End of this chapter)