Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Having said that, Li Ji ignored Gu Yong's pleading eyes filled with disbelief, stood up, and walked towards the courtyard gate.

Just as Li Ji's figure disappeared at the gate, the representatives of the aristocratic families, who had been intimidated by Li Ji's power and dared not move, rushed towards Gu Yong almost like madmen.

Countless inquiries about Yizhou instantly drowned Gu Yong.

Listening to the chaotic sounds behind him, Li Ji pursed his lips, suppressing the rising smile.

Even ordinary people need to understand, confirm, and carefully consider before making any major decisions, let alone aristocratic families?

The situation in Yizhou cannot be explained clearly in just a few words.

Naturally, it was impossible for Li Ji to act like a "customer service representative" and explain everything clearly to the skeptical aristocratic families one by one.

In contrast, Gu Yong was the most suitable person, not only being extremely knowledgeable about Yizhou but also being a member of the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

It was foreseeable that before the fleet set sail for Yizhou, Gu Yong would probably not have a moment of peace, and the liveliness could not be described merely as a bustling marketplace.

Of course, it was true that Gu Yong would be bothered for a long time, but the benefits that the Gu family could obtain from it were also predictable.

'This can be regarded as a reward for Yuan Tan's previous performance...'

Thinking of this, Li Ji felt that there was no need to pity Gu Yong at all, and perhaps he was already enjoying it.

Just then, Li Ji saw a familiar figure in the corner.

"Huh? Has the Lord also come?"

Upon seeing this, Li Ji quickly went up to greet him.

However, Li Ji found that Liu Bei's condition seemed a little off, looking at him with an extremely moved expression.

"Lord, why are you so touched?"

"It's all because of Zikun."

Liu Bei quickly helped Li Ji up, saying with emotion.

"Zikun works day and night for my great cause, striving diligently, and I really don't know how to reward Zikun, and I feel extremely ashamed."

Li Ji was slightly stunned and immediately felt embarrassed...

This set of rhetoric was just Li Ji's way of increasing credibility in front of the aristocratic family representatives.

As for things like working diligently day and night, Li Ji really couldn't be described that way.

During this period, Li Ji clocked in and out of work every day, and perhaps Li Ji was the fastest to slip away from the entire State Shepherd's Mansion, eager to go back to tease Little Li Xi and occasionally teach Li Xiang.

If we're really talking about workaholics, then Gu Yong is the real workaholic, coming early and leaving late.

Accumulating two years of experience in one year of service undoubtedly refers to Gu Yong.

Therefore, seeing that Liu Bei seemed to be trying to find a way to reward him on the spot, Li Ji quickly changed the subject and told Liu Bei about the subsequent arrangements for the aristocratic families.

Li Ji had naturally communicated the content of this meeting with Liu Bei in advance, but the subsequent arrangements still needed to be adjusted according to the reactions of the aristocratic families.

In the face of Li Ji's report, Liu Bei nodded frequently and expressed his only concern, saying.

"Zikun, this strategy can be said to be wonderful, but what I worry about is that after a hundred years, if Yizhou, which is entirely occupied by the aristocratic families, does not listen to the imperial court's orders or even develops rebellious intentions, it may be a hidden danger."

"Lord, you are worrying too much."

Li Ji said with a smile.

"How can a mere Yizhou compete with the thirteen states of the great Han? If it develops rebellious intentions, it can be destroyed with a flip of the hand."

"Furthermore, Yizhou is nominally handed over to the aristocratic families for self-governance, but that doesn't mean they are really allowed to divide the land and become kings. Autonomy, ownership, usage rights, etc., as long as a set of practical systems is established, it will be enough to firmly restrain them."

"Their names will indeed be passed down forever, but the developed Yizhou will eventually return to the great Han sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei felt particularly at ease.

Aristocratic families!

Such a huge group, in Zikun's hands, not only did not become an obstacle but instead guided their power in a direction that could develop the great Han.

Moreover, Liu Bei also deeply agreed with what Li Ji said.

The most difficult thing about aristocratic families is their influence and deeply rooted network of relationships.

But as long as the aristocratic families are led to overseas Yizhou, once they dare to develop rebellious intentions, they can be destroyed in an instant.

In Li Ji's view, using "Together they are a pile of dung, scattered they are stars in the sky" to describe aristocratic families is the most appropriate.

After that, the development of the situation was just as Li Ji had expected.

Faced with the bait of "Yizhou", the aristocratic families who had been legally "dealt with" did not cause any waves, and almost every compensation from the Yangzhou aristocratic families was sent to Wu County at the fastest speed.

This allowed the granaries of Yangzhou to be replenished again at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The focus of the Yangzhou aristocratic families was all on Yizhou.

During this period, the Yangzhou aristocratic families almost frantically collected information related to Yizhou to confirm its authenticity and feasibility.

Not only was Gu Yong repeatedly questioned by a large number of aristocratic families, but some aristocratic families even didn't know what means they used to get in touch with Guan Yu and the soldiers under his command who went to Hou Yizhou, trying to verify it a second time.

Twenty days passed in a flash!

When the fleet set sail, more than 95% of the aristocratic families solemnly sent a large number of representatives, ready to go to Yizhou to confirm in person.

As the "Yizhou" slowly sailed into the port, the huge hull, far beyond the imagination of the aristocratic family representatives, undoubtedly shocked the eyes of many aristocratic family representatives.

Perhaps in the past, there was no shortage of advanced seagoing ships in Wu County, so there was a rumor that Li Ji led his army to conquer Yingzhou.

It's just that rumors and witnessing with one's own eyes are undoubtedly not the same concept.

Even in Li Ji's view, the county-level seagoing ships were just so-so, but in the eyes of the aristocratic families who were used to seeing river boats, it was undoubtedly an unimaginable behemoth.

At this moment, many doubts began to quickly dissipate in the hearts of the aristocratic family representatives.

With such a seagoing ship, it can accommodate at least thousands of people at a time, so there is no need to worry about the navigation problem to and from Yizhou.

Also, in the increasingly strong expectations of the aristocratic family representatives, they followed the fleet to Yizhou to begin their investigation.

......

At the same time.

South of Jiaozhou, the Kingdom of Linyi.

Influenced by Han culture, after Qu Lian became independent, the regime he established naturally consciously imitated the Han system.

The capital was established in Zhan Cheng, palaces were built, and the country was divided into three dukes and nine ministers to govern the country, and even the court meeting system was maintained.

At this moment in the palace, Qu Lian, as the "King of Linyi", no longer had the high spirits he had fifty-four years ago.

Qu Lian, who was over eighty years old, showed signs of senility, and his whole body was paralyzed on the throne inlaid with a large number of gems.

The extremely old body made it quite difficult for Qu Lian to even wear the crown he had personally ordered to be made.

Therefore, as early as five years ago, Qu Lian stopped wearing the crown and began to let Prince Qu Ba handle auxiliary government affairs.

It's just that the desire for power and the unease about betrayal made Qu Lian still unwilling to leave the throne even so, and he would sit paralyzed on the throne to listen to every court meeting.

Although Linyi calls itself a country and has been constantly conquering and expanding its territory since Qu Lian rebelled, in fact, the area of ​​the current Kingdom of Linyi is still not as large as Wu County, and the population is only more than 500,000.

Therefore, the so-called court meetings, in addition to some trivial matters, mostly deal with disputes between domestic nobles.

Not everyone is as tenacious as Qu Lian and unwilling to breathe, in addition to Qu Lian, the meritorious officials who rebelled with Qu Lian that year have all passed away, and the descendants of those meritorious officials have naturally become nobles.

Without the suppression of the older generation, it is only normal for conflicts to arise between nobles.

The focus of this Linyi national court meeting is also the conflict between two nobles.

As the auxiliary government prince, Qu Ba is unremarkable and seems to be fair and peaceful, but after handling this noble conflict, the corner of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

'Another one...'

Qu Ba silently calculated.

Under Qu Ba's seemingly fair and just disposal, in fact, Qu Ba had already reached an agreement with one of the nobles, luring the other party to support him on the condition of assistance.

Qu Lian is not only only this one descendant Qu Ba, there are thirteen sons alone, let alone grandsons.

Qu Ba has never been favored by others, and is almost an invisible person among Qu Lian's children, so he was chosen as the auxiliary government prince by Qu Lian five years ago.

Immediately, Qu Ba glanced obscurely at Qu Lian on the throne, and secretly vowed once again in his heart.

'Everyone doesn't favor me, it doesn't matter, I will definitely win the throne!'

(End of this chapter)