Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Not every warlord was as well-off as Liu Bei, who had been nurtured by Li Ji with abundant money and provisions. In this chaotic world, military service was not only non-compulsory, but the military pay even far exceeded the quota during the prosperous period of the great Han.

This was not yet obvious in the newly stabilized Jing Province, but within the scope of Yang Province, especially in Wu Commandery.

The value and status of military households had significantly improved. Many farming households with enough strong young men were now desperately trying to obtain a military household quota.

This trend, originating from the system, would inevitably spread from Wu Commandery as the core and Yang Province as the center to other provinces as Liu Bei's rule extended.

It was only because Li Ji didn't want to engage in endless wars and was more worried about creating an environment even more frenzied than the Warring States period's Qin, lest the increase in soldiers would result in a lopsided situation where other industries were in decline.

Otherwise, the ratio of population to soldiers in Yang Province would definitely make the other warlords feel incredible.

But Yuan Shu was not Liu Bei, and Yuan Shu did not have capable officials who could make money and gather food for him like crazy. After Yuan Shu's troop shortage, his method was a simple and crude conscription.

The reason why Yuan Shu was able to recover his forces so quickly was also related to Yuan Shu's ruthless exploitation of Nanyang Commandery.

Therefore, once Pengcheng fell, in addition to the war spreading and affecting a large number of civilians in the hinterland of Xu Province, plundering the population and forcibly conscripting young men would inevitably occur.

At that time, Xu Province would not be much different from being destroyed.

This was unacceptable for both Liu Bei and Li Ji, whose goals were long-term stability and peace.

This time, Liu Bei was also easily persuaded by Li Ji and sighed in response.

"In the face of righteousness, personal preferences and grudges are indeed insignificant."

After a pause, Liu Bei continued to ask. "Zikun, is that Cao thief really not going to care? If he launches a surprise attack after our army returns to Pengcheng, it will be troublesome."

Li Ji, who already had a draft in mind, replied.

"Cao Cao cannot be ignored, but we only need to use a detachment to remotely guard against him and drive him out of Xu Province."

"In this way, even if Cao's army has any changes, a detachment will be enough to contain him for a while, making Cao Cao feel like he has a fishbone stuck in his throat."

In the end, Li Ji was still taking advantage of the fact that Cao Cao did not have cavalry, and that the terrain of Xu Province was almost all plains.

It was enough to make Cao Cao helpless with only two or three thousand cavalrymen scattered in this detachment to remotely monitor Cao's army.

"That's the only way."

Liu Bei nodded, understanding that this was the best way at the moment.

Afterwards, Liu Bei pondered slightly, and then focused his attention on Sun Ce, who Li Ji had previously recommended, deciding to let Sun Ce and Zhou Yu lead a detachment of 20,000 troops to guard against Cao's army and recover the cities and passes of Xu Province along the way.

This detachment only had one main purpose, which was to guard against Cao Cao from launching a surprise attack.

With 3,000 cavalrymen as the eyes and ears of this detachment, it was enough for Sun Ce and Zhou Yu to keep a close eye on Cao's army.

Moreover, even if Cao Cao had any changes, they could contain Cao Cao for a considerable period of time and send people to warn Liu Bei.

Sun Ce was naturally very happy with this arrangement, and Zhou Yu, who had been slacking off, also clearly perked up.

After the military conference ended, an order was given to all departments to quickly reorganize their troops and begin to return to Pengcheng. Among them, Zhang Fei was ordered to lead 4,000 cavalrymen to Pengcheng to support Zang Ba and express Liu Bei's attitude.

Li Ji then found an unmanned tent and was preparing to rest for a while to relieve the fatigue of rushing all the way when Wei Yan hesitated for a long time outside the tent. Still, under Xu Chu's vigilant gaze, he walked over and said.

"This humble general has something to ask of the Commander. Please allow General Xu to inform him."

Xu Chu refused mercilessly. "The Marquis has ordered that for the next hour, unless the Lord himself arrives, no one is allowed to disturb him."

This made Wei Yan's face look a little unsightly.

In Wei Yan's view, Xu Chu was just a mountain hunter with some brute force. Then, he was valued by the Lord and appreciated by the Marquis. That's why the Marquis regarded him as a personal guard and kept him by his side.

Wei Yan had always looked down on such a reckless man who only had martial courage but no military strategy. The status of such a reckless man depended entirely on the favor of his superiors, without any military exploits or merits to speak of.

However, Wei Yan ultimately did not dare to be presumptuous outside Li Ji's tent. He was very unhappy in his heart, and he could only answer.

"Since that's the case, I'll wait for a while."

Xu Chu said in a deep voice. "Please step back five steps."

"You..."

Just as Wei Yan couldn't help but get angry, Li Ji's voice rang out from inside the tent.

"Zhongkang, let General Wei in."

"Yes."

Xu Chu responded.

Wei Yan snorted coldly. On the contrary, he felt a little happy in his heart, feeling that the Marquis still valued him more. He was about to stride into the tent when Xu Chu reached out to stop Wei Yan again.

"Why are you stopping me again?" Wei Yan questioned.

"Remove your weapons."

Xu Chu replied.

When Wei Yan heard this, he did not dare to be presumptuous. He untied the sword from his waist and handed it to Xu Chu before lifting the curtain and walking in.

The inside of the camp was not dark. After Wei Yan entered, he quickly bowed to Li Ji and saluted.

"This humble general pays respects to the Marquis."

Li Ji wiped the Qinggang Sword while looking down, not even raising his head as he asked. "General Wen Chang is not preparing the army for departure. What are you doing here at this time?"

"It's just that this humble general wants to report to the Marquis about the experience of leading troops to Tan County and ask the Marquis to correct any omissions."

Facing Li Ji, Wei Yan's attitude was respectful and cautious. He put himself in a very low posture, making it impossible for anyone to find fault with him.

It's just that Li Ji knew Wei Yan's thoughts very well.

Wei Yan was afraid that the failure to capture Tan County would be suspected by Li Ji, and he came to explain it by pretense. He also wanted to make it clear that his every move was listening to Li Ji's orders.

He was reminding Li Ji not to be partial to others and give others a chance to lead an army alone, but no longer give himself a chance.

Li Ji, who understood Wei Yan's thoughts, felt a little helpless at the moment.

Among them, in addition to Wei Yan's heavy utilitarianism as the main factor, more importantly, Li Ji's status was increasing day by day, and the only thigh that Wei Yan could hug under Liu Bei was Li Ji.

Immediately, Li Ji put the Qinggang Sword heavily on the table in front of him.

The "thump" made Wei Yan feel a little pressure, and he lowered his head slightly, not daring to look directly at Li Ji.

Li Ji looked at Wei Yan and then said. "Let's not talk about Tan County for the time being. I happen to have something I want to ask you."

"Yan, I will definitely not hide anything."

Wei Yan replied quickly.

"If you were to replace Sun Bofu, how would you act?" Li Ji asked.

This question made Wei Yan's spirits lift. After quickly thinking about it, he replied loudly.

"If Cao Cao has a rebellious heart and returns to Xu Province, he should be rejected for the Lord; but if Cao Cao has flaws, he should be swallowed for the Lord."