Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Li Ji had always considered his moral bottom line to be quite flexible, but he had to admit that when it came to moral bottom lines in this era, Sima Yi was the one to look up to.

Also a member of a prominent family, Sima Yi understood the weaknesses of these families better than anyone else, and his attacks on his own kind always hit the mark.

If rioters were to break into the city, how could these families, even with their hidden guards and private soldiers, possibly withstand the endless tide of commoners?

Li Ji subconsciously rubbed the ribs of his fan with his hand behind his back, deducing the strategy that Sima Yi had offered.

Looking at the matter of solving the famine in Yu Province, Sima Yi's plan could be considered as teaching a man to fish rather than giving him fish.

Given that Li Ji had neither surplus troops at hand nor the ability to allocate a large amount of grain to Yu Province.

Turning these disaster victims into rioters, teaching them how to attack local cities and prominent families, could be considered as letting them become self-reliant.

And besides being able to solve the famine problem, even though Sima Yi didn't elaborate, Li Ji instantly understood the other intangible benefits.

Firstly, it would further weaken Yuan Shu's control over Yu Province.

Some things are like a prairie fire; once an example appears, there will naturally be more disaster victims in Yu Province, where popular resentment is boiling, who will follow suit.

Secondly, once a riot truly breaks out against the prominent families of Yu Province, then the situation of these families will be desperate, and the blow to them will be terrifying.

During this special period, Yuan Shu would naturally not have the spare capacity to help the prominent families of Yu Province suppress the riot, and Li Ji would certainly not take the initiative to intervene.

Even if the influence of the prominent families of Yu Province was so great in normal times that they could directly mobilize the Yu Province army, where in Yu Province was there any military force available for these families to call upon?

Influence, connections, foundation, quality, knowledge, and everything else that the prominent families of Yu Province prided themselves on, without guns as support, would only appear fragile and vulnerable under the violence of the rioters.

By the time the prominent families of Yu Province were truly ravaged by the rioters and knew the pain, the battle of Yu Province would have already been decided.

Their only way out would be to prostrate themselves before Li Ji and beg for help.

At that time, wouldn't Li Ji be able to demand anything he wanted?

As long as he subdued the prominent families of Yu, Xu, Jing, and Yang provinces, then, in a sense, these four provinces could represent the majority of the prominent families of the Han Dynasty.

However, once the riots started, they would inevitably affect many innocent people who were originally blameless.

Just like the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the past, starting from the uprising of believers, it eventually forcibly dragged in countless ordinary people who could have survived.

Undoubtedly, this was a poisonous plan, and a riot could easily become a double-edged sword that hurt both sides.

The most prosperous place in Ji Province used to be Julu County, but the Yellow Turban Rebellion was nearly ten years ago, and Julu County, as the center of that turmoil, had not yet recovered.

The most prosperous area of Ji Province had gradually shifted eastward from Julu County to the Bohai County area.

Li Ji paced back and forth for a while, his eyes fell on Sima Yi, and he said.

"If I let Yi'er be fully responsible for this matter, can Yi'er be sure to control the riot within a certain range?"

Hearing this, Sima Yi's spirit could not help but be greatly lifted.

This time, Sima Yi's ambition was not only for the credit of offering a plan, but also to gain Li Ji's trust and be responsible for the implementation of this plan.

Once successful, it would also mean that Sima Yi could truly step onto the political stage of Liu Bei's group, and not just be a nominal military advisor.

"What range does Teacher mean?" Sima Yi asked in a low voice.

"How much weaponry is needed, all can be provided. About 100,000 dan of grain can also be provided, for Yi'er to use to buy people's hearts. I can even let Yi'er be able to mobilize the Embroidered Uniform Guards within Yu Province..."

When Li Ji said this, Sima Yi's breathing could not help but become a little rapid.

Weapons were nothing much.

But 100,000 dan of grain and the ability to mobilize the Embroidered Uniform Guards within Yu Province were undoubtedly considerable support.

"How Yi'er uses the hands of the rioters to cleanse the prominent families and powerful clans, I don't care..."

After a pause, Li Ji held up two fingers and said.

"What Yi'er needs to do, in addition to minimizing the harm to innocent people as much as possible, is to be able to quell the riot in Yu Province at the Lord's command, and make the rioters grateful to the Lord."

Hearing this, Sima Yi did not rush to answer, but lowered his head for a few breaths before suddenly raising his head, his eyes full of eagle-like sharpness.

How could Sima Yi not understand Li Ji's meaning?

If Sima Yi did well, then naturally he would be meritorious;

But if the riot got out of control, then Sima Yi would need to take the blame.

Li Ji was not worried about whether Sima Yi would refuse. If Sima Yi refused, then Li Ji would urgently transfer Jia Xu over to control and guide the riot behind the scenes.

Although Jia Xu's involvement would likely increase the number of casualties in the riot by a large margin, with Jia Xu's insight and control over people's hearts, he would definitely be able to meet Li Ji's requirements.

But Sima Yi also knew that this was an excellent opportunity. If he didn't seek a chance to stand out, with Liu Bei's momentum, he might start taking steps towards unifying the world in a few years.

"This disciple is willing to try his best."

"Good! Very good!!!"

A gentle smile appeared on Li Ji's face, and he said. "It's not in vain that I value you so much on weekdays, and regard Yi'er as my successor, with the appearance of a high official."

"Since that's the case, this matter will be entrusted to Yi'er to be fully responsible for, and come up with a plan as soon as possible."

Immediately, Li Ji took Sima Yi back to the campfire again, and without explaining the plan, he instead made the excuse that the matter was of great importance and planned to send a letter to Liu Bei for a decision.

For a time, no one suspected anything.

It was only when Zhuge Liang discovered that Sima Yi was missing from the army when they started marching towards the Guo River again the next day, and that a team of Tiger Guards had also disappeared.

Immediately, Zhuge Liang understood something, but he didn't say anything, and didn't take the initiative to ask or investigate.

In addition, Sima Yi's popularity was not good on weekdays, and his disappearance did not cause any waves. Li Ji took the opportunity to publicly mention that Sima Yi had been transferred elsewhere, which covered up Sima Yi's whereabouts.

After another three days, while Li Ji secretly paid attention to the movements of the famine victims, and secretly cooperated with Sima Yi to carry out a series of arrangements, he finally arrived at the location of the Guo River as scheduled.

And at the agreed-upon Father Section of Guo River City, in order to ensure the safety of the grain transport, Gan Ning personally led the Jinfan Thieves to escort the fleet along the way.

Looking at the fleet parked on the Guo River from afar, and the Jinfan Thieves whose bells could be heard before they were seen, a smile could not help but appear on Li Ji's face.

Gan Ning even rushed towards Li Ji's direction on a single horse, shouting.

"Lord Marquis, Gan Ning is here to meet you!" (End of this chapter)