Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 77: Sand Table Deduction

"Preposterous! Utterly preposterous!"

Qiao Xian angrily exclaimed, his voice tinged with the pathetic cry of a defeated dog.

"Has the world ever seen such an arrogant man as you?"

"Heh…"

Li Ji remained unfazed, for this era was never short of arrogant scholars.

The most famous among them, Mi Heng, hadn't displayed any talent beyond debate and prose, yet he dared to deliver a barrage of insults to Cao Cao, essentially telling him, "You turn the table when the boss offers a dish, you don't drink when the boss proposes a toast."

Despite this, Mi Heng enjoyed immense prestige among the literati and had a large following.

Cao Cao, though his teeth itched with hatred for Mi Heng, didn't dare kill him; instead, he sent Mi Heng to Jingzhou, using the impetuous Huang Zu to eliminate him.

Therefore, having resolved to seek fame, how could Li Ji hesitate? He casually retorted:

"That's because I wasn't born yet; naturally, the world hadn't seen someone like me."

Another scholar, enraged, stood up and shouted:

"Your arrogance is a path to your own demise! How can Liu Xuande tolerate you?"

"My lord, Liu Xuande, values benevolence, talent, and loyalty, not blind cowardice!

As long as one possesses benevolence, loyalty, and talent, why worry about not being valued by my lord?"

Li Ji replied calmly, not forgetting to cup his fist slightly towards Liu Bei, seizing the main opportunity to promote Liu Bei.

"You… you…"

Another scholar rose, about to speak sharply, but Li Ji's calm, indifferent gaze silenced him, unable to utter a single word.

Seeing Li Ji suppress the scene with just a few words, Xu You paused his spinning wine cup, straightened his scholar's robe, and rose unhurriedly to offer a salute, then stroked his goatee and said,

"Xu You of Nanyang wishes to seek your guidance."

"Please."

Upon seeing this, a touch of seriousness appeared in the depths of Li Ji's eyes.

Among the scholars present at the banquet, many enjoyed prestige in the Han Dynasty, but very few truly excelled in strategy and planning; only Xu You was genuinely skilled in such matters.

Moreover, Xu You was narrow-minded and craved fame, coupled with an arrogant and conceited personality, he would inevitably seize this opportunity to gain renown.

Therefore, Li Ji was well aware that among all the scholars, Xu You was definitely a hurdle he had to face.

"Just now, I heard Zikun repeatedly asking for guidance, but not everyone present is skilled in strategy; naturally, Zikun is challenged.

I, Xu You, have a little experience in devising strategies and plans; dare you accept the challenge?"

Xu You's calm tone concealed an excited and eager heart, understanding that this might be his best opportunity.

Previously, Xu You boasted of being a guest of honor of the Yuan clan, but it was purely bragging, relying entirely on flattering Yuan Shao to become Yuan Shao's lackey.

Even this time, being dispatched by Yuan Shao to Dong Zhuo's army to supervise and assist Dong Zhuo had greatly dissatisfied Xu You, feeling that his talents were wasted.

What Xu You found even more hateful was that Dong Zhuo appeared respectful but actually disregarded and scorned him; only because Dong Zhuo constantly offered money did Xu You barely suppress his anger.

Now, Li Ji, this young boy, was so arrogant, actually asking for guidance; for Xu You, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

As long as he defeated Li Ji, then Li Ji's reputation for defeating Zhang Jiao of the Yellow Turbans after traveling thousands of miles would become Xu You's stepping stone, allowing Xu You to rise above the Yellow Turban Rebellion and become a promising scholar in the world.

From then on, Xu You might truly be considered a guest of honor of the Yuan clan!

"Of course, Ziyuan, please propose the question."

Li Ji cupped his fist.

Upon hearing this, Xu You, who was already prepared to let Li Ji propose the question and accept the challenge, didn't expect this young whelp to be so arrogant, actually handing over such an advantage.

Immediately, Xu You didn't stand on ceremony and said,

"Then let's use the Chu-Han Contention for a sand table deduction, how about that?"

"Agreed."

Li Ji responded again, then turned towards Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun at the head of the table and bowed.

"Ji wishes to conduct a sand table deduction with Xu Ziyuan; would it be possible to ask you gentlemen to assist as judges?"

"It's fine, this is an elegant affair."

Lu Zhi replied with a smile, then ordered the soldiers to bring the relevant items; then Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun, the three famous generals of the era, jointly arranged the sand table.

For the Han Dynasty generals, the battles of the Chu-Han Contention were undoubtedly the most studied and understood, and there were countless records of this battle.

Cao Cao, who had been quietly observing, as Xu You's friend, was very clear that Xu You was most skilled and knowledgeable in the sand table deduction of the "Chu-Han Contention"; this deduction was undoubtedly disadvantageous to Li Ji.

Previously, whether it was Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, they had both conducted sand table deductions with Xu You using the "Chu-Han Contention", and both had been defeated.

After a moment, the sand table jointly arranged by Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun was ready, which not only had various objects representing mountains, rivers, and streams, but also had small flags representing the army and soldiers placed on the sand table.

Previously, although Li Ji also knew that when Qin destroyed the six states, Qin Shi Huang personally piled up sand tables to study the terrain of the six states; by the time of Emperor Guangwu, the famous general Ma Yuan first applied the sand table to war deduction, and then defeated Kui Xiao, from then on, it completely spread in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, looking at the almost perfectly replicated "Chu-Han Contention" sand table situation in front of him, Li Ji was still amazed.

'It's a pity that in this deduction game without unexpected factors, I only win and never lose.'

Li Ji secretly said, then sat down with Xu You back to back to the sand table, unable to personally witness the sand table operation.

As for the changes of the enemy in the sand table, Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song would copy the exposed information in writing and inform the enemy.

And Li Ji and Xu You could issue orders and arrange various arrangements through writing at any time throughout the process.

As for the losses caused by the battle between the two sides, it was judged by the three parties of Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun after consultation.

This time, Li Ji held Chu, and Xu You held Han.

For a time, almost everyone who participated in the banquet surrounded them, watching this sand table deduction judged by the three generals.

Among them, the vast majority of scholars undoubtedly supported Xu You, which made Liu Bei show a little worry in his eyes, which turned into trust.

'Zikun, I believe you will win.'

While Liu Bei secretly said this, he suddenly noticed that Li Ji, who was sitting with his back to the sand table, had a relaxed smile on his face.

And just after Lu Zhi announced the start, Xu You, who was familiar with the situation of the "Chu-Han Contention", immediately wrote furiously, constantly writing various arrangements and handing them to the small official next to him, who then handed them to Huangfu Song, who mobilized the Han army on the sand table.

Relatively speaking, Li Ji was completely unhurried, without issuing any mobilization for the Chu army, only ordering a large number of scouts to go deep into the Han army camp to investigate the movements.

Lu Zhi, as a judge, also provided Li Ji with effective information after consideration.

And when Xu You also noticed from the information fed back by Huangfu Song that Li Ji was actually standing still, he couldn't help but sneer secretly and said,

"Trying to control the movement with stillness? Courting death!"

At the same time, Li Ji's eyes closed slightly, and the initial Chu-Han situation that both sides knew well appeared in his mind, combined with the known Han army mobilization information, and then directly used the "Strategy Simulator" to deduce.

After a while, Li Ji, who seemed to have taken a nap, said to the generals and scholars who were watching him.

"It's a pity, Ziyuan has many strange tricks, but unfortunately, I have deduced the future."

Li Ji picked up the brush and wrote a large passage, then handed it to the small official next to him.

Immediately, under the stunned gaze of everyone, Li Ji directly reclined, propped his head with one hand, and then said,

"I'll rest for a while, wake me up when the result is out."

After saying that, Li Ji actually fell asleep like this, and even made slight snoring sounds before long.

? ? ! !

Everyone.

As for Xu You, who occasionally listened to the movement on the other side of the sand table, was trembling with anger.

'Rude brat! Rude brat! How dare you despise me so much, thinking that you can defeat me with just one plan?!'

Xu You was so angry that the veins on his neck were bulging, and his goatee kept trembling. It took him a full ten breaths to barely calm down, and he issued more and more radical instructions with bloodshot eyes, determined to quickly put the Chu army to death and severely humiliate Li Ji, this arrogant man.

However, when Lu Zhi, who was holding the instructions written by Li Ji, glanced at the instructions just written by Xu You, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Xu You.

The process of sand table deduction was also advancing rapidly. The original stalemate between the two sides was rapidly tilting towards one side with the mobilization of each other.

The various reactions made by Xu You seemed to have been foreseen by Li Ji, who had already fallen asleep. The Han troops mobilized were almost swallowed by the Chu army like sheep entering a tiger's mouth.

If the ambush arranged by Han Xin and Zhang Liang in the past was an ambush on all sides, then the Han army in Xu You's hands at this moment was reduced to Calabash Brothers saving Grandpa, with Han troops rushing forward one after another to give away their lives.

Every move of Xu You seemed to be predicted by Li Ji, who had already fallen asleep.

Before Xu You could react to rescue them, they were wiped out by the Chu army judged by Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song.

In less than a cup of tea's time, Xu You looked at the latest battle report written and fed back by Huangfu Song. His whole body was already sweating profusely, his face was pale, his eyes were extremely scattered, and he muttered.

"No, impossible… Absolutely impossible… How could I be defeated like this?"

Li Ji also seemed to hear Xu You's voice not far away behind him, and slowly woke up, even stretched, moved his shoulders, and said.

“It seems the victor is decided.”

The clerk beside Li Ji glanced at the sand table and declared.

“There’s really no suspense left.”

Hearing this, Li Ji stood up and looked at the sand table behind him, only to see that the Han army had only Liu Bang’s remaining troops left, and they were blocked by the Chu army on the bank of a river.

In this situation, even if Liu Bang transformed into Xiang Yu and made a desperate counterattack, Xiang Yu would not be Zhang Han.

Meanwhile, Xu You was still constantly reviewing the information provided by Huangfu Song, feeling as if he had overlooked something, leading to some misjudgment, and he kept muttering to himself.

“Impossible, how could it be like this?”

Seeing this, Li Ji slowly said.

“Because you, Xu Ziyuan, are neither Marquis of Huaiyin Han Xin, nor Marquis of Liu Zhang Liang, yet you intended to replicate the Ambush from Ten Sides again. How could you know you were just imitating Dong Shi and making a fool of yourself?”

“The more complicated the Han army you mobilize, the more flaws you expose. How can you avoid defeat?”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t you, Xu Ziyuan, who assisted Gaozu in defeating the Chu overlord, otherwise, how could there be our great Han’s four-hundred-year foundation?”