Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“Thank you, Lord!”

Li Ji immediately cupped his hands.

Liu Bei, listening, felt like he was finally understanding something.

This is bad...

Could this be the path that Zikun had envisioned from the very beginning?

And I have become an indispensable part of Zikun's journey on this path.

Liu Bei was naturally no longer the small vendor who weaved mats and sold shoes, and unknowingly possessed considerable political acumen.

And the essence of politics is that even if Liu Bei, after unifying the world and ascending the throne, greatly agreed with broadening the people's knowledge, the emperor cannot personally step into the arena and unilaterally promote something.

Politics is ultimately the art of balance.

The emperor has an irreplaceable role in maintaining the balance of the political situation, so if the emperor personally and explicitly supports something.

Then, for those groups who oppose this national policy and whose interests are severely damaged in the process, they are likely to become extreme and do things that are detrimental to the implementation of the national policy.

In simpler terms, there needs to be a duet.

And the singing must be done by the ministers, and the harmony must be provided by the emperor, otherwise the political situation will become unbalanced.

Suddenly, Liu Bei couldn't help but laugh.

Previously, Liu Bei had always felt that Li Ji had planned too much for him, to the point that Liu Bei regarded Li Ji as more than a brother, but he had always felt that he didn't know how to reward him for his merits.

Now that Li Ji made this request, Liu Bei felt that a major problem in his heart had been solved.

Zikun supports me in reviving the Han Dynasty, and I will help Zikun promote national policies.

Zikun's ambition is not in wealth, women, wine, or arrogance, but to make the country stable and secure, and I will give my full support when the time comes.

With this thought in mind, Liu Bei suppressed all his worries, even though he understood that broadening the people's knowledge would have an impact on the country no less than Shang Yang's reforms on the Qin state, and would bring great changes to the Han Dynasty.

But Liu Bei not only believed in Li Ji's ability but also in Li Ji's intentions.

Now, thinking carefully, the various political policies that Li Ji had previously promoted were also related to broadening the people's knowledge.

However, Liu Bei still raised a question, saying.

"Zikun, although there are many gold and silver mines in Yingzhou, they will eventually be exhausted. Continuously developing the cultivated land south of the Yangtze River will also eventually be completely occupied by the people."

Even though Liu Bei didn't say it too bluntly, Li Ji understood what Liu Bei's biggest concern was regarding broadening the people's knowledge.

With Liu Bei's vision, he now understood that everything related to the stability of the country ultimately boiled down to two words: money and food.

The reason why Yangzhou was undergoing earth-shaking changes, rapidly becoming a paradise in the midst of the chaos.

Was nothing more than two words: money and food.

Li Ji had obtained enough money and food, so much so that he could reduce taxes and exempt the people of Yangzhou from corvée, encouraging a large number of people to continuously reclaim cultivated land, and even replace labor with prisoners of war, or allow young adults to work for pay.

These kinds of things were unimaginable in the past Han Dynasty.

It was precisely because of this that Liu Bei was able to first occupy Jingzhou with Yangzhou as his base, and in less than a year, he was able to mobilize a large army to launch a northern expedition against Cao thief and seize Yuzhou to the west.

But the chaos would end sooner or later, and the prisoners of war would eventually be exhausted.

And when Li Ji governs the entire Han Dynasty, can it be guaranteed that money and food will be abundant to this extent?

Even after broadening the people's knowledge, how to ensure that the Han Dynasty's money and food can always remain abundant.

After all, once the people's knowledge is broadened, the number of people willing to work hard and cultivate the land will inevitably decrease, and when food becomes scarce, it will trigger a series of problems.

Li Ji smiled, opened the fan in his hand in front of Liu Bei, and placed it flat in front of Liu Bei, saying.

"Lord, this fan surface is like the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei nodded, listening attentively.

After all, Liu Bei had also been persuaded by Li Ji that broadening the people's knowledge had many benefits for the country, and Liu Bei also had absolute trust in Li Ji.

But Liu Bei also needed to be responsible for the country and the people of the world, and he needed to understand all the details in his heart, and while fully supporting Li Ji, he also needed to check for omissions and fill in the gaps for Li Ji.

For Liu Bei, he had already made up his mind to make supporting Li Ji's broadening of the people's knowledge as the top priority after unifying the world.

And Li Ji continued to point to the fan surface, saying.

"The size of the fan surface is already determined, but the words written on the fan surface are like the people and cultivated land of the Han Dynasty, and there will eventually be a day when it will be difficult to continue writing."

"Whether it is the policy of keeping the people ignorant or the method of broadening the people's knowledge, this is a problem that must be faced."

Liu Bei's eyebrows furrowed, naturally understanding the contradiction.

According to Zikun's previous statement, that is precisely the root cause of the current chaos.

Powerful families and clans annexed cultivated land, causing the tillers to have no place to stand, and the people to live in misery, leading to widespread resentment, triggering the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and undermining the court's prestige.

Once the court's prestige is lost, ambitious people like the traitor Dong will naturally be unable to restrain themselves from disrupting the court.

Even without the traitor Dong, I am afraid there would be other traitors who would disrupt the court.

According to Zikun's statement, the arrival of chaos is inevitable if the fundamental contradictions are not resolved, it is only a matter of time.

"Therefore, why not jump out of the fan surface and write in other places? Leaving only the essence and enough blank space on the fan surface, so as not to be crowded?"

Li Ji then pointed in the direction of Yingzhou and Yizhou respectively, smiling.

"Before this, did the Lord know that there is such a huge amount of gold and silver overseas in Yingzhou, and I am afraid that he did not even know that Yizhou, which is only a short distance from Jiaozhou, has as many mineral resources as the stars in the sky?"

Now, the Yangzhou aristocratic families have deeply rooted themselves in Yizhou, and the Jingzhou aristocratic families have also begun to rush to Yizhou one after another.

Under the development of the aristocratic families, Yizhou is also constantly producing various resources, among which mineral resources are the most important, and they are continuously transported to Yangzhou.

"Lord, Yingzhou and Yizhou will not be isolated cases."

Li Ji closed the fan in his hand and said.

"Leading the aristocratic families overseas to alleviate the contradiction between the aristocratic families and the people over cultivated land is one thing, but more importantly, treating the aristocratic families as vanguards."

"Under the exploration of the aristocratic families, more fertile lands will be continuously found overseas."

"Even, we can completely control small countries suitable for cultivation to produce grain for our Han Dynasty, so why should our Han people toil in the fields all day long."

"In the future, I also intend to formulate corresponding national policies to encourage the people to go to sea to explore on their own, stating that there is not only wealth in the sea, and even those who make explorations and contributions overseas for the Han Dynasty, why not grant them corresponding status and honor?"

"Of course, if we want to encourage the people to go to sea to explore, the first step is to broaden the people's knowledge again..."

After a pause, Li Ji looked at Liu Bei's stunned expression and cupped his hands and asked.

"What does the Lord think?"

However, Li Ji waited for several breaths, but Liu Bei still had that stunned expression.

"Lord?"

It wasn't until Li Ji lightly called out a few more times that Liu Bei suddenly reacted, staring at Li Ji with a shocked expression.

(End of this chapter)