Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

None of the people at the banquet understood the grand plans that Li Ji had in mind, except for Liu Bei, who had been informed beforehand.

The aristocratic families only saw their own interests. In order to recover their ancestral lands as soon as possible, they supported Li Ji's statement that there were insufficient personnel and that the fields in Yu Province needed to be re-surveyed to determine the amount of land each family had been encroached upon.

This was a policy that would have been vehemently opposed by the powerful families in the past, but now it unexpectedly received their full support. Even the personnel needed to survey the fields were actively and voluntarily provided.

Amidst a chorus of praise and gazes of awe and gratitude, Li Ji left the banquet with Li Xiang and Li Xi, returning to his temporary residence by carriage.

Upon returning to the residence, Li Ji sent Li Xiang to wait for A Dou's return in the neighboring residence.

A Dou, after all, had the status of a young lord and could not directly reside in the same residence as Li Ji.

Therefore, even though A Dou spent most of his days with Li Xiang, he still needed a separate residence.

After patiently coaxing Li Xi to sleep, Li Ji arrived at the main hall of the residence, where Zhuge Liang had been waiting for some time.

"I have kept you waiting, Liang."

Li Ji raised his hand, signaling Zhuge Liang not to stand on ceremony, and then sat opposite Zhuge Liang, picking up the papers Zhuge Liang had placed on the table to browse.

During the banquet, with so many people speaking, it was easy to unintentionally reveal one's inclinations and attitudes.

The size of the "cake" that was the fields of Yu Province was almost fixed.

Now that a large "cake" had been squeezed out of the aristocratic families' mouths and distributed to the common people, greatly alleviating the contradiction of land annexation, Li Ji would naturally not sacrifice the interests of the common people to satisfy the appetites of the powerful families.

The essence of politics is not only balance but also satisfying the majority to achieve the goal of striking at the minority.

Do not think that the aristocratic families of Yu Province seem to be united in expressing their attitude to Li Ji now, but their internal relations are far from being a monolithic whole. On the contrary, they are "enemies" who divide the cake among themselves.

For Li Ji, Yu Province was still too crowded, and the aristocratic families of Yu Province needed to be streamlined.

Sacrificing a portion of the aristocratic families of Yu Province and then using the flesh and blood of this portion of the aristocratic families of Yu Province to stabilize the majority of the aristocratic families of Yu Province, wouldn't that be wonderful?

As for opposition, the group being sacrificed had no right to object, and the aristocratic families of Yu Province who had gained benefits would be even less likely to object. This would undoubtedly be a win-win-win situation.

Li Ji wins, Liu Bei wins, and the Great Han also wins!

However, Li Ji still needed to determine which aristocratic families to sacrifice.

The content that Zhuge Liang handed over was a record of the words they had said, secretly recorded by trusted aides at the banquet.

Based on the attitudes shown by the powerful families at the moment, combined with the Jinyi Guard's past records of the behavior of the powerful families in Yu Province, it was not difficult to compile a list of those who were not qualified to board the soon-to-be-revived imperial behemoth.

As Li Ji looked down and read, he was quite surprised to see "The Xu Clan of Nanyang" appear first.

Li Ji recalled briefly and said.

"Isn't this Xu clan of Nanyang the family of Xu You?"

"It is.", Zhuge Liang replied.

"But why would this Xu clan of Nanyang appear in Yu Province?" Li Ji was slightly puzzled.

Although Nanyang Commandery was adjacent to Yu Province, Li Ji did not remember that the Yellow Turbans in Yu Province had ravaged Nanyang in Jing Province.

Zhuge Liang, who had compiled this information, had naturally investigated the reasons and replied.

"Previously, Jing Province was in turmoil, and Nanyang Commandery was caught in the flames of war, becoming the focus of the struggle between Yu Province and Jing Province. Later, it seemed that Xu You learned of Yuan Shu's plan in advance, knowing that Nanyang Commandery was about to be ceded by Yuan Shu to Lu Bu, provoking Lu Bu to fight with Jing Province."

"Therefore, Xu You sent a letter to his family early, asking them to move the entire family to Ruyang to rely on the Xu clan, who were distant relatives, and exchanged various benefits to obtain a large amount of land in Ruyang to settle down."

"As for the result, the newly acquired land was completely occupied by the Yellow Turbans, and now the Xu clan of Nanyang probably doesn't have much money or food left."

After hearing this, Li Ji couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

In chaotic times, moving the whole family was undoubtedly a way for powerful families to survive.

Many aristocratic families, judging that a certain place would become a place of constant war, would choose to sell most of their property and move to a more stable area to develop.

Xu You, who knew in advance that Nanyang Commandery would fall into war, naturally secretly informed his family of the relevant news.

But the unfortunate thing about the Xu clan of Nanyang was that they moved to Yu Province.

Now, I'm afraid the entire Xu clan of Nanyang, from top to bottom, is about to split apart. The land and property in Ruyang that were exchanged for selling their ancestral property have vanished before they could even warm them up.

According to the consistent practice among aristocratic families, who knows, the Xu clan of Nanyang may not even have surplus grain now, and may even owe the Xu clan of Ruyang a large sum of money and grain that needs to be repaid slowly.

Xu You was greedy all his life, but his family suffered such a setback, which can be considered a waste of time.

After that, Li Ji carefully looked down again and found that the words of the Xu clan of Nanyang recorded in the banquet frequently contained the words "賤民 (despicable people)", and the remarks were also extremely radical.

This made Li Ji's eyes narrow slightly. He did remember hearing someone repeatedly calling the common people by such derogatory terms at the banquet.

It was just that Li Ji couldn't speak out at the banquet, and even in the situation where there were many people speaking, it was difficult for Li Ji to tell who said it.

"Humph!"

Li Ji picked up the brush on the table and lightly wrote a "去 (remove)" on the paper recording the remarks of the Xu clan of Nanyang, and then placed it aside.

Immediately afterward, Li Ji looked at them one by one, conducting a preliminary screening of the powerful families in Yu Province.

Either postpone, or keep, or remove…

Until he saw the last one—"The Guo Clan of Yingchuan", which was the family of Guo Jia and Guo Tu.

When Li Ji was present, Guo Ling's words were considered appropriate, but after Li Ji left the banquet, he repeatedly made disrespectful remarks when talking with the representatives of the other aristocratic families.

Zhuge Liang also wrote an analysis of his intentions, which was that Guo Ling wanted to regain face in front of the aristocratic families by expressing the awe and fear he felt when facing Li Ji.

Human nature is often like this.

Respectful in front, arrogant behind.

Li Ji's eyes were cold, and in Zhuge Liang's somewhat surprised eyes, he picked up his pen and wrote a "去 (remove)".

"Does Liang seem puzzled?" Li Ji asked.

Zhuge Liang hesitated slightly, and then replied truthfully.

"Although Military Advisor Fengxiao has severed ties with the Guo clan of Yingchuan, there may still be some affection. If the Guo clan is removed, I am afraid it will embarrass Military Advisor Fengxiao. Should Teacher consider it a little more?"

"Liang is right, but precisely because of this, the Guo clan of Yingchuan should be 'removed'." Li Ji replied with a smile.

Zhuge Liang, who was also born into an aristocratic family, looked at Li Ji in great confusion.

"Not to mention the old events of the Guo clan of Yingchuan offending the Lord, let's just say that Fengxiao was kicked out of the clan by the Guo clan of Yingchuan and severed ties in order to follow the Lord…"

"Teacher should also let Fengxiao vent a bad breath himself."

Li Ji took a sip of tea and said leisurely.

(End of this chapter)