Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 194 Slowly becoming king

These incidents undoubtedly gave Cao Cao no chance to breathe.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Suddenly, Cao Cao burst into laughter. This made Xiahou Yuan confused, but he couldn't help but start to worry about Cao Cao's mental state.

"Brother, are you okay?" Xia Houyuan asked nervously.

"I'm so happy!"

Cao Cao said still laughing.

"Junior Sister Zhaoji and I have known each other for many years. We were wasting our time because of how troubled Sister Zhaoji's beauty was. Before she was married to the Wei family in Hebei, Wei Zhongdao passed away first, so Junior Sister Zhaoji was given an unknown name. "

"Now, Junior Sister Zhaoji can marry Li Zikun as his wife. With Li Zikun's talent, virtue and character, Junior Sister Zhaoji will have no worries for the rest of her life."

"This is such a happy event, why don't I smile?"

Cao Cao beat his chest and shouted.

"Snapped!!"

Although Cao Cao seemed to have a rare good appetite and ate his food in large gulps, Xia Houyuan still felt that something was not right in the atmosphere, so he buried his head in his meal without daring to say a word.

"Then... As long as brother is happy, why don't you eat first?" Xia Houyuan suggested, trying hard to change the subject.

Cao Cao, although somewhat complicated, was undoubtedly very supportive of his junior sister Cai Zhaoji's marriage to Li Ji. He recognized that Li Ji was undoubtedly worthy of Cai Zhaoji.

However, when I think about it, after Cai Zhaoji marries Li Ji, those two people will be under Liu Bei's command from now on.

Therefore, when the servants brought food to Cao Cao and Xia Houyuan, they shared the tables with each other.

To pick it up or not to pick it up is a difficult question!
However, Xia Houyuan was also a person who had indeed experienced famine, and even his youngest son starved to death because of it.

However, Xia Houyuan had just picked up a piece of dried meat and was about to put it into his mouth.

“Food is precious and cannot be wasted.”

Cao Cao felt as if he hadn't grabbed something that Liu Bei valued, but that something important had been taken away from him.

Cao Cao, who seemed to be eating a big meal just now, suddenly tipped the rice bowl in his hand upside down and slammed it on the table.

"I am so angry! Liu Da'er! Liu Da'er!!!"

This movement frightened Xia Houyuan so much that he loosened his grip on the meat that was about to reach his mouth and fell directly to the ground.

Cao Cao said this, but Xia Houyuan looked at the dried meat that fell to the ground in front of him with some embarrassment.

When Xia Houyuan heard this, he immediately asked the servants in the palace to deliver the meals prepared on time.

Coupled with the constant backlog of pressure on Cao Cao since the Great Disaster in the Central Plains, the comparison between the two undoubtedly became the last straw for Cao Cao's mental imbalance.

It's just that Cao Cao spoke freely and freely, but Xia Houyuan, who knew Cao Cao well, always felt that there was an unexplainable complexity hidden in those words.

It's just that Cao Cao has his own dignity among the Cao family and the Xiahou family. Xiahou Yuan is as close to him as a brother, but he doesn't dare to be disrespectful in the slightest, and naturally he won't eat at the same table with Cao Cao.

However, under Xia Houyuan's silent expression, Cao Cao's gaffe only lasted for a few breaths. Cao Cao's expression completely returned to calm, and he even picked up the bowl that was covered upside down and covered it on the table little by little. Put the rice back into the bowl.

"That's fine! I've been dealing with government affairs for a long time, but before I realize it's already this time, I'm extremely hungry. Please quickly ask the cook to prepare a meal." Cao Cao said.

Therefore, Xia Houyuan calmly picked up the meat meat that fell on the ground, stuffed it into his mouth, and started chewing it.

The sand and teeth grinded together, making uncomfortable sounds, but Xia Houyuan still slowly tasted the deliciousness of the piece of meat.

After all, there are countless hungry refugees in Jinan today, and throwing this piece of dried meat outside is enough to cause a burst of looting.

It wasn't until Cao Cao finished eating all the rice that he put back into the bowl that he continued to speak.

"Miaocai, please go back to Qiao County and prepare a lot of gifts. Then go to Junior Sister Zhaoji's wedding for me, and then copy a copy of 'Four Crosses of Red Water' and come back."

"Yes, brother."

Xia Houyuan responded in a muffled voice.

As for why Cao Cao didn't ask Xia Houyuan to prepare gifts directly in Jinan Kingdom, it is naturally that Jinan Kingdom's treasury has been able to escape the rats, and even the private treasury brought by Cao Cao to Jinan Kingdom has been exhausted. There is still money left for gifts.

Xia Houyuan looked at Cao Cao and seemed to just sit there without saying a word or talking. Instead, he called his servants to come up and clear the tableware, and then retreated together.

Xia Houyuan knew that Cao Cao was under great pressure during this period. He clearly wanted to show off his power in Jinan, but as a result, there were corrupt officials from top to bottom who were in cahoots with the local wealthy families.

It can be said that the first half year of Cao Cao's taking office was entirely a process of competing with local aristocratic families in Jinan to eliminate corrupt officials. This also allowed Cao Cao to see how influential the local aristocratic families were and how much trouble they could cause.

After that, Cao Cao finally tried his best to suppress the local aristocratic families and eliminate a large number of corrupt officials. It happened to be a natural disaster, and the court had no intention of providing disaster relief, leaving the people to fend for themselves. When leaving, Xia Houyuan couldn't help but look back at Cao Cao, who was sitting in a daze, thinking secretly in his heart.

'Brother... seems a little frustrated and confused...'

'Miss Zhaoji's incident is just an inducement. In fact, during this period, the eldest brother has probably been forcing himself to be busy stabilizing the internal affairs of Jinan without thinking too much about it. But now...'

However, Xia Houyuan also felt helpless and disappointed with the current situation. He finally put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but he didn't expect that what would usher in would still not be great peace.

Didn't the rebellion throughout the seven states still fail to inspire the emperor?
Thinking of this, Xia Houyuan couldn't help but let out a long sigh, and then closed the door for Cao Cao, so that Cao Cao could have a space to think about himself.

"It's just that brother asked me to go to Wu County to celebrate instead?"

Xia Houyuan couldn't help scratching his head, feeling a little headache, and hesitating whether to return to Qiaojun at that time, it seemed more appropriate to take his mother-in-law and children with him, so as not to attend Li Ji's wedding alone and be confused.

……

And in Luoxian County, the seat of Yizhou.

Liu Zhang hurriedly hurriedly hurriedly along the way, and finally returned to Luoxian County in a hurry. He even rushed back and forth between Wu County, which made Liu Zhang look darker and thinner.

Liu Zhang, who originally returned to Luoxian County, subconsciously wanted to take a shower and change clothes before going to meet Liu Yan. However, after thinking about it carefully, he took the initiative to untidy his brocade robe, and then went directly to meet Liu Yan. Yan.

Compared to a son who went to Wu County to listen to Meng Ji's performances every day and almost lost his mind about Shu, Liu Zhang believed that Liu Yan would be more willing to see himself in embarrassment.

When Liu Yan saw Liu Zhang's dusty appearance, his eyes were indeed a little more touched.

However, Liu Yan didn't care about Liu Zhang's physical condition, so he directly pulled Liu Zhang into a secret room in the mansion, and then asked.

"Zhang'er, how are you?"

Liu Zhang naturally knew what Liu Yan wanted to ask, and immediately said in a deep voice. "My son has lived up to his father's high expectations. He has already asked Mr. Zikun for a clever plan. He also knows what Mr. Zikun's purpose is in helping his father in this way."

"really?"

Liu Zhang nodded and said immediately. "It's just that in order to satisfy Mr. Zikun, I took it upon myself to agree to send 600,000 dans of grain to Wu County."

"Food is a trivial matter!"

Liu Zhang, who was sitting in the land of abundance, didn't care about food at all.

It can be said that since the Qin State built Dujiangyan, Yizhou has been the location of the large granary of the Qin and Han Dynasties. There has been a surplus every year. Over the years, many granaries in Yizhou are almost full.

There are only two routes for transporting grain out of Shu. One is to take Bajun and go down the Yangtze River; the other is to rely on manpower to enter and leave Sili from Hanzhong.

These two routes were quite troublesome for the imperial court. The former took a long way to reach Sili, while the latter required a lot of manpower and material resources.

Therefore, although Yizhou had abundant grain every year, the imperial court seldom directly mobilized Yizhou's granaries.

Therefore, 600,000 tons of grain is enough for Liu Yan to pay attention to, but it is not so much that he cannot get it.

Seeing that Liu Yandu, who had always been very good at cultivating qi, seemed a little impatient, Liu Zhang did not dare to show off at all and spoke quickly.

"Mr. Zikun's suggestions are actually nine words: 'Gather grain widely, build walls high, and slowly become king'!"

As soon as these nine words came out, Liu Yan was stunned on the spot. It could be said that he completely summarized the key points of breaking the earth and making the king, and Liu Yan's thinking suddenly became clear.

"Just these nine words are worth 600,000 dan of grain!"

Liu Yan was excited and asked quickly. "Mr. Zikun, can you tell me how to implement it in detail?"

"Of course there is, otherwise the child would not dare to return to Yizhou to meet his father."

Liu Zhang first put gold on his face, feeling secretly happy in his heart, and then continued to speak with a calm expression.

"Because this plan has a wide range of implications, Mr. Zikun only talked about it with the child and never put it into writing. Therefore, it is necessary to ask the father to listen to the child's details."

"That's very good. It is important to be cautious in all important matters. The demon Zhang Jiao was defeated yesterday. It is very good that Zhang'er can understand this principle."

Liu Yan praised Liu Zhang, and then poured Liu Zhang a cup of tea and motioned for Liu Zhang to speak slowly.

This made Liu Zhang feel flattered. This was the first time in his life that Liu Yan poured tea in person.

Of course, Liu Zhang knew better that Liu Yan poured the tea in person not because of his hard work, but because everything Liu Yan wanted to know was in his belly.

Immediately, Liu Zhang quickly put on a filial son's posture and spoke.

"Mr. Zikun said that it is not difficult to 'gather grain widely and build high walls' in Sichuan. The key point is to 'slowly become king'!"

"There are many people in this world who are dissatisfied and rebellious with the imperial court, but the emperor has been in power for many years and has achieved many victories in external campaigns. Internally, he also single-handedly subdued eunuchs, relatives, and scholars, and suppressed the Yellow Turban rebels. His prestige can be said to be at its peak. also."

(End of this chapter)