Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Zikun, I wanted to let you rest for a few more days, but the situation in Luoyang suddenly changed. I can only invite you from my house to discuss important matters."

Having said this, Liu Bei's expression revealed anger that he could not conceal.

"When I first met Dong Zhongying, I thought he was a straightforward man from Xiliang. I didn't expect him to have such evil ambitions. He is definitely not a good son of the Han Dynasty and is greedy for money!"

Li Ji naturally knew exactly what Liu Bei said.

The intelligence sent back by the Jinyisi clearly recorded that Dong Zhuo entered the capital, took over the troops of General He Jin, General He Miao and other generals in Luoyang, and completely controlled the defense of Luoyang city.

Dong Zhuo completely tore off the mask of a loyal minister and directly raised the issue of deposing and enthroning the emperor in the court, intending to depose Emperor Liu Bian and enthrone his brother Liu Xie as emperor.

How could such an action not make Liu Bei, who had the Han Dynasty in his heart, extremely angry?
The last piece of information sent back by the Embroidered Uniform Guard mentioned that among all the ministers in the court, only the Prefect of the Guards Ding Yuan spoke out directly against it, which led to Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan leading their troops to fight in Luoyang.

Liu Bei sighed and said in a somewhat lonely tone, "Now, I only hope that the Prefect of the Guards can defeat Dong Zhuo, punish this traitor, and restore order to the court."

Although Liu Bei was well aware that the government was in such chaos and the emperor was still young, even if Ding Yuan defeated the ambitious Dong Zhuo, the Han Dynasty would be in a state of disarray.

However, Li Ji poured cold water on Liu Bei in a very calm tone and said.

"My lord, judging from the current situation, the Bingzhou troops led by Ding Yuan, the Imperial Guard, are no match for Dong Zhuo and will surely be killed by him. It is a foregone conclusion that the power of the court will fall into Dong Zhuo's hands."

"what?"

Liu Bei said this in surprise at first, then he remembered that Li Ji had been away from the Han Dynasty for the past two years, and began to explain.

"Zi Kun, you don't know that before this, the Xiutu Hu people invaded Bingzhou and killed the former Bingzhou governor Zhang Yi. After the Zhi Jinwu took over as Bingzhou governor, he recruited many brave men from Bingzhou in Henei County, stationed tens of thousands of troops, and defeated the Hu people in one battle, showing the elite of Bingzhou cavalry."

"During this period, there was an adopted son of the Prefect of the Guards named Lü Fengxian, who led the elite troops of Bingzhou to charge into battle and kill generals in the midst of thousands of troops as if he were in an empty space. The Hu people of Bingzhou retreated three times upon hearing the name of Lü Fengxian, and he gradually became known as the most powerful general of the time."

"With the help of such an adopted son and the elite cavalry of Bingzhou, even if the strength of the Jinwu is inferior to that of Dong Zhuo, it will not be defeated."

After a pause, Liu Bei spoke with a hint of pride in his words.

"Speaking of which, Zikun probably doesn't know that there are many rumors in the world today that Jiuyuan Lü Fengxian is the bravest among the three armies, and the national scholar Li Zikun is the wisest."

Li Ji, who had just returned to Wujun a few days ago, was completely unaware of this rumor. He never expected that he had unknowingly become the ceiling for scholars in the eyes of the world, similar to Lu Bu in terms of military generals.

However, Li Ji was very clear about one thing, that is, after the battle between Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan, compared with Lu Bu's reputation as the world's number one warrior, the reputation of "the one who stabbed his adoptive father with the Fang Tian Hua Ji" would gradually spread to the ears of the world.

"My lord, no matter how brave Lü Fengxian is, can he cut off the wisdom and strategy with his weapons?"

"Besides, the power of Luoyang has now fallen into Dong Zhuo's hands, and he has the upper hand! Even if Dong Zhuo cannot defeat the Praetorian Guards in a field battle, he only needs to close the gates of Luoyang and seal off the surrounding passes. The Praetorian Guards will be like a turtle in a jar, like a dry bone in a tomb, and will have no choice but to die."

Li Ji slowly analyzed the situation in Luoyang to Liu Bei, which made Liu Bei break out in a cold sweat. He suddenly realized that the Prefect of the Guards Ding Yuan probably had no wise men to help him, otherwise he would not have failed to realize this.

As the imperial capital, Luoyang is protected in the center by a series of strong passes.

Now that the power of the government had been controlled by Dong Zhuo, as long as Dong Zhuo blocked the four important passes, it would be a luxury for Ding Yuan to defeat Dong Zhuo or even escape from Luoyang.

Liu Bei sighed and said.

"So, the Praetorian Guards will definitely be defeated?"

"It will definitely fail! Judging from the current situation, once the Praetorian Guards are defeated, there will be no more voices in the court opposing the dethronement, and Emperor Liu Bian will be deposed..."

After a pause, Li Ji continued.

"Given the time it takes for intelligence from Luoyang to be transmitted back to Wujun, I'm afraid Ding Yuan has already been defeated, and the prince Liu Xie has been made emperor by Dong Zhuo."

The atmosphere in the side hall fell silent for a moment, and Li Ji silently waited for Liu Bei to digest this result.

However, Liu Bei's character was obviously not going to be shaken by the worsening situation of the Han Dynasty.

Just a moment later, Liu Bei completely understood that there was no hope for the situation in Luoyang, and that it was not something that could be influenced by Wu County, which was far away in Jiangdong.

"Zikun, what should I do now?" Liu Bei asked Li Ji.

Upon hearing this, Li Ji already had an idea in his mind.

The influence that Wujun can have on Luoyang is quite limited. Judging from the intelligence currently sent back from Luoyang, it is likely that Cao Cao will continue to assassinate Dong and then call on the princes of the world to rise up and fight against Dong.

In the original trajectory, the eighteen princes' campaign against Dong seemed to be the last act of the people of the world to protect the Han Dynasty.

However, as Dong Zhuo kidnapped Emperor Liu Xie and moved the capital to Chang'an, the last fig leaf of the Han Dynasty was completely torn off, ushering in a truly chaotic era of fighting among the princes.

This trend is also something that Liu Bei’s group, which is currently out of reach, is unable to stop!
Li Ji could manipulate the entire Yingzhou at will, and in just two years he had transformed Yingzhou into his own shape, but the size of the Han Dynasty was far beyond the reach of the small Yingzhou. What Li Ji could do now was to gain enough opportunities and foundation for Liu Bei's group in the coming chaos.

The original trajectory of the campaign by the princes of the world to overthrow Dong Zhuo failed on the surface, but in reality, what the princes were fighting for were the political assets left behind after the decline of the Han Dynasty.

Among them, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are the best!

Cao Cao's reputation as the assassin of Dong Zhuo and the caller of the allied forces not only attracted many talented people to join him, but he was also given the entire county of Dongjun by Wang Gong, the governor of Dongjun, to help him gain power.
As for Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance of princes, Han Fu, who was originally the governor of Jizhou, was afraid of Yuan Shao's reputation. Seeing that countless people had turned to Yuan Shao, Han Fu was not only forced to give up the entire Jizhou, but was even scared by Yuan Shao and committed suicide with a carving knife in the toilet.

From this we can see that reputation is sometimes more useful than tens of thousands of soldiers.

Therefore, even if he was unable to stop Dong Zhuo at the moment, Li Ji would not give up his huge reputation.

Immediately, Li Ji hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

"Now that the Han Dynasty is in decline and the power of the court has been disrupted by the traitor Dong, it is time for you, as a relative of the Han Dynasty, to do something and support the Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei's expression became serious and he said, "Please let Zikun teach me."

Li Ji immediately said seriously.

"The traitor Dong wants to depose and enthrone the emperor on behalf of Wang Mang, causing the imperial power to lose its control and threaten to overthrow the whole world!"

"And the officials in the court were afraid of his power and didn't say a word. But we must know that every man has a share of responsibility for the fate of the country. Besides, there are many relatives of the Han Dynasty guarding the four directions. How could they allow the traitor Dong to act arbitrarily and bring chaos to the world without anyone being able to stop him?"

Immediately, Li Ji waved his sleeves and spoke loudly.

"My lord, please wait for the news from Luoyang. If the thief Dong really wants to seize the power of the country and depose the emperor, my lord, please write to the Han royal family members Liu Yu, Liu Yan, and Liu Biao who are in charge of the four directions, and call on them to denounce and punish the thief Dong!"

Liu Bei frowned and asked with some doubt.

"This? Is it feasible?"

It is no wonder that Liu Bei hesitated. He was actually calling on his relatives and governors who controlled heavy troops in all directions to attack Dong Zhuo. If he made any mistake, it would be tantamount to treason.

"As long as I can convince Youzhou Mu Liu Bo'an to support me, then I will be doing what is right," Li Ji replied.

Liu Yu's status is unparalleled among all the Han royal family relatives.

Liu Yu was previously the Chief of the Imperial Clan and was later transferred to be the Governor of Youzhou. After defeating the Wuhuan, he was further conferred the title of Grand Marshal of the Three Dukes by the previous Emperor Liu Hong.

In a sense, the Liu family of the Han Dynasty was the largest family in the entire Han Dynasty.

Liu Yu was the most respected clan elder in the Han Dynasty. Now the change of clan leader was controlled by outsiders. As long as Liu Yu was willing to speak out and denounce Liu Xie as a false emperor supported by the traitor Dong, the Han clan members from all over the country would go to the capital to support the king and help Liu Bian to sit on the throne again.

Then in terms of reason and justice, it would only be Liu's, not Dong's.

In fact, this is much more convincing than the original trajectory, in which Cao Cao sent a forged edict to all directions calling on the princes to serve the king, and it will only make people all over the world more convinced.

And this has one more benefit than the original trajectory!
Even though everyone in the world knew that Dong Zhuo was a villain who controlled the government and brought disaster to the Han Dynasty, what Dong Zhuo represented at the moment was undoubtedly the Han Dynasty court.

In the original trajectory, the alliance composed of many princes headed by Yuan Shao was essentially still representing the local area.

Whether the anti-Dong coalition defeated Dong Zhuo or Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Xi'an, it sent a signal to the people of the world that the Han court was no match for local forces, which was a greater blow to the Han Dynasty than the disaster caused by Dong Zhuo.

As a court, corruption and tyranny may not necessarily lead to its demise, but decline and weakness will definitely lead to its demise.

Therefore, if Liu Yu could call on relatives from all directions to unite with local princes to fight against Dong, then at least the Han Dynasty could have a fig leaf.

Even if the Han Dynasty was defeated, it was only defeated by the Han royal family, which does not mean that the Han Dynasty has declined to the extreme.
Liu Bei pondered for a moment, and after Li Ji analyzed the pros and cons of this move bit by bit, he realized that perhaps this was one of the ways for him, as a relative of the Han royal family, to preserve a bit of the Han Dynasty's dignity as much as possible.

In addition, Liu Bei, who had given up all hope of luck, began to summon his civil and military officials, and began to fully reorganize the army in Wu County and prepare various military equipment and supplies to deal with the chaos that seemed to be imminent.

However, when the officials from the Jiangdong noble families, led by Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, looked at Li Ji who was still sitting firmly in the second seat to Liu Bei at the meeting, many of them had grim expressions on their faces.

At Zhang Hong's eye signal, a minor official sitting at the last seat suddenly spoke out.

"This is Wujun's proposal. Why is Marquis Zhaoting here?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the voices in the main hall fell silent for a while.

Immediately, the generals headed by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei all cast their eyes towards the clerk, which frightened him so much that his legs trembled on the spot and he hurriedly explained.

"I just have doubts..." (End of this chapter)