Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Li Ji was somewhat moved when he heard this.

For Li Ji, there are two hobbies in life: books and food.

Quite a few people in Liu Bei's group knew this.

In this era where cooking is the mainstream, Liu Bei originally made an iron pot specifically for Li Ji to fry tea leaves. In the past few years, Li Ji had also taught the chef to develop many stir-fried dishes in his spare time to satisfy his own appetite.

Especially after staying in Yingzhou for a period of time, Li Ji's mouth can really be said to be out of touch with the world.

After all, Li Ji didn't have the habit of bringing a cook with him when he went on an expedition, and the food of the Japanese in Yingzhou was basically just edible, so how could they make any delicious food?
Therefore, when Li Ji returned to Wujun, he enjoyed nine dishes and one soup almost every day for a period of time.

Liu Bei, who had always been frugal, naturally would not scold Li Ji for such a small matter. Instead, he often went to his house to eat, so that gradually there was a rumor that Li Ji loved gourmet food.

However, after a slight hesitation, Li Ji shook his head to reject Liu Bei's kindness and said.

"There are many useful things in Luoyang. It would be a waste of time to catch a batch of deer. It would be better to spend more time to build a hunting bow for the lord to hunt deer."

Li Ji's seemingly contradictory words confused the people present for a moment, but Guo Jia was the only one who reacted instantly and explained.

"You are talking about two kinds of deer."

Immediately, Liu Bei was the first to react and realized that the "deer" Li Ji referred to in the second half of the sentence was the Central Plains.

"No matter whether I succeed in hunting the deer or not, Zikun's venison is indispensable," Liu Bei said.

Li Ji replied, "If the lord fails to hunt deer, even if I eat deer meat, it will be tasteless."

Hearing Li Ji's refusal again, Liu Bei felt deeply touched and it was inconvenient for him to continue insisting. His guilt towards Li Ji only increased.

Zikun fought wars in the south and the north, governed the country and suppressed rebellions abroad for the sake of my great cause. He even went to the barren land of Yingzhou for several years, and the gold he dug was continuously sent back to Wu County.

Liu Bei kept in mind all the hard work and achievements.

Many times, Liu Bei even had the urge to persuade Li Ji to slow down and enjoy himself first, but he was worried that Li Ji would scold him, so he dared not say a word.

Your subject is too perfect, too excellent...

As the lord, Liu Bei expressed that he was under a lot of pressure. He was worried that he would tire Li Ji out and that he was not worthy of the position.

Tonight, Liu Bei heard that Li Ji had summoned a dancer to his mansion, so he secretly came over and squatted in the corner. In fact, he wanted to personally confirm whether Li Ji needed a woman.

What Liu Bei was thinking, or Li Ji was just too shy to speak out on weekdays, but in fact he also had those needs.

It can be said that as long as Li Ji really showed some interest in the dancers tonight, Liu Bei was already prepared to collect a group of dancers in Luoyang and send them to Li Ji as soon as possible.

After three rounds of drinking, Li Ji, who was talking about serious matters, reminded Liu Bei not to forget to recruit as many craftsmen directly under the imperial court as possible from Luoyang to Wujun.

Although Li Ji has been trying his best to collect craftsmen over the years, the craftsmen employed by the court are undoubtedly the ones who truly represent the pinnacle of craftsmanship of the era.

It was not just the court craftsmen who could solve the problem of bows and crossbows. There was also a large shortage of craftsmen in all aspects of the salt and iron mines.

With the coming of troubled times, the imperial court completely lost control over the local areas, which meant that Wu County could finally control salt and iron taxes without restriction.

It can be said that there are treasures to be excavated everywhere in Luoyang...

Especially the imperial garden of the Beigong Palace, Li Ji also wanted to go in and take a look. Who knows what exotic flowers and plants might be planted there that were brought in from the Silk Road but never put to proper use.

Unfortunately, the North Palace is still completely blocked by Lu Bu, and Li Ji has no chance to go into the Imperial Garden to dig...

In the following days, Li Ji taught Diao Chan to read and instilled in her the values ​​he needed in his spare time, while also paying attention to the overall situation in Luoyang which continued to stabilize.

The allied forces quickly made a plan to deliver food, assigning Sun Jian to escort the food and deliver it to the palace every three days.

And when the news spread from the palace that Emperor Liu Xie was going to marry the daughter of Marquis Wen as his queen, many princes were silenced by Lu Bu's move.

At this point, all the princes had realized that there was a wise man behind Lu Bu, otherwise Lu Bu on his own would never have thought of such a way to gain political capital.

In this way, Lu Bu will completely complete the transformation of his identity, from a thief who killed his adoptive father Ding Yuan and defected to Dong Zhuo, to a person who eliminated traitors and became a relative of the emperor.

As the news spread, all the princes realized that unless they completely broke off relations with the Han Dynasty, they would no longer have any excuse to deal with Lu Bu.

And after four hundred years, the Han Dynasty will once again welcome a new Empress Lu.

When he learned this, Li Ji noticed that Liu Bei's expression was a little strange, as if some shadow buried deep in his blood had resurfaced.

The mere title "Empress Lü" subconsciously casts a shadow in the hearts of those with the surname Liu.

Afterwards, Chen Gong, as Lu Bu's representative, began to visit various princes in Luoyang and secretly discuss agreements.

What Chen Gong wanted was for the princes to recognize Lu Bu's identity as the one who killed the thief Dong and his relatives, and for the princes to withdraw from Luoyang and return to their respective garrisons.

Conversely, in exchange for the princes leading their troops to leave Luoyang, each prince would naturally put forward the benefits they wanted, including official positions, titles, and so on.

The first stop chosen by Chen Gong was Yuan Shao, followed by Liu Bei, the deputy leader.

This was also the first time Li Ji met Chen Gong.

Moreover, Chen Gong's appearance was even more ordinary than Li Ji had imagined. It was no wonder that among the Han people who paid much attention to appearance, Chen Gong had wasted decades as a county official. After the two sides exchanged polite greetings, Chen Gong immediately made his intentions clear and asked Liu Bei if he had any requests to convey to the current emperor.

Although Liu Bei might have had the ambition to conquer the world, he undoubtedly always maintained an attitude of respect and protection towards the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei could not do such a thing as asking for benefits directly from the emperor.

Therefore, Liu Bei pondered for a while and then spoke.

"I have been enjoying the Han Dynasty's salary for many years, but I cannot repay the emperor and cannot comfort the people. I feel guilty and guilty. How dare I ask for an official position? I only wish Your Majesty good health for thousands of years, and I will be satisfied."

This remark made Chen Gong's face look a little ugly. He couldn't tell whether Liu Bei was being truly humble or just being polite, so he had to continue speaking.

"This time, Uncle Liu led the army to fight against the traitors and achieved great military exploits. Your Majesty will certainly reward the meritorious officials. Uncle Liu does not need to refuse."

Liu Bei replied, "Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all blessings from heaven. I can only shed tears of gratitude and dare not ask for more."

This made Chen Gong's brows furrowed completely.

Now Liu Bei's influence among the allied forces is undoubtedly huge. If Liu Bei makes such a noble gesture, it will not only affect the group of princes who are close to Liu Bei.

The princes in the two Yuan camps will also have some concerns.

For Liu Xie and Lu Bu, the most urgent task is undoubtedly to drive these princes away as soon as possible, otherwise there is no telling when the imperial capital Luoyang will have a new owner.

Noticing the change in Chen Gong's expression, Li Ji, who was accompanying him, sighed helplessly and said.

"The Lord's heart is evident to heaven. However, if the Lord refuses, how can the other lords dare to accept it?"

Suddenly, Chen Gong's eyes lit up, and he felt that Li Ji had hit the point at a glance.

If Liu Bei didn't mention it, how could the other princes dare to mention it?

If the princes didn't mention it, how could they be willing to leave Luoyang?

If they didn't leave Luoyang, how could Lu Bu make progress? How could Liu Xie sleep peacefully?

"So, I have to mention it?" Liu Bei asked somewhat uncomfortably.

Immediately, Li Ji saluted Liu Bei hastily, with the helplessness of a loyal minister and filial son, and said.

"If the lord is concerned about His Majesty, he should set an example and guide the other princes to leave Luoyang quickly."

"Ugh……"

Liu Bei sighed, his face full of helplessness, and said.

"If I accept this stigma, I can help Your Majesty relieve his worries. Why should I care about my good reputation? I just hope that Mr. Gongtai will return to the palace and explain this matter to Your Majesty. I will apologize to Your Majesty tomorrow."

Chen Gong was deeply moved by Liu Bei's powerful words. He felt that Liu Bei might be the only loyal minister in the entire allied forces who cared about the Han Dynasty.

"Gong, I will tell Your Majesty on behalf of Uncle Liu." Chen Gong said seriously.

Liu Bei hesitated for a few breaths before speaking again. "If Your Majesty trusts me, I am willing to serve you in guarding Yangzhou."

After Liu Bei finished speaking, Chen Gong waited for a few breaths before realizing that Liu Bei had no further words to say.

Is this condition excessive?
Compared with the conditions proposed by Yuan Shao and considering Liu Bei's current official position, it is not excessive but can be considered quite tactful.

However, Chen Gong did not forget to confirm once more and asked, "Besides this, does Uncle Liu have anything else to tell Your Majesty?"

Liu Bei shook his head and looked at Li Ji again.

Li Ji hesitated for a moment and said.

"Gongtai, my master is quite fond of studying ingenious techniques these days, so he wants to borrow a few old craftsmen from the court to return to Wujun for advice..."

After a pause, Li Ji continued, "My wife is also very interested in exotic flowers and plants. I wonder if I could go to the Imperial Garden and bring some back as a gift to my wife?"

Chen Gong was stunned when he heard this, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

As a traditional scholar, Chen Gong did not value strange skills and tricks, and he believed that a real man should have no problem finding a wife.

So when he learned that his uncle Liu Bei, who was praised by the world for his benevolence, wanted to borrow some old craftsmen to learn the ingenious techniques, the world-famous state scholar Li Ji went to the imperial garden to get some flowers and plants to give to his wife...

Chen Gong actually had a difficult feeling to judge for a moment.

However, considering that Liu Bei was a mat weaver and shoe seller before he became successful, and that Li Ji married the talented woman Cai Zhaoji, it seems reasonable for him to be kind to his wife.

Finally, after holding it in for a long time, Chen Gong finally spoke.

"Mr. Zikun is truly devoted to his wife, which makes others envious. If I were to find an excuse to refuse, it would seem that I don't understand romance."

Li Ji couldn't help but smile and responded.

"Of course, I am pure love." (End of this chapter)