Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

There is no doubt that Lu Bu brought Li Ji up just to share some of the pressure for him.

Lu Bu's previous title was "Wen Hou", but this title was given to him after he killed his former adoptive father Ding Yuan and defected to his former adoptive father Dong Zhuo.

Now, Lu Bu wanted to kill Dong Zhuo in the name of supporting Han and saving the emperor. As a relative by marriage, he wanted to erase as much trace of having served Dong Zhuo as possible, so it was normal for him to give up the title of "Marquis Wen".

However, "Wen Hou" is the highest-ranking county marquis among all the marquises. If you continue to be conferred a higher title, it would be "Duke" or "King", which are usually only given to princes.

The last person who was not surnamed Liu to be granted the title of Duke was the foreign relative Wang Mang, who was named "Duke of Anhan".

Not to mention that anyone with a discerning eye would know how much water there was in Lu Bu's achievements. Once Lu Bu was given the title of "Duke", it would undoubtedly be telling the world that he was imitating Wang Mang and had the intention of usurping the Han Dynasty.

But if Lu Bu simply changed the name of a county marquis, it would make it even more obvious.

Therefore, regardless of whether Lu Bu wanted to gild his image or not, he could only choose a special title to legitimately replace the title of "Wen Hou".

"But you even lifted me up. Should I thank you or curse you inwardly?"

Thinking of this, Li Ji couldn't help but look in the direction of Chen Gong, realizing that this was most likely the idea of ​​this unprepossessing middle-aged scholar.

Otherwise, it was not that Li Ji despised Lu Bu, but with Lu Bu's intelligence, he probably could not consider such detailed aspects.

Feeling Li Ji's gaze, Chen Gong made eye contact with him, returned a seemingly harmless smile, and then continued to look in the direction where Yuan Shu and Cao Cao left.

At this moment, Li Ji even felt that Chen Gong was guarding the palace gate on purpose, not to welcome anyone, but purely to laugh at the joke of Cao Cao and Yuan Shu.

"Isn't it possible that Chen Gongtai was studying the Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals? He followed the principle that: Can a vengeance of nine generations be avenged? A vengeance of a hundred generations can be avenged! To the point where he was so determined to take revenge for even the slightest grievance..."

Li Ji was thinking secretly, and suddenly noticed from the corner of his eye that Sun Jian was also leaving in a hurry, following closely behind Cao Cao and Yuan Shu.

However, before Li Ji could wonder why Sun Jian was in such a hurry, Zhang Fei continued speaking in a loud voice.

"That slave of three surnames not only calls himself the 'unparalleled marquis', he is also named a general and the commander of all the troops in the world. What a joke..."

Without waiting for Zhang Fei to finish, Li Ji grabbed Zhang Fei and pulled him towards the carriage, interrupting Zhang Fei's taunting spell.

Lu Bu is not a patient person, and now he is the "Unparalleled Marquis" and the general. It is possible that he is very proud and in high spirits.

If Zhang Fei yelled "a slave of three surnames" a few more times, Lu Bu might just rush out with his Fang Tian Hua Ji in his hand and become a widow - losing 'Li Zhi'.

"This is not the place to talk. Let's go back and discuss it in detail."

Li Ji spoke up to remind him, and Liu Bei, with a look of joy on his face, came to his senses. He helped Li Ji to push Zhang Fei towards the carriage without giving Zhang Fei a chance to speak. Then, under the protection of his personal soldiers, he hurriedly left and returned to his residence.

When they returned to the mansion, Liu Bei summoned all the scholars and generals who had come with the army to discuss court affairs and announce the court's rewards.

Things developed just as Li Ji expected.

Even though Liu Bei was loyal and righteous, he did not ask for rewards as much as other princes did.

But it is also because of this that Liu Bei's loyalty to the emperor is highlighted, and it is impossible for Emperor Liu Xie to treat Liu Bei unfairly.

Furthermore, given Liu Bei's influence among the allied forces, even if Liu Bei did not want it, Lu Bu and Chen Gong would not dare to refuse to give it.

This is... "retreat in order to advance."

Therefore, Liu Bei was not only rewarded with the title of Governor of Yangzhou, but also served as General of Annan and was granted the title of Marquis of Yichengting.

During this period, the value of a general with a Ming title was not comparable to that of a general with a miscellaneous title.

It should be noted that even when Lu Zhi or Huangfu Song fought against the Yellow Turbans, they only asked for the position of General of the Central Army, which was lower in rank than the General of Annan.

In addition, all of Liu Bei's subordinates who had made outstanding contributions in the campaign against Dong Zhuo were rewarded in the court.

There is no need to say much about Li Ji's title of "national hero and marquis". In addition, he also officially transferred his original post as the governor of Liaodong County to the governor of Wu County.

In this way, Li Ji didn't have to think of ways to pretend to obey but actually disobey in order to avoid being exiled to a bitter and cold place.

I don’t know if it’s because Lu Bu has his own pride or what?

Looking at the subordinates of all the allied princes, only Zhao Yun, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who fought against Lu Bu and remained undefeated, were directly granted titles.

Zhao Yun was named "Marquis of Yongchang Ting", Guan Yu was named "Marquis of Hanshou Ting", and Zhang Fei was named "Marquis of Xinting", and all of them were given the rank of Lieutenant General.

(PS: The above are the real titles of Zhao, Guan and Zhang in history, which are considered to be received in advance in the book.)
It was as if Lu Bu, who had received the title of "Unparalleled Marquis", was telling the world clearly that anyone who could survive under the sword of Fang Tian Hua Ji was qualified to be granted the title of marquis, thereby further raising the value of the title of "Unparalleled Marquis".

In this way, Li Ji understood why Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked so overjoyed when they left the palace.

The value of the title of nobility in the Han Dynasty is undoubtedly extremely high. I wonder how many men's lifelong pursuit is to be granted a title of nobility.

It has to be said that Liu Bei’s group gained a lot from the court meeting this time.

Although Liu Bei's personal reward was not the highest among all the princes, he had one more township marquis and three pavilion marquises under his command, which was enough to make the other princes envious. In addition to these good news belonging to Liu Bei's group, Liu Bei also began to state the rewards received by other princes.

Yuan Shao was appointed governor of Bingzhou and General of Chariots and Cavalry;

Gongsun Zan was appointed governor of Bohai County and made a general.

Han Fu was appointed governor of Jizhou and general of Fenwu.

Ma Teng was appointed governor of Liangzhou and general of the Western Expedition...

Li Ji, who originally had a slight smile on his face, felt something was wrong the more he listened. He turned his head to look at Guo Jia who was sitting next to him and said anxiously.

"Quickly bring us the map of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia subconsciously stood up to get it. When he took out the map, he seemed to have thought of something and his expression suddenly changed.

Immediately, Guo Jia hurriedly spread the map in front of Li Ji.

Li Ji picked up his pen and continued to add symbols of different princes on the map according to what Liu Bei said.

In Liu Bei's statement, except for the deceased Wang Kuang, Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, every prince received a reward, the lowest of which was the position of county governor and they all held military positions.

However, Li Ji said with emotion after remarking the map of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty based on the changes in the official positions of the princes described by Liu Bei.

"Chen Gong may lack quick wit, but he is a man who should not be underestimated."

"what?"

Liu Bei, who hadn't reacted yet, asked subconsciously.

Li Ji handed the re-marked map in his hand to Liu Bei and said.

"My lord, please take a look."

Liu Bei subconsciously took it and looked at it. He couldn't make out anything at first glance, but when he took a closer look, he was also surprised. He looked up at Li Ji and spoke.

"Could this be a plot to induce the princes of Kanto to fight each other?"

"Yes, and the conspiracy has already been carried out!" Li Ji responded in a deep voice.

"If this is the case, isn't it true that chaos is imminent, and wars will break out in various places?"

Liu Bei exclaimed. "Why is that? Now that Lu Bu is the general, if wars in Guandong become frequent, won't the prestige of the court be further lost?"

Li Ji thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Perhaps this is exactly what Chen Gongtai is trying to achieve!"

"Today, the emperor and the imperial court have already lost their prestige. In the west, the remnants of Dong's bandits have occupied the three prefectures, and in the east, a group of princes are hiding evil intentions and are eyeing us covetously..."

"Now, can the emperor issue an edict to get out of Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass? No!"

"So, Chen Gongtai is just following the trend, intending to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, using an open plot to make the princes in Guandong fight among themselves, and then wait for an opportunity to send troops to Hulao Pass to rebuild the prestige of the court."

After Li Ji finished speaking, he saw that most of the generals present still looked confused about what had happened, so he simply hung up the map and said:
"Everyone, if we further subdivide the Thirteen Prefectures of the Han Dynasty, then in addition to dividing them along the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, we can also use Hulao Pass as the boundary to divide them into Guandong and Guanxi."

"Today, north of the Yellow River, Yuan Shao is the governor of Bingzhou, Han Fu is the governor of Jizhou, Liu Yu is the governor of Youzhou, and Gongsun Bogui is the governor of Bohai County. It seems that every prince has been awarded a title."

"However, in fact, Bohai County is a fertile land, far from being comparable to Bingzhou. The Yuan family has been operating in Bohai County for many years and has deep roots. How could they abandon Bohai and go to Bingzhou?"

"Han Fu was originally the governor of Jizhou. It seems reasonable for him to be promoted to the governor of Jizhou, but Han Fu was originally an official of the Yuan family and obeyed Yuan's orders."

"If Yuan Shao is going to Bingzhou to take up his post and secretly controls Bohai County, will Han Fu be willing to do so?"

"Besides, Gongsun Zan is the governor of Beiping County and has a huge influence in Youzhou. If he can control Bohai County, he will have an extra piece of fertile land that produces grain, which is in short supply in Youzhou. How can we miss it?"

After Li Ji's analysis, everyone present understood that this was a naked conspiracy, the purpose of which was to make Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and Han Fu fight with each other, and even to drag Liu Yu into the water.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bohai County has become the core of Jizhou today, with the population registered in the household register alone exceeding one million.

Obviously, faced with such a fertile land, Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and Han Fu had no reason to give it up, and the outbreak of conflict was inevitable.

Zhang Fei, who was the most straightforward, blurted out, "If this happens, won't the princes north of the Yellow River fight to the death?"

Li Ji frowned and said, "Perhaps it is not only the area north of the Yellow River, but also the rest of the area."

"In the Central Plains, Yuan Shu, who was originally the governor of Nanyang County, was changed to the governor of Runan County. However, the governors of other counties and kingdoms in Yuzhou are all Yuan Shao's direct descendants. The intention of surrounding them is very obvious..."

"It is also a conspiracy to cause conflicts and start wars!" (End of this chapter)