Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Having said that, Li Ji took a deep breath, looked at the people present who seemed to have gradually understood, and continued speaking.

"Nanyang County has the largest population in the Han Dynasty, reaching over 2 million people. Even if you consider the number of hidden households, there are as many as 3 million. How could Yuan Shu easily give up this place that he has managed for many years?"

"Besides, Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, could only let Yuan Shu occupy Jingzhou and Nanyang because of the prestige of the Yuan family. He could not do anything about it, and he did not have a sufficient excuse to take it back."

"Nanyang County is adjacent to Ruyang County. How could Yuan Shu, who has calmed down, not be greedy to occupy these two populous counties at the same time?"

After a pause, Li Ji waved the folding fan in his hand across the north-south area adjacent to Nanyang County and Ruyang County, and said.

"But now, Yuan Shu is likely to be attacked by Liu Biao of Jingzhou and the other princes of Yuan Shao's lineage..."

"Besides that, there is Yanzhou, which borders Sili. Most of the people in Yanzhou are small princes with weaker strength and conflicts with each other. Each of them occupies a county. This is to prepare for Lü Bu to go east through Hulao Pass!"

These sentences, combined with the official titles and rewards of various princes, plus the clear markings on the map, made Li Ji's words not only simple and clear, but also extremely convincing.

Zhao Yun, who also had a frown on his face, spoke.

"So, apart from Yanzhou and Yuzhou, only Qingzhou and Xuzhou can still maintain peace in the Central Plains?"

"Peace? I'm afraid there is no peace."

Li Ji shook his head and said.

"The remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou have been raging for many years and are said to number millions..."

"Xuzhou may have been managed by Tao Gongzu for many years, and this reward did not change Tao Gongzu's position as governor of Xuzhou. It was just to confer a title and a military title on Tao Gongzu. However, Tao Gongzu is old, and his body may not be able to support it for much longer."

"Once Tao Gongzu falls, Xuzhou may be in chaos."

"and……"

After a pause, Li Ji pointed to the area west of Sili and said.

"Ma Teng is the governor of Liang Province, but the remnants of Dong's bandits are entrenched in the Sanfu area. Whether Ma Teng wants to advance eastward or Liu Yan of Yizhou wants to leave Sichuan, they must first take the Sanfu area."

"Chen Gongtai is well aware that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry under the command of Dong's remnants are difficult to deal with, so he wants to use Ma Teng and Liu Yan to continue to deal with Dong's remnants."

As Li Ji finished speaking, everyone present was almost silent. Looking at the hanging map of the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty, they seemed to have seen the raging wars that would soon break out in various places.

Perhaps, after Dong Zhuo entered the capital and buried the last handful of dirt on the corrupt Han Dynasty, chaos was inevitable.

However, the conspiracy used by Chen Gong was undoubtedly pouring a large pot of kerosene directly on the fire of chaos that was about to ignite.

What Chen Gong wanted was to use this opportunity to completely disintegrate the alliance of the princes in Guandong, let the princes completely tear each other apart because of tangible interests, and then allow Lu Bu, who was originally weak but controlled the emperor and had a certain sense of righteousness, to "fish in troubled waters."

Liu Bei couldn't help but let out a bitter smile and said.

"So, in this vast Han Dynasty, only Yangzhou is still somewhat peaceful, without Chen Gong and other princes joining in to fight against me?"

Guo Jia on the side spoke up.

"My lord, it's not that Chen Gong didn't target us. On the contrary... In fact, the methods Chen Gong used to target us have already been described by you, sir."

"Ok?"

Liu Bei was slightly startled, and quickly recalled what Li Ji had just said, but he was a little confused about how it was related to Wujun.

Seeing this, Guo Jia glanced at Li Ji, who responded to Guo Jia with an encouraging look and even made some room for Guo Jia.

"Since Fengxiao has made his judgment, then please speak for yourself."

"Yes, sir."

Guo Jia responded and then spoke.

"My lord, Yangzhou is vast and sparsely populated. The other counties and kingdoms cannot be compared with Wu County, where you have governed for many years, and their military strength is not even at the same level."

"So no matter how Chen Gongtai tries to get involved in Yangzhou, he will never be a match for the Lord, so on the surface he simply does nothing."

"However, in order to control the lord, Chen Gongtai's biggest arrangement was to not change Tao Gongzu's position as governor of Xuzhou."

"Tao Gongzu is too old and has no ambition to make progress. He is still a dog guarding the house if he monopolizes Xuzhou. He is unlikely to pose a threat, let alone compete for the Central Plains."

"However, Tao Gongzu and the lord have been good friends for many years. During this alliance, he also helped the lord many times. The lord is based on benevolence and virtue. How could he become enemies with Tao Gongzu without any reason?"

"But if Wujun wants to go north to the Central Plains, the most suitable route is Xuzhou!"

"Therefore, in the eyes of Chen Gongtai, the existence of Tao Gongzu is the biggest obstacle to the lord. If the lord takes Xuzhou by force, his reputation for benevolence will be gone from then on." Guan Yu lowered his eyes slightly and said frankly.

"Aren't there Yuzhou and Jingzhou? Now that my elder brother is the governor of Yangzhou, after taking over the land of Yangzhou, it is still adjacent to Jingzhou and Yuzhou. Why must we go through Xuzhou?"

Guo Jia was well aware of Guan Yu's arrogant character, so he was not annoyed.

"This is exactly what Mr. Chen wants!"

"If we take Jingzhou, will it mean that you will have to fight against Liu Biao, who is also a relative of the Han Dynasty? This will also damage your reputation, and it will be difficult for you to justify your actions."

"When attacking Yuzhou, Yuan Shu was attacked from three sides. This may also be one of Chen Gongtai's means of revenge on Yuan Shu, bringing Yuan Shu to an end."

"However, Yuan Shu was ultimately a member of the Yuan family, and his fight with Yuan Shao was for the legitimacy of the Yuan family."

"If Yuan Shu is forced into a desperate situation, he might choose to surrender to Yuan Shao. And now, you will become the biggest enemy in the eyes of the Yuan family. They may use all their strength to stop you from going north."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu frowned slightly, and tried to find the mistakes in the fairy tale of this little book, but to no avail.

This made Guan Yu subconsciously look at Li Ji...

In other words, in addition to Guan Yu, many people present turned their eyes to Li Ji after listening to Guo Jia's analysis.

Even Guo Jia did the same to confirm whether there were any errors or omissions in his judgment.

In response to this, Li Ji simply clapped his hands and praised.

"Given time, perhaps your filial piety will be far greater than mine."

Guo Jia was immediately overjoyed. This was the first time in all these years that Li Ji praised him like this. He quickly bowed to Li Ji.

"Guo Jia is where he is today thanks to Mr.'s cultivation and guidance. How dare I say I am better than you?"

Li Ji waved his hand and said, "Feng Xiao, there is no need to be humble. Your judgment is correct and I have nothing to add. I am capable of standing on my own."

At this moment, Guo Jia felt indescribably moved, realizing that Li Ji was deliberately trying to elevate him and establish his prestige in front of his lord and a group of generals.

It should be noted that it was normal for many scholars to look down on each other and to fight among themselves for status, like Xu You and Guo Tu.

It is extremely rare for someone like Li Ji to take the initiative to promote Guo Jia without worrying about affecting his own status.

"Sir, you have the style of Xiao He..."

As Guo Jia became more convinced and respectful of Li Ji, the other generals also began to respect Guo Jia a little more.

Before this, Guo Jia was just Li Ji's little servant in Wu County, and he was like a nobody when he entered and left the government office.

Now that he had received Li Ji's public praise and recognition, it was enough for Guo Jia to gain a certain foothold in Liu Bei's group.

However, in addition to the fact that everyone present had a certain recognition of Guo Jia's abilities, more people were worried about the chaotic times that were about to become extremely severe.

Seeing that everyone present seemed to have become solemn, Li Ji pondered for a moment, but then laughed out loud and spoke calmly and indifferently.

"Perhaps this is the reason why Chen Gongtai waited so long to negotiate with the princes. It took him several days to slowly think out this conspiracy."

"Turning the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty into a chessboard, letting the princes of various parties turn against each other and fight each other, so as to create an opportunity for Lu Bu to go east through Hulao Pass and sweep across the world..."

As Li Ji was talking, he suddenly noticed from the corner of his eye several different imperial edicts placed on Liu Bei's desk. His expression suddenly changed, and he grabbed those imperial edicts and started reading them, blurting out what he had learned.

"wrong!"

"What's wrong?" Liu Bei, who was somewhat unable to react, asked.

Li Ji continued to compare the contents of the imperial edict carefully. His expression, which had always been calm, changed a little and he spoke.

"The seal on the edict is wrong."

When these words were spoken, many people were confused.

Li Ji's eyes drooped slightly, and he quickly connected the recent doubts. He already knew what the problem was, and said in a deep voice.

"The seal used on the imperial edict is definitely not the imperial seal!"

"If I am not mistaken, the Imperial Seal has been stolen and is no longer in the hands of the Emperor." (End of this chapter)