Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

The Jinyisi's intelligence gathering capabilities are undoubtedly the most powerful within Yangzhou.

It can be said that almost all government offices and aristocratic families in all counties of Yangzhou have been infiltrated by the Jinyisi like a sieve.

While the governors and noble families of various counties in Yangzhou seemed to be secretly gathering troops, a steady stream of intelligence was also constantly gathering in Wu County.

This so-called "anti-Wu alliance" has not yet held a meeting, and the county governors and aristocratic families participating in the meeting do not yet know the specific military strength after the meeting. Jia Xu has already estimated a relatively accurate number through the intelligence compiled by the Jinyi Division.

With a force of 130,000, the deviation would not exceed about 2,000.

This is undoubtedly a huge number. If divided among the counties of Lujiang, Jiujiang, Danyang, and Yuzhang, almost every county has mobilized more than 30,000 troops.

It should be noted that the population of these four counties has increased to a certain extent due to the influence of Liu Bei and Li Ji, as many refugees have migrated south from other directions of the Yangtze River and settled in Yangzhou in recent years.

However, due to the ability of the county governors, local administration, resettlement policies and other factors, the actual population growth was naturally far less than that of Wu County and Kuaiji County, so the registered population of these four counties fluctuated around 800,000.

With the population base of these four counties, coupled with the logistical support of the Allied forces, a large number of laborers will be required to maintain it.

Therefore, the fact that they were able to concentrate a force of more than 130,000 must be that the new governors of these four counties all realized that Jiangdong could no longer have figures like Liu Bei.

Otherwise, these new county governors supported by Dong Zhuo would have nowhere to stay, so they concentrated all the county soldiers that could be mobilized in a short period of time.

In addition, the large number of slaves and young and strong people concentrated in the aristocratic families in these four counties also provided a large number of manpower and logistical labor.

Jia Xu flipped through the intelligence that Xiahou Bo brought over one by one, which recorded in detail the extent of contribution of the aristocratic families in each county.

Not to mention the concentrated slaves and local young men, each family also provided a large amount of money and food...

This was the only two cases in which the aristocratic families and the government worked together as one, as far as Jia Xu knew, during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The last time such a grand occasion occurred was when Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, led his army to conquer the world.

Countless aristocratic families were forced to support the various rebel armies madly due to Wang Mang's move to convert royal fields into private fields and convert aristocratic family slaves into private property, which almost uprooted the aristocratic families.

"interesting."

The more he read on, the more Jia Xu found this situation quite interesting.

No matter how the times change, we can always see similar shadows in history.

Wu County and Kuaiji County were empty, some aristocratic families were colluding with the enemy, and Liu Bei's group looked down on the Jiangdong aristocratic families, and paper was improved and printing technology appeared. So the Jiangdong aristocratic families planned to imitate their ancestors in the late Western Han Dynasty?

Unfortunately, the Jiangdong family was not the aristocratic family of the late Western Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei and Li Ji were not Wang Mang. Instead, righteousness was in the hands of Liu Bei and Li Ji!

A smile appeared on Jia Xu's face. After careful consideration, he had already made up his mind and muttered something.

"It's against the harmony of nature..."

However, Jia Xu would not show the slightest mercy.

If something really went wrong, Jia Xu suspected that Li Ji would directly exile him to Yingzhou for three to five years, which would hurt Wenhe.

At this moment, Jia Xu was in the side hall of the Wujun government office where Liu Bei and Li Ji usually handled official business. Also waiting in the room were Xiahou Bo and Jia Mu.

Xiahou Bo and Jia Mu did not quite hear what Jia Xu muttered in a low voice.

So, Xiahou Bo asked subconsciously.

"What friendly business?"

"fine."

Jia Xu casually evaded the topic, then looked at Xiahou Bo with a smile and asked.

"More than 100,000 troops are coming to attack us. What do you think of Ji Chang?"

Xiahou Bo heard this and pondered for a moment...

Jia Mu was secretly observing Xiahou Bo out of the corner of his eye. As a member of the Jinyi Division, Jia Mu had very little direct contact with his immediate superior, so he was quite looking forward to whether Xiahou Bo had any profound ideas.

After a while, Xiahou Bo finally spoke with a calm and resolute expression.

"Mr. Zikun has instructed that we should listen to Jia Changshi's words in military matters. Although there are many enemies, I believe that Jia Changshi can gain Mr. Zikun's trust. I think he is confident. Jia Changshi can just say whatever he wants, and I will do my best to follow his advice."

When these words were spoken, Jia Mu was stunned, while a smile appeared on Jia Xu's face.

It seems that Xiahou Bo said nothing, but in fact he said everything.

However, unlike Jia Mu who felt that Xiahou Bo, his immediate superior, was not worthy of his reputation, Jia Xu, on the contrary, felt that Xiahou Bo might not be a smart man.

Xiahou Bo was not good at military affairs, so even though Xiahou Bo was in charge of the military command left by Liu Bei, he directly stated that he would not directly interfere in the decisions made by Jia Xu.

But this does not mean that Xiahou Bo unconditionally supports Jia Xu. Instead, it directly points out that Xiahou Bo obeys Li Ji's orders, so there is also the intention of supervising Jia Xu.

'Looks stupid, but actually smart!'

This is Jia Xu’s evaluation of Xiahou Bo at this moment.

Of course, this kind of cleverness does not refer to Xiahou Bo's cleverness in using strategies and plotting, but rather a kind of cleverness that does not interfere in unfamiliar areas, is very self-aware and adheres to loyalty and righteousness.

However, in addition to serving as Liu Bei's personal bodyguard, Xiahou Bo also controlled an intelligence agency. If he were not such a smart person, he would probably not have lived long.

Now that the Tiger Tally was in Xiahou Bo's hands, Jia Xu also needed to confirm whether he could get Xiahou Bo's full support. Immediately, after a brief pause, Jia Xu's seemingly gentle and harmless face slowly spoke.

"Now that the foreign enemy is about to invade, and there are Wujun and Kuaijijun families colluding with them, the situation is critical and can't be delayed. We must quickly gather the military households of the two counties and immediately assemble and organize the army to resist the enemy at any time. We must not let the foreign enemy set foot in Wujun and Kuaiji counties."

"In addition, Ji Chang also needs to strictly control the spread of rumors in his area, and never allow unrest to occur. Especially those noble families must be closely monitored, and if there is any substantial movement... kill them."

Jia Xu's tone was quite flat, and he didn't even raise his eyelids.

Xiahou Bo frowned slightly and confirmed again. "Jia Changshi, this... killing to what extent do you mean? Is it the killing of those who are abnormal, or..."

"The nine clans are somewhat involved too widely. Let's kill all the three clans." Jia Xu answered without hesitation.

Three tribes?

That was almost like completely uprooting an aristocratic family and wiping it out completely.

Massacre the family!

This was a rather surprising idea, so much so that even Xiahou Bo hesitated a little.

Jia Mu was also shocked and quickly reminded him, "Father, if you slaughter a noble family for no reason, the news will be difficult to cover up and may cause an uproar."

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu's gentle and harmless expression did not change at all. He just turned slightly to look at Jia Mu and asked.

"Then what do you think is the most reasonable way to get rid of a noble family?"

Faced with Jia Xu's inquiry, Jia Mu thought for a long time before answering carefully.

"At least there must be solid evidence, such as keeping a tight watch on the noble families in the county, or even giving them some opportunities to join forces with the external enemies. Only then can we..."

Without waiting for Jia Mu to finish, the gentle look on Jia Xu's face disappeared, and his raised eyelids revealed a chilling indifference, and he interrupted.

"madness!"

Or perhaps since Jia Xu's body became increasingly plump and harmless, even Jia Mu gradually lost his guard and awe of his father Jia Xu.

When Jia Xu's expression changed like this, Jia Mu subconsciously recalled how terrible Jia Xu had been in the past. He was frightened and almost instinctively knelt down in front of Jia Xu to admit his mistake.

Jia Xu looked deeply at Jia Mu, who had a cowering look on his face, and spoke slowly.

"Mu'er."

"Yes, father," Jammu replied.

Jia Xu said in a deep voice, "Remember, if you are valued by the lord in the future, you can govern the country and assist others, but you cannot be a counselor or a commander."

This evaluation was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Jia Mu, and it almost bluntly stated that Jia Mu was useless.

This made Jia Mu, who had lived under the shadow of Jia Xu since childhood, even forget his awe of Jia Xu for a moment, and he subconsciously asked back.

"Why?!"

"An incompetent general can tire out the entire army; an unwise counselor can ruin one's life."

Jia Xu sneered and then began to explain.

"Where is Wujun? It is the base of our lord, how can we afford to lose even the slightest bit!"

"Why did Li Zikun lead his army to resist Shanyue and Kuaiji Guoyi outside Wujun and not allow them to set foot in the territory? What was the reason?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Mu opened his mouth and naturally thought of dozens of advantages in an instant, but he also thought of many reasons to refute it.

The most important point is that Jia Mu feels that his father Jia Xu is not Mr. Zikun.

Mr. Zikun was able to use a weak force to firmly resist the foreign enemies for several months, and he often anticipated the enemy's moves. In the end, he used the wedding as an excuse to lure Guo Yi into a trap, and with the help of the Qiantang River and large ships, he was able to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop and win the battle.

In Jia Mu's opinion, his father's schemes might be ruthless and sophisticated, but compared with Mr. Zikun, they pale in comparison.

In the case that it may not be possible to quell the external rebellion with lightning speed, if a certain family is massacred for no reason, not to mention how far-reaching the impact will be, it will inevitably cause the other families in Wu County and Kuaiji County to feel insecure.

By then, it is very likely that many of the noble families that originally surrendered to Liu Bei would be forced to completely rebel, which would be a disaster.

It's just that Jia Mu might not dare to say those words out loud, but the look between his eyebrows was undoubtedly full of dissatisfaction.

However, how could Jia Mu's strange look escape the eyes of Jia Xu who was observing him carefully?
Jia Xu suddenly felt that this filial eldest son who he had always thought of as a Confucianist seemed to be slightly different from what he had imagined.

"At least... it's a bit rebellious and unfilial..."

While Jia Xu was thinking secretly, he spoke.

"Mu'er, please remember one thing, that is, you must never hesitate when doing things. In troubled times, severe punishments should be used. Why should we punish the noble families at the risk of internal strife in our own country?"

"It's actually very easy to find an excuse to massacre the family. I even think that the excuse only needs three words, which is... 'false accusation'."

Groundless?!

When these three words came out, not only Jia Mu, but even Xiahou Bo's heart skipped a beat.

It's not that this excuse is so brilliant, but these three words are enough to show that Jia Xu's moral bottom line is simply beyond imagination, and he doesn't care about some so-called rules at all. (End of this chapter)