Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Zhou Yu knew that Li Ji was the most wise man of the time.

But precisely because of this, Zhou Yu was certain that with Li Ji's intelligence, there was no reason for him to reject him.

At the beginning, Zhou Yu really believed that Sun Ce had inherited all of Li Ji's knowledge and that his wisdom and strategy were not inferior to his own, so he was not only cautious in everything in front of Sun Ce, but also willingly regarded him as his brother.

This misunderstanding might have lasted for a while, but after Zhou Yu and Sun Ce spent a few more days together, the huge gap in IQ between the two soon made Zhou Yu realize that he seemed to have overthought.

Of course, although Zhou Yu had completely figured out Sun Ce's background, he was also deeply impressed by Sun Ce's heroism, so Zhou Yu did not regret becoming sworn brothers with Sun Ce.

However, Sun Ce, as a disciple of a national scholar, was good at military affairs and bravery, but not good at strategy, which was quite strange.

This made Zhou Yu speculate a lot, and after repeatedly asking about Sun Ce's interpersonal relationships and family background, he came to the only reasonable conclusion.

The reason why Li Ji accepted Sun Ce as his disciple was just to appease the Wujun family and to win over Sun Jian for Liu Bei. Everything he did was based on political interests.

Therefore, even though Sun Ce had been Li Ji's disciple for many years and his IQ was normal, he was unable to learn any strategies.

This made Zhou Yu feel a sense of crisis. He realized that although Sun Ce was Li Ji's disciple, in Li Ji's eyes, Sun Ce was probably just a chess piece, and his position in Liu Bei's group was not solid at all.

With the defeat of the anti-Wu coalition and the death of Sun Jian, Zhou Yu felt that Sun Ce's value in Li Ji's eyes was probably almost gone.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his sworn brother's future or for the opportunity to display his talents, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Ce the strategy of conquering the four counties in southern Jing to avenge Sun Jian.

And in Zhou Yu's opinion, this is undoubtedly the best time at the moment.

While Li Ji has not yet completely subjugated and controlled the Yangzhou family, while Sun Jian has just died and still needs to consider some face and friendship, while Li Ji also needs a strategy to weaken Jingzhou...

Taking all factors into consideration, there was no reason for Li Ji to refuse Sun Ce's request to borrow troops.

In terms of pros and cons, this plan is completely beneficial to Yangzhou, Liu Bei, and Li Ji, with no harm at all.

For Sun Ce, as long as he could borrow troops to go to the four counties in southern Jing, it would be like a dragon returning to the sea, and there would be great opportunities for him.

As for whether Li Ji would feel that Sun Ce's trip would become too powerful to be controlled and would become wary and unwilling to lend him troops, Zhou Yu believed that this possibility was very small.

In Li Ji's eyes, Sun Ce was good at military bravery but not at strategy, and Li Ji knew Sun Ce's loyal and righteous character very well, so he would certainly not be overly vigilant.

Moreover, Zhou Yu himself was not well-known. Even though Zhou Yu was confident of his talent in strategizing, he was unknown to outsiders and had never even revealed any of it, let alone being alerted by Li Ji.

Other family generals gathered under Sun Ce, such as Huang Gai, Zu Mao, Han Dang and the like, may serve as vanguards, but they would not be taken seriously by a figure like Li Ji.

Therefore, Zhou Yu was confident that Li Ji would simply test the waters and then make some hypocritical words to win him over, and would eventually be happy to use Sun Ce as a chess piece and place him in the four counties of southern Jing.

At least, if he put himself in Sun Ce's shoes and judged rationally, Zhou Yu would not reject Sun Ce's proposal.

During these few breaths, there may be only three people in the room, but it can be said that there are eight hundred minds and eyes flashing constantly.

Li Ji has 400, Zhou Yu has 399, and Sun Ce has only one...

Perhaps Zhou Yu had a lot to consider, but Sun Ce really came to his parents to seek comfort and recognition.

After some deliberate and unintentional testing, Li Ji had already understood most of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's thoughts.

After a few breaths, Li Ji spoke with a gentle and calm look.

"What Zhou Lang said is very reasonable. With only 3,000 soldiers and horses, revenge for my father is both a great filial piety and a great righteousness. If I tell you clearly, you will not disagree." "And Ce'er's attack on the four counties in southern Jing will be a hundred benefits to Yangzhou. It will prevent the civil strife in Jingzhou from harassing Yangzhou, and it will also give you a lot of time to control and develop Yangzhou."

The essence of Jingzhou is concentrated in the three counties in the north of Jingzhou. The four counties in the south of Jingzhou are far inferior to those in the north of Jingzhou in terms of population and economy. The terrain and environment are also much worse, and they have also suffered from looting by many barbarians.

Among them, Wuling County, one of the four counties in southern Jing, had a registered population of only about 250,000.

However, once Sun Ce really entered Changsha in the name of his father and quickly began to sweep the four counties in southern Jing, Liu Biao would definitely not remain indifferent and would definitely send troops to attack Sun Ce.

However, with the abilities of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, the time difference was probably enough for them to completely take root in the four counties of southern Jingzhou and drag Jingzhou completely into the quagmire of war.

In troubled times, the weaker the neighbors, the better.

Therefore, Zhou Yu was quite surprised by Li Ji's straightforwardness.

"You don't even want to act anymore?"

Zhou Yu made his judgment secretly.

Sun Ce, who was still immersed in grief and anger, looked up at Li Ji and asked, "Teacher, do you also support me going to the four counties of Jingnan?"

However, what neither Sun Ce nor Zhou Yu expected was that Li Ji shook his head and said.

"What I want to tell Ce'er is that from the perspective of interests and public affairs, I should not oppose it. On the contrary, I should strongly support Ce'er's going to the four counties of Jingnan."

"But from a personal standpoint, I don't want Ce'er to go to the four counties of Jingnan."

Sun Ce tried hard to hold back his tears and asked, "Why?"

Li Ji spoke in a gentle voice. "Since Ce'er left, the lord had to completely sever all ties with Ce'er out of friendship with his clan. From then on, I could no longer protect Ce'er."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce was deeply moved.

However, Sun Ce was never a cowardly person, and he immediately answered with gritted teeth, "I'm not afraid!"

Li Ji stared at Sun Ce, suddenly reached out and touched the top of Sun Ce's head, and said.

"Cer has grown up, and his character is commendable. I am very pleased..."

After a pause, Li Ji then spoke.

"Ce'er, when you return to Wujun, you will be able to take charge of things on your own, so I will personally help you get the crown."

Listening to Li Ji's words, Sun Ce's heart was filled with complex emotions including touching.

A slight curve appeared at the corner of Zhou Yu's mouth, and he felt that everything before his eyes was as expected.

Coming of age must have been Li Ji's final move to win over Sun Ce.

After Sun Ce came of age, Li Ji would approve Sun Ce's request to borrow troops and place Sun Ce in the four counties of southern Jing like a chess piece.

As a chess piece, Sun Ce will now have the opportunity to return to the sea. (End of this chapter)