Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Even though he was chosen as the regent, Qu Ba was still generally not favored by the nobles in the country.

There is no other reason, Qu Lian is just too resilient.

At the age of over 80, most of Qu Lian’s sons have died of old age or illness, and even some of his grandchildren have died of illness.

During Qu Lian's more than fifty years of rule, the nominal successor has been replaced again and again, and the current Qu Ba is also in his early forties.

In the eyes of many people, Qu Ba may not be able to survive Qu Lian, and some of his great-grandsons who have already grown up will be the real heirs to the throne.

More importantly, Qu Ba, who was already in his early forties, had no children. In addition, Qu Ba seemed not to fight for anything on weekdays. Therefore, Qu Lian, who was deeply afraid of having his power seized, was relieved to appoint Qu Ba as the regent.

However, underneath the seemingly neutral and peaceful appearance of District Ba, he was also waiting for this moment and had been secretly trying to win over the domestic nobles, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Now, Qu Ba has quietly controlled more than 30% of the military forces in Linyi.

As soon as Qu Lian died, Qu Ba decided to launch a coup and send all his uncles, brothers, nephews and the like down to accompany his grandfather.

However, Qu Ba did not reveal any of his thoughts on the surface. After seemingly adjudicating the conflict fairly, he looked a little nervous and asked Qu Lian above him for advice.

"Your Majesty, is this appropriate?"

The elderly Qu Lian was unconsciously daydreaming and didn't pay any attention to the small conflicts that were commonplace. Even his eyelids were mostly drooped the whole time. He made a thick and weak nasal sound, which was considered as a response.

When District Ba received the response, he looked very happy, and then he felt at ease to announce the final result.

A smile appeared on Qu Lian's wrinkled old face. He was very satisfied with Qu Ba's behavior of always asking for confirmation on everything. This made Qu Lian feel that power was still nourishing his old body, as if he was still in control of everything.

However, Qu Lian's joy only lasted for a while. After his mind went blank for a while, he almost forgot what had just happened.

The topic of the court meeting has also shifted to other matters.

Being in a daze is Qu Lian's daily state now.

As the court meeting was about to end, Qu Ba asked.

"My dear ministers, do you have anything else to report to the king?"

At this moment, Fan Shang, who was in charge of the Linyi State's Shaofu, stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Upon seeing this, Qu Ba waited for three breaths and confirmed that Qu Lian had no objection. After giving Qu Lian respect, he spoke.

"Shaofu, please report it."

"Previously, a large amount of immature rice was harvested cleanly in the royal fields overnight. I was ordered to investigate the matter, and now I have found some clues." Shaofu Fan Shang replied.

"Who is so bold and presumptuous?!" Qu Ba asked.

Qu Ba naturally knew about this matter, and it was regarded as a strange story at the time, and was considered an ominous sign, which caused a certain amount of panic.

More importantly, the rice that was stolen was all from royal fields, which involved the interests of the royal family of Linyi State. Naturally, Qu Ba repeatedly urged the Shaofu to conduct a thorough investigation.

"I personally investigated and questioned the people nearby one by one, and they all said that before the rice was harvested, they saw a group of people in strange clothes wandering around nearby, and their accent was different from the official language of our Linyi country."

"Then, I learned from an old man that the group of people spoke Chinese, so they must be Han Chinese. Therefore, the rice was stolen by Han Chinese."

Fan Shang answered carefully.

Han people?

Chinese? As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone present changed slightly.

Linyi has been a country for more than 50 years. It split its territory from the Han Dynasty and became an independent country. Its writing system, system, customs, etc. can be said to be inherited from the same source. However, after years of independent development, its accent has gradually become significantly different from orthodox Chinese.

Hearing the word "Han people", Qu Lian, who was originally slumped on the throne, suddenly opened his eyes and asked in an urgent voice.

"Are you sure he is Han Chinese?"

"Your Majesty, I'm about 70% to 80% sure." Fan Shang answered carefully.

And Qu Lian's personal statement made the atmosphere of the court meeting suddenly become solemn, and no one else dared to make any sound.

Although Qu Lian was very old, his prestige in the Linyi Kingdom was unimaginable, and no one dared to touch his tiger's whiskers.

At this moment, Qu Lian's originally cloudy mind seemed to regain clarity in an instant, and he spoke in a stern voice.

"Find them, confirm their identities, and confirm their purpose."

Fan Shang opened his mouth, groaning inwardly, but he did not dare to disobey Qu Lian's orders.

When the rice was secretly harvested, it was far from mature. Now, the rice harvest is about to be completed all over the country, with a difference of more than two months. Where can Fan Shang find this group of people?

After Fan Shang's report, Qu Lian's state was obviously different from before. The other ministers and nobles did not dare to speak again, so the court meeting ended.

When Qu Ba accompanied Qu Lian back to his bedroom, Qu Ba asked with some confusion.

"Your Majesty, what's so important about these Han thieves?"

Qu Lian, who already had difficulty walking for a long time, was also carried by his attendants as he moved around the palace. Qu Lian, who was sitting, raised his eyelids and said.

"Don't underestimate the Han people. Always be cautious of the north."

When District Ba heard this, he disagreed in his heart, but took the opportunity to flatter him.

"The territory of the Han Dynasty is indeed slightly larger than that of Linyi, but they were defeated by the king. The governor of Rinan County, Yu State, is no match for Linyi."

"I think those Han bandits are just people who couldn't survive in Rinan County, so they fled to Linyi to make a living."

Listening to Qu Ba's flattery, Qu Lian felt quite proud of it.

Although the Han Dynasty was huge, it could not do anything to him. Moreover, after the founding of the country, Qu Lian naturally did not forget to greatly beautify his own deeds, and either distorted or concealed part of the truth.

Therefore, the general concept of the Han Dynasty in Linyi is that it is a great country in the northern Central Plains, but how big is it?

Qu Lian only knew that it was much larger, but he was also unclear about the exact size. In the records within Linyi, it was vaguely summarized as the size of more than ten Rinan counties in the Han Dynasty.

As the southernmost prefecture of the Han Dynasty and Jiaozhou, Rinnan County is less than one-third the size of Wu County, with a registered population of only about 200,000 and less than 2,000 soldiers actually available in the county.

(PS: According to actual historical records, the registered population of Rinan County in the late Western Han Dynasty was less than 70,000. The idea that Rinan County had a population of 200,000 is probably an exaggeration.)
Therefore, Yu Guo, the governor of Rinan County, was considered a talented person, but facing the repeated invasions of land by the Linyi Kingdom in the south, he could only defend himself with all his might and was completely unable to fight back.

……

At this moment in Rinan County, the county magistrate Yu Guo was reading reports about the Linyi Kingdom secretly occupying land. He felt annoyed and resentful, but helpless.

Yu Guo was from Yuyao, Kuaiji, and came from a poor family.

He was selected as a filial and honest official because he was famous for his filial piety in his hometown when he was young. However, he knew that he had no noble support, so his path as an official would be extremely bumpy.

With the idea of ​​doing something practical for the people, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, after his parents passed away, Yu Guo sold all his family's land and bought a post as the governor of Rinan County, which was avoided by the children of aristocratic families, as a filial and honest official. He asked to be an official in Rinan County, the southernmost part of the Han Dynasty, as if he were exiled. (End of this chapter)