Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

There are many people who can see this clearly.

But the strength of open strategies lies in the fact that they are difficult to crack.

more importantly……

"How can Liu Da'er be so rich? He can give such a generous gift without any hesitation."

This matter reached the ears of many princes, and many of them secretly cursed Liu Bei for using money to gain fame, but they were more envious and jealous.

When the world was in chaos, the princes who had ambitions for the world were eager to break a copper coin into two halves and spend it to save more military pay to build a large army.

Even if the other princes wanted to seek fame like Liu Bei, they really didn't have the energy to do so at the moment.

The gift list was enough to feed 3,000 elite soldiers. Not only Cao Cao was eager to send troops to intercept them, but even Yuan Shu, who had lost his troops and generals not long ago, was greatly tempted.

However, Yuan Shu always took into account his reputation as a minister of state for four generations, so he resisted the urge to take action and watched helplessly as cartloads of gifts were sent to Sili.

Because of this, Lu Bu's small court had a small quarrel every three days and a big dispute every five days.

In the end, Lu Bu still ignored Chen Gong and Chen Qun's obstruction...

……

"It seems that the public security in Sili is not very good. Even after passing Hulao Pass, there are still thousands of Xiliang horse bandits wandering around Luoyang..."

Seeing the news that the tribute gifts from Sili were robbed by horse bandits, Li Ji couldn't help but laugh and make a sarcastic remark.

Liu Bei said with an angry look.

"Who would believe this if we told them? Besides, the horse bandits from Xiliang just robbed the tribute, and right after that, Lu Bu sent troops to successfully wipe them out. This is simply like trying to cover up one's own faults."

This matter was already within Li Ji's expectations. Given Lu Bu's ferocious nature, he undoubtedly valued immediate interests more than long-term political assets.

By intercepting the tribute gifts midway, Emperor Liu Xie would not only lose the capital to continue winning over all parties, but also use the money as military pay.

The mere wealth that can support three thousand elite soldiers may not be taken seriously by Liu Bei, but in Lu Bu's eyes it is a considerable fortune.

It is reported that the number of Bingzhou Wolf Riders under Lu Bu's command alone exceeded 20,000, not to mention the rest of the soldiers.

The food and clothing for people and horses is so scarce that Sili alone cannot maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

If it weren't for the financial support from many aristocratic families headed by the Chen family of Yingchuan, Lu Bu, a new monarch, would not have been able to afford such a huge military pay.

Afterwards, Liu Bei, who was still angry, immediately followed Li Ji's advice and wrote a letter to impeach and denounce Lu Bu, while at the same time mobilizing a large number of famous scholars under his command.

If you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, someone else will naturally occupy it.

With Liu Bei's reputation and the appeal of Ren De Academy, there was never a shortage of big shots and celebrities joining Liu Bei's ranks.

Now is the time to use these big trolls and celebrities, and the Jinyi Division can also publicize the matter secretly.

From top to bottom and from bottom to top, this double-edged attack was enough to make Lu Bu realize that his bad reputation still had plenty of room to ferment.

Reputation is a knife.

Maybe Lu Bu doesn't care, but the civil officials, military generals and aristocratic families who have surrendered to Lu Bu have to consider whether to follow him and become infamous.

Invisibly, it will affect every aspect of Lu Bu's entire power.

However, for Li Ji, making things difficult for Lu Bu was just a casual thing to do.

While the two states of Jing and Yang were constantly preparing for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, as pieces of intelligence sent back from the Central Plains piled up on Li Ji's desk, what Li Ji was most concerned about was undoubtedly the movements of the two Yuans.

Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan had been confronting each other for nearly a year. According to Li Ji's judgment, the decisive battle of the Battle of Jie Bridge might be imminent.

However, Yuan Shu repeatedly and openly mobilized money, food and troops to Nanyang, which made Li Ji feel very strange.

It was less than a year since Yuan Shu was defeated by Li Ji in the Battle of Jingzhou and fled for hundreds of miles, earning the reputation of "God of Chariots in Jingxiang". Could it be that with the spring breeze blowing and the drums beating, Yuan Shu felt that he was good enough again?

He took the initiative to challenge Liu Bei, who controlled Jing and Yang states, with most of Yuzhou and one Nanyang County.

No matter how arrogant Yuan Shu was, he would not be so foolish and stubborn.

And even if Yuan Shu was arrogant, it would be impossible for the wise men under his command not to dissuade him.

What is the purpose of stationing troops in Nanyang County?

Li Ji stood up and looked at the huge map of provinces and counties hanging behind him, carefully pondering its meaning.

Now, Liu Bei, who openly controls Jing and Yang provinces, is bordered by only Zhang Zhao of Jiaozhou, Tao Qian of Xuzhou, Yuan Shu of Yuzhou, and Yizhou, which is in the midst of civil strife.

Zhang Zhao of Jiaozhou was actually one of Yuan Shu's own people, and Yuan Shu had never contacted Jiaozhou to try to attack Jing and Yangzhou from both sides.

As for Yizhou, not to mention that the plank road in Ba County has not been repaired yet.

More importantly, Liu Yan, who had been in a coma for a long time, was unfortunately defeated by illness last winter and died in bed without even having time to designate a successor.

Regarding Liu Yan's unfortunate death, not only did Liu Bei send an envoy to express condolences, but Li Ji also personally sent some wreaths to Yizhou.

However, in this case, internal strife was inevitable in Yizhou.

While Liu Yan's body was still warm, Liu Zhang fought fiercely with his three brothers. They vowed to send each other to accompany Liu Yan to fulfill their filial piety, and it was impossible for them to cooperate with Yuan Shu to attack Jingzhou.

Excluding Jiaozhou and Yizhou, if Yuan Shu wanted to attack Jingzhou, the only potential ally he could have was Tao Qian of Xuzhou.

"Tao Qian... turned against us?"

Li Ji thought about this guess and felt that the possibility was extremely small.

Liu Bei and Tao Qian had been friends for many years, but more importantly, Tao Qian was old and no longer had the ambition to dominate.

Under such circumstances, Li Ji found it hard to imagine what kind of promises Yuan Shu had to make in order to persuade Tao Qian to turn against him and launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei.

It was not that Li Ji trusted the friendship between Liu Bei and Tao Qian, but that Li Ji believed that Yuan Shu could not offer enough benefits to persuade Tao Qian.

"So, there seems to be only one possibility left, that is, the deployment of troops to Nanyang is a false pretense, in order to attract me to deploy troops to Jingzhou for defense?"

Li Ji narrowed his eyes, his gaze constantly wandering around Yuan Shu.

'Openly attack Jingzhou and secretly attack Ruyin or Shouchun?'

"Or take Yanzhou? But aren't you afraid that our army will attack Runan County after they react?"

Before this, Yuan Shu had suffered heavy casualties, and the fact that Xinye City and Ruyin City were in Liu Bei's hands had already caused the offensive and defensive situations to change for both sides.

Now, Liu Bei is the one who has the advantage of active attack.

Under such circumstances, Yuan Shu must have been very bold to ignore the threat from Liu Bei in the rear and directly mobilize a large number of troops to the north to capture Yanzhou.

As long as Yuzhou was short of troops, Li Ji would immediately advise Liu Bei to lead his troops north to take Runan County and seize the Yuan family's base.

'weird……'

Li Ji pondered for a long time, but for a while he really couldn't figure out the purpose of Yuan Shu's move.

However, it is Liu Bei's side that now holds the initiative.

Therefore, Li Ji simply made some minor adjustments to the military deployment in Jing and Yang states to avoid being caught off guard by any unexpected strategies.

Then, a number of spies, scouts, and Jinyisi members were sent to Xuzhou and Yuzhou to conduct investigations. (End of this chapter)