Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 80 Going to Wu County
  When Li Ji heard this, his eyes changed slightly.

Wish we could... meet again soon?

However, Li Ji knew very well that it was just an untrue assumption.

Without Liu Bei, Li Jimo was praised by Lu Zhi as "no one can rival him", he might not even be able to step onto the stage of history, and he would still be alone in Zhuoxian just to earn money for food and clothing.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was settled, even if Li Ji embarked on a journey to find a good master to live in, who would Li Ji, who had neither reputation nor household registration, come into contact with?

How many people have been there since ancient times who are talented but failed to meet their timing?
  Therefore, as long as Liu Bei does not fail Li Ji, Li Ji will not fail him either.

"Meng De, Ji also hopes that you will go straight forward and travel thousands of miles. When we meet again one day, you will already have achieved your goals."

Li Ji said something, then said goodbye and rode his horse back to the queue.

Cao Cao kept watching Li Ji go away, his heart churning, and for the first time he truly felt the bitterness of wanting something but not getting it.

When Li Ji returned to the queue, Jia Xu sighed with some surprise.

"Although Cao Mengde is a eunuch, he is really thirsty for talents, and his actions are not limited to things. This man with his ambition will definitely accomplish something in the future."

"Ordinary ethical principles cannot restrain Meng De."

Li Ji also commented accordingly.

And Leakey thinks so in every sense of the word.

Whether it was for seeking talents, ambition, or pleasure, Cao Cao was by no means a person who cared about ethics.

"But Cao Mengde treated me so politely, maybe not only because he wanted to be a virtuous person, but also because he wanted to be a virtuous person..."

"Even if Cao Mengde did not spread the rumors about the alias 'Li Sanqian' in Julu City, Cao Mengde's promoters must be part of it. The purpose is to use my name to spread the reputation of Cao Mengde who is thirsty for talents..." "

"In ancient times, people used to buy horse bones for a thousand gold, but now Meng De gives three thousand gold to a great talent. It's all just a calculation."

Li Ji spoke with a slight flicker in his eyes, which made Zhang Fei on the side look at him sideways and said in a loud voice.

"Mr. Zikun, I finally understand. That thief Cao just wants to prostitute Mr. Zikun for nothing, right?"

Li Ji: "..."

What free whoring?
  Dasha Fei, reorganize the language for me...

But I'm afraid that the more I explain to Zhang Fei, the easier it will be to explain clearly. Li Ji grinded his teeth quietly and said.

"Yide, don't be rude. Cao Mengde is the Prime Minister of Jinan. How can you call him a thief? That means Cao Mengde doesn't mind. Otherwise, even if you are punished, no one can find fault."

Zhang Fei retorted angrily with some dissatisfaction.

"Then thief Cao is just a thief? As soon as I returned to Julu City, I heard everyone saying that Cao Mengde is coveting my Mr. Zikun. How can I bear it? I wish I could just stab him on the spot."

"Could it be that Yide didn't know that Cao Mengde was not only the Prime Minister of Jinan, but also had the friendship of the Yuan family behind him. If he was determined to interfere with it, or if the lord had not arrived at Wu County, he might be deprived of his official position by the court. Therefore, if Yide took it seriously, he would not worry about causing trouble for the lord. Are you in such big trouble?"

Li Ji narrowed his eyes and threatened.

As soon as he said this, Zhang Fei became honest and looked at Li Ji blankly.

Jia Xu on the side felt happy when he saw this, but did not expose Li Ji.

However, in Jia Xu's view, Li Ji's statement is correct.

As an official in the corrupt and dark Han Dynasty, simply being able to lead troops to fight is of no use. Coming out to hang out depends on your background and connections.

He Jin, the general who is nominally in charge of the world's troops, is actually nothing more than a wine bag and rice bag. He was originally just a vulgar butcher. However, his sister is the queen. Once he gained great power, he held power and became the head of his relatives.

When Liu Bei, Lu Zhi and others said goodbye one by one and returned to the queue, they found that Zhang Fei looked a little honest, and his expression immediately became a little more serious.

Liu Bei, who knew Zhang Fei's character quite well, knew very well that if Zhang Fei showed more honesty and quietness on his face, he would definitely get into trouble again.

Apart from Guan Yu, the second brother, the only person who could make Zhang Fei show such a posture was Li Ji, who was respected by Zhang Fei.

Immediately, Liu Bei lectured in a low voice. "Third brother, what trouble did you get into by not listening to Zikun's words?"

"Brother, I don't have one," Zhang Fei replied.

"He said no. If you don't have the confidence to speak, you will definitely get into trouble. Didn't I tell you to listen to Zikun in everything and never act recklessly?"

After a pause, Liu Bei asked in a deep voice. "Tell me, what trouble did you cause again?"

"I just scolded Cao as a thief. Mr. Zikun has already taught me a lesson." Zhang Fei, who became more and more frightened as he thought about it, replied honestly.

Suddenly, Liu Bei felt a little embarrassed and continued to teach Zhang Fei a lesson.

After all, Zhang Fei just got excited, but Liu Bei directly drew his sword at Cao Cao.

Immediately, Liu Bei couldn't help but cast his eyes towards Li Ji, and Li Ji spoke to the steps with understanding.

"Lord, Yide is just trying to protect the foundation, and this is just an unintentional remark. Please don't blame Yide too much."

Liu Bei coughed lightly and said. "It won't happen again."

"Yes, brother." Immediately, Liu Bei sent a message to Guan Yu, who was holding the rear army, and then the entire mighty team began to set off towards Wu County in Yangzhou.

Li Ji had also planned the marching route along the way.

From Julu County, go south to Wei County, enter Yanzhou, enter Xuzhou, then go south along the Xuzhou official road to Guangling County, cross the Yangtze River, and is where Wu County of Yangzhou is located.

Since there were "Taoyuan people" in the team, a considerable number of disabled soldiers and a large amount of money and food, it was estimated that it would take at least two months to reach Wu County even if the entire team traveled on official roads along the way.

However, when Li Ji really had the time to pay attention to all the details along the way, he just noticed that the official roads along the way were actually bumpy and dilapidated.

Not to mention carriages, carts, etc., even when soldiers walk, they only have one foot deep and one foot shallow.

There were occasional rainy weather along the way, and the difficulty of the march was only slightly less than that of the mountain road.

'Have the basic facilities also been damaged to this extent? '

After marching all the way through Yanzhou and arriving at the edge of Xuzhou in mid-July, Liu Bei and his party encountered rainy weather again and had no choice but to set up camp in a hurry to avoid the rain.

After all, in this kind of rainy weather, not to mention the old, weak, women and children, even the strong soldiers are likely to die of illness if they are caught in the rain and unfortunately catch wind and cold in an era when medical conditions are lacking.

It was the rainy season, and we had to take shelter from the rain from time to time along the way. In addition, the official roads were also bumpy, which also greatly slowed down the march. It took nearly a month and a half to march through Yanzhou.

Judging from the current speed, it would probably be early September at the earliest to reach Wu County.

Although the drizzle outside the tent did not affect the warmth inside the tent, Li Ji frowned and stared at the continuous drizzle outside.

After arranging firewood in the tent, Xia Houlan placed a cup of hot tea in front of Li Ji and whispered.

"Sir, have a cup of tea to warm yourself up and ward off the cold."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Li Ji nodded, took a sip of tea, then pointed to a roll of bamboo slips placed aside and said.

"I have annotated this "Wei Liao Zi" and it will be your homework for the next ten days. Give me a copy of your insights after ten days."

"Yes, sir."

Xia Houlan quickly picked up "Wei Liao Zi" and held it in his arms like a treasure.

In this regard, Xia Houlan seemed calm, but his every move was still unconventional. Li Ji shook his head helplessly.

Xiahoulan is Xiahoubo's younger brother brought back from Changshan and a fellow countryman of Zhao Yun.

The age difference between Zhao Yun and Zhao Yun is three years, and now he is only thirteen years old, which is the age to escape.

After Xiahou Bo officially worshiped Liu Bei as his master, Xiahou Bo replaced Zhang Fei and was responsible for the scouting and investigation matters in the army. Naturally, he had no time to look after Xiahou Lan.

As for Zhao Yun's gentle temper, he could not deter Xia Houlan at all.

Therefore, after much thought, Xiahou Bo came to Li Ji and begged Li Ji to accept Xiahou Lan as a scholar.

In this regard, Li Ji hesitated for a moment, that is, he agreed.

Not to mention whether Xia Houlan is competent as a book boy, what's more important is that Xia Houlan's military force is not weak. Although he has not yet reached the top, ordinary thieves still can't get close to Xia Houlan.

When Xiahoulan's strength is fully matured, even if he is not as good as his brother Xiahoubo, his martial prowess will not be comparable to that of ordinary second-rate generals.

Therefore, with such a book boy around him, Li Ji feels that his sense of security has improved a lot.

Xia Houlan carefully held "Wei Liao Zi" and noticed that Li Ji's eyebrows seemed a little gloomy, and expressed concern.

"Sir, what's bothering you?"

Hearing this, Li Ji sighed and said.

"What I sigh about is that even the official roads of Yanzhou and Xuzhou have been abandoned here. What will happen to the land of Wujun in Yangzhou?"

"It doesn't matter if the official road is difficult, right?" Xia Houlan asked with some confusion.

Li Ji shook his head and did not continue to explain to the young Xia Houlan, but still looked at the continuous drizzle outside with a frown.

In this era, most people will underestimate the role of roads and generally think that it is enough to walk. However, roads are the true connection between agriculture, industry and commerce in different regions.

If it is during wartime, roads will be more concerned about logistics support, transportation losses and other issues.

As soon as the army rations were cut off, the army collapsed!

What's more, a glimpse of the whole picture shows that the basic maintenance of official channels consumes very little manpower and material resources. However, the official channels in various places are still abandoned like this. It is conceivable that the local governments are also corrupt and ineffective.

The same is true for Yanzhou and Xuzhou, which are located in the Central Plains region. I am afraid that the infrastructure of the more remote Wu County is even worse.

'There is always a feeling of bleak future...'

Li Ji secretly complained in his heart that something was not in line with his own image, then he took out a bamboo slip from his sleeve and added the word "road" on it.

But Li Ji looked at the densely packed words on it, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt upset.

(End of this chapter)