Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Chapter 108: Imminent Departure?

Xiahou Bo looked at Liu Bei's distraught appearance and softly advised him.

“My lord, I know you are feeling troubled, but Mr. Zikun is not one to leave without saying goodbye. Even if the envoy has already found Mr. Zikun to read out the imperial edict, Mr. Zikun, I believe, would not leave Wu Commandery directly.”

(PS: This 'envoy' is not a winged person. In the Han Dynasty, 'envoy' meant imperial messenger.)

After a pause, Xiahou Bo looked at Liu Bei's complex expression, still full of hesitation and unwillingness, and said softly.

“Moreover, important ministers and influential families have also sent envoys to Wuxian County to visit Mr. Zikun. Now that Mr. Zikun has not returned, if you, sir, also leave the city, there will be no one in the city to preside over the overall situation.”

Liu Bei sighed deeply upon hearing this, and said in a low voice.

“Jichang, am I being too selfish? The emperor's edict summoning Zikun to the capital to become an official is a good thing for Zikun, as it means promotion and increased rank. Moreover, Zikun's talent need no longer be confined to a mere commandery, and he may be able to benefit even more people.”

“It's just that I am truly reluctant in my heart. If Zikun leaves, it would be more than losing my arms for me. To be unwilling because of my own selfish desires, how base am I?”

“Now, I only hope that Zikun can spend one more Lunar New Year's Eve with me before entering the capital, so that I can express my gratitude to Zikun.”

“Without Zikun's help, I might still be a small vendor selling shoes and weaving mats. I don't know where I would be living now, let alone sitting in the Wu Commandery government office governing a region?”

Xiahou Bo silently listened to Liu Bei's soliloquy, without making a single unnecessary sound.

Xiahou Bo knew that Liu Bei was trying hard to convince himself, and did not think Liu Bei was base. On the contrary, he admired Liu Bei's open-mindedness.

Putting himself in his shoes.

Xiahou Bo admitted that if he were in Liu Bei's position, he might not be able to make such a decision, easily letting go of a great talent like Li Ji who assisted him, and respectfully sending him off to be promoted and enter the central government.

Now, Liu Bei's anxiety is more about hoping that Li Ji can return to Wuxian first and spend the festival with him, who is still his lord.

“Otherwise, this farewell will mean one side sitting in a border region, and the other sitting in the center. I don't know if there will be a chance to meet again in this lifetime.”

Liu Bei murmured, his heart filled with bitterness.

Especially since he had sent twelve letters in a row without receiving a reply, and even the people who were sent to deliver the letters had not returned to report.

Therefore, Liu Bei couldn't help but suspect that Li Ji had probably already met the envoy and then went directly to the capital with the envoy, which would explain this situation.

At this time, Jia Xu, who was about to come over to report the situation, looked at Liu Bei's lost and complex expression, and after a slight inner movement, he saluted and reported.

“My lord, the envoys from the General-in-Chief, the Yuan family, the Cao family, and the Zhong family are again inquiring about Zikun's whereabouts and the time of his return to Wuxian.”

Liu Bei waved his hand somewhat absentmindedly, and then said, “Thank you, Wenhe, for appeasing them.”

“A small matter.”

Jia Xu replied, and then reported, “Among them, the General-in-Chief and the Yuan family's envoys both requested to see you, my lord, but Wenhe used your indisposition as an excuse to turn them away.”

Liu Bei seemed to be touched by something, and his tone couldn't help but become a bit more angry as he shouted.

“Turn them away, turn them away! They are just asking about Zikun's whereabouts. I don't know, so what's the use of asking me?”

Previously, when Liu Bei did not know that the emperor had issued an edict for Li Ji to enter the court as an official, Liu Bei could be said to have happily entertained the envoys from the various important ministers or influential families who had arrived one step ahead.

When the envoy arrived in Wuxian and sought out Li Ji to read the edict, Liu Bei realized that Li Ji's reputation must have completely entered the ears of the emperor and many important ministers in Luoyang, and it seemed that he had received the emperor's favor, intending to employ and reuse Li Ji.

Therefore, the various important ministers and influential families moved upon hearing the news, and sent envoys in advance to win over and show goodwill to Li Ji.

This made Liu Bei completely lose the mood to deal with the envoys, and he completely handed it over to Jia Xu alone to perfunctorily deal with them.

Liu Bei took a few deep breaths, trying hard not to lose his composure, and his gaze fell on Jia Xu. He suddenly opened his mouth and said.

“Wenhe, Zikun is alone and weak in the capital. Since you have a great old friendship and relationship with Zikun, I wonder if you would be willing to enter the capital with Zikun to assist him?”

“If Wenhe intends to enter the capital, I will never stop you. I will order people to prepare gold, silver, and soft goods for Wenhe, and send a team of cavalry to escort Wenhe to the capital to reunite with Zikun.”

Jia Xu heard this and replied calmly.

“My lord, don't worry. With my understanding of Zikun, Zikun must not have met the envoy yet. The reason why he has not replied is that Zikun has been traveling around, so the messengers sent by you, my lord, have been constantly missing him and have not been able to find Zikun.”

“With Zikun's behavior, he would never not return to Wuxian. I expect he will arrive in Wuxian today.”

In the current entire Liu Bei group, the one who understands Li Ji the most is definitely not Liu Bei, but Jia Xu.

As Jia Xu, who knew what Li Ji was thinking when he assisted Liu Bei, Jia Xu knew that Li Ji would never abandon Liu Bei and enter Luoyang.

Therefore, in Jia Xu's opinion, Liu Bei's worries were completely unnecessary. Instead, what needed to be considered was how to reject the emperor's conscription.

Liu Bei's spirit was greatly lifted upon hearing this, and he confirmed.

“Wenhe, are you sure?”

“Eighty or ninety percent.” Jia Xu replied.

Immediately, Liu Bei seemed to have been injected with a lot of energy, sweeping away his depression and regaining his vigor. He strode towards the main hall and said.

“In that case, I will go to the north gate to wait. If Zikun returns, he must enter from the north gate.”

Jia Xu and Xiahou Bo saw this and quickly followed.

After Liu Bei excitedly arrived at the north gate of Wuxian, he did not go up to the city tower. Instead, he waited directly outside the city gate, and looked into the distance.

Looking at Liu Bei's hopeful appearance, Xiahou Bo couldn't help but ask Jia Xu in a low voice.

“Wenhe, you're not just comforting the lord, are you?”

“Don't worry.”

Jia Xu replied leisurely, and even couldn't help but look forward to what Li Ji's reaction would be when he found out that he had only been out for two months, but as a result, he was about to be 'sold' as soon as he returned home.

‘Probably… it will be very exciting, right?’

Thinking of this, Jia Xu's eyes couldn't help but brighten a bit.

Time passed quickly, and Liu Bei waited patiently even though the sun was already high in the sky.

Finally…

A team of cavalry appeared at the end of the line of sight, which made Jia Xu, who was already a little drowsy, invigorated. Liu Bei took the initiative to ride his horse to meet them.

As the distance between the two sides approached, Liu Bei clearly saw that the one at the front of the cavalry was Li Ji.

Li Ji, who was covered in dust, couldn't help but look quite surprised at Liu Bei's appearance, and muttered.

“How did you know that I would return at this moment, my lord?”

You must know that in order to return to Wuxian in time for Lunar New Year's Eve as Liu Bei had hoped, Li Ji had not even entered the city for supplies during this time. He had constantly gone deep to investigate the terrain in various places, and then went straight to the next place.

Except for sleeping and convenience, even eating was sometimes just dealt with with some dry food.

After seven days, not to mention a scholar like Li Ji, even Zhao Yun's face was filled with a strong look of exhaustion.

However, seeing that they were about to arrive in Wuxian, and everyone could spend the festival in Wuxian, almost everyone's face was filled with a strong sense of joy. For Liu Bei, who suddenly appeared in the distance and greeted them, everyone had a sense of flattered surprise.

Immediately, before Liu Bei had completely arrived in front of them, Li Ji and the many cavalrymen quickly stopped, and then dismounted and saluted Liu Bei.

“Greetings, my lord.”

“Everyone has worked hard, no need to be so polite, please rise quickly.”

Liu Bei also rode his horse to the front of the crowd, and replied happily. He also quickly dismounted and personally helped Li Ji up, and said with a complex expression.

“It's good that you're back. I am very happy that Zikun can come back first to spend the festival with me.”

?

Li Ji.

Listening to Liu Bei's tone, Li Ji inexplicably felt that something seemed a little wrong. Why did it feel like I shouldn't have come back?

Is it an illusion?

A few surprises appeared in Li Ji's heart, but he didn't know why, or it was just a simple illusion. He could only say.

“After receiving your letter seven days ago, I have been rushing all the way. Fortunately, I have completed the investigation of the five lakes in Wu Commandery and the northern terrain in time. After the festival, I can start to conceive the Wu Commandery water conservancy plan and start developing Wu Commandery.”

“After that, I will investigate the southern terrain of Wu Commandery and supplement the follow-up planning plan. In this way, it will only take three to five years to develop Wu Commandery according to the plan. Wu Commandery will be a fertile field, and the number of good fields may increase more than tenfold.”

When he said the last time, Li Ji, who was already full of fatigue between his eyebrows, couldn't help but reveal a bit of high spirits.

Once this matter is completed, not to mention the benefits of the present, it can be called a great achievement for thousands of years!

The fertile land of Jiangnan, which originally took seven or eight hundred years, during which refugees continued to migrate and wars continued, and the refugees independently and little by little reclaimed the good fields for survival and cultivation.

And the irrigation problems that were once imminent, and the gradually improved water conservancy, will be completely completed in three to five years.

Although it is not the entire land of Jiangnan, but only the land of Wu Commandery, and Li Ji still needs to use the power of a large number of refugees and prisoners of war, and may even have to completely empty 70% of the accumulation of the Wu Commandery aristocratic families to complete it, but that is enough.

Just as no one anticipated that later generations would catch up with other countries' centuries of development in just forty years, perhaps in three to five years, no one will be able to imagine the magnitude of the changes in Wu Commandery.

Starting from Wu Commandery, Li Ji will be able to leverage the great development of the entire Jiangnan region, completing the southward migration of the economy and population in a peaceful manner…

'The era will truly change because of this!'

Just as this thought surfaced in Li Ji's mind, and he felt a surge of excitement.

“None of that matters anymore, Zikun.”

Liu Bei's words immediately stunned Li Ji.