Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Seemingly, the position of Wu Commandery Administrator was a 2,000-dan salary rank, while the Inspector of Yang Province was only 600-dan, which appeared to be just a minor compensation.

Moreover, Dong Zhuo was appointed as the Inspector of Bing Province and concurrently the Grand Administrator of Hedong Commandery, which wasn't particularly unusual.

However, the situation wasn't that simple. The important thing wasn't the Inspector's salary, but the fact that the Inspector had the power to supervise all the Commandery Administrators and Chancellors within the province.

Especially with Liu Bei already being a Commandery Administrator in one area, the potential for manipulation was significant.

If handled well enough, Liu Bei could even use the Inspector's authority to impeach the Commandery Administrators of various commanderies in Yang Province, effectively acting as the Provincial Governor in disguise and secretly controlling the entire Yang Province.

"So, Zikun has decided to assassinate the envoy?" Jia Xu asked.

"No!"

"Hmm? Does Zikun really intend to go to the capital with the envoy?" Jia Xu asked with some surprise.

"I also don't want to go to the capital."

"Zikun, since you intend to accept the imperial decree, you either assassinate the envoy or go to the capital with him," Jia Xu reminded.

"What if I want to accept the imperial decree, but don't want to assassinate the envoy, and also don't want to go to the capital?" Li Ji said.

"I'm afraid there's no such good fortune," Jia Xu replied.

Li Ji's eyes flickered, and he didn't say anything more. Instead, he turned over on the couch and went to sleep.

This action left Jia Xu somewhat puzzled, and he asked.

"Zikun, what are you doing...?"

"Sleeping," Li Ji replied, waving his hand dismissively with his back turned.

"Huh? At the latest, the envoy will probably know about Zikun's return to Wu County tomorrow. The situation is so critical, how can you still sleep?" Jia Xu asked in surprise.

"If I don't sleep, what else can I do? I've been rushing around for seven days and I'm exhausted. If I don't catch up on sleep, I might actually die from overwork," Li Ji replied.

"Let me get a good night's sleep, and we'll talk about everything else when I wake up."

Jia Xu was about to speak when he suddenly thought of something, and a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes.

Afterwards, Jia Xu opened a blank bamboo slip in the study, wrote something on it, and then left on his own.

When Li Ji sensed Jia Xu's departure, he almost instantly fell into a deep sleep.

By the time Li Ji woke up, it was already dark.

While Li Ji was arranging for a meal, Xiahou Lan reported that Liu Bei had come to visit once, and after waiting for half an hour and seeing that Li Ji hadn't woken up.

After inquiring about Li Ji's recent busy schedule from Xiahou Lan, Liu Bei left on his own, and even specially arranged for soldiers to be stationed outside the residence to prevent anyone from disturbing Li Ji.

Immediately afterwards, Xiahou Lan had the doorman bring over a large number of visiting cards.

These were all left by the messengers from various families who had heard that Li Ji had returned to Wu County after Liu Bei left.

Fortunately, Liu Bei had arranged for soldiers to be stationed outside the residence, which blocked the messengers who came to visit one after another.

After Li Ji finished his meal, he took out the bamboo slip that Jia Xu had left in the study, which contained information about the messengers sent by each family.

This made Li Ji unable to help but sigh inwardly. Sometimes it's easier to talk to smart people. Even if some things are inconvenient to say, the other party will understand and provide assistance.

Afterwards, Li Ji compared the visiting cards left by the messengers of each family one by one with the bamboo slip.

By the time Li Ji slowly put down the last bamboo slip, it was already the beginning of Hai hour (9-11 PM).

Although it was still New Year's Eve, the curfew was still in effect tonight, and the entire Wu County was completely quiet.

"Mingzheng, come out with me," Li Ji instructed Xiahou Lan to carry the visiting cards on his back, then Li Ji changed into looser clothes, slightly to cover his face.

Afterwards, Li Ji led Xiahou Lan straight towards the residences or post houses where Liu Bei had placed the messengers from various families.

Along the way, Li Ji did encounter several groups of commandery soldiers patrolling after the curfew, but Li Ji, as the Assistant Administrator of Wu Commandery, was questioned by the commandery soldiers as to why he was not obeying the curfew order.

That would be no different from someone in the hall suing this official.

After Li Ji showed the official seal proving his identity, Li Ji naturally arrived smoothly in front of a residence in the curfewed Wu County.

He Residence!

The messenger sent by General-in-Chief He Jin was none other than his half-brother He Miao, so Liu Bei specially prepared a residence for He Miao as a temporary residence.

Li Ji recalled the information about He Miao that Jia Xu had written on the bamboo slip, and his expression couldn't help but become a bit strange.

As for why he was his half-brother, that was related to the quite open atmosphere of the Han Dynasty.

The legacy of Wei Wu wasn't just Cao Cao alone, but a large group of people represented by Cao Cao!

Simply put, the relationship between General-in-Chief He Jin and He Miao was roughly similar to the relationship between Xia Yu and Liu Xing (characters in a Chinese sitcom).

He Miao's biological mother remarried He Jin's biological father, and then He Jin's biological father and He Miao's biological mother gave birth to the current Empress He, so although He Miao and He Jin were half-brothers, He Miao was also a proper member of the imperial family.

'A dark and windy night is the perfect time for secret plots...'

Li Ji rubbed the visiting card, then signaled Xiahou Lan to go up and knock on the door to deliver the visiting card.

Soon, Li Ji was welcomed in.

However, He Miao didn't personally greet Li Ji, but waited for Li Ji in the main hall, fully displaying his status as a member of the imperial family.

However, Li Ji didn't care about the airs of a pawn, and wouldn't argue with a dying man.

The so-called imperial relatives of the Han Dynasty, even if they had great power for a time, none of them had a good ending.

Every imperial relative had not learned any lessons from history, and still went their own way, still had great power, still controlled the government, and finally still died and their clans were destroyed.

He Miao's every move in his brief interaction with Li Ji fully revealed He Miao's arrogance. He even directly expressed his satisfaction with Li Ji's sensible visit.

After Li Ji talked with He Miao for a while, he left He Residence under He Miao's satisfied gaze, and then went to the post station to visit the messengers of each family one by one.

What made Li Ji slightly concerned was that the Yuan family had sent two messengers, Xu You sent by Yuan Shao, and Yan Xiang sent by Yuan Shu.

The struggle between the Yuan family's twins was undoubtedly becoming more and more intense.

Most of these messengers also came to win over Li Ji and express their friendship.

In addition, even Liu Yan had sent a messenger, and after some inquiries, Li Ji learned that the "Provincial Governor Policy" had been approved.

Of course, not every province would have a Provincial Governor. The current Emperor's intention was clearly only to set up Provincial Governors in those areas where rebellions were rampant and too remote, in order to maintain rule.

Due to Yizhou's unique geographical location, Liu Yan also successfully won the position of Provincial Governor of Yizhou, and will go to Yizhou to take office next year.

In addition, the Emperor also intends to set up a Provincial Governor in Jiaozhou, the most remote place in the entire Han Dynasty.

Seizing territory is about to begin...

In this regard, Li Ji was somewhat looking forward to it, understanding that after Liu Yan took office as the Provincial Governor of Yizhou, he would truly start the situation of heroes seizing territory in the entire Han Dynasty.

Among them, Liu Yan took the lead in raising bandits to build up his own power, disobeying orders, and before Emperor Ling's death, he directly controlled Zhang Lu in Hanzhong to launch a rebellion, cutting off the passage between the imperial court and Yizhou, thus rightfully starting to seize territory.

This approach was undoubtedly similar to the suggestion Jia Xu had made earlier. Although it was too blatant and tried to cover it up, it also made the imperial court helpless against Liu Yan, completely losing control of Yizhou.

For Li Ji, tonight was undoubtedly a busy night, going in and out of rooms to communicate in depth with the messengers of each family.

By the time Li Ji returned to the residence, he was already exhausted and his legs were weak.

Fortunately, Li Ji was quite satisfied with the results of this time, and fell asleep as soon as he returned to the residence.

The next day.

Liu Bei came to visit Li Ji almost early in the morning, not talking about government affairs, and not even acting like a lord at all.

Instead, Liu Bei was more like a close friend who was reluctant to part, sitting opposite Li Ji, with a pot of fine wine and a cup of clear tea, talking and laughing about the past and looking forward to the future.

Liu Bei even personally measured Li Ji's foot size, saying that the festival was approaching, and there seemed to be nothing he could give to Li Ji, so he planned to make a pair of straw sandals for Li Ji himself.

Li Ji knew Liu Bei's true thoughts, and while feeling moved, he understood that although it was not appropriate for Liu Bei, as a Commandery Administrator, to continue weaving mats and selling shoes, he felt Liu Bei's sincere friendship.

Li Ji did not stop Liu Bei, but gladly expressed his expectation.

Perhaps weaving mats and selling shoes did not fit the identity of a Commandery Administrator, but Li Ji did not think there was anything wrong with it.

For Liu Bei, it was not necessary to be proficient in military and political strategies, but not forgetting his original intention was more important than anything else.

Only in this way can he go from beginning to end, and only then can he reach the other side he truly wants to reach, and not be led astray by the scenery along the way.

For Liu Bei, however, time seemed to pass quickly, and before he could sit down and chat leisurely with Li Ji, there were still many unfinished words in his heart, someone came to report that the envoy had arrived in Wu County.

At this moment, a bit of ferocity flashed in Liu Bei's eyes, and for the first time, he developed a bit of disrespect for the envoy of the Emperor he respected in his heart.

Why... did he come back so fast?!

However, Liu Bei could only quickly arrange for his subordinates to prepare the ceremony required to receive the decree at the government office, and then hurriedly returned to the government office with Li Ji to burn incense and respectfully welcome the arrival of the Emperor's envoy.

Soon, the eunuch holding the scepter representing the Emperor's envoy arrived in front of the Wu County government office, with a white face and no beard, and seemed to have deliberately tidied up his appearance before arriving at the government office, but still couldn't hide his tired look.

After all the procedures were quickly completed, the eunuch opened the imperial decree and began to read it out.

“In the twelfth month of the first year of Zhongping, I, your Emperor, heard that Yan Baihu was rebelling in Wu Commandery…”

The content was similar to what Jia Xu had previously inquired about. After praising Liu Bei and Li Ji's achievements, Liu Bei was promoted to "Inspector of Yang Province," and Li Ji was ordered to go to the capital to meet the Emperor for further awards and titles.

After the imperial edict was read, Liu Bei felt no joy in his heart. Instead, he led Li Ji to receive the edict with a gloomy expression.

However, just as the eunuch's eyes fell on Li Ji and he was about to say something, there was a sudden commotion from behind.

“Hold on, you eunuch dog!”