Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Busy with proper business?

Li Ji didn't dwell on this.

Xiahou Bo is undoubtedly a key figure in Liu Bei's group, responsible not only for Liu Bei's protection and Wu County's security but also as the commander of the Brocade-Clothed Guard.

Among all the military generals, although Xiahou Bo doesn't have the authority to command troops and isn't suitable for leading armies on the battlefield, his power and status are now second only to Guan Yu.

This is undoubtedly Liu Bei's way of repaying Xiahou Bo for his past contributions, granting him sufficient trust and status.

Therefore, with the influx of scholars into Wu County and the establishment of the "Ren De Academy," it's not surprising that Xiahou Bo has a lot to handle.

Soon after, Li Ji and Liu Bei returned to the government office to discuss the issue of scholars serving as temporary officials.

The Han Dynasty obviously didn't have the concept of "temporary workers"; official positions were strictly allocated, but for Li Ji, this was just a matter of flexibility.

Even… salary?

Forget about it!

The scholars should be grateful to Liu Bei for providing a platform to prove their abilities, and this is also an assessment for entering the inner school of the "Ren De Academy."

Liu Bei hasn't charged the scholars any fees for participating in the assessment, already showing his care for the poor students and his benevolence.

Those who demand a salary… what are they thinking?

Guaranteeing three meals a day and issuing robes symbolizing their status as temporary officials is the limit.

Furthermore, under Li Ji's reminder, Liu Bei's future work focus will also be on winning over the hearts of refugees and scholars.

Refugees aside, compared to winning over the local people, Liu Bei can undoubtedly more easily win the hearts of those displaced refugees.

As foreign refugees continue to dilute into Wu County, it will constantly create an atmosphere of reverence for Liu Bei, driving more local people and thus forming a virtuous cycle.

When a superior is revered and followed by countless people, Li Ji knows very well the extent of the power that can be unleashed.

Not to mention restoring the Han Dynasty, even changing the world would be easy.

As for winning over the hearts of the scholars, it will allow Liu Bei to firmly control the loyalty of the officials.

This is not only for Liu Bei's control of Wu County, but in a sense, it is also for Li Ji's own sake and the future of the entire Liu Bei group.

As long as Liu Bei has sufficient control over the middle and lower-level officials, then even if Li Ji and other important officials hold high positions and wield great power, it won't arouse any suspicion from Liu Bei.

Of course, perhaps Liu Bei hasn't realized this yet, but that's not important.

As a subordinate, Li Ji will preemptively eliminate any risks that may threaten the relationship between the lord and his ministers, and thereby respond to Liu Bei's trust, proving that he hasn't let Liu Bei down.

'My lord, perhaps it will be many years before you realize the benefits of winning over the hearts of more middle and lower-level officials…'

Li Ji thought to himself, watching Liu Bei leave the government office before returning to the main hall.

After all, Li Ji hasn't appeared in the government office for several days and needs to see how his little tool, Gu Yong, is doing, lest he actually die from overwork.

Of course, if Gu Yong dares to slack off, Li Ji wouldn't mind giving him another beating.

However, when Li Ji entered the main hall, he found that besides Gu Yong being buried in handling government affairs, Mi Zhu was also there, and seemed to be helping Gu Yong share some of the trivial tasks.

"Zi Zhong!"

Li Ji called out.

Mi Zhu, seeing this, quickly stood up and bowed to Li Ji.

"Lord County Assistant."

Li Ji stepped forward and pulled Mi Zhu to sit down, saying, "Zi Zhong, you don't need to be so polite. You and I are close in age and will be colleagues in the future, so you can call me by my courtesy name."

However, Mi Zhu, as a merchant, seemed to be more concerned with etiquette and still bowed respectfully.

"Yes, Mr. Zi Kun."

Li Ji didn't mind and instead took out tea sets to brew fragrant tea, personally pouring a cup for Mi Zhu before asking.

"Zi Zhong, it seems you've finally finished counting the treasury and granary?"

Previously, the matters that Li Ji needed to handle were as numerous as hairs, and the manpower within the government office was also severely insufficient.

Therefore, a large amount of money and grain was sent into the treasury and granary, but Li Ji never had the energy to conduct a detailed inventory. He could only send key personnel to guard the two places, and all money and grain entering and leaving required a warrant from either Liu Bei or Li Ji to strictly control them.

And after Mi Zhu took over the finances of Wu County, his first priority was naturally to count the treasury and granary of Wu County.

"Exactly. This is the detailed account. Please review it, Mr. Zi Kun."

Mi Zhu said and then took out a carefully preserved bamboo scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Li Ji.

Li Ji raised an eyebrow, took the bamboo scroll, and opened it to read.

Mi Zhu's ability in finance is undoubtedly unquestionable. The various details recorded on the bamboo scroll are quite clear, and even the previous entries and exits of the treasury have been completely supplemented and registered.

As Li Ji read along and roughly compared the money and grain consumption in his memory to confirm that there were no problems, he finally saw the amount of money and grain registered on the last bamboo scroll.

Even though Li Ji had a rough estimate of this number, he couldn't help but smile when he saw it clearly calculated.

Ten figures…

The aristocratic families are always worth expecting!

It's just a pity that this time, even the roots have been completely pulled out, and they can't be cut and regrown like chives.

In the future, there won't be such good things anymore.

For stability, rules need to be followed, and even if you want to harvest chives, you need to find a reasonable excuse.

And Mi Zhu, watching Li Ji seem to be maintaining a state of thinking for a long time, couldn't help but ask.

"Mr. Zi Kun, there is one thing I have never understood, and that is how Mr. Zi Kun managed to fill the treasury to this extent in such a short time?"

Mi Zhu is extremely sensitive to money and grain, and the Mi family's business spans several states, so he also has some understanding of Wu County's tax revenue.

It can be said that the current money and grain in Wu County's treasury and granary are more than if Wu County's taxes for ten years were collected all at once.

"Zi Zhong doesn't need to care about such trivial matters…"

Li Ji laughed and didn't want to talk about the topic of "killing and arson make you rich" with a gentleman like Mi Zhu.

After all, even if he taught Mi Zhu how to quickly accumulate wealth in the event of a fiscal deficit, Mi Zhu wouldn't be able to do such a thing.

And when that step really comes, Li Ji will support Jia Xu to be responsible for finance and try to trick Jia Xu into making a military order to guarantee finance.

If he can't do it, then cut off Jia Xu's head.

Presumably, Jia Xu will naturally find a way to quickly fill the financial hole, and Mi Zhu doesn't need to worry about it.

Of course, in the road that Li Ji has paved for Liu Bei and Wu, a large number of corpses of Wu County's aristocratic families have been buried under the road, and there will hardly be a point where the finances collapse.

Before the money and grain in the current treasury and granary are exhausted, Li Ji will let Wu County enter a virtuous cycle.

"Zi Zhong, I have an idea. Please listen and see if it's feasible."

Mi Zhu, who also respects Li Ji quite a bit, said solemnly upon hearing this, "Please speak, Mr. Zi Kun. Mi Zhu is all ears."

Li Ji slightly organized his words and said the previous idea, saying.

"The 'Ren De Academy' is about to be completed. The inner school aside, the outer school doesn't have a threshold and will inevitably attract a large number of people who intend to study. It's just that the 'Ren De Academy' is twenty miles away from Wu County…"

"Not to mention whether it's too much of a waste of time for those people to travel back and forth between the 'Ren De Academy' and Wu County every day, and many students are quite poor and unable to afford the high cost of accommodation in Wu County. It seems that Wu County will also be difficult to accommodate the increasingly large flow of people."

Mi Zhu listened and nodded slightly, understanding that what Li Ji said would inevitably become a reality.

Nowadays, cities have walls on the edges for security and safety reasons.

And the benefits of the city walls are self-evident, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, they completely limit the development potential of a city and limit the upper limit of the number of people it can accommodate.

Even now, Li Ji already feels crowded every day when he walks around Wu County.

It is conceivable that as Wu County continues to absorb refugees, the "Ren De Academy" and the continuous attraction of scholars, merchants, or aspiring rangers, civilians, etc. from all sides, Wu County will inevitably be difficult to bear.

"Then Mr. Zi Kun's meaning is… to develop the outer city?" Mi Zhu asked.

"No!"

Li Ji shook his head, then took a map of the surrounding area of Wu County from the shelf on the side of the main hall and opened it in front of Mi Zhu, drawing a circle on the edge of Tai Lake with the location of the "Ren De Academy" as the center, saying.

"In my opinion, it's better to take the 'Ren De Academy' as the center and continuously improve various buildings according to the needs of the flow of people, and eventually… perhaps a wall-less city will be built."

Mi Zhu was also shocked by Li Ji's ambition upon hearing this.

With a casual point, he wants a wall-less city to rise from the ground?

However, Mi Zhu thought carefully along Li Ji's train of thought and suddenly felt that this proposal actually didn't have any risks.

The most important point is that this wall-less city is built and expanded bit by bit based on the flow of people.

As a merchant, Mi Zhu is very clear that even without government intervention, a market will spontaneously form in an area when the flow of people reaches a certain level.

Li Ji's proposal is just to put this market under the jurisdiction of the government in advance and plan it in advance.

The only risk lies in the initial investment for this "market."

However, considering the reputation and scale of "Rende Academy," that risk, judged from a businessman's perspective, is negligible.

Which is to say...

Feasible!

As Mi Zhu gradually calmed down, the more he imagined it, the more feasible it seemed, and his eyes couldn't help but light up. (End of Chapter)