Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Therefore, Liu Yan's bottom line was very clear: he could provide more grain, but if Li Ji requested that Liu Yan grant Liu Bei a position as a commandery administrator in Yi Province, that was absolutely impossible.

Yi Province had no land where Liu Bei could settle.

It could even be said that if Liu Bei really entered Shu, Liu Yan felt he would probably have sleepless nights.

After Liu Yan discussed all the details with Liu Zhang and reminded him of the key points for his visit to Wu Commandery, Liu Yan summoned Zhao Yun again, stating his decision.

When Zhao Yun heard that the Governor of Yi Province, Liu Yan, was preparing to send his son with Zhao Yun to visit Li Ji in Wu Commandery, and that he had prepared 300,000 dan of grain as a gift,

Even the steady Zhao Yun was somewhat stunned and even suspected he had misheard.

Zhao Yun was all too aware of the extent of the grain shortage in Wu Commandery.

Li Ji and Mi Zhu had been fiercely discussing the matter of money and grain almost every few days, and the refugee camps in the front were also trying every possible way to reduce the consumption of money and grain.

What exactly did Master Zikun write in the bamboo slips that made the Governor of Yi Province bring a gift of 300,000 dan to visit Wu Commandery in return?

At this moment, Zhao Yun suddenly felt that the so-called 'a word worth a thousand gold pieces' was far less than Master Zikun's contribution.

Exchanging a bamboo slip for 300,000 dan of grain was unimaginable…

Even as Zhao Yun escorted Liu Zhang out of Luo County, the current seat of government of Yi Province, with a group of guards, Zhao Yun still felt like he was in a dream.

As for the massive 300,000 dan of grain, it was naturally not transported little by little from Luo County to Wu Commandery by land.

Otherwise, given the difficult roads around Yi Province, it would probably take a year and a half to transport it to Wu Commandery.

Therefore, Liu Yan mainly mobilized the grain from the Ba Commandery area in the southern part of Yi Province, directly entering the Yangtze River from Ba-Shu and heading downstream along the Yangtze River straight to Wu Commandery.

As Zhao Yun followed Liu Zhang to Ba Commandery, witnessing the continuous loading of grain onto ships, his heart could not help but be excited.

He understood that as long as this grain was sent to Wu Commandery, not only would the grain shortage in Wu Commandery be resolved, but the lives of many refugees could also be saved.

However, the massive quantity of 300,000 dan of grain required a slow collection from the major granaries, even with the abundance of the land of Shu, and loading the ships would also take a lot of time.

Moreover, Zhao Yun knew that this grain was of great significance, and the sooner Li Ji knew about this news, the better prepared Wu Commandery could be.

Immediately, in addition to Zhao Yun continuing to stay in Ba Commandery to protect Liu Zhang and the grain, all the personal guards who had come to Yi Province with Zhao Yun were dispersed to different ships and sent to Wu Commandery to ensure that the news could be conveyed to Li Ji as early and as quickly as possible.

…

And Zhao Yun's judgment was correct; what Li Ji was waiting for was this news!

As Zhao Yun's personal guards returned from Yi Province one after another, reporting the news to Li Ji,

After mutual verification to ensure the authenticity of the news, even Li Ji's face could not help but reveal a look of joy and relief.

The grain shortage crisis in Wu Commandery had been resolved!

With the grain sent from Shu, these refugees who were constantly pouring in from the Central Plains would not only not become an obstacle to Wu Commandery, but could also greatly accelerate the development of Wu Commandery through the method of 'relief through work'.

Moreover, Zhao Yun acted as cautiously and steadily as always, and the personal guards sent back in advance promptly informed him of the news, which could be regarded as solving Li Ji's current major problem.

Currently, the number of refugees gathered in the refugee camps in the northern part of Wu Commandery had exceeded 200,000.

Jian Yong was so busy that he was about to break down, but he was completely unable to manage and control the refugee camps.

Refugees had already begun to spread to the surrounding Dantu County, and various security incidents had begun to occur frequently.

More than 200,000…

Even if they were not soldiers, but refugees who were weak from hunger, they could not be easily controlled by ordinary people.

It could even be said that no one in the entire Wu Commandery, from top to bottom, including Li Ji, had the ability to easily command 200,000 people.

If Zhao Yun's news was delayed for a few more days, in order to be safe, Li Ji would have to choose to start more high-pressure patrols by Zhang Fei, to prevent the unorganized refugees from impacting the local people of Wu Commandery, and also to divert some of the refugees to other commanderies in Yang Province first.

Now, as news from the Central Plains continues to come, there has been a preliminary estimate of the impact of this natural and man-made disaster.

This drought and plague directly or indirectly affected more than three million people, and more than one million people were forced to flee for their lives as refugees.

Among them, about 800,000 refugees were fleeing south.

Moreover, since Liu Bei had also been absorbing refugees and promoting the name of benevolence, almost all the refugees fleeing south were constantly flocking towards Wu Commandery.

Therefore, the 200,000 refugees currently gathered in the northern part of Wu Commandery can only be regarded as a beginning, and there are more refugees slowly moving towards Wu Commandery within Xu Province, and there are also refugees in the Central Plains fleeing towards Xu Province.

Now that there was definite news from Yi Province, and Liu Zhang himself was bringing 300,000 dan of grain to visit, Li Ji could boldly use the grain reserves of Wu Commandery to start making arrangements.

Immediately, Li Ji no longer hesitated and directly prepared to launch the 'relief through work' plan.

With Liu Bei not in Wu Commandery, Li Ji, who held the commandery administrator's seal, the commandery assistant's seal, and the tiger tally at the same time, almost had the final say in the entire Wu Commandery.

Under the premise of having prepared a series of engineering plans long ago, Li Ji also mobilized the counties up and down Wu Commandery in advance to make a series of preparations.

Including Wu County, there were a total of 15 counties in Wu Commandery, and all the county magistrates of all the counties had been summoned to Wu County in advance by Li Ji.

The next day, Li Ji, who had prepared for a whole night, summoned all the county magistrates to the government office early in the morning for a meeting.

Li Ji, who wished he could divide every minute into two, originally had no intention of wasting words with these county magistrates who came from complex backgrounds and had different abilities.

When Li Ji arrived in the main hall and glanced around, he found that one county magistrate was missing.

Gu Yong, who was responsible for some miscellaneous matters of the meeting beside Li Ji, said,

"The magistrate of Qiantang County was drunk last night and has not woken up yet. I have sent a minor official to the post station to call him."

(PS: There is no typo. This period was called Qiantang County, not Qiantang.)

"No need to call him."

Li Ji waved his hand, glanced over the many county magistrates below, and then said,

"200,000 refugees are in the north and cannot fill their stomachs, and he is ordered to be on standby in the city at all times, yet he dares to be drunk? Yuan Tan, take my warrant and go to the post station to take off his official seal, and then hang his head on the city gate for public display for seven days."

In an instant, the faces of most of the county officials present turned pale almost instantly.

Some county officials, who claimed to have connections in the county and privately had many complaints about Liu Bei and Li Ji, only felt cold sweat pouring out of their bodies.

Among them, three or five county officials were so frightened that their hands hidden in their sleeves were constantly shaking, and they were the ones who drank with the Qiantang County official last night.

As county officials, it was inevitable to have some exchanges when they had the opportunity to meet and gather together.

However, their alcohol tolerance was much stronger than that of the Qiantang County official, so they had received Li Ji's order early and arrived at the government office in time.

The Qiantang County magistrate, who was drunk all night and had not sobered up, seemed to have become an unlucky person.

However, there was also a county magistrate who mustered up his courage and said loudly,

"Commandery… Commandery Assistant, the magistrate of Qiantang County does not deserve to die. If he is killed for this reason, I am afraid that it will not convince the public, and the people in Qiantang County will also be in panic."

Li Ji heard this and turned his gaze to the county magistrate who spoke.

With just one glance, the county magistrate was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head and dared not look directly at Li Ji.

"In a year of disaster, as the magistrate of one side, he indulges in drinking and revelry. Why is it wrong to kill him?"

Li Ji asked back, causing the faces of the county magistrates present to turn a shade paler.

If this was the reason, randomly picking three out of the fourteen county magistrates present and killing one would probably not be considered a wrongful death.

As for which county magistrates gathered to drink last night, how could Li Ji not know?

Even what some county magistrates said when they were drunk was clearly recorded by the Brocade-Clad Guards and handed over to Li Ji.

"You are the magistrate of Yuhang County, right?"

Li Ji looked at the county magistrate who spoke.

The county magistrate quickly replied, "This official is indeed the magistrate of Yuhang County."

"Yuhang is a good place, but what you said last night was a bit unfair to the people of Yuhang, wasn't it? Zhao's third daughter is only fifteen years old, but you forcibly took her as your fifth concubine, and you even boasted of being a 'seven times a night man'. Isn't that a bit rude?"

Li Ji said meaningfully, each word seemed to be knocking on the depths of the Yuhang County magistrate's heart, making his heart and liver feel a shock.

Why did Li Ji know so much about what he said while drinking last night, and even the tone seemed to be quite similar, as if he had heard the whole process from the side.

For a time, the other county magistrates were also frightened and lowered their heads, completely不敢与李基直视.

As for this Yuhang mighty man county magistrate, who claimed to be a 'seven times a night man', he was almost sweating profusely, and although he was a young and strong physique, he tremblingly said,

"Commandery Assistant, Your Excellency, that… that was all bragging… boasting, I can't even manage seven breaths in one night, no… no 'seven times a night man'."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Li Ji nodded, then turned his gaze to Gu Yong, who was still standing still beside him, and asked,

"Yuan Tan, why haven't you gone yet?"

Gu Yong, who had been waiting for Li Ji to have a showdown with the county magistrates and decide a winner, so as not to be affected by himself, the executioner, asked in feigned confusion at this moment,

"Commandery Assistant, if the head is hung on the city gate for public display for seven days, what about the body?"

"Didn't the magistrate of Yuhang County just worry that Qiantang would be panicked because of this? Then the body should be sent directly back to Qiantang and hung on the city gate to calm people's hearts."

Li Ji said lightly, but it sounded like a thunderclap in the ears of the many county magistrates.

Brutal!

Too brutal!

After a pause, Li Ji looked at the empty seat reserved for the Qian Tang County Magistrate and said.

"Also, Yuan Tan, go and see if Xu Wen, the Qian Tang County Deputy, has sobered up. He will be the new Qian Tang County Magistrate. Tell him to come to the yamen to receive orders immediately."

"Yes."

Under the fearful and apprehensive gazes of the many county magistrates, Gu Yong took Li Ji's warrant, mobilized a detachment of commandery soldiers, and left the yamen directly in the direction of the posthouse.

(End of this chapter)