Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

"Me?"

Jia Xu pointed at himself, confirming with Li Ji again.

Li Ji, with a gentlemanly demeanor, said sincerely, "Besides Wen He, I truly can't think of anyone else in Yingzhou who could do this."

Jia Xu opened his mouth, wanting to refute Li Ji, but then realized that Li Ji was right.

In terms of ability, both Li Ji and Jia Xu were certainly capable of secretly manipulating the Wa Kingdom to implement a "caste system," but the implementation of the "caste system" was not just a rough outline described on bamboo slips, but also involved details in every aspect.

In particular, the "caste system" also needed to be deeply integrated with the Wa Kingdom's internal beliefs about ghosts and gods in order to completely instill the idea of the "caste system" into the bones of everyone in the Wa Kingdom, from top to bottom.

But precisely because of this, Li Ji could not actively participate in it, at least not on the surface, otherwise it would easily create an image of "wanting to have it both ways."

In addition, Li Ji also needed to oversee a large number of mining development matters every day, including all aspects of excavation, refining, transportation, and so on.

All kinds of complicated matters, because almost every step required the use of a large amount of Wa Kingdom labor, could be said to involve many interests.

Apart from Li Ji, even Jia Xu might not be able to handle it in an orderly manner.

Jia Xu wanted to decline, but after a long while, he couldn't find a reasonable excuse.

"Very well."

Jia Xu reluctantly agreed, but the look he gave Li Ji couldn't help but contain a hint of resentment.

Li Ji patted Jia Xu on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Wen He, I can only trouble you a little more.

The rise of a force is like a tree that is growing vigorously, and some people are needed to be like the roots, buried in the unseen and dark underground, constantly transporting nutrients to the tree."

"And you, Jia Wenhe, my dear friend! In my eyes, you are as low-key and important as the roots.

Even if you are in the darkness, I will never forget your contribution."

Jia Xu sneered, pushed away Li Ji's hand on his shoulder, and said, "Zikun, you should use these words to deceive your little book boy.

I am already forty-one years old, and it is difficult for me to be moved by this, and I don't want to rot in the ground without anyone knowing."

Li Ji shrugged helplessly, secretly lamenting that his charm and bewitchment were still far from comparable to Liu Bei, and then said, "My lord sees me as the foundation soil, while I see Wen He as the roots.

As long as the soil remains, how can the roots rot?"

"These words are barely acceptable."

At this point, a smile finally appeared on Jia Xu's face, and then he discussed the issue of implementing the "caste system" in depth with Li Ji.

These two could be considered the top wise men of the world, and they discussed it for two consecutive days before they truly finalized all aspects of the details of implementing the caste system.

The overall idea was to start with the monarchy and the beliefs about ghosts and gods, and while promoting the mutual integration of the monarchy and the beliefs about ghosts and gods, to completely solidify the "caste system" as the core of the integration into the bones of the Wa people.

In the Wa Kingdom, there was no voice against the Han Dynasty, and Jia Xu had already secretly controlled the Wa Kingdom from top to bottom, which made the entire Yingzhou seem like a puppet that could be manipulated at will under Jia Xu's brilliant methods.

On the surface, under Himiko's strong advocacy, national policies called "caste system" and "seclusion" were quickly implemented within the Wa Kingdom.

And these two national policies also had sufficient reasons for being implemented in the Wa Kingdom.

"Seclusion" was nominally to prevent foreign enemies from invading Yingzhou, and the "caste system" was ostensibly of absolute benefit to the ruling class, and would naturally be sought after by countless Wa people.

At this moment, the common people within Yingzhou originally had no human rights or status to speak of, and the channels for advancement were also almost non-existent.

The status of "miners" in the "caste system" was equal to that of "warriors," which undoubtedly made countless Wa people regard this poison as a delicious delicacy.

Throughout the entire process, neither Li Ji nor the Han army interfered in any way, only assisting the Wa Kingdom in quelling some rebellions in various places and promoting the development of one mine after another.

And with the implementation of the "caste system," one Wa person after another not only did not resist mining in the slightest, but instead flocked to it, regarding it as a channel for advancement, and did not hesitate to abandon their fields.

As the driving force behind these systems, watching the changes taking place in the Wa Kingdom, they felt chills in their hearts, understanding that the Wa Kingdom, in a sense, had already begun to slide irreversibly into the abyss.

The implementation of the caste system and the increase in the status of miners undoubtedly caused the status of more Wa peasants to completely slide into the abyss.

Especially under Jia Xu's means of playing with people's hearts, the entire upper class of the Wa Kingdom had regarded tea and porcelain as elegant and treasures, and began to constantly pursue tea and porcelain, and signed various trade agreements with Li Ji.

Tea, porcelain, refined salt, and other elegant items pursued by the upper class of the Wa Kingdom were the trade returns that the Wa Kingdom needed.

In the eyes of the Wa Kingdom's lord and a group of nobles, the Wa Kingdom was able to unify Yingzhou because the Han envoy Li Ji led the Han army like divine soldiers descending from the sky, sweeping across the land.

Moreover, the Han envoy Li Ji even showed miracles surpassing the gods, executing Himiko with the "Punishment of Sunlight."

Therefore, the nobles of the Wa Kingdom, from top to bottom, did not feel that there was any problem with respecting the Han Emperor and the Han envoy as a "superior" class above the lord of the country.

And there was no currency in gold and silver within Yingzhou for the time being.

Even if some nobles knew that gold and silver were valuable outside of Yingzhou, in the current trend of worshiping the Han Dynasty that swept through Yingzhou, the Wa Kingdom nobles felt that the tea, porcelain, refined salt, and other items used by the Han envoy were the most noble.

In addition, with Li Ji's absolute prestige in Yingzhou today, not only would no one speak out against it, but many nobles from top to bottom felt that they had gotten a great bargain.

It was clear that the Han envoy could directly take away those minerals as a reward for helping the Wa Kingdom unify Yingzhou, but the Han envoy actually used tea, porcelain, refined salt, and other items as trade, which was really too... "yasashi" (kind).

Jia Xu, who was already proficient in the Wa language, couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth every time he heard the consistent comments about Li Ji from the Wa Kingdom noble groups.

When the "seclusion," "caste system," and various mine developments within the Wa Kingdom had gradually stabilized, Li Ji prepared to lead his troops to leave Yingzhou.

Jia Xu looked at Himiko and the Wa Kingdom nobles, one by one, crying to death, looking extremely reluctant, and even sighed faintly, and then went back to the cabin first, lest he laugh out loud in such a solemn occasion.

"Lord Jia, why... why did you leave first?" Himiko asked in broken Han Chinese.

Li Ji replied with a kind and majestic look, "Perhaps Wen He has a deep affection for the lord of the country and does not want to shed tears in public."

Immediately, these words brought another burst of crying.

It should be known that Jia Xu's gentlemanly demeanor also had extremely high prestige among the Wa Kingdom nobles, otherwise it would not have attracted countless nobles to pursue tea, porcelain, and other items.

In fact, Li Ji also felt quite uncomfortable.

Being treated by a group of Wa people as if they were recognizing a thief as their father, Li Ji, as a person with a conscience, would also feel considerable psychological pressure.

Especially since no matter how much he despised the Wa people in his heart, in order to maintain his image, Li Ji still had to act as a Han envoy.

"Lord Han Envoy, Lord Han Envoy, if you are no longer in Yingzhou, what should I do?" Himiko asked nervously.

"There is no need to worry.

In order to protect the Wa Kingdom's stability, this envoy has left 5,000 elite Han troops in the Han army garrison.

As long as the lord cherishes respect for the Great Han, it will definitely ensure that the lord's position will not be unstable in the slightest."

These words made Himiko and a group of nobles even more grateful and tearful.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, a consensus had already formed within Yingzhou, that is, the Han people were born to be much stronger than the Wa people.

Therefore, under Li Ji's invisible influence, there were actually no soldiers in Yingzhou who were truly used for foreign wars.

Instead, the "warrior" class was used as a violent institution to suppress the riots of the lower-level common people.

As for resisting possible foreign enemies, it was the responsibility of the Great Han garrison, and the Great Han garrison's military grain supply was also the responsibility of the Wa Kingdom.

And the candidates left by Li Ji in the Han army garrison in Yingzhou, in addition to Gan Ning, who led 5,000 naval forces, also included Luo Bin, who was Li Ji's representative.

However, as the situation in the Wa Kingdom completely stabilized, Luo Bin, who remained in the Wa Kingdom, was actually a symbolic figure, in addition to monitoring whether there would be any tendencies within the Wa Kingdom that were unfavorable to the Great Han.

At this point, it could be said that Yingzhou had completely become Li Ji's shape, trapped in the cage of "seclusion" and "caste system," and would continuously transport countless minerals to the Liu Bei Group.

After experiencing a grand farewell ceremony that would be engraved in the history of the Wa Kingdom, under the kneeling farewell of countless Wa people led by Himiko, Li Ji boarded the "Yingzhou" and led his army to return to Wu Commandery.

At this moment, Li Ji looked at the endless sea, and a few hints of eagerness and longing couldn't help but appear in his eyes.

When he led his army to leave Wu Commandery, it was still the fourth year of Zhongping, and now it was already June of the sixth year of Zhongping!

In these full two years, separated by thousands of miles of waves, although letters from Liu Bei and Zhaoji were often sent, it also made Li Ji unconsciously feel a deep longing.

And not only Li Ji, but the soldiers from top to bottom all had a homesickness, and were quite eager to return to Wu Commandery.

In addition, Li Ji, who was also paying attention to the changes in the situation of the Great Han, stared at the sea, and his brows were unconsciously deeply furrowed, silently reciting the news that had been transmitted to Yingzhou not long ago.

The current Emperor, Liu Hong… passed away in April!

This was also the main reason why Li Ji urgently and swiftly led the army back to Wu Commandery from Yingzhou!

(End of Chapter)