Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Chapter 37: A Choice of Two

Before this, the word "smart" was always a compliment.

Therefore, being praised as "very smart" by Mr. Zikun made Zhang Fei feel somewhat pleased with himself.

Only Liu Bei and Guan Yu, who had witnessed the entire process, clearly sensed the underlying meaning and chose to remain silent.

"Cough, cough…"

Finally, Li Ji cleared his throat and brought the topic back to the main issue, asking, "Brother Xuande, do you have any credentials to prove your identity to the North General?"

"Hmm, can Zikun be of great use?" Liu Bei asked.

"Indeed."

Li Ji nodded and said,

"To break Julu, one must first break the people's hearts; to break the people's hearts, one must directly target the grain supply or the sorcerer Zhang Jiao; the grain supply goes without saying, but to break the sorcerer Zhang Jiao, Julu will be an unavoidable obstacle."

Then, Li Ji suddenly stood up and walked to the simple Jizhou map hanging in the camp, pointing to Gaoyi, where they were now, then drawing a line forward through Julu, and then towards Guangzong, saying.

"This is a series of interconnected links that cannot be resolved by the six thousand soldiers led by Brother Xuande. The current plan lies with the North General. If we act as the North General's surprise force, directly targeting the sorcerer Zhang Jiao, we may achieve something."

Liu, Guan, and Zhang's expressions brightened a lot upon hearing this, but after Liu Bei's excitement, he seemed to think of something, and his whole person seemed to be poured with a basin of cold water, saying.

"Julu is located behind Guangzong. If we lead our troops past Julu to Guangzong, we will be separated by Julu, and may even be attacked from both the front and back by the Yellow Turbans of Julu and Guangzong."

Li Ji smiled.

"Brother Xuande, the so-called art of war is to make the empty appear full, and the full appear empty. Zhang Liang is cautious and careful, and Julu is a large city to him, so it is very difficult to break his city. However, he is also a person who is difficult to achieve great things, so there is no need to worry."

After a pause, Li Ji pointed to Guangzong and said.

"What I worry about is Guangzong. In this plan, we rely on surprise, and the North General relies on orthodoxy. We need to combine orthodoxy and surprise, directly attack Zhang Jiao's unit in Guangzong, and determine the outcome in one battle."

"Therefore, the prerequisite for all of this is to make the North General believe in us. If the North General has a trace of doubt, suspecting that we are a counter-espionage scheme used by the Yellow Turban bandits, not only will the plan fail, but we will also be in danger."

Zhang Fei said upon hearing this. "This is not simple. Send the Seal of Supervisor Cao Fu given by Liu Yan, and it can prove our identity."

Li Ji smiled. "How many cities have the Yellow Turbans captured? Countless officials have been killed, and the various levels of seals seized, even if they are not piled up into a mountain, I am afraid they are enough to pave a small road."

"In this way, it will be difficult."

Guan Yu also frowned and said. "Could it be that the eldest brother needs to cross Julu County himself to Guangzong? But this is extremely dangerous, and the army will have no one to command."

Liu Bei, who was on the side, paced back and forth with his head down, as if he was constantly recalling something, and then said.

"Before I bid farewell to my teacher and returned to my hometown, Master Lu gave me three volumes of annotated military books. This thing is difficult to fake, and those who are not given it will hardly know it, perhaps it can be used as proof."

"Where are those three volumes of military books now?" Li Ji asked.

"It's a coincidence."

Liu Bei suddenly smiled and said. "If it weren't for Zikun, I would have carefully stored those three volumes of military books in Zhuo County to avoid losing them."

Immediately, Li Ji reacted and pointed to himself.

Liu Bei nodded affirmatively and said. "One of them, seven days ago, I still saw Zikun holding it in his hands, reading it day and night."

Immediately, Li Ji walked to the two large boxes piled in a corner of the camp and searched according to the book titles Liu Bei said.

However, it was a pity that Li Ji did not bring all three volumes of military books given by Lu Zhi with him on the march, because Lu Zhi was not only a master of military strategy, but also one of the most famous Confucian scholars of the time.

Therefore, among the three volumes of bamboo slips that Lu Zhi gave to Liu Bei, only one volume was about military strategy, and the other two volumes were annotations of Confucian classics.

Li Ji casually flipped through those two volumes and put them aside, only packing a large number of bamboo slips related to military strategy into two large boxes and taking them with him on the march to study.

"Found it."

In less than a moment, Li Ji found the volume of bamboo slips that Liu Bei mentioned.

"With this thing, and Brother Xuande personally writing a letter, the North General will have no doubts." Li Ji said with a smile.

"Zikun, what should be written in the letter?" Liu Bei asked.

Li Ji fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

In the previous deduction, when the Yellow Turbans were completely entangled with the Han army, Liu Bei led his army to raid and capture the Yellow Turban's central army, and even killed Zhang Jiao in one fell swoop, laying the foundation for victory.

This… undoubtedly provided Li Ji with another possibility.

Assisting Dong Zhuo with a surprise force can lead to victory, so if assisting Lu Zhi with a surprise force, there may not be a chance of victory!

Of course, the most important thing about the glorious victory in the last deduction was the change of generals before the battle and Dong Zhuo's repeated defeats, which made Zhang Jiao seek a chance to turn the tables with a single gamble, but instead nailed his own coffin in advance.

Now, the difficulty Lu Zhi faces is also how to make the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong leave the city, otherwise, what is the difference between using Liu Bei's less than six thousand soldiers to attack the city and filling the sea with sand?

However, in this way, Li Ji needs to face handing over the initiative to Lu Zhi's hands, which makes Li Ji feel a little uneasy and unsure.

Instinctively, Li Ji's consciousness immersed in the "Strategy Simulator", but found that the "Strategy Simulator" still did not show a third option.

'Unlike the conclusion drawn from combining the defeat of Dong Zhuo with a part of the historical trajectory, I know too little information about the North General Lu Zhi and the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong, so I can't directly deduce and simulate it?'

Li Ji understood the reason in his mind.

'More importantly, from a purely rational point of view, it is estimated that Liu Bei, with only a volume of bamboo slips and a letter, can persuade Lu Zhi to believe in a surprise force and change the established strategy, which cannot be judged for the time being.'

'After all, it involves too many subjective ideas of Lu Zhi, and it also involves the past relationship between Liu Bei and Lu Zhi, which I don't know.'

'But for now, if you want to achieve something, you can only choose one between Dong Zhuo and Lu Zhi."

"Facing Dong Zhuo is to actively work hard and then be exploited by Dong Zhuo for free; facing Lu Zhi is to passively accept and then be rewarded by Master Lu."

However, soon, Li Ji had a tendency in his mind.

Free exploitation is possible, but free exploitation of me is not!

Li Ji would rather stuff the credit into Liu Yan's mouth, fill Liu Yan's mouth full, fill his stomach until it swells, Li Ji also doesn't want to give Dong Zhuo any advantage, lest Li Ji feels that he has indirectly pushed a few times when Dong Zhuo desecrates the harem in the future.

What's more, even if Liu Bei's surprise force ultimately doesn't play a big role, based on Lu Zhi's outward character and style, he will definitely remember Liu Bei's help.

As long as Lu Zhi doesn't fall in the court, even if Liu Bei's flag is fluttering outside, he won't have many supporters in the huge court.

'If purely on military affairs, waiting for an opportunity to move is obviously more stable and rational; but war is ultimately a continuation of politics, and keeping the teacher Lu Zhi from falling in the court is of great significance to Liu Bei who wants to rise.'

'Even if Liu Bei's surprise force does not act this time, and the military merits are not enough to promote him to prefect, if Lu Zhi accepts the kindness of his disciple Liu Bei, with Lu Zhi's connections and reputation, he can easily promote Liu Bei.'

All of this was constantly weighed in Li Ji's mind. After about a few breaths, Li Ji said to Liu Bei.

"Brother Xuande should tell more about the past friendship between teachers and students in the letter, and then mention that he knows that the North General is suppressing bandits in the south, so after leading the Supervisor Cao to annihilate the Yellow Turban bandits in Zhuo County, he did not dare to face north and do nothing, so he led six thousand soldiers to rush south and stationed in Gaoyi, waiting for the North General to dispatch…"

After a pause, Li Ji continued.

"Later, I will also merge the information and maps of Julu County that we have obtained, and Brother Xuande can attach them together."

Zhang Fei on the side reminded upon hearing this.

"Don't need to say anything more? Supplement that we intend to march across Julu County to Guangzong for support, and let the North General find a way to cooperate?"

Li Ji couldn't help but take a deep look at Zhang Fei upon hearing this.

Zhang Fei felt Li Ji's surprised gaze and asked in confusion. "Mr. Zikun, did I say something wrong?"

"What Yide said is the truth, but it can't be said like that." Li Ji replied.

"Why?" Zhang Fei asked.

Hearing this question, Li Ji couldn't help but feel a headache.

In fact, Li Ji knew that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei might have the same problem.

That is, they regard military orders as a child's play!

"Why does the army repeatedly emphasize: military orders must not be violated? That is to ensure that the army can implement one voice, so to mention it like this, is it any different from Brother Xuande wanting to teach the North General how to do things?"

Li Ji said leisurely.

"In this way, even if the North General believes in Brother Xuande's identity, he may also think that Brother Xuande will not listen to military orders."

In other words, if Liu Bei really wrote such a sentence in the letter according to what Zhang Fei said, the general feeling in Lu Zhi's eyes would be:

Xuande, I am very happy that you can come to help me, but with your tone, I have to consider whether you will act in accordance with military orders.

"Yide, those who are commanders need to control the overall situation and plan strategies; however, those who are generals can have thousands of ravines in their hearts, but even if they have doubts, they cannot question them, but just execute the orders with all their hearts."

This remark not only left Zhang Fei speechless, but also Liu Bei and Guan Yu in the camp fell into deep thought.

"I have been taught, Mr. Zikun."

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei bowed their hands to Li Ji, and said admiringly.

In the end, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were only newly appointed generals, barely in their early twenties. They were far from the point where they would disregard the orders of anyone except Liu Bei, as they would in the future.

Especially Zhang Fei, who in the original timeline repeatedly violated military orders, got drunk and messed things up, lost Xu Province, and lost his sisters-in-law.

Only Liu Bei could tolerate Zhang Fei. If it were any other lord in history, even his own son would be deserving of a thousand cuts for losing their only territory, let alone a sworn brother.

Ultimately, Liu Bei was the one who spoiled Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to this extent.

Therefore, Li Ji deliberately established his authority in front of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, repeatedly emphasizing military orders, to prevent Guan Yu and Zhang Fei from riding on his head in the future.

Li Ji quickly returned the greeting to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, repeatedly saying he wouldn't dare, before turning to Liu Bei and saying:

"Therefore, Brother Xuande, there's no need to say much in the letter. Just explain the situation of our army. I believe that with the ability of the North General of the Household, he will have a plan."

Of course, there was one sentence Li Ji didn't say.

That was, if Lu Zhi was truly an inflexible person and unwilling to believe Liu Bei, then this letter from Liu Bei would be considered fulfilling his friendship as a student.

In the future, when Lu Zhi was imprisoned for delaying the siege of Guangzong after being questioned by a minor eunuch sent by the imperial court, Liu Bei wouldn't be considered to have let Lu Zhi down, and Li Ji would have shown a bit of respect for this pillar of the Han Dynasty.

At that time, Li Ji could only regret that he gave Lu Zhi a chance, but Lu Zhi didn't seize it.

And Li Ji could still choose to "wait for an opportunity", reluctantly letting Dong Zhuo take advantage for a bit, and then find a way to get it back from Dong Zhuo later.

Soon, after Liu Bei quickly finished writing the letter, Li Ji also completed the compilation of information and maps of Julu Commandery that he knew.

However, these three scrolls of bamboo slips were undoubtedly crucial.

If there were any mistakes and the bamboo slips fell into the hands of the Yellow Turbans, then the location of the army led by Liu Bei would be completely exposed, putting them in a dangerous situation.

Therefore, how to safely send these three scrolls of bamboo slips to Lu Zhi's hands was undoubtedly a problem.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not afraid of danger and volunteered to take on the task.

However, Liu Bei, who also knew the personalities of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei well, also showed hesitation.

Although Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's bravery was beyond doubt, Julu Commandery was, after all, a place full of Yellow Turbans. A slight carelessness could lead to danger!

"Brother Xuande, perhaps you can consider Ji Chang (Xiahou Bo)," Li Ji reminded.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei didn't doubt Xiahou Bo's loyalty, and the fact that they were now stationed in Gaoyi was because Xiahou Bo had found this place as a guide.

"However, I don't know if Ji Chang has the ability to safely reach Guangzong," Liu Bei asked worriedly.

"Ji Chang was originally a Hebei ranger, familiar with the local terrain and customs. Whether sneaking through remote areas or impersonating Yellow Turbans, he will surely be able to handle it with ease. This matter is perfect for him," Li Ji said.

"Good."

Liu Bei, as always, trusted people without doubt. He immediately took the three scrolls of bamboo slips and went to find Xiahou Bo himself, intending to entrust this matter to him.

Soon, Xiahou Bo rode a fast horse and quickly left, heading straight for Guangzong.

Li Ji was right. If others wanted to go to Guangzong, in addition to the difficulty of finding the way, the journey was fraught with dangers. Even if Guan Yu was entrusted with the task, he might adopt a high-profile approach of "passing five passes and slaying six generals."

However, Xiahou Bo, as a ranger, wouldn't consider whether disguising himself as a refugee or a Yellow Turban would be embarrassing. And, being familiar with the local terrain, he arrived near Guangzong almost unimpeded.

However, before Xiahou Bo could truly approach the Han army camp, a group of scouts had already surrounded Xiahou Bo from all directions.

Xiahou Bo, who was captured as a spy, had the three scrolls of bamboo slips and the Cao seal of Zhuojun's Inspector, which were passed layer by layer to a large tent in the center of the Han army camp.