Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Without a doubt, Lü Bu brought Li Ji up as well to share some of the pressure.

Lü Bu's previous title was "Marquis Wen," but this title was granted to him after he killed his former adoptive father, Ding Yuan, and defected to his previous adoptive father, Dong Zhuo.

Now, Lü Bu has killed Dong Zhuo in the name of supporting the Han and rescuing the Emperor, and he is also related to the imperial family by marriage. He wants to erase the traces of having served Dong Zhuo as much as possible, so abandoning the title of "Marquis Wen" is perfectly normal.

However, "Marquis Wen" is already the highest rank among the marquises, a county marquis. To be promoted further would mean becoming a "Duke" or "King," titles usually reserved for imperial princes.

The last person not of the Liu surname to be granted the title of Duke was Wang Mang, who was named "Duke of Anhan."

Even if we disregard that everyone with eyes can see how much of Lü Bu's achievements are exaggerated, granting Lü Bu the title of "Duke" would be a blatant declaration to the world that he is emulating Wang Mang and harbors intentions of usurping the Han.

However, if Lü Bu simply changed the name of his county marquis title, it would seem like a clumsy attempt to conceal his true intentions.

Therefore, whether Lü Bu wants to gild his reputation or not, he has no choice but to select a special title to rightfully replace the name "Marquis Wen."

'But to bring me up as well, should I thank you or secretly curse you?'

Thinking of this, Li Ji couldn't help but look in Chen Gong's direction, realizing that this was most likely the idea of this unremarkable middle-aged scholar.

Otherwise, it's not that Li Ji looked down on Lü Bu, but with Lü Bu's intelligence, he probably couldn't consider such detailed aspects.

Sensing Li Ji's gaze, Chen Gong made eye contact with him, returned a seemingly harmless smile, and then continued to look in the direction where Yuan Shu and Cao Cao had left.

At this moment, Li Ji even felt that Chen Gong was deliberately waiting here at the palace gate, not to welcome anyone, but purely to watch Cao Cao and Yuan Shu make fools of themselves.

'Could it be that Chen Gongtai studies the "Gongyang Commentary"? Does he adhere to the principle that a grudge of nine generations can still be avenged? A grudge of a hundred generations can still be avenged! Is he so vindictive…'

Li Ji thought to himself, when the corner of his eye suddenly noticed Sun Jian also leaving in a hurry, following closely behind Cao Cao and Yuan Shu.

However, before Li Ji could wonder why Sun Jian was in such a hurry, Zhang Fei continued to shout loudly.

"That three-surname slave not only calls himself 'Unrivaled Marquis,' but he was also appointed as General-in-Chief, overseeing all the troops in the land, what a joke…"

Before Zhang Fei could finish speaking, Li Ji grabbed Zhang Fei and pulled him towards the carriage, interrupting Zhang Fei's spell of mockery.

Lü Bu is not a man of forbearance, and now that he is the "Unrivaled Marquis" and General-in-Chief, he might be feeling complacent and in high spirits.

If Zhang Fei shouts "three-surname slave" a few more times, Lü Bu might immediately "Wu Zetian transforms into a widow—losing 'Li Zhi'," and charge out with his halberd.

"This is not a place to talk, let's discuss it in detail when we get back," Li Ji reminded, and Liu Bei, his face full of joy, finally woke up and helped Li Ji push Zhang Fei into the carriage, not giving Zhang Fei a chance to speak. Then, under the protection of his personal guards, they also hurriedly left and returned to their residence.

After returning to the residence, all the scholars and generals who had come with the army were summoned by Liu Bei to discuss the court proceedings and announce the rewards granted by the imperial court.

The development of events was just as Li Ji had expected.

Even though Liu Bei was loyal and righteous, and did not request rewards as lavishly as the other lords,

it was precisely because of this that Liu Bei's loyalty to the Emperor was highlighted, and Emperor Liu Xie would certainly not mistreat Liu Bei.

Moreover, with Liu Bei's influence among the allied forces, even if Liu Bei didn't want it, Lü Bu and Chen Gong wouldn't dare not give it to him.

This is what is known as… "advancing by retreating."

Therefore, the rewards Liu Bei received were not only the governorship of Yang Province, but also the position of General of Annan, and the title of Marquis of Yicheng.

At this time, the value of a General with an official title was not comparable to that of a General with a miscellaneous title.

It should be noted that even when Lu Zhi or Huangfu Song were suppressing the Yellow Turbans, they only received the position of Colonel, whose rank was still below that of General of Annan.

In addition, all of Liu Bei's subordinates who had made great achievements in the campaign against Dong Zhuo were also rewarded in the court proceedings.

Li Ji's title of "National Scholar Marquis" goes without saying, and in addition, he was officially transferred from the original Administrator of Liaodong Commandery to the Administrator of Wu Commandery.

In this way, Li Ji was spared the trouble of having to think of ways to feign compliance and avoid being exiled to a desolate and cold place.

And whether it was because Lü Bu had a sense of pride or something else?

Looking at the subordinates of the allied lords, only Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who had fought Lü Bu without being defeated, were directly granted titles.

Zhao Yun was made "Marquis of Yongchang," Guan Yu was made "Marquis of Hanshou," and Zhang Fei was made "Marquis of Xinting," and they were all given the position of Lieutenant General.

(PS: The above are all the real titles of Zhao, Guan, and Zhang in history. In the book, they are considered to have received them in advance.)

It was as if Lü Bu, having received the title of "Unrivaled Marquis," was clearly telling the world that anyone who could survive under his halberd was qualified to be a marquis, thereby further increasing the value of the "Unrivaled Marquis."

In this way, Li Ji understood why Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both looked overjoyed when they left the palace gate.

The value of a Han title was undoubtedly extremely high, and becoming a marquis was the lifelong pursuit of many great men.

It must be said that this time, the Liu Bei group's gains in the court proceedings were huge.

Although Liu Bei's own rewards were not the highest among the lords, the fact that he suddenly had a township marquis and three village marquises under his command was enough to make the other lords envious.

In addition to these good news belonging to the Liu Bei group, Liu Bei also began to state the rewards received by the other lords.

Yuan Shao was appointed Governor of Bing Province and General of Chariots and Cavalry;

Gongsun Zan was appointed Administrator of Bohai Commandery and General of the Vanguard;

Han Fu was appointed Governor of Ji Province and General of Fenwu;

Ma Teng was appointed Governor of Liang Province and General of the West Expedition…

Li Ji, who originally had a slight smile on his face, felt more and more that something was wrong as he listened. He turned his head to look at Guo Jia, who was sitting next to him, and said urgently.

"Quickly bring the map of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty."

Hearing this, Guo Jia subconsciously got up to retrieve it. When he found the map, he seemed to have realized something, and his expression suddenly changed.

Immediately, Guo Jia hurriedly spread the map in front of Li Ji with somewhat hurried steps.

Li Ji then raised his pen and, based on what Liu Bei said, constantly added the marks of different lords on the map.

In Liu Bei's account, except for the deceased Wang Kuang and Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, every lord received a reward, the lowest being the position of Commandery Administrator and all holding military positions.

However, after Li Ji re-marked the map of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty based on the changes in the official positions of the lords stated by Liu Bei, he said with emotion.

"Chen Gong may lack quick wit, but he is truly not to be underestimated."

"What?"

Liu Bei, who had not yet reacted, subconsciously asked a question.

Li Ji handed the re-marked map to Liu Bei and said.

"My lord, please take a look."

Liu Bei subconsciously took it and looked at it. At first glance, he couldn't see anything, but when he took a closer look, his face also showed surprise. He looked up at Li Ji and said.

"Could this be a scheme to induce the Guandong lords to fight each other?"

"Yes, and it has become an overt scheme!" Li Ji replied in a deep voice.

"If this is the case, wouldn't it be that great chaos is imminent, and wars will break out everywhere?"

Liu Bei exclaimed. "Why is this so? Now that Lü Bu is the General-in-Chief, wouldn't frequent wars in Guandong further undermine the prestige of the imperial court?"

Li Ji thought for a moment and then said.

"Perhaps, this is precisely Chen Gongtai's purpose!"

"The current Emperor and the imperial court have already lost their prestige. To the west, the remnants of Dong Zhuo occupy the land of the Three Auxiliary Regions, and to the east, a group of lords harbor evil intentions, watching with covetous eyes…"

"Now, can the Emperor's edicts leave Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass? No!"

"Therefore, Chen Gongtai is going with the flow, intending to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, using an overt scheme to make the Guandong lords fight each other, and then seize the opportunity to send troops out of Hulao Pass to rebuild the prestige of the imperial court."

After Li Ji finished speaking, seeing that most of the generals present still looked like they didn't know what was happening, he simply hung up the map and said

"Everyone, if we further subdivide the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, then in addition to dividing them into north and south by the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, we can also divide them into Guandong and Guanzhong with Hulao Pass as the boundary."

"Now, north of the Yellow River, Yuan Shao is the Governor of Bing Province, Han Fu is the Governor of Ji Province, Liu Yu is the Governor of You Province, and Gongsun Bogui is the Administrator of Bohai Commandery. It seems that each lord has been rewarded."

"However, in fact, Bohai Commandery is a fertile land, far superior to Bing Province. The Yuan family has been operating in Bohai Commandery for many years and is deeply rooted. How could they abandon Bohai and go far away to Bing Province?"

"Han Fu was originally the Inspector of Ji Province. It seems reasonable that he was promoted to Governor of Ji Province, but Han Fu was originally an old official of the Yuan family and obeyed the Yuan family's command."

"If Yuan Shao prepares to go to Bing Province to take office, but secretly controls Bohai Commandery, would Han Fu be willing?"

"In addition, Gongsun Zan was originally the Administrator of Beiping Commandery and has great influence in You Province. If he can control Bohai Commandery, he will have an additional fertile land that You Province lacks. How could he miss it?"

After Li Ji's analysis, everyone present understood that this was a blatant overt scheme, intended to make Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, and Han Fu fight each other, and even drag Liu Yu into the water.

After experiencing the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Bohai Commandery has become the essence of Ji Province today, with a registered population of over one million.

Obviously, facing such a fertile land, Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, and Han Fu have no reason to give it up, and the outbreak of conflict is inevitable.

Zhang Fei, who had the most straightforward temperament, almost blurted out. "In this way, wouldn't the lords north of the Yellow River fight until the sky is dark and the earth is dim?"

Li Ji frowned slightly and said, "Perhaps, it's not just north of the Yellow River, but the rest of the regions as well."

"In the Central Plains, Yuan Shu, formerly the governor of Nanyang Commandery, was reassigned as the governor of Runan Commandery. However, the governors of the other commanderies and kingdoms within Yu Province are all direct descendants of Yuan Shao, surrounding him completely. Their intentions are extremely clear…"

"This is also a scheme to provoke conflicts with open plots, inciting war!" (End of Chapter)