Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Not only were there gifts piled up like mountains, but many members of prominent families were also gathered near the entrance, seemingly engaged in constant conversation with the gatekeeper.

The appearance of Li Ji, however, made the eyes of the sweat-drenched gatekeeper Liu Qin light up. He hurriedly broke free from the surrounding members of prominent families and strode towards Li Ji, bowing as he said,

"Welcome back to the manor, Lord Marquis."

Liu Qin's actions caused the crowd of prominent families originally gathered in front of the Marquis of Guoshi's manor to quiet down, their gazes filled with a hint of flattery and awe as they looked at Li Ji.

Even though many Yangzhou aristocratic families, out of consideration for their dignity and prestige, privately referred to Li Ji as a mere rural marquis, their bodies were exceptionally honest when facing Li Ji directly.

With a flip of his hand, Li Ji had annihilated over a hundred thousand troops of the Anti-Wu Alliance from thousands of miles away. How could this not frighten the Yangzhou aristocratic families?

Li Ji casually glanced around before asking,

"Liu Qin, what's going on here?"

"Reporting to the Lord Marquis, these are all people who have come to deliver gifts for the young lady. However, since the Lord Marquis is not in the manor and the Madam cannot yet manage affairs, I dare not make the decision to accept the gifts…"

After a pause, a hint of helplessness crept into Liu Qin's tone as he said,

"I have repeatedly explained the situation to the guests, telling them that they can wait for the Lord Marquis to return and then present their cards for a visit, but they are insistent on giving gifts. Many people simply left the gifts outside the door and left."

Perhaps the Yangzhou aristocratic families were not familiar with military affairs, but how could they not understand the ways of the world?

If they could meet Li Ji and personally deliver the gifts, the effect would naturally be excellent.

However, the Yangzhou aristocratic families were truly not qualified to see Li Ji so easily these days, so they chose to come and deliver gifts when Li Ji left the manor to go to work.

Did they not understand this?

No, they understood it all too well.

It was to ensure that Li Ji had no chance to refuse.

As Li Ji nodded slightly, a middle-aged man with a rather refined demeanor boldly walked over, cupping his hands in a salute as he said,

"Zhu Zheng from Yuzhang, courtesy name Ganglie, greets the Marquis of Guoshi."

The visitor's self-introduction made Li Ji raise his eyebrows slightly.

The Zhu family was a prominent clan in Yangzhou, with two particularly famous branches: the Danyang Zhu family and the Yuzhang Zhu family.

However, just like the Lujiang Zhou family and the Kuaiji Zhou family, they shared the same surname Zhou but had little connection with each other.

However, what impressed Li Ji was that, according to the Jinyi Si records he had seen this morning, the one who had resolutely declared, "Without integrity, I have no face to meet my ancestors," was this Zhu Zheng, representing the Yuzhang Zhu family.

"His name suits him well."

Li Ji's sudden praise filled Zhu Zheng's heart with joy, thinking that he had chosen the perfect moment.

For the Yangzhou aristocratic families, the ones who controlled their life and death were undoubtedly Liu Bei and Li Ji.

In the past half-month, there had been aristocratic families secretly relocating and leaving Yangzhou.

However, as soon as that aristocratic family made a move, the entire clan was captured that very night, with not a single person escaping, as if someone had been waiting for them all along.

Especially with most of the servants and retainers of the Yangzhou aristocratic families being captured, they had no ability to resist the strong suppression by the Wu County elite soldiers.

Although this outcome did not surprise the Yangzhou aristocratic families, it dispelled their last bit of wishful thinking.

Therefore, in order to seek a way out and reduce losses, the Yangzhou aristocratic families secretly pondered and interpreted Liu Bei and Li Ji's words, actions, and thoughts countless times.

A conclusion was universally recognized by the current Yangzhou aristocratic families: what Liu Bei and Li Ji wanted was to force the Yangzhou aristocratic families to completely submit, otherwise, there would be no need to go to such great lengths.

However, relatively speaking, the "Anti-Wu Alliance" incident would certainly not be glossed over lightly. It would be necessary to push out some scapegoats to uphold the prestige of the newly appointed Governor of Yangzhou, Liu Bei.

Therefore, who would die? Who would live?

And how much would it cost to exchange for the family's safety? This was the key.

In the eyes of most Yangzhou aristocratic families, their opponents were not only Liu Bei and Li Ji, but also others who were also Yangzhou aristocratic families.

It was impossible for Liu Bei and Li Ji to wipe out all the Yangzhou aristocratic families, so in Zhu Zheng's view, he only needed to make the Yuzhang Zhu family more pleasing to Li Ji than the other families.

Therefore, during the internal discussions of the various families, Zhu Zheng's goal was clear from the beginning: to see if he could deceive some ignorant people into truly believing in integrity.

Integrity?

Insisting on integrity at this juncture was just rushing to meet one's ancestors.

Zhu Zheng had secretly sent people to keep an eye on the government office early on, and then waited not far from the Marquis of Guoshi's manor in advance.

Upon learning that Li Ji had finished his duties and was returning to the manor, Zhu Zheng hurriedly brought the gifts to the front of the door, making sure that the gifts sent by the other Yangzhou aristocratic families became his backdrop.

Now, Zhu Zheng felt that his calculations had yielded rich rewards, and he had received the praise of the Marquis of Guoshi.

This made the smile on Zhu Zheng's face even brighter. He maintained a half-bowed posture and recited the article that had been gathered by the talents of his family last night and revised three times, saying,

"Upon hearing the happy news of the birth of a daughter in your esteemed residence, the Yuzhang Zhu family is overjoyed, so I ordered my arrival early to present a humble gift."

"The Marquis of Guoshi's talent is unparalleled in the world, and his virtue is admired by all. Now, he is blessed with a daughter, truly a gift from heaven. Could it be to congratulate Liu Huangshu's imminent appointment as the Governor of Yangzhou, to shepherd and govern one side of the Han Dynasty, bringing peace to the people?"

"The birth of your daughter in this world is truly a joy for your residence, a delight for Yangzhou, and a blessing for the Han Dynasty."

"Bearing this fortune, your daughter will surely inherit the wisdom of the Marquis of Guoshi and the virtue of Madam Zhaoji, possessing graceful demeanor and outstanding talent, which is just around the corner…"

Before this, Li Ji had always thought that he did not like listening to flattery. He did not expect that there were too few sycophants around him before.

At least, Zhu Zheng's long speech, even though Li Ji knew that it was just flattery, could not help but bring a bit of joy to his heart.

In particular, Zhu Zheng did not forget to focus the main target of praise on little Xi'er, which made Li Ji very satisfied.

However, seeing that Zhu Zheng seemed to have a bit of a tendency to continue with the examination, he directly raised his hand to interrupt him.

"I have remembered the intentions of the Yuzhang Zhu family."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zheng's face was filled with joy. Wasn't this one sentence from Li Ji what he had calculated so much for?

Immediately, Zhu Zheng hurriedly waved to the six clansmen behind him.

The six clansmen of the Yuzhang Zhu family stepped forward, each holding a tray covered with a large red cloth, and finally, there were several young and strong men dressed as servants pulling a large cart.

Zhu Zheng then continued,

"Yuzhang is a remote and barren land, without many treasures, only some local specialties, to express my humble intentions."

"Oh?"

Li Ji used a folding fan to lift a corner of the red cloth on the foremost tray, revealing more than a dozen gold bars piled up in the shape of a pyramid.

Immediately, Li Ji put down the corner of the red cloth he had lifted and said with a hint of playfulness,

"These specialties are quite interesting. I don't know when Yuzhang discovered a gold mine vein."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zheng's mind quickly raced, thinking about the deep meaning in this sentence, and quickly replied,

"Yes, yes, yes, what the Marquis of Guoshi said is very true, I was confused for a moment and couldn't tell the difference."

"This is clearly a Yangzhou specialty, all specialties under the rule of Liu Huangshu. Dividing it into one prefecture and one county is narrow-minded. I am narrow-minded, far inferior to the Marquis of Guoshi's foresight."

This made Li Ji look at Zhu Zheng with more admiration. He did not expect that Zhu Zheng could still lick his way back after such a roundabout way.

In a sense, this Zhu Zheng was indeed a talent, but his courtesy name was not very good, and it had nothing to do with Ganglie (unyielding).

"What you said is not bad, but if you only want to use these things to test me, I'm afraid it's still not enough, right?" Li Ji asked with a smile.

"The Marquis of Guoshi has misunderstood. The Marquis of Guoshi is already famous all over the world, surpassing all heroes. Who would test the Marquis of Guoshi? And who would dare to test the Marquis of Guoshi?"

Zhu Zheng said with a righteous air.

"It's just that the Yuzhang Zhu family heard that the Marquis of Guoshi has been blessed with a daughter, making the Marquis of Guoshi have successors and flourish, which is truly a joy for the Han Dynasty. If we do not congratulate with gifts, wouldn't we be ashamed of the ancestors who shed their blood for the Han Dynasty?"

Li Ji nodded, reached out and held the tray filled with gold bars, estimating the weight, and smiled.

"It really is a thousand gold…"

This made Li Ji feel a bit of emotion. Back then, he was willing to be exchanged for "three thousand gold" by Cao Cao in Julu and began to become famous.

Today, the gold sent by the Yuzhang Zhu family for the newborn little Xi'er alone is worth thousands of gold.

Immediately, Li Ji turned his head and said to Liu Qin,

"Send people to return the gifts sent by the other Yangzhou aristocratic families, and compile a list of those who have not sent them."

As soon as these words came out, Liu Qin was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had misheard, and then he reacted and quickly bowed his head in agreement.

Zhu Zheng was even more frightened, his pupils visibly shrinking, his heart beating faster, secretly feeling lucky.

Was that a list of those who had not sent gifts?

That was clearly a list prepared to be sent to the Yellow Springs!

Immediately, Li Ji reached out to signal Zhu Zheng.

"Brother Ganglie, if you don't mind, why not bring the gifts into the manor and sit for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zheng's whole body instantly tensed up.

Once he entered the manor with Li Ji in public at this moment, it would mean that the Yuzhang Zhu family had completely thrown themselves into Liu Bei's arms.

However, Zhu Zheng only hesitated for a moment before making a decision.

The chaotic world had arrived, and there was no doubt that Liu Bei would become the overlord of Jiangdong. Under such circumstances, being able to rely on Liu Bei was the Yuzhang Zhu family's good fortune.

As for whether he would be met with hostility and jealousy from the other Yangzhou aristocratic families, Zhu Zheng couldn't care less. His priority was to ensure that the Yuzhang Zhu Clan could be the first to get ashore in this wave that could wipe out families at any time.

Immediately, Zhu Zheng lowered his back even further, flattering him.

“Lord Marquis, please go first. It is an honor for me to follow behind.” (End of Chapter)