Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Li Ji's mouth said no, but Jia Xu was very certain that this was the main reason, that Li Ji was watching him slack off every day, and thus was taking revenge for personal grievances.

However, Li Ji continued to speak.

"Furthermore, since Wenhe wishes to create the appearance of being mediocre and incompetent, wouldn't it be more direct for Wenhe, as a civil official, to display his prowess in the Grand Military Exercise, showing expertise in martial arts but lacking in strategic thinking?"

"Therefore, both publicly and privately, this important task is only suitable for Wenhe…"

After a pause, Li Ji couldn't help but get up and walk to Jia Xu's side, gently patting Jia Xu's shoulder, and said.

"Wenhe, the honor of all the civil officials under the Lord is on your shoulders. Don't be beaten to the ground in just a few moves when you go on stage."

At this moment, Jia Xu's face was green, and his heart was resistant.

However, Jia Xu also knew that this matter was a foregone conclusion.

The Great Han valued martial prowess, and there were many who abandoned their pens for swords. The Six Arts of a Gentleman were almost mastered by every scholar, and even great Confucians like Lu Zhi were not weak in martial arts.

Therefore, if Liu Bei's forces truly did not have a single scholar participating, it would indeed seem somewhat unsightly.

Even if Jia Xu was determined not to participate, Li Ji would definitely arrange for other civil officials to go through the motions, to show that even the scholars under Liu Bei had a courageous heart.

However, although Jia Xu was not worried about encountering any danger in the Grand Military Exercise, it also meant that Jia Xu would need to re-practice the art of archery in the coming month, no matter what.

For Jia Xu, this was undoubtedly a troublesome chore, and if he was not careful, he would lose face in front of countless lords and aristocratic families.

Just as Jia Xu remained silent, Li Ji leisurely said.

"Speaking of which, if Wenhe really doesn't want to go, I won't force you. Then, I'll just give Wenhe another errand."

"Recently, a large amount of tea leaves in Wu Commandery have mysteriously disappeared, and some of them are even imperial tea that the Lord was preparing to offer to the Emperor. This is a great crime!"

"Then, Wenhe will be responsible for investigating and exposing the internal thief who stole the tea leaves, and dismember him to set an example…"

"Cough cough cough!"

Jia Xu coughed violently a few times, interrupting Li Ji's words.

Exposed?

How could it be so fast?!

At this moment, Jia Xu felt a bit surprised in his heart.

After all, compared to resolving the anti-Wu coalition, Jia Xu spent more effort in perfectly embezzling some tea leaves.

Replacing the beams and pillars, using inferior goods to pass off as good, forging account books, and so on, all kinds of methods were used, and even a fire was faked to burn the already non-existent tea leaves to ashes.

Jia Xu felt that with Li Ji unable to take care of such trivial matters, these things should have been forever silent. How could they be exposed so quickly?

"This old man needs to participate in the Grand Military Exercise, I'm afraid I don't have time to take care of this… such a small matter…" Jia Xu forced a smile and said.

"Oh? Really?" Li Ji asked.

"Really," Jia Xu said.

"Not reluctantly?" Li Ji asked again.

"The honor of all my colleagues is being shouldered by this old man, how can I retreat?" Jia Xu said loudly.

"Alright, since that's the case, the matter of investigating the tea leaves will not be entrusted to Wenhe. It will still be handled by…"

Li Ji pondered slightly, then turned to look at Xu Chu, who was sitting on the side, bored and rolling his eyes, and said. "Then Zhongkang will be responsible for investigating this matter, right?"

"Ah? Me?" Xu Chu was a little dazed and couldn't react.

Jia Xu, hearing this, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, understanding that with Xu Chu's brain to investigate, this matter would inevitably end without a result.

However, just thinking about actually participating in that Grand Military Exercise, Jia Xu's face looked a little bitter, and then he slowly squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth.

"Li Zikun, don't forget to arrange some inside information for me at that time…"

Li Ji's smile was gentle and bright as he said. "Wenhe, rest assured."

"Zikun, having you is truly a blessing for this old man."

Jia Xu sighed a long sigh, and then walked towards the door.

This was a path that Jia Xu had not anticipated. He was already over forty years old, and he actually had to pick up the art of archery again.

After watching Jia Xu leave, the smile on Li Ji's face could no longer be concealed.

Slacking off every day without any concealment is simply ruining the work ethic within the State Shepherd's Office.

And among the entire State Shepherd's Office, the one who hated Jia Xu the most was not Li Ji, but Gu Yong, who had to voluntarily work overtime for two hours every day.

If Jia Xu continues to be so carefree, what would the other beasts of burden think? Wouldn't people's hearts be scattered?

Therefore, no matter what, Li Ji had to find something to keep Jia Xu busy.

Among Liu Bei's current strategists, Jia Xu is the oldest, and Jia Xu is carefree and plump every day. Seeing that his physical fitness is obviously declining, he can also take the opportunity to restore it.

Otherwise, when Jia Xu gets older, and he needs to serve as a military advisor with the army and fight outside for a long time, Jia Xu's body may not be able to bear it at that time, and it is not impossible for him to die on the road of expedition like Guo Jia in the original trajectory.

Li Ji naturally had some feelings for Jia Xu, as both a teacher and a friend, and naturally didn't want to see Jia Xu die of illness on the eve of unifying the world.

"The Lord is not a heartless person. The end point of the road we need to take is not out of reach. If Wenhe is not there at that time, wouldn't it be a regret in life?"

After Li Ji murmured a sentence, he continued to bury his head in reading the recent summaries of the movements of various princes.

Although the improved papermaking and printing techniques have been completely unsealed and have begun to mass-produce paper and printing day and night, the initial paper produced is almost fully printing the books in the Eastern Observatory to improve the Wu Commandery Library that is being prepared.

Therefore, the official documents in the State Shepherd's Office are still mainly based on heavy and cumbersome bamboo slips.

However, this is originally a gradual replacement process, and Li Ji simply cannot rush it even if he wants to.

The princes that Li Ji is currently focusing on are none other than Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Cao Cao, and Liu Yan and Liu Biao.

Among them, apart from Cao Cao's desperate gamble to go to Qing Province to quell the Yellow Turbans, the most dramatic news was the news from Yi Province.

After the Embroidered Uniform Guard's many careful verifications, even if Liu Yan deliberately blocked the leakage of relevant news, all kinds of signs still showed that Liu Yan was likely to be bedridden and seriously ill.

And Liu Yan's illness probably started two months ago.

It's just that Li Ji remembered that Liu Yan should have passed away in 194 in the original trajectory. Now it is only the end of 191. Without any obvious changes, Liu Yan should still be able to support himself for some time.

A trick? Or is he really seriously ill?

Li Ji pondered for a long time, and even analyzed all the information about Yi Province in the past year from the beginning, and finally came to a conclusion.

Perhaps Liu Yan really realized that his days were numbered, but he was not at the end of his rope. The reason why he released the news of his serious illness in a seemingly concealed way was probably to pave the way for Liu Zhang.

The Yi Province aristocratic families also still hold considerable power, so Liu Yan may be digging a hole for the Yi Province aristocratic families, preparing to take away a part of the aristocratic families before his death, so that Liu Zhang can steadily inherit the position of Governor of Yi Province, instead of becoming a puppet controlled by the Yi Province aristocratic families.

And apart from Yi Province, Cao Cao has also led his troops to Qing Province and began to clear and quell the Qing Province Yellow Turbans.

Although Cao Cao's troops are only over 10,000, and the Qing Province Yellow Turbans claim to have a million, unlike most of the princes and aristocratic families who are not optimistic about Cao Cao, Li Ji does not think that the mere Qing Province Yellow Turbans will be Cao Mengde's opponent.

What's more, in just a few months, Cao Cao's command has actually gained a group of talents from Yingchuan, such as Xun Yu, Xun You, and Xi Zhicai. Even Dian Wei, whom Li Ji had been looking for for some time, has begun to emerge in Cao's camp.

"So, the Yingchuan aristocratic families would rather choose to bet part of their treasure on such a down-and-out Cao Cao, than to attach themselves to our lord?"

Li Ji narrowed his eyes and couldn't help but sneer.

Of course, Li Ji also knew that Cao Cao was not the only choice for the Yingchuan aristocratic families. While Xun Yu led a group of talents to join Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and others were also heavily bet on by the Yingchuan aristocratic families.

On the contrary, the four imperial clan governors Liu Bei, Liu Yu, Liu Yan, and Liu Biao, who now occupy four of the thirteen provinces, have no intention of betting on them at all.

The meaning of this is quite profound.

"Aristocratic families? Hmph!"

This made Li Ji couldn't help but think of the Yangzhou aristocratic families and Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong.

Perhaps Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong are not good at ingenuity and quick wit, but their ability to govern is quite outstanding, and they are not weak at all compared to Gu Yong.

And since the Wu Commandery defense war, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong are still under house arrest in their residences, and it has been about two months since then.

Immediately, Li Ji pondered for a while, and continued to deal with various official duties. When it was time to get off work, he did not directly return to the mansion, but went in the direction where Zhang Zhao was under house arrest.

When Li Ji saw Zhang Zhao again, in just a few months, Zhang Zhao seemed to be more than ten years older. The original black hair had a large amount of silver threads.

And unlike the past when he met Li Ji, he was respectful on the surface, but there was a bit of self-sustaining attitude in his words and deeds. This time, Zhang Zhao seemed to have completely lost his spirit and bowed and saluted, saying.

"Greetings, National Scholar Marquis."

At Zhang Zhao's invitation, after they sat down and asked for tea, Li Ji asked in a calm tone.

"Zibu, how have you been recently?"

Zhang Zhao seemed to be a little weak and said. "I have thought a lot, and I have understood a lot of things, but there are more things that I don't understand."

"If Zibu does not give up, I can try to solve the confusion for Zibu," Li Ji replied.

Zhang Zhao was silent for a long time before slowly opening his mouth, "What am I in Marquis Guoshi's eyes?"

Li Ji raised his eyes, then chuckled and said.

"Zibu is not my subordinate. You and I are merely colleagues. Is how I, Ji, view Zibu important?"

"How Zibu serves as the lord's minister, and how the lord views Zibu, that is the key." (End of chapter)