Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Immediately, Zhang Song chatted with Li Ji for a while. Feeling that the time was almost up, he reluctantly bid farewell to Li Ji.

When leaving, Zhang Song even turned his head back every few steps.

To Zhang Song, Li Ji was a talent scout, a confidant, and the only person in the world who understood him, respected him, and appreciated his talents.

However, after Zhang Song left, Jia Xu couldn't hold back any longer and whispered to Li Ji.

"Zikun, what benefits did you promise Zhang Song to make him so readily commit such a treacherous act against his lord?"

"Wenhe, don't slander me..."

Li Ji picked up his teacup and took a sip, replying, "Zhang Ziqiao and I are like bosom buddies who appreciate each other's music. We just happened to meet at the teahouse and chatted a bit. Where did any benefits come from?"

After a pause, Li Ji met Jia Xu's contemptuous gaze and added.

"Furthermore, Zhang Song is a Han official. Even though he is currently serving under Ji Yu, his words and actions are for the sake of the Han Dynasty. How can you call it treason?"

"Moreover, the world will surely belong to our lord. Zhang Ziqiao, with his foresight, may very well be acting for the future of Ji Yu."

Jia Xu paused for a while, digesting this, before finally saying.

"I have never seen such a shameless person. And you originally said you specifically invited me to the teahouse for a gathering, but it turns out it was just a cover to meet with Zhang Song!"

"The former is slanderous..."

Li Ji opened his folding fan and chuckled, then stood up and said.

"The latter is indeed true. Wenhe, please enjoy the opera at your leisure. I still have official duties at the government office, so I'll take my leave first."

With that, Li Ji slightly cupped his fist towards Jia Xu and left with Xu Chu, who was guarding the stairs.

Watching Li Ji leave, Jia Xu stroked his beard, suddenly feeling as if he had overlooked something.

The next moment, Jia Xu's eyes widened slightly, and he couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

"Damn it, he didn't pay the tea bill!!!"

Leaving the teahouse through a hidden door, Li Ji couldn't help but smile as he got into the carriage.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford the tea, but freeloading was more cost-effective.

Of course, this was also because Jia Xu was a regular at the teahouse, while Li Ji needed to hide his tracks as much as possible to prevent others from knowing he had been there, so it was more appropriate for Jia Xu to pay.

Zhang Song had great righteousness in his heart but didn't care about trivial matters.

Therefore, to avoid Zhang Song from being accidentally exposed and beheaded by Liu Zhang, Li Ji naturally needed to pay a little attention to avoid attracting the attention of those with ulterior motives.

"Lord, back to the mansion?"

Xu Chu confirmed.

Li Ji looked at the sky. It was almost time to get off work, so he said.

"Not back to the mansion yet, go to the lord's place."

Even though the situation in Yi Province was generally clear, there were still some strange things about Jing Province.

Li Ji needed to discuss some ideas with Liu Bei in advance.

Soon, the carriage started moving, taking Li Ji away.

Normally, Li Ji didn't like to ride in a carriage very much, but now that there were many people and eyes in the city, whether for secrecy or safety, Li Ji chose an ordinary-looking carriage for transportation.

Leaving aside the various political considerations behind the "Grand Military Exercise", in fact, with the arrival of representatives from various lords and aristocratic families in Wu County, there were naturally more related arrangements.

For example: the improved paper officially named "Suzhou-Hangzhou Paper".

It would also take this opportunity to fully enter the stage of the times, skipping the process of slowly flowing from Yangzhou to the lords and aristocratic families of various states, and directly displayed in front of the lords and aristocratic families.

As a carrier of text, "Suzhou-Hangzhou Paper" almost completely improved the shortcomings of "Cai Lun Paper".

Compared to heavy and cumbersome bamboo slips, no one could resist the charm of "Suzhou-Hangzhou Paper".

Moreover, in the past few months, Wu County had established five or six suitable paper mills, and the efficiency of paper manufacturing was by no means comparable to the past.

The government offices in various places within Yangzhou had also initially completed the promotion of changing bamboo slips to paper, making paper completely mainstream.

However, relying solely on domestic sales to consume paper was undoubtedly a great waste.

Therefore, "export" became very necessary.

And the many lords and aristocratic families were undoubtedly key customers.

And not only paper, but also tea and refined salt were also the objects that Li Ji planned to "export" in large quantities.

In an era when the Son of Heaven and the imperial court had completely lost their prestige, Li Ji no longer needed to be as constrained as in the past, and everything needed to take the imperial court into consideration.

Therefore, in addition to the various political meanings of the "Grand Military Exercise" itself.

Li Ji also planned to use this opportunity to harvest the lords and aristocratic families through paper, tea, and refined salt, and to further establish a complete trade system covering the Han Dynasty.

Now, there was a steady stream of gold and silver flowing into Yangzhou, but this was like the Pretty Country being able to print greenbacks at will.

How to print greenbacks and how to make these gold and silver have enough purchasing power was a technical job.

The solution was similar to how the Pretty Country tied the world's trade to greenbacks. Li Ji was also preparing to let the entire Han Dynasty digest the gold and silver produced in Yingzhou together, so as to maximize purchasing power.

Therefore, establishing a trade system for Yangzhou that many lords and aristocratic families could not oppose was the key among the keys.

However, with "Suzhou-Hangzhou Paper" and "Refined Salt", this was an invincible weapon for Yangzhou.

When the chamber of commerce led by the Mi family could truly establish unimpeded trade throughout the Han Dynasty, then there was no need to worry about poor digestion of the gold and silver produced in Yingzhou.

Even pushing the entire Han Dynasty into the era of the "silver standard" or "gold standard" was only a matter of time.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Ji pondered various issues. When he came back to his senses, he had already arrived at Liu Bei's mansion.

Because various lords and aristocratic families had been frequently visiting Liu Bei recently, Liu Bei had been receiving guests almost every week except for sleeping, which can be described as the top brand among Yangzhou's top brands.

This was also an unavoidable trouble for Liu Bei as the head of a force.

Therefore, if Li Ji wanted to find Liu Bei, he would just go straight to Liu Bei's mansion.

When he arrived at the main entrance of Liu Bei's mansion, Li Ji lifted a corner of the curtain and took a look.

As expected, the carriages of visitors were like a long dragon.

As Liu Bei completely controlled Yangzhou, there were naturally many lords and aristocratic families who wanted to befriend Liu Bei.

However, Li Ji didn't need to enter through the main entrance like the others. The carriage took Li Ji around a circle and finally stopped at the back door of the mansion.

After Li Ji got off the carriage, he knocked on the door, showed his face, and led Xu Chu directly in.

Immediately, Li Ji waited in a side hall for a while before Liu Bei ran over breathlessly, then sat directly beside Li Ji, picked up the tea that Li Ji had just cooled, and drank it all in one gulp. (End of this chapter)