Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

The Yangzhou aristocratic families' foolishness and Li Ji's scheming allowed Liu Bei to take complete control of Yangzhou far too quickly, catching the world's warlords somewhat off guard.

In that moment, many of the world's warlords began to feel wary and guarded towards Liu Bei.

Chen Qun was no exception.

With the Yingchuan Chen clan choosing to invest a portion of their resources in the court controlled by Lü Bu, they naturally did not want Liu Bei to begin setting foot in the Central Plains before Lü Bu marched east out of Hulao Pass.

Jiaozhou, then, was a place that could greatly distract Yangzhou's energy.

Originally, Chen Qun had two candidates in mind for the position of Governor of Jiaozhou.

The first was Shi Xie, from a local Jiaozhou aristocratic family; the second was Zhang Jin, a famous scholar from Nanyang.

Among them, Chen Qun originally leaned towards Zhang Jin.

Zhang Jin was skilled in social interactions and possessed great diplomatic skills, maintaining close relationships with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and other prominent figures of the time, but he disliked people of the Liu family due to his ancestors suffering from the Partisan Prohibition.

More importantly, Zhang Jin had once received life-saving grace from Zhang Jiao of the Taiping Dao, and thus was deeply obsessed with and worshiped Huang-Lao Daoism.

As for Liu Bei, who had pacified the Yellow Turbans, Zhang Jin could be said to have loathed him to the extreme.

However, despite Zhang Jin's great reputation, which would make it difficult to find fault with the court appointing him as governor, the biggest problem was that Zhang Jin was merely a scholar of empty talk.

He was fine with sitting and discussing Dao, but to truly have him govern a region, especially in such a harsh environment as Jiaozhou...

Chen Qun was worried that Zhang Jin would simply run away, and also knew that his abilities were far from being a match for the Marquis of State.

Now, in Chen Qun's eyes, an even better candidate seemed to have appeared: Zhang Zhao.

Chen Qun had already thoroughly investigated Zhang Zhao's past experiences.

In his youth, Zhang Zhao studied the "Zuo Zhuan" under Bai Houzi An, and was also good friends with famous scholars such as Zhao Yu and Wang Lang, his name becoming known throughout Xuzhou.

Later, at the invitation of his good friend Gu Yong, he served under Liu Huangshu, assisting in the governance of Wu Commandery for many years, achieving remarkable political achievements.

However, Zhang Zhao and Li Ji had always been at odds, and coupled with Zhang Zhao's growing dissatisfaction, which seemed to be related to the "Anti-Wu Alliance", Zhang Zhao had been placed under house arrest for several months.

Chen Qun had even contacted several well-connected aristocratic families to visit Liu Bei in Wu Commandery, pleading with him to show leniency and release Zhang Zhao.

To this, Liu Bei's reaction was invariably a look of displeasure, and he did not agree.

This made Chen Qun completely certain that Liu Bei and Zhang Zhao had already broken ties, and coupled with the fact that Zhang Zhao's demonstrated abilities were far superior to Zhang Jin's...

Chen Qun sipped his fragrant tea, savoring the rich aroma, and a new inclination gradually arose in his heart.

Liu Bei was unwilling to kill virtuous men, lest it ruin his reputation for benevolence, so he had been keeping Zhang Zhao under house arrest.

Chen Qun wanted to solve this problem was quite simple, that was, for the imperial court to issue an order summoning Zhang Zhao to the court to become an official, Liu Bei would certainly not dare to obstruct it.

After that, Zhang Zhao would be promoted to Governor of Jiaozhou, in order to restrain Yangzhou.

Zhang Zhao was willing to risk the name of betraying his lord, and wanted to retaliate against Liu Bei and Li Ji, the depth of his hatred was conceivable.

Presumably, once Zhang Zhao took control of Jiaozhou and gained power, he would inevitably attack Yangzhou.

Chen Qun did not expect Zhang Zhao to have the possibility of defeating Li Ji, as long as Jiaozhou could create three to five years of obstacles for Liu Bei, then it would be enough for Lü Bu to sweep across the Central Plains.

Carrying the momentum of the Central Plains, how could Liu Bei, who only had Yangzhou, be a match for the Bingzhou wolf cavalry even if he crossed the Yangtze River?

"This move will take some effort for the Marquis of State to break."

At this thought, Chen Qun's mood was excellent.

Immediately, Chen Qun remembered the sand table deduction set up at the main entrance of the RenDe Academy, which was said to be able to weigh the heroes of the world, and simply intended to see what it looked like.

As the RenDe Academy's reputation grew, it naturally led to countless scholars coming and going at the entrance, all wanting to see what was so magical about the sand table set up by the Marquis of State.

When Chen Qun arrived, what he saw was a sea of people, which immediately dispelled his intention to squeeze in.

"Could it be Brother Changwen?"

Just then, a voice sounded from Chen Qun's side.

Chen Qun turned his head to look, only to see a young man standing aside with his hands clasped, behind him stood a boy of about half his age.

Chen Qun's memory was outstanding, and in just a moment he remembered the identity of the visitor, whom he had only met once, and returned the greeting.

"So it's Boda, why have you also come all the way from Henei to this place?"

"Previously, the traitor Dong wreaked havoc in Sili, and the Sima family was unwilling to associate with him, so they had no choice but to move the whole family to Liyang to take refuge."

After a pause, Sima Lang continued.

"This time, going to Wu Commandery is also at the invitation of Liu Huangshu to watch the 'Grand Military Exercise', and I am also very curious about Liu Huangshu, whose name of benevolence fills the world, so I rushed to Wu Commandery."

"I see."

Chen Qun was originally just being polite, but after Sima Lang answered so seriously and solemnly, his goodwill towards Sima Lang also increased by three points, and he simply stopped to chat with Sima Lang, saying.

"Judging by Boda's appearance, you came out from inside, could it be that you also came to see the sand table set up by the Marquis of State?"

"That's right."

Sima Lang replied.

Chen Qun asked. "Then does Boda have a solution?"

"Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!"

Sima Lang said three times in a row, then sighed. "The Marquis of State is learned and wise, and his strategies are divine, Lang is not as good as him, and cannot even compare."

"Why does Boda need to diminish his own prestige by praising others? The Marquis of State is just a mortal after all." Chen Qun said somewhat displeased.

Sima Lang showed a wry smile, and said. "It is just that Lang has stopped and pondered for a quarter of an hour, and all that I have thought of are dead ends."

This made Chen Qun slightly surprised.

In Chen Qun's view, the so-called sand table deduction was just a minor skill.

Sima Lang was also the eldest son of the Henei Sima clan, and had lived in Sili for a long time, with outstanding knowledge, and he was actually so impressed by it, which made Chen Qun's curiosity even stronger.

However, Chen Qun, who prided himself on his background, really did not like to squeeze together with those poor scholars, getting stained with those unpleasant smells that made him unhappy.

So, Chen Qun thought for a moment, and said.

"Boda, if you have time, why not come with me to the teahouse for a sit, and then use 'Suzhou-Hangzhou paper' to draw the sand table, and I will personally solve it, how about that?"

To this, Sima Lang was naturally a hundred times willing.

Now the Sima family also has the idea of moving back to Henei, but now Henei is Lü Bu's territory.

Therefore, befriending Chen Qun is beneficial to the Sima family in every way, otherwise Sima Lang would not have taken the initiative to talk to Chen Qun just now.

"That is what I wish for, I dare not refuse."

Sima Lang quickly replied. "Although Lang has not been able to remember the entire sand table, my younger brother Sima Yi has the talent of photographic memory, and is also good at sand table deduction, it is not difficult to redraw it."

(End of this chapter)