Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang's spirits lifted, and he inquired, “How much further is it to Dantu?”

Zhao Yun replied respectfully, “Sailing downstream, we should reach Dantu around the hour of you (5-7 PM).”

Liu Zhang looked up at the sky, judging the time, and realized that it was less than two hours until you.

Liu Zhang said with some anxiety, “Oh dear, this is urgent! I need to bathe and change quickly.”

Gan Ning, who was beside him, couldn't help but cup his fist and say, “My lord, you are the son of the Governor of Yi Province, representing the face of Yi Province. You are only meeting a mere commandery administrator. Isn't this a bit of an overestimation of the other party, and a loss of face for Yi Province?”

These words sounded polite on the surface, but the underlying meaning was clearly dissatisfaction.

Li Ji is a commandery assistant, and my uncle Jiang Zhi is also a commandery assistant.

Jiang Zhi was so humble in front of Liu Zhang, trying to gain his favor and recommend Gan Ning, which already made Gan Ning feel that a dignified man was losing his ambition.

Now, Liu Zhang, who was being carefully attended to by the Ba Commandery Assistant, was actually preparing to bathe and change grandly in order to meet the Wu Commandery Administrator, appearing as if he wanted to please the other party. How could this not provoke Gan Ning's dissatisfaction?

This, in effect, further demeaned Jiang Zhi, and even made Gan Ning feel that he had been demeaned several levels as well.

However, Gan Ning's words caused Zhao Yun's eyes to narrow.

Zhao Yun appeared humble, but in reality, his pride and courage were unmatched in the world.

As someone who was often arranged by Liu Bei to serve as a guard by Li Ji's side, Zhao Yun was very clear about Li Ji's usual behavior.

Regardless of whether Li Ji's ability was a rare talent for governing the world, what was more important was that everything Li Ji did for the people made Zhao Yun admire him.

As a commandery assistant, in order to govern one side, and also for the sake of the people, Li Ji did not choose to stay in the yamen, but personally went to various places to investigate, enduring the elements and completely disregarding his status, often communicating equally with the people of Wu Commandery.

In Zhao Yun's eyes, this could be called virtuous!

How could such a virtuous assistant be allowed to despise him so?

Zhao Yun was angry in his heart, and his expression gradually cooled, reminding him, “Please do not speak recklessly, sir.”

“You…”

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning instinctively turned his head to look at Zhao Yun, and just as he was about to say something, the sound suddenly caught in his throat, and he faintly smelled a dangerous aura from Zhao Yun.

Originally, Gan Ning could not smell this aura.

It wasn't until two years ago, when Gan Ning led the "Brocade Sail Bandits" intending to do something big, and passed through Changsha, Jing Province, along the river from Ba Commandery, that he encountered a plain-looking middle-aged fisherman.

Gan Ning, who acted ostentatiously, naturally upheld the principle that even the dogs passing by had to be slapped, and the fish caught had to be spat on twice, so that everyone on and off the river would know the prestige of Gan Xingba.

Then, Gan Ning naturally went up…

Then, Gan Ning was beaten to a pulp…

The middle-aged fisherman used a fishing rod to beat Gan Ning until he howled, beating him without any temper. Even the hundreds of "Brocade Sail Bandits" under his command wanted to come forward to help, but they were still disarmed by the middle-aged fisherman, who used the back of the steel knife to knock them all to the ground.

Fortunately, Gan Ning acted arrogantly and ostentatiously, but he didn't really have any intention of hurting or killing people, so the middle-aged fisherman taught them a lesson and let them leave.

Gan Ning, who had been beaten up, never knew the name of the middle-aged fisherman, but he remembered the middle-aged fisherman's eyes and aura.

It was somewhat similar to Zhao Yun's eyes and aura at this moment!

The shadow of two years ago enveloped him again, causing Gan Ning to subconsciously choose to shut up.

However, the words spoken were like water spilled, and Gan Ning's words also aroused some dissatisfaction from Liu Zhang, who said, “Gan Xingba, do you want to teach me how to do things? Since you are a guard, then be a good guard.”

Gan Ning was angry in his heart, but he could only endure it, cupping his fist and saying, “Yes, my lord.”

Immediately, Liu Zhang flicked his sleeves and hurried into the cabin, quickly taking a bath and changing clothes, so that he could leave a good impression when meeting Li Ji.

When the fleet, carrying a full 300,000 shi of grain and guarded by a full 5,000 commandery soldiers, arrived at the ferry near Dantu County, it was already dusk.

And Liu Zhang, who had undergone a bath and change of clothes, also appeared quite formal and grandly dressed, wearing luxurious clothes and jade at his waist, and even his round face looked much fairer.

In Li Ji's eyes, who came to the ferry to greet him in person, he looked like a big water fish flopping onto the shore.

“Ji Yu…”

Just as Li Ji was preparing to open his mouth to express his kind greetings to Liu Zhang, Liu Zhang also spoke at the same time, and hurried towards Li Ji.

“Mr. Zikun!! Seeing you again today has finally relieved my nearly year-long longing for you!”

“Ever since I saw Mr. Zikun's demeanor in Zhuo County, Zhang has been amazed by your heavenly appearance, and it has been floating in my mind day and night, hoping that Mr. Zikun will pacify the Yellow Turban Rebellion and return to Zhuo County as soon as possible, so that Zhang can uphold the etiquette of a disciple under Mr. Zikun's seat, and then listen to one or two teachings.”

“Unexpectedly, Mr. Zikun went to Wu Commandery with Brother Xuande to govern one side, which made Zhang feel very regretful, and for a long time, even eating was like chewing wax, difficult to swallow.”

“To be able to meet Mr. Zikun again today is truly a blessing from heaven, having pity on me…”

At this moment, looking at Liu Zhang's excited and emotional appearance that didn't seem to be acted out.

Not only was Li Ji slightly stunned, but even Jiang Zhi, the Ba Commandery Assistant who followed Liu Zhang off the ship, was completely stunned, and subconsciously flashed a thought: "We've met a master."

And looking at Liu Zhang's enthusiastic and excited appearance, Li Ji was slightly confused.

Previously, in the Zhuo County Yamen, Li Ji had not seen Liu Zhang show any excitement, but was a quiet and well-behaved little fatty.

‘Is it acted out?’

‘If this is really the case, then Liu Jiyu cannot be underestimated…’

Li Ji's thoughts flashed through his mind, and he said with the demeanor of a gentle gentleman, “Ji Yu has traveled a long way and worked hard. Now that Ji Yu has arrived in Wu Commandery, I should also do my best as a host. Please.”

“Good, good, good.”

Liu Zhang looked like he was seeing his idol, and did whatever Li Ji arranged.

Immediately, Liu Zhang instructed Jiang Zhi to arrange the fleet affairs, and then only took a dozen or so personal guards and followed Li Ji into the carriage, heading towards Dantu County.

Along the way, Liu Zhang, who was sitting in the same carriage with Li Ji, still looked pure and excited, talking endlessly about how he went from Zhuo County to Yi Province, and then describing the customs and culture of Yi Province, depicting the differences between Shu and the Central Plains.

Throughout the process, Li Ji always maintained a smile as a listener, only occasionally adding a few words.

Soon, Dantu County appeared in front of Liu Zhang.

Dantu is not a big city, and even the entire Wu Commandery only has the city of Wu County that is relatively large.

As for the permanent resident population in Dantu County, it is only 70,000 to 80,000, which is already among the top in the more than ten counties of Wu County.

It is conceivable how sparsely populated the original Wu Commandery was.

Unlike Liu Zhang, whose eyes were curiously looking at the unique scenery of Wu, Li Ji looked at the sparse flow of people in the city with a faint hope in his eyes.

After Wu Commandery gradually digests the 600,000 refugees who are still constantly coming to Wu Commandery, the population density of Wu Commandery will double.

If we vigorously encourage childbirth, Wu Commandery will soon enter a virtuous cycle.

Even if we want to become the most populous commandery in the entire Han Dynasty, it won't take long.

As they arrived at the county yamen in Dantu County, the Dantu County Magistrate had already led a group of minor officials to wait at the entrance of the county yamen for a long time, welcoming Li Ji and Liu Zhang inside.

Perhaps Li Ji himself didn't really care about the so-called pomp, but since he needed to entertain Liu Zhang, the son of the Governor of Yi Province, he naturally needed to show enough grandeur.

What's more, it was Liu Zhang, a big water fish who came with 300,000 shi of grain?

Li Ji even specially placed Liu Zhang's seat at the banquet to sit side by side with him to show his importance to Liu Zhang.

Under the circumstances that both parties were intentionally harmonizing the atmosphere, the banquet quickly became lively.

While Li Ji and Liu Zhang appreciated and commented on the song and dance performances at the banquet, they pointed to the exquisite dishes in front of them and said, “Ji Yu, these dishes are all specialties of You and Yan. I spent a lot of effort to find these chefs, in order to avoid Ji Yu not getting used to eating them. Why don't you taste them and see if the taste is authentic?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhang was not polite, and tasted all the dishes in front of him, and said with surprise, “The taste is really very similar to what I had in Zhuo County before.”

“That's good, that's good.”

Li Ji said with a smile, and then held up his wine cup and toasted Liu Zhang with a full drink.

As for the specially found chef, that was naturally a joke.

The chef was completely a chef brought out from the Wu Commandery Yamen. Usually, the meals eaten by Liu Bei and Li Ji were also made by this chef.

After all, the Wu area can indeed be called a "food desert."

Li Ji wanted to use Wu's special delicacies to entertain Liu Zhang, but he was afraid that Liu Zhang would not be able to eat them, so he simply pulled out the chef from his own yamen to make a cameo appearance.

Anyway, Liu Zhang had stayed in Zhuo County for quite a while, so making some specialties of You and Yan would definitely be no mistake, but instead, it would modify the intention and make it more important.

And Liu Zhang also seemed to be quite moved, and while eating the dishes in large mouthfuls from time to time, he talked to Li Ji about the various interesting things he had experienced while staying in You and Yan.

However, Liu Zhang's rather weak and somewhat ingratiating demeanor caused Gan Ning, who was seated at the end, to feel a growing sense of indignation.

The son of the esteemed Governor of the Province, so openly fawning over a mere Prefectural Assistant.

If this were to spread, wouldn't the world think that Yi Province was far inferior to Yang Province? (End of Chapter)