Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“My lord, we’ve arrived at the south gate of Wu County. Should we enter the city?” the coachman asked.

“No need!”

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately jumped out of the carriage, then casually rewarded the coachman with some money, sending him off in high spirits.

Subsequently, the young man stood outside the city gate, looked around, and then walked towards a crooked-neck tree not far from the city gate.

… …

Before long, an army of about twelve thousand soldiers slowly marched out of Wu County.

Liu Bei, riding a tall yellow horse, walked in the forefront alongside Li Ji, his expression slightly anxious as he made a final effort to persuade.

“Zikun, the battlefield is dangerous. Why don't you stay in Wu County to oversee things, while I personally lead the army south to conquer the Shanyue?”

“My lord's safety is tied to the security of the entire county, how can you act rashly?”

Li Ji shook his head, rejecting Liu Bei's suggestion once again with this excuse, which filled Liu Bei's face with helplessness.

With Li Ji having 미리계산 all the preparations for deploying troops in advance, everything was quickly prepared. However, Liu Bei and Li Ji rarely disagreed on the selection of the commander to lead the army south.

Although Wu County today can already be described as a place teeming with talent, there are only three people who truly possess the ability and qualifications to lead an army independently: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Li Ji.

Guan Yu was still in Fuchun Mountain, so naturally, the only people in Wu County who could lead troops were Liu Bei and Li Ji.

In fact, Liu Bei had even prepared for the expedition in advance, and considering that he had become slightly rounder, he had specially modified a new set of armor.

As a result, when Liu Bei tried on the new armor in the government office and even ran to ask Li Ji how the new armor looked, he was then informed by Li Ji that his name had already been banned in advance from the list of candidates to lead the troops.

No, or rather, Liu Bei's name was permanently banned by Li Ji from the list of candidates for the expedition.

If anyone else dared to speak to Liu Bei like this, Liu Bei would definitely have told them what it means to be: bold, how dare you interfere with my decisions?

But since it was Li Ji who spoke, Liu Bei could only discuss it with Li Ji in a low voice, trying to persuade him.

Unfortunately, Li Ji was determined to completely ban Liu Bei's option of going on the expedition.

The past is the past, the present is the present, and the future is even more the future…

In the past, Liu Bei personally led troops to fight in the north and south because he had no choice. Now and in the future, Li Ji will no longer let Liu Bei personally lead troops on expeditions, in order to prevent Liu Bei from becoming overconfident and having his camp burned for eight hundred miles again.

Of course, perhaps for Li Ji, even if Liu Bei really lost this army of over twelve thousand, it wouldn't be a fatal blow.

As long as Li Ji is willing to slow down the development of Wu County, he can easily replenish these twelve thousand troops, but Li Ji is afraid that Liu Bei will also get himself involved, which would be a real big trouble.

Liu Bei doesn't lack capable people under his command, so why should he personally risk being hit by arrows and stones?

Li Ji must cut off Liu Bei's idea from the root from now on, so no matter how much Liu Bei wears out his lips trying to persuade him, he remains unmoved and shows no sign of backing down.

Seeing that the army was about to leave the city and embark on the journey south, Liu Bei's face darkened, and he spoke with a commanding tone.

“Zikun, who is the lord?! Are you going to listen to my orders or not?”

“Precisely because you are the lord, you must not personally lead the expedition. You only need to stay in Wu County to oversee things, and I will quell the Shanyue rebellion myself,” Li Ji replied without hesitation.

This also left Liu Bei completely helpless.

He was impervious to both soft and hard tactics!

Liu Bei really had no way to deal with Li Ji, he couldn't bear to scold him, and it was even more impossible to punish Li Ji for this reason.

Moreover, Liu Bei also knew that what Li Ji said was not without reason. As the governor and the lord, it was indeed not advisable to take risks until the last moment.

But similarly, Liu Bei also knew the dangers of the battlefield and the rapidly changing situations, so he was worried about Li Ji's safety. Therefore, he insisted on going on the expedition and leaving Li Ji at home to oversee things.

Liu Bei believes that he still has some martial prowess and a keen sense of smell. If things really become impossible, Liu Bei is confident that he can break through the encirclement with his courage. But Li Ji is just a weak scholar, and once he is trapped, it will be difficult for him to protect himself.

This is the reason why Liu Bei, who is not actually warlike, insists on going on the expedition and leaving Li Ji at home to oversee things.

However, Li Ji always refused. Liu Bei, who had made his final effort, had no choice but to give instructions in a low voice, saying.

“After Zikun goes south, be sure to urgently summon Zilong to lead the cavalry back to protect the central army. Once something unexpected happens and things cannot be done, Zikun must not hesitate in the slightest. Just let Zilong protect Zikun and break out of the encirclement and reorganize. There must be no idea of burning the boats.”

“Thousands of troops and horses are not as important to me as Zikun!”

“I can lose thousands of troops and horses, but I cannot accept Zikun being harmed in the slightest. Otherwise, even if I exhaust the young and strong warriors of Wu County and raise an army to slaughter all the Shanyue to avenge Zikun, I will not hesitate. I hope Zikun knows and remembers that your importance is also related to the entire Wu County.”

Li Ji was moved by these words and comforted him, saying.

“My lord, rest assured, I have always been cautious and careful in my actions, and I will never do such a risky thing.”

“Okay, then I will wait in Wu County for Zikun to return in triumph…”

Liu Bei said with some reluctance, and then suddenly thought of something and said. “Zikun, this expedition will only last for two and a half months at most. Once the deadline is reached, you must return.”

“Why?”

Li Ji was a little surprised for a moment.

Even though the current situation seems to be fighting on the territory of Wu County, for the ever-changing battlefield, two and a half months sometimes almost pass in the blink of an eye.

Liu Bei stared blankly at Li Ji, seemingly stunned by Li Ji's question, and then reminded him in a low voice. “Zikun, have you forgotten? Your wedding day is less than three months away. If you don't return, how will you get married?”

“…” Li Ji.

If Liu Bei hadn't mentioned it, Li Ji, who had been wholeheartedly busy with the expedition these days, really wouldn't have remembered that his wedding day was less than three months away.

This was a bit embarrassing, and Li Ji even felt inexplicably sorry for Cai Zhaoji, feeling like he was a scumbag who forgot about her as soon as he pulled up his pants.

Fortunately, the correspondence with Cai Zhaoji during this period also provided Li Ji with considerable emotional value, but once he got busy with serious matters, Li Ji immediately forgot about Cai Zhaoji.

Before the slightest sense of guilt could arise, Li Ji, who had left the city, suddenly noticed a scholar's robe hanging on a crooked-neck tree not far away. The robe was inscribed with “I have a brilliant plan to defeat the Shanyue,” completely attracting his attention.

Noticing Li Ji's gaze, Liu Bei, who was still rambling and wanted to explain something, looked along Li Ji's line of sight and also noticed that eye-catching scene.

“I remember that in order to avoid panic among the people, the fact that the Shanyue are invading the southern part of Wu County has been tightly sealed off, and no news has been spread in Wu County. How did this person know about it and wait here in advance?”

Liu Bei said with some surprise.

“The matter of Wu County gathering troops cannot be hidden from those who are interested, and it is not difficult for intelligent people to make a judgment with a little speculation,” Li Ji said, his eyes looking towards the figure standing under the crooked-neck tree.

Unfortunately, Li Ji's eyesight was not good, and he could only distinguish that it was a human figure, but he couldn't see the specific appearance clearly. He only felt that the person might not be very old.

Hearing this, Liu Bei said with some joy. “Since he is an intelligent person, he must not be talking nonsense. It is possible that he really has a brilliant plan to defeat the Shanyue.”

Immediately, Liu Bei greeted Xiahou Bo behind him, wanting to ask Xiahou Bo to invite that person over. After thinking about it carefully, he decided to invite him personally.

“Zikun, go with me to ask for advice, it may be helpful to your expedition to conquer the Shanyue,” Liu Bei said.

“Alright.”

Li Ji looked up and found that it was still early, and he was not in a hurry to march. He ordered the rear army to continue to slowly leave the city and wait for preparation outside the city.

Under the protection of Xiahou Bo and Xu Sheng, Liu Bei and Li Ji walked towards the crooked-neck tree not far away.

The young man standing under the crooked-neck tree seemed to notice Liu Bei and Li Ji approaching, whose attire clearly indicated their unusual status.

Immediately, the young man took off the scholar's robe with words written on the inside from the crooked-neck tree, and then put it back on, regardless of whether the temporarily put on scholar's robe looked quite messy. He cupped his hands and saluted Liu Bei and Li Ji, saying.

“I am Guo Jia from Yingchuan, courtesy name Fengxiao. I have been waiting for a long time. May I ask if you are Governor Liu, the governor of Wu County, and Li Zikun, the assistant governor of Wu County?”

Guo Fengxiao?

Li Ji's eyebrows quietly raised, understanding that the bait he had arranged early had finally attracted a few real big fish. Later generations praised him, saying: “Born is Guo Fengxiao, a hero surpassing all. His belly contains classics and history, and his chest hides armor and soldiers.”

This shows that Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao's ability is definitely not below Jia Xu.

Li Ji's eyes moved as he sized up Guo Jia in front of him, who seemed a bit unkempt. He found that his age was also quite young, even younger than Li Ji, about the same age as Gu Yong.

Teenage version · Guo Jia

‘Moreover, he is probably in the stage of traveling around to study after just reaching adulthood, so he was attracted by the RenDe Academy, or rather, the “Four Crossings of the Red River”?’

Li Ji silently guessed in his heart, but did not take the lead in speaking.

Liu Bei was naturally completely unfamiliar with the name Guo Jia, but Liu Bei did not look down on Guo Jia because of this. After thinking for a while, he said.

“Guo Gongze, who came to Wu County earlier, is also from Yingchuan. I wonder what relationship he has with Fengxiao?”

“I and Guo Gongze can barely be considered clansmen.”

Guo Jia replied somewhat vaguely, seemingly not very willing to specifically associate himself with Guo Tu.

However, Liu Bei was quite interested in Guo Tu and asked, "Previously, the famous Yingchuan scholar Guo Gongze visited Wu Commandery. Before I could properly entertain him, he drifted away, which I greatly regret. I wonder how Gongze is doing lately?"