Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Inside the side hall of the Wu County government office, Li Ji looked at Guan Yu's request for battle, rubbed his brow, and chose to temporarily set it aside without processing it.

Guan Yu's purpose in leading troops to the island barbarians was not to suppress bandits, and the remnants on the island did not have the ability to wage war against the Great Han.

To be precise, Guan Yu's purpose in leading troops to the island barbarians was to bring them under the rule of the king, establish sovereignty, and assimilate them.

Moreover, the three thousand troops specially assembled by Guan Yu were also intended to remain on the island.

The Great Han does not engage in colonialism...

Under the vast heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the land, all are subjects of the king.

The current mainstream ideology of the Great Han also lacks the soil for "colonialism," because the Great Han almost wholeheartedly believes that foreign races should submit to the banner of the Great Han.

The reason why the Great Han does not want the land of foreign races is purely because the benevolent people of the Han disdain those meager resources, believing that the money and grain required to develop or relocate the common people far outweigh the output.

Even if a vassal state submits, it still needs to be granted a Han seal, nominally confirming that the vassal state is actually a subject of the Han, which is the great righteousness.

Therefore, for the Great Han, either I look down on it, or it's mine; there is no such thing as nominally being yours but temporarily being used by me.

Meanwhile, the shipyard has already built the "Yizhou" ship, which will be used to transport Guan Yu's troops to the island and will also be used for the future transportation of various materials and personnel between Wu County and the island.

It can be said that the timing for Guan Yu to lead his troops to the island is quite ripe, but it can be described as "everything is ready except for the east wind."

Li Ji intends to implement governance and development on the island, so it is necessary to equip Guan Yu with an assistant who is good at handling all kinds of miscellaneous affairs and is quite familiar with agriculture, handicrafts, Han law, and so on.

In other words, it almost requires this assistant to have the ability to govern the island in all aspects from scratch.

However, among the civil officials in Wu County who currently possess this ability, there are only a handful, otherwise, even if Guan Yu, a military officer, goes to the island, he would probably only find it barren and not know where to start governing.

However, Li Ji is still hesitant to decide on a suitable candidate to serve as Guan Yu's assistant, finding it difficult to find a perfectly suitable person.

Either their ability is somewhat lacking, or they have already been entrusted with important tasks...

This made Li Ji once again lament the importance of talent. If there is not enough talent reserve, even if there is enough territory, there will be no one to govern it.

Just then, hurried and light footsteps sounded outside the side hall.

Immediately, Gu Yong, with a face full of excitement, rushed in directly, excitedly holding Li Ji's hand, and said.

"Prefect Li, the cultivated land in the past six months has been registered and the statistics have been completed. Do you know how much more good land Wu County has?"

Li Ji slightly estimated and replied. "About three times as much."

Suddenly, Gu Yong's expression clearly showed surprise. He looked down at the bamboo slip that had not yet been opened in his hand and said. "Prefect Li, have you already seen it in advance?"

Li Ji smiled and shook his head, saying.

"Yuan Tan is responsible for the registration and statistics of new fields, and Yuan Tan probably just learned the final result before coming over. How could I see it halfway?"

"Then how did Prefect Li know this number?" Gu Yong's tone still had some confusion.

Li Ji was about to casually attribute it to coincidence when a thought suddenly struck him. His originally somewhat casual gaze fixed on Gu Yong in front of him.

Originally, Li Ji had also considered Gu Yong, but ultimately gave up.

This was because of Gu Yong's position in the government office, which was completely like a small ox pulling a large cart, taking the salary of a minor official while doing the work of a prefect.

Moreover, given Gu Yong's background, he might not be willing to go to an uncivilized and undeveloped place like the island for three to five years.

However, it seems like a good opportunity now.

Li Ji's thoughts moved, and he casually replied as if inadvertently.

"If I, Li Ji, cannot understand how much new land Wu County can reclaim and how many displaced people can be settled, and make plans early, then that would be a dereliction of duty."

It should be known that Li Ji had personally investigated the topography of Wu County before deducing the most perfect water conservancy plan that could be implemented at this stage.

At that time, when making this water conservancy plan, Li Ji knew that after completion, it could increase the existing arable land area of Wu County by more than five times at its limit.

However, due to the efficiency of manpower in reclaiming arable land, at this stage, it can only increase the new fields in Wu County by about three times at most.

However, this also means that Wu County still has greater potential to settle other displaced people, and it will take considerable time to truly develop the current agricultural potential of Wu County.

However, Li Ji's unintentional remark was undoubtedly a heavy blow to a young man who had been diligently working for nearly a year and believed that he had achieved sufficiently dazzling results.

'So, the achievements I have made after working day and night for such a long time are merely picking up the leftovers of Mr. Zi Kun? And I am only doing some trivial things that Mr. Zi Kun disdains?'

The huge sense of gap made Gu Yong inevitably feel a bit of self-doubt.

Once, Gu Yong also considered himself a genius in government affairs, perhaps with the potential to become a prime minister.

Unexpectedly, the political achievements he is currently making with hard work and effort are actually always patching up the framework made by Li Zi Kun, and even the final result is always within Li Zi Kun's expectations.

A complex feeling of "Since there is Ji, why have Yong" surged in Gu Yong's heart.

"Yes."

The exuberance between Gu Yong's eyebrows, which had been somewhat youthful, suddenly disappeared, and he handed the bamboo slip to Li Ji in a proper manner, saying.

"Prefect Li, this is the register of new fields, please take a look."

"You've worked hard."

Li Ji said with a smile, but before Gu Yong could retreat.

Li Ji directly pulled Gu Yong to sit down and personally poured him a cup of tea.

It's just a pity that Gu Yong is not Jia Xu, otherwise he would definitely know that drinking a cup of tea personally poured by Li Ji during his duty often requires paying a heavy price.

"Yuan Tan, speaking of which, you and I can be considered a family. Your teacher is my father-in-law, so I can be considered half of your senior brother."

Li Ji said with some emotion, making small talk, while Gu Yong's spirit was somewhat depressed after being hit, and he habitually responded vaguely.

"Yes, Prefect Li."

"At that time, I, Li Ji, saw at a glance that Yuan Tan was by no means an ordinary person, so I brought him into the government office and entrusted him with important tasks. And Yuan Tan has also lived up to my expectations, diligently and conscientiously, which makes me very gratified."

Li Ji said in a close and respectful tone, which actually touched Gu Yong's heart a bit.

Even though Gu Yong thought that Li Zi Kun often did things that were inhumane, and almost threatened and forced himself into the government office, Gu Yong still admitted the kindness of appreciation in his heart.

Without Li Zi Kun, no matter how talented Gu Yong was, he would probably only be able to continue studying at home at this moment.

Then, he would have to wait until Gu Yong was old enough to be recommended as a virtuous and honest person, and then try to get a county magistrate or a government office assistant through family connections. This is also the path for most aristocratic families to enter officialdom.

How could he be entrusted with important tasks in a county as soon as he reached adulthood like now?

If there is anything that is very different from what Gu Yong expected, it is that the affairs of a county are so numerous that Gu Yong's scalp is numb.

And let alone how Gu Yong thinks in his heart, on the surface, he is naturally grateful and tearful, saying. "I, Yong, also have infinite gratitude in my heart to Prefect Li."

"Hey, there are only you and me here, why are you putting on such a distant posture?" Li Ji pretended to be displeased and said.

This made Gu Yong hesitate slightly before saying. "Yes, Mr. Zi Kun."

"Yuan Tan has a hundred advantages, but he is too cautious. Just call me Zi Kun."

After a pause, Li Ji said with some helplessness.

"Actually, I have also seen Yuan Tan's ability, but I have already defined the framework for the development of Wu County, which has limited Yuan Tan's talent. I am really ashamed of this."

"And my father-in-law is also paying attention to Yuan Tan all the time, saying that what Yuan Tan lacks now is actually a platform where he can freely display his talent."

Hearing this, Gu Yong inexplicably felt that his originally somewhat depressed mood had improved a lot.

That's right, I, Gu Yuan Tan, am definitely not just a talent of a mere county!

The reason why it is not shown is entirely because the vastness of Wu County has limited my, Gu Yuan Tan's, talent.

Anyone with talent must have arrogance, let alone Gu Yong, who has been in charge of various trivial and complicated government affairs in Wu County for more than a year, and has gradually become handy in handling them in an orderly manner.

However, Li Ji's next sentence made Gu Yong stunned in place.

"Therefore, Yuan Tan, I want to recommend you to the imperial court to serve as a prefect elsewhere, but I don't know who can take on the important task of Wu County's government affairs after Yuan Tan, who is my right-hand man, leaves?"

Recommend!

Li Zi Kun is actually willing to recommend me to the imperial court, and it is still as a prefect who sits on the same level as Li Zi Kun?

This made Gu Yong, who was originally just perfunctorily entertaining Li Ji, suddenly feel a strong sense of emotion from the bottom of his heart.

Even Li Zi Kun's past behavior of throwing a large number of trivial government affairs to himself, which seemed inhumane, suddenly made Gu Yong feel that perhaps Li Zi Kun's original intention was to train his ability, rather than using himself as a beast of burden.

A gentleman judges deeds, not intentions!

Regardless of what Li Zi Kun's thoughts were in the past, Gu Yong suddenly felt that Li Zi Kun was indeed a true gentleman, and he did take care of and promote himself with his heart.

And under Gu Yong's surge of emotion, after a little thought, he said.

"Mr. Zi Kun, half a year ago, I met a good friend from Xuzhou who came to study at the Rende Academy. He is proficient in government affairs and has outstanding insights. He has often been praised by famous scholars such as Wang Lang, Chen Lin, and Qin Song. Perhaps he can take on the important task."

"Oh? How does his talent compare to Yuan Tan?" Li Ji asked.

"He surpasses even Yongduo," Gu Yong replied.

"If he is truly so capable, I will have the Lord personally invite him. Where is this man now, and what is his name?"

Li Ji spoke, a smile creeping into his eyes.

He knew these aristocratic families were deeply entrenched, hiding away talent. If he didn't trick them, they wouldn't easily recommend anyone.

"His surname is Zhang, given name Zhao, courtesy name Zibu. He is from Pengcheng in Xu Province and is currently a guest at my residence," Gu Yong replied.

(End of Chapter)