Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

“Everyone, this is for Wu Commandery and our lord, let's keep calm! Show some grace! Please, show some grace!”

However, Jia Xu's persuasion not only had no effect, but it was like adding fuel to the fire, causing both sides to almost bang on the table and erupt in dispute.

Zhang Hong, blowing his beard, said angrily.

“Xiahou Bo, you are just a boor, a military man, how can you understand the financial operations and the development of the people's livelihood in Wu Commandery? Reckless military aggression and expeditions thousands of miles away will lead to disaster!”

“I was originally a wandering knight from Changshan, and I am deeply grateful to our lord. I only know that I must repay him with my life…”

Xiahou Bo sneered, knowing that he could not argue with Zhang Hong, and retorted, “Now that our lord is fighting fiercely with the national traitor in the front, instead of giving our full support, you are advising our lord to retreat without success. What are your intentions?”

“I am doing this for the great cause of our lord, for the millions of people in Wu Commandery. How can you, a short-sighted person, understand?”

At this moment, Zhang Hong, who usually displayed the refined demeanor of a scholar, was also so excited that he sprayed saliva wildly.

Xiahou Bo raised his hand and wiped his face, wiping away the water stains that had splashed on his face, while his other hand rested on the sword at his waist, and he said angrily.

“Even if I am short-sighted, I only have loyalty and righteousness in my eyes, and I follow our lord's orders as the准则, not like you, who don't know how many thoughts you are hiding!”

“Today, I, Xiahou Bo, only have one sentence here. Without our lord's order, whoever dares to short the front line by a single grain of money, I will cut off his head.”

Zhang Hong, sticking out his neck, said. “Come! My head is here, if you have the ability, cut it off.”

Xiahou Bo's nose emitted a heavy breath, and the hand holding the sword hilt seemed to tighten suddenly. This frightened Gu Yong and Mi Zhu, who hurriedly stepped forward to separate Zhang Hong and Xiahou Bo on the left and right.

Gu Yong also took the opportunity to speak.

“Ji Chang, why do you have to threaten your colleagues with weapons? Moreover, Zi Gang's intention is only to have everyone unanimously propose to our lord to withdraw the troops, not to cut off our lord's military pay.”

“Furthermore, Zi Gang's concerns are not without reason. Our lord leads a large army on an expedition against the traitor Dong, and even if he wins, he will not be able to occupy the enclave thousands of miles away. If he loses, it will be a heavy blow to Wu Commandery.”

“Now is a good time to send a message to our lord to propose a withdrawal, which will not only allow our lord to fully express his loyalty to the Han as a member of the imperial clan, but also prevent him from suffering too much loss.”

Jia Xu also hurriedly stood between the two sides, nodding with a kind and harmless appearance, comforting them. “Yes, yes, what Zi Gang and Yuan Tan said also makes some sense.”

“Hmph!”

While Mi Zhu hurriedly held down Xiahou Bo's sword, he also snorted coldly, and said.

“If our lord gives up halfway, wouldn't he be ridiculed by the people of the world?”

“Moreover, our lord has Mr. Zi Kun by his side, who can see thousands of miles away. If things cannot be done, he will persuade our lord. Why should we, who are stationed in Wu Commandery, say more to influence the decision of the war in the front?”

Jia Xu nodded in agreement and said, “Indeed, since the other lords have not retreated, how can our lord, as a member of the Han imperial clan, retreat first?”

Zhang Hong completely ignored Jia Xu's echoing and directly retorted loudly.

“Li Ji may be resourceful, but can his plans turn axes and halberds to break the majestic Hulao Pass? According to the latest military report, the allied forces of more than 200,000 troops have been blocked under Hulao Pass for many days. What can Li Zikun do?”

Xiahou Bo felt the contempt in Zhang Hong's words and said angrily.

“Old fool, what qualifications do you have to call Mr. Zikun's name directly? You are just a small clerk, and you have been entrusted by Mr. Zikun to temporarily preside over some of the political affairs of Wu Commandery. How can you be so ungrateful?”

Zhang Hong flushed red and scolded.

“What I am loyal to is not Li Ji alone, nor is it a lackey of Li Ji, but a subject of our lord, and what I eat is the salary of the Han. On the contrary, you are barking madly here. Are you a subject of Li Ji? Or are you a subject of our lord?”

This quarrel lasted for nearly half an hour. Seeing that Xiahou Bo, who was relatively inarticulate, was about to draw his sword in anger, Gu Yong hurriedly dragged Zhang Hong away from the government office.

“A mere child, with only a little loyalty in his eyes, is not worth planning with!”

After leaving the government office, Zhang Hong, still not relieved, continued to scold in the direction of the government office behind him.

“Zi Gang, calm down, don't get angry and ruin your health.” Gu Yong advised.

“Hmph!”

Zhang Hong snorted coldly, his face softened a little, and he said to Gu Yong.

“Yuan Tan, let's not bother with those who are holding onto their positions without doing anything. Why don't you come back to my mansion with me for a drink? Zibu is also in the mansion, and it's been a long time since the three of us have had a chat.”

Gu Yong almost subconsciously agreed, and then he was suddenly shocked, realizing that if he went back to Zhang Hong's mansion, he might get into some big trouble.

Immediately, Gu Yong revealed a bit of helplessness and said.

“Alas, a few days ago, Zhang Zhongjing prescribed me a few doses of medicine, saying that I must not touch a drop of alcohol, otherwise the medicinal properties will turn into toxicity…”

After a pause, Gu Yong cupped his hands and said.

“Next time, definitely next time. This time, I can only refuse Zi Gang's kindness. Next time, I will find a pot of fine wine and invite Zi Gang to my mansion for a banquet.”

Zhang Hong did not show any dissatisfaction, but stroked his beard with a rather expectant look and said. “Then I will wait for Yuan Tan's good wine.”

However, after the two parted at the intersection in front of the government office, Zhang Hong's face sank slightly, and he got into the sedan chair behind him and returned directly to his mansion.

After returning to the mansion, Zhang Hong went straight to a room located on the northwest side of the mansion near the back door and pushed the door open.

Zhang Zhao, who was known as the “Two Zhangs” with Zhang Hong, was sitting in it. In addition, there were some heads of aristocratic families or representatives from Wu Commandery, Kuaiji Commandery, and other commanderies who had submitted to Liu Bei.

A small room, accommodating a full dozen people.

After Zhang Hong pushed the door open and then quickly closed the door, Zhang Zhao glanced at Zhang Hong, who was alone, and said. “Gu Yuan Tan didn't come?”

Zhang Hong sat in the empty seat next to Zhang Zhao and replied. “He refused on the grounds that he was deliberately keeping his distance from us.”

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but show a bit of regret and said.

“It's a pity. If Gu Yuan Tan is willing to completely lean towards us, he will definitely be able to persuade our lord to withdraw his troops and return to Wu Commandery.”

After a pause, Zhang Zhao asked Zhang Hong about the latest military report he had learned in the government office. Zhang Hong also truthfully stated everything and explained in detail the attitudes and reactions of the other four people who now held great power in Wu Commandery.

Zhang Zhao and the aristocratic families present all showed a bit of contemplation after hearing this.

For Zhang Zhao and the Yangzhou aristocratic families, the stalled offensive of the allied forces was undoubtedly a good thing.

In the former Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery, the aristocratic families were almost playthings in Li Ji's hands. Not to mention trying to hollow out the commandery administrator as in the past, and substantially control the power by the aristocratic families, even a little real power could not leak out from Li Ji's fingers.

This made the aristocratic families in Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery both respect and fear Li Ji. As long as Li Ji was in Wu Commandery for a day, the remaining aristocratic families in the two places would instinctively keep their tails between their legs.

It was not until Gu Yong left Wu Commandery and recommended Zhang Zhao to assist Li Ji in handling the major and minor political affairs in Wu Commandery, and even after a short time, even Li Ji himself left Wu Commandery and crossed the ocean to Yingzhou.

This also allowed the aristocratic families in Wu Commandery, Kuaiji Commandery, and even the entire Yangzhou to see the hope.

Unlike Gu Yong, who already admired Li Ji very much and had a relationship with Cai Yong, Zhang Zhao was originally from a small aristocratic family in Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

This allowed the Yangzhou aristocratic families to see the hope of winning over Zhang Zhao and making Zhang Zhao a member of the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

As a result, as the Yangzhou aristocratic families hoped, Zhang Zhao, who was originally from a small aristocratic family, was not resistant to the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

Through the way of marriage, Zhang Zhao was quickly accepted by the Yangzhou aristocratic families, and quickly became the spokesperson of the Yangzhou aristocratic families in the Liu Bei Group.

In order to consolidate his position, Zhang Zhao also pulled his distant cousin and close friend Zhang Hong from Xuzhou to integrate into the Yangzhou aristocratic families, and with the cooperation of the two, they quickly gained a firm foothold in the Liu Bei Group.

However, before Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong could completely occupy a very important voice in the Liu Bei Group with the full support of the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

As Li Ji returned from overseas and once again took the position of commandery assistant…

Whether it was Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, or many Yangzhou aristocratic families who had begun to invest in Liu Bei because of the existence of Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, they only felt that the sky had fallen.

Obviously, in the days when Li Ji was away, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong can also be said to be diligently assisting Liu Bei in governing Wu Commandery.

In addition to Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong occasionally needing to give back to the aristocratic families, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong also believed that they had never slackened for a minute, and the entire Wu Commandery had almost prospered at a speed visible to the naked eye in the past two years.

This made Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong feel that in terms of contribution ability, they were no longer under Li Ji.

However, the fact was that Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong received a heavy blow. The achievements they had worked hard for more than two years were finally exchanged for Li Ji's understatement of “Not bad.”

It was as if these achievements were all Li Ji's…

What a joke?!

However, Liu Bei, as the lord, felt it was a matter of course, and once again entrusted Li Ji with great power after Li Ji had disappeared for more than two years.

Then, Li Ji directly carried out military and political reforms in Liu Bei's rule with extremely tough means.

Registering good land, registering household registration, promoting military households…

These reforms were a heavy blow to the aristocratic families who had secretly collected many unregistered households in Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery in the past few years, and secretly developed many good lands.

How could Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and a group of aristocratic families who had done wedding clothes for others be willing?

More importantly, if it was only a temporary loss, the aristocratic families could still endure it, but with the current trend, as long as Li Ji held the power for a day.

Under Liu Bei's rule, the aristocratic families and the common people could enjoy increasingly similar "fairness."

But what the aristocratic families wanted was "privilege," not "fairness" at all!

Politics, land, education, law…

These privileges that the aristocratic families originally enjoyed relative to the common people were being dismantled little by little under Liu Bei's rule.

(End of this chapter)