Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

These words caused Zhang Zhao to momentarily freeze.

Had Liu Bei ever mistreated Zhang Zhao?

Clearly, he hadn't.

Even though Liu Bei considered Zhang Zhao far less important than Li Ji, he always treated him with respect, ensuring he enjoyed all the privileges befitting his position.

But what had Zhang Zhao done?

Perhaps Zhang Zhao had assisted Liu Bei in managing his territory effectively while Li Ji was overseas, but Zhang Zhao was also aware that he had always regarded Li Ji as a political enemy.

He had allied with the families of Yangzhou, actively managed the territory's affairs, and courted colleagues both above and below him…

He had even gone so far as to leak defense plans to external enemies in an attempt to undermine Li Ji, and even though Zhang Zhao never intended to defect, how different was this from betraying his lord?

He sacrificed the lord's interests to fight for his own.

Zhang Zhao looked at the vibrant Li Ji before him, and his heart was still filled with involuntary resentment, regret, and defeat, which ultimately turned into a sigh.

Zhang Zhao suddenly realized that the "art of checks and balances" he had adhered to for many years might not necessarily be wrong, but his own weight was clearly insufficient to counterbalance Li Ji.

Moreover, he had clearly made a grave mistake by being deeply trapped in this obsession.

When Zhang Zhao was placed under house arrest, he was shocked to learn that the allied forces against Wu numbered over 130,000, and he desperately wanted to break free, fearing that those northerners would be unable to withstand the allied forces.

However, the course of events stunned Zhang Zhao.

Of the 130,000 troops, most were either killed or surrendered, with only a few escaping, and even the remaining four commanderies of Yangzhou were brought under control in an instant.

It was at that moment that Zhang Zhao suddenly realized that he seemed to have been a pawn from the beginning, a pawn used by Li Ji.

Zhang Zhao had countless questions he wanted to ask Li Ji before meeting him.

But now, Zhang Zhao suddenly felt that even if Li Ji truly regarded him as a pawn, what did it matter?

Should he blame Li Ji for disregarding the friendship between colleagues? Or should he try to maintain his fragile dignity and pride?

Or should he use this as a way to comfort himself that Li Ji was the one who was unjust first, which led to him leaking the defense plans?

However, Li Ji's simple sentence made Zhang Zhao realize once again that his lord was Liu Bei.

Had his actions been worthy of his lord's kindness?

Had he been a loyal subject?

Or was he simply reaping what he had sown, with Li Ji merely taking advantage of the situation?

"My life can be described as that of a jester in official robes."

Zhang Zhao said with a bitter laugh, mocking himself.

Jester in official robes?

Li Ji was no stranger to this term recorded in the "Records of the Grand Historian," and it could be summarized into two simpler words in later generations: clown.

Li Ji didn't respond, neither mocking Zhang Zhao nor feeling the need to comfort him.

For Li Ji, he only wanted to confirm Zhang Zhao's thoughts on this visit.

After laughing bitterly a few times, Zhang Zhao's figure became even more hunched, and he said to Li Ji.

"May I ask, Lord Marquis, for the sake of my past efforts for our lord, can you leave me with some dignity? Grant me a cup of poison and allow me to be buried with my body intact in my hometown?"

Li Ji countered, "Why does Zibu think that I would definitely take your life?"

"Although I don't know much about the situation outside, the allied forces against Wu have been annihilated, and the families of Yangzhou can no longer hinder our lord's dominance in Jiangdong. With Lord Marquis's ability, you will surely take the opportunity to suppress the families of Yangzhou to stabilize the rear and seize the Central Plains."

Zhang Zhao slowly replied.

"And when the families of Yangzhou are completely suppressed, then in Lord Marquis's eyes, I, this obstructive political enemy, will have lost my greatest use, and there will be no point in keeping me alive."

"Furthermore, my involvement with the families of Yangzhou is countless. Keeping me alive will only give the families of Yangzhou a chance to slowly rise again in secret."

"In public and private, in terms of reason and emotion, I have only one path: death."

Li Ji couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this.

This caused Zhang Zhao, who was prepared for death, to frown slightly and couldn't help but ask, "Why does Lord Marquis laugh? Could it be that you are mocking me for not being able to see the situation clearly?"

"Zibu's analysis is correct, but not entirely correct," Li Ji replied.

"I would like to hear the details," Zhang Zhao said.

"Looking at Yangzhou alone, Zibu should indeed die; but has Zibu never felt that Yangzhou is too narrow?"

Li Ji said indifferently, then turned to comment.

"Zibu's ability is not inferior to others, but your vision has always been limited to one corner, one province. Is this not a kind of sorrow?"

Then, Li Ji waved his sleeves and walked towards the door, saying.

"Yangzhou may not be able to accommodate you and me, but the Han Dynasty can, and the territories outside the Han Dynasty are even more vast…"

Before Li Ji could walk out the door, Zhang Zhao woke up as if from a dream, abandoning his decadent air and suddenly stood up and chased after Li Ji, shouting loudly.

"Lord Marquis, please wait."

Li Ji paused slightly, looked at Zhang Zhao who had caught up, and a smile appeared on his face, saying.

"If Zibu wants to seek death, I will not stop you, but if Zibu still has some ambition, why not go to Jiaozhou to stabilize the territory for the Han Dynasty and develop its potential?"

Jiaozhou?

The Han Dynasty has thirteen provinces, and Jiaozhou is the southernmost land, with seven commanderies and fifty-six counties, and its area is no less than that of Yangzhou, but the population included in the official household registration is only about 2 million.

The population of the seven commanderies combined is far less than that of Wu Commandery today, which shows how sparsely populated it is.

Moreover, Jiaozhou's transportation is blocked, and the jungle is dense. Not only are there continuous mountains blocking it, but the number of southern barbarians and Baiyue people living in the Jiaozhou area is greater than that of the Han people.

Therefore, although Jiaozhou is nominally one of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, the court's attitude towards Jiaozhou for hundreds of years has been mainly to let it develop on its own and maintain stability, because it is really unable to develop it.

Previously, Zhu Jun deeply felt the changes in the court situation, so when Emperor Ling of Han was still in power, he recommended his son Zhu Fu as the governor of Jiaozhou, hoping that Zhu Fu could live in peace in Jiaozhou and seek a lifetime of wealth.

However, unlike his father Zhu Jun, Zhu Fu not only did not govern by inaction after taking office to maintain the stability of Jiaozhou for the Han Dynasty, but even tried every means to plunder the people's wealth.

For this reason, Zhu Fu also came up with a tax law that even Li Ji found unbelievable, that is, the people of Jiaozhou had to pay one hu of rice as tax for every yellow fish they caught.

It must be known that Jiaozhou is underdeveloped, and agricultural technology is far behind the Central Plains. Moreover, the jungle is dense, and it is common to rely on hunting and fishing to make up for the lack of rice to satisfy hunger.

This rule undoubtedly dug up the roots of the people of Jiaozhou.

As a result, righteous soldiers rose up in Jiaozhou for a time, and the Jiaozhou families, Baiyue, bandits, etc. took the opportunity to attack and directly broke through the governing office. Zhu Fu fled in embarrassment, but was killed by the people on the way.

Since then, the position of governor of Jiaozhou has been vacant, and most of the commanderies of Jiaozhou have continued to be controlled by the Jiaozhou families. (End of this chapter)