Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Putting myself in his shoes, Zhang Zhao asked himself, and realized he absolutely did not possess Li Ji's breadth of mind and magnanimity, to be willing to make an oath to gain the trust of a political enemy who had already become his prey.

‘My old self is inferior to Marquis Guoshi in many ways, and it's not just in terms of ability!’

Zhang Zhao took two steps back and bowed respectfully to Li Ji, saying, "I am willing to assist Marquis Guoshi with my meager strength, and together help our lord achieve great things."

Seeing this, a smile couldn't help but appear on Li Ji's face. After helping Zhang Zhao up, he stretched his hand out towards Xu Chu.

Xu Chu blinked, unable to react for a moment, and asked.

“My lord, this is… … ”

Li Ji, still facing Zhang Zhao, couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and coughed lightly to remind him, "The cloth that I gave you to carry before we left."

“Oh, oh, I have it, I didn't lose it, Marquis, please rest assured.”

Xu Chu said in a muffled voice, patting his chest like he was beating a drum, making a dull sound.

Xu Chu was clearly not yet accustomed to his identity!

This gave Li Ji the feeling of suddenly losing face in front of Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao, who didn't know Xu Chu's identity, tactfully lowered his back again, pretending not to know anything, in order to save Li Ji's face.

This made Li Ji want to jump up and knock Xu Chu's foolish head hard with his folding fan to enlighten him.

“What I mean is to give me that cloth.” Li Ji helplessly described his meaning more accurately.

“Yes.”

Belatedly realizing, Xu Chu reached into his arms again, took out the cloth he had been carrying close to his body, and handed it to Li Ji.

Li Ji took it, and after confirming that it was correct, he handed it to Zhang Zhao.

After Zhang Zhao took it, his first reaction was that it looked very familiar, and then like a flash of lightning, he suddenly realized what it was.

Zhang Zhao's hands trembled slightly as he opened the cloth. On it was the defense map related to Yangxian, which was exactly the Yangxian defense map that Zhang Zhao had secretly sent out before.

Before Zhang Zhao could speak, Li Ji unhurriedly unfolded his folding fan and said.

“Fortunately, Zibu wasn't completely blinded by greed. The Yangxian defense map that was sent out was only half true and half false, so it can't be considered as betraying the lord and aiding the enemy. Otherwise, Zibu would probably already be dead. Even if our lord wanted to protect you, it would be difficult to silence the public.”

Zhang Zhao said with shame, “I am guilty.”

Zhang Zhao's desire to have Liu Bei return his troops was real, his desire to attack the prestige of the northerners was real, and his desire to seize the power in Li Ji's hands was also real, but he did not really want to betray his lord and surrender.

The reason why Zhang Zhao did this was not only for his own selfish desires, but also because he felt that Liu Bei's spending countless money and food on a long-distance expedition was a foolish act.

Once the elite soldiers led by Liu Bei were all lost abroad, it would be a fatal blow to Wu County.

“Zibu was indeed confused.”

Li Ji also evaluated without concealment, causing Zhang Zhao's old face to turn red.

In Li Ji's view, Zhang Zhao's actions did not count as betrayal, but it was a thorough internal struggle that disregarded the overall situation.

Killing him was not impossible, but it would be a bit of a waste.

If Zhang Zhao could get rid of his narrow vision and no longer focus his energy on internal power struggles, he might be considered a wise man who could govern the world.

Of course, more importantly, Li Ji never regarded Zhang Zhao as a threat, and he knew that as Liu Bei's territory grew, various factions would inevitably form under the influence of various factors. This was an objectively impossible fact to eliminate.

What did Zhang Zhao count for?

If Li Ji regarded a small Zhang Zhao as a thorn in his side, how could he assist Liu Bei in governing the world?

Appoint people based on their merits and make the best use of their talents.

This was Li Ji's current philosophy.

Immediately, Li Ji continued, saying.

“However, Zibu doesn't need to feel that it will be difficult to gain a foothold under our lord in the future, nor that you have no face to see your colleagues. The defense map you wanted to send out was intercepted and replaced midway.”

“What?”

Zhang Zhao's reaction was one of shock and surprise, but he quickly calmed down and showed a wry smile.

Zhang Zhao had already guessed that his and the Yangzhou aristocratic families' little actions were all under Li Ji's eyes, and now it was just a further confirmation of this.

“Thank you, Marquis Guoshi, for preserving some of my reputation.” Zhang Zhao said gratefully.

“It's nothing.”

Li Ji waved his hand and then said. "Zigang's temperament is more fiery, so I won't go to visit him. Zibu should find some time in the next two days to chat with Zigang."

“If Zigang is also interested in going to Jiaozhou, then with Zibu and Zigang working together, Jiaozhou will surely be civilized soon.”

“Of course, if Zigang no longer has the heart for political affairs, then I can also guarantee that he can stay in Wu County and be a wealthy man, enjoying his old age.”

Zhang Zhao cupped his hands and said, “I thank Marquis Guoshi on behalf of Zigang.”

Li Ji clapped his palm with his folding fan and said.

“It's a small matter. However, in the coming days, Zibu doesn't need to rush to the state shepherd's office to continue working. I will have someone send Zibu some documents about the fields and household registrations of Jiaozhou in recent years for Zibu to take a good look at first.”

“And the matter of the Yangzhou aristocratic families may also require Zibu's assistance.”

Zhang Zhao hesitated slightly, and then agreed one by one. This also represented that Zhang Zhao had chosen to sever ties with the Yangzhou aristocratic families this time and stand on Liu Bei's side to assist in suppressing the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

This made Li Ji quite satisfied with Zhang Zhao's reaction.

After Li Ji left Zhang Zhao's residence, the soldiers who had surrounded Zhang Zhao's residence were also all transferred away.

After Zhang Zhao calmed his mind and re-examined his conversation with Li Ji, he immediately went to visit Zhang Hong, who lived not far away.

Zhang Zhao's appearance surprised Zhang Hong, who had lost a lot of weight, and he even thought that Li Ji was planning to send them both on their way at the same time.

It was not until Zhang Zhao slowly explained his intentions that Zhang Hong remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, Zhang Hong slowly said with emotion.

“Pointing to the Yangtze River and vowing to gain the trust of his brother, how can his mind not be compared to the rolling Yangtze River? You and I, brothers, are far behind. If Marquis Guoshi really wants to use the strength of the two of us to govern Jiaozhou, how can I have any reason to refuse?”

Zhang Zhao also sighed, and the calm and heroic figure of Li Ji when he made his oath flashed in his mind, and he couldn't help but be impressed, saying.

“That's right. If our lord can be of one heart and one mind with Marquis Guoshi for twenty years, the world will surely be obtained by our lord.”

Zhang Hong thought for a moment and said self-deprecatingly.

“Marquis Guoshi is wholeheartedly for the public and has an open mind; our lord is also a benevolent ruler and regards Marquis Guoshi as a brother. Not to mention twenty years, it is not impossible for such a lord and his minister to be of one heart and one mind for a hundred years.”

“Alas… …”

Zhang Zhao couldn't help but let out a long sigh after hearing this.

Liu Bei's benevolent charm naturally made Zhang Zhao admire him, otherwise Zhang Zhao would not have worshiped Liu Bei as his lord.

It was just that what Zhang Zhao had explored in his life was the “way of checks and balances”, believing that everything needed to be checked and balanced in order to achieve long-term peace and stability.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Zhao had always regarded himself as the person under Liu Bei who checked and balanced Li Ji, believing that checking and balancing Li Ji was of great benefit to maintaining the stability among the civil servants under Liu Bei.

However, Zhang Zhao was only now suddenly awakened.

It was not that there was a problem with his “way of checks and balances”, but that the lord and minister, Liu Bei and Li Ji, were not quite right. (End of chapter)