Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 72 Three Thousand Gold

The next day.

Liu Bei got up early and supervised Li Ji in sword practice.

Watching Zhao Yun meticulously instructing Li Ji, whose swordsmanship was somewhat clumsy, and Jia Xu eating fruit and snacks while watching the show, Liu Bei inexplicably felt a sense of a good day.

Compared to a few months ago, the drastic changes in life have given Liu Bei a sense of upheaval and dreamlike quality even now.

A few months ago, Liu Bei had to get up early every day to weave straw sandals, and then travel all the way from Lousang Village in the suburbs to Zhuo County to sell straw sandals to make a living.

Even though Liu Bei did not forget to practice swordsmanship every day, he could only practice for a while before going to bed.

All these changes seemed to begin on a certain day when the gears of fate started to turn, the Taoyuan Oath with his second and third brothers, the thatched cottage encounter with Zikun, and then truly embarking on the road to realize his great aspirations.

'Now, I am no longer alone, and I need to work harder!'

Liu Bei's eyes narrowed, and he practiced swordsmanship more intently, until he was drenched in sweat after an hour.

Only then did Liu Bei release Li Ji, who was already numb from exhaustion, and then went down to take a bath and change clothes before rushing out to pay his respects to Lu Zhi as usual.

As a disciple, it was rare to serve his teacher, so Liu Bei would naturally try his best to pay his respects to Lu Zhi every day. Moreover, Lu Zhi was not only a great Confucian scholar famous at home and abroad, but also had extremely high attainments in governing a region, leading troops, and strategizing.

Therefore, Liu Bei would naturally take the opportunity to learn from Lu Zhi as much as possible before going to Wu County to take office.

And Lu Zhi also had a lot of love for this disciple who had almost completely changed, and he could be said to have been diligently teaching him all the time, hoping that he could do something practical for the world.

It was not until Liu Bei had a meal with his teacher Lu Zhi in the afternoon, and Lu Zhi, who was already old, was preparing to take a nap, that Liu Bei bid farewell and returned to his mansion, and then went straight to the hall to deal with some matters at hand.

"Hmm? Cao Guo Xiang's greeting card?"

Looking at the greeting card placed on the table by the doorman, Liu Bei's already good mood became even brighter.

At the banquet a few days ago, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian could be said to have had a very pleasant conversation. Although Cao Cao's eyes were sometimes strange, after a conversation, Liu Bei was deeply impressed by the various insights Cao Cao showed.

At least, in terms of leading troops and governing a region, Liu Bei benefited a lot from Cao Cao's insights, and Liu Bei knew about Cao Cao's "five-colored stick", so he admired Cao Cao very much and was willing to make friends with Cao Cao.

Therefore, Liu Bei could not help but be overjoyed to see that Cao Cao actually took the initiative to visit him.

However, when Liu Bei saw that the greeting card mentioned a visit around noon, he could not help but frown and said.

"It's past noon, could it be that I have neglected Mengde?"

Immediately, Liu Bei hurriedly took the greeting card and went towards the doorman, but unexpectedly did not see Cao Cao's figure, and could not help but feel a little anxious, thinking that Cao Cao had already left in anger.

"I am too lazy, but I forgot to deal with the greeting card early."

Liu Bei said a little annoyed, inadvertently flipping through the greeting card in his hand, thinking about letting someone prepare a greeting gift later and visiting Cao Cao to apologize and return the visit.

Liu Bei suddenly noticed a familiar word in the greeting card—"Li Ji"……

Huh?

Zikun?!

Liu Bei widened his eyes and looked at it carefully. He suddenly realized that the object of this greeting card was not himself at all, but Zikun.

"Pa!"

Liu Bei slammed the greeting card in his hand to the ground and said angrily. "This kid is so rude!"

You must know that Liu Bei is the owner of this mansion. Even if Cao Cao intends to ask Li Ji, who is Liu Bei's staff, for advice, he should also submit a greeting card to visit Liu Bei according to etiquette, and then ask Liu Bei for this matter.

However, Cao Cao's greeting card did not mention Liu Bei at all, and directly said that he was here to visit Li Ji. Isn't this a kind of contempt for Liu Bei, who is the owner of the mansion?

More importantly, Liu Bei suddenly reacted.

When Cao Cao first saw Li Ji, he commented: His appearance is very beautiful, his demeanor is quite great, broad-minded and elegant... When I look at him, I love him very much in my heart...

Afterwards, at the banquet, he was also subtly inquiring about Li Ji's various deeds...

At that time, Liu Bei was already drunk and slightly tipsy, so he naturally didn't think much about it, but now it made Liu Bei feel a sense of unease.

You must know that even if Li Ji has formally recognized Liu Bei as his lord, it is not a strange thing in this era to win over and seize capable staff from each other.

Wait…

The next moment, Liu Bei suddenly picked up the greeting card again and looked at the words "early noon" in it.

Liu Bei looked at the sky again, it was already the beginning of Wei time, and an hour had already passed.

If Cao Cao was bold and fast enough, I'm afraid he already…

Liu Bei's face changed, and he turned to the doorman behind him who looked confused and asked.

"Has Cao Mengde already entered?"

"Sir, around noon, Cao Guo Xiang brought two followers and gifts to visit according to the greeting card and has already entered." The doorman replied.

When Liu Bei heard this, he couldn't care about being angry, and almost rushed towards the side hall where Li Ji usually handled affairs.

When Liu Bei hurriedly arrived outside the side hall, he had already clearly heard Cao Cao's hearty laughter inside the side hall.

Immediately, Liu Bei strode towards the side hall while saying loudly.

"Cao Guo Xiang is here, why didn't you inform me in advance, so that I can do my best as a host."

Seeing Liu Bei's appearance, Li Ji and Zhao Yun, who were sitting on both sides of Cao Cao in the side hall, quickly stood up and saluted.

"Lord."

Cao Cao also stood up with Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, cupped his hands and smiled.

"Xuande, I have been waiting for you for a long time, but with Zikun accompanying me, I don't know the passage of time."

Liu Bei glanced around the side hall, and for the time being, it seemed normal, then went straight to the main seat at the top, and after returning a salute and sitting down with everyone.

Liu Bei ignored Cao Cao, but turned to look at Li Ji and said. "Zikun, please entertain Mengde for a while, you go down first."

"Yes, Lord."

When Li Ji heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, then bowed slightly and prepared to retreat directly.

Even though Li Ji can be regarded as resourceful, but similar to Cao Cao's direct door-to-door hoeing, Li Ji can only say... Is it so wild?

"Wait!"

Cao Cao suddenly said a sentence, with undisguised love in his eyes looking at Li Ji.

When Liu Bei was not back just now, Li Ji and Cao Cao's conversation can be said to be pushing back and forth, and even the gifts from Cao Cao were declined.

Previously, Cao Cao already knew that Li Ji lived in a thatched cottage before he met Liu Bei and lived a poor life, but now he has assisted Liu Bei in making great achievements. Not only is he not arrogant and complacent, but he also regards money and wealth as nothing. His good character cannot help but make Cao Cao secretly admire him.

At this moment, Liu Bei's tone already had a hint of anger when he questioned. "Cao Guo Xiang, what do you want?"

Cao Cao didn't care, but got up and cupped his hands and said.

"I and Zikun hit it off at first sight and had a pleasant conversation…"

?

Li Ji.

Heaven and earth conscience, Zilong can testify…

Where did we hit it off at first sight and have a pleasant conversation?

Obviously Cao Cao has been talking and asking for a whole hour, and Li Ji has been perfunctorily saying "um um", and there are very few positive responses.

Boss Cao, you are extremely shameless!

"Xuande also knows that I will go to Jinan to serve as the Prime Minister, but Jinan not only has remnants of the Yellow Turban rebellion, but also has a lot of internal corruption. I am afraid that I will be difficult to support alone and will be ashamed of the Emperor's trust. Therefore, I want to ask Xuande to temporarily lend Li Ji to me to assist me in Jinan."

After a pause, Cao Cao held up three fingers and said. "I am willing to thank you with three thousand gold."

Suddenly, there was silence in the side hall.

What is the price of three thousand gold?

Before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the price of buying a strong slave was about three gold, but with the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the number of slaves increased sharply, and a large number of people had to become slaves in order to survive.

Therefore, even a strong slave can now be bought for only about one gold.

That is to say, in Cao Cao's eyes, Li Ji alone can be compared to thousands of troops, or even three thousand people.

Cao Cao can be said to be quite confident in this price, and he does not believe that Liu Bei, a straw sandal seller who only wants to enjoy himself in the south of the Yangtze River, will not be moved.

You must know that even the position of the Nine Ministers marked by the Ten Attendants is only about three thousand gold.

That is to say, the Cao family behind Cao Cao is not short of money, so Cao Cao can say such a generous number.

"Bang!"

The next moment, Liu Bei suddenly kicked over the table and roared.

"Cao thief, you deceive me too much!"

After saying that, Liu Bei immediately wanted to pull out the male and female double-stranded swords from his waist, and seemed to want to kill Cao Cao on the spot.

Seeing this, Li Ji shouted at Zhao Yun, who was standing next to him in a daze.

"Zilong, what are you still doing in a daze? Quickly stop the lord."

"Ah? Yes!"

Zhao Yun responded and rushed towards Liu Bei, who had drawn half of his sword, and quickly stopped Liu Bei.

"Zilong, I order you to let me go, I swear to kill this thief today!"

Liu Bei struggled constantly, glaring fiercely at Cao Cao, and roared. "How can Zikun be compared to three thousand gold? Cao thief deceives me too much…"

Looking at Liu Bei's almost crazy appearance, Cao Cao subconsciously took a step back for a while, completely not understanding why Liu Bei was angry.

You must know that everyone is a minister of the Emperor, and they have a lot of love for their colleagues' staff, and they want to thank them with three thousand gold for help. Even if this is spread out, it should be a good story. Why has the scene developed to the point of being almost out of control?

Seeing this, Li Ji quickly cupped his hands and said.

“Cao Guoxiang, my lord is not in a good mood today and finds it difficult to continue entertaining you. Please forgive him.”

If this entertainment were to continue, knives would be drawn.

Although Cao Cao wasn't afraid of a mere shoe seller, he also didn't want to become an unwelcome guest who caused bloodshed in his host's home.

Immediately, Cao Cao cupped his hands towards Liu Bei before leaving with a flick of his sleeves.

However, before leaving the side hall, Cao Cao paused and cupped his hands towards Li Ji alone, saying.

“Zikun, please give Cao's suggestion more consideration. Jinan State can allow you to display your talents.”