Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

"Is my lord worried that building the capital will consume countless amounts of grain?" Li Ji asked again.

Liu Bei pondered this point slightly before shaking his head.

The issue of money and grain was not a problem for Liu Bei.

Not to mention that with the promotion of new rice varieties, grain production under Liu Bei's rule had repeatedly broken new records.

Especially with the official implementation of the new "Single Whip Method" system, which eliminated the possibility of aristocratic families continuing to conceal land and population, even though taxes were lowered, the amount of grain gathered in granaries everywhere was astonishingly large.

Moreover, even Liu Bei was clear that the grain consumed in building the capital was just a negligible investment compared to promoting the development of the entire region south of the Yangtze River.

Liu Bei slowly voiced his true concern. "What I worry about is that it will ultimately harm the people's strength."

Li Ji was speechless, feeling that some of Liu Bei's ingrained thinking patterns were really hard to change in a short time, and replied instead.

"My lord is overthinking it. There is no corvée labor system under your rule, so how could it harm the people's strength? Is my lord worried that the wages given are not enough to motivate the people to work actively?"

What is meant by 'draining the people and wasting money'?

It refers to forced labor and the depletion of money and grain, leading to an empty national treasury.

But when finances are exceptionally abundant, and there is even a need to worry about how to reasonably channel money into the pockets of the people, these are unnecessary worries.

In Li Ji's view, building a new capital, while ensuring an abundant supply of grain, would liberate a portion of the labor force, create a large number of jobs, and cultivate a large number of construction workers.

And there was no need to worry that these construction workers would have nowhere to go after the capital was built and become vagrants.

Establishing a new capital would only be the first wave in the great tide of developing the region south of the Yangtze River. Subsequently, there would be countless places south of the Yangtze River where large-scale construction would be needed.

With the capital established south of the Yangtze River, it would inevitably siphon talent resources from the entire Han Dynasty, and even radiate to the countries surrounding the Han Dynasty, gathering them around the capital, and then spreading outwards from the capital as the center, rapidly promoting local development.

Therefore, after Li Ji explained it in detail, Liu Bei suddenly realized the truth.

In the end, no previous dynasty could have been as wealthy as Liu Bei is now. Large-scale construction could only be achieved through forced labor, leading to the exhaustion of the people and the waste of money.

"And if my lord is still worried, you can divide a small merchant association from the Mi Clan Merchant Guild and have those craftsmen and commoners building the capital registered under the name of the merchant association, with the merchant association uniformly assigning tasks, distributing wages, and the government sending people to supervise."

"In this way, even after the capital is built, with the merchant association in the middle, there is no need to worry that those craftsmen and commoners will not be able to find work afterwards."

Liu Bei was overjoyed upon hearing this, feeling as if a new door had suddenly opened, and even faintly sensing that what Li Ji had casually said was a completely new way of governing.

In the past, the government was the government, merchants were merchants, and farmers were farmers, clearly separated.

What Liu Bei was worried about was that even if the common people were recruited to work, after the capital was built, the common people would not be able to find work on their own. If they wanted to go back to farming, they would probably find it difficult to obtain land.

And the method that Li Ji proposed in passing was undoubtedly very good in Liu Bei's view, and could greatly guarantee the source of livelihood for the common people.

"Zikun, this idea is good. I will have Mi Zifang come up with specific details as soon as possible."

Liu Bei felt that the gloom had completely disappeared. Now it seemed that the difficulties in building the capital had all disappeared, and he asked.

"Then where does Zikun think is the best location to build the capital?"

Li Ji held his folding fan upside down and pointed to Moling in the northern part of Danyang County, saying. "In my humble opinion, Moling can be the place to build the capital."

"Why?" Liu Bei asked.

"I once passed through Moling, and its terrain can be described as: Zhong Mountain coiled like a dragon, Stone Tiger crouched down, truly a residence for emperors."

This straightforward sentence made Liu Bei a little embarrassed. He wanted to say a few words of humility, but felt that there were no outsiders around, and it seemed unnecessary to decline.

However, Li Ji at this moment did not pay attention to Liu Bei's expression at all, and with a wave of his sleeve, he said with high spirits.

"In addition to this, Moling has the Yangtze River to the north, which can be used as a barrier and is connected to the Yangtze River; to the south, it is adjacent to Lishui, which can connect the entire Yangzhou, with convenient transportation and guarding the sea outlet."

"Looking at the whole picture, the location of Moling can be called: it can remotely control the Central Plains to the north, develop the two provinces of Yang and Jiao to the south, penetrate deep into Jingzhou and Bashu along the Yangtze River to the west, and face the vast sea to the east."

"The superiority of its location is truly difficult to find a second place along the Yangtze River."

At this moment, Liu Bei looked at the "Moling" that seemed to be marked in advance by Li Ji on the territory map, and felt that it was like a new starting point for the great cause that he and Zikun were about to create together.

Taking the new capital built in this place as the center, governing the people's livelihood internally and expanding the territory externally, how wonderful!

"Good!"

Liu Bei couldn't help but get up and clap his hands and laugh, saying. "According to Zikun's suggestion, build a new capital in Moling..."

After a pause, Liu Bei raised his hand and stroked his beard, saying. "However, the name Moling is not suitable for the capital, and it needs to be changed to a suitable name. What do you think, Zikun?"

Li Ji heard this and, after a little thought, said. "Why not name it 'Jianye', how about that?"

"Jianye?! Establishing achievements and starting a career, Zikun, is this to remind everyone not to forget their original intentions? Very good, then name it Jianye to supervise the construction of the new city, and use it as the Southern Capital of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei said loudly.

The next day.

As Liu Bei summoned his ministers to discuss the matter of the capital, with Li Ji's secret cooperation, he finalized the matter with an attitude that seemed to be discussing, but in fact was unquestionable.

Even if the ministers had different thoughts and held opposing or supporting intentions, they could not affect the decision made jointly by Liu Bei and Li Ji.

Liu Yu debated with Liu Bei for a long time afterwards, fearing that after Liu Bei built a new capital south of the Yangtze River, he would lose his ambition to pacify the troubled world with a northern expedition.

For this reason, Liu Bei repeatedly assured him, which made Liu Yu feel at ease for the time being, and even went to visit Li Ji, whom he regarded as a friend beyond his years, complaining to Li Ji that he should not have supported Liu Bei in establishing the capital in Jianye, while repeatedly admonishing Li Ji to remind Liu Bei not to forget the northern expedition.

Now that Liu Yu has arrived in Shouchun, he has naturally extinguished his thoughts of returning to Youzhou, and is preparing to stay in Shouchun to assist Liu Bei in stabilizing the hearts of the imperial family.

Liu Yu, who has no intention of competing for hegemony and does not covet power and wealth, has already begun to transition the military and political power of Youzhou to Liu Bei, making Youzhou truly a exclave under Liu Bei's rule.

In this regard, Liu Bei couldn't help but complain to Li Ji afterwards, saying that Li Ji had made him suffer.

It was all good to establish the capital south of the Yangtze River, but it was easy for people to think that Liu Bei had no intention of conquering the north and only wanted to live in peace in a corner, so that Liu Yu, who was idle, would find an excuse to remind Liu Bei, making Liu Bei, who had a very good temper, annoyed.

Li Ji listened and smiled, and suddenly thought of something, saying.

"My lord, this does not seem to be infeasible, after all, my lord is not unable to enjoy it..." (End of chapter)