Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

However, the arrangement for Li Sanbao was merely an insignificant ripple on the eve of Liu Bei's proclamation as king.

Apart from Liu Bei and Li Ji, who attached great importance to it, and Sima Yi, who took notice, the rest of the people didn't even pay attention to a person named Li Bao.

All the arrangements for the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven and proclaiming kingship proceeded smoothly as scheduled.

Changing Moling to Jianye and building a new capital had also begun as a massive project.

Besides this, the thing under Liu Bei's rule that could attract attention was the promotion of something called "newspapers," and the scholars of the academies built in various prefectures and counties were required to regularly promote and recite them in the corresponding counties.

Because the literacy rate of the common people was extremely low, the promotion of newspapers relied entirely on the scholars of academies in various places, so the initial publication of newspapers was only set for once every half month.

Even so, it was undoubtedly an unprecedented innovation.

The low price of one coin per copy also allowed many illiterate people, whose lives were slowly becoming stable, to choose to buy a copy and enshrine it at home, in order to absorb some of the atmosphere of writing.

And the biggest event published in the first edition of this Han newspaper was undoubtedly Liu Bei's imminent ascension to the throne of the King of Han, as well as an explanation of Cao Cao and Lu Bu, the Han traitors, proclaiming themselves false kings.

Moreover, in the corner of the newspaper, a sentence was also left: Liu Bao was renamed Li Bao due to great merit, and his courtesy name was Sanbao.

In this way, Li Bao's ambition was shown, so that his name would leave an indelible mark.

As the day of ascension, August 5th, gradually approached, the propaganda effect of the newspaper made the people under Liu Bei's rule feel a sense of honor and joy, celebrating together.

For ordinary people, they may not have the vision to look at the era as a whole, but living in troubled times, they are the most personally aware of Liu Bei's benevolent governance.

Life has become better, with fields to cultivate, clothes to wear, and houses to live in…

Not only do they no longer have to go hungry as they did in the past, but excessive taxes and levies are gone forever, and even forced labor has been abolished.

Under the effect of propaganda, the people undoubtedly deeply understood who they should thank for this series of benevolent policies.

Therefore, on the eve of Liu Bei's imminent ascension to the throne of the King of Han, many people under his rule who had benefited from his benevolent policies almost spontaneously decorated their homes with lanterns and colored banners.

Even the poorest people chose to hang a red cloth in front of their doors to show their joy.

However, on the border of Jing, Xu, and Yu provinces, the situation seemed quite tense.

Cao Cao and Lu Bu seemed to have discussed it in advance, and they both stationed troops on the border, with a tendency to take the opportunity to cross the border and invade, in order to force Liu Bei to give up ascending to the throne and proclaiming himself king.

Urgent documents were sent day and night to the official residence where Li Ji was stationed, and the troops within the territory continued to head to the border to prepare for war.

Whether the Cao and Lu families would take the opportunity to start a war and jointly attack Liu was something no one could guess.

Liu Bei's rising power undoubtedly forced the Cao and Lu families, who were not of one mind, to unite and resist.

For Liu Bei and Li Ji, what they wanted was probably to accumulate money, food, and troops for about a year, and then sweep away the disobedient with an overwhelming force, in order to defeat the Cao and Lu families in one fell swoop.

But for Cao and Lu, they naturally understood that it was impossible to defeat Liu Bei in one battle, but now taking the opportunity to invade the border was something that could be done.

At this moment, whether Cao and Lu would take action was not only a game between Liu Bei and Cao and Lu, but also a secret game between the Cao and Lu families.

Whoever of the Cao and Lu families took the lead would inevitably attract most of the hatred, and might suffer losses as a result.

For this reason, Liu Bei also sent people to inquire about the situation from time to time, confirming whether any special measures should be taken.

Faced with the seemingly wavering morale, Li Ji's attitude conveyed through the official residence was always the same, that is, the ceremony would proceed as scheduled.

The matter of offering sacrifices to Heaven and proclaiming kingship, not to mention the harassment and invasion of the Cao and Lu families, even if they attacked with all their strength, must proceed smoothly as scheduled.

Through the propaganda of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the newspapers, everyone in the world knew that Liu Bei would proclaim himself king on August 5th. Once the date was changed or affected, his prestige would inevitably be greatly damaged.

Even Li Ji saw through the essence of the Cao and Lu families. It was true that these two families were forced to unite, but they would definitely not dare to invade the border with their main forces, so as not to incur resentment. At most, they would just harass and make a show of force.

Of course, even if Li Ji judged this way, he still mobilized many troops to the border to guard against the very small probability of a full-scale sneak attack by the Cao and Lu families.

Only in this way could Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who Liu Bei had repeatedly intended to recall from Shouchun, continue to be stationed in Jingzhou and Yuzhou respectively, and even Xu Sheng was sent to Xuzhou to be stationed.

Finally, as the atmosphere on the border seemed to become increasingly tense, and the atmosphere of both sides possibly going to war at any time, the people in the various prefectures and counties under his rule all greeted the day of August 5th with joy.

The people around Shouchun, numbering more than 100,000, flocked to Shouchun, hoping to witness Liu Bei's ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven and proclaiming kingship.

To this, neither Liu Bei nor Li Ji stopped them. Instead, they divided the area outside the high platform built outside the city for the people to watch the ceremony in advance, and used armored soldiers to control the order.

On this day, countless people looked forward to it, and in the solemn sound of ritual music, Liu Bei, dressed in full dress, stepped onto the high platform step by step.

And at Liu Bei's strong request, Li Ji was also dressed in ceremonial robes, with a sword accompanying him.

And at the next level above the high platform, Liu Yu, in the capacity of the Han clan's clan elder, had been waiting here in advance. As Liu Bei walked the last step onto the high platform with Li Ji.

The ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven then began…

Countless people watched from afar, their eyes filled with admiration and expectation.

Even for the vast majority of people, even those who could not see Liu Bei's figure from afar, they still felt a strong sense of excitement and excitement.

And as the ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven ended, Liu Bei put on the nine-tasseled crown and proclaimed himself the King of Han.

The officials, generals, aristocratic families, armored soldiers, and people under the high platform all bowed down and shouted "King of Han" in an endless stream.

At this moment, Liu Bei, standing on the high platform, looked at the countless subjects below through the gaps in the tassels, and a feeling that could not be explained was born spontaneously.

King!

King of Han!

The ideal of pointing to the mulberry tree in his childhood and wanting to use it as a canopy car was finally realized today.

But after truly ascending to this high position, Liu Bei felt that the high platform under his feet seemed so fragile, giving birth to a feeling of walking on thin ice.

'Is my virtue worthy of this position?'

Liu Bei showed a look of reflection, and his mood became a little heavier. He held up his hands and said.

“All ministers and people are exempt from ceremony.”

As the armored soldiers stationed around the high platform repeated in unison, the many generals and people surrounding the high platform stood up one after another, looking from a distance like wheat slowly standing up again.

Immediately, just as Liu Yu was about to open his mouth to remind Liu Bei to move back to Shouchun City, Liu Bei spoke first.

“Now that tens of thousands of people are gathered here, I will not move to the city. I will confer titles on the ministers here, and let the people watch the ceremony. What do you think?” (End of this chapter)