Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

Inside the Luoyang Government Affairs Hall.

Zhuge Liang is reviewing the resources and reports recovered by the first batch of raiding groups.

Guo Jia rushed in from outside, grabbed the herbal tea from Zhuge Liang's table, and gulped it down.

Zhuge Liang put down the briefing in his hand and looked at Guo Jia with some surprise.

Although Guo Jia was known for his unrestrained and dissolute behavior, it was rare to see him do something so lacking in manners.

"What happened?" Zhuge Liang asked with great interest.

"Don't even mention it, I've been working as a consultant in the development department these past few days!"

Guo Jia stared blankly, realizing he'd been tricked by that bastard Jia Xu.

This task was originally Jia Xu's responsibility, since he had access to intelligence and analyzing it would not have been difficult for him to provide advice.

However, Jia Xu, citing his own inability to be in two places at once, recommended Guo Jia to Mu Yi.

The reason is simple and straightforward: appropriate mental activity helps restore intelligence, and Guo Jia needs exercise.

Mu Yi thought it made sense, so he directly ordered Guo Jia to take over the task.

This wouldn't have been a problem, since Guo Jia was injured and he has been acting as a universal key.

Wherever there's a need, just put him there. After all, when he's idle at home, Guo Jia spends his time drinking, watching music, and visiting brothels—purely neglecting his duties.

Then Guo Jia met his tragic end. As an advisor to the Expeditionary Department, Guo Jia's task was to help these raiding groups with strategic planning.

After all, the first batch consisted of retired veterans, and the funds were provided through loans. Naturally, they needed to be taken care of as much as possible to ensure a better return on investment and to allow the expansion plan to proceed smoothly.

The initial intention was good, but the execution was not quite right.

Especially in the last two days, as the first batch of looted items began to be recycled and exchanged, the threshold of Guo Jia's office was worn down by the crowd.

Poor Guo Jia was dragged along for three days and three nights to discuss strategic planning.

You know what, it actually helped Guo Jia find some of the feeling he had back then, but the price was that Guo Jia's throat was practically burning.

"Take a look at this!" Zhuge Liang handed over a list of data.

"Fourteen thousand three..."

"Twenty-one thousand..."

"Nine thousand seven hundred and two..."

Guo Jia was increasingly surprised as he read on, and turned directly to the last page, where Huang Tianji had compiled the data analysis and made suggestions on the allocation of the current manpower shortage.

"They're insane! These guys are absolutely insane!"

Guo Jia knew that these raiding groups were meant to cause trouble, but he didn't expect that almost all of them would target people as their primary objective.

In this batch of recycling lists, human trafficking accounted for 70 percent, with the remainder being gold and silver jewelry.

"No wonder all the strategic plans they pursue are disruptive; this price is something I would also be tempted by!"

Guo Jia glanced at the buyback price and immediately understood Zhuge Liang's plan.

"This raiding group's modus operandi has, to some extent, mobilized a considerable number of potential troops who do not meet the standards of a regular army but still possess combat capabilities."

"If this model is implemented, our development will be quite remarkable."

Zhuge Liang tapped the table, already considering whether to issue a second batch of qualifications. This tangible war bonus was making him inevitably slid towards violence.

Compared to conquering a homeland and then having to painstakingly govern it, this simple and brutal method of plundering has more obvious short- to medium-term benefits.

If it weren't for concerns about the impact on the morale of the army, Zhuge Liang would have wanted to draw some people from the army to do this.

However, looting would have too much of an impact on military discipline, so Zhuge Liang only considered it for a moment before dismissing it from his mind.

Regular armies cannot do this, at least not now.

“This recycling price needs to be adjusted!” Guo Jia pointed to the prices on the list. “If we want this model to continue, the proportion of human trafficking must be reduced to at least 30 percent.”

"Since you, Fengxiao, are so clear about this, then this task will be entrusted to you!" Zhuge Liang looked at Guo Jia with a smile.

Guo Jia was stunned for a moment before realizing that he had been tricked.

Zhuge Liang dug a pit, and he jumped in without even looking at it.

Guo Jia looked at Zhuge Liang, remaining silent for a long time. In the end, he could only angrily raise his middle finger to vent his dissatisfaction.

"Let's get down to business. Where do you think this expansion plan should focus its development going next?"

Zhuge Liang ignored him and began to seriously discuss work with Guo Jia.

Guo Jia had no way to deal with the slick Zhuge Liang, and could only resign himself to his fate and analyze the situation.

"Since the future goal is to expand territory, the next step is naturally to guide these raiding groups to establish themselves in one place..."

"Introduce a project to jointly develop resource sites!"

"Whether it's minerals, special crops, or even something like raising ferocious beasts!" Guo Jia suggested after a moment's thought.

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, his thoughts coincided with Guo Jia's; entrusting the matter to Guo Jia was indeed the right decision.

"Lower the price of human trade, introduce policies for cooperative mining, and form an assessment team to conduct in-depth evaluations of the value of various assets!"

“By strengthening their ties with local forces, we can open up some trade rights for weapons, silk, and tea, allowing them to act as middlemen and earn a profit from the price difference.”

Zhuge Liang nodded repeatedly as he listened. Guo Jia's considerations were quite comprehensive, and he couldn't think of anything to add for the time being.

What are your thoughts on eligibility for the second batch?

“Reduce the number of qualifications in the second batch, and throw these qualifications to the noble class, so that they will participate voluntarily and mobilize their power!”

Guo Jia directly targeted the aristocratic families.

“I remember the Yuan family wanted a title of king before, but it was rejected. This time, we’ll just send them the message directly so they can see hope.”

“Even a starved camel is stronger than a horse. The Yuan family still has at least two Breakthrough Realm experts, two strategists with spiritual talents, and at least two thousand Imperial Guards in their private army. It’s probably not appropriate to put them together with these raiding groups.”

Zhuge Liang shook his head. The Yuan family's foundation was still too strong, especially with Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Shen Pei, Guo Tu, and the private army they had accumulated.

For these raiding gangs composed of retired veterans, it was a complete dimensional reduction attack; they were not even in the same league in terms of either military strength or intelligence.

“Didn’t we discover a few worlds with high danger levels before? Let’s number those worlds, establish a mutual aid alliance, make the Yuan family the leader, and jointly develop those worlds.”

Guo Jia sneered and kicked the noble families again, sending them sliding into the abyss.

The round, large pancake was laid out there; let's see who has the best appetite and can finish that big pancake.

Appetite is secondary; the main concern is the numerous obstacles along the way, where a slight misstep could lead to certain death.

Although the purpose was somewhat insidious, the methods were relatively mild.

Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, many aristocratic families will inevitably be dragged into the abyss and never recover.

But with the opportunity there, no noble family with even a little capital and ambition would miss it.

If one or two people actually succeed, Xinghan wouldn't mind giving them a title of king.

After the news was released, all the major noble families flocked to the venue. The Yuan family, aiming to become the leader of the alliance, naturally made the event exceptionally lively.

The Yuan family is very familiar with this kind of alliance meeting, and many older people have noticed that this round of alliance meetings feels a bit like a return to Hulao Pass.

However, before the alliance meeting could even begin, a group of uninvited guests arrived at the venue.

"Yang Dezhu, I didn't expect your Yang family to come too!"

Yuan Tan decisively brought Wenwu along, set up a small room, and planned to have a small meeting with Yang Xiu to talk things over first.

Yang Xiu's arrival was completely beyond their expectations.

Fortune turns like a wheel. The Yuan family was once full of vigor and invincible, crushing the Yang family in every way, but in the end, it was the Yang family who had the last laugh.

The Yang family seized the Kushan kingdom and made King Avand, the Kushan king, their son-in-law. Although military power remained in Avand's hands, the Yang family directly controlled the Kushan government, and nearly two-thirds of the people in the court were promoted by the Yang family.

Strictly speaking, the Yang family could easily crush the Yuan family now.

However, Xinghan would not allow such a thing to happen.

After all, although everyone is now autonomous, they are all under the rule of the Star Han Empire, and Luoyang will not stand by and watch internal strife occur.

Even though Gan Ning's air force was still sweeping through the Qing Dynasty world, the figure of the giant dragon still hovered over various regions.

After they were withdrawn from the front lines, Luoyang found them a job: patrolling Eurasia.

Their mission is to patrol various regions. Although the area they cover is a bit large, it is still relatively easy for the dragons.

"Don't be so nervous!" Yang Xiu said with a smile, picking up his teacup.

"I did come here to get involved, but I don't intend to compete with you for the position of alliance leader!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tan turned to look at Shen Pei, who shook his head, signaling Yuan Tan to remain still.

Yang Xiu watched Yuan Tan's actions, put down his teacup, and a serious expression appeared on his face.

"We're just keeping a backup plan; we don't intend to expend a lot of effort to fight for it!" Yang Xiu's words were half true and half false.

For the Yang family, with Arvind's son ascending to the throne, the Kushan Empire would belong to them. After two or three generations of intermarriage within the clan, the Yang family would directly take over the title of Kushan king, becoming the rightful host.

But Yang Xiu, who had successfully seized the country, did not want to wait. He wanted to be crowned in his lifetime, rather than feel like an uncrowned king.

So in reality, it wasn't the Yang family that wanted to get involved; it was Yang Xiu himself who wanted to compete.

Yang Xiu was very arrogant. He believed that he could seize the country and also that he could establish a new one.

For Yang Xiu, who now holds a high position of power, this is also what drove him to come here.

"I've come here to seek cooperation with you!" Yang Xiu stated his purpose.

"Cooperation?" Yuan Tan did not understand Yang Xiu's meaning.

"I can use my authority to provide you with a large quantity of supplies at below-market prices!" Yang Xiu took out a list, which contained all the low-priced supplies.

Even though the Yuan family was wealthy and powerful, they had no reason to refuse such a low price.

"What do you want!" Yuan Tan was not blinded by such a good thing. He knew very well that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

The more expensive the price Yang Xiu offered, the more difficult it was to fulfill his demands.

"Within two years, I want a pioneering territory with a population of no less than 300,000!"

“That’s impossible!” Yuan Tan refused directly.

Yang Xiu was asking for an exorbitant price. The low price was indeed tempting, but Yang Xiu's approach of taking everything at once made Yuan Tan refuse.

"A chance for Arvind to take action personally!"

Yang Xiu did not get angry, but instead added a condition.

Just as Yuan Tan was about to refuse, Shen Pei stopped him.

"make a deal!"

A smile bloomed on Yang Xiu's face.

"Okay, it's a deal!"

After seeing Yang Xiu off, Yuan Tan looked at Shen Pei with a puzzled expression, waiting for Shen Pei to give him an explanation.

"Luoyang will definitely adjust the price for buying back people; at worst, we'll just buy 300,000 people for them."

"What about the qualification to expand?" Yuan Tan hesitated.

“Same here. Our Yuan family has enough resources. We can always buy one later.” Shen Pei waved his hand.

"The money saved from two years of low-priced supplies is enough to make up for our losses."

“We have a large gap in merit awards, and that’s exactly what they’re looking for, which is why they came back to talk to us about this.”

"This is a win-win situation for us, and it may even be a win-win-win situation."

A complex expression appeared on Shen Pei's face.

"A win-win-win situation?" Yuan Tan asked, puzzled.

“Yang Xiu didn’t come here on behalf of the Yang family this time!” Shen Pei was completely unaware of Yang Xiu’s motives.

However, he could make a judgment based entirely on the fact that Yang Xiu, despite his high position and power, seemed to intend to go even further.

Having ambition is a good thing. For them, the greater Yang Xiu's ambition, the more inseparable their cooperation with him will be.

Both the Yang and Yuan families, who secretly reached an agreement, remained tight-lipped about the matter. Only those involved in the process could vaguely sense the problem.

The alliance meeting was a great success, just like the Suanzao Alliance meeting years ago, and everyone was full of confidence in exploring the other world.

After all, the gains of the first batch of retired veterans were not top secrets; a little inquiry was enough to find out what they had learned.

The enormous profits blinded the noble families, who fell headlong into the trap set by Guo Jia.

Guo Jia deliberately delayed the second batch of qualifications by half an hour, giving these noble families time to prepare properly, and also to prevent them from abandoning the program halfway through.

The greater the sunk cost, the easier it is for people to lose their rationality.

All the noble families eagerly awaited the second batch of pioneering qualifications.

For them, plundering was secondary; what truly mattered was expansion.

But all of this was within Guo Jia's expectations.

When the first encounter occurred, the powerful clans that had made considerable preparations still failed to take the difficulty of this expansion seriously.

Some even went to the other world with the intention of making money.

However, this mentality caused them to be completely stunned and almost forced to retreat in the first encounter.

As a carefully selected, highly challenging world, danger and opportunity coexist.

Many unprepared aristocratic families were caught off guard, but the Yuan family, with its good fortune, had made thorough preparations and successfully turned the tide.

He stood out like a crane among chickens among a group of aristocratic families. (End of Chapter)