Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

While Liu Bei felt relieved about the situation in Yuzhou, he also had some more insights.

During the whole process, did Sima Yi and Gan Ning have a big impact?
Nature cannot be ignored.

But if it was a period when the situation in Yuzhou was stable, how could Sima Yi and Gan Ning have launched a large-scale uprising with such a small number of people, food, and weapons?
Ultimately, this was the guidance of Sima Yi and Gan Ning behind the scenes, but it was undoubtedly also the choice of the people.

If everyone in Yuzhou had enough food and clothing, it would be impossible for an uprising of this scale to take place.

[The people are like water, the ruler is like a boat. Water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it.]

At this moment, Liu Bei couldn't help but think of what Li Ji had once said. He was filled with emotion and was in a daze.

Even the chaos in the Han Dynasty proved the correctness of this statement.

"My lord?"

It was not until Xu Shu called him softly that Liu Bei came back to his senses with some embarrassment.

"I was distracted for a moment, I'm sorry Yuan Zhi laughed at me."

Xu Shu had already reached the age of adulthood, and in the previous advisory group, Xu Shu had initially demonstrated his abilities.

With Li Ji's support, Liu Bei transferred Xu Shu to his side to be responsible for checking for vacancies and filling gaps, and gave Xu Shu an official position as the chief clerk of Wu County.

This official position may not be high-ranking, but the important thing is that Xu Shu can be regarded as Liu Bei's true "secretary" from then on.

To show his appreciation for Xu Shu, Liu Bei personally performed the capping ceremony for Xu Shu in Xia Pi City and gave him the name "Yuanzhi".

And Xu Shu did not disappoint Liu Bei. Although he was a rookie and lacked experience, and was still a little immature in governing a region, with Xu Shu's intelligence and talent, he was more than capable of filling in the gaps for Liu Bei.

Especially when the Xuzhou official families headed by Chen Gui have fully rallied around Liu Bei, with the assistance of Xu Shu, Liu Bei now has actual control over all military and political affairs in Xuzhou.

Moreover, ten days ago, Tao Qian once again offered Xuzhou to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei declined for the second time. However, Tao Qian took the opportunity to hide in his mansion and only retained the title of Mu of Xuzhou.

As long as Tao Qian received a reply from the court regarding his resignation as governor, Liu Bei would be able to legitimately bring Xuzhou under his jurisdiction with Tao Qian's further resignation.

Xu Shu interrupted Liu Bei's thoughts and reported to him the progress of calling on the people to return to Langya State and Donghai County.

Due to the previous rampages caused by Cao's army in Langya State and Donghai County, a large number of people fled south for refuge. This not only caused a sudden increase in pressure on Xia Pi State and Guangling County, but also left a large number of fertile fields in Donghai County and Langya State uncultivated.

Therefore, in order to restore order in Xuzhou, the most urgent task is to call on as many fleeing people as possible to return to their hometowns.

"Yuanzhi handled the matter quite well. I'll trouble you to pay more attention to this matter from now on. You must try your best to take into account the wishes of the people and never cause any public resentment."

After Xu Shu finished his report, Liu Bei was very satisfied and gave Xu Shu some instructions, but he also naturally delegated power to Xu Shu.

Liu Bei, who was accustomed to Li Ji's overall supervision of a large number of military and political affairs, had almost mastered the skill of "delegating power" to perfection, and he also understood that "delegating power" was the most important ability that a lord should master.

However, this act of delegating power, which implied trust, undoubtedly caused a great shock to Xu Shu's still young mind.

Xu Shu bowed deeply to Liu Bei on the spot and spoke excitedly.

"I will definitely devote my life to my lord's great cause!"

Liu Bei helped Xu Shu up and said gently, "You and I are the master and the minister, both are Han ministers. What matters most is that we are sincere and work together to support the Han Dynasty."

"As ordered."

Xu Shu answered with tears in his eyes. Then, after taking several deep breaths to regain some composure, he flipped through the documents in his hand again and reported the current situation of the war in Jizhou.

Due to the distance, it takes at least five to seven days for the battle situation in Jizhou to be transmitted to Xuzhou.

The latest news is that Yuan Shao has gradually withdrawn his troops from the battlefield in the north of Jizhou and is gathering his heavy troops to march south.

It seems that because Nanpi City was in the hands of Cao Cao, not only Yuan Shao's family members were in it, but also the families and relatives of a large number of Yuan Shao's trusted civil and military officials were all in Cao Cao's hands, making Yuan Shao afraid to act rashly.

Yuan Shao was afraid that if he pushed Cao Cao too far, he would kill everyone in Nanpi City, causing his officials to become disloyal.

Yuan Shao's hesitant and slow marching speed undoubtedly bought Cao Cao a lot of time. Bohai County, Qinghe State, Wei County and other counties in the southern part of Jizhou were successively under Cao Cao's actual control.

For a time, the situation in Jizhou became quite dramatic.

Years ago, Yuan Shao occupied Bohai County, Qinghe State and Wei County. Relying on the territories of these three counties and kingdoms, he defeated Gongsun Zan and Han Fu at Jie Bridge.

In less than a year, Yuan Shao's original base was completely transferred to Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao occupied part of Bingzhou and Han Fu's original territory.

"My lord, judging from this trend, it is clear that Cao Cao will not give up Jizhou again. Yuan Shao will definitely realize this sooner or later..."

"The battle between Yuan and Cao is about to break out, and it is very likely that the battle site will be... at Jie Bridge."

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Finally, Xu Shu gave his own judgment with a little hesitation.

"Or is it the Jie Bridge?"

When Liu Bei heard this familiar name, he was speechless for a moment, and then asked.

"Who does Yuan Zhi think will win the battle between Yuan and Cao?"

Xu Shu considered it for a moment, gave his opinion, and said.

"Yuan Shao had been in a standoff with General Gongsun at Jie Bridge for more than a year, so he was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the terrain around Jie Bridge."

"Also, autumn and winter are the dry seasons. It is impossible for Cao Cao to repeat Yuan Shao's previous success."

"In terms of military strength, Yuan Shao has many elite soldiers and generals at his disposal, and Cao Cao's defeated army has probably not recovered yet."

"Cao Cao's only chance of winning is to drag the war into winter, forcing Yuan Shao to withdraw his troops. He can then use the winter to quickly digest the territory south of Jizhou, so that he will have enough troops to fight Yuan Shao next year."

"Yuan Shao has the advantage in terms of location and people; only the weather is slightly on Cao Cao's side."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but nodded.

Xu Shu's analysis was undoubtedly quite objective and accurate. At least from the currently known intelligence about Jizhou, Yuan Shao was indeed in an advantageous position in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

In Liu Bei's eyes, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were obviously not easy to deal with.

When two tigers fight, the best outcome is undoubtedly that both suffer losses.

However, Liu Bei was very disgusted with Cao Cao's atrocities. In addition, Li Ji had previously judged that Cao Cao had a higher chance of winning and that Cao Cao's occupation of the north was a greater threat than Yuan Shao's.

and so……

"Send a message to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, telling them to seize the opportunity to attack Qingzhou and cut off Cao Cao's retreat." (End of this chapter)