Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

As he spoke, Zhuge Liang's eyes brightened noticeably.

To advance in order to retreat, to let go in order to catch, is nothing more than this!

"Wonderful!"

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

It seems that changing orders every day will have an impact on the government's prestige, but in the eyes of the people of Yuzhou, the Yuzhou government has no prestige at all, so why should they be afraid of the impact?

On the contrary, this slight half step back not only won the trust of the people of Yuzhou, but also made way for the conflict between the Yuzhou government and the people.

This forced the even more anxious powerful families in Yuzhou to take the lead, and the conflicts in the land investigation became conflicts between the common people and the powerful families.

After hearing this, Li Ji chuckled and said.

"Since Liang'er understands the truth, what doubts do you still have? Just go ahead and do it. I will also let Yi'er mobilize the Jinyi Division to secretly promote public opinion that is beneficial to the government."

"is teacher."

Immediately, Zhuge Liang retreated with a bit of high spirits.

This time, seeking advice from Li Ji not only provided Zhuge Liang with a solution to the current dilemma, but also made him feel greatly benefited.

There seems to be no essential difference between governance and the battlefield.

Soon, as the new announcement spread rapidly throughout Yuzhou, people from all over the country celebrated it, and through this announcement that was closely related to many people, they gradually learned about the relationship between the Yuzhou government and Liu Bei.

In short, in the eyes of the people, the current Yuzhou government is different and adheres to the benevolent ideas of Uncle Liu.

This led to a dramatic increase in the favorability and trust of many Yuzhou people towards the government.

In contrast, the wealthy and powerful families who had already arranged manpower to cooperate with the government in conducting the land inventory were dumbfounded at this moment.

Almost on the day the announcement was issued, nearly ten aristocratic families wanted to meet Li Ji.

Li Ji, who always left a gentle and approachable image to outsiders, met with these representatives of the aristocratic families very kindly, and then explained the difficulties the government was now facing.

Can we conduct an inventory of the land?

In principle, it can be done, and I personally want to do it.

But the resistance from the locals was too great. The government was under-represented and under-staffed. In addition, Liu Bei had always been a benevolent person...

In short, Li Ji explained a lot in a sincere and friendly manner, but it can be summed up in three words: it can't be done.

Of course, Li Ji did propose a solution. He directly stated that unless the resistance from the people in various places was reduced and the people expressed their agreement to the land inventory, the plan could be implemented.

Manipulating local public opinion is something that the aristocratic and powerful families are familiar with.

After these noble families took Li Ji's ideas back to convey and discuss, the noble families, who had no other choice, began to use their respective connections and relationships in the local area to try to get the people in various places to express their support for the land inventory.

Don’t think that the powerful families were greatly weakened after experiencing such an incident. They lost their money, food and land, and even their connections with the government were cut off.

However, the various powerful families have been deeply rooted in the local area for decades or even hundreds of years, and they also have a great influence in the countryside.

Under various means, the changes in public opinion in different places are unexpectedly fast.

Although Li Ji knew very well that this was a false public opinion, mostly forged under the intervention of the aristocratic families, it was enough to illustrate the power of the aristocratic families. In this regard, Li Ji, who was wary, did not show it, but followed his previous political commitment and began to promote the official start of the land inventory.

For a time, a large number of young men from noble families braved the severe cold and ran around the fields in Yuzhou, measuring every inch of land.

After temporarily suppressing the resistance from the people with the help of the powerful families, this matter has become a joint effort of the government, the powerful families, and the people.

When everyone is united, even severe cold cannot stop the implementation of the land inventory.

On the contrary, the progress is so fast that it is enough to make people amazed.

As the hinterland where the essence of the Central Plains lies and also as the state with the highest population density in the Han Dynasty, Yuzhou also has the largest amount of arable land in the Han Dynasty.

Especially during this land inventory, a large amount of arable land that had been reclaimed in the past but had been hidden was discovered.

Even though the farmland inventory has only been completed for the most part, the preliminary summary of cultivated land area has already reached as much as 70 million acres.

This astonishing figure is more than double the amount of arable land developed in Yangzhou today.

Moreover, the farmland inventory has not yet been completed. If the farmland inventory is completely completed, the cultivated land area in Yuzhou is likely to exceed 100 million mu.

This number is more than a quarter more than what was recorded by the Yuzhou government in the past.

Where does this extra arable land come from? The answer is obvious.

Even though Li Ji had anticipated this, he still couldn't help but marvel at the ability of the wealthy and powerful families to conceal their land and population.

They are truly a group of rats that are hindering the progress of the empire!
At the same time, as the land inventory continued, many common people gradually came to their senses, and conflicts between them and the powerful families became increasingly prominent.

Even though Li Ji asked the sons of noble families in each county to go to other places to conduct investigations in order to show fairness, collusion between the noble families was naturally inevitable.

Li Ji remained calm on the surface, allowing Zhuge Liang to continue pushing for the completion of the land inventory. At the same time, Sima Yi, who had been preparing for a long time in secret, began to plan a fatal blow like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

Liu Ying, a descendant of the Han royal family who settled in Qiao County, left his hometown and braved the snow to petition in Ruyang under the secret encouragement of Sima Yi.

Along the way, some powerful families sent people to stop them, but under Sima Yi's secret protection, Liu Ying went through all the hardships and continued to move towards Ruyang.

Just as the last light snow of the winter was falling, Li Ji, who had completed a preliminary inventory of the fields, took a carriage with A Dou, Li Xiang and Li Xi to leave the house to enjoy the snow.

The dramatic development, which has been frequently sung by storytellers of later generations, happened just as the state scholar's carriage was about to reach the east gate and people on the street were watching the carriage from afar out of curiosity.

Liu Ying, who had just arrived in Ruyang, didn't even have time to determine who the carriage blocked in front of him, which was heavily protected by armored soldiers, was. He knelt in the wind and snow far away, in the direction of the carriage, holding the blood letter in his hands, and spoke loudly.

"The sixteenth generation grandson of the Han royal family's Zhongshan Jing Wang, Liu Ying of Pei State, has been wronged!!!"

These words caused the entire Ruyang East Gate to fall into dead silence.

In particular, Liu Ying's stated identity was that he was a relative of the Han Dynasty, and a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan, who was no different from Liu Bei, and was even one generation older than Liu Bei.

His hair was black with some white, and his face was weather-beaten from running for his life, making Liu Ying look like a beggar.

But Liu Ying still tried his best to straighten his spine, and roared again with the last bit of his strength.

"I am Liu Ying of Pei State, the sixteenth-generation descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. I have been wronged, and I ask for your help." (End of this chapter)