Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

This was the conclusion that was reached. Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh. He had to give up the idea of ​​following suit and implementing the "tax burden per acre" policy. He spoke instead.

"Zhicai seems to have been coughing frequently recently. He needs to take better care of his health. I will have my servants send some tonic herbs to Zhicai's residence later."

Xi Zhicai, who looked rather frail, quickly replied, "They are just minor illnesses, nothing serious, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

Seeing Xi Zhicai's persistence, Cao Cao didn't say anything more. Xi Zhicai had indeed been like this for many years. It was simply because of his poor family background when he was young that he was injured and became weak.

Immediately, Cao Cao picked up the intelligence document that Xi Zhicai had just handed over and started reading it.

It is true that Xun You is Cao Cao's chief adviser now, but Cao Cao's most trusted adviser is undoubtedly Xi Zhicai, who came from a humble family, and he has high hopes for him.

Cao Cao even couldn't help but have some hope that his talent could help him achieve great things like Li Ji, who came from a humble family.

For example, Cao Cao handed over the responsibility of the secret agents deployed in various places to Xi Zhicai.

Looking at the intelligence document in his hand, Cao Cao frowned unconsciously.

The false invasion on the border did not affect Liu Bei's ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and proclaiming himself king, which was not a disappointment for Cao Cao.

On the contrary, if Liu Bei postponed or even cancelled the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, Cao Cao would really be unable to sleep.

But what frightened Cao Cao was that the role that small "newspaper" played in manipulating public opinion and controlling the people's hearts was unimaginable.

In the past, the people only knew the reign title but did not know who the emperor was.
Today, who doesn’t know the name of Liu Bei?
Given the Han people's martial and fierce character, as long as they were blessed by Liu Bei's kindness and grace, it is possible that countless Han people would spontaneously protect Liu Bei when he was in trouble in the future.

At this moment, the reputation that had been ignored by Cao Cao in the past suddenly seemed to turn into unimaginable background, making Cao Cao suddenly feel a little desperate.

It was so popular among the people that the whole society gradually became united...

He also used "newspaper" to make the people know Liu Bei's name, and Liu Bei was able to make the people know his words. How could the Han Dynasty be defeated?
Cao Cao couldn't find any solution for a while.

It would be extremely difficult to defeat such a powerful enemy, except for internal collapse, by external forces.

Cao Cao, who was well versed in politics and understood the hearts and minds of the people, was stunned and hesitated for a long time before he opened his mouth to ask.

"Zhicai, can this newspaper thing also be promoted under your rule?"

When Cao Cao asked this question, he undoubtedly had the answer in his mind, but when he saw Xi Zhicai shaking his head, Cao Cao was unable to hold the document in his hand steadily.

Even if Xi Zhicai didn't tell the reason, Cao Cao could get the answer.

It was Liu Bei, not the newly established Wei State, who mastered the printing technology and improved the papermaking technique.

Even if you want to use Yangzhou paper, you have to purchase it through the Mi Chamber of Commerce.

A piece of white paper is not expensive for a wealthy family, only five cents.

But compared with the price of one penny per piece during Liu Bei's reign, this figure has increased five times, and it is an astronomical figure that the people of Wei cannot afford.

Such profits have secretly spawned a number of paper smugglers who seek to profit from the price difference.

Moreover, this does not include the cost of printing. Even if Cao Cao wanted to imitate printing newspapers, would he let Liu Bei do the job?
All these things made Cao Cao suddenly understand what technical barriers are.

It was a small thing, but behind it lay a technological barrier that the State of Wei could hardly break through and imitate for the time being.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Newspapers from Liu Bei's reign are constantly arriving. Scholars are scrambling to pass them around, and the common people are also very curious."

Xi Zhicai's suggestion immediately made Cao Cao realize the hidden danger behind it.

The Han Dynasty has not really perished yet, and everyone is missing the Han Dynasty at this time. If newspapers are allowed to be introduced, it will undoubtedly greatly shake the people's hearts.

"Immediately issue an order to list newspapers as banned items. Anyone who secretly hides newspapers will be punished by cutting off the nose, and all three families will be converted into farming households." Cao Cao made the decision immediately.

Newspapers can mislead people, and we must never allow them to spread into our area.

Even if there are only a few literate people among the people, it will undoubtedly be a huge hidden danger.

"Yes, my lord."

Xi Zhicai accepted the order. However, even if the newspapers were prevented from entering his territory, Cao Cao knew that it would not affect the overall situation of both sides.

With Zi Kun governing the country, Liu Bei's country is growing stronger day by day. It won't take long for him to be able to sweep across the world like the powerful Qin did in the past.

By then, even if we join forces with Lu Bu, I'm afraid we can only hold out for a while.

This even made Cao Cao think of sending troops to attack immediately, even at the cost of mutual losses, in order to stop Liu Bei from continuing to accumulate national strength.

But Cao Cao understood that Liu Bei was not ready yet, and he himself was far from being ready.

In order to find a way out of the impasse, Cao Cao immediately summoned all his advisers for discussion.

After discussing for a long time, there was only one possible direction, which was to try to disintegrate from within and alienate Liu Bei and Li Ji.

Li Ji, who held both the military and political power and served as prime minister and governor, undoubtedly possessed all the prerequisites to become a powerful official. The only thing he lacked were some seeds of suspicion.

As long as suspicion arises between Liu Bei and Li Ji, it will be enough to cause this overlord to quickly collapse from within.

……

Li Ji naturally did not know the results of the discussions in Wei, but it was normal for countries to be deceitful and deceitful towards each other.

Now Liu Bei stood in front of Li Ji holding a document with a wry smile on his face. He felt embarrassed as he was at a loss and had to ask Li Ji to help him.

Li Ji took the document, opened it and glanced at it, and immediately understood Liu Bei's dilemma.

This letter came from Guan Yu, the general guarding Jingzhou. The content of the letter can be summarized in a few words:

My elder brother has promoted me to a higher position, and I will repay him with my life.

Then, he first stated that he had no objection to Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun being ranked as generals.

With Li Ji's qualifications, he is qualified to be appointed as Prime Minister and Governor-General, and to be in charge of military and political power. Guan also supports him very much and will certainly listen more to the Prime Minister's teachings.

But Guan was very dissatisfied that an old man like Huang Zhong and a younger generation like Sun Ce were listed as one of the "Five Tiger Generals" together with him.

To Liu Bei, Guan Yu was not a monarch or a subject, but a brother.

Liu Bei didn't know how to deal with his brother's complaints and grievances.

Even when he asked Mi Zhu and Xu Shu for advice, they were unaware of the importance of the friendship between the two sides and most of them suggested suppressing him by using the righteousness of the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, which naturally did not satisfy Liu Bei.

So after Liu Bei pondered for a night, he simply ran to Li Ji for help.

"Yun Chang has an arrogant personality, and Han Sheng's qualifications and achievements are still a bit low. Bo Fu's age and prestige are indeed lacking..."

Liu Bei spoke somewhat helplessly.

However, conferring titles on Huang Zhong and Sun Ce was a decision Liu Bei had to make.

Guan, Zhang and Zhao were all Liu Bei's most direct descendants. They followed him in the Yellow Turban Rebellion and fought in many battles, and all held high positions in the army.

If there were no generals from other backgrounds at all in the military's senior ranks, this would undoubtedly greatly dampen the enthusiasm of generals who were not direct descendants, and might even lead to criticism that Liu Bei was using his relatives as his own.

Among them, Huang Zhong was a surrendered general from Jingzhou, while Sun Ce was from a noble family, and they implicitly represented two different factions.

In terms of merit, Huang Zhong has made many great contributions since his surrender, and Sun Ce has followed Li Ji in battles since he was a child. All of these merits were remembered by Liu Bei.

Sun Ce and Huang Zhong were promoted to front general and rear general respectively, and their contributions were undoubtedly sufficient.

However, listing them as the "Five Tiger Generals" did have the political purpose of elevating Sun Ce and Huang Zhong to a certain extent in order to motivate non-direct generals.

After thinking for a moment, Li Ji smiled.

"This is easy to hear..." (End of this chapter)