Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 970: Three Comforts and Two Suppressions
Liu Zheng, who was fascinated by what he heard, also urged him: "Yes, brother, please tell me quickly."

"Yes, sir." Zhuge Liang no longer had the nervousness he had when he first entered the palace. He walked in front of Liu He calmly and without hesitation.

"One of the purposes of this pacification is to comfort the people. That is, we need to win the hearts of the people and make them return to the imperial court, and no longer be content to be the subjects of the princes. In this way, the imperial court's power will grow day by day, and the power of the princes will decline day by day. Not to mention money, manpower, military spirit, and morale, if we can make the princes rule, and then the imperial court will send troops to collect the grievances, then with the cooperation of the inside and the outside, Cao Cao and others can be destroyed in a snap."

Liu He nodded slightly: "That makes sense, what about the second one?"

"The second is to comfort their soldiers. Liu Yan, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Liu Bei all have first-rate generals who recruit and train their soldiers. If the generals are loyal and the soldiers are brave, they will naturally be successful. If the court implements a strategy of strong attack, it will naturally be extremely difficult. If their generals and soldiers are lazy and no longer obey orders, then what will Your Majesty and the generals worry about?"

Liu Zheng interrupted, "Father, what my second brother said is absolutely right. I don't know how the troops of Sun Jian, Liu Bei, and Liu Yan are, but Cao Cao's troops are really strong. They are only half as strong as the elite troops of Fourth Uncle and General Gao. There are many fierce generals in the army, especially Dian Wei. Even if Third Uncle and I join forces to fight him, it will be a struggle. Moreover, they fight bravely and are extremely powerful."

"Do I need you to tell me?" Liu He glared at him and said to Zhuge Liang, "The third one?"

"The third is to comfort the local nobles. Many princes are different from the imperial court. In the imperial court, after your majesty's repeated reforms and the promotion of talents, it is no longer the nobles who control the government. The military generals such as Guan Yu, Gao Boping, and Zhao Zilong, and the important officials such as Qian Daozhun, Shi Guangyuan, and Meng Gongwei are not from wealthy families. Their family honor and disgrace depend only on your majesty. However, Cao, Sun and others, their civil and military officials are mostly from wealthy families."

"Your Majesty established the Imperial College and the Official School, and used paper books to attract scholars from all over the world. However, in the Imperial College, scholars, farmers, merchants and workers were mixed together, and they were all equal, which caused dissatisfaction among the scholars. In addition, Your Majesty's tax reform still made many nobles resentful of the court. Among the nobles under the command of the princes, there were many who were loyal to their masters for this reason. They provided money and food, made plans, and even led their troops to help. For example, when Cao Cao started his army, he had only 20,000 soldiers and horses, among which Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others led 10,000 troops. The same was true for Sun Jian, Liu Bei, Liu Yan, and Shi Xie."

"Your Majesty, if you can win the hearts of the nobles and use them for your own benefit, you will surely be able to greatly reduce the power of the princes. If you do this three times, you can make sure that the civil officials do not make plans, the military generals do not contribute, the people do not respond to the call, and the wealthy families do not help. Then the power of the princes will be like a castle in the air, and there is no way to talk about it."

Liu He was very happy to hear this and clapped his hands in praise.

"Well, well, well, in Zheng'er's letter, he praised you with all kinds of flattering words, saying that you are well-informed, that you have the talent to rule the world, and that you have the ambition to rule the world. Now it seems that it is true. But as for this three-comfort policy, I have been on the throne for many years, and there are many capable people in the court, but no one can see it."

"Hey, is there any need to say more? How can I be wrong about the person my son has chosen?" Liu Zheng was very proud.

Zhuge Liang bowed and said, "How dare I, a humble man with insignificant talent, ask Your Majesty to praise me?"

Liu He waved his hand and said, "Go on. Who is this person who needs to be eliminated?"

Zhuge Liang looked very high-spirited at the moment, pointing his feather fan forward, and his voice became much higher: "No matter which vassal, on the surface, they still respect the name of the Han Dynasty, but they set up another court to resist. If we want to suppress one of them, we should suppress their name."

"As the saying goes, 'If the name is not right, then the words will not flow. If the words are not flowing, then the things will not be accomplished.' Whether Liu Yan established himself as the emperor or Cao Cao supported Emperor Xian, they were just specious words that could only deceive people for a while. The two were not meritorious officials who supported the country, but traitors who sought power and usurped the throne. Once the righteous cause was eliminated, they would naturally lose the support of the people."

"Secondly, when I was in Yangdu, a few days ago, my uncle sent me a letter mentioning that Envoy Liu was suddenly invited to Qingzhou to quell the rebellion, and he traveled overnight, in a hurry. Therefore, I dare to conclude that the counties in Qingzhou have fallen into Liu Bei's hands and are no longer under the command of the court. In addition, the governor of Yangzhou, Liu Yao, was assassinated for no reason, and the culprit behind this was none other than Sun Jian. The two of them were so tacitly in sync, acting in secret at the same time, expanding their power, and there was a tendency to echo Cao Cao. Therefore, I concluded that the three parties must have formed an alliance. If we suppress these two, we will suppress their power."

"If the tripartite alliance succeeds, it will surely boost the prestige and morale of the people, which will be very disadvantageous to the court. On the contrary, if the alliance fails, the enemy will panic and lose their will to fight."

"With these three pacifications and two suppressions, once successful, the imperial court can recover all places and unify the eight wildernesses in an instant without any effort. I hope Your Majesty will consider these crude words of mine."

After saying this, Zhuge Liang bowed down.

Liu He looked at him as if he were looking at some rare treasure and clapped his hands repeatedly.

"Excellent, truly excellent. Not to mention that all five of these are accomplished, even if only one or two of them are accomplished, I am fully confident that within three years, I can quell the rebellion of the princes, sweep across the four seas, and create another prosperous era for our Han Dynasty."

As he spoke, he thought in his heart: "This Zhuge Liang is really amazing. He is only seventeen years old, but he has such a strategic vision. It is really extraordinary."

He had just checked on the system that Zhuge Liang now possessed an intelligence of 92, which was not considered outstanding, but his strategic vision was truly admirable. He was worthy of being the one who could create such a famous strategic work as "Longzhong Strategy" while he was working as a farmer in Longzhong.

At this time, the system prompt sounded suddenly: "System prompt: Zhuge Liang and the host discussed and made strategic plans, which indirectly triggered the "Longzhong Discussion" event in his original history, and activated one of his original historical special skills - Strategy: When making overall strategic plans, his own intelligence will increase by 5 points, and the intelligence of the assisted person will increase by 2 points. If the current basic intelligence of the assisted person is at least 5 points lower than his own, his intelligence will be permanently increased by 1 point after the strategy is adopted."

"Oh? What an unexpected surprise." Liu He was cheering in his heart.

He said quickly: "After listening to your remarks, I suddenly realized something. After the defeat in Ancheng, I was still thinking hard about how to deal with the enemy, but now I have an idea. You are not yet an adult, so it is not convenient for me to promote you to a higher position and keep you in the court..."

Before Liu He finished speaking, Liu Zheng became anxious: "Father, my second brother..."

Zhuge Liang, on the other hand, looked indifferent. He sat back in his seat, his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart. Seeing this, Liu He rolled his eyes at his son again.

"You, you have the same big brain, but why are you so much dumber than your second brother? Father hasn't even finished speaking, why are you so anxious? Look at him..."

He looked at Zhuge Liang and continued, "However, you are extremely intelligent and have a unique vision. I intend to use you. I would like to keep you in the palace to study with Zheng'er. Are you willing?"

Zhuge Liang stood up and bowed to express his gratitude, "I thank your majesty for your grace. However, I have one more request that I would like to make. I beg your majesty to grant it."

"Whatever you ask, just tell me. You have done me a great service by helping me solve my doubts. But if you have any request, I will grant it."

"I would like to ask Your Majesty to allow me to enter the Imperial College Library at any time and read all the classics."

Hearing his request, Liu He suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha... Not bad, not bad. You are so knowledgeable at such a young age. You must be a learned and thoughtful person. I agree to this. However, Huangfu Qingleng, who is guarding the library, has a bad temper. Before this paper book appeared, he was not very nice to me. Now, there are only him and me in this library. We can enter and exit at any time. Now there is one more person, hehe, I am afraid he will make things difficult for you. You have to solve this problem yourself."

Zhuge Liang could hear the test in this, and immediately accepted the order: "I thank your majesty."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Liu Zheng, smiled meaningfully, and said to Liu He: "If Your Majesty has nothing else to tell you, I will go to the Imperial College Library first."

Liu He waved his hand and said, "Well, I'll ask a eunuch to take you there. Zheng'er, it's time for you to pay your respects to the Queen Mother."

Liu Zheng's face showed some reluctance, but he didn't dare to lose his temper in front of Liu He.

"Yes, my child obeys."

He winked at Zhuge Liang a few times, but Zhuge Liang pretended not to see it. Soon, a eunuch came over, and Zhuge Liang bowed and said goodbye, then followed him out.

Liu He stared at Liu Zheng: "Are you still not leaving?" Liu Zheng had no choice but to turn around and walk away, cursing Zhuge Liang a thousand times in his heart: "Not loyal... not a good brother... not helping someone in need..."

After both of them left, Liu He looked at the pool in front of him again.

"Three appeasements and two suppressions... that's interesting... but it's easier said than done. It's a lot of work to do if I really want to implement it. I have to think it over carefully..."

Liu He picked up a walnut from the fruit plate on the table, pinched it with his thumb and index finger, and with a "click" sound, the walnut split into two halves.

He was wandering in his mind, but Xun Yu's shout brought him back to reality.

"Wen Ruo, I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice you."

Xun Yu smiled slightly: "It seems that your majesty has talked with Zhuge Liang for a long time and has gained a lot."

"Of course. He is young, and is not as good as Gongda in terms of military strategy. He is not as good as Xu Yuanzhi in terms of marching and deploying troops. He is even worse than you and Daozhun in handling government affairs. However, his strategic vision is very accurate and his insights are rare in the world. He can be called a genius that has not been seen in the world for hundreds of years."

Xun Yu was a little surprised to hear Liu He's praise. "This is the first time I've heard Your Majesty praise someone so much. It seems that Your Majesty has gained a lot by mistake after escaping from the palace. If such a genius falls into the hands of the enemy, it will be a great disaster for the court."

"Of course. That's why I didn't pursue the crime of Zheng'er's escape. Otherwise, he would have to pay. By the way, what's the matter with you coming to see me?"

Xun Yu said, "It's not that I have something to do. Daozhun sent someone to report that the five-story tower that Your Majesty ordered to be built a few days ago has been completed. I wonder if Your Majesty would like to come and inspect it immediately?"

Liu He's eyes lit up. "Oh? It's finished? Great, great. Send an order to temporarily stop all troops and tell the soldiers to train diligently. At the same time, order Daozhun to continue recruiting new soldiers and prepare more weapons. I will go into seclusion in the tower for some time. During this period, all government affairs of the court will be handled by you and Daozhun. You don't have to disturb me unless it is an urgent matter."

Xun Yu was somewhat puzzled: "Your Majesty, Liu Bei has already occupied Qingzhou, and has stopped Xu Shu and others who were secretly going to take up their posts outside Qingzhou. The three-party alliance is about to be formed, and you are..."

Liu He waved his hand and said, "No need to ask any more questions. What I can tell you is that when I leave the city, I will take action to destroy the bandits."

His eyes were unusually determined, and even revealed a hint of excitement. Xun Yu saw this, and although he didn't understand why, he didn't ask any more questions.

Liu He hurried to the Empress Dowager's palace. Xu was very happy. When she saw Liu He coming, she hurriedly called him forward and wanted to discuss the marriage of Liu Zheng and Zhen Mi with him.

Without waiting for Liu He to say anything, Zhang Yu stepped forward to persuade him, saying that the war was urgent and the court was about to expand its army. The marriage of the emperor's eldest son was a national event and would inevitably cost a lot of money. Moreover, many generals like Guan Yu were important officials in the court and were Liu Zheng's uncles. It would not be appropriate for them to leave their military duties and come to Luoyang to congratulate him. Therefore, it was suggested that the marriage be arranged first, and then another auspicious day could be chosen depending on the changes in the war situation.

Zhen Yi naturally had no objection to this. Xu, who had been thinking about becoming a great-grandmother, was a little disappointed, but she was not a person who did not know the overall situation, so she did not say anything.

Liu Zheng, on the other hand, looked at Zhang Yu as if she were his savior.

Liu He walked over, hugged Zhang Yu, bit her ear and said, "Yu'er is still the most considerate."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Since your majesty built that tower, I have known your majesty's intention. Although I don't understand the mystery of this tower, I will do my best to support your majesty in whatever he wants to do."

Liu He smiled dotingly and reached out to touch her visibly bulging belly: "When I come out, Yu'er and I will name our upcoming new child together."

The Luoyang Imperial Palace was divided into two palaces, the South Palace, which was mostly palace buildings, while the North Palace had many royal gardens, including the West Garden, which was a place dedicated to selling official positions and titles during the reign of Emperor Ling.

For example, Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, once spent 1 billion yuan to buy the position of Taiwei in Xiyuan, and from then on he became one of the Three Dukes.

However, at this time in the West Garden, the palace that was originally used to sell official positions had been completely razed to the ground, and a new five-story tower with carved beams and painted buildings rose from the ground, which was extremely magnificent.

Outside the high tower, teams of royal guards were patrolling back and forth, surrounding the tower in a tight circle. When they saw Liu He coming, the leading captain hurried over to salute.

"No need to be so polite. You just stand guard here. No one is allowed to enter without my order."

After giving the instructions, Liu He walked straight into the tower and went all the way to the fifth floor.

"System Boss, are you here?"

Immediately afterwards, the emotionless voice of the system sounded in his mind: "Host, if you have any needs, please check the system interface yourself. Don't ask if I'm available."

"Hey, you..." Liu He was about to get angry, but then he remembered that the other party was just a system. It would be useless no matter what he said. If something went wrong, the system would go on strike and he would be finished.

"Okay, good people don't fight the system, just watch it yourself."

Liu He directly clicked on the "Item Exchange" interface in his mind.

"Come, exchange this 'Martial Spirit Tower'."

"Ding... The host has consumed 1000 points and successfully redeemed the 'Martial Spirit Tower'. Please choose to place it in a five-story tower."

Without saying a word, Liu He extracted a spot of light from the system warehouse, waved his hand, and threw it into the tall tower in front of him.

He forced himself to suppress his excitement and waited for the changes to happen.

"Soul Tower, Soul Tower, the Jingsi Tower back then already had remarkable effects. I hope you won't let me down..."

As he was thinking, the system prompt sounded again: "Ding... The Spirit Tower was successfully deployed. The host can view relevant information and options on the Spirit Tower interface."

Liu He clapped his hands excitedly and immediately opened the newly appeared "Soul Tower" interface in his mind.

(End of this chapter)