The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 711 The Greatest Contradiction

Don't treat each other with admiration for three days.

At this moment, the six kings deeply understood this principle.

They never expected that Liu Fan, who was once gentle and easily bullied, would grow up so quickly, to the point that it gave them all a headache.

No matter how much they reasoned with him, Liu Fan only used three tricks.

To feign poverty, to speak of danger, and to act shamelessly.

His stubborn and unyielding attitude eventually became unbearable for Lü Bu and Gongsun Zan, who had no choice but to give in.

In the end, both sides compromised.

With a population of three million, Qi contributed 500,000, Liu Fan contributed one million, and the remaining 1.5 million were contributed by the other six kings, each contributing 250,000.

However, Liu Bei and others also made additional demands regarding this condition.

That is, for the future western expedition and northern expedition, Liu Fan must provide them with no less than 100,000 able-bodied men for logistics.

Liu Fan did not refuse.

Cooperation benefits both sides. Although internal competition among the seven kingdoms has become apparent, it remains relatively restrained.

However, Liu Fan privately approached Liu Bei and Sun Ce and had a harmonious discussion with them.

The four kings of the north were unaware of this.

Watching Liu Fan leave, Chen Qun sighed softly.

"Sima Yi is truly terrifying."

Liu Fan's change was within their expectations, but the speed of the change was definitely abnormal.

Moreover, the subtle and overt maneuvering and various tactics employed were beyond their capabilities, and Chen Qun and the others quickly turned their attention to Sima Yi.

This guy is the biggest variable.

Liu Fan's change is absolutely inseparable from him.

"Rome and Parthia haven't even been conquered yet, and this kid is already plotting something," Zhou Yu said, his brows furrowing slightly.

“This fellow is too greedy and ruthless. We must explain the situation to the King of Han and try to stay away from him,” Pang Tong said.

He instinctively felt some resistance towards Sima Yi.

"I'm afraid this matter is already beyond repair," Sun Quan said quietly from the shadows.

"Having tasted the benefits, Liu Fan will likely rely on him even more."

"Could you tell Tian Ze about this? He's clearly gone too far," Gu Yong said, frowning.

Sun Quan shook his head: "This is not crossing the line, at most it's just skirting the edge."

"Moreover, this man's personality is driven by self-interest and a desire to avoid harm, and he values ​​power. If he were alone, how could he dare to do such a thing? There must be a large number of court officials secretly supporting him behind the scenes."

"Alright." Sun Ce waved his hand, calming the crowd down.

"With a formidable enemy at hand, this is not the time for internal strife. In any case, his schemes are only targeting the four northern kings, which have little to do with us."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei shook his head slightly in his heart.

In politics, Sun Ce was too naive.

On the surface, only the four kings in the north were being plotted against, but in reality, all seven kings, including Liu Fan, were included.

Sima Yi was indeed terrifying in his ability to control people's hearts.

Did Liu Fan really not see this? I'm afraid not.

However, Liu Fan also had his own ambitions. He inherited the name of the Han Dynasty. He had no strength before, but now that he had seized the lead, how could he be willing to remain subordinate to others?

“Bo Fu is right. These are just minor details and won’t have a big impact, so don’t worry about them too much. It’s more important to handle the matter of Anxi properly,” Liu Bei advised.

The ministers nodded and crowded around the sand table. Zhou Yu pointed to the Khorasan province in southern Parthia and smiled faintly.

"The Khorasan Province is mostly mountainous, hilly, and desert, with only a few flat areas suitable for development. Now that Liu Fan has acquired this land, he will not give it back."

"If we take Parthia in the future, I'm afraid Liu Fan will occupy all the southern territories."

More work, more reward.

The seven kings maintained this tacit understanding.

Moreover, the seven kings had communicated about the division of territories after conquering the Kushan Empire.

The place of rest was contested by Liu Fan and Sun Ce.

The lands of Rome were then divided among the other five kings.

After all, the Roman Empire was much larger than Parthia, nearly three times its size, and its population was also several times that of Parthia, so it was fair.

There are many reasons why Liu Fan and Sun Ce were able to keep an eye on Parthia, and the Qi state also secretly pushed them behind the scenes.

A large part of the reason is that they have the largest populations.

With a large population, it is even more necessary to address the issue of local development as soon as possible, which will also enable us to provide more assistance to the other five countries.

Originally, their idea was that Liu Fan would get the northern part of Parthia, and Sun Ce would get the southern part of Parthia.

But now it seems the roles are about to reverse.

"Isn't this exactly what the Great Qi wants?" Sun Quan said helplessly.

"Liu Fan was relatively weak and lacked a navy. Even though he occupied the fertile lands of the south, it was difficult for him to pose a threat to Sindhu and Kushan."

“We are best at naval warfare, and the seas bordering northern Parthia are all connected to Rome, which would make it easy to attack Rome.”

"But if we want to unite again to launch an eastern expedition in the future, it will be difficult, and internal strife will be even more troublesome."

Sun Quan would never believe that this ingenious tactic of checks and balances was unintentional.

The Great Qi must be a major driving force behind this.

"When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. They've already paved the way, so we can only walk on it," Chen Qun said with a sense of magnanimity.

The relationship between nations is inherently a dialectical one of struggle and compromise, so the Daqi's elaborate scheme was within his expectations.

At least, Daqi's sincerity is genuine; they have no intention of discarding them after they've served their purpose. They are capable of reaping huge benefits, but they are not the biggest beneficiaries.

Zhou Yu nodded.

He just mentioned it casually and didn't intend to dwell on it.

“Once Liu Fan takes over the Khorasan province, we can use it as a base to confront Parthia and Rome at close range.”

"The benefit is that our logistical pressure will be greatly reduced. As long as we relocate the more than seven million people of the Han Dynasty there, and then have some young and strong men from our countries relocate to provide support, there will be no more logistical pressure."

Zhou Yu paused at this point.

Logistical support is never that easy; otherwise, the struggles between empires wouldn't have lasted for centuries, and Rome wouldn't have managed such a fertile land as Mesopotamia as a useless place.

However, the framework of the relationship between the Great Qi and the Seven Kingdoms was extremely ingenious, and Tian Ze also had a cheat code.

Combining the two can indeed turn the impossible into possible, directly solving the biggest problem of logistics.

Without the logistical burden, the difficulty of conquering the two great empires can be greatly reduced, and the war time can be shortened by at least half.

"However, the downside is that once exposed, we will likely face a pincer attack from two great empires."

“But exposure is inevitable, and it won’t be long,” Zhou Yu said in a deep voice.

This is the biggest contradiction facing the Seven Kings now.

(End of this chapter)