Reborn Liu Bei: I'll lead this Three Kingdoms to victory!

(In the spring of the second year of Jian'an, in Xiapi, Xuzhou)

The snow had just melted, and the crabapple trees in the governor's mansion's backyard were already budding. I stood under the eaves watching Zhuge Liang practice his swordsmanship—a nine-year-old child, yet he was already wielding a wooden sword with remarkable skill.

"Lower your wrist by three-tenths of an inch." I went over and adjusted his posture. "A sword is not a knife; it's about thrusting, not slashing."

Zhuge Liang sheathed his sword and bowed: "Teacher, today's annotation of 'The Art of War' is finished."

I took the bamboo slips, flipped through them, and laughed: "The line after 'Warfare is based on deception' is 'Therefore, when one is capable, one feigns incapacity'... You annotated it as 'Like when the teacher treated Cao Cao,' hmm?"

Zhuge Liang blinked, looking completely innocent: "I was just recording the facts."

"Little fox." I ruffled his hair. "Come on, let me take you to a meeting—a practical training session."

The atmosphere in the main hall was somewhat heavy. Xu Shu handed over a secret letter: "My lord, Cao Cao...won at Guandu."

I quickly scanned the letter. It was indeed similar to what I remembered, but there were some differences in the details: Cao Cao suffered greater losses than in history, Xu You still betrayed him, but when the grain supplies at Wuchao were burned, Yuan Shao actually sent troops to rescue them—it seems that the rumor I had spread that "Cao Cao wanted to massacre Wuchao" had worked.

"Battle casualty ratio?" I looked up.

"Cao Cao lost 40,000 troops, Yuan Shao lost 80,000, but his main force of 50,000 retreated to Ye City." Xu Shu paused, "And... Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang was killed in battle, and Dian Wei was seriously wounded."

My fingers paused.

Things have changed. History has truly changed.

"Cao Ang..." I murmured, then composed myself. "What about Yuan Shao?"

"The infighting between Shen Pei and Feng Ji intensified, Guo Tu suggested supporting Yuan Shang as emperor, and Tian Feng... was imprisoned."

Good. Good chaos.

"Yun Chang, what do you think?" I turned to Guan Yu.

Guan Yu stroked his beard and pondered, "Although Cao Cao won, he has been weakened. Although Yuan Shao was defeated, his foundation remains. If a fresh force were to intervene at this time..."

"That would allow us to compete with both companies," I continued, walking to the model. "But it's too early for us to enter now."

Zhang Fei cried out urgently, "Brother! If we don't act soon, that scoundrel Cao Cao will swallow up Hebei!"

"He can't swallow it." I picked up the black flag representing Cao Cao and planted it at Guandu. "Cao Mengde is at his last gasp. Believe it or not, what he fears most right now isn't Yuan Shao's counterattack—"

I paused, then said, word by word, "Instead, we stabbed each other in the back."

Xu Shu's eyes lit up: "My lord means..."

"Write a letter." I sat back in the main seat. "The first letter should be to Cao Cao. The wording should be sincere: 'I am very pleased to hear of Mengde's great victory. However, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou have risen again, and I am unable to go north to help. Therefore, I am sending 30,000 shi of grain to support the army.' Remember, send fresh grain, without any sand mixed in."

Zhao Yun asked, puzzled, "My lord, why now...?"

"Show weakness, lull them into a false sense of security." I raised my second finger. "The second letter is to Yuan Shao. Have Tian Yu deliver the message through the Zhen family: 'If Lord Yuan Shao needs a way out, the coastal cities of Qingzhou are ready to be opened to you at any time.'"

Differentiation. It will always be differentiation.

"The third letter..." I looked south. "To Sun Ce. Tell him that Lü Bu intends to join forces with the Yue tribes to launch a surprise attack on Wu County. We 'accidentally' intercepted this intelligence and are here to inform him."

Zhuge Liang suddenly spoke up: "Teacher, is this meant to force Sun Ce to attack Lü Bu?"

"That's right." I looked at him approvingly. "Sun Ce is impatient. Knowing that Lü Bu is about to make a move, he will definitely strike first. The fiercer they fight, the safer our troops stationed in Huainan will be—and we can also do Sun Ce a favor by doing them a favor."

Zhang Fei counted on his fingers: "Sending grain to Cao Cao, sheltering Yuan Shao, sending a message to Sun Ce... Brother, what are we after?"

I laughed: "It's about saving time."

Unfold a brand new map—this is the "Three-State Five-Year Development Plan Map" that I had craftsmen draw.

"Gentlemen, we currently control the three prefectures of You, Qing, and Xu, with a population of over four million, 90,000 elite troops, and over six million shi of grain reserves. Sounds good, but..." I tapped the map, "...our foundation is unstable."

"Youzhou needs to assimilate Gongsun Zan's former troops, Qingzhou needs to appease the surrendered Yellow Turban soldiers, and Xuzhou needs to integrate the local powerful clans. And our systems—the land tax reform, the inter-provincial trade system, and the new army organization—all need time to mature."

I stood up and traced the Yellow River with my finger: "If we rush to cross the Yellow River now, even if we defeat Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, we'll end up with a fragmented mess, riddled with powerful clans."

"The Hebei I want is one that can be integrated into our system." I looked at everyone. "Therefore, give Cao Cao and Yuan Shao two years."

"Let them wear each other down, let the powerful families of Hebei fight amongst themselves, and let the people completely lose faith in the old regime. When the time is right..." I clenched my fist lightly, "we'll head north, not to conquer, but to take over."

The hall was silent for a moment.

Xu Shu bowed deeply: "My lord has profound foresight."

Guan Yu narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly: "Brother, do you mean to 'subdue the enemy without fighting'?"

"We still have to fight," I smiled. "But if we're going to fight, we have to make it a crushing defeat—like the Mo Dao troops cutting down the Wuhuan cavalry, one strike and they're all gone."

Just then, a guard came to report from outside: "My lord, Master Mi has returned from the East Sea, and he has brought with him a physician who claims to be Hua Tuo."

Hua Tuo?

My eyes lit up: "Please come in quickly!"

A moment later, Mi Zhu led in an elderly man in a blue robe. The old man carried a medicine chest on his back, his eyes were clear, and he bowed respectfully, saying, "This humble commoner, Hua Tuo, greets Your Excellency."

"Sir, there's no need for such formality." I personally helped him up. "I've long heard of your reputation as a divine physician. Meeting you today is truly a blessing for the people of the three states."

Hua Tuo asked directly, "My lord, Mr. Mi said you intend to establish a 'medical college' to widely disseminate medical knowledge. Is that true?"

"Absolutely true." I gestured for him to sit down. "I not only want to build a medical school, but I also want to ask you to oversee the compilation of the 'First Aid Manual'—simple and easy to understand, so that soldiers in the army and village leaders in the countryside can all learn how to stop bleeding, set bones, and prevent disease."

Hua Tuo's eyes lit up: "Your Excellency, is what you say...truly true?!"

"More than half of the casualties in the army are not killed on the spot, but died from their wounds." I said in a heavy tone, "If every hamlet had someone who knew first aid, tens of thousands more soldiers could be saved every year. I know the math."

"Excellent! Excellent!" Hua Tuo stood up excitedly. "If Your Excellency is truly willing to do this, I am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty!"

I pressed my advantage: "In addition, I would like to ask you to study two other things."

"Firstly, prescriptions for preventing and controlling plagues. After a major disaster, there will inevitably be a major epidemic, so we must prepare for it in advance."

"Secondly..." I lowered my voice, "the technique of anesthesia and suturing for external injuries. Could you perhaps improve your 'Mafeisan' (a type of anesthetic)?"

Hua Tuo looked at me in shock: "My lord... how did you know about Mafeisan?"

I remained calm and said, "I've heard that you once performed bone-scraping surgery on Guan Yu, and the anesthetic you used was incredibly skillful."

Guan Yu, standing to the side: "???"

(Guan Yu's inner monologue: When did I ever have my bone scraped??)

Hua Tuo suddenly realized: "So that's how it is... I will do my best to improve it!"

After seeing Hua Tuo off, Mi Zhu whispered, "My lord, as you instructed, the paper mill has produced three hundred reams of new paper, at a cost forty percent lower than Cai Hou's paper. Shall we begin printing the 'First Aid Manual'?"

"Print them." I nodded. "Print a thousand copies first and distribute them to the various armies. Also... how are preparations for that matter going?"

Mi Zhu understood and took out a wooden movable type template from his sleeve: "The craftsmen have made three sets of commonly used type templates according to the drawings given by Young Master Zhuge. However... the typesetting takes a lot of time."

I took the template and looked at it—it was rough, but usable.

"No rush, let's improve it slowly." I put down the template. "Cultural warfare is also warfare. Once our paper and printing technology are mature, we'll be able to print primers, agricultural books, legal texts, etc. at low cost... It's time to break the knowledge monopoly."

At dusk, I climbed the city wall alone.

Looking north, one sees Hebei, where the smoke of war has not yet cleared; looking south, one sees the turbulent currents of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. The "Five-Year Plan" map in my arms feels heavy.

"Teacher." Zhuge Liang had caught up with him at some point, holding a cup of hot tea.

I took the teacup: "Kongming, do you think this path of ours is feasible?"

The nine-year-old thought for a moment and said, "The teacher taught us that anything is possible with human effort."

"Yes, it's all about human effort." I looked into the distance. "But sometimes... you have to learn to wait."

"Wait for the spring breeze and rain, wait for the water to flow into the channel, wait for the opponent to make a mistake, wait for the time to come."

"And then—" I turned to look at him and smiled, "a fatal blow."

As dusk fell, a rider on horseback galloped into the city gate.

The messenger held up a feathered proclamation:

"Report! Urgent news from Jiangdong! Sun Ce has raised an army of 30,000 to attack Lü Bu, who, in alliance with Yan Baihu, is holding Qu'a!"

I put down my teacup.

The second game has begun.