The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 699: Far Distance and Close Attack
"Zhongda, why did you choose Liu Fan?"

Upon hearing that Sima Yi wished to gain experience under Liu Fan's rule in the former territory of the Northern Xiongnu, Zhang Liao frowned.

With peace prevailing in all regions and the migration of people from the Central Plains bringing with them a new generation of young talents, it wouldn't be a problem for Sima Yi to slip away and gain experience at this time.

However, Zhang Liao was puzzled as to why Sima Yi would choose Liu Fan.

Of the seven kings, although Zhang Liao had little contact with the three kings in the south, he did know something about Liu Fan.

Although this Prince of Han was very lucky and had a strong foundation, in Zhang Liao's eyes, he was still the weakest of the seven princes.

Both his personal abilities and the civil and military skills of those under his jurisdiction were relatively poor.

Sima Yi, who was roasting meat, slowly sprinkled a pinch of fine salt on the meat. Smelling the enticing aroma, he couldn't help but nod slightly.

"Wen Yuan, who do you think I should choose?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Liao said, "Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan are all extraordinary figures."

Sima Yi smiled faintly: "But there is no place for me under their command."

"These four have many civil and military officials under their command, and there are quite a few whose talents are no less than mine. Even if I go, I can only be relegated to the bottom of the phoenix."

Although Sima Yi felt that he was second to none, he also knew very well that even if he was comparable to Ju Shou and Xun Yu, what difference would it make?

One is a trusted confidant who has accompanied them all the way, and the other is someone else. If there is no significant difference in their abilities, it goes without saying which one the kings, as their lords, would choose.

Sima Yi wanted to put his knowledge into practice himself, not to become a student. Under these four, he had no room to make a difference.

“Then Lu Bu and Gongsun Zan are also stronger than Liu Fan, aren’t they?” Zhang Liao said.

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi sighed softly: "Their personalities are incompatible with mine. Moreover, I cannot see through Li Ru, and Fa Zheng is narrow-minded and not a good friend."

Although Sima Yi has not gone astray, his somewhat cautious and gloomy personality has already taken shape.

He hates anything that is out of his control.

However, the other six kings mostly had subordinates whom he was not confident in dealing with. Only Liu Fan, although he had wise men such as Li Yan, Huang Quan, Zhang Song, and Dong He under his command, were not top-tier talents that Sima Yi could suppress.

Moreover, after observing Liu Fan for some time, Sima Yi found that Liu Fan's current state was very suitable for him to perform well.

Since he wanted to put his knowledge to use, Sima Yi was not going to follow the usual path. Taking an unconventional approach would inevitably bring many risks and hidden dangers. What he needed was a "powerful ruler" like Liu Fan who could boldly give him free rein.

"Although Liu Fan lacks great talent and ambition, he has good insight and a lot of courage. He dares to appoint people and delegate power."

"Their civil and military officials are weaker than those of the other six states, and they lack key figures. If I assist them, it won't be long before I become a pillar of their forces, or even their leader," Sima Yi said confidently.

"Moreover, and most importantly, Liu Fan is easy to control. His strength is growing, and on the surface he may seem to pose a threat to our Great Qi, but in reality he can suppress the other six kings and maintain the balance."

Sima Yi placed the roasted lamb leg on a ceramic plate, the fat seeping out along the brownish-red meat and smoldering on the lambskin pad. He cut off a piece with his dagger and handed it to Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao took the mutton, his brow furrowing slightly: "That's true. But all seven kings are threats to our Great Qi, and they're on good terms with each other. Can Liu Fan's rise to power truly benefit our Great Qi?"

Sima Yi used a dagger to pick at the sheep bones: "If you can eat meat, who would want to gnaw on bones?"

"The battle with the Kushans may seem easy, but upon closer examination, there are many frightening aspects. If we had not made thorough preparations in advance as His Majesty requested, and if Botiao had not been defeated on his own, we would have inevitably been bogged down in a protracted stalemate."

"And this is the norm in wars between empires." "Befriend distant powers while attacking nearby ones. Faced with our powerful and distant existence, and the relatively weaker neighboring nations, what do you think the Seven Kingdoms will think?"

Zhang Liao gently placed a piece of mutton into his mouth and chewed it slowly.

"But didn't the seven kings unite during the war in the Central Plains in the past?"

Sima Yi shook his head: "The Central Plains is too small. How can we allow others to sleep soundly beside our bed?"

"But the world is now too vast, so vast that even a powerful emperor like His Majesty can only limit the empire's territory to this extent and cannot expand westward any further. Therefore, he has no choice but to send the seven kings to conquer the world."

"The Seven Kings cannot be unaware of this principle."

"Although they are still united now, there will inevitably be internal disputes when the West conquers Parthia and Rome in the future."

"After all, dealing with a large empire is not so easy. The war between Rome and Parthia has dragged on for decades without stopping. They want to deal with our Great Qi? Heh..."

Zhang Liao paused slightly as he tore at the mutton: "What you say makes sense. However, this matter still needs to be reported to His Majesty before a decision can be made."

Sima Yi nodded: "That's natural."

"I heard that Lu Xun, Xu Shu, and those guys should be arriving soon, along with some rising stars in the army, Guan Ping, Hao Zhao, and Guo Huai," Sima Yi suddenly changed the subject.

"It seems I'll be able to retreat to the second line soon," Zhang Liao said with a complicated tone.

Although he has already achieved great success, he is only in his thirties and in the prime of his life, so he naturally hopes to continue to shine for a while longer.

Moreover, the previous civil wars had all been fought in the Central Plains, which was rather uninteresting. After learning that there was a powerful adversary like Rome in the West, Zhang Liao was naturally eager to make his move.

However, new talents emerge in every generation.

It is well known that Tian Ze likes to train newcomers; Zhang Liao was also quickly promoted by Tian Ze before he even came of age.

With the arrival of the newcomer, Zhang Liao felt that he would have few battles to fight next.

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi smiled slightly: "Don't worry, His Majesty will not let us be idle."

"As one of the first to come out, as long as we don't make any big mistakes, we'll have to fight for our country on this frontier for at least the next five years."

Zhang Liao was considered to have strong political wisdom and insight among military generals; otherwise, Tian Ze would not have entrusted him with such an important task.

However, his wisdom and strategy were ultimately limited, and he could not guess Tian Ze's thoughts like Sima Yi did.

"How many years do you think it will take to destroy Parthia?" Sima Yi asked.

"It could take as little as three years, but it's hard to say how long it could take; it could even be ten years," Zhang Liao said.

There are too many special reasons why the Kushan Empire was able to be destroyed so easily in just two or three years.

Although Parthia was weaker than Kushan in terms of national strength and governance system, it was more difficult to conquer.

Even if the tribal alliance-style management system is conquered, it will likely remain chaotic for several years.

(End of this chapter)