The Three Kingdoms began with island farming

Chapter 701 Born at the Wrong Time
"The current Roman Empire has a monarch who is a general through and through!" Sima Yi said meaningfully.

Stepping out of the Central Plains, Sima Yi's eyes were opened wide, and he realized how vast the world truly was.

At the same time, he also discovered that the Central Plains was indeed a very high-level meat grinder. In comparison, the other three great empires, although not weak, seemed too "naive".

Sima Yi thought the Han Dynasty's "kindergarten" was absurd enough, but after seeing the Kushan Empire and Rome, he realized that there are always people more capable than oneself and that there is always something beyond one's understanding.

Although the Parthian Empire was the weakest in terms of national strength, its ruler was still considered normal, only slightly less capable.

The king of the Kushan Empire was a short-sighted and arrogant brute.

The king of the Roman Empire was actually a warlord whose mind was only focused on the army and war.

A single tree cannot support a whole; military strength and development are like two legs for a country, neither of which can be missing.

Without a military, no matter how well a country develops, it is just a fat sheep, at the mercy of neighboring countries.

Without development, military operations also become unsustainable.

War is never just about war itself; political and economic factors must also be considered.

Otherwise, pointless wars will only bring harm and drag the country into a deeper quagmire.

The Roman Empire at that time was just like that.

Of course, Sima Yi was also aware of the reasons why the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus launched this war.

Since Severus was not a legitimate Roman emperor, but rather a successful rebel who seized the throne, this war was necessary and successful in order to maintain his legitimacy.

However, while Rome gained some wealth in the short term, the war accelerated the empire's financial collapse and military fragmentation.

This also reflects the limitations of imperial expansion.

While achieving victory is one thing, the resource investment required to maintain hegemony will eventually exceed the empire's capacity to bear it.

Therefore, Tian Ze threw the seven kings out of the Central Plains, because the Great Qi did not have enough energy and ability to rule the territory west of the Kushan.

If Severus had stopped there, he would still have been a great ruler.

He ended the internal strife with an iron fist amidst the chaos, temporarily stabilizing the imperial order, and diverting conflicts and establishing authority through foreign wars.

However, based on the intelligence gathered in recent years, this king, who believed in the power of force, was not a wise ruler.

Over-reliance on the military, significant increases in military spending, and constant suppression of the Senate had sown the seeds of deep-seated contradictions within the Roman Empire.

To pay for the high military expenses, Severus even began to drastically reduce the silver content of his coins from 85% to 50%, bringing the currency's credibility to the brink of collapse.

“Even if Severus was just a competent general, he knew which battles he could fight and which he couldn’t,” Zhang Liao said, frowning.

Parthia still firmly controls the core area of ​​the Iranian plateau. Rome, on the other hand, has long supply lines and is unable to adapt to the hot weather of West Asia.

"This kind of battle is simply unwinnable."

Sima Yi nodded, agreeing that, logically speaking, that was indeed the case.

"What if the Senate is colluding with Parthia in an attempt to restore the monarchy?"

He threw the sheep bones in his hand into the fire pit, and the rising flames reflected in Sima Yi's unfathomable eyes, which were like a deep pool.

Zhang Liao frowned slightly: "The Senate? Weren't they already nearly powerless after being suppressed by Severus?"

"A tiger that has lost its power is more deadly when it bares its fangs," Sima Yi said with a faint smile.

His seemingly gentle smile sent a chill down Zhang Liao's spine.

"It is precisely because the Senate has lost power that they will go all out to regain power once they see an opportunity to do so, even if it means pushing Rome into a fire."

"The Senate does not need a Rome that is not ruled by the Senate, no matter how powerful it may be."

"Really?" Zhang Liao asked.

Sima Yi smirked coldly: "Of course, that's human nature."

"Has His Majesty already taken action?" "With His Majesty's wisdom, he should have already begun planning long ago," Sima Yi replied decisively.

"These things are not for you and me to worry about. We just need to do our own thing."

Despite saying this, Sima Yi's tone still carried a hint of barely suppressed resentment.

Born at the wrong time!
Sima Yi still harbored an extraordinary thirst for power.

Of course, this is normal.

After learning the literary and martial arts, he sold them to the imperial family.

How could someone with such talent and ability be willing to be subordinate to others? This is only human nature.

Today, Daqi is teeming with talented people.

None of the ministers of the twelve ministries were easy to deal with, leaving him no room to maneuver.

The elders of this generation are all quite young, and especially under Tian Ze's spiritual energy conditioning, they should be able to live for at least another thirty or forty years without any problem.

If Tian Ze hadn't intentionally trained newcomers, Sima Yi would never have seen a chance to rise to prominence.

Even so, Sima Yi is under tremendous pressure now.

Not to mention the previous generation, his generation is no pushover either.

One Zhuge Liang was enough to completely suppress him in domestic affairs.

Lu Xun's position overlaps with his, and in terms of talent, he is not much weaker than him.

Although Xu Shu and Ma Liang were somewhat inferior, they each had their own unique strengths, and he dared not say that he could surpass them in their respective fields of expertise.

As for domestic affairs, Sima Yi had no hope.

The previous generation kept him in check, and Zhuge Liang kept him in check; even he had to admit that he was inferior to them.

He is still young, and although his abilities are already outstanding, there is still a considerable gap between him and the very top tier.

Sima Yi could only focus his attention on external matters.

In foreign conquests, the greatest achievement is undoubtedly the conquest of a nation.

Sima Yi, wanting to rise to prominence, naturally set his sights on Rome, Parthia, and... the Seven Kingdoms.

Sima Yi's assistance to Liu Fan was actually a preparation for suppressing the other six states.

As for Rome and Parthia, he was qualified to participate, but not to lead.

Although Zhang Liao was a military general, he was also meticulous and experienced, and keenly sensed the resentment in Sima Yi's tone.

However, he didn't think much of it.

Even if he is standing at the top, he doesn't feel qualified to criticize those who are climbing.

To reach this position, talent and hard work are one aspect, but opportunity is the most important.

He was filled with gratitude for Tian Ze throughout his journey.

It is because of Tian Ze's trust and guidance that he is where he is today.

He was someone who reaped the full benefits of the era, but Sima Yi was not.

Sima Yi's abilities were something even he greatly admired.

Unfortunately, although they have seized the current era of great competition, they failed to grasp the golden period of development in the early stages.

Previous battles in the Central Plains were unprecedented in terms of scale, frequency, and intensity.

Fortunately, there are still many opportunities now. As long as Sima Yi seizes them, his future achievements will be limitless.

(End of this chapter)