Mythical Version of the Three Kingdoms: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

Mi Zhu stared at Fenggao City in shock. He had been to Taishan County before, but back then, Taishan County was sparsely populated, mostly inhabited by thieves, and the city was in ruins. People were lucky if they had even a piece of clothing to cover their bodies.

And now? Prosperous and thriving, the people have steamed buns to eat and rice porridge to drink. This is something that many wealthy counties cannot do, let alone Taishan County, which is adjacent to Qingzhou and is basically full of Yellow Turban rebels.

Yes, that's right. I also tried a steamed bun, and it was pretty good; it tasted much better than regular food.

However… Mi Zhu estimated that the money and grain needed would be an astronomical figure, and it seemed that even his Mi family couldn't support it. Mi Zhu thought with a bitter smile.

It's impossible; where did Chen Xi get so much money and food? Even with the Chen family's full support, they couldn't afford to be so extravagant.

Moreover, didn't Chen Qun, the head of the Chen family, expel Chen Xi from the family?

Meanwhile, Lu Su, standing beside Mi Zhu, silently watched the entire Taishan Prefecture operate. After pondering for a long time, he came to a shocking conclusion: the entire Taishan Prefecture hadn't spent much money. The grain was plentiful, but the money... probably only went towards buying grain.

Lu Su could sense that the money had gone through a roundabout way and ended up in Chen Xi's hands again, but that was impossible. Wasn't he afraid of a collapse if he played it like that? If it collapsed, the entire Mount Tai would crumble. Did Chen Xi have that much guts?

However, what Lu Su didn't know was that as long as there was enough food and no one interfered, this system was virtually impossible to collapse in this era.

After all, for ordinary people in this era, being able to eat their fill every day was already an incredible blessing, let alone a delicious food like steamed buns that was enough to fill them up.

Chen Xi even used the pretext of building houses and temporarily renting them out to collect money. Later, people no longer needed money to buy food; instead, they used slips issued by Chen Xi to exchange for food. These slips were useless outside of Taishan County.

Unless a prominent economist intervenes, forging documents or engaging in economic fraud to obtain food, the system is unlikely to collapse. However… even Liu Ba, a prominent economist of this era, is no match for Chen Xi… So, if you want to find an economic rival for Chen Xi in this era, the Roman Empire might have one… but even that wouldn't be enough for Chen Xi to defeat.

Lu Su and Mi Zhu arrived at the reception area in Taishan County, where Chen Xi, Liu Bei, Jiang Shu, Fan Qin, Jian Yong, Zhao Yun, and Xu Chu were already waiting.

Mi Zhu and Lu Su bowed in unison and said, "Greetings, Lord Xuande."

Then Liu Bei spoke sincerely, which almost made Mi Zhu, who had already placed his bets on Liu Bei, bow down in reverence.

That's the charm of Liu Bei! The title of "the succubus of the Liu family" isn't just a figure of speech.

Even Lu Su, a man with exceptionally strong mental fortitude, was so dizzy that he went into Liu Bei's house next door.

After some thought, Mi Zhu addressed Liu Bei as "Lord" and repeatedly signaled to Lu Su to join Liu Bei's forces, but Lu Su remained silent.

Lu Su was also conflicted. He had initially thought about testing Liu Bei, but now... although he was even more tempted, was it a bit unreliable to just join him like this?

We still don't know Chen Xi's specific plans.

Chen Xi thought for a moment and suddenly realized what was going on. Then he gestured to Liu Bei to give them a chance to speak alone.

Of course, Jiang Shu was taken along, as was Fan Qin. As for Mi Zhu, he was taken to cultivate a relationship with Liu Bei.

Then the four of them removed their hair ornaments together, signifying the removal of their crowns.

After a period of conversation.

Then Chen Xi calmly stated his plan.

"Take over Qingzhou, annex Xuzhou, swallow Yuzhou, defeat Yuan Shao, take over Bingzhou to the west, and accumulate strength in the Central Plains to swallow the world whole," Lu Su said calmly, stating his plan.

"Don't try to fool people with such a childish plan. I don't believe that Chen Xi and Chen Zichuan, who could come up with such a plan for Fenggao City in Taishan County, could only devise such a scheme," Lu Su said with a mocking tone.

Chen Xi smiled slightly and said, "Yuan Shu."

Lu Su frowned and said, "Impossible. As long as Yuan Shu isn't brain-dead, if he and Yuan Shao each unite and besiege one place, no one in the world can rival them. They occupy the richest provinces in the world, and even if they lose one, two, or even three battles, they will still have the strength to fight back."

Lu Su was referring to the historical situation of Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao hadn't died and his children hadn't split apart, giving Cao Cao an opportunity, then Cao Cao would have had a tough time.

Even in history, it took Cao Cao several years to deal with Yuan Shao.

Chen Xi smiled faintly and said, "The Imperial Seal!"

Lu Su said with a terrified expression, "If Yuan Shu were to touch the Imperial Seal, the whole world would unite against him, and Yuan Shao would have no choice but to stand by and watch. But will that really happen?"

Without waiting for Chen Xi's reply, Lu Su continued, "Yes!"

"Because you, Chen Zichuan, are the one planning it."

"As expected of Chen Zichuan, he is truly terrifying. So, Mingzhi, what is Xiubo planning now?" Lu Su asked Jiang Shu.

Fan Qin merely revealed his spiritual talent indifferently, then Lu Su stared at him intently. "Does he possess something similar to mine? From what I've observed, that's something only civil officials of my rank possess."

Jiang Shu smiled faintly and said, "He is a scholar, I am a soldier."

Lu Su's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "May I ask which ginger Mingzhi is referring to?"

"Jiang Taigong's Jiang," Jiang Shu said unhappily, feeling taken advantage of by that old man.

"I see. I wonder what level Mingzhi is capable of?" Lu Su asked.

"Give me 100,000 troops, and I can win every battle and capture every city. Only a large army commander is qualified to stop me," Jiang Shu said proudly.

"Commanding a large army?" Lu Su frowned. This was not hard to understand. The concept of a large army was different from that of an ordinary army. An ordinary general could command 10,000 soldiers and make full use of their strength, which was already quite good. However, a commander of a large army could perfectly utilize the strength of 100,000 soldiers or even more.

Jiang Shu did not directly say that he was Sun Wu Han Bai, because Lu Su and the others would find out later. Even if he said it now, Lu Su might not believe him.

Lu Su laughed and said, "Zichuan and Mingzhi have told me so much? Aren't you afraid I'll reveal the plan once I go out?"

Chen Xi laughed and said, "Can you? Lu Zijing, whether you admit it or not, your current thinking is already based on the perspective of Xuande Gong's power."

Lu Su sighed. Sure enough, as a fellow wise man, his thoughts could not be kept secret.

"Since Zijing is interested in joining Mount Tai, then I can work with Zijing to devise some deeper plans, real plans," Chen Xi said with a smile.

Lu Su's eyes narrowed. "Wasn't that your real plan just now?"

Chen Xi said, "That's only a part, a trivial part. It's fine if it's leaked out; it can be changed at any time. What I'm going to talk about next is the internal development plan, things that only insiders can hear."