Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

"My lord, this is a summary of the recent situation in Ji Province. Although the main force of the Yellow Turban Army has been wiped out, some of them have run away to the mountains to become bandits, and they come out to rob from time to time."

There are more than 500,000 refugees. I have temporarily arranged for some of them to stay in a few places, but there are too many people and not enough food.

There are still over 800,000 shi of grain in the granary. If you go to war, you can transfer some of it.

The post roads are also repaired. If you need to mobilize troops, you can notify nine counties in three days!

Liu Ce took the scroll, opened it, and took a look.

The handwriting is very neat, and the data is detailed; it seems that a lot of effort has been put into it.

Before he could finish reading, Wang Fen leaned closer and lowered her voice, saying:

"General, rest assured, I will only take care of the people's affairs and keep an eye on the officials to make sure they don't slack off. I won't get involved in any military matters. You are in charge of the military affairs of Ji Province, right? The local troops, the grain transport routes, and the defense of the fortresses will all be under your command!"

I already sent messages to all the counties this morning. Your orders carry more weight than mine. Anyone who dares to dawdle will be dealt with!

That's a well-said statement. It expresses loyalty while clearly defining boundaries: I won't get involved in military matters, you can rest assured.

Liu Ce knew exactly what was going on.

Wang Fen was afraid that he would interfere too much and turn Jizhou into his own territory.

However, Liu Ce never intended to take over Ji Province entirely. His main target was You Province, and he only passed through Ji Province to reorganize it.

"Governor Wang is very thoughtful." Liu Ce closed the scroll and suddenly asked, "Do you know about Hejian Commandery?"

Wang Fen was taken aback, then nodded: "I know, I know! Hejian Kingdom is in the northeast of Jizhou, close to Youzhou, and its population is about..."

Liu Ce interrupted him: "There's a military commander there named Zhang He. You can transfer him to my command, right?"

Wang Fen's heart skipped a beat: Zhang He? Who's that? Never heard of him.

But he reacted quickly: "No, no! I'll send someone to fetch him right away! He'll go today!"

But in his heart he was thinking, "This is all just a matter of a word from you. You lead the military affairs of Ji Province, so who would dare to object to transferring a military general?"

"Don't even mention Zhang He, even if you transferred all the generals guarding Hejian, I'd still say 'Good riddance!' and do as I say."

Liu Ce nodded, quite satisfied with Wang Fen's attitude.

Wang Fen added, "By the way, Lord Marquis, I've prepared the place where you'll be staying these next few days. It's located on the east side of my residence, which is very fitting for your status!"

Your troops are staying at the outpost, where they are provided with all their food and drink, and even the horse feed is the best!

"If you want to hold a meeting today, I've already sent the commanders from each prefecture. They'll do whatever you tell them to do, without daring to utter a word!"

As he spoke, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, as if afraid of missing something.

Liu Ce found his nervous expression amusing, but simply gave a faint "hmm" on the surface.

Wang Fen's heart skipped a beat: Just one "hmm"? Was he satisfied or dissatisfied? This man's thoughts were harder to fathom than a woman's!

"Let's go into the city," Liu Ce finally said.

Wang Fen let out a long sigh of relief: "Ah! Let's go into the city! Please, Your Excellency!"

That evening, Wang Fen hosted a banquet at the governor's mansion to welcome him.

The banquet was lavish, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat all served, and there were also songs and dances to entertain the guests.

Dozens of officials from Ji Province came and took turns toasting Liu Ce and saying all sorts of nice things to him.

"The Marquis of Champion is a young man of great talent and a true pillar of the Han Dynasty!"

"With the Marquis in charge, Ji Province is safe and sound!"

"I recite Lord Marquis's 'Four Lines of Hengqu' every day and have benefited greatly from it!"

Liu Ce smiled and responded politely, but he knew in his heart that few of these people were truly sincere; most of them were just trying to get acquainted with him because he was favored.

Guo Jia drank the most, playing drinking games with several young officials and winning quite a bit of wine.

Xun Yu, on the other hand, was very restrained and only tried a little bit.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui sat next to Liu Ce, exchanging their views on Ji Province in hushed tones.

Generals like Lü Bu and Yuwen Chengdu drank wine like it was water, one bowl after another.

Wang Fen felt a pang of heartache; those were all fine wines! But she still had to put on a smile.

"Drink! Drink as much as you want! All you can eat!"

When the banquet was halfway over, Wang Fen leaned closer and whispered:

"My lord, I will deliver detailed information about Ji Province first thing tomorrow morning. The situation after the Yellow Turban Rebellion... is not optimistic."

Liu Ce nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Governor Wang."

The next morning, sure enough, an official delivered a thick stack of bamboo slips and silk books.

Liu Ce had the items moved to his study, and then summoned Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Tian Feng, and Ju Shou.

"Gentlemen, here is information about the situation in Ji Province. Let's take a look and discuss a strategy."

Six people sat around a table. Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui were the first to start... Xun Yu also began, and Guo Jia... Guo Jia was yawning.

"Fengxiao, be serious." Xun Yu frowned.

"Wenruo, with so much information, when are we going to finish it?" Guo Jia said lazily. "Just focus on the key points."

Even so, he still picked up a copy and started reading.

The more people looked, the more their brows furrowed.

One hour later.

Fang Xuanling spoke first: "The population has decreased by about 50%... five out of ten houses are empty, this is no exaggeration."

Du Ruhui continued, "There are between 500,000 and 800,000 refugees... If these people are not settled, chaos will surely ensue."

Xun Yu pointed to a statistic: "More than 30% of cultivated land has been abandoned, and grain-producing areas such as Anping and Julu have almost become 'scorched earth.' This autumn harvest will probably not yield much grain."

Tian Feng was straightforward and outspoken: "Although we still have 800,000 shi of grain reserves, Ji Province was known as having 'enough grain to last ten years' before the war,' but now we've lost over 80%! The grain reserves in the countryside are completely depleted, and in some places, people are even resorting to cannibalism!"

Ju Shou sighed: "The household registration system has collapsed, and there is a vacuum in grassroots governance... Now, in the counties and prefectures of Ji Province, very few government orders can even leave the city gates."

Guo Jia flipped to the last few volumes and smiled bitterly: "The local military forces have been wiped out, and the city defenses are in disarray... If the Xianbei people were to attack, they would probably collapse at the first touch."

The six of them looked at each other, all sensing the seriousness of the problem.

Liu Ce sat in the main seat, slowly sipping his tea, and only asked after they had finished speaking:

"What good ideas do you all have?"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a glance, and Fang Xuanling spoke first:

"In terms of government affairs, there are five urgent tasks: establish public granaries to accommodate displaced people; exempt the people of Ji Province from one year's land rent to provide relief to the starving; restore local order; appease the displaced people; and repair infrastructure."

Du Ruhui added: "Especially the exemption of land rent. The people are already suffering, and if taxes are levied again, it would be tantamount to forcing them to rebel."

Xun Yu nodded: "I second that proposal. But exempting land rent... requires the approval of the imperial court."

Tian Feng said in a deep voice: "In terms of military affairs, I suggest recruiting soldiers from refugees and local young men, training them with retired generals, and rebuilding the local armed forces in Jizhou."

Prioritize the fortification of strategic locations such as Yecheng and Guangzong; after ensuring a grain surplus, replenish the official granaries to guarantee the new army's food supplies for three years, thus preventing the army from collapsing due to food shortages.

Ju Shou said, "These measures all require money and provisions. Ji Province... probably can't afford it right now."