Three Kingdoms, Myth

Once the general direction was set, the details would be left to many others to handle. For example, Lu Su was now reluctantly accepting the task. After working with Chen Xi for so long, he knew one thing: Chen Xi usually just set the broad direction, and he wouldn't bother with the troublesome work of filling in the details. That responsibility mainly fell to Lu Su.

"Now we just need to wait for the completion of the Jingling Temple and the Library Pavilion," Chen Xi said as he stretched. He finally managed to finish all the tasks for the year before the end of the year. With these tasks done, it was finally time to get married.

"So, should we submit this plan now, or should we wait a few days until the meeting in ten days and then report it to the lord?" Lu Su asked, unsure whether Chen Xi wanted to implement the plan quickly or promote it gradually.

"Submit it now. The recent commercial prosperity has already caused some disorder, and we're short on personnel for city management. So it's better to report this now. Ziyang, you handle Guan Yu. Wenhe, Zhang Fei is your responsibility. Zilong, can you handle it, Zijing? I'll take care of convincing the rest of the generals," Chen Xi thought for a moment and decided it was better to act quickly.

"No problem," the three of them nodded in agreement. Having worked together before, they had no issue with Chen Xi's allocation.

As for going ahead without informing the generals, Chen Xi thought it best not to do so. Although it was possible to enforce it, creating friction between civil and military officials wouldn't be wise. Many generals in this era still believed that strength came from having a large number of troops. To them, reducing the number of soldiers could be seen as plucking a tiger's teeth.

"Stay, Gongyou. The rest of you should handle your tasks as soon as possible. I'll be opening the back door of the Library Pavilion in a bit," Chen Xi waved, signaling that they could leave, keeping only Sun Qian behind.

The others exchanged a few pleasantries before leaving. Most of them had their own administrative duties, and they didn't like staying in the government office now that the weather had turned cold.

"Do you have any instructions for me, Zichuan?" Sun Qian cautiously asked after everyone else had left. Without those familiar faces to joke around with, Chen Xi could be quite difficult to handle, especially when Sun Qian had no idea what to expect.

"Just sit down, Gongyou. There's no big issue, I just wanted to ask if you have any insights from constructing those landmark buildings. I'm planning to build roads throughout all of Qingzhou, connecting every village. If I give you this task, how many people would be needed to complete it by the end of next month? After all, the farming season is over, so manpower won't be an issue," Chen Xi reassured Sun Qian, explaining that he just wanted to understand the current state of infrastructure development.

"If we're rushing and manpower isn't limited, mobilizing all the idle farmers in Qingzhou could complete the main roads within a month. However, there are two issues: one is that we don't have enough building materials, and the difficulty of constructing roads to the villages is too high. It would require painstaking work. The other issue is that we're entering winter soon, and the snow and ice will make road construction even more difficult," Sun Qian responded, choosing not to discuss the emotional toll of constructing those costly buildings. It was clear that the expense of those projects still weighed heavily on his mind.

"Oh, if that's the case, then complete all the main roads within a month. We'll put the village roads on hold for now, but make sure to extend the main roads to Yinping. Let Cao Mengde see the difference between us and lose any thoughts of causing trouble," Chen Xi said, frowning. However, the situation was roughly as he had expected. This would still be slow progress if not for Qingzhou's large population.

"I haven't stopped for a year. The northern roads don't need to reach Bohai, but they must reach Licheng. The southern roads should extend directly to Xuzhou City, and we can take our time with the eastern roads," Chen Xi continued sternly. Although he didn't take the other warlords lightly, he would not allow them to disrupt his plans.

Chen Xi knew that with just one more year—until 193 CE—once they completed the initial stockpiling of resources, and after the natural disasters in 194 CE, Liu Bei would be poised to vie for the world as long as he didn't make any mistakes. In this critical year, Chen Xi would not allow any disturbances to disrupt his plans.

In truth, Chen Xi realized that his control over the situation had become more precarious due to their growing strength. A slight misstep, and he wouldn't be able to hold the reins. Initially, he had planned for 192 CE to be a time of recuperation and steady development, but things hadn't gone as expected. First, they had to deal with the Yellow Turbans. Although they had finished them off quickly without much loss, they had gained some benefits. Then they were dragged into a conflict with Cao Cao against Yuan Shu, which also turned out well, earning them significant spoils.

It all seemed good on the surface, but Chen Xi knew that this was actually a sign that his previous miscalculations had destabilized the situation.

The Yellow Turbans were one thing—after all, that had been part of Chen Xi's plan. He had intended to use the Yellow Turbans to weaken the veteran soldiers of Yanzhou and elevate Cao Cao as the governor of Yanzhou, leaving him with an empty title and a mess to clean up. Meanwhile, Taishan would absorb the Yellow Turbans and grow stronger, reducing Cao Cao to a struggling governor with no troops, no supplies, chaotic territories, and restless noble families.

This was all part of an open conspiracy, and it had played out as Chen Xi had predicted. The Yellow Turbans had wiped out Liu Dai, taking out the remaining veterans of Yanzhou along the way. Zhang Miao and Chen Gong had then elevated Cao Cao to power, handing him nothing but an empty title and a chaotic situation, with the spring planting ruined.

Chen Xi's plan had been going smoothly until Cao Cao dragged Liu Bei into the conflict. After that, things took a turn, and before Chen Xi could stabilize the situation, Cao Cao had already grown stronger—stronger than he had been in the original history. How did that even happen?

Because of this, Chen Xi had become more wary of Cao Cao. No longer confident in simply outgrowing him, Chen Xi now adopted a strategy of checking Cao Cao's power while continuing to develop.

If he needed to check the surrounding warlords without directly confronting them—since that could introduce too many variables—Chen Xi decided to make a show of force to deter them. After all, as the saying goes, a sword still in its scabbard is far more intimidating than one already drawn.

With this in mind, Chen Xi decided to give the warlords a clear demonstration of Liu Bei's military strength and the wealth of their territory. He believed that by showing strength, he could buy himself another year or so of peace.

Moreover, when he got married, the various warlords would send representatives to attend the ceremony, whether they came to spy, make alliances, or simply out of courtesy. Chen Xi was certain that every warlord would send someone. This would be the perfect opportunity for Liu Bei to showcase his power.

A prosperous territory invites envy, but a strong military force deters aggression. When both are combined, the resulting power is enough to make all the warlords think twice! If he could buy another year of time, Chen Xi was confident he could propel Liu Bei to the top!