Mythical Three Kingdoms

Liu Ye's words made everyone roll their eyes, too lazy to respond to him. Those who could be called sages were all daring individuals; even someone like Jia Xu, known for his caution, was not without courage.

Naturally, the reason everyone rolled their eyes was that Liu Ye was too boring. Who at the scene doesn't know about this? However, to openly talk about it like this, no one had really done so before. Some things are taboo, and as a member of the Liu Clan, to say such things during chaotic times essentially translates to: I'm taking the lead, everyone else step aside, I'm becoming the new pillar of the nation!

"Regarding this aspiration for Wang Ba dominance, I feel we've been too high-profile this time. At this point, others probably have a clear assessment of our real strength, though I'd rather keep it concealed," Chen Xi replied helplessly, taking over the conversation. Aspirations for grand dominance? If it can be done discreetly, then refrain from showing off.

"With all our strength, we can take down one and a half of Yuan Shao in direct confrontation. If we use clever tactics like before, under smooth circumstances, we can take down more than two Yuan Shaos. To be honest, the Alliance Hierarch is indeed a man of substance," Lub Su said quietly. They were indeed stronger than Yuan Shao, but not to the extent that Yuan Shao was in despair—after all, their rise had been too recent.

"That's exactly the situation," Li You nodded in agreement. "Zichuan doesn't want direct confrontation and has always stretched the battle line toward accomplishing everything in one move. Overall, this benefits outweigh the disadvantages. While this time we've likely exposed ourselves to the entire world, if Yuan Shao unleashes his full wartime potential, considering the population of Jizhou alone—seven million..."

"If we finish this, we'll be finished as well. Thus, the fundamental purpose of this battle isn't about how many victories we achieve, but only on one point—whether we can assassinate Yuan Shao before he gains clarity. It can even be said that in the battle before this, even if Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Yann Liang, Wen Chou, and Juo Yi all perished, as long as Yuan Shao returned, the essence of our victory would be meaningless!" Guo Jia casually responded.

"Exactly," Chen Xi said, spreading his hands in resignation. "The most important point of this battle is executing Yuan Shao. As long as Yuan Shao lives, the subsequent wars will continue for three to five years."

Chen Xi wasn't joking at all about this. The most critical aspect of this battle was executing Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao isn't eliminated, this major conflict's tragic loss will only awaken Yuan Shao even more thoroughly. In such a scenario, even if he couldn't defeat Liu Bei, it would be sufficient to drag Liu Bei into an intolerable stalemate.

More importantly, Chen Xi's vision encompassed a Strong Han, not a Central Plains with nine of ten households empty—a Strong Han in name but without the strength to dominate the Four Directions. Thus, preserving the vital energy of the Central Plains was absolutely essential to him.

This explains why Chen Xi advocated for Hua Tuo to publicly disseminate the prescription for treating typhoid fever. If it were solely Hua Tuo's individual effort, it might have circulated throughout Mount Tai Commandery by now, but only with official authority could Hua Tuo's voice be heard nationwide!

Similarly, this is why Chen Xi occasionally asked Qu Qi to share some crop cultivation methods that could boost grain yields with the Feudal Lords worldwide!

Frankly speaking, Chen Xi wasn't worried that these other Feudal Lords would cause them trouble. With Jia Xu, Li You, Guo Jia, Lub Su, Liu Ye, Fa Zheng, Xu Shu, and Zhuge Liang present, their existence ensured that every step of their strategy could proceed smoothly under any circumstances!

During the era of cold weapons, a decisive battle could claim many lives. Considering Yuan Shao's domain with a population slightly over ten million, the death toll for this war, at most, would amount to fifty thousand. The total deployed troops amounted to merely two hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty thousand.

A mortality rate of less than one in two hundred, but the death rate from plagues could reach seventy to eighty percent, and famines could claim one-third. Chen Xi could clearly differentiate these outcomes. While warfare, when dragged into certain states of stagnation, could result in exponential increases in casualties, would Chen Xi allow such circumstances to arise?

From the very beginning, Chen Xi had defined the Yuan-Liu conflict as a battle to eliminate Yuan Shao, since only by doing so could the loss within the Central Plains be minimized!

By eradicating the current greatest threat to population reduction, typhoid fever, combined with Jizhou itself lacking major natural disasters, Chen Xi's measure to prevent population loss boiled down to one task—defeating Yuan Shao's army as swiftly as possible and executing Yuan Shao!

The unification of the world should never harm the bottom-tier commonfolk, yet the ones who suffer the most are invariably these bottom-tier commonfolk. This deeply frustrated Chen Xi, leading him to prioritize population preservation before undertaking monumental projects for a unified world.

That said, this stems from the Han Dynasty's substantial population base and its relative avoidance of severe calamities. In Jian Yong's recent census, the entire Han territory still held close to fifty million people. Comparing this figure to the population in 184, a million people seemed to have practically vanished...

Nonetheless, overall, the Han Dynasty's population far exceeded that of Yang Guang's era, and was more than double that of Early Tang. More importantly, Chen Xi never proclaimed that those epic infrastructure projects would only begin upon unification. Once Hebei was conquered, Chen Xi would immediately initiate water network construction!

The construction pace during wartime always surpasses the speed achieved during peacetime following unification. People who lack job security won't entertain too many thoughts, but when given idle time and finances, they'll ponder countless matters of negligible practical significance, thereby causing a plethora of issues.

In earlier years, when King of Wu, Fu Chai, waged war on the Qi State and excavated three hundred miles of Hangou, it didn't take much time. This marked the earliest beginnings of the Grand Canal. Comparing the limited wartime capacity of Wu State, despite yet-to-be-absorbed North Huai River, Liu Bei's domain now approached fifteen million people!

Once Jizhou was absorbed, even if digestion was somewhat slow, the population would steadily exceed twenty million. At this point, developing irrigation and initiating the canal project would no longer pose significant difficulties. Though unreliable in warfare, Chen Xi's capability in construction was undeniably impressive.

Even if it involved building the Grand Canal, Chen Xi never suggested linking Chang'an, Luoyang, Ye City, Guantao, Zhuo County, Linzi, Jianye, etc., many of which were still outside Liu Bei's control!

This means the locations currently under consideration for construction, though numerous, exclude the most challenging sections like Guangtong Canal (connecting Chang'an to Yellow River), Tongji Canal (linking Luoyang to Yellow River and Huai River), and Eastern Zhejiang Grand Canal—the longest and most difficult sections, entirely outside Liu Bei's territory...

When the constructed Grand Canal was finally revealed, those familiar with the original designs might scoff at it—a bare rod without any branches. This partly explained Mi Zhu's enthusiasm for the endeavor!

While Mi Zhu hadn't seen the original Grand Canal blueprint, calculating a small-scale version connecting Yellow River and Huai River revealed the cost—around a hundred billion coins. To put it bluntly, the Great Han Dynasty's annual coin minting likely didn't reach this figure...

All in all, for Chen Xi at this stage, once Yuan Shao fell, preserving the vital energy of the Central Plains would become much simpler. The next steps would merely involve systematic operations. First, digest Yuzhou and the soon-to-be-conquered Jizhou, before proceeding further! (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you're welcome to visit Qidian.com (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)