Look, an Airplane!

The two exchanged a glance, then firmly nodded. Together, they turned toward Wang Xuan. "If you can do it, from this day forward, I, Xi Zhicai (Zao Zhi), will follow your every command!"

"Good!" Wang Xuan laughed. "A gentleman's word—"

"—is his bond!" the two replied in unison.

In truth, both men had their own plans. If Wang Xuan could truly complete the construction he had described within a year—or rather, he would not even need to complete all of it; half would be enough—then they would both acknowledge his claim to be the greatest strategist under heaven.

With that kind of construction speed, would any of the other warlords under heaven even have a chance?

There would be no need for schemes or trickery. With an upright and overwhelming force, he could simply sweep away every warlord under heaven.

One had to understand that the hardest part of building something from nothing was the initial stage. Once a complete construction method and foundation were in place, expanding from Qi Commandery to the entirety of Qingzhou would not take much more time. Both men understood this perfectly.

If that happened, then in two years, or at most three, Liu Bei could completely possess the strength of all Qingzhou. What did that mean?

Within three years, even if Yuan Shao annexed Bingzhou, he would possess the strength of only two provinces. Moreover, Bingzhou was bitterly cold and could provide little beyond some troops and cavalry.

And Yuan Shao could not claim absolute control over those two provinces. The strength he could mobilize would be whatever remained after safeguarding the interests of the great clans throughout both provinces.

After all, if we were willing to follow you, Yuan Shao, you couldn't let us end up worse off than before!

Now that