Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Can’t a strategist ascend the throne? Volume 3: Galloping Through Bingzhou, Troops Depart from Hedong Chapter 76: White Wave Prepares for War

Her Leping.

This connection, developed step by step within three years of taking over this place, made her speak of this belonging with an indescribable sense of naturalness.

To people like Guo Jia and Mi Zhu who passed through Leping, it seemed like a small town that had been reconnected with its underground and above-ground joints and veins, repaired into a neat and comfortable appearance.

Even the Leping Academy, with its recipes posted on the stone slab at the entrance, had a playful nature—

This was also what Qiao Yan hoped Cui Lie would see.

Although she had military strength, it was only at the level of defending Bingzhou. In the current environment where bandits from all directions were restless, this was also something tacitly permitted.

She had many innovations, but from daily utensils like toothpaste and toothbrushes to the cooking of pork and the planting of yams, taken individually, they were just trivial matters of livelihood.

But when the sun leaped out from the mountains behind her, enveloping the entire Leping County City in the golden glow of autumn, it was indeed a city ready to ignite at any moment.

It was just surrounded by these mountains, temporarily not showing any outward aggression.

But now?

As the end of the fourth year of Zhongping approached, with the collapse of the central authority of the Han Dynasty, the title of Marquis within the Pass with the golden seal and purple ribbon was about to become something Liu Hong could freely buy and sell.

Even local forces with military power, and foreign forces within and outside the territory, though still deeply impressed by the remaining prestige of the Han, dared to slightly indulge their growing ambitions, reaching out to test this endangered dynasty.

In such an environment, Qiao Yan could no longer feel that being the Marquis of Leping was enough.

Rather than saying she wanted to maintain the stability of Bingzhou by defeating the White Wave bandits in Hedong, ensuring the smooth passage of the Zhiguan Pass, and ensuring that merchants from the Central Plains could still reach Bingzhou normally, it was more accurate to say she wanted to use this to develop her accumulated reputation into prestige, seeking real power!

Ambition…

Why can’t there be ambition!

This year, under the pretext of closing her doors to reflect on her mistakes and having some insights, and with the recent disasters while Leping still had a good harvest, she sent Xu Fu with a portion of the stored harvest to Luoyang.

Calculating the time, his return was almost the same as Guo Jia and others arriving in Leping.

Since following Qiao Yan and Cheng Li to study, although Xu Fu lacked the experience of studying in Nanyang as he should have, he had no less training in his growth and showed excellent political insight.

From a wandering knight to an envoy meeting the Son of Heaven, this step was taken very steadily.

He followed Qiao Yan’s instructions, only showing Leping’s youthful state and loyalty in the tribute payment in Luoyang, without showing any outstanding state, and acted as her eyes to see clearly today’s Luoyang.

Xu Fu’s courage was not small, and now under Qiao Yan’s leadership, it was even more so.

He seemed calm, but actually…

Listen to what he said when he returned: “Today has the appearance of the setting sun, the imperial throne changes frequently with turmoil, Leping, though a remote place in Bingzhou, cannot be spared, the Marquis should make plans early.”

A particularly clear message in this was that Liu Hong was about to die.

The sickness on his face was much more obvious than before.

This was not a fact that could be concealed by the royal family’s health-preserving methods.

Then Qiao Yan had to prepare for it.

Her position as Marquis of Leping came from Liu Hong’s rebellious bone, and her actual control over Leping, unlike other counties which only had fiscal and tax rights, came from her grasp of Liu Hong’s mentality.

But all these were based on the premise that Liu Hong was still sitting on the throne.

Once the emperor’s position changed, it was hard to guarantee whether Bingzhou would change its governor, or whether a Bingzhou prefect would appear earlier than in the history she knew.

Moreover, if someone replaced Cheng Li’s position first, she would also have trouble with changes in her immediate surroundings.

At this critical moment, she could only take a step forward!

Occupied by such intense emotions, Qiao Yan did not show any abnormality at this time, especially thinking that she still had a little unlucky system to deceive, she could calmly withdraw her expectant gaze towards Leping below and turn back to the red-maned horse in front of her.

She stroked the horse’s back, making it slowly turn back along the mountain path she had come.

This horse was brought to her by Wang Shi for her help in the Bingzhou locust plague before she started her confinement, and she named it Zhu Tan.

In two years, she had grown a lot, and this horse had also grown to nearly seven feet.

This was the height of an adult horse, but not yet the state of an adult horse. It would take at least two more years to fully mature, just in time for the chaos of the world.

Though not as agile as the Red Hare, nor as legendary as the Dilu horse, this borderland treasure horse named Zhu Tan by her was undoubtedly the most compatible with her.

It followed Qiao Yan’s will, walking down the mountain at a leisurely pace, stopping in front of the Leping County Office.

If not for the speed of being ridden by Qiao Yan that day, its leisurely walk would hardly show any sign of a fierce horse.

But after being stroked on the head twice by Qiao Yan, it obediently returned to the stable.

“Marquis, you are in good spirits.” Xi Zhicai happened to walk to the door, lazily greeting her, and entered the county office with her.

Yesterday, he acted as a “tour guide,” driving a certain fish jumping into the net further in, but today he still had to do serious business.

Qiao Yan’s early return to Leping was obviously not because the outing had achieved the effect she wanted, but to come back to formulate a strategic plan.

Although not to the extent of sharpening a sword for ten years, Leping was finally going to formally launch a battle on the border of Bingzhou and Sili. Even Xi Zhicai, usually casual and leisurely, couldn’t help but look more serious now.

“Sir, you are up so early, are you nervous?” Qiao Yan teased.

This didn’t seem like the behavior of someone who habitually skipped work.

Xi Zhicai waved his hand, “Don’t mention it, my friend got up too early, saying Leping was good for sleeping, but the mouthwash tasted strange, looking for me to have breakfast together. I thought we don’t have mouthwash here, so I laughed awake. Thinking it’s better to come to the county office early, so the Marquis doesn’t have to send someone to find me.”

Hearing the word mouthwash, thinking of the way people cleaned their teeth at this time, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

Fortunately, as Xi Zhicai said, after Guo Jia learned the correct way to use toothbrushes and toothpaste, he didn’t get angry and leave in a huff.








He was at the point of leaving, but ended up eating a whole steamer basket of thin-skinned buns, then went with Mi Zhu to the surrounding mountains for some sightseeing.

The fortress workshop’s defenses naturally wouldn’t be open to them, and with the bandits around Leping having long turned into law-abiding citizens, there was no need to worry about their safety, so they were let go.

Qiao Yan still had to focus on the current matters.

Dealing with the White Wave Bandits was not as simple as her cavalry charge in the river valley that day.

Based on archaeological findings of the White Wave Bandits’ rising stronghold locations, they should be west of the Zhi Pass, near Yonggu, close to Linfen.

From Qiao Yan’s position during the rescue charge that day, the system’s 3D map could already scan this location.

At first glance, it seemed like a place where one could execute a flanking sneak attack or encircle them.

But the reality wasn’t that simple.

“On the surface, Guo Tai is the leader of the White Wave Bandits, but in reality, the four generals below him operate independently, each with their own forces and bases: Yang Feng, Han Xian, Li Le, and Hu Cai,” Qiao Yan slowly spoke as she looked at her gathered subordinates.

Just like looking at Leping, which had grown rapidly over the past two years, Qiao Yan felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction, and she couldn’t help but feel the same when looking at her subordinates.

In two years, it wasn’t just her whose appearance and stature had changed; those like Xi Zhicai and Cheng Li, who were already adults, hadn’t changed much, perhaps just a bit rounder and healthier, as Guo Jia had observed.

But for those who were not yet adults, the changes were particularly noticeable.

For example, Zhao Yun.

When she first arrived in Leping, Zhao Yun, who was only fifteen or sixteen at the time, came to her. Now, three years later, he already had the demeanor of a future general.

He had just been withdrawn by Qiao Yan from the Zhi Pass a few days ago, and in these two days without the constant threat of the White Wave Bandits’ guerrilla warfare and their sneak attacks, he seemed even more spirited.

Small-scale battles in the early stages were a necessary experience for any future famous general, and they gradually honed his sharpness and edge in breaking through enemy lines.

But he was clearly not a reckless young man who would blindly charge into battle.

When Qiao Yan looked over at him, she saw the young general solemnly placing a thread-bound notebook, which everyone in the county had, in front of him, looking very much like he was diligently taking notes during a meeting.

Another person with the same behavior was Cai Zhaoji.

Zhaoji had taken on the role of managing documents under the County Marquis from Qiao Yan, a decision made after careful consideration, but she hadn’t expected that matters of attacking the White Wave Bandits would require her to attend meetings as well.

But as Qiao Yan had told her, since she held a position, she should seek to participate in practical matters, whether it was making records like a historian or analyzing things from others’ conversations, she should be able to contribute something.

If she always stayed behind the scenes, at most people would know that there was someone in Qiao Yan’s writing position, but they wouldn’t know who this person was or what they were like.

Was this what Cai Zhaoji hoped for?

Of course not!

Since she wanted to support her sister, she should, like Marquis Qiao, not be afraid to step forward.

Therefore, she was also among the summoned, diligently recording what Qiao Yan was saying.

However, she was only a little over ten years old, and no matter how talented and quick-witted she was, her height couldn’t keep up with the speed of her growing knowledge, making her a bit shorter among the crowd.

At this time, except for Chu Yan, who was still fighting guerrilla warfare with the White Wave Bandits, Qin Yu, who was responsible for agricultural affairs and didn’t participate in military meetings, Cai Yong, who was still considered an external member of Leping’s cultural industry, and Yang Xiu, who was still in mourning for Yang Ci, everyone else was here.

In Qiao Yan’s glance, the spirit shown by everyone undoubtedly made her feel more at ease about this battle.

She continued, “Among the four White Wave Bandits, Yang Feng is the strongest, and his reputation is not inferior to Guo Tai’s, so when people around talk about the White Wave leader, they often mention Yang Feng. Moreover, he has a young general named Xu Huang under him, who is always steady in his actions and command. The few times Chu Yan and Zilong failed were because of this person.”

“Compared to Yang Feng, Han Xian, Hu Cai, and Li Le are much weaker and more like bandits, killing anyone they rob, just as I witnessed that day in the river valley.”

“So, in your opinion, who should we start with to eliminate the White Wave Bandits?”

Xu Huang, who would later become one of the Five Elite Generals of Cao Wei, was at this time just a general under Yang Feng, the leader of the White Wave Bandits, or perhaps more appropriately, a chieftain.

At this time, Yang Feng had not yet suddenly turned from bandit to soldier, being appointed as General of the Chariots and Cavalry for escorting Emperor Xian of Han east, and at most, he had a slight advantage among the White Wave Bandits.

But he still vaguely felt that he shouldn’t be so aggrieved.

With the location of the White Wave Valley, he could control an important pass of the Taihang Mountains, then raid Bingzhou, and below, he could spy on Hongnong and Luoyang. Once the threat from the capital to the bandits was not enough to scare him, he could advance to Anyi and other places.

But in reality, after Bingzhou was spared from the locust plague, its financial abundance didn’t allow him to profit enough to arm his troops, instead further compressing his living space.

What he didn’t know was that in Leping, where Xi Zhicai, Cheng Li, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, and others were gathered, a strategic meeting targeting him was even being held.

Hearing Qiao Yan’s question, and seeing that the more senior Cheng Li had no intention of speaking, Xi Zhicai took the opportunity to reply, “Does the Marquis want to completely eliminate the White Wave Bandits, or like the Black Mountain Army, bring them under our control?”

Qiao Yan asked, “What about the former, and what about the latter?”

Xi Zhicai replied, “If it’s the former, then flanking, blocking, night attacks, and arson are all possible.”

“If it’s the latter, the Marquis must first make their internal conflicts outweigh the external threats. Of course, this doesn’t mean the Marquis doesn’t need to take action, but rather, some finesse is required.”

As he spoke, he stood up and placed a Wu Zhu coin at four positions on the rough terrain of the White Wave Valley, which Chu Yan and Zhao Yun had modeled after Qiao Yan’s method, each at a considerable distance from each other.

“These are the four bandit leaders. Due to the principle of ‘far incense, near stench,’ although they are currently fighting independently, they also support each other. So, in the Marquis’s view, how can we make them turn on each other under external threats?”

Qiao Yan also walked to the edge of the sand table.

She was still wearing the red cloak from her morning mountain trip, giving her a commanding presence even just standing in front of the sand table.

After Xi Zhicai finished speaking, she immediately raised her hand to scatter the soil foundations under three Wu Zhu coins, then decisively pressed these three coins on top of the last one.

She smiled and said, “Then let’s make them close the distance.”

“Zilong, listen to my orders!”