Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 4: The End of Zhongping, Luoyang’s Storm, Chapter 104: The Military Officer of Yanmen

The book it belongs to:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 104: The Military Officer of Yanmen

Through the arts and biographies, widely read and extensively traveled, with rare treasures before him, there was nothing he did not recognize.

This describes Qiao Xuan in his time. He was widely read in the classics, and there was no rare treasure before him that he did not recognize.

But this also seems to have another interpretation.

Rare and exquisite writings can be called the finest of the age, but what about rare and exquisite people?

Qiao Xuan repeatedly promoted and judged the talents of the age, recognizing all, hence the people of the age valued and respected his name.

Is what she is doing now another form of “rare treasures before her, nothing unrecognized”?

From Leping to Bingzhou, the step she took can be called a gathering of talents, a constellation of stars.

Yet today, seeing the inscription on Qiao Xuan’s stele, it reminds her even more to never forget to make the best use of people’s talents.

Previously, she mostly relied on the history she was familiar with, but when Bingzhou’s territory blocked the joint invasion of the Xiongnu and the Southern Xiongnu, and held Yanmen to prevent the Xianbei from entering the borders, the other half that had fallen into the hands of the Hu people was preserved, and the people of the Han Dynasty living in this area also survived.

Then no one can say how many aspiring individuals, talented people, and brave generals who have grown up or are yet to grow up on this land have survived because of this, and now they all need her to select them one by one.

Securing the position of the governor does not mean she can completely relax, but is only the beginning.

Thinking of this, she cleared the remaining part of the stele inscription from the thin snow cover.

Qiao Xuan…

Although she is not truly his grandchild, since she has inherited his political legacy and often uses him as a reason to find justification for her actions, she should achieve, and even surpass, what he could do in her own actions.

The falling snow quickly covered the stele inscription again, also falling on her hair and shoulders. This time, Qiao Yan did not reach out to clear it, but turned and left.

“Lord Marquis, aren’t you going in to pay respects to Lord Qiao?” Dian Wei was a bit puzzled by Qiao Yan’s action of passing by without entering.

Qiao Yan replied, “Visiting relatives in the snow, the intention has arrived, the footprints have reached, why disturb the sleeping?”

Dian Wei didn’t quite understand these literati’s thoughts, just as he didn’t understand why Qiao Yan, when visiting Cai Yong, seemed just to greet the teacher, but Cai Yong’s expression was so serious.

But anyway, he is a military officer and doesn’t need to know so much. Seeing Qiao Yan dismiss the attendants, he and Xu Huang stood guard outside like door gods.

Only Cai Yong and Qiao Yan remained in the room.

In this season of heavy snow, naturally, Cai Yong’s residence had a warm kang, supplemented with coal briquettes and charcoal for heating, so it didn’t feel cold.

On the table in front of them, there was a red clay stove with a pot of boiling water, the steam rising from the pot, mixed with the scent of ginger tea.

Seeing Qiao Yan not speaking, Cai Yong thought for a moment and said first, “Lord Qiao was previously the Marquis of Leping, idly educating the people of the county to pass the time, presumably no one objected. In Leping County, there are only the branches of noble families, and the closest to Lord Qiao is the Wang family of Jinyang, which reduces some obstacles. But if it is extended from the county to the entire province, it’s not the same.”

Cai Yong’s political insight is indeed not very good.

But he is a learned scholar of the age and would know a principle—

Even a genius like Zheng Xuan, when he studied under Ma Rong, faced such resistance. Although Cai Yong has no family backing, he at least has had official positions since his sixth-generation ancestor.

Qiao Yan’s attitude of teaching without discrimination will inevitably touch the interests of the Bingzhou gentry!

If she wants him to be the Director of Education and expand Leping Academy to the entire Bingzhou, it’s not just a matter of saying “I am the governor of Bingzhou.”

But after he said this, Qiao Yan slowly took the teapot, filled the bamboo tube in front of her, held the tube to warm herself with the ginger soup inside, and replied, “Master Bojie’s concerns are not unreasonable, but this is Bingzhou, not Xuzhou or Yanzhou.”

“When the White Wave Bandits were entrenched, even the Wei family of Hedong had to ask for my help to protect their family’s safety, so what about the Bingzhou gentry?”

Qiao Yan took a sip of ginger tea and continued, “Master has long lived in Leping and may not know that the Xianbei tribes’ leaders, Quidou and Budugen, are rising in power, eyeing Bingzhou covetously. Even the Wang family of Jinyang, who have members in military positions in Bingzhou, dare not say they can completely protect themselves under the Xianbei’s iron cavalry. What they need now is the protection brought by me, the governor of Bingzhou, not to oppose me and have me play a game of using others to kill.”

“I probably haven’t shown myself to be so approachable.”

The military deterrence effect of breaking through the Xiongnu in one move is not only aimed at the restless Southern Xiongnu but also at these Bingzhou gentry.

Now that she has the power of the governor, she can further convey the idea that she is not to be trifled with.

As she said, this iron-blooded style would not work in places like Yanzhou and Xuzhou, where the gentry’s power is deeply rooted. If they were to counterattack, it would be troublesome, but Bingzhou is different.

This place… this place not only has the gentry to guard against the threats from the Hu people outside the borders but also many relocated refugee clans.

Are they going to rise with this or completely vanish in the hands of the Hu people?

Under this choice, what Qiao Yan is doing can only be considered ordinary.

Moreover, this is also a necessary move.

Just after she said she wasn’t so approachable, she suddenly sighed with the tea, “Master Bojie, if not for this, I have no one to use.”

Cai Yong felt that she wasn’t as pitiful as her words suggested.

But after all, she is still young and has no family support, so saying “no one to use” is understandable from a certain perspective.

Before he could speak, Qiao Yan continued, “Furthermore, besides the Black Mountain Bandits, I now have the White Wave Bandits under my command. The Bingzhou customs also make the common people of the province often mistaken by the Central Plains people as fierce bandits. If there is a place of education in Bingzhou, in the future, when Bingzhou people go to the Central Plains, they can say they studied under someone, not from a bandit gathering place.”

“From Master Bojie’s perspective, isn’t eliminating prejudice and conflict a good deed?”

Cai Yong also poured himself a cup of tea, but in Qiao Yan’s view, it was more of a venting gesture, “You’ve said it all, what else can I say?”

He sighed again, “How did Lord Qiao have such a silver-tongued descendant!”

“Not as good as Master Bojie’s divine writing, just showing off some verbal skills.”

Qiao Yan said this with an exceptionally innocent expression.

Cai Yong felt there was more to her words but only said at this time, “Bring the recruitment document for the Director of Education.”

If it is as she said, in the special environment of Bingzhou where force is used against force, this move is indeed not as dangerous as he imagined. Moreover, he has lived in Leping for three years, living more comfortably than when he was under the roof of the Yang family of Taishan.

With mulberry bark paper to use, delicious food and beautiful scenery to enjoy, and seeing Zhaoji growing up day by day following Qiao Yan…

All these, he must repay this favor.

Taking the position of Director of Education is not impossible.

But—

“How do you plan to recruit students in the province?”

If you directly announce that anyone can come, with the teaching staff of Leping Academy, it is not enough to accommodate so many students.

Imagine the terrifying scene of being surrounded by layers of people.








Cai Yong felt the urge to flee immediately.

But at this moment, he and a certain fake assistant recruited by Qiao Yan reached a unified thought: running away was probably not an option.

Fortunately, he had one more escape route than Jia Xu—he could go cry at Qiao Xuan’s memorial temple!

Qiao Yan had no idea that Cai Yong was using his brain to think of such escape routes. She simply replied, “Let me meet the elders of the noble families in Bingzhou first. We need to come up with a plan and not just burden Bojie with all the responsibilities.”

That sounded reasonable.

Cai Yong nodded and then brought up another matter with Qiao Yan, “I intend to invite Zhenji and her husband to stay in Leping for a few days. What does Marquis Qiao think?”

Qiao Yan replied, “That’s perfectly fine.”

Cai Yong didn’t mention it, but Qiao Yan guessed the reason behind his move.

Although Cai Yong was under the protection of the Yang family, the branch that Cai Zhenji’s husband, Yang Zhi, belonged to had a father who was currently the Prefect of Nanyang.

This Prefect of Nanyang had taken over Qin Jie’s position last year. After quelling the Zhao Ci rebellion, he implemented clean governance, even hanging fish offered by his subordinates in the hall to show his refusal of bribes, earning him the nickname “Hanging Fish Prefect.”

Even though Nanyang was a wealthy county, when his eldest son and wife came to visit him this year, he refused to let his wife enter, citing that he only had cloth blankets, short clothes, and some food, showing he truly had nothing to leave for his descendants.

Yang Zhi had not yet entered officialdom and had little financial resources.

Though they were a scholar-official family, they weren’t that wealthy.

Now that Cai Yong had a position as a Educational Officer and received stipends from teaching at Leping Academy, he could bring Zhenji to live with him for a while.

If Qiao Yan needed people, she could also arrange something for Yang Zhi to do.

Yang Zhi’s eldest son, Yang Fa, whom Zhenji had saved by sacrificing her own child, was born to Kong Rong’s daughter from Beihai and was now a few years old. In a few more years, he could also be assigned some work.

Cai Yong hadn’t mentioned this before because he was still in a state of relying on others. Even though Zhaoji held a position in Qiao Yan’s Marquis of Leping residence, it wasn’t enough to convince his eldest daughter to come.

But now, as the Educational Officer of Bingzhou, his son-in-law—or even his daughter herself—could secure a stable position under Qiao Yan, making it natural for them to come and seek refuge.

Seeing Qiao Yan agree so readily and clearly understanding his implied meaning, Cai Yong felt relieved.

Thinking this way, he had even less reason to leave.

For Qiao Yan, convincing Cai Yong to take the position was like a buy-one-get-one-free deal, or even buy-one-get-three or five. She was quite satisfied.

She increasingly realized the benefits of holding the position of Prefect.

Just the phrase “state government recruitment” was already an honor for those not yet in office.

Not to mention the recommendation for filial piety and integrity, which was also a power of the state government. In a way, this was building a group of old officials for herself.

But Qiao Yan’s situation was even more special. She couldn’t let these recruited talents be assigned to others but had to firmly grasp these resources herself to ensure the machinery of Bingzhou could operate smoothly.

Every part of this machine was crucial.

After bidding farewell to Cai Yong, she stayed in Leping County for a day before taking Xu Huang to the mountain fortress.

To be precise, it was a mountain settlement built in the style of a fortress.

It was here that Xu Huang learned who the people Qiao Yan mentioned would be assigned to him later.

These refugees she had gathered earlier, after two years of regular diet and routine, had transformed from their emaciated state to a more human appearance. Even in the cold winter, they were bustling with activity.

Qiao Yan didn’t explain everything to Xu Huang but led him through the courtyard passages to the rear fortress walls.

Compared to the somewhat concealed walls of Leping Academy, the materials used here clearly showed their difference from ordinary earthen walls.

Following Qiao Yan’s gesture, Xu Huang knocked on it and found it incredibly sturdy.

“What is this?”

“I call this cement,” Qiao Yan explained.

The name had been shown to Guo Jia by Xi Zhicai before, but the book with the word “cement” had its original information replaced by blank pages, so it wasn’t leaked.

She asked, “What do you think, Gongming, if we use cement to rebuild the Guyang Road section of the outer Great Wall?”

Qiao Yan’s main focus was defending the gap between Daqing Mountain and Lang Mountain, where the Hu people could freely ride in.

Although Xu Huang didn’t know the cost or manpower required to produce cement, using it for the Guanglu Pass section seemed feasible without overburdening manpower. “Feasible.”

Qiao Yan: “Good, the heavy responsibility is ahead. Show me what you can do.”

Though she said this, her inclination was clear by presenting this to Xu Huang.

She had to take things step by step. Without building an impenetrable defense line, how could she focus on farming and utilizing Bingzhou’s abundant coal and iron resources?

But before that, she had to ensure the personnel were in place.

From Xu Huang’s performance, it was expected he could assist in the northwest defense, but the northeast…

Two days later, when she returned to Jinyang and saw Lü Bu at the state government training ground, she couldn’t help but rub her temples.

Nearly thirty, Lü Bu not only had unmatched martial prowess but also retained his youthful arrogance.

After glancing at Lü Bu on the left and Zhang Liao on the right, she felt Zhang Liao seemed more mature.

Lü Bu had to be controlled; otherwise, on the Yanmen front, he was like a wild dog!

Letting him loose could hurt the enemy but also disrupt their strategic layout.

Seeing him strut in with his five hundred men, she could guess what he was thinking.

He naturally had his charisma, making it easy to command the five hundred men, so he was confident in defeating Zhang Liao and determined to secure the position of Military Officer.

But he didn’t understand the principle that pride leads to defeat.

“Marquis Qiao, no need to worry,” Guo Jia, who would inevitably deal with border affairs, stood by Qiao Yan’s side. “Lü Bu thinks he can win a battle with sheer bravery, but that’s naive. Zhang Liao has fought the Hu people for years and, though young, is no easy opponent.”

“I’m not worried about this duel,” Qiao Yan shook her head. “Lü Bu clearly underestimates Zhang Liao, which is not good. What I’m worried about is—”

What position should Lü Bu be given?

Even if he loses, he can’t be left unused.

This position can’t just be simply below Zhang Liao, or there will be friction in the military camp.

Especially if Lü Bu challenges Zhang Liao to a duel under normal circumstances, it could damage Zhang Liao’s authority.

Moreover, Zhang Liao must be able to control Lü Bu’s military actions…

“You mean, have Lü Bu serve as the Military Officer under the command of the Prefect of Yanmen?”

The current Prefect of Yanmen, Guo Yun, invited by Qiao Yan to Jinyang, found this suggestion anything but ordinary.

He suspiciously looked at Qiao Yan but only saw her usual calm expression.