Chapter 254

Chapter 254: Managing the Wei River

“Are you sure the Marquis of Leping has no other intentions with this arrangement?” Ni Heng asked suspiciously after hearing Yang Xiu’s words.

For Yang Xiu, who tends to overthink when he shouldn’t and underthink when he should, Qiao Yan was quite pleased to see this.

At most, he still has a few “clever” friends who might give him some reminders.

But to be precise, Ni Heng doesn’t really have a big issue with Qiao Yan.

What he’s more concerned about is that shortly after she became the Grand Marshal, she started making sweeping changes to establish internal order.

On one hand, this still somewhat wild court could indeed set rules early on, laying a foundation for future development.

This would avoid the need to patch up their own regulations during later expansions, which could slow them down.

But on the other hand, Qiao Yan’s many actions inevitably raise suspicions. If the path she’s taking is wrong, could it plunge the entire Chang’an court into an unpredictable abyss from the start?

Take this alcohol restriction decree, for example.

What the decree restricts might not just be alcohol.

Just as scholars today often use alcohol to liven up banquets and compose poetry, could the restriction on alcohol also be limiting their freedom of speech, using alcohol as a pretext?

Alcohol is also a significant source of income for the noble families today. Could this restriction be the court’s way of weakening their power to concentrate resources for the war?

For most people prone to further speculation, this is a dangerous signal.

Even though Qiao Yan didn’t punish Ni Heng for his disrespectful remarks, it doesn’t mean the first suspicion can be easily dismissed.

After all, the alcohol restriction decree hasn’t been officially implemented yet, and there are no clear regulations in place. Ni Heng drinking and praising alcohol as a sacred item would be illegal.

Moreover, with scholars from all over flocking to Chang’an and those with interests in alcohol coming for the banquet, punishing Ni Heng would be an unwise move.

It seems it’s not just because Yang Xiu pleaded for Ni Heng.

Ni Heng has a hunch that having Yang Xiu as the host of this banquet is like sending a signal to the guests.

Yang Xiu, from the Hongnong Yang family, being put forward as a symbol, is a simple response to those two suspicions.

Additionally, many court officials have related interests, yet there hasn’t been a single voice of opposition. Influenced by this “authority,” most people choose to wait a bit longer.

At least until the clear rules are announced, then they can voice their opinions.

Otherwise, if Qiao Yan’s true intentions differ from their assumptions, wouldn’t that make them seem less composed?

Those as straightforward as Ni Heng, drumming and singing, are probably in the minority.

After all, most people care about their image.

Hearing Ni Heng’s question, Yang Xiu shook his head, “I still think there’s no need to overthink it. Back when the Marquis was still in Leping, she had made alcohol-related deals with the Taiyuan Wang family and celebrated with soldiers in Yanmen after defeating the Xianbei. She’s definitely not someone who looks down on this.”

“Besides, as the Grand Marshal’s secretary, I can’t just sit idle. After being punished for speculating about the Marquis’s intentions, it’s better for me to independently handle the banquet rather than join other established positions.”

Seeing Ni Heng still skeptical, Yang Xiu added, “Since you have no intention of taking office, why not see what this Chang’an alcohol debate is all about?”

It’s just until the end of May.

But to Ni Heng, this timing is also puzzling.

The end of May is still a month away, stretching the timeline a bit.

According to Qiao Yan, since new rules are being set, people need time to consider whether to come to Chang’an and hear the rules, allowing time for travel.

But even from the southeast, it shouldn’t take that long.

Not to mention, most people from that direction wouldn’t come here.

Ni Heng pondered and still felt Qiao Yan had other plans.

But with Yang Xiu finding her actions appropriate, and Cai Yong, Xun Shuang sitting calmly in Leping, while Lu Zhi and Wang Yun remained silent, Ni Heng, though proud, isn’t blind. It’s better to wait a bit longer before speaking up.

This delay of the alcohol debate to the end of May isn’t just strange to Ni Heng. Wei Ji, who Qiao Yan later invited as Yang Xiu’s assistant, also had the same doubts.

Wei Ji, who had bet on Qiao Yan early, brought Zhang Zhi last October and gathered people from the Hedong region under the name of the noble families. After the Chang’an court was established, Qiao Yan naturally invited him to serve.

But since Wei Ji had no prior experience, he was first assigned to assist Yang Xiu with the alcohol debate.

Then, based on this merit, he would be recommended by Qiao Yan as the Right Assistant.

Starting directly as a prefect, even for someone from a noble family with undeniable skills, and in such a special time, is quite a promotion and inevitably draws criticism, unless…

Unless Qiao Yan is certain that the alcohol debate will have effects beyond just the alcohol restriction decree.

Wei Ji observed Qiao Yan’s calm demeanor, unaffected by recent rumors in Chang’an, and speculated. He then heard her say, “Rather than an alcohol debate, this is more of a grand event showcasing Chang’an’s capital style.”

“Without a potential myth-breaking gimmick, how can we draw everyone’s attention here?”

Wei Ji was still puzzled.

But he caught some clues from Qiao Yan’s words.

Remembering his detour to the southern part of the city on his way in, similar to what the Zhang brothers from the east did, he instinctively asked, “Is the Chang’an Road in the south also part of this?”

Though the cement road isn’t fully cured yet, it’s starting to show signs.

Over time, from the starting “Chang’an” characters to the end corresponding to the Gui Palace, it’s gradually solidifying into a massive, seamless stone block.

On the surface, the once wet cement is drying into a flat, hard surface, seemingly transitioning from being able to carve on it to being unmarkable.

Of course, whether it’s as Wei Ji guessed will need to be tested by walking on it.

Qiao Yan didn’t directly answer, only saying, “You’re smart.”

Talking to someone as smart as Wei Ji is comfortable, especially since he’s practical.

After Qiao Yan hinted at other projects, he didn’t ask further and took on the task of notifying the noble families involved in brewing.

Qiao Yan calculated that with representatives for reception and image, the spectacle under maintenance, the first batch of bamboo paper arriving in May, high-concentration alcohol coming from Bingzhou, and other preparations ready, there’s little left to do before the grand event. Thus, there’s no need to focus all energy on this.

So, those arriving in Chang’an in late April and early May heard that Qiao Yan was no longer in the city.

After dropping such big news, she left the storm in Chang’an and ran off?

Just as everyone exchanged puzzled looks, they heard Qiao Yan had actually gone to manage the Wei River upstream, so they sat back down.

Since mid-April…








At the beginning of the month, the fields around Chang’an were already lush with new sprouts. Although it was not yet the peak of growth, the vibrant scene was enough to bring joy to anyone who saw it, even knowing that there were still food reserves.

The Guanzhong Plain, irrigated by the Wei River and its tributaries, boasts fertile land and abundant water sources, making it an ideal area for farming.

The current scenery makes it hard to imagine that just a few years ago, this area was struck by a locust plague that devastated the three auxiliary regions.

However, from Qiao Yan’s perspective, the Guanzhong Plain needs to guard against more than just droughts.

Bi Lan, currently serving as the Water Commissioner, shares the same view.

While walking along the riverbank, Qiao Yan heard Bi Lan say, “The Wei River often floods in the summer. Although there are many tributaries, it’s still hard to guarantee that backflow won’t occur. To ensure this year’s harvest isn’t unexpectedly ruined, we should prepare early.”

In fact, it’s not just the Wei River that has this issue. The frequently shifting Yellow River is even more prone to such problems at this stage.

Fortunately, the number of military farms along the Yellow River is currently limited.

In Liangzhou’s Jincheng Commandery, the military farms use the Huangshui River section, while Wuwei Commandery uses the Lu River at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. In Bingzhou, apart from the Baidao River, other irrigation systems rely on tributaries. Hanzhong, of course, uses the Han River, and Guanzhong relies on the Wei River.

Rather than worrying about the Yellow River’s shifting course and flooding, it’s better to focus on managing the Wei River.

With prior experience in digging canals and waterways in Liang and Bing provinces, Bi Lan can naturally shift his attention to the Wei River.

Now, with the additional manpower provided by the kind-hearted Liu Yan for the Dujiangyan project, Bi Lan has gained many more helpers.

Fu Shou followed behind Qiao Yan and Bi Lan, listening intently to their discussion about completing preliminary control of the Wei River by August, and furiously jotting down notes in her notebook.

Two years ago, hoping to help those confined to their homes understand the landscapes and rivers, Fu Shou began documenting the river flow characteristics of Bingzhou under Qiao Yan’s encouragement. When her scope expanded to the Ziwu Ridge, Fu Shou also ventured to the Nishui River basin.

The more she documented, the more she found the transformation of unpredictable rivers into orderly water conservancy projects fascinating, which is why her writings on the water conservancy of the two provinces appeared in the Leping Monthly Report.

So now, she followed closely, listening with great focus.

Perhaps because of the increasing prominence of female officials and generals like Qiao Yan, who bear heavy responsibilities, a trend of simple and efficient women’s clothing has emerged. Fu Shou was wearing such an outfit, allowing her to follow Qiao Yan easily along the edges of the Wei River’s floodplains without getting too messy.

Bi Lan pointed ahead and said, “Those are the four types of water flow control devices brought by the water conservancy team from Yizhou. We’ve set them up along these tributaries to test their effectiveness.”

Ancient flood prevention couldn’t rely on modern concrete dams, but the ancients had their own wisdom.

The four typical devices brought from the Dujiangyan project were examples of this.

The first was the bamboo cage Qiao Yan and Liu Yan had mentioned, woven from bamboo strips into round cages filled with stones, serving as slope protection components, the earliest used in the Dujiangyan project.

The second was called “macha,” a device made of multiple triangular wooden frames used for intercepting flow at weirs.

The third was called “sheep pens,” but unlike ordinary sheep pens, these wooden stakes held stones instead of sheep, used for preventing erosion in fast-flowing river sections.

The fourth was called “dry-laid pebbles,” a structure of pebbles laid according to the slope, used for reinforcing the banks of water channels.

Wood, bamboo, stone, and rope were the only materials used in these water conservancy projects.

But these devices weren’t just useful in the Dujiangyan project; they could also be applied along the Wei River.

Before Qiao Yan arrived in Chencang, Bi Lan and Fu Shou had already measured and recorded the flow speeds and river widths of various sections in this area.

This was the result of four months of work from January to April, culminating in a map presented to Qiao Yan.

The measurements spanned from the source of the Wei River at the Bird and Rat Cave Mountain to the east of the confluence of the Jing and Wei Rivers, reaching the edge of the three auxiliary regions at Tong Pass.

Looking at the map, Qiao Yan noticed the elegant handwriting was no longer as稚嫩 as before, and she realized that Fu Shou had grown from a four or five-year-old child to a fourteen-year-old.

Seeing Qiao Yan turn to her after reviewing the map, Fu Shou said, “Bi Lan and I both think that before August, we should first clear and widen the silted sections of the river, then use bamboo cages and sheep pens to reinforce the embankments. After the autumn harvest, when manpower is more abundant, we can use macha to intercept the flow and further plan the irrigation areas for the military farms, reinforcing the slopes with dry-laid pebbles.”

Qiao Yan thought for a moment and replied, “Have you considered another way to clear the silt?”

The situation upstream of the Wei River was manageable, but the silt brought by the Jing River from the Loess Plateau caused sedimentation from the confluence at Gaoling to Huayin.

After a century of Qiang uprisings dispersing the population in the three auxiliary regions, the reduction in farmland made these problems less noticeable.

But now that these areas are being revitalized, these issues can’t be ignored.

Fu Shou asked curiously, “What other way?”

Qiao Yan beckoned to her and Bi Lan, “Come.”

Without hesitation about her status, Qiao Yan stopped in the floodplain where the water reached her calves. She called for her subordinates to use river mud to build two slightly raised “walls,” creating a miniature river in the water with varying widths.

After completing this, Qiao Yan asked, “What do you think about the flow speed here?”

Fu Shou observed for a moment and replied, “My lord, are you saying that the flow is faster in the narrower sections?”

Qiao Yan nodded, “This is true in this miniature model, and it’s also true in rivers. Your records of the Wei River also prove this, and it’s not entirely due to natural terrain.”

From a modern perspective, this is a simple concept, but for ancient people who attributed water management more to natural timing, some ideas needed to be pointed out before they could grasp the trick.

For example, narrowing the river to attack the silt.

“With faster flow, the silt on the riverbed can be carried away. Widening the river and developing tributaries is a good way to prevent floods, but what about narrowing certain sections to ensure smooth flow?”

Qiao Yan pointed to the distant sheep pens, “But this method requires that the riverbanks won’t be washed away by the accelerated flow. You just mentioned that the sheep pens can prevent erosion, so they might be useful here.”

“But where and how extensively to use them will depend on your skills.”

She couldn’t be expected to be an expert in designing water conservancy projects too!

Qiao Yan shamelessly delegated the task once again.

But for Bi Lan and Fu Shou, this counterintuitive method of dredging, though not explicitly named “narrowing the river to attack the silt,” was enough to open a new direction in water management.

Qiao Yan observed their enthusiasm and looked eastward toward the flowing river.

The vast military farms east of Chencang rely on this river for irrigation. Only by understanding its temperament and shaping its course can it truly become a blessing for the Guanzhong Plain.

From canals to the Wei River, it’s undoubtedly a big step forward.

So, is it possible that in a few years, their target could be the Yellow River?

Qiao Yan couldn’t provide an answer for now, but after all, people always need goals.

She turned her gaze back to the fish swimming in the river and called out, “Someone!”

Thinking Qiao Yan was about to offer more guidance, Fu Shou was surprised to hear her say, “Catch two fish and grill them on the riverbank.”