Chapter 424

Chapter 424

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Final Volume: The Rise and Fall of Kingly Ambitions, Unification of the World, Chapter 424: Yuan Shao Counts Wheat

From the book: Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 424: Yuan Shao Counts Wheat

It was absolutely impossible to return the borrowed grain with interest!

Seven years and two months—

This was the time since Qiao Yan borrowed the grain.

Even if we exclude the one year where interest wasn’t calculated as per the agreement, there were still six years and two months left.

Let alone six years!

Two months! Two months could turn this debt into a billion-counting amount, not in grains as originally agreed, but in stones!

The combined government storehouses of Ji Province and Qingzhou didn’t have that much grain!

So, what’s the point of saying “either return the grain with interest or pay with your life”?

She could have just killed Yuan Shao for breaking into Ye City, but she chose to bring up this old debt. If it wasn’t to humiliate the Yuan Clan of Runan, there was no other explanation.

When Ye City fell, Yuan Shao was already prepared to die. When he failed to escape, he had already accepted his fate. At most, he would be executed.

But Yuan Shao didn’t respond, and someone else couldn’t stay silent.

In the silence of questioning Yuan Shao’s decision, someone suddenly stepped forward and asked, “Dare I ask Your Majesty of Da Yong, why should we, the noble families of Hebei, pay with our lives for Yuan Shao’s debt to you?”

“In the past, we supported the Han dynasty and rushed to Ye City, unaware of the state of Da Yong’s rule. Deceived by Yuan Shao, we turned our swords against you. If we die today because the city fell, it’s our fault for misjudging him. However, we have not harmed the local people but have helped them. If Your Majesty punishes us collectively for this crime, it will be hard to convince the people of Hebei!”

Qiao Yan looked up at the speaker.

The phrase “hard to convince the people of Hebei” sounded very righteous, probably not a lie.

But whether it was because they helped the locals that made it hard for Qiao Yan to justify collective punishment of the Hebei noble families, or because they were deeply entrenched in the power structures of Ji and Qing Provinces, was hard to say.

She asked, “Who are you?”

The man replied, “Geng Bao of the Geng Clan from Julu.”

The Geng Clan from Julu’s Songzi County…

Since Emperor Guangwu, the clan had produced four marquises and nine officials of two thousand dan rank. Some died in battle at Yunyang under Deng Yu, some served as General of the Auxiliary Forces, and some as Prefect of Dai Commandery. Although they declined with the changing times, they were still a prominent family in Ji Province.

He certainly had the right to question in this hall.

His words immediately drew support from others.

“Exactly, why should Your Majesty hold all the noble families of Hebei accountable for Yuan Shao’s actions?”

What kind of collective punishment is this? The world doesn’t work this way!

The speaker felt he had more right to speak than Geng Bao. His presence in the hall without any restrictions, still in military attire, hinted at his status.

When Ye City fell, he was guarding a city gate as Shen Pei’s nephew. Realizing he couldn’t hold the city, he quickly switched sides and opened the gate to Qiao Yan.

That alone was significant.

He also found Yuan Shao hiding among the commoners, which should count as a considerable merit.

However, Shen Pei died fighting for Yuan Shao, while his nephew had the skill to switch sides so quickly. In a way, it was quite ironic.

Shen Rong felt that with his decisive switch and the merit of capturing Yuan Shao, he should at least erase the negative impact of serving under Yuan Shao, if not gain a promotion in Da Yong’s court.

But if private matters were settled before public ones, wouldn’t he be dragged down by Yuan Shao’s inability to repay the debt?

That wouldn’t do!

The Yin’an Shen Clan wasn’t just about Shen Pei’s stubbornness. Although they supported Yuan Shao before, it wasn’t too late to cut ties now!

Qiao Yan retorted, “If it weren’t for Yuan Shao’s actions during Dong Zhuo’s rebellion, you noble families of Hebei wouldn’t have supported him to seize power in Ji and Qing Provinces. Or was it his advice to He Jin that Dong Zhuo was usable, his alliance with his brother Yuan Shu to burn the Luoyang palace, or his opportunity to force Lu Zhi out and let Dong Zhuo enter the capital?”

The latter three were clearly recorded in Xu You’s factual account, with witnesses across the land. Even Yuan Shao couldn’t deny them, let alone these Hebei noble families.

Hearing Qiao Yan’s question, Shen Rong quickly replied, “Certainly not the latter.”

If he admitted to that, he couldn’t claim loyalty to the Han dynasty.

But as soon as he spoke, Qiao Yan pressed on, “Then what did Yuan Shao do during the suppression of Dong Zhuo’s rebellion?”

Shen Rong: “…”

Oh no, he fell into a trap.

Qiao Yan didn’t give him a chance to interject and continued, “Was it his delay in advancing despite his uncle being under Dong Zhuo’s threat at Hulao Pass, his failure to resist Hu Zhen and Hua Xiong’s coalition, causing the death of the Prefect of Dong Commandery at Chenggao, or his late arrival in Luoyang after the allied forces broke through Hulao Pass, giving Dong Zhuo the chance to flee to Chang’an with the Han Emperor?”

Shen Rong: “…”

He couldn’t say “yes” now, or it would make the Hebei noble families, who prided themselves on generations of officials and scholarly heritage, look foolish for supporting someone so incompetent.

“In my view, the only commendable thing Yuan Shao did during that campaign was admitting his army’s lack of provisions, better than letting soldiers starve to death. He even took on the debt of fifty thousand stones of grain, showing some responsibility for the Yuan Clan of Runan.”

“Unfortunately, you placed high hopes on him, emboldening him to refuse repayment, leading to today’s debt. Including you in this private debt settlement is not unreasonable!”

This… this is just unreasonable!

But with Qiao Yan holding military power, even if she executed all the Hebei noble families and claimed it was accidental during the conquest of Ye City, would she face any trouble given the current state of Da Yong’s other provinces?

Probably not.

But Shen Rong really didn’t want to die!

If not for the fear of death, why would he have made the choice to open the city gate and surrender before the city fell?








As soon as he thought about how this debt had escalated to this point due to Yuan Shao’s stupidity and arrogance, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger when he turned to look at Yuan Shao.

They were really going to be killed by Yuan Shao!

If they had just gone with the flow and acknowledged the fall of the Han Dynasty when Qiao Yan ascended the throne, and since Liu Yu in Chang’an had abdicated, their court in Ye City should have ceased to exist, recognizing Da Yong as the legitimate dynasty as the people wished, they wouldn’t have ended up in this situation…

Shen Rong had to quickly rack his brains, wishing he could somehow hold onto some merit to fend off this disaster.

Unfortunately, he was just a military man, lacking the brains of Shen Pei.

Instead, another person not far from him suddenly stepped out of the line, bowed to Qiao Yan, and asked, “Your Majesty, if Yuan Shao personally counts out the grain to repay the debt, can we all be spared?”

He didn’t argue like Shen Rong and Geng Bao, questioning why the scholars of Hebei should be dragged down by Yuan Shao’s actions, which was undoubtedly the right decision.

His relatively calm demeanor also made Qiao Yan look at him with higher regard.

Seeing Qiao Yan signal him to continue, the young man said, “Your Majesty has conquered Ye City, and both Ji Province and Qingzhou are now territories of Da Yong. The produce within these territories belongs to Your Majesty, and the remaining wealth of the Hebei noble families need not be mentioned. However, if we work diligently for Your Majesty, whether in farming or other services, we should receive something in return, be it grain or money. If we hand it all over to Yuan Shao, letting him meticulously count until the debt is repaid, would that be acceptable?”

Whether Yuan Shao’s debt could be repaid was clear to anyone with a bit of calculation ability, but there was a loophole in this repayment plan!

Indeed, the debt couldn’t be fully repaid, but continuously making repayment efforts, was that feasible?

Yuan Shao was startled and looked sharply at the young man, demanding, “Ju Hu, what do you mean by this?”

“Exactly what I said.” Ju Hu was indeed the son of Ju Shou, a subordinate of Yuan Shao, but the Ju family of Guangping was vast, and even now, his uncle Ju Zong was also in the court.

His father had already been captured by Qiao Yan’s generals due to Yuan Shao, and his fate was still unknown. The Ju family of Guangping had already done their utmost for Yuan Shao, why should they be buried with him!

“We, and even the other members of the Yuan family of Runan, can serve under Your Majesty. If Your Majesty thinks our judgment is poor, having mistakenly trusted Yuan Shao, and we are unworthy of important tasks, then let us go to the military farms to work. As long as we can produce that stone of grain, so many descendants of the Hebei noble families will surely make Yuan Shao count it himself. As long as the counting doesn’t stop, it means we are still repaying the debt owed to Your Majesty, with no intention of refusing to repay.”

He prostrated himself and kowtowed to Qiao Yan again, “Please, Your Majesty, show mercy and allow us to repay the debt in this way, to save our lives!”

In this method of repayment, even if the Hebei noble families temporarily lost their property, they would have to hand over their earnings to Qiao Yan, but the cultivation of generations of noble families would not let them fade into obscurity overnight.

With Ye City fallen and the world unified, there were still many vacancies. If relying solely on the personnel trained by Leping Academy was far from enough, then these Hebei noble families, with their lives and handles in Qiao Yan’s grasp, might just be her most suitable candidates for appointment.

If even one of them could receive a salary of hundreds or thousands of stones, when handed over to Yuan Shao for counting, it could buy a lot of time!

Moreover, if Your Majesty ever decided to spare them, as long as they were still alive, there would still be room for maneuver.

To die now would truly be irreparable!

The only pitiful one in this plan was probably Yuan Shao.

He was once the Grand General in Ye City, with power surpassing even the Son of Heaven, but in an instant, not only was he to become a prisoner, but he also had to constantly use his pampered hands to count grains.

But compared to everyone dying because of his stupidity, this was already the best outcome.

But… would Qiao Yan agree to this idea?

If she was determined to kill Yuan Shao and the Hebei noble families who opposed her, then Ju Hu’s advice would be stepping on Qiao Yan’s bottom line, perhaps not only failing to save his own life but also bringing more severe punishment to his entire family.

But whether he stuck his neck out or pulled it back, he would die. The temperament instilled in him by his father’s teachings would not allow him to hesitate out of cowardice. It was better to take a gamble and fight for a way out!

As he raised his head, he cautiously looked at the emperor seated above.

The grand momentum of the three armies encircling Ye City made it impossible for him not to feel a natural awe towards her. Thinking of her legendary journey to this point, Ju Hu felt even more unable to look directly at her.

But he keenly noticed that after he proposed this solution, what appeared on Qiao Yan’s face was not anger, but a very subtle smile.

It was indeed a smile!

The next moment, he heard Qiao Yan ask, “Yuan Benchu, what do you think?”

To punish the Yuan family of Runan and the involved Hebei noble families by making them laborers, sacrificing Yuan Shao alone to count grains daily to repay the debt, in exchange for most people’s lives being spared, what does Yuan Shao think?

Should he accept this life-saving method?

This was an extremely difficult choice for Yuan Shao.

Given his past, surrounded by scholars, holding high positions and generous salaries, with his reputation spreading across two provinces, this outcome was worse than death for him!

At least in the tales of outsiders, it could be said that Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, perished with the Han Dynasty, killed by the Son of Heaven of Da Yong, not like an ant counting grains to survive.

But he hadn’t forgotten that when Qiao Yan’s troops approached Ye City, his three sons were also taken as captives to the city walls. If there really was a way out as Ju Hu said, perhaps they could also be spared, at worst, counting grains with him to repay the debt.

This was a way for the Yuan family of Runan to still have a breath of life!

The two sons taken to Leping by Ma Lun had long since distanced themselves from the Yuan family of Runan, and the remaining members of the Yuan family of Runan had already pledged allegiance to him following Yuan Shu’s death.

If they were to be annihilated for supporting Ye City, he couldn’t face his father and grandfather in the afterlife!

The sack of grain before him had its ropes untied, revealing the grains inside.

This was something Yuan Shao had never cared about before, but now it bore the weight of countless lives, pressing directly on his heart.

He… he suddenly reached out and grabbed a handful, just like when he had grasped a strand of life from the river while fleeing in Yanzhou.

“If Your Majesty of Da Yong permits, Yuan Shao is willing to follow this method… to repay the debt!”