“`html
“Isn’t it possible for strategists to ascend the throne?”
He Jin stood in the cold wind for quite a while before finally heading back to the Grand General’s Mansion and immediately summoned He Miao.
Technically, He Miao had the same mother as Empress He but was half-siblings with He Jin.
But after their mother remarried, he took the surname He, making him more trustworthy than outsiders.
He Jin said, “I want to say a few words to you.”
Seeing him dismiss the others before speaking, He Miao had a gut feeling that whatever He Jin was about to say was no trivial matter.
As expected, He Jin spoke with a serious face, “Dou Youping, ranked among the ‘Three Lords’, appointed as Grand General, celebrated for his virtue and learning, ended up decapitated at the Luoyang Pavilion. What do you think we have?”
Dou Youping was indeed Dou Wu, the Grand General who died nineteen years ago due to the exposure of a conspiracy against the eunuchs.
He Miao was taken aback by this question. What did they have?
Unlike Dou Wu, they didn’t have a senior in the Minister of Works position or a like-minded ally like Chen Fan.
In the court, even Lu Zhi, someone who had his powers stripped by Liu Hong, could be pointed at and told that sending three thousand troops against a thousand rebel troops was like using a heavy axe to chop wood, hardly a point of pride.
As He Miao was mulling over his frustrations, He Jin continued, “Whether we can hold a high position ultimately depends on a word from His Majesty.”
He Miao was startled and quickly looked around to make sure the windows were closed and the door locked, then whispered to He Jin, “You can’t just say things like that!”
“What good is your caution now?” He Jin shot him a cold glance, “Once the heir ascends, promoting Dong Zhong to the position of General of Mounted Troops will just be a start. Don’t forget, we have a vendetta against that heir. To His Majesty, it’s all the same whether it’s the He clan or the Dong clan—what’s the difference?”
He Miao sensed that He Jin was in a bad mood and could only advise, “Brother, why be so pessimistic? Don’t forget that the heir, Liu Bian, has the status of the legitimate eldest son. His Majesty’s health has been deteriorating. If anything happens, the Empress Dowager is his sister, and her power is enough to ensure her son ascends.”
“Do you think I’m joking?” He Jin couldn’t tolerate his brother’s hesitation anymore. He slammed the table and stood up, “The first to act is the butcher, the second is the meat. That’s our current situation. If you still can’t understand His Majesty’s intentions, then just go back to slaughtering pigs.”
That was a real gut punch.
He Miao replied hesitantly, “Whatever big brother says goes.”
“Alright, I’ll ask you a question,” He Jin stepped closer, locking eyes with He Miao, “If I were to start cutting off His Majesty’s support now to ensure Liu Bian’s smooth ascension, would you help me?”
He Miao wasn’t the brightest, but upon hearing the phrase “ensure Liu Bian ascends,” he firmly nodded and said, “Big brother’s words are my command.”
He Jin was satisfied.
Though Qiao Yan could guess that her schemes in Luoyang would surely instill a sense of crisis in He Jin and others, she had no idea that this reckless man was already plotting such a significant matter.
Going after the Emperor’s wings while Liu Hong still held power was truly a reckless way to court death.
But this clearly had nothing to do with her, who was “far away” in Bingzhou; she was still busy fooling the system.
[Governor of Bingzhou! How did you become the Governor of Bingzhou? Is this a strategist’s behavior? You even poached Jia Xu!]
If Qiao Yan hadn’t heard wrong, it sounded like the system felt slighted.
She casually flipped through the book in her hand and replied, “Liang Xi was appointed as the Sima in charge of Bingzhou.”
[You are making connections with noble families and recruiting mountain bandits in Bingzhou, this is very wrong!]
“After Liang Xi was in office, he lured in and recruited, summoning the gentry to form a council and conscripting the brave for his cause.”
[You even went to battle against the Xiongnu!]
“Those who disobeyed were raised for military campaigns, and thousands were beheaded, the chieftain submitted.”
[You developed agriculture in Leping, creating a bunch of things!]
“The people cultivated the fields, diligently promoting farming and mulberry cultivation.”
[You even led troops in martial combat in the capital and became the leader.]
“To my knowledge, no governor had matched Liang Xi before.”
[……]
The system was stumped.
Qiao Yan wasn’t making any serious arguments; she was just reciting Liang Xi’s biography, and the system felt like it was being choked.
In theory, everything Qiao Yan had done could indeed correspond with Liang Xi, but that wasn’t how comparisons worked!
What was Liang Xi’s status back then? And what was hers now?
The system felt insulted by its own intelligence! It didn’t make sense to make blanket comparisons.
It thought this way while processing the fact that Qiao Yan’s targeted statements had sealed its mouth. It opened the character panel to assess the gains from her trip to Luoyang and, as a competent and dedicated system, it tearfully began to explain to its host.
[Just like you said before, from the perspective of the Han, you provided the Emperor with a reason to weaken the noble cliques; reestablishing the Duhou General also did a service to the Han; defeating the opposing forces of Dong Min, Wang Kuang, Han Fu, and Ji Ling totaled 60 strategist points. Additionally, you achieved a special accomplishment of striking at the well-known power of the external clan, earning you 30 points.]
60 points plus 30 points—
90 points! What a great deal.
This trip to Luoyang netted her not just back what she had invested, but it could be considered a windfall.
That said, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret that her conquest against the Xiongnu didn’t count.
But thinking this way, considering it was a “disruption” against two opposing forces without discussing it with the higher-ups, if defined strictly, it could even be regarded as a strategist attempting a power grab, which might not count.
Fortunately, once she held the authority of Governor of Bingzhou and commanded its military, such actions would become justifiable.
The system had no idea what dangerous maneuvers Qiao Yan was concocting at that moment; it just witnessed her making herself bleed with a series of absurd justifications.
The 27 free attribute points and 9 skill points had been accounted for. She spent 7 points on constitution, 9 points on combat power, 10 points on fate, as if just to remind herself that she was still a strategist, leaving the last point on intelligence.
Then, from the 9 skill points, she allocated 3 for her incitement skill to level 7, 1 point for archery, 2 points for riding, and finally, she retained the 3 points left over before heading to Luoyang, presumably for any emergency needs.
Thus, her character sheet transformed into—
[Name: Qiao Yan]
[Faction: Han (Starting faction)]
[Occupation: Strategist (System Set)]
[Age: 13 (Years)]
[Constitution: 81 (100), Combat Power: 70 (100), Intelligence: 81 (100), Luck: 75 (?)]
[Remaining Distributable Points: 0]
[Skills: History lv7, Eloquence lv7, Incitement lv7, Artifact Appraisal lv4, Archery lv8, Riding lv8, Painting lv3, Writing lv4, Archaeology lv5, Ancient Currency lv3……]
[Remaining Skill Points: 3]
[Strategist Points: 230] (Every 10 strategist points earn 3 distributable attribute points and 1 skill point)
Looking at the scene, the system realized it might need some psychological counseling.
There was indeed an undeniable fact: she was truly increasing her strategist points.
Based on the system’s nearly zero rookie experience and the reference tracking it had seen during the pre-launch training course, achieving these stats at this age and at this point in history was truly extraordinary.
If just looking at the numbers, this was practically the makings of the world’s number one strategist.
Especially considering that Liu Hong was still sitting on the Emperor’s throne and hadn’t passed away yet, they hadn’t formally entered the Three Kingdoms phase, so many achievements limited to that background hadn’t triggered yet.
From this perspective, it was indeed an incredibly impressive report card.
The system choked for a while before finally managing to whine out, [Can we allocate a couple more points to intelligence next time?]
This was its way of settling for second best.
But for Qiao Yan, she didn’t see much necessity in that value.
Managing her objectives when dealing with matters, strategizing when facing problems, needed more than just straightforward intelligence; it also required a big picture view and emotional intelligence in communication to make an impact.
Intelligence was simply to be sufficient.
But the system still needed some comfort; otherwise, if it got upset, she wouldn’t have an alarm clock anymore.
As for this verbal agreement being all good at the moment, what would actually happen next was another story.
Taking all this into account, Qiao Yan turned back to the system, “By the way, you promised me that martial arts system’s speech experience; I think I’ve figured it out. When I return to Taiyuan, I’ll write it for you. Does your neighbor… have something like a farming system?”
[……?] The system was confused and furiously typed a series of transparent question marks, clearly expressing its speechless emotions.
Qiao Yan didn’t even blink, “Or a steel refining system would work too.”
[No! There’s nothing like that!] It firmly protested against its host’s whimsical ideas.
“So that means there’s something like the first one,” Qiao Yan seized the loophole in its statement and said calmly, “You know, as a qualified strategist, being able to produce enough grain is very important.”
“For instance, Mao Jian under Cao Cao suggested revamping agriculture, Zao Zhi proposed the idea of situational farming, which led to the ‘Order of Situational Farming.’ Deng Ai rose from a typist to Minister of Agriculture, making the ‘Argument for the Yellow River’, where he noted that in six to seven years, one could stockpile thirty million dou of rice on the Huai, thus making it easy to conquer Wu, earning the recognition of Sima Yi.”
“Tell me, can Mao Jian, Zao Zhi, and Deng Ai be classified as strategists?”
The system thought for a moment and concluded that they certainly could.
Though Deng Ai was also considered a renowned general, he was well-versed in both civil and military affairs; so calling him a half strategist was definitely acceptable.
“So, to be the number one strategist in the world, one must surpass these individuals, right?”
When she stated her intention to surpass someone who wouldn’t be born for another ten years, Qiao Yan felt no psychological burden at all; it was enough for her to use it to persuade the system.
She didn’t forget to add, “Considering this, it should be part of the educational curriculum that comes with your strategist system, right?”
The system refused to acknowledge that its inventory only contained classic tactical teaching cases and dialogues of strategists; it didn’t have means for improvement in crop cultivation or farming strategies, and it felt quite humiliated admitting this.
So, it just replied with “I’ll ask” and then vanished without a trace.
Qiao Yan couldn’t help but laugh.
When Guo Jia met up with Qiao Yan at the Yellow River crossing outside Beima, he saw her shaking the book in her hand, looking particularly pleased.
“Lord Qiao, are you expressing your joy about achieving your ambitions and returning in glory?” Guo Jia teased as he got into the carriage.
Qiao Yan’s hometown couldn’t really be considered Bingzhou, but just as she had said to Liu Hong, since she was appointed in Bingzhou and had ties to Qiao Xuan’s cemetery, she naturally would regard Leping as home.
Returning as the Governor of Bingzhou could indeed be seen as a triumphant return.
But that clearly was not her primary goal.
“Not entirely,” Qiao Yan shook her head.
Her current joy was not solely from the system’s clear stupidity, but also because just before reaching the banks of the Yellow River, she was alone in the Governor’s carriage, listening to the sounds of the carriage moving through the forests of Mang Mountain, along with the rhythm of the wheels and hooves, and it all blurred together, causing her to reflect on the past three years with a hint of nostalgia.
There were some thoughts she couldn’t voice to the system; she could only tread cautiously as she contemplated whether the system could even grasp her feelings.
All these inner struggles and twists of fate had no one else to share them with.
Yet upon reflection, they were not without their amusement.
When she first woke among the heaps of corpses from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, survival was certainly a priority. Luckily, her familiarity with this history spared her from the difficulties of integrating into this era.
But initially, she merely thought that without accomplishments or prestige, the system’s notion of depending on identity to cling to power and becoming a strategist for a particular force was futile, so she had to pave multiple escape routes and layers of safeguards for herself.
She had to have merits for quelling the Yellow Turbans to shatter the constraints of gender and age, so she could live in this world in a way that was presentable.
But what about later?
Later, everything she witnessed reminded her one thing: this wasn’t enough!
If the world wasn’t swiftly cleansed, it would only result in the Han people wasting energy fighting among themselves, leading to external tribes invading and bandits running rampant. Even if she completed the tasks to become the world’s number one strategist, she wouldn’t survive long in this era.
Yet she knew better than anyone then that the weak had no capital to show excessive sympathy; that’s why she had uttered such things to Xu Fu and watched the remnants of the Yellow Turbans be sent to border garrisons.
But now, what about now?
Just as she said to Lu Zhi,
“`
“There’s more absurdity and heartache in this world than I imagined.”
If someone capable could just step up to protect their own interests, how could they not ascend to high positions?
“So after she starts gathering her own power in Leping, why shouldn’t she take on greater responsibilities? Why not gather talented individuals around her to create a force to rival the crumbling Han Dynasty?”
Of course, before the act of assassinating the governor, when she had only set her sights on this little patch of land—though she showed signs of ambition—there was always an escape route.
Considering the squabbles among the heroes of the late Han, even between Cao Cao and Zhang Xiu, who had a vendetta lurking in the shadows, they could still carry on with one as lord and the other as minister. So what about a situation like Qiao Yan’s?
But once she made that decisive move, expressing her intentions through the name Yeshu to challenge the impression of Liu Hong’s lonely minister, the strategists under her command knew her reactions better than anyone else and chose their sides—and then—
Qiao Yan truly lost any chance of retreat.
Strangely enough, once she secured this position as the governor of Bingzhou, she didn’t feel the anxiety of being led along with no turning back; instead, she felt more at peace than ever.
She said to Guo Jia, “I was just thinking, as the governor of Bingzhou now, promoting the officials from Leping has become much easier.”
This was a win-win deal.
The governor’s entourage traveled along the banks of the Fen River.
During this harsh winter season, there weren’t many people to be seen along the way, and since the White Wave bandits had already been driven off the mountains, fewer souls were around, leading Guo Jia to chuckle that this situation was no different than going out in fancy clothes under the cover of night.
This earned him a fine eye-roll from Qiao Yan.
But hey, there was still a difference.
The winter trade route still occasionally saw merchants passing by, and upon witnessing this utterly different entourage, they couldn’t help but stop and inquire about what was going on.
The soldiers escorting Qiao Yan belonged to the Northern Army Five Divisions, who had fought alongside her in the recent competition. They held a measure of respect for this almost legendary Marquis of Leping.
Anyway, the centurions didn’t restrict them, and the soldiers didn’t hesitate to pause or rein in their horses to relay the news of the Marquis being appointed as the governor of Bingzhou.
Most passersby and the nosy folks of Bingzhou couldn’t quite grasp why Qiao Yan had to go to the capital to apologize for mobilizing troops against the Xiongnu, but ultimately, the outcome was good!
After all, Qiao Yan had snatched the top spot in that contest for selecting the General of Duluo, and the emperor back in the capital acknowledged her skills—hence, after appointing her as the General of Duluo, he also made her governor of Bingzhou.
The revival of the Provincial Governor System was still an uncharted matter for some relatively uninformed folks, but the soldiers escorting Qiao Yan explained that the governor was the highest official within Bingzhou, making it quite easy to comprehend.
Highest official!
This was undoubtedly thrilling news for the people of Bingzhou.
While unsure how long Qiao Yan would hold the gubernatorial position, at least, based on her past conduct, they could expect some peaceful days ahead!
Suddenly, Han Fu felt someone looking his way, instinctively straightened his back, only to hear someone ask, “Is that the one defeated by Qiao Yan?”
Han Fu’s expression froze instantly.
But recalling that before he left Luoyang, Yuan Shao had specifically warned him not to clash with Qiao Yan unless absolutely necessary, he gradually relaxed, pretending he hadn’t heard that advice.
Yuan Shao was right; the opponent held power over him and the authority to monitor his operations. With her successful escape from Luoyang and now the gubernatorial position, she could definitely make him pay dearly.
At least until he found a way to balance things out, he clearly had to keep a low profile.
For someone like Han Fu, this wasn’t really something he couldn’t handle.
But as he glanced at the upbeat local leaders excitedly walking away after getting the news, he found it hard to understand why they didn’t think it was strange at all for a woman to be the governor of Bingzhou.
He thought about it and voiced the question.
Qu Yi responded, “With the bold, martial spirit of Liangzhou and Bingzhou, as long as this Qiao Yan is strong enough, she could practically declare herself queen here, and I doubt anyone would oppose. Of course, I’m just using an extreme example.”
No implications of supporting Qiao Yan’s kingship were made.
Qu Yi always spoke plainly, and Han Fu had known him long enough to accept his words comfortably.
But if what Qu Yi said was true, then the people of Bingzhou cherished their governor so much that he had even less confidence to oppose her.
The only one he thought might cause a friction with Qiao Yan was the previous governor, Cui Lie, who left Han Fu astonished.
This Cui was shocked to learn of Qiao Yan’s appointment as governor of Bingzhou, and as he took on the additional roles of prefect of Taiyuan and Xihe, plus the responsibility of teaching Qiao Yan, he could only frown after a while and lament, “Why has there suddenly been so much more work?”
“…” Han Fu felt he needed to reevaluate his views on this renowned figure from Jizhou.
This was utterly lacking in ambition!
He had previously been scolding Cui Lie for being so money-grubbing, yet he couldn’t help but understand that in a situation where everyone had to fight for themselves and their descendants, Cui Lie’s attitude wasn’t too hard to explain.
But seeing him now, he clearly looked like someone coasting through retirement in Bingzhou.
That being said, holding both prefect positions would indeed be more exhausting than just being a governor.
Then he saw Cui Lie casually ask Qiao Yan, “Have you figured out how you want to handle the appointment matters? The governor’s subordinates will be more than those of a mere prefect; you wouldn’t plan to take over my old team, would you? I need to take more people with me to get things done.”
The tone of his words resembled that of a casual shopper.
Han Fu couldn’t handle that.
He used his intention to head off for his new post as an excuse to leave, heading straight for Wuyuan.
Qiao Yan watched Han Fu and Qu Yi leave without caring about Han Fu’s current fluster, only briefly focusing her gaze back on Qu Yi.
Even though she now had several fierce generals, being in Bingzhou, with the powers of a governor, meant she was never short on warriors.
Don’t get me wrong, though—Qu Yi had faced defeat at her hands in Luoyang but was undeniably one of the best warriors around.
As a member of the Qu clan from Xiping, before leaving Liangzhou, most led their family soldiers in battle against the Qiang, thus accumulating significant combat experience. Qu Yi was among the best.
During the battle at the boundary bridge, Qu Yi, with eight hundred shield soldiers and a thousand crossbowmen in ambush, repelled Gongsun Zan’s tens of thousands of cavalry. Anyone hearing that would question if it was fabricated nonsense.
But it was indeed the truth.
He even pursued Gongsun Zan to his main camp and extracted Yuan Shao from another of Gongsun Zan’s forces.
Whether he grew conceited due to his accomplishments or was suspected by Yuan Shao due to his merits leading to his downfall, Qiao Yan couldn’t know for sure at this moment.
Undeniably, having a hero like Qu Yi on her side would be a great perk.
But he was in Bingzhou now, and there was no rush.
Qiao Yan needed to arrange the official positions for her governor’s subordinates first.
The governor, being the leader of a province, had both military and political duties, which meant quite a number of subordinates were needed.
The two subordinate positions beneath the governor were the Chief Clerk and the Managing Officer; the former position Qiao Yan had already mentioned needing to reserve for Cheng Li in her talks with Jia Xu, while for the Managing Officer, although she didn’t know about Xi Zhicai’s career aspirations, that position was indeed meant for him.
Next were the various officers managing all sorts of important affairs.
The accountant’s officer managed the financial records, and this post would naturally go to Qin Yu, who had just overseen agricultural matters in Leping and had prior served Qiao Yan as the steward for her household.
The Military Officer and the Armament Officer were both positions established during wartime; however, the difference lay in the former being more focused on supervising military actions when local conflicts occurred, while the latter’s jurisdiction was broader, also covering the province’s internal security matters.
Qiao Yan intended to have Zhang Liao continue in the Military Officer position, while letting Zhao Yun be promoted from County Captain to the Armament Officer.
But in total, Qiao Yan had more than just Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun among her generals and couldn’t overlook the need to reward others with positions.
Fortunately, in Bingzhou, the military roles weren’t only limited to Military Officer and Armament Officer.
The governor had the right to appoint an officer in each commandery as a supervisor of governance and document matters, and with Bingzhou’s unique situation, the officers for Yanmen, Yunzhong, Wuyuan, and Xihe could have military roles as well.
Thus, Qiao Yan decided to place Zhang Yang in charge of Yanmen to assist Zhang Liao in the fight against the Xianbei.
One could be assigned there.
However, she didn’t plan to assign Xu Huang, Dian Wei, and Chu Yan to the other three positions.
Compared to these three roles, they had better-suited duties elsewhere.
Regarding Chu Yan, Qiao Yan appointed him the town gate captain.
This was not just any typical town captain but the one guarding the main gate of the province.
Where was Bingzhou’s main gate? Right at the mountain pass. Only by placing Chu Yan there would Qiao Yan feel at ease.
As for Dian Wei and Xu Huang, Qiao Yan assigned them the positions of Gate Inspector and Assistant Inspector, respectively.
The former still functioned as the governor’s chief bodyguard, while the latter, still somewhat new to her, was better kept close under supervision for the time being.
Now, what about the officers assigned to Yunzhong, Wuyuan, and Xihe?
Considering Wuyuan hosted the General of Duluo’s camp, Qiao Yan didn’t plan to completely sever ties. Their relationship still needed maintenance, so it might be best to leave that vacancy for now.
However, for the officers of Yunzhong and Xihe commanderies, Qiao Yan had a suitable candidate in mind.
None other than Guo Jia.
She had previously mentioned to Guo Jia that she hoped he could take on the duty of intimidating, subduing, and enticing adversaries. Now, it was fitting to have him serve as the officer for Xihe while concurrently managing Yunzhong, facilitating his gradual activities.
With that, besides the six positions still vacant across Taiyuan, Shangdang, Dingxiang, Shuo Fang, Wuyuan, and Shang Commandery, there remained two officer positions.
One position was called the Performance Officer, and the other was named the Academic Officer.
The latter was straightforward; Qiao Yan planned to consult Cai Yong about taking this role while continuing to teach at Leping Academy. It would provide additional resources without relying solely on the meager offerings from his students.
As for the former—this role oversaw performance evaluations and records. Recklessly appointing someone to this position immediately after taking over as governor would be too aggressive, so it was better left vacant for now.
This didn’t mean Qiao Yan was ignoring the need for the position.
After all, it was pivotal for exercising the power to impeach officials, and it also served as a prime spot for placing a trusted confidant.
Qiao Yan planned to keep this role for Lu Yuan, but due to the need for gradual progression, she would temporarily assign her to the main clerk position.
Then there were some standard junior subordinate roles for the governor.
For instance, Cai Zhaoji, being too young, was first appointed as a Clerk Assistant.
A Clerk Assistant was one of the 25 standard subordinate positions assigned to each commandery.
The role involved handling documents and regulations, and thus Jia Xu, borrowed from the Grand Commandant’s office, was also placed here alongside Xu Fu and Fu Gan, whom Qiao Yan planned to include as well.
Jia Xu was known for his “survival skills,” so Qiao Yan didn’t expect him to bow down to her or offer strategies immediately. But leveraging his expertise during the downtime wouldn’t be an issue, right?
Just when her Leping was facing issues with a disproportionately young average age, having Cai Yong and Cui Lie help in education alongside letting Jia Xu handle the political maneuvering seemed like a wise move.
At this moment, Jia Xu, who had just settled down with his wife, felt a sudden chill run down his back, as if he had been set up by someone.
Yet, he didn’t need to worry about facing this “heavy burden” right away.
Following the order of appearances, Qiao Yan had to meet with everyone one by one.
So she first met with Cheng Li.
This hardly felt like the interaction between a newly appointed governor and her soon-to-be important subordinate.
Cheng Li calmly reported everything that had transpired in the two months since Qiao Yan had left Bingzhou, then turned to congratulate her on her new position.
Qiao Yan merely flipped through the documents in her hand, looked up at Cheng Li, and in a similarly steady tone asked, “Shouldn’t you fulfill that promise of renaming to Yu?”
That—
The promise to change the name to Yu.
