Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 4: The End of Zhongping, Luoyang’s Storm, Chapter 113: Carving Stone to Record Merits

For any military officer, carving stone to record merits is an unparalleled achievement.

In the past, Grand General Dou Xian pursued the Northern Xiongnu, carving stone to record his merits at Mount Yanran, leaving his name in history. Now, Qiao Yan mentions that this victory will also be recorded in this manner, how could it not make everyone in the team rejoice!

Even if the act of carving stone to record merits is only written in the Xianbei camp at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, right next to the only water source, it would not diminish their sense of triumph in the slightest.

As for why the merit-recording words were placed at Saiyin Mountain Ridge instead of by the Duluo River, Qiao Yan naturally has her own explanation.

Although she is about to do something that benefits her greatly, treating the Hu people outside the border as resources to harvest like sheep, cattle, and horses, she still needs to consider their feelings.

Since she has already told Budugen that she will support him to become the new Xianbei leader, she should give him some leeway, at least not let him see evidence of the Han army’s presence by the Duluo River every day.

Placing it at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, which serves as an outpost, is quite appropriate.

Of course, Qiao Yan’s trip here is not entirely to use this place to commemorate achievements.

When she returned here, it had been almost twenty days since she set out from Yanmen County. If she wanted to rush back to Bingzhou, it would only take two days.

Especially since she no longer needed to avoid Xianbei scouts by taking the Baidao River, she could gallop back unimpeded, saving a lot of time.

But returning too quickly would not benefit her.

She did not intend to let Liu Hong know that she had made a deal with Budugen for annual tributes, otherwise it would inevitably raise his alertness.

Once there is a change in Luoyang next year, before the signs of this “change” are revealed, she should find a reason to go out of the border again to pacify the Hu army, so as not to receive news at a specific time.

Otherwise, if Liu Hong asks her to enter the capital to assist the Eight Commanders of the Western Garden in eliminating Grand General He Jin, thereby placing Liu Xie on the throne, her plan would be completely ruined.

Liu Xie might become a qualified Son of Heaven, but the situation of the Han Dynasty is already at a point where it must be broken to be rebuilt.

At this time, restoring the country has little meaning, so it’s better to let the first person to smash the cup act in Luoyang.

Therefore, Qiao Yan had to stay outside the border for a while longer.

After returning to the Saiyin Mountain Ridge camp, she checked the medicine, food, and defensive barriers to ensure that this stay would not cause any harm to her people, and only then did she feel at ease.

With these guarantees, she even spent two days selecting a black stone from this somewhat barren land to serve as the merit-recording stele.

Because it was quite square, Qiao Yan felt even more satisfied.

As for Qiao Yan’s “unprofessional” behavior, the accompanying generals actually—

Actually had no objections!

They watched as Qiao Yan used the tip of her iron spear to carve their military achievements on the black stone.

That was truly a beautiful piece of calligraphy!

Perhaps it was because of the personal experience of this battle, or perhaps because carving on stone felt better than writing on paper, but the words on this merit-recording stele could indeed be called iron strokes and silver hooks.

The only one who knew the truth, the system, seeing Qiao Yan’s calligraphy level raised to lv7, couldn’t help but fall into a long silence.

Previously, it thought that if there were extra points to raise it one more level, making her strategist image more convincing, Qiao Yan had rejected it with the reason that it was good enough.

The busy affairs in Leping and Jinyang also left her with little time to practice calligraphy.

But at this moment when it thought it was the least appropriate to raise this skill, she came up with such a stroke of genius.

But in Qiao Yan’s view, any skill must be used at its most critical moment. If it can help win the hearts of the generals under her command, it is not wasted.

General Dou Xian carved stone at Mount Yanran, and Ban Gu, who accompanied the army, wrote the inscription for Mount Yanran.

Qiao Yan thought she did not have Ban Gu’s literary talent, so she simply wrote these few lines.

“In the fifth year of Zhongping, Qiao Yan, Marquis of Leping and Governor of Bingzhou of the Han Dynasty, along with Military Officer Zhang Liao, Yanmen County Officer Zhang Yang, and Yanmen County Military Officer Lü Bu, went on a patrol to the north to attack the Xianbei. Ten thousand cavalry marched together, chasing the enemy through the Baidao, and beheaded the Xianbei general Fuluohan here, then went further north to chase the Chanyu in the wild. It is said:

The imperial might is majestic, the divine martial does not kill. Like the thunder’s shock, it breaks without striking. The territory has its return, who dares to covet it.”

The imperial might is majestic, the territory has its return!

The merit-recording stele left at the Saiyin Mountain Ridge camp, even if written in a memorial to the emperor, could not find any fault with Qiao Yan.

After all, she attributed her attack on the Xianbei to maintaining the divine might of the Han Dynasty.

Qiao Yan examined the stele for a while, then put down her spear with satisfaction.

Even though the increase in calligraphy level came with the additional skill of carving, it still made her wrist ache from the carving.

But the effect of this move was undoubtedly excellent.

Zhang Liao, being reserved, was not so obvious, but Zhang Yang and Lü Bu were different.

Although they were somewhat rough, they were not illiterate, so they could recognize the words Qiao Yan had written.

Even though their names were listed after Zhang Liao according to their positions, when they saw the words “like the thunder’s shock,” they couldn’t help but show an irrepressible smile.

If their thoughts were translated, it would probably be: This must be memorized, and remembered when telling others in the future.

And if Qiao Yan, as their superior, had not made this decision to attack, they could not have achieved such military merits and records.

Qiao Yan thought this was indeed a move to win hearts.

Moreover, the five days spent here were not just for rest and erecting the stele.

Budugen finally received news of his brother’s death, but he knew he could not blame Qiao Yan for Quidou’s death at this time.

Because he also received another message—

Qianman, out of fear of the Han army, went east without turning back, even choosing to join a Xianbei branch.

So Budugen quickly gathered his men, comforting the scattered tribesmen due to the turmoil, and put his succession as Chanyu on the table.

In this move, the Xianbei royal court also moved northward, at least crossing the Duluo River, so that even if enemies attacked, it would be easier for them to defend.

Then, Budugen wasted no time in starting to collect the remains of cattle and sheep as Qiao Yan had mentioned.

Although he did not know why the Governor of Bingzhou needed these things, the remains of cattle and sheep that were already dead and only skeletons were of no use to them.

Exchanging thousands of such remains for their temporary peace, instead of being attacked again by Qiao Yan, was indeed a good deal.

So four days after Qiao Yan left the Xianbei royal court, Budugen had already loaded these remains onto carts and sent them to the border, just in time for Qiao Yan to take over halfway without reaching Yanmen.

Along with them, she also took the horses pulling the carts.

The envoy sent by Budugen could hardly tell whether Qiao Yan’s smooth takeover was intentional or not, and while he was still confused, Qiao Yan pulled him to admire the stele in the pond.

“After I leave, this place won’t be destroyed, right?” Qiao Yan pointed to the words on the stele and asked.

The envoy quickly shook his head.

If they really dared to do so, with Qiao Yan’s temper, she might carve the words on their faces next time.

Besides, it was just placed here, not in their royal court, so Qiao Yan, as the victor, could naturally do so.

“Good, let’s go!”

Hearing that this scourge was finally going back south of the Yinshan Mountains, the envoy instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.

He watched as the six thousand men took the bodies of their comrades who had died in battle, the cattle and sheep originally at this transit camp, and these dead and live tributes southward.

Seeing their figures fade away, he felt that although he had lost some carts and horses, he had finally fulfilled Budugen’s instructions.

He only hoped that this year’s autumn tribute could truly bring peace between the two sides… right?

Qiao Yan was indeed very trustworthy!

With Budugen as the leader, the Xianbei were now her major source of cattle, sheep, and horses, so she would not do anything to exhaust their resources at this time.

After four days of slow travel from Saiyin Mountain Ridge, she finally reached the border between Yanmen County and the outside.

Since these fierce generals had been taken outside the border by Qiao Yan, Yanmen Prefect Guo Yun personally came to guard this place.

But what surprised Qiao Yan was, why did he bring his six-year-old son along?

The child looked at the dusty soldiers and the herds of cattle and sheep they brought back, his eyes shining brightly.

When Zhang Yang lifted him up so he could see the long line more clearly, instead of being afraid, he tugged at Zhang Yang’s beard and asked, “Uncle, were those bones eaten on the way?”

Qiao Yan, who heard this question clearly, replied without any guilt of deceiving a child, “Yes, these were consumed on our march. If we plant them in the ground, new cattle and sheep will grow.”

“…” Guo Yun wanted to say that although Qiao Hou is only fourteen or fifteen years old this year, there’s no need to be so childlike.

But thinking that this was indeed the first active victory after years of Hu invasions in Bingzhou, as a Bingzhou native, he should feel excited, so for a moment he couldn’t speak.

He then heard Qiao Yan ask, “Prefect Guo, do you have wine and meat for the soldiers?”

“Yes! Of course!” Guo Yun hurriedly replied.

They had been on the expedition for a month, and even though they knew that with Qiao Yan and the accompanying generals’ abilities, nothing would probably happen, once they had no news, it was always worrying.

The climate outside the border, the possibility of getting lost, and the Xianbei Hu’s inherent plundering nature, how could one not worry about accidents?

Fortunately, they returned with results, clearly not having experienced much hard fighting, but just looking thinner due to the environment outside the border, which was the best outcome!

Even though Qiao Yan had not yet revealed the true results of this expedition, the soldiers who had fought bravely outside the border deserved good wine and meat as rewards!

When Qiao Yan left Yanmen, he had already ordered wine to be stored in the prefecture’s warehouse, and now was the time to use it.

Qiao Yan smiled, “Good, let the soldiers wash up and go to the drill ground. I will write a letter for you to send to Taiyuan to report the victory.”

Not to mention the soldiers, even Qiao Yan, as the commander, naturally enjoyed the best treatment, but now she felt like her body was covered in a shell of dust.

The Yinshan Mountains’ blocking effect on dust was indeed… quite obvious.

After washing up and changing into a more practical outfit, since she had already ordered the soldiers to celebrate freely without waiting for her, the drill ground was already filled with grills and wine jars.

Although they had already achieved military merits during their rest at the Saiyin Mountain Ridge camp, Qiao Yan did not let them celebrate with the wine stored by the Hu people, to prevent being attacked in a relaxed state.

But now they could get drunk without worry.

However, the most noticeable sound Qiao Yan heard was Lü Bu’s after he downed two jars of wine.

He had previously reported the situation when chasing Quidou, and now hearing from Budugen’s envoy about Quidou’s death gave him more material to boast about.

Hearing him, with the art of storytelling, describe how he threw the Fangtian Huaji while shouting “I am Lü Bu of Wuyuan,” Qiao Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

Lü Bu was just describing how he bent his bow and set an arrow during the chase when he suddenly heard a “Catch!” He quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw Qiao Yan throwing a wine jar at him, so he hurriedly caught it.

But when he tilted his head back to drink, he almost choked.

This was not the same strength as the wine he had drunk before.

The soldiers who had just heard Lü Bu’s boastful story laughed heartily. “Lü Bu, you can’t handle even a sip of wine? The hero of Wuyuan can’t even handle a drink?”

Lü Bu had no way to explain.

In this era, according to modern standards, the wine was at best…








It’s just around 25 to 26 degrees, even the so-called strong liquor falls within this range.

But the jar that Marquis Qiao suddenly gave him was far beyond that.

He looked towards Qiao Yan, couldn’t help but start to think if he had been too smug just now, leading to Marquis Qiao punishing him.

“Heroes should be matched with strong liquor, any problem with that?” Qiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

That statement didn’t seem wrong.

Lü Bu, recovering from the burning sensation in his throat, felt that only this liquor could match the boldness of the people from Bingzhou.

At most, Marquis Qiao didn’t inform him beforehand, almost making him look foolish.

Little did he know, Qiao Yan was indeed considering, while promoting him to serve her, to appropriately suppress his arrogance to prevent him from getting too cocky.

But just after the battle, it wasn’t the time for any drastic actions, so she just gave him a taste of the strong liquor.

This was indeed a proper strong liquor.

Earlier, the nine-time supplementary fermentation method had been given to the Wang family of Jinyang for optimizing their winery products, and Qiao Yan herself still retained some brewing practices in Leping.

After establishing her independent workshop in the mountains, with enough manpower, some things could be researched.

For example, alcohol.

But before the distillation technology she described reached a certain level, what was produced first was distilled liquor.

With the advent of distilled liquor, sorghum liquor was also arranged.

This crop, introduced via the Silk Road, was only cultivated on a small scale in Bingzhou, but its importance to distilled liquor was undeniable.

This was the strong liquor that now appeared in Lü Bu’s hands.

Qiao Yan sat down on the platform of the drill ground, pointed to the liquor in Lü Bu’s hand and said, “I only left this jar here before leaving Yanmen for the expedition, as a reward for the most outstanding achievement in this battle. Shouldn’t you finish it?”

Only this jar?

Then he would have to grit his teeth and finish it!

But the 70 to 80-degree strong liquor, known as the strongest, naturally had its reasons. Even though Lü Bu prided himself on his ability to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, now he had to be knocked down by a jar of liquor.

Qiao Yan waved her hand, signaling people to carry Lü Bu away.

She then casually pointed to the clerk in the camp and said, “Note down for Lü Fengxian, knocked down by a jar at the victory banquet.”

The drill ground erupted in cheerful laughter again.

If Lü Bu had known this earlier, he probably should have chosen to share the liquor.

However, Qiao Yan didn’t intend to sell sorghum liquor for money, still waiting to continue her experiments with alcohol or strong liquor for disinfection, so besides Lü Bu, there probably wouldn’t be a second person with this treatment for a while.

Qiao Yan had already raised a pot of liquor prepared by Guo Yun, saying to the crowd below, “Everyone, before we set out, I’ll keep it short, same as today.”

“Let’s not return until we’re drunk!”

This statement was indeed brief, but for the soldiers in high spirits for the celebration, it was just the right cue to start.

A month of marching outside the frontier had also wiped away any remaining traces of immaturity from Qiao Yan’s face, increasingly revealing the sharpness in her eyes.

But for these Yanmen soldiers, this sharpness would never make her seem less approachable; on the contrary, it was a mark of their shared expedition.

Not returning until drunk!

The young prefect sitting on the platform raised a jar of liquor, in the gradually darkening sky, only the silhouette of this action could be seen, but in the surrounding bonfire light, she was undoubtedly the most dazzling beam.

“Drink this cup with me!”

This is the glory of victory!

By the time Lü Bu woke up with a splitting headache, it was already noon the next day.

Hearing that Qiao Yan had already galloped back to the prefecture, he immediately froze in place.

Fortunately, someone brought him a message from Qiao Yan, telling him to continue sitting in his position as the military officer of Yanmen County, and after she truthfully reported the military merits to Luoyang and received a reply, there would naturally be a change in his position.

Lü Bu immediately sat up.

Upon hearing that the cattle, sheep, and horses seized from the Xianbei were temporarily kept in Baidao Chuan, he became even more spirited.

Marquis Qiao truly does not deceive me!

Regardless of whether he had fully recovered from the drunkenness, he directly picked up the Fangtian Huaji and went to patrol the Great Wall.

Even facing a stretch of overgrown city walls couldn’t dampen his enthusiasm.

Qiao Yan was indeed already drafting the report to be sent to the capital.

But how to write this report still needed some consideration.

Just like when she requested permission to send troops, rounding up the number of people going beyond the frontier, under the premise of maximizing her benefits, this battle report also needed to integrate and alter some information.

For example, the “tribute” she had thought of earlier.

So she wrote in this memorial.

To avoid being detected by Xianbei scouts, she chose to cross the Yinshan Mountains from Baidao Kou, killing the Xianbei noble Fuluohan at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, attaching his head as evidence with the document.

However, on her expedition beyond the frontier, she didn’t have the leisure to bring lime to preserve the head, and although the north was cold, by now, Fuluohan’s head was already somewhat unrecognizable.

But presenting this item was to show Liu Hong her attitude, so it still had to be sent.

She then wrote that the time she spent on the road to the Xianbei royal court far exceeded that spent directly rushing to Saiyin Mountain Ridge.

Of course, in terms of distance, this was indeed the case, but how Liu Hong understood it was another matter.

For example, understanding it as her being lost beyond the frontier for a while, and then slightly embellishing the wording was no problem.

This also reserved time for her next expedition.

The next paragraph mentioned the results of the battle.

Their “ten thousand” troops marched, killing four thousand Xianbei frontline soldiers at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, and causing chaos in the Xianbei royal court before the Duluo River, with about two thousand Xianbei people dying in this battle, among whom the son of the previous Xianbei chieftain fled to Liaodong, and the current chieftain Quidou died after being severely wounded.

With this deterrence, the Xianbei would certainly not dare to invade the frontier this year, ensuring a stable winter. If necessary, she could do this again next year.

[This time, we plundered eight thousand Xianbei cattle and sheep, with five thousand grazing on Baidao Chuan, and a thousand as rewards for the accompanying soldiers.]

Actually, that thousand were already remains, to be used as fertilizer, but Liu Hong didn’t know this. Counting the thousand cattle and sheep grazing at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, the total of eight thousand sounded more impressive.

Otherwise, there might be suspicions about why she only brought these back.

Qiao Yan, holding the brush, looked at the more sharp and forceful characters on the silk before her, feeling even more convinced.

Then she wrote, [In the battle at Saiyin Mountain Ridge, the military officer of Yanmen County, Lü Fengxian, bravely killed the enemy, beheading Fuluohan, and should be heavily rewarded. The Xianbei people trembled at the mere mention of his name, please Your Majesty to allow him to be the commandant of Yunzhong County, setting up defenses at the pass to prevent the barbarians from coming south, appointing him as the general guarding the pass, ensuring the pass is not lost.]

This was her promise to Lü Bu.

Finally, some formalities—

[Your subject can triumphantly return, fortunate to have been entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Your Majesty, attaching a stone inscription, wishing to display Your Majesty’s majestic aura beyond the frontier with the four characters “Imperial Majesty Radiant.”

Your subject respectfully submits this memorial for Your Majesty’s perusal.]

After the last word of this memorial was settled, Qiao Yan sent it by fast horse to the capital, and it soon appeared on Liu Hong’s desk.

“Baidao Chuan…”

Liu Hong muttered this place name mentioned in Qiao Yan’s writing.

With his perception of Bingzhou as a wasteland, he naturally couldn’t imagine how high the grain yield could be if this land were cultivated.

He indeed followed Qiao Yan’s line of thought, “Since we set out from Baidao Kou, why not also set up a defensive stronghold at Baidao Kou, as a warning to the Xianbei.”

If for this reason—

Liu Hong had no reason to refuse her suggestion to set up a pass.

Including the commandant’s position, it was just a reward he could casually approve, nothing too noteworthy.

But not only was there no need to refuse!

After receiving Qiao Yan’s letter, he was definitely more pleased than surprised.

The achievements Qiao Yan reported were indeed not shocking.

Previously, General Wei and General Huo’s battles in the northern deserts, achieving victory in one campaign, followed by General Dou’s inscription at Yanran, Qiao Yan’s actions could only be said to have given the Xianbei a head-on blow, making them dare not rashly invade the frontier.

Even compared to Grand Commandant Duan, Qiao Yan’s actions seemed to lack a bit of ferocity.

But compared to the still unsettled chaos in Liangzhou and Youzhou in the fourth month of Zhongping fifth year, Qiao Yan could even handle internal affairs in Bingzhou while finding time to scatter the Xianbei’s forces, ensuring Bingzhou wouldn’t be invaded this winter, making her, the youngest prefect, even more outstanding in political achievements.

This undoubtedly also declared that his decision last year was indeed without any problems.

Qiao Yan was the most suitable person to take over the position of Bingzhou’s prefect!

As spring flourished, the illness in Liu Hong’s body slightly receded, making him mistakenly think he could live a few more years.

So he first dismissed the idea of quickly appointing a regent for Liu Xie, now even feeling that Qiao Yan, this sharp blade positioned in Bingzhou, now unsheathed against the Xiongnu, was a good sign that he could still be ambitious.

What harm was there in her wanting to build a new city at Baidao Chuan!

He examined this memorial for a long time, as he liked calligraphy, naturally pleased with Qiao Yan’s progress.

Amidst the battles, the frontier’s wind and frost had soaked in, giving this sharpness in the strokes.

Good! This was indeed his trusted minister.

He never realized that the health in the warming days was just a facade, and the truly fatal illness was already lurking in his vitals, beyond cure.

He just ordered the eunuch beside him to grind ink at this moment, picked up the brush, and wrote a reply edict.

This edict arrived in Jinyang a few days later.

Within a month of Qiao Yan leaving Bingzhou, as many affairs had already been planned in winter, and with many truly talented officials in the prefecture handling political affairs, everything proceeded as usual.

Perhaps the only unusual thing was, she was the core of the team’s operation, and during her temporary absence, even Jia Xu, who most wanted to laze around in his current position, sensed an unusual atmosphere in the prefecture.

Even he inexplicably felt a bit uncomfortable not receiving Qiao Yan’s assignments for a month.

Fortunately, this Bingzhou prefect who personally went on the expedition returned safely, and although no overly sentimental words were spoken in the prefecture, the concern for her was reflected in every action.

What moved Qiao Yan the most was that Cheng Yu was indeed a model for handling logistics affairs, having almost cleared everything for her except for the prefecture and county officials’ memorials that required her approval.

Before the imperial envoy arrived in Bingzhou to announce the decree, Qiao Yan even found time to visit the fields again, ensuring that the improvements in fertilizers and farming tools had indeed brought tangible changes to Bingzhou’s agriculture.

This time, it was still Bi Lan who came to announce the decree.

Seeing Qiao Yan being invited back to the prefecture with some grass still in her hair, he couldn’t help but think of the dragon bone waterwheel she had asked him to develop earlier, showing a slight smile.

This Marquis Qiao… was indeed somewhat unusual.

But her obtaining the position of Marquis of Leping the last time he announced a decree, and now receiving an imperial decree, was by no means a coincidence.

Thinking that Qiao Yan was now considered a trusted minister in Liu Hong’s perception, Bi Lan also showed a friendly expression towards her, then began to read.

“Bingzhou Prefect Qiao Yan, hear the decree—”

This sudden decree was completely unexpected by Qiao Yan.

She originally thought she only needed to get a reply of approval from Liu Hong, never expecting that even the military achievements she thought were underreported were the only good news Liu Hong had received this year.

Because of this, he also had to give an external commendation.

A commendation that wasn’t over the top but was weighty enough.

“Responding to heaven and following the times, receiving this mandate”

“Zhongping fifth year, fourth month, seventh day… decree to Bingzhou Prefect Qiao Yan.”

“Considering your external invasions and internal humiliations, participating in battles, attacking the barbarians, the heavenly banner high, majesty added to the distant regions, the purple palace’s dragon scales flying, light flowing to the frontier, though young still possessing military ambition, with insufficient troops yet sweeping away the felt-tent demons, hoping you will sincerely administer politics, eliminate external difficulties, specially appoint you as General Tiao Lu, respect this!”

Qiao Yan looked up, her expression full of surprise.

A general’s title!

Even though it’s a miscellaneous general, with the four directions, four expeditions, and four garrisons generals above, in a time when general titles weren’t yet rampant, this was indeed a rare honor!