“Can a strategist not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 146 – First Secure the Inside
As the saying goes, you don’t let others sleep soundly right next to your own bed, and that’s just how it is.
Previously, she could maintain a “peaceful coexistence” with Han Fu, but that was mainly because Han Fu, the Duliang General, had been bestowed by Liu Hong, so technically, they were on the same team.
As the Governor of Bingzhou, theoretically, she actually needed a Duliang General to help manage the borders.
But Qiao Yan was no ordinary governor.
Even when the frontier faced raids from the Hu people a few years ago, by now, her generals could easily cover all of Bingzhou, making Han Fu nothing more than a decorative piece.
In fact, he could be considered a rather unstable decoration.
As Qiao Yan candidly remarked during a casual chat with Guo Yun, “Back when we were fighting Dong Zhuo, this guy pretended to be sick. Only when Yuan Benchu and the others initiated the Acid Jujube Alliance did he start showing any signs of action. Clearly, he’s not on our side. If he could do something like that yesterday, who knows what he’ll do tomorrow after Yuan Benchu supports the prince in Ye City?”
So Han Fu had to go!
But for the sake of high principles, Qiao Yan could only put a “Governor out of town, likely to act out of line” label on him when he showed an inclination to follow Yuan Shao’s orders. She couldn’t just use her military power to execute or expel Han Fu; otherwise, she’d be effectively usurping power under the guise of being a loyal Han official.
However, this wasn’t particularly troublesome for Qiao Yan.
Ever since Xu Shu, the Personnel Officer from Wuyuan, took office and formed a civil-military partnership with Xu Huang stationed at the Yanshan-Guyang defense line, he realized that taking power from Han Fu might not be as complicated as he initially thought.
Qiao Yan had noted that Han Fu was a bit paranoid—not out of malice but more from insecurity, which isn’t a quality someone with his background should typically exhibit.
One could argue that it was his noble backing that led him to be extremely unsure of his own abilities.
That’s the vibe he showed in front of Xu Shu.
Thus, Xu Shu requested to raise temporary troops in Wuyuan.
Being closely related to Qiao Yan and having limited connections with the scholars from Yingchuan, Xu Shu was quite reliable in her eyes. Granting him the authority to raise troops was no issue, and the request happened to come up while she was inspecting the open coal mine.
This inspired her to make a decision.
Why raise troops? Those Xianbei laborers had nowhere to work in the upcoming bitterly cold weather. Qiao Yan didn’t want them eating for free; might as well put them to good use.
Let them go to Wuyuan!
For these Xianbei laborers, whether they dined in Yanmen or Wuyuan made little difference.
They had come to Bingzhou because, during her trip to the Xianbei royal court in March and her life chats with Budugen, she had let slip some information—
The coal mine she traded to Budugen was considered second-rate in Bingzhou, even with a shortage of manpower!
The demand for winter fuel led Budugen not to realize the trap hidden in Qiao Yan’s proposal, and he sent the first batch of Xianbei laborers to Bingzhou, hoping to establish a long-term trade.
Worried that Qiao Yan might mistreat the Xianbei people, Budugen didn’t dare send his most elite members, fearing for their well-being under the governor’s authority.
Ironically, his cautious nature led the Xianbei laborers to become quite disgruntled after two months of work at Yanmen.
Now, with Qiao Yan’s “The weather’s too cold, better not be mining outdoors” advisory, their relocation to Wuyuan just reinforced their earlier feelings.
They didn’t think Qiao Yan was moving them to prevent any potential collaboration between them and Budugen on the outside; they simply viewed her as someone capable of managing the heavy responsibilities of a state.
The only downside was having to watch more than half of the military rations sent from Suiyuan City to the Duliang General’s camp after arriving at their own camp.
If we divide by headcount, it indeed makes sense, but if these Xianbei could think along those lines—
They would cease being Xianbei, wouldn’t they?
So Han Fu often noticed a pack of wolf-like Xianbei staring daggers at him when he went out.
“What does Qiao Yan mean by this?” Han Fu mumbled upon returning to the camp.
If only one or two Xianbei were unhappy with him as a Han, he could understand that, but if it was every single one?
Han Fu was an easily paranoid guy.
If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have ended up hiding in the restroom to commit suicide out of fear that Yuan Shao wanted him dead.
So now, he couldn’t help but create a sense of crisis for himself.
Qu Yi believed it was unnecessary to overthink things and tried to convince Han Fu, only to receive a nearly accusatory glare from him.
If Han Fu were the type with a violent temper, he should have marched over to Xu Shu to put his Xianbei men in check instead of questioning Qu Yi, “Have you ever heard something so outrageous? Letting Xianbei guard against the Xiongnu?”
Active in the areas outside Guyang Road weren’t just the Xiongnu tribes that had been routed by Qiao Yan, but also the other Xiongnu factions left behind after the Northern Xiongnu’s westward migration.
While the chances of a significant raid on Bingzhou seemed low with Qiao Yan using military might to control the area now, one couldn’t rule out the risk of others, like the Xiongnu tribes, wanting to take a chance like years past.
So defending against the Xiongnu—makes sense.
But using Xianbei to fend off the Xiongnu? Now that’s just wild; who would even suggest such a thing?
Who knows if she’s planning to take him out using those Xiongnu and still shed a few tears about “poor oversight”?
Qu Yi didn’t share Han Fu’s pessimism, responding, “…Maybe Qiao Yan is looking to forge a path no one has ever tread upon before?”
Han Fu was done talking to him.
He felt Qu Yi was aligned with Qiao Yan.
After all, this guy kept getting sent by Qiao Yan to the front lines after she had restricted him due to her gubernatorial authority during their skirmishes.
After returning victorious, Qu Yi had commented on how well Qiao Yan managed her troops; otherwise, they couldn’t have crossed the river with thousands of sheep skins, or advanced on Mengjin’s enemy camp without faltering, and even consolidated their forces rapidly after breaking Luoyang.
Han Fu didn’t want to hear any of that.
Meanwhile, the situation in Han Fu’s Duliang General camp was…
“It doesn’t quite align with his wishes.”
When Qiao Yan had transferred Liang Zhongning earlier, Han Fu pondered if that guy had some hidden talent he hadn’t noticed. But after Qiao Yan snatched a few more Yellow Turban veterans, Han Fu realized it was all part of Qiao Yan digging at his foundation.
The Duliang military camp was short on personnel, and Han Fu needed to come up with a solution.
If you asked the folks in Wuyuan whether they’d join Qiao Bingzhou’s army or Han Duliang’s crew, it seems they wouldn’t hesitate to give you an answer.
What really had Han Fu fuming was Qiao Yan’s improved farming practices spreading to the area around Guyang Pass and the Duliang military camp.
Even if some of those soldiers were there out of debt, many were locals from Bingzhou.
Every day, they saw Bingzhou’s systems in action, making them think their families could finally get a decent meal under the governor’s rule; at least, that was persuasive enough for now.
All Han Fu could hear were these soldiers chatting about how great Qiao Bingzhou was, practically forgetting about their own Duliang general, and constantly comparing him to previous Duliang generals, which really piled on the stress.
And now those Xianbei folks were “eyeing” them, not that they shouted it from the rooftops, but Han Fu felt uneasy enough that he couldn’t sleep at night.
But what could he do?
After all, Qiao Yan could take down Dong Zhuo and was riding high in Bingzhou; if he wanted to say something against Qiao Yan’s actions, it’d be impossible.
If only Han Fu had a little more guts…
Ah, who am I kidding? He’s not that bold.
He wouldn’t even know the whispers he heard were orchestrated by Xu Shu, especially the whole food heading to his camp first before being distributed to the Duliang military camp—Xu Shu had it all figured out.
The more Han Fu thought about it, the more he felt his situation was precarious, so he decided to make a run for it in the dead of night.
He figured if he made it back to Ye City with Yuan Shao’s backing, he could land a decent position instead of being a sidelined general in Duliang, and he’d avoid any life-threatening encounters.
Upon reflection, this dash could be a scapegoat to pin on Qiao Yan and let off some steam.
Who’d have thought, as soon as he hit the borders of Bingzhou and Ji Province, he’d run smack into Qiao Yan’s net waiting for him.
The charge of abandoning his post was hurled right at him.
As for whether it counted as collusion, the folks in Bingzhou had their own judgments.
Either way, whatever crime it was—the military power of Duliang fell right into someone else’s hands.
Just as all this was happening, Gai Xun arrived with Jiang Jiao and some borrowed manpower from the Han Yang Prefect at the boundary between Liangzhou and Bingzhou.
To be fair, if Gai Xun wasn’t wary of potential enemy forces on the way and wanted to keep things low-key, he could have brought even more people.
Even the “Jujiu Qiang” leader, Tian Wu, who they bumped into before entering Beidi County, wanted to at least see Gai Xun safely to the border, as Gai Xun had once treated him well.
After all, to them, Gai Xun was fleeing to Bingzhou, which didn’t clash with their interests.
But Gai Xun weighed his goals and Qiao Yan’s confidence in the invitation and politely turned down Tian Wu’s hospitality.
He brought only his crew, traveled cautiously, visited Huangfu Song’s military camp to touch base with his old friend, and then continued eastward.
By the time he reached the border, the Yellow Earth plateau was already blanketed in snow.
Jiang Jiao draped a heavier cloak over him and, seeing the Wudu Prefect staring blankly at the snow-capped peaks ahead, asked, “Why the hesitation, Prefect?”
Gai Xun’s gaze remained fixed ahead as he replied, “I’m not hesitating over whether choosing Qiao Bingzhou as an ally was right; if that were the case, I wouldn’t have traveled all this way.”
“I’m looking at that.”
He pointed toward the land below the Ziwuling mountains.
They had just come from south of Qingyang, and spread before them was a network of waterways and neatly arranged fields where winter wheat had been sown.
In a region already shaken by various Qiang tribes disrupting the order, such a scene was incredibly rare.
Even Gai Xun, with his keen eyes, could see the farming level here wasn’t shabby at all; it wasn’t something someone whipped up on a whim.
While deep in thought, he spotted over a hundred cavalry charging down the ridge.
Though the wind and snow obscured his view, it didn’t stop Gai Xun from recognizing they weren’t Han cavalry but Xiongnu!
“Prepare for an enemy attack!”
As soon as he shouted that order, the opposing cavalry surged forward, closing the distance rapidly.
In that moment, Gai Xun realized something—based on Xiongnu combat habits, they should have drawn their bows by now, yet they weren’t acting like they intended to engage.
The leader called out from a distance, “Is this Gai Yuangu Gai Taishou?”
As Gai Xun squinted towards them, he suddenly recognized that the lead young general was someone familiar.
When Fu Xie was quietly demoted to the Han Yang Prefect, Fu Gan had followed him; even though four years had passed, Fu Gan hadn’t changed that much, so Gai Xun could still recognize him.
He quickly raised his hand, signaling his men to lower their bows, and shouted back, “It is indeed Gai Xun!”
With that reply, the charging cavalry immediately slowed down.
Gai Xun noticed Fu Gan directing his followers to halt a little further back, just one rider coming toward him — clearly signaling his intentions.
The young general’s stern demeanor in this rush-only-command posture faintly reminded Gai Xun of the past Fu Xie.
Once upon a time, Fu Nanrong’s name resonated in Beidi; now, his son was no less impressive!
He was living up to his father’s former fame!
But Gai Xun couldn’t help but grumble internally about how he ended up associating with the Xiongnu; it definitely looked a bit odd.
As Fu Gan dismounted and approached Gai Xun with a bow, Gai Xun asked him this pressing question.
As Qiao Yan’s guide from Liangzhou, he didn’t need to hide it from Fu Gan.
Fu Gan responded, “The upper county is no longer as desolate as it used to be; it’s hard to say the Qiang won’t cross the Ziwuling mountains, so Lord Qiao has positioned the Southern Xiongnu here to make the people of Liangzhou complacent, believing Lord Qiao needs to handle things in Pingzhou before heading west out of Liangzhou. And—”
“They’re using the Xiongnu as a shield against the Qiang tribes.”
Gai Xun almost thought he misheard.
But Fu Gan didn’t seem to think he’d just said something ridiculous.
He pointed east and said, “Please, Gai Taishou, follow me over the Ziwuling; our lord has been waiting a long time.”
