“Can a strategist really not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 149: The Conclusion of the Wuzhu Coin
Qiao Yan gently rubbed the surface of a coin with her fingertips.
The faint bulge on it was likely not from the minting mold but rather the design of the words “Wuzhu,” probably due to some irregularities during production.
During the late Han period, coin-making technology varied among factions, leading to unclear inscriptions when casting coins.
Just like how truly local coins were rare in the tombs excavated in Eastern Wu—
Clearly, Dong Zhuo, with all his power, wasn’t exactly a whiz at coin minting!
Anyone in Dong Zhuo’s position should know that economics are deeply tied to people’s livelihoods and shouldn’t be toyed with.
The troubles caused by the issuance of small coins hardly need elaboration!
Though standard Wuzhu coins have variants like the purple coins due to differences in local copper mines, issuing Wuzhu coins is ultimately a way to regulate the currency system and reduce private coin minting.
But these inferior small coins, once flooded into the market, could be traded for the real, heavier Wuzhu coins by force, leading to a dire situation in Chang’an, even if it wasn’t pillaged by Dong Zhuo. Sooner or later, the debasement of these coins and skyrocketing prices would result in horrific inflation.
Qiao Yan felt relieved that Dong Zhuo’s move provided her yet another reason for admonishment, but she couldn’t help worrying about the situation in Chang’an.
With Lu Zhi’s staunch character, if it weren’t for the reason of protecting Liu Xie’s life, he wouldn’t lower himself to serve Dong.
But now, the hardships faced by the people were likely to provoke him into protest.
Dong Zhuo still needed the presence of folks like Lu Zhi to assert that Liu Xie was the true heir of the Han dynasty. Who knows what tomorrow might bring?
“Are you worried about the safety of Lu Zhi and the others, and what Ye City’s response will be to the news of the small coin minting?” Xi Zhicai asked.
“Not entirely,” Qiao Yan shook her head. “Worrying about the former is pointless; as for the latter… Dong Zhuo minting small coins in the name of the Son of Heaven will initially allow him to hoard wealth, but ultimately, it’s a tyranny. Ye City just needs to stick to its approach to win.”
Yuan Shao, having been appointed as the governor of Qingzhou and tasked with guarding the emperor in Ye City, had gathered a solid group of strategists.
In the early days of starting out, these folks weren’t yet at the stage of vying for credit; they could still provide sound advice.
If Yuan Shao suggested Liu Bian create a new currency system due to insufficient supplies, it’s likely he’d be dissuaded.
She continued, “I was thinking, Dong Zhuo’s small coins essentially tell the public that whoever holds military power can acquire more copper for coin minting. It’s not just Guanzhong; the citizens of the realm will inevitably find the currency untrustworthy. Once there are more wars or natural disasters…”
Xi Zhicai’s expression turned serious as he interjected, “Items like cloth, salt, and grain will become bartering chips.”
“We need to prepare early!”
Qiao Yan stood up and paced around the room, finally stopping to say, “Silk can redeem lives, equivalent to gold, a rule established ages ago. But if the bartering trend truly takes hold, we’ll inevitably see the issue of inferior goods being passed as quality, leading to chaos.”
For example, during the Cao Wei period, wet cloth was mixed with dry, and inferior millet found its way into good rice. Even the strictest laws couldn’t completely quench people’s speculative instincts.
And with the implications of Dong Zhuo’s small coins being as valuable as a thousand pieces of grain starting to spread, even Cao Wei’s successors struggled to reinstate Wuzhu coins, let alone fix all the flaws.
Thus, the earlier a regulation system is established, the better.
Dong Zhuo’s small coins alerted her that it was time to seek out talents in economics to ensure that Bingzhou could maintain a proper economic system alongside the development of livelihoods. For now, she had to set a basic standard.
“What does Qiao Yan mean?”
Qiao Yan replied firmly, “I want the minting officials of Bingzhou to come see me. Regardless of how the battlefield unfolds, our minted coins cannot have any shortcuts. Additionally, we must inform the populace that we’ll still adhere to the Wuzhu coin practice. If any inferior minted coins are found…”
“We pursue accountability to the end!”
The phrase “pursue accountability to the end” dripped with determination coming from her mouth, enough for Xi Zhicai to recognize this was Qiao Yan’s bottom line.
Xi Zhicai pondered for a moment and suggested, “In that case, why not leverage the late emperor’s legacy as a reason?”
If Emperor Ling knew from beyond, he’d probably be furious enough to rise from the dead.
His two sons had fallen into such a state, and now Qiao Yan intended to use the late emperor’s edict to justify taking over Liangzhou, while also invoking his name to maintain the Wuzhu coin system.
Who ever thought such absurd circumstances existed in the realm?
But since he was dead and the edict was her own, he could only serve as a mere screen.
Clearly, Qiao Yan didn’t care about the feelings of this deceased emperor. She merely followed Xi Zhicai’s suggestion.
Upholding the Han dynasty’s legitimacy, refusing Dong Zhuo’s small coins, and firmly using Wuzhu coins—this reason was utterly straightforward.
With Qiao Yan’s reputation in Bingzhou, even she made such statements. Barring specific trades, like those involving resources exchanged with the Donghai Mi Clan, common transactions should ideally stick to the Wuzhu coin category.
Of course, this didn’t mean Qiao Yan was free of challenges.
Given the production capacity of the Han dynasty, copper mining was quite limited. If Bingzhou was merely for everyday circulation, the current amount of copper for coin minting could suffice, but should wars break out, there’d be an urgent need for strategic purchases, and this amount would fall short.
Some materials weren’t suitable for civilians to sell off after production surplus but needed to be controlled and purchased uniformly by the provincial government.
This meant the province needed funds.
So she also had to tackle the copper mining issue.
After Xi Zhicai left, her gaze fell onto the map of the ten provinces of the Han dynasty spread out before her.
The northernmost line of Bingzhou, an area that later became Inner Mongolia, had copper deposits, but this wasn’t the most developed area for copper resources.
The Northwestern borders of Gansu, Xinjiang, Tibet, and the southwestern edges of Yunnan were where the real treasures lay!
The former were barren lands that Liangzhou and the Han still hadn’t reclaimed, while the latter fell under the jurisdiction of Yizhou.
However, there was only one place Qiao Yan could bring under her control right now—
Liangzhou!
Far away in Jincheng, Ma Teng and Han Sui were strategizing how to deal with the impending conflict, unaware that yet another resource from Liangzhou had ignited Qiao Yan’s determination to unleash a thunderous assault.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shao in Ye City had no idea that Qiao Yan had once again publicly expressed her condemnation of Dong Zhuo, and this was by no means an indication of shifting her support to Liu Bian’s side.
Before the messenger reached Chang’an and came back to Bingzhou, Qu Yi had already reported the news to Qiao Yan after going to Ye City to deliver gifts.
Though Yuan Shao had already received the message about Han Fu being detained by Qiao Yan, he still had a glimmer of hope and tried to win over Qu Yi, subtly dropping hints that if he threw in his lot with the Son of Heaven, he’d at least not be just a junior officer under a general in Bingzhou.
Now that Han Fu was in Qiao Yan’s grasp, Qu Yi could only play the role of delivering meager gifts, so why not jump ship to the brighter side?
No wonder Yuan Shao didn’t think Qu Yi had already been snagged by Qiao Yan.
Giving away his reading notes as a New Year’s tribute for an emperor, while not completely outrageous, might still rub the Son of Heaven the wrong way.
If this newly crowned emperor wanted to express his displeasure with the gift, he might not directly blame Qiao Yan for the whole situation with the cavalry general, but it was highly likely he’d punish the guy who brought the gift.
“Yuan Qingzhou thinks if it were truly a good gig, it wouldn’t land in my lap,” Qu Yi relayed the situation to Qiao Yan, who then asked, “So what’s your take?”
What was he thinking?
The assertive nature of the Liangzhou people was highly evident in Qu Yi.
On his way to Ye City, he thought that even if the new capital just got set up, there might be some basic decorum, but since the imperial city moved there, it should look second only to Luoyang.
But surprise, surprise, that Ye City royal capital was nothing like the lively Luoyang he had seen, and compared to Jinyang, it had lost a bit of its vibrancy.
And then he saw the emperor’s close guards and felt utterly ridiculous.
This was hardly a serious guard; it looked like a bunch of noble kids who accompanied Liu Bian moving to Ye had thrown together a little amuse-bouche!
With a couple of old, weak soldiers it was just laughable; there was no militaristic aura of a royal army here.
Seeing all this, Qu Yi thought Yuan Qingzhou was a bit off the mark.
But then again, his thoughts were slightly disrespectful to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao was trying to regain his worth with the Son of Heaven by leveraging the emperor’s righteous cause to redeem the losses faced during the fight against Dong Zhuo, rather than actually wanting Liu Bian to have a power cavalry roaming through Ye.
There was no way he’d let Liu Bian command real elites; they had already been dispatched under the pretense of tackling the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou, far away from Ye.
But Yuan Shao keeping his cards close only strengthened Qu Yi’s resolve to throw in with Qiao Yan.
After Qiao Yan asked that question, he knelt down without hesitation, saying, “If Lady Qiao doesn’t mind, Qu Yi is happy to serve you!”
And he truly had the means to back it up.
A branch of the Qu family had been living in Jincheng, occupied by Han Sui, for generations, so if it came to battle in Liangzhou, Qu Yi was undoubtedly a solid general.
His ties with Han Fu had likely already been torn asunder when Qiao Yan forced Qu Yi to join in the fight against Dong Zhuo.
Qiao Yan wasn’t scared of her subordinates cozying up to her because of the ol’ “climbing the social ladder” thought; take Lü Bu for example—he wasn’t really different in that regard. It was just that Qiao Yan’s strong presence and the juicy perks she offered made it feel like a donkey being dangled a carrot to keep moving forward.
Once she formally set her sights on Liangzhou, it was foreseeable that folks like Lü Bu and Qu Yi wouldn’t be alone in their eagerness.
That’s the unique flair of Liangzhou and Bingzhou!
But so what!
A wise lord knows to take advantage of the situation and tie these people to his chariot until they can’t hop off, rather than demanding unwavering loyalty from the get-go.
Qu Yi’s current loyalty gave her enough confidence to change roles in historically famous events—turning someone from one party to another was a direct way to get that sweet achievement for the system she was manipulating.
Qiao Yan reached out and helped Qu Yi up, exclaiming, “Look here!”
As Qu Yi followed her to a back chamber, he saw that a map of Liangzhou had already been spread out on the table, with various flags showing many pokes and prods. Apparently, she had already discussed her military plans for Liangzhou with her advisors for quite some time.
Among them, one prominent flag was firmly placed over Gaoping City in Anding Commandery.
With Qu Yi’s battle knowledge, he couldn’t possibly miss Qiao Yan’s intentions, but it clearly wasn’t the time to discuss this.
“Zhang, the officer, is a defector from Liangzhou and is only tasked with convincing his uncle to surrender if I can defeat Dong Zhuo—let’s hold off on judging him. Under my command, Yan Cai is from Beidi and Mr. Wenhe hails from Wuwei, while Mr. Yuangu is from Wudu and Hanyang. With General Huangfu backing us from Anding Commandery, the only thing missing is someone familiar with the inner workings of Jincheng. If General Qu is willing to serve, it would complete the final piece of the puzzle.”
“Liangzhou’s terrain is complex, and there are numerous Qiang tribes. If we go into battle unprepared, it’ll obliterate the progress Bingzhou has made in recent years.” Qiao Yan pointed at the narrow stretch of land before looking at Qu Yi with an encouraging gaze that made him feel genuinely valued. “Right now, we need to be ready for action.”
Seeing himself as the last missing puzzle piece was quite the honor!
Even knowing that Qiao Yan had previously promised Gai Xun she’d initiate a campaign against Liangzhou this April, at this moment, Qu Yi couldn’t care less about Han Fu.
He should be preparing to take Han Sui’s head instead!
Han Sui, now marked as the target, couldn’t shake off a strange sense of crisis.
But he quickly buried that thought.
Huangfu Song was stationed at Chaonan County, at least six hundred miles away. The battles with the Han army in recent years had likely made them aware that chasing deep into Liangzhou territory, with inadequate supplies, surrounded by Qiang, is a terrifying situation.
Now that Dong Zhuo had the Son of Heaven in Chang’an, he had to rely on Han Sui and Ma Teng as his sturdy shields against the rebels—he wasn’t just escaping his rogue status; he could legitimately call himself a general.
From Chang’an, via Zuo Fengyi to Chao Nan’s mountain pass, he could keep tabs on Huangfu Song’s movements.
So as soon as there’s any movement from Huangfu Song, he’d know.
After all, Huangfu Song was once a Left General, now it was Han Sui, the Left General, sitting tight in Jincheng, while Huangfu Song, the former Left General, became the one getting surrounded—truly a looming disaster for him.
This was just—
A delight for the heart!
And as for the guy from Bingzhou, it goes without saying.
After discussing tactics with Ma Teng, both felt pretty confident and had already begun the celebration; they weren’t caught up in the earlier debate of who was the higher-ranking general anymore. They boldly declared that whoever could crush Huangfu Song’s forces could waltz up to Dong Zhuo to claim the position of General of the Chariots and Cavalry.
Amidst the drunken cheer, Ma Teng raised a toast with Han Sui and said, “Qiao Bingzhou is just a kid; even the Southern Xiongnu have rebels who don’t follow orders, so how can we expect an attack on Liangzhou!”
The antics of Huochuquan from the Southern Xiongnu roaming between Ziwuling and Dongxi were already reported by the Qiang scouts.
They’d probably start farming on the new fields in two months.
Han Sui chuckled, “Exactly! If she can really march into Liangzhou, I’ll gift her this head of mine!”
