Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 6: The Tiger’s Roar in Two Provinces, the Silk Road Reopens Chapter 169: The Emperor’s Favor

This letter is strikingly similar to the one Xi Zhicai sent to Yingchuan three years ago.

The tone in the words is almost identical.

However—

Given Qiao Yan’s current busy state with the annexation of Liangzhou, it seems unnecessary for her to write such a letter just to show off.

Guo Jia pondered the meaning and said, “I think the Marquis wrote this letter in one go during a banquet, to make some people think she was very satisfied with the reception.”

Would Qiao Yan not know that Liangzhou no longer has night markets? Of course not.

With her authority, it’s easy to guess that the local gentry would go out of their way to please her.

The surprise at seeing fine wine and fat lambs in the letter seems a bit forced.

It rather reminds one of another letter.

The implication is clear.

After some deliberation, Xi Zhicai said, “You should temporarily hand over your tasks to Prefect Cui, preferably overloading him so much that when he’s truly overwhelmed, he’ll have to call his son, who can handle small tasks but flees from big ones, to Bingzhou. You take some people and head to Liangzhou.”

Cui Lie was originally sent by Liu Hong to Bingzhou to “educate” Qiao Yan and also to vacate the position of one of the Three Excellencies. However, within two years, because Qiao Yan took the position of Governor of Bingzhou, he was demoted from Governor to Prefect.

To be honest, this Prefect position doesn’t hold much real power.

Fortunately, Cui Lie’s personality is such that he doesn’t mind, otherwise, Qiao Yan would have long dismissed him. Instead, he’s been living a carefree life in Bingzhou, eating and drinking happily, unaffected even by Liu Hong’s death and the existence of two Emperors.

Having him here is undoubtedly beneficial for Qiao Yan.

Cui Lie is both a minister appointed by the late Emperor and a renowned scholar from Hebei.

Having such a person in the position of Prefect is a statement of attitude.

Comparing him to Han Fu, who was stripped of military power, it further enhances Qiao Yan’s image.

The implication is that both Cui Lie and Han Fu were sent by the late Emperor to Ji Province, but one is still serving as Prefect while the other is now a prisoner. The former has never complained about Qiao Yan, indicating that the main issue lies with Han Fu, not Qiao Yan.

But with the current shortage of civil officials, Cui Lie can’t just be a symbol; he must be put to use.

After comparing the experiences of those who accompanied Qiao Yan to Liangzhou, enjoying feasts, while he was here secretly enjoying pine wine and self-indulgence, Xi Zhicai felt even more that Cui Lie shouldn’t have it so easy!

Despite what he told Guo Jia about just two provinces, when he took over Cheng Yu’s responsibilities and guarded the rear, he really felt a bit of a headache.

This was even with Lu Yuan and Qin Yu taking on a significant portion of the work.

Now, in Qiao Yan’s letter, she wants someone to cooperate with her to exploit the Liangzhou gentry, especially those in Wuwei Commandery. With Jia Xu, the local old fox, already in Chang’an as a spy, another person is needed.

Xun You, already in Liangzhou, excels in military strategy, so this task should go to Guo Jia.

To take over Guo Jia’s current tasks, Cui Lie and Zhang Liao, one civil and one military, are just right.

But Cui Lie’s courage isn’t that strong, and showing fear in front of the Xianbei would be bad. Instead, his second son, Cui Jun Cui Zouping, is quite a figure. This is a good opportunity to see if he can be recruited to Bingzhou.

Cui Jun had already been recommended for filial piety and integrity and entered officialdom, but with Dong Zhuo’s misrule and two Emperors, he hadn’t been assigned any duties. Xi Zhicai thought that perhaps he was waiting to see how things would develop and had returned to Anping, where the Cui family resided, hence not serving under Yuan Shao.

Rather than leaving him idle, it’s better to have him help his father here.

Isn’t this a manifestation of Han Dynasty filial piety?

After finishing his calculations, Xi Zhicai asked Guo Jia, “I remember you mentioned last month that Wenruo has thoughts of entering officialdom. Any new news from him?”

Given his and Guo Jia’s friendship with Xun Yu, it doesn’t matter to whom Xun Yu sends letters. But after Qiao Yan’s expedition to Liangzhou, Xi Zhicai had no free time, so last month Xun Yu’s letter went directly to Guo Jia.

That letter vaguely hinted at his intention to leave Yingchuan.

This isn’t surprising.

After all, Xun Yu was praised by He Yong as having the talent to assist a king. At his current age and with his knowledge, he should have long found a place to realize his ambitions. Unfortunately, first due to the Prohibition of Factionalists when eunuchs were in power, and then due to Dong Zhuo’s usurpation, he was delayed.

Waiting longer would be inappropriate.

However, Xi Zhicai’s inquiry wasn’t hoping Xun Yu would come to work like Cui Jun; it was just routine concern for a friend.

He knew well that Xun Yu wouldn’t come to Qiao Yan for now.

Given the Yingchuan Xun family’s status in scholarly circles, sending Xun You as a strategist was already quite unusual, a necessary expense for rescuing the Emperor. But sending Xun Yu, who has hopes of internal governance, is out of the question.

Unless Qiao Yan had already removed Dong Zhuo and was supporting Emperor Liu Xie.

Knowing Qiao Yan’s ambitions, Xi Zhicai, though eager to promote his boss, also knew that rescuing Liu Xie wasn’t as advantageous for Qiao Yan as the current situation where Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao each held an Emperor.

So, he could only ask about Xun Yu’s plans.

Guo Jia replied, “He hasn’t decided yet. Chang’an is out of the question, but Ye City… Governor Liu’s trip to Liangzhou, with Xun Yu’s insight, he wouldn’t fail to see that it was pushed by Yuan Shao’s side, so he’s even less likely to go there. From his letter, it seems he wants to travel around the provinces first, currently in Xuzhou. I specifically wrote back to remind him not to follow Chen Yuanlong of Xia Pi’s fondness for raw fish, and that’s all.”

In Xuzhou, it’s not just Chen Deng who enjoys raw fish; Mi Zhu from Xuzhou also brought a portion of fresh raw fish when he came to give Qiao Yan gifts last year.

But Mi Zhu brought sea fish, while Chen Deng prefers river fish. This difference was explained by Wu Pu in Bingzhou, invited by Qiao Yan, and published in this year’s Leping Monthly Report, which Guo Jia sent along with the letter to Xun Yu.

With Xun Yu’s family background, he’s unlikely to face any danger in Xuzhou, which is why Guo Jia said “that’s all.”

However, if we must say, Xun Yu also mentioned in his letter that his neighbor in Xuzhou is the younger brother of the former Assistant Governor of Taishan Commandery, Liu Biao’s former subordinate, Zhuge Xuan, who resigned to go to Xuzhou to care for his brother Zhuge Gui’s widow and children, keeping him company.

Zhuge Gui passed away last year, and Xun Yu didn’t know him personally.

But his three sons, Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Jun, all show remarkable intelligence, and he was pleased to see them, praising them a few times. Especially the second son, Zhuge Liang.








At such a young age, his speech was already quite remarkable.

Guo Jia, in his reply, jokingly suggested that if that were the case, Wenruo might as well teach him a thing or two in his spare time.

Sending the Leping Monthly Report wasn’t just a reminder to be cautious with raw fish; it also served as reading material for Xun Yu’s neighbor.

However, there were quite a few students around ten years old in Leping Academy, and Guo Jia didn’t pay much attention to this matter.

After handing over his duties to Cui Lie, who gave him a bewildered look at the sudden overtime, Guo Jia led a team to Liangzhou.

He wasn’t going alone.

Due to the land reclamation project in the Lu River area of Wuwei Commandery in Liangzhou, he recruited several officers from Qin Yu, brought along Jia Xu’s eldest son Jia Mu, and even took Bi Lan, who had improved the waterwheel during his time in Bingzhou, before setting off.

This was also the intention of Qiao Yan’s letter that arrived in Bingzhou in August.

Although the previous letter’s riddle was deciphered by Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia, as a superior, she still needed to issue clear instructions.

The two letters arrived within a day of each other.

The latter letter mentioned that Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia should decide who would go to Liangzhou to assist, and the one who went must bring along strategies to deal with the powerful families of Wuwei.

Meanwhile, Qiao Yan herself was not idle.

As the representative of the powerful families of Wuwei, Yan Jun led her around various parts of Wuwei Commandery for over half a month.

This was exactly what Qiao Yan wanted.

By the time Guo Jia arrived in Guzang, Qiao Yan had already made a round trip to Xiutuze and had delineated the areas for land reclamation.

On the surface, Qiao Yan was planning to cultivate undeveloped wasteland along the river.

These lands had fallen into disuse due to a lack of manpower in Wuwei Commandery and did not conflict with the interests of the local powerful families.

However, anyone seeing a group of elite soldiers running around nearby would find it hard to remain calm.

If Qiao Yan hadn’t made any demands, the powerful families of Wuwei might have even considered giving up some land to avoid disaster.

But saying such a thing would put them at a disadvantage, so they just tightened their defenses and formed alliances.

This made Qiao Yan even more certain that getting these people to hand over their caravans or those familiar with the Western Regions’ terrain would not be easy.

She couldn’t reveal her need for trade with the Western Regions to them first.

Giving them bargaining chips would not benefit her strategy to control the Four Commanderies of Hexi, which made up more than half of Liangzhou.

Since the situation wasn’t urgent, she decided to proceed step by step with the land reclamation and pacification of the people.

Guo Jia was also interesting; he came to Wuwei from Bingzhou via two routes.

One route was by boat, upstream from Shuofang Commandery to the Zhan Crossing in Wuwei Commandery, then over the Wushao Ridge to Guzang.

The other route was through the grasslands between Shuofang and Wuwei Commandery to Xiutuze, then along the Lu River.

He took the latter route himself, while Bi Lan and others took the former.

This was a smart decision.

It meant that Qiao Yan’s control over Shuofang Commandery was flawless, allowing her to connect the Four Commanderies of Hexi with Bingzhou at any time, shortening the distance for reinforcements from Bingzhou to Wuwei, and making it impossible to predict her route.

Moreover—

This was also a way to intimidate the Xianbei people on the grasslands again.

Guo Jia said, “Although the Xianbei, due to interests and military deterrence, dare not invade Bingzhou for now, only when the lord’s power grows stronger will Budugen become more cautious. Always relying on surprise attacks on the Xianbei royal court would scare them away, so I asked him to escort me for a while.”

This so-called escort was actually a way for Budugen to see the armed might of another Bingzhou army.

Hearing the news from Guo Jia made Budugen think that rather than clashing with this strong-willed governor of Bingzhou, it was better to continue submitting to her.

The brutal suppression of the Qiang people in Liangzhou and the execution of the rebel Han Sui made Budugen see more clearly the consequences of opposing Qiao Yan.

After all, the tribute of cattle and sheep he offered didn’t result in much loss and even secured a place for some of his people to spend the winter, so he didn’t need to repeat the winter raids of previous years.

To this end, he even cooperated with Guo Jia’s plan to drive this year’s “final payment” of cattle and sheep from Shuofang Commandery to the border of Wuwei Commandery before turning back.

This scene undoubtedly gave the powerful families of Wuwei and the local Lu River Qiang people a second round of shock.

The Xianbei, who had attacked Jiuquan just a few years ago, had now become like this!

They were practically cattle and sheep producers!

“This is one answer you’ve provided,” Qiao Yan quite appreciated Guo Jia’s tactic of using strength against strength and then asked, “But mere fear and recognition of the power gap are not enough for my current goals. I need them to sincerely work for me for at least two years in opening up the Western Regions.”

Her military strength was limited and not suitable for overly expansive ventures.

Guo Jia was well aware of this and had already considered it on his way to Liangzhou, so he replied without hesitation, “This will require the lord to expose some weaknesses, ones that fit the current situation.”

Qiao Yan looked at him, seeing his confident expression, and couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I’ll let you try.”

Guo Jia’s arrival in Wuwei as Qiao Yan’s officer was no small matter.

Given his role in overseeing Qiao Yan’s dealings with the Xianbei and Hu people, his high status was self-evident.

That made it an even bigger deal!

Yan Jun had already received a signal from Qiao Yan—business is easier over drinks—so when Qiao Yan returned to Gaoping City for business, he specially invited Guo Jia to a meal.

However, he didn’t expect that the perfectly cooked fatty lamb he was so proud of would receive a particularly sharp critique from Guo Jia.

“It’s not that I dislike your dish,” the young man twirled his wine pot and frowned, “You know, when my lord was in Bingzhou, she named a pork dish ‘Dongpo Meat,’ using rock sugar, or shimi, to remove the gaminess and enhance the flavor. The lord has a sweet tooth, and it’s become quite a trend.”

“As they say, the preferences of the superior are exaggerated by the subordinates. If you can’t even figure out preferences, no wonder the lord only treats you with superficial courtesy.”

Yan Jun was shocked.

But upon reflection, it made sense. Qiao Yan’s preference for grape wine was clearly greater than for roasted lamb, likely because of its sweetness.

Perhaps it wasn’t just because it was more expensive.

Shimi…

Only shimi from Yizhou and the Western Regions, i.e., Persia, could be considered top quality.

Since Liu Yan became the governor of Yizhou, few goods have flowed out, especially luxury items like honey that only the nobility could afford.

So, he should try importing some from the Western Regions?