Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Can’t a strategist ascend the throne? Volume 6: The Two Prefectures Stand Firm, The Silk Road Reopens Chapter 173: Qiang and Han Languages

Belonging to the book:


Can’t a strategist ascend the throne?

Chapter 173: Qiang and Han Languages

Whether this counts as a long-term strategy for the peace and stability of Liangzhou, Liu Yu isn’t quite sure.

But he clearly sees that while Qiao Yan says this is an unreasonable request, she has already made up her mind.

He hears Qiao Yan continue, “The Qiang people in Liangzhou live scattered in many places, but they haven’t fully integrated linguistically with the Han people. Even the Shaodang Qiang, whose habits are very close to our Han people, mostly use their own internal language.”

These Qiang people mostly originate from the areas around Huangzhong and the Great and Small Yugu valleys.

And today, there are still large branches of the Canlang Qiang, Baima Qiang, and Shaodang Qiang living there.

Because the area connects to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Qiang language is actually a branch of Tibetan.

Liu Yu follows Qiao Yan as they continue walking along the field ridges, listening to her say, “I wonder if Liu Youzhou has noticed that in the Liangzhou and Yizhou regions of the Han Dynasty, there are Qiang people, but their languages are different.”

As he listens, Liu Yu can’t help but glance around.

Although the scene before his eyes is mostly deep pits dug for planting mulberry trees, making the outermost circle look riddled with holes, the sight of Han and Qiang people interacting in an educational setting still subconsciously eases his guard.

Liu Yu replies, “I’d like to hear more. But why doesn’t Qiao Bingzhou use local Han people to carry out this policy? In the past, the city of Guzang had a Hu market, so it shouldn’t be hard to find people who understand the Qiang and Hu languages.”

Qiao Yan shakes her head, “There aren’t many of these people. Even when Han Sui raised troops in Jincheng, military orders were passed to the Qiang tribes through their leaders. This means they are still a complete force. If they were to rebel, it would be impossible to persuade even one branch.”

“That’s one reason.”

“As for why I don’t let the Han people of Liangzhou learn the Qiang language, but instead want to trouble the people who came with Liu Youzhou to Liangzhou, it has to do with the differences between the northern and southern Qiang languages I mentioned.”

Qiao Yan leads Liu Yu to stop by a group of Baima Qiang people working.

Since Liu Yu came from Youzhou and has dealt with Hu people, he instinctively listens to the Qiang people’s conversation.

It’s a language different from the Hu people he’s encountered before. He can’t understand what they’re saying, but he suddenly realizes that these people speak in the same pattern as the Qiang people near Gaoping City, “The northern Qiang language has no tones?”

This doesn’t seem to be unique to the Qiang people near Gaoping.

Qiao Yan replies, “Yes, and the language differences among the northern Qiang people are relatively small, only difficult in terms of expression and structure that need to be memorized.”

Hearing this, Liu Yu roughly understands Qiao Yan’s idea.

A language without tones greatly reduces the amount of memory needed. For students who have been taught by Lu Zhi or Xun Shuang and are literate, as long as their memory isn’t bad, it’s indeed possible to quickly memorize it.

These people have been educated and naturally know how to teach the Han language to the Qiang people in reverse.

Of course, theoretically, there is another group of people in Liangzhou who have been exposed to the Qiang people and have some scholarly foundation.

They are the northern aristocratic families.

But when Qiao Yan mentions this option, she says:

“I won’t hide it from Liu Youzhou, these northern aristocratic families have betrayed the trust of the Han Dynasty. At the slightest sign of trouble, many of them rise in arms. Yet, in most cases, to maintain the stability of the various commanderies in Liangzhou, we don’t hold them accountable. Even though many of them are knowledgeable, I don’t trust them to handle the task of teaching the Qiang people.”

Liu Yu nods, “I understand.”

They could easily become leaders of the Qiang people, so if Qiao Yan really wants to promote the integration of the Qiang people, she can’t rely too much on them.

Qiao Yan says, “This is why I chose those scholars and literati as assistants. I trust the character of Lord Lu and Lord Xun, so naturally, I trust their disciples.”

This issue of trust is relative.

In the absence of enough manpower in Bingzhou, she chose the relatively best solution.

These scholars are not local to Liangzhou, giving Qiao Yan another reason to use them.

But Qiao Yan doesn’t need to voice this consideration, she just changes the subject, saying, “Of course, I’m not making them work for free.”

Even though the northern Qiang language has no tones, it has a rich… in modern terms, it should be called “complex consonant endings,” and its grammatical expressions are relatively complex.

Why should she make these people study hard to learn the Qiang language and then endure the uncivilized nature of the Qiang people to teach them Chinese?

Just saying that this move is beneficial for maintaining peace in Liangzhou and considering the lives of Lu Zhi and Xun Shuang is probably not enough.

Letting them become officials in Liangzhou after the task is done is even less likely.

For military generals, the positions in Liangzhou are already high-risk, as has been established over the years. If it weren’t for this, Fu Xie wouldn’t have been “demoted” to the position of Prefect of Hanyang after offending the eunuchs.

Not to mention these literati.

At least for now, compared to the Central Plains, Liangzhou is still in a state of devastation.

To make them work with the same motivation as when they were studying, there needs to be a suitable bait dangled in front of them to make the donkey run faster.

She says, “Liu Youzhou should know that during the earlier turmoil in Luoyang, Lord Xun and I devised a strategy of internal sabotage and external attack. At that time, Lord Xun was in charge of the Lantai in the capital, protecting many classics. While ordering Xun the strategist to assist me in battle, he also sent me a portion of the collected books.”

“The great scholar Cai Bojie is in Bingzhou, and many of his early collections are with me. Even his daughter Cai Zhaoji is skilled in memorization and has transcribed many classics. These collections are recorded on Marquis of Leping paper and stored in the Leping Academy.”

“I feel bad making these scholars work for nothing, so I’ve had some books sent from Bingzhou to the Wuwei Commandery government office, along with a batch of Marquis of Leping paper for copying. If they can complete the day’s teaching tasks, they can come to the government office to copy the books and study. What do you think?”

As Qiao Yan says this, a flash of surprise crosses Liu Yu’s face.

He can see that Qiao Yan isn’t joking.

But this condition—

Not only would the scholars who came with him find it generous, but other scholars in the Central Plains would also be attracted to come!

Not to mention them, even Liu Yu feels for a moment that he wouldn’t mind doing such a thing himself.

It’s just that he’s still concerned about the situation in Youzhou and knows he won’t stay here long.

Liu Yu honestly evaluates, “This is a great move.”

With this move, the unattractive state of Liangzhou will undoubtedly undergo a dramatic change.

What will happen when more Qiang people learn Chinese? Liu Yu dares not make a definitive judgment.








In the end, as Qiao Yan did not do anything out of line, everything she did was to stabilize the borders of the Han Dynasty, ensuring that Liangzhou would not become independent due to the chaos in the central regions.

Thus, Liu Yu could not find any fault with her.

As he had guessed, the news that “learning the Qiang language and then teaching the Qiang people Chinese would grant access to books for reading and copying” had just spread, and the students who came to Liangzhou immediately flocked to the commandery office.

Anyone who saw this would call it enthusiasm.

In fact, not all of them came to Liangzhou out of gratitude for the teaching.

The Han Dynasty’s system of recommending officials based on filial piety and integrity led most people without connections to seek fame and reputation.

So, stopping a tyrannical army from marching out of respect for one’s teacher—could that be considered a beautiful tale?

It certainly could. This is risking one’s life for the sake of a teacher’s grace.

But people weigh their interests, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Even Qiao Yan herself, upon realizing she had traveled to the late Han period, first chose to use the Yellow Turban Rebellion to build a reputation that would benefit her in the future.

Therefore, she would not condemn these people’s choices but decisively assigned them tasks.

In their subtle conversations, she also heard a special piece of news.

“Yuan Qingzhou intends to invite Lord Zheng to Ye City to re-establish the Imperial Academy, but with the nobles from Luoyang and the scholars from Hebei all gathered there, there’s no opportunity for us to stand out. In contrast, Qiao Bingzhou is so generous in giving us the chance to copy books and study, which is not at all as terrifying as we had heard before coming to Liangzhou.”

Qiao Yan was quite curious to hear what her image was in the rumors, wondering how it compared to Ma Chao’s misunderstanding. Unfortunately, the other person in the conversation only replied with “Indeed” and didn’t elaborate further.

However, what caught her attention more was Yuan Shao’s plan to invite Zheng Xuan to Ye City to re-establish the Imperial Academy.

The Imperial Academy…

If he really succeeded in this, it would not be good news for Qiao Yan.

Ye City and Leping are only separated by the Taihang Mountains, which is not an insurmountable barrier for those truly seeking education.

Without interference, in a few years, with Leping Academy at its center and the presence of the Science Academy, she could certainly turn this place into a cultural hub.

Just as Jingxiang became a refuge for scholars due to its relatively peaceful environment during the war, Leping could achieve the same status because of Qiao Yan’s military strength and the presence of the Taihang Mountains.

But the premise for all this is that there must not be an Imperial Academy under the authority of the royal family nearby!

She turned to a nearby attendant and said, “Go and invite Fengxiao (Guo Jia) for me.”

The scheming against the powerful families of the Four Commanderies of Hexi had temporarily come to an end, and Ma Teng and Xu Rong were about to set off for the Western Regions. It was time to give Guo Jia something else to do!

Meanwhile, in Changsha Commandery of Jing Province, rows of soldiers were boarding warships.

The shipbuilding capabilities of the south had not yet undergone the various changes driven by the demands of later naval warfare.

However, the opening of the Maritime Silk Road had brought ship optimizations from Jiaozhou to the broader regions south of the Yangtze River, including Changsha Commandery.

These warships, while sturdy and durable, also had a certain aesthetic appeal, making the scene even more grand.

Sun Jian looked at the fleet before him and the soldiers ready for battle, his eyes filled with ambition.

These were the troops he had trained in Changsha Commandery over the past year!

Strong soldiers and capable generals.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Zu Mao, who had fought alongside him against Dong Zhuo, were all fierce generals who had shared life and death with him!

Among the boarding troops, the most spirited was his eldest son, Sun Ce.

Seeing Zhu Jun come to see him off, he quickly went up to greet him, “General Zhu, you caught a cold the other day, why bother coming out? I’ve already told you, your participation in the campaign against Chang’an is more than enough. As for Liu Biao in Jing Province, I can handle him myself. Besides Bo Fu (Sun Ce) going with me, my wife and children are staying in Changsha, and I need you to look after them.”

“I’m not a general anymore,” Zhu Jun waved his hand. “It’s been seven years since we first met, and you’re still the same as ever.”

Zhu Jun’s “the same as ever” wasn’t entirely complimentary, as he continued, “I often worry about this, but since you can crush the enemy with force, it’s not a big deal. Still, it’s best to be cautious.”

Sun Jian laughed, “General Zhu, don’t worry. Back when we fought the Yellow Turbans in Nanyang, I was the first to climb the walls of Wancheng. The route from Changsha to Nanyang Commandery is one I’ve traveled during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, so I’m very familiar with the area.”

Sun Jian’s words were not without reason.

Jing Province was not unfamiliar territory to him.

The soldiers under his command were all loyal and devoted to him, and after more than a year of preparation, their chances of victory had increased.

Who could defeat such a fierce army?

At least Liu Biao didn’t seem capable of it!

Zhu Jun replied, “Good! Then I’ll wait for news of your victory!”

Sun Jian strode toward the lead ship, his confident and determined demeanor making it clear that he was set on victory.

After boarding, he drew his sword and pointed north, shouting, “Soldiers, follow me into battle! Let’s see what that scoundrel Liu Biao can do to stop us!”

As his words fell, the Changsha army, though not as grand as a fleet stretching for miles, still had the imposing presence of ships spanning the river, and immediately split into two groups.

One group headed north, directly crossing the Yangtze River toward Yunmeng Marsh.

The other group headed east, turning at the junction of the Han River and the Yangtze, maintaining their advance by water.

The summer and autumn seasons were when the Han River swelled, and since these ships were carrying military supplies, they had a shallow draft and could continue sailing, which undoubtedly reduced Sun Jian’s burden of transporting supplies overland.

Thus, he only needed to lead his troops through Yunmeng Marsh and rendezvous with the fleet at Jingling.

Then, the ships would take the water route, and the troops would march overland, following the Han River north, and Xiangyang would not be far!

Liu Biao was no fool and was well aware of Sun Jian’s plans.

Huang Zu, stationed at Jiangxia, first sent small cavalry units to harass Sun Jian’s troops in Yunmeng Marsh, aiming to tire them out, then set up an ambush at Huarong Road, and finally deployed his forces at Jingling to prepare for battle.

According to Sun Jian’s reports, Huang Zu had even laid iron chains across the Han River to block his waterborne advance.

But Sun Jian, as he had told Zhu Jun, was intimately familiar with the terrain. How could he be stopped by Huang Zu’s petty tricks!

Outside Jingling, the army Huang Zu had gathered was scattered and fled upon the first charge of Sun Jian’s vanguard, never even reaching the point of a full-scale battle.

Among the fleeing enemy troops, Sun Jian spotted Huang Zu at a glance.

Without hesitation, he led his troops in pursuit.

If this guy, after repeatedly provoking him, could still escape across the Han River and return to the western commandery of Jiangxia, then he wouldn’t be Sun Jian!