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“Can strategists really not take the throne?”
Chapter 189: Medical Miracles
Qiao Yan: “……?”
Yang Xiu’s repeated words confirmed to her that she hadn’t misheard earlier.
He really did mention Huang Yueying and Zhuge Liang’s names.
What a stroke of luck this is!
Even with Lu Xun and Guo Huai already in her team of second-generation talents, and an impressive roster of famous scholars and generals under her, suddenly hearing those two names pop up in her Leping Academy felt like a total time warp.
From her perspective, Zhuge Liang should still be in the Langya District of Xuzhou. Unless there were some military shenanigans by Cao Cao, he shouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. Huang Yueying, too, should be with her dad in Jing Province.
Her Leping Academy had only just brought in Zheng Xuan; she definitely hadn’t set up any kind of magnet for talent from across the lands yet!
It’s not exactly easy to get some people to leave their current situation these days, especially for the younger ones.
Parents often have a huge say in where their kids end up over the next few years.
Take Huang Yueying, for instance; she’s the daughter of Cai from Xiangyang, which means her movements are somewhat restricted.
So how on earth did these two end up on her turf?
Just five months ago, Qiao Yan had visited Leping Academy and could swear those two weren’t there.
Yet here they are, showing up out of the blue as the masterminds behind cotton seed separation equipment. What a surprise!
Yang Xiu, unaware of Qiao Yan’s more favorable view toward these two, mistook her slight confusion as ignorance of their identities. He explained:
“Huang Yueying is the daughter of Huang Chengyan from Jing Province, a tinkerer of mechanisms. She admired the crafts of Liu Yuanzhuo while he was in Bingzhou, so she came.”
“As for Zhuge Liang, he was introduced by Xun Wenruo, a friend of Feng Xiaoxian. He’s been at the academy for over three months. Apparently, Feng Xiaoxian has been sending Leping Monthly Report to Xuzhou a lot lately, and Xun Wenruo thought this place would be a good learning ground, encouraging Zhuge Liang to come with his uncle and brother.”
“……” Qiao Yan paused for a moment, then asked: “Where is Xun Wenruo now?”
Another unexpected turn of events.
The statement “Xun Yu introduced Zhuge Liang to the academy in Bingzhou” made sense individually, but together it felt surreal.
And now it was actually happening.
To make it even more bizarre, Zhuge Liang was only eleven at this point, nowhere near the ‘Sleeping Dragon’ status Sima Hui would later assign him, making him look like just another student. Even Guo Jia didn’t think to report that to her.
If this were a few years earlier, when Qiao Yan was still short on talent, she might not have kept such secrets for long.
After all, an eleven-year-old isn’t totally useless; they could certainly juggle learning and working, just like Cai Zhaoji and Yang Xiu did back then.
But now, with virtually no vacancies left in Bingzhou’s personnel positions, and with people like Bi Lan and Guo Yuan’s roles being fabricated by Qiao Yan herself, she had long passed the phase of needing manpower.
No wonder no one thought to mention it to her.
Still, talent has a way of shining through. Even without the recent cotton seed separation issue, Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying would eventually get their chance to shine.
Of course, Qiao Yan did plan to have her people send her monthly lists of who was coming to the academy.
The appearance of eleven-year-old Zhuge Liang here raises a troubling question: would thirteen-year-old Sima Yi also show up one day?
Compared to Zhuge Liang, who remained in Xuzhou, Sima Yi was actually a lot closer being in River North County.
She recalled once using Sima Yi’s longevity to justify her choice to beef up her attributes; if this fellow truly popped up at Leping Academy and started modeling himself after her, her mood might get awfully tricky.
It was hard for her to decide whether or not to recruit someone like Sima Yi.
But right now, much more than worrying about Zhuge Liang, who was firmly in her camp and not going anywhere soon, she was curious about the whereabouts of Xun Yu.
After all, this was Xun Yu we’re talking about…
Xun Wenruo was a complicated guy to read based on his actions and demeanor.
Did he try to dissuade Cao Cao from undertaking the throne of Wei because it was treason against the Han or because he thought it wouldn’t help save the world? Without a clear answer from Xun Yu, Qiao Yan was hesitant to jump to conclusions.
It’s undeniable that Xun Yu, praised as a ‘Talent to Assist a King’ by He Yong, could be pivotal in Qiao Yan’s plans to build a new order, but until they had a formal trial run together, there was no way to be sure.
However, one thing’s for sure: Xun Yu’s own caliber combined with his connections in Yingchuan mean, once he finds the right master, he’s bound to achieve great things.
He truly is the embodiment of ‘Talent to Assist a King.’
So while it was fine if Xun Yu wasn’t inclined to assist her current efforts, she still needed to know where he was headed.
Yang Xiu replied: “I checked with Feng Xiaoxian; he said Xun Wenruo plans to travel around Jing and Yang to check on the situation there.”
Jing and Yang?
Qiao Yan had just momentarily frowned but now relaxed her brow.
Liu Jingsheng from Jing Province had a decent reputation, but his limited capability meant he wouldn’t be Xun Yu’s top choice.
As for Sun Ce, while somewhat impressive, the likelihood of him rallying support for the Emperor or actually saving the world was pretty low. So the chances of Xun Yu making that choice were equally slim.
Nothing to worry about there.
She stood up and said to Yang Xiu: “Let’s take a trip back to Bingzhou.”
Seeing Qiao Yan leaving in a hurry, Yang Xiu hurried to catch up, asking: “Why do you value those two young talents so highly?”
Qiao Yan laughed, replying: “You’re only a few years older than those kids; have some perspective on who the younger generation really is!”
Yang Xiu was only six years older than Zhuge Liang; if you measured psychological ages, Zhuge Liang might even seem older! But out of consideration for the status quo, better to keep that comment to herself.
But she added, “It’s not really about them; it’s about the cotton fields.”
Qiao Yan had never personally grown cotton.
This isn’t exactly a skill one needed back in the modern world.
None of her subordinates had experience in cotton cultivation either.
So, she had to keep an eye on the potential for it to be mishandled.
After all, cotton is a strategic resource important for improving survival rates during winter; paying a little extra attention isn’t asking too much.
In March and April, she needed to ensure there were no backslides in the recently pacified Liangzhou and that spring planting was underway, while also applying pressure on Dong Zhuo, meaning she had to stay put in Liangzhou.
Thus, at that time, she had no choice but to delegate the tasks of land preparation, planting, and transplanting to her subordinates.
But by June, it would be reasonable to pop in and check on things.
It was also right around the seedling period for cotton.
And while she was at it, she might as well sneak a peek at Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying too.
Qiao Yan wouldn’t admit that she was a bit curious about how her butterfly effect had turned out.
In fact, her choice hadn’t been wrong.
When the news of her urgent return to Bingzhou reached Dong Zhuo, communicated via his spies in Liangzhou to Chang’an, the once-ambitious warlord instinctively let out a breath of relief.
Though he didn’t know what was causing Qiao Yan’s distraction in Bingzhou, at least her hasty departure meant she wouldn’t be launching an attack on Chang’an for at least a month or two.
After two months, harvest season would roll around.
This year, with no droughts or locust plagues, the Guanzhong plain was living up to its favorable geography, with lush fields stretching as far as the eye could see.
This undoubtedly gave Dong Zhuo the confidence to stockpile a batch of military rations.
With this supply of food, he was better equipped to control his army to fend off any attacks from Qiao Yan.
But Dong Zhuo’s behavior didn’t escape Li Jue’s notice.
After the council meeting, Li Jue approached Jia Xu once more.
“Wenhe must have already noticed the Chancellor’s attitude. He thinks he can drag Qiao Yan down in Liangzhou and eventually find a chance for a counterattack. But Guanzhong is surrounded by Jing, Yi, Liang, and the four provinces; there are no refugees coming to support us thanks to the Emperor; in the end, we could be the only ones losing people.”
“We can’t just sit around hoping the folks in Chang’an have babies today and then grow up to fight tomorrow, can we?”
Li Jue had a point; in terms of replenishing population, Chang’an was definitely at a disadvantage.
Dong Zhuo likely knew this too.
But as long as he believed he had a route of retreat, his mindset was gradually becoming more complacent.
Jia Xu had suggested several secondary options for retreat in case things went south, but shifting one’s mindset isn’t something that can be easily turned around.
Li Jue declared confidently: “This just goes to show our decision is solid. We need to seize power from the Chancellor. Only by securing a decisive victory can we change the situation.”
He said this while keeping his gaze locked on Jia Xu’s face, noticing a flicker of wistfulness in Jia’s expression.
Which made sense.
Jia Xu had chosen to support Dong Zhuo after much deliberation; getting him to switch allegiance entirely wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
His hesitation before committing to action only made Li Jue believe that Jia’s various strategies were well thought-out results of deep contemplation.
This cautious thoughtfulness would encompass their counterattack plan for Liangzhou after seizing power.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Jia Xu’s expression settled into calmness, as if he’d made up his mind, asking: “How’s your contact with Wang Zishi going?”
Li Jue answered: “What you said was right; Qiao Yan made connections with the Wang clan from Taiyuan during her time in Bingzhou, which isn’t that close with the Wang clan from Qixian.”
Switching the subject wouldn’t even register for Li Jue.
Even though Jia Xu said that, he barely remembered and thought these noble families were a real pain.
Relatively speaking, during his conversations with Wang Yun, he suggested—
Letting the Bingzhou governor storm into Chang’an to rescue the Emperor had very limited benefits for Wang Yun and the Wang clan behind him.
So, Wang Yun should collaborate with them instead, and after fending off Qiao Yan, reclaim control over Liangzhou and Bingzhou, then gather strength to restore the Han dynasty.
Now that’s the true path for family restoration.
Li Jue scoffed, “Either way, we’re backing Liu Xie; as long as the end result aligns, it’s all good. He wouldn’t want to see a woman carry out the duty of guarding the Emperor, becoming a leading figure in the court, would he?”
Qiao Yan’s gender wasn’t much of an issue when it came to her achievements in the two provinces.
Even her few subordinates who were aware of her true ambitions hadn’t questioned her due to her accomplishments.
But to her enemies, this certainly became a possible point of attack.
Like Li Jue, who thought about this and presented it while trying to sway Wang Yun.
Since Wang Yun didn’t rebuff his efforts, in Li Jue’s view, this meant his arguments had made an impact.
But in reality, all Wang Yun was thinking was that if Dong Zhuo’s forces descended into chaos while attacking each other, he might stand to gain profit from it, knocking out both sides.
And as for Jia Xu, he had his own entirely different mindset.
Li Jue was caught completely in the dark, believing he would be the one to achieve great things after Dong Zhuo.
Jia Xu thought to himself, well, isn’t this just further proof of a win-win situation?
But he didn’t show any of this scheme-handedness on his face, simply stating: “Make sure you successfully convince him. Have Wang Zishi get a commission letter from the Emperor as an excuse to mobilize. After losing the Imperial Seal, gaining trust will be tough, so using a blood letter will be most convincing. Also, we can’t mobilize troops anytime soon.”
“Why not?” Li Jue hurriedly asked.
To him, Qiao Yan’s departure from Bingzhou felt like the perfect time for an expedition.
With Liangzhou in disarray, if they could plunge in and dismantle the power she’d built there, reconstructing it would likely take at least a year and a half; in that time, he and his allies wouldn’t just sit around, but would effectively expand their dominance.
What’s not to like?
But Jia Xu shook his head…
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“You’re mistaken. If she dares to leave Liangzhou at this time, she must have made preparations. The outcome you desire might not be achieved and could land straight in Liangzhou’s trap. Better to wait until before the autumn harvest.”
“By then, the troops in Liangzhou will be scattered as they prepare for the harvest. A sudden attack while Qiao Yan is still in Liangzhou would be most damaging to her interests.”
Li Jue pondered Jia Xu’s words and found some truth in them.
With a safer plan in mind, he couldn’t be bothered to think too hard.
After Wang Yun delivered Liu Xie’s blood letter asking them to mobilize troops to protect the imperial family, Li Jue felt more and more certain that he had a better than half chance of success.
With this reasoning, he managed to rope in Yan Xing and Fan Chou under his command, boosting his hopes even further.
If it weren’t for Jia Xu and Wang Yun urging him to tone down his smugness, which nearly revealed his intentions, and the fact that Dong Zhuo had fallen ill due to the rising summer heat and hadn’t seen his subordinates for a while, Li Jue might have been caught by Dong Zhuo.
To prevent his own joy from becoming his downfall, Li Jue simply used the excuse of guarding against Qiao Yan’s summer campaign to request a long-term stationing in Gaoling, with regular inspections from Gaoling to Huayin.
Thinking that a few months later, he might turn the tide, Li Jue couldn’t wait for time to fly by.
Then he would charge into Liangzhou, making the governor of Bingzhou, who had driven them out of Luoyang and now flaunted his power in Liangzhou, taste the strength of their Western Liang army!
Unfortunately, it was too difficult to plant spies within the borders of Bingzhou, leaving him in the dark about what was happening there.
He also had no idea that she wasn’t forced back to Bingzhou due to any unexpected complications.
According to Qiao Yan and Yang Xiu, her primary goal was to check on the cotton fields, which wasn’t entirely wrong.
At that moment, she was indeed in the cotton fields of Shangjun with Qin Yu.
This was the first year of cotton planting.
No matter how effective the bone meal fertilizer was, in the previous orders issued to Bingzhou, she had instructed them to plant three feet apart lengthwise and one foot apart crosswise—a rule that was strictly followed.
“Before the lord returns from Liangzhou, the cotton fields in Shangjun have already completed the stage of tilling and loosening the soil,”
Qin Yu reported as he saw Qiao Yan squatting down to check on the cotton seedlings.
This stage of cotton didn’t need much water; the tracks from the soil tilling were very clear before her eyes.
This was to help raise the temperature in the environment and allow warmth to penetrate through the loosened soil.
Honestly, it was Qiao Yan’s first time seeing cotton seedlings in this growth stage.
The seedlings, only half an inch tall, bore three pairs of leaves, with the two lowest leaves spreading flat, showcasing red petioles radiating from the center.
Judging by their growth, they indeed matched the description in the agricultural books of being “wider than high”.
Looking across the other seedlings in the field, they all displayed similarly vibrant growth, their leaves dancing in the wind, bringing a smile to her face.
Except for a few spots where the seedlings were dug out due to disease, the whole cotton field appeared quite orderly.
Qin Yu continued, “In mid-May, there was an outbreak of aphids; luckily, we discovered it in time and followed the method from the agricultural books to use crushed mulberry leaves for irrigation, which worked wonders.”
The original agricultural book was in Qiao Yan’s possession, and she didn’t tell Qin Yu that, compared to mulberry leaves, peanut leaves were actually more effective. Unfortunately, the source of peanuts wasn’t something they could easily acquire in the short term.
After all, she didn’t have coastal territories to develop a fleet for long-distance trade.
But with losses come gains, and both Bingzhou and Liangzhou had their irreplaceable qualities.
Qin Yu added, “At the end of May, we also had a spider mite issue, likely coming from nearby bean seed fields. We dealt with it using mulberry leaves and cow manure.”
Qiao Yan stood up and looked into the distance, feeling that what she was seeing wasn’t just a field of cotton but an array of cotton clothes, causing her to show a knowing smile. “Next, we need to keep an eye on various diseases and the fertilization during the budding stage as the cotton grows taller.”
Qin Yu replied, “I’ll keep an eye on it. Thankfully, with these cultivation methods, if I had to start from scratch figuring it out, I’d probably ruin at least half of them.”
That’s the advantage of having established techniques.
Qiao Yan felt immensely grateful for it.
Although in the deal with the farming system host, the other side held the upper hand, what she paid was merely a jade seal, but what she received in return was the hope of saving thousands of lives.
What’s light and what’s heavy had become crystal clear as the variety of crops increased, and it would undoubtedly prove to be cost-effective as time goes on.
Qiao Yan said to Qin Yu, “But you have to keep an eye on the execution; that’s how we’ve achieved today’s results.”
It was a pity that Xu Shu was still stationed in Wudu, a place tangled in conflicting powers, making it impossible for him to return for a visit.
But Qin Yu was now thriving in his endeavors, leaving him no time for extra greetings to his son.
Anyway, when the cotton is harvested, she will remember to have someone make a cotton garment for her son.
Since the cotton was nurtured by her, it counted as a bit of maternal love in that garment.
Compared to the mutual sabotage of Lü Bu and his daughter, this was still quite heartfelt.
When Qiao Yan arrived at Leping Academy and saw Lü Lingju waiting to greet her, she asked, “I heard your father say you broke a practice dummy at Leping Academy, then arranged it so it looked like nothing was missing?”
The little girl puffed up her cheeks, unhesitatingly revealing her dad’s misstep: “Well, he cheated during exams at the academy too.”
“Ahem…” Qiao Yan chuckled, “When was that?”
Lü Lingju replied, “It was when you last sent him back. He was messing with the cotton seed beds and couldn’t compare with us. He claimed he was better at geography and map-reading after fighting with the lord, so we sent Lu Yi to compete with him.”
As a representative of the fire-setting gang in Jiangdong, Lu Yi was young, but Lü Bu had almost no chance against him in strategic thinking.
Qiao Yan couldn’t help but shed a sympathetic tear for Lü Bu.
No wonder he thought about cheating.
Not that she was encouraging him to do so.
Seeing that Qiao Yan didn’t seem inclined to hold her accountable, Lü Lingju took a step further and asked, “When can I go to the battlefield with you, my lord?”
“Let’s talk about that once you’ve grown taller than the shortest soldier,” Qiao Yan patted her head. “Alright, go get Huang Yueying and Zhuge Liang, and bring their cotton ginning machine model.”
Lü Lingju got a clear answer and dashed off to summon them.
Before long, Qiao Yan saw two kids coming in—one with a bag of cotton, the other with a model cart.
Time is indeed a mysterious thing.
Portrayed as almost a genius in legends and respected for his dedication in history, Zhuge Liang was now barely eleven years old.
Standing before Qiao Yan with Huang Yueying, who was of a similar age, they still somehow looked a bit childish.
However, when Qiao Yan asked them to explain their invention, their articulate manner made it seem as though she was observing two inventors instead of just two children.
“For cotton de-seeding, it really boils down to two methods. One is to manually pick out the seeds, but that method isn’t suited for large-scale operations,” Zhuge Liang explained. “So we prefer the second method. Yueying discovered we could use a comb to directly extract the seeds. If we transition from a comb to a gap roll, we should be able to let the cotton pass through while retaining the seeds.”
Huang Yueying added, “But just that won’t suffice. Some people in the academy, along with Mr. Deheng, have also noticed this. One issue is that the roller speed isn’t uniform, and if it’s too laborious to rotate, it won’t yield effective results.”
“Mr. Deheng solved the first issue by adding another set of wooden brackets at both ends of the iron axle to balance the rotations. As for the latter issue, we’re using a crankshaft.”
Qiao Yan reached out to take a cotton tuft that Huang Yueying handed her. As she fed it into the double shafts of the hand-operated machine, the crankshaft turned the grinding axis, and the cotton fibers were pushed through the gap while the seeds remained on that end.
“So, that just leaves the final problem we face when scaling up,” Huang Yueying said. “That is, how do we more quickly and conveniently feed the cotton into the two shafts to avoid misalignment or snagging fingers during manual input?”
Qiao Yan looked at the serious little girl introducing their invention.
As mentioned in the “Old Records of Xiangyang,” when Huang Chengyan introduced his daughter to Zhuge Liang, he described her as dark-skinned and rather unattractive, only matching Zhuge Liang in talent. Yet, in Qiao Yan’s eyes, that was just Huang Chengyan testing his future son-in-law.
She thought her skin tone was slightly less fair, her hair a bit brown, and her features rather prominent, not resembling the noble ladies of Xiangyang at all.
What mattered more than looks was evidently her talent.
From their presentation, Qiao Yan was convinced Huang Yueying contributed significantly to this cotton de-seeding machine’s invention.
The duo’s performance resembled a modern group project, with both of them brainstorming without anyone slacking off.
Qiao Yan then asked, “What method do you think should be used to achieve that goal?”
Huang Yueying replied, “I think we should set up a push blade to achieve that condition. But then it seems like it wouldn’t be a one-person task, which goes against the initial design intention.”
This aligned with what Ma Jun was currently refining in his optimization proposal.
Qiao Yan reflected and inquired, “Why didn’t you continue collaborating?”
Ma Jun should have extended an invitation to them.
They exchanged glances, and Zhuge Liang responded, “We already borrowed some books from Mr. Deheng to read. We want to try it ourselves first. If we can’t do it, we’ll consult Mr. Deheng.”
“Such ambition!” Qiao Yan clapped and laughed, “Let’s proceed as you plan.”
Observing the performance of these two children, Qiao Yan felt immensely satisfied.
She didn’t see Zhuge Liang’s research on cotton seed separation as a trivial pursuit. If researching something that could save lives was deemed trivial, she wouldn’t have given Bi Lan a position as the water officer.
Zhuge Liang was obviously very clear about his goals and knew the difference between priorities.
As he adapted to the learning environment of the academy, the discussions and topics he participated in would undoubtedly increase.
At that point, he would naturally find a clearer sense of identity.
As for Huang Yueying… perhaps the title of great inventor Huang Yueying would suit her better than being just Zhuge Liang’s wife.
And besides, the total of both their ages didn’t even reach twenty, so no early romance allowed.
Out of some kind of mischievous whim, before Qiao Yan left Leping Academy, she tossed that beast-taming question to Lu Yi and Zhuge Liang again.
As for how others would perceive this matter later, who knew?
She also thoroughly reviewed the recruitment list from the academy over the past few months, ensuring there were no overlooked recruits, before returning to the prefecture, preparing to head to the pigeon training grounds the next day and meet with Xi Zhicai and Lu Yuan, who were staying in Bingzhou, to discuss building an information network.
However, she probably arranged some rather unreliable things for others, and she should expect some returns as well.
The next day, just as she planned to set off for the mountain fortress in Leping, she received news that Hua Tuo had come due to that batch of pepper.
But before Qiao Yan could even welcome Hua Tuo, he had zipped over to her, using his nimble legs, and shot out, “May I inquire about a question, my lord?”
Maybe due to his long-time health practices and the Five Animals Play, when she saw Hua Tuo, Qiao Yan didn’t think he looked all that different.
But calculating it, it had been seven years since they first met.
Qiao Yan was a bit baffled by his abruptness, yet she still replied, “Mr. Yuanhua, feel free to ask.”
Logically, inviting Hua Tuo to Bingzhou meant Qiao Yan needed something from him. But with how Hua Tuo behaved, it seemed like he had another request for Qiao Yan.
After getting the green light, he immediately said, “Two years ago, when I came to Bingzhou for medical treatment for your troops, you were out battling those Xianbei invaders, and we didn’t meet. Today is my chance to see you.”
“If my memory serves me right, seven years ago when I saw you in Ji Province, you had an ailment. Today, not only has that illness disappeared, saying you can wrestle a tiger would not be an exaggeration. May I ask what you regularly eat and what medicine you use?”
Hua Tuo was greatly impressed, not hiding the spark of curious inquiry in his gaze, “That is truly a medical marvel!”
Qiao Yan: “……”
Hold on, how was she supposed to respond to that?
