Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 6: Two Provinces Stand Firm, the Silk Road Reopens Chapter 189: Medical Miracle

Qiao Yan: “…?”

Yang Xiu’s repetition confirmed that she hadn’t misheard earlier.

He had indeed mentioned the names of Huang Yueying and Zhuge Liang.

What a stroke of luck!

Even though Qiao Yan had already recruited Lu Xun, Guo Huai, and others into her second-generation team, and had no shortage of renowned scholars and generals from both the north and south, hearing these two names suddenly appear in her Leping Academy gave her an indescribable sense of temporal dislocation.

According to her knowledge, Zhuge Liang should still be in Langya County, Xuzhou. If not for Cao Cao’s invasion of Xuzhou, he wouldn’t have left there anytime soon. As for Huang Yueying, she should be in Jing Province with her father.

Her Leping Academy had just invited Zheng Xuan and hadn’t installed any special magnet to attract talents from all over, right?

In this era, getting people to leave their original environment isn’t that easy.

Especially for the younger ones.

Their parents’ positions largely determine their movements for the next few years.

For example, Huang Yueying’s mother is from the Cai family of Xiangyang, which limits her range of activity.

So, how on earth did these two end up in her territory?

Five months ago, Qiao Yan had returned to Leping Academy once, and she was certain that these two were definitely not there at the time.

But now they suddenly appeared, and as the heroes who designed the cotton seed separation device—what a huge surprise!

Yang Xiu, unaware that Qiao Yan was more thrilled than confused, thought her slightly dazed expression was due to not knowing who these two were, so he explained:

“Huang Yueying is the daughter of Huang Chengyan from Jing Province. She’s fond of mechanical inventions and came here because she admired Liu Yuanzhuo’s ‘Seven Luminaries Calculation,’ as he is in Bingzhou.”

“Zhuge Liang was introduced by Xun Wenruo, a friend of Mr. Guo Jia. He’s been at the academy for over three months. Apparently, Mr. Guo Jia had been sending the Leping Monthly Report to Xuzhou frequently, and Xun Wenruo thought this place was a good place for study, so he encouraged Zhuge Liang to come with his uncle and brother.”

“…” Qiao Yan was silent for a moment before asking, “Where is Xun Wenruo now?”

This was another situation that caught her off guard.

[Xun Yu, introducing Zhuge Liang to Bingzhou’s academy for study.]

Separately, she understood each word, but together, it felt surreal.

Yet, it had actually happened.

Given that Zhuge Liang was only eleven and far from being recognized as the “Sleeping Dragon” by Sima Hui, he didn’t stand out much among the academy students, so even Guo Jia didn’t think to report it to her.

If this had happened a few years ago when Qiao Yan was short on people, it might not have been hidden for so long.

After all, an eleven-year-old could still be useful, just like Cai Zhaoji and Yang Xiu, who studied and worked simultaneously.

But now, with almost no vacancies in Bingzhou’s personnel positions, and positions in Liangzhou like Bi Lan and Guo Yuan being created by Qiao Yan herself, she was no longer in a manpower crisis.

So, it wasn’t surprising that no one mentioned it.

However, gold always shines. Even without the cotton seed separation problem, Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying would have had their chance to stand out.

Of course, Qiao Yan still planned to have the academy’s student list sent to her monthly.

With an eleven-year-old Zhuge Liang appearing here, who’s to say a thirteen-year-old Sima Yi might not show up one day?

Compared to Zhuge Liang, who was originally in Xuzhou, Sima Yi, from Henei County, is even closer to Bingzhou.

Thinking about how she once used Sima Yi’s longevity to explain to the system why she chose to invest in physical attributes, if he really appeared in Leping Academy and saw her as a role model, her feelings would be quite complicated.

For now, she couldn’t decide whether to recruit someone like Sima Yi.

But at this moment, compared to Zhuge Liang, who was already in the academy and wouldn’t leave anytime soon, and the unknown students, Qiao Yan was more concerned about Xun Yu’s whereabouts.

This is Xun Yu we’re talking about…

Xun Wenruo’s life and actions are quite contradictory and complex.

Did he dissuade Cao Cao from becoming the King of Wei because it was treasonous to the Han, or because it wasn’t beneficial for saving the world? Without a clear answer from Xun Yu himself, Qiao Yan wouldn’t jump to conclusions.

Whether Xun Yu, praised by He Yong as a “Talent to Assist a King,” fits Qiao Yan’s vision for a new order is still unknown without proper integration.

However, there’s no denying that Xun Yu’s own abilities, combined with his Yingchuan connections, mean that with the right lord, he could achieve great things.

He is truly a Talent to Assist a King.

So, while Xun Yu not aligning with her in the current situation is acceptable, she still needs to know where he’s headed.

Yang Xiu replied, “I asked Mr. Guo Jia, and he said Xun Wenruo intends to travel around Jing and Yang Provinces to observe the war situation there.”

Jing and Yang?

Qiao Yan’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

Liu Biao of Jing Province has a decent reputation, but his inability to do more than maintain a corner of the realm means he’s unlikely to be Xun Yu’s choice.

As for the somewhat impressive Sun Ce, the likelihood of him supporting the Emperor or saving the world is low, so Xun Yu choosing him is also unlikely.

Thus, there’s no need to worry about him causing trouble.

She stood up and said to Yang Xiu, “Let’s go, back to Bingzhou.”

Seeing Qiao Yan in a hurry, Yang Xiu quickly followed and asked, “My lord, do you value those two youngsters so much?”

Qiao Yan chuckled, “You’re only a few years older than them, and you’re calling them youngsters?”

Yang Xiu is only six years older than Zhuge Liang, and in terms of mental age, Zhuge Liang might even be older. But considering her secretary’s mental state, she decided not to say that.

She added, “It’s not because of them, but because of the cotton fields.”

Qiao Yan has never personally grown cotton.

It’s not a required course for modern people.

None of her subordinates have grown cotton either.

So, there’s a risk of it being poorly cultivated.

After all, it’s a strategic resource that can improve the survival rate of people during winter, so it’s worth the extra effort.

In March and April, she needed to ensure that Liangzhou, which had been pacified last year, remained stable and that spring planting went smoothly. She also needed to pressure Dong Zhuo, so she had to stay in Liangzhou.

At that time, she could only leave the tasks of land reclamation, sowing, and transplanting to her subordinates.

But in June, she could leave to check on things.

This is also the seedling stage for cotton.

And, just incidentally, to take a look at Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying.

Qiao Yan absolutely wouldn’t admit that she was curious about the butterfly effect she had caused.

In fact, her choice wasn’t wrong.

When the news of her urgent return to Bingzhou reached Chang’an through Dong Zhuo’s spies in Liangzhou, the once-ambitious warlord subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he didn’t know what had happened in Bingzhou to distract her at this time, her hurried departure meant she wouldn’t launch an attack on Chang’an for at least a month or two.

After two months, it would be harvest season.

With no drought or locust plague this year, the Guanzhong Plain lived up to its superior geographical conditions, with crops flourishing everywhere.

This undoubtedly gave Dong Zhuo confidence to stockpile military rations.

With this stockpile, he would have more capital to command his army and block Qiao Yan’s advance.

But Dong Zhuo’s behavior didn’t escape Li Jue’s notice.

After the council meeting, Li Jue once again sought out Jia Xu.

“Mr. Jia Xu, you must have seen the Prime Minister’s attitude. He thinks he can wear Qiao Yan down in Liangzhou and eventually find a chance to counterattack. But with Guanzhong surrounded by Jing, Yi, Liang, and Bing Provinces, and no refugees coming to join us because the Emperor is here, we’re the ones who’ll be outnumbered in the end.”

“We can’t expect the people of Chang’an to have a baby today and have it grow up to fighting age by tomorrow, can we?”

Li Jue’s words were crude but not unreasonable. In terms of population replenishment, Chang’an is at a clear disadvantage.

Dong Zhuo might not be unaware of this.

But with the feeling that there’s still a way out, his mindset has increasingly shifted to just getting by.

The two escape routes proposed by Jia Xu in his middle and lower strategies.

This isn’t a mindset that can be easily changed.

Li Jue confidently said, “This only proves our decision is correct. Only by seizing power from the Prime Minister and winning a battle that changes his mind can we alter the current situation.”

As he spoke, his eyes never left Jia Xu’s face, easily noticing a hint of melancholy in Jia Xu’s expression.

It’s understandable.

Jia Xu chose to support Dong Zhuo and offer strategies only after much hesitation. Getting him to completely change his stance isn’t easy.

His hesitation before acting only made Li Jue more convinced that Jia Xu’s plans were the result of deep consideration.

This prudence must also include the plan to counterattack Liangzhou after seizing power.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before he saw Jia Xu’s gaze turn calm, as if he had made a decision, and asked, “How’s your contact with Wang Yun going?”

Li Jue replied, “As you said, sir, Qiao Yan’s connections with the Taiyuan Wang family during her governance in Bingzhou are with the Jinyang Wang family, not the Qixian Wang family.”

If it were up to Li Jue, he wouldn’t care about such distinctions.

Even after Jia Xu mentioned it, he almost didn’t remember and thought these noble families were too troublesome.

Relying on his limited memory, he told Wang Yun during their conversation—

If the Governor of Bingzhou successfully invades Chang’an and rescues the Emperor, the benefits for Wang Yun and his Qixian Wang family would be quite limited.

So, Wang Yun might as well cooperate with them. After repelling Qiao Yan, they could regain control of Liangzhou and Bingzhou, then gather forces from all directions to restore the Han Dynasty.

This is the right path to restore the family.

Li Jue smirked, “After all, we both support Liu Xie, so as long as the end result is the same, it’s fine. He wouldn’t want a woman to achieve the feat of leading troops to protect the Emperor and become the top功臣 in the future court, would he?”

Qiao Yan’s gender isn’t a big deal in the face of her achievements in the two provinces.

Even her subordinates, who know her true ambitions, haven’t questioned her due to her actual performance.

But for her enemies, it’s a potential point of attack.

For example, Li Jue thought so and tried to persuade Wang Yun with this argument.

Since Wang Yun didn’t refute his attempts to win him over, in Li Jue’s understanding, his words had an effect.

But in reality, Wang Yun was thinking that if Dong Zhuo’s forces were to turn on each other, he might be able to profit from it and defeat both.

As for Jia Xu, he was thinking of something entirely different.

Only Li Jue was kept in the dark by both sides, thinking he was the one who would achieve great things after Dong Zhuo.

Jia Xu thought to himself, isn’t this a win-win situation?

But he didn’t show his satisfaction on his face, only saying, “It’s good that the persuasion worked. Have Wang Yun get a letter of appointment from the Emperor for you, as an excuse to mobilize troops. Without the Imperial Seal, it’s hard to gain trust, so a blood-written letter is the most convincing. Also, we can’t launch an attack anytime soon.”

“Why is that?” Li Jue quickly asked.

In his view, Qiao Yan’s departure from Bingzhou was the perfect time to attack.

With the various forces in Liangzhou leaderless, if they could march straight in and destroy the power Qiao Yan had built up in Liangzhou, it would take at least a year or two to rebuild. During that time, Li Jue and his men wouldn’t be idle and could further expand their advantage.

Why not?

But Jia Xu shook his head…








Shaking his head, he replied, “You’re wrong. If she dares to leave Liangzhou at this time, she must be prepared. The result you want may not be achieved, and you might just walk right into a trap set by Liangzhou. It’s better to choose before the autumn harvest.”

“By then, the troops in Liangzhou will be scattered for the harvest preparations. Attacking suddenly while Qiao Yan is in Liangzhou would cause the most damage to her influence there.”

After pondering Jia Xu’s words, Li Jue felt there was indeed some truth to them.

Having a more secure method, he didn’t bother to think too much.

After Wang Yun brought him the blood letter from Liu Xie ordering them to raise troops to protect the emperor, Li Jue became even more confident, feeling he had more than half a chance of success.

When he managed to win over Yan Xing and Fan Chou with this reasoning, his hope increased to seventy or eighty percent.

If it weren’t for Jia Xu and Wang Yun advising him not to appear too smug, which might reveal his intentions, and Dong Zhuo falling ill due to the summer heat, not seeing his subordinates for a while, Li Jue might have been discovered by Dong Zhuo.

To prevent his own joy from turning into tragedy, Li Jue applied to Dong Zhuo to station at Gaoling long-term under the pretext of guarding against Qiao Yan’s summer offensive, and to patrol the area from Gaoling to Huayin.

Thinking that in a few months, the situation would change, Li Jue wished time would pass quickly.

Then he would march straight into Liang and Bing provinces, letting the governor of Bingzhou, who drove them out of Luoyang and flaunted his power in Liangzhou, witness the might of their Xiliang army!

Unfortunately, it was too difficult to plant spies in Bingzhou, leaving him unaware of what was happening there.

He also couldn’t know that she wasn’t forced to return to Bingzhou due to some sudden trouble.

According to Qiao Yan and Yang Xiu, her primary goal was to inspect the cotton fields, which wasn’t entirely wrong.

She was currently in the cotton fields of Shangjun with Qin Yu.

This was the first year of cotton planting.

Regardless of the effect of bone meal fertilizer, she had instructed them to plant with a spacing of three feet between rows and one foot between plants, a rule that was strictly followed.

“Before the Marquis returned from Liangzhou, the cotton fields in Shangjun had already completed the mid-season soil loosening,” Qin Yu reported as Qiao Yan squatted to inspect the cotton seedlings.

At this stage, the cotton didn’t require much watering, and the traces of soil loosening were clearly visible.

This was to allow the rising temperature to penetrate the soil layers.

Honestly, it was Qiao Yan’s first time seeing cotton seedlings at this growth stage.

The half-inch tall seedlings had three pairs of leaves, with red stems spreading from the center of the two bottom leaves.

Their growth seemed to match the “wider than taller” state described in agricultural books.

Looking at the other seedlings in the field, almost all showed vigorous growth similar to the one before Qiao Yan, their leaves waving in the wind, bringing joy to the heart.

Except for a few spots where diseased seedlings had been removed, the entire cotton field looked orderly.

“In mid-May, there was an aphid infestation, but we discovered it in time and followed the agricultural book’s advice, using maple leaf juice to water the plants, which worked wonders,” Qin Yu continued.

The original agricultural book was in Qiao Yan’s hands. She didn’t tell Qin Yu that peanut leaves were even more effective, but considering the origin of peanuts, it wasn’t a crop that could be obtained in the short term.

After all, she didn’t have coastal territory to develop a fleet.

But every loss has its gain, as Bingzhou and Liangzhou had their irreplaceable qualities.

“At the end of May, there was a red spider mite infestation, likely spread from nearby bean fields, which we treated with mulberry leaves and cow urine,” Qin Yu added.

Qiao Yan stood up and looked into the distance, feeling she wasn’t looking at a cotton field but at pieces of cotton clothing. Thinking this, she couldn’t help but smile. “Then the next step is to watch for various diseases and fertilize during the budding stage after the seedlings grow taller.”

“I’ll pay attention,” Qin Yu replied. “Fortunately, with these cultivation methods, if I had to start from scratch, I’d probably ruin half the crop.”

This was the benefit of having mature techniques.

Qiao Yan also felt fortunate.

Although in the deal with the farming system host, the other party held the initiative, what she gave up was just a jade seal, in exchange for the hope of saving thousands of lives.

The weight of this exchange had become increasingly clear with the variety of crops and would prove even more worthwhile over time.

Qiao Yan said to Qin Yu, “But it’s also thanks to you overseeing the execution that we have today’s results.”

It was a bit of a pity that Xu Shu was still stationed in Wudu, a place mixed with three or even four powers, and couldn’t return for a visit.

But Qin Yu was now more immersed in his work and didn’t have extra time to inquire about his son.

Once the cotton was harvested, she would remember to have a cotton coat made for her son.

Since the cotton was cultivated under her watch, the coat would carry a mother’s love.

Compared to the mutual bickering between Lü Bu and his daughter, this was genuine affection.

When Qiao Yan arrived at Leping Academy and met Lü Lingju, who came to greet her, she asked, “I heard from your father that you broke a punching post at Leping Academy and then rearranged the posts to hide the missing one?”

The little girl puffed her cheeks and didn’t hesitate to expose her father’s shortcoming: “Then he cheated on an exam at the academy.”

“Ahem…” Qiao Yan laughed, “When was this?”

Lü Lingju replied, “When you last had him return, he couldn’t compete with us in cotton seedling beds, saying he was better at military geography due to recent campaigns with you, so we pitted him against Lu Yi.”

As a representative of the Jiangdong fire-starting team, Lu Yi, though young, was far superior to Lü Bu in using brains for warfare.

Qiao Yan couldn’t help but shed a tear of sympathy for Lü Bu.

No wonder he thought of cheating.

Not that she encouraged such behavior.

Seeing Qiao Yan didn’t intend to hold her accountable, Lü Lingju pressed further, “Marquis, when can I join you on the battlefield?”

“When you grow taller than the shortest soldier in the army,” Qiao Yan patted her head. “Now, go call Huang Yueying and Zhuge Liang, and bring their cotton gin model.”

Lü Lingju, having received a clear answer, didn’t ask further and immediately went to fetch them.

Soon, Qiao Yan saw two children, one carrying a bag of cotton, the other a model machine, entering.

Time is a wondrous thing.

In the romance, depicted as nearly demonically intelligent, and in history, deserving the phrase “devoted until death,” Zhuge Liang was now only eleven.

Standing before Qiao Yan with Huang Yueying, who was of similar age, they still seemed quite childlike.

But when Qiao Yan asked them to explain their invention, their confident demeanor made them seem not like children, but inventors.

“Removing cotton seeds can be done in two ways: one is picking out the seeds, but this method isn’t suitable for large-scale processing,” Zhuge Liang said. “So we prefer the second method. Yueying found that using a comb to directly scrape out the seeds works, so if we change the comb to a roller with gaps, we should be able to let the cotton pass through while leaving the seeds behind.”

Huang Yueying added, “But this alone isn’t enough. Some in the academy and Ma Jun’s assistants also thought of this. One issue is the roller’s speed isn’t uniform, and if it’s too hard to turn, it won’t be effective.”

“Ma Jun solved the first problem by adding a wooden frame to balance the roller’s rotation. We solved the second problem with a crank.”

Qiao Yan took a piece of cotton from Huang Yueying and fed it into the hand-cranked machine’s dual rollers. As the crank turned the rollers, the cotton fibers were pulled through the gaps, leaving the seeds behind.

“Now, the only remaining issue is how to feed the cotton into the rollers faster and more conveniently to avoid deviations or pinching hands during manual feeding,” Huang Yueying said.

Qiao Yan looked at the girl seriously introducing her invention.

In “Xiangyang Qijiu Zhi,” it’s mentioned that when Huang Chengyan introduced his daughter to Zhuge Liang, he described her as having yellow hair and dark skin, ugly in appearance but matching Zhuge Liang in talent. But in Qiao Yan’s view, this was likely Huang Chengyan testing his future son-in-law.

At most, her skin wasn’t very fair, her hair a bit brown, and her features quite bold, not resembling a noble lady from Xiangyang.

But more than her appearance, her talent was what truly mattered.

This presentation convinced Qiao Yan that she had contributed significantly to the invention of the cotton gin.

Her and Zhuge Liang’s performance was very much like a group project in later times.

Both were actively thinking, with neither slacking off.

Qiao Yan then asked, “So what method do you think would achieve this goal?”

Huang Yueying replied, “I think we should add a pusher blade, but this would require more than one person to complete the seed removal, which goes against the design’s original intent.”

This was exactly what Ma Jun was currently optimizing.

Qiao Yan thought for a moment and asked, “Why didn’t you continue participating?”

Ma Jun should have invited them.

The two exchanged glances, and Zhuge Liang replied, “We’ve borrowed books from Ma Jun and want to try it ourselves first. If we can’t do it, we’ll seek his advice.”

“Great ambition!” Qiao Yan clapped her hands and laughed. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”

Looking at the two children’s performance, Qiao Yan was very satisfied.

She didn’t think Zhuge Liang researching cotton seed separation here was a waste of time. If researching something that could save lives was considered a waste, she wouldn’t have given Bi Lan the position of Water Commissioner.

He clearly knew what he wanted and understood priorities.

As he adapted to the academy’s learning environment, the discussions and projects he participated in would increase.

Then he would naturally find a clearer position for himself.

As for Huang Yueying… perhaps the title “Great Inventor Huang Yueying” would be more fitting for her records than “Zhuge Liang’s wife.”

And now, the two of them combined were less than twenty years old—strictly no early dating.

Perhaps out of some mischievous interest, before leaving Leping Academy, Qiao Yan gave Lu Yi and Zhuge Liang another copy of the animal taming problem.

As for what others would think of this in the future, who knows?

She also carefully reviewed the list of new admissions to the academy over the past few months, ensuring no other undesirables were included, before returning to the prefecture, planning to visit the pigeon training site the next day and then meet with Xi Zhicai and Lu Yuan, who were staying in Bingzhou, to discuss building an information network.

But perhaps because she assigned some unreliable tasks to others, she was due for some payback.

The next day, as she was about to head to the mountain fortress in Leping, she heard that Hua Tuo had come because of the pepper.

But before Qiao Yan could welcome Hua Tuo, he had already nimbly stepped forward and asked, “Mind if I ask you a question, Marquis?”

Perhaps due to years of health preservation and practicing the Five Animals Play, she didn’t notice much change in Hua Tuo’s appearance.

But counting carefully, it had been seven years since their first meeting.

Qiao Yan was a bit puzzled by this sudden behavior but replied, “Feel free to ask, Master Hua.”

Logically, inviting Hua Tuo to Bingzhou was Qiao Yan’s request, but Hua Tuo’s behavior seemed more like he had a request for Qiao Yan.

With permission, he immediately said, “Two years ago, when I came to Bingzhou to treat and condition your troops, you were out fighting the Xianbei barbarians, so we didn’t meet. Today is our first chance.”

“If I remember correctly, seven years ago in Ji Province, you had a deficiency syndrome. Today, not only is it gone, but you’re also strong enough to wrestle a tiger. May I ask what you usually eat and what medicine you use?”

Hua Tuo was greatly impressed, his eyes burning with curiosity. “This is a miracle of medical science!”

Qiao Yan: “…”

Wait, how should she respond to this?