“Can strategists not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 193, titled “Trusted Eyes and Ears”…
But all of this depends on the fact that Sun Ce hasn’t kicked the bucket shortly after picking up a sword.
At this moment, he hadn’t even tasted the life of a guest under Yuan Shu’s roof, yet here he was, a warlord in Yang Province, grasping three counties and commanding tens of thousands of troops, all while being young and a bit cocky, making mistakes easily.
As Guo Jia noted later, “Sun Bo Fu is reckless and ill-prepared; even with a hundred thousand men, if he does not change his approach, he will surely meet his end at the hands of a mere commoner.”
Qiao Yan replied, “That’s why I need to give him a heads-up.”
But there was no need for Qiao Yan to send someone personally to Yang Province.
Overly cordial visits would show her ties to Sun Jian, but could also imply ulterior motives.
Therefore, after some consideration, Qiao Yan sent a letter to Zhu Jun, who was currently stationed in Changsha.
In the letter, Qiao Yan mentioned that previously, after Sun Jian dealt with Dong at Luoyang, they had agreed for her to take the route through Liangzhou while Sun Jian would head through Wuguan to conquer Chang’an. With Sun Jian now unfortunately deceased, she urged Zhu Jun not to push to fulfill this mission at all costs.
In April of this year, Huangfu Song had fallen ill in Liangzhou, no longer in good health, and Lu Zhi’s situation in Chang’an was unknown, with no news being the best kind of news.
Thus, she asked Zhu Jun to take care of himself, hoping they might reunite one day as old friends.
A drawing of Hua Tuo’s Five Animals Play, along with remedies suitable for the hot and humid south, was sent along with the letter.
At the end of her warm regards, she casually mentioned that Sun Ce was still young and if he inadvertently offended someone, he might not last long; she hoped Zhu Jun could keep an eye on him.
Hearing that Sun Ce’s mother, Madam Wu, was strong-willed and not to be underestimated, with a nurturing side, it wasn’t a bad idea to inform her of the circumstances.
To reclaim Wu County, both martial prowess and moral influence were needed.
Be cautious, be cautious.
Qiao Yan felt justified in offering this advice based on her own experiences conquering Bingzhou and Liangzhou, which were also lands yet to be thoroughly civilized, though perhaps not as rich in southern rebel power, still some similarities could be found.
She didn’t have to worry that just through this suggestion, Sun Ce would lower his flag and ally with the Jiangdong gentry.
The death of Wang Sheng and Sun Ce’s subsequent attack on Xu Gong surely planted the seeds for future conflicts with the noble families.
Sun Ce’s temperament had already set; Qiao Yan would describe him as decisive yet overbearing.
Sometimes that was good, but not always.
When Zhu Jun received this letter from Bingzhou, neither he nor Madam Wu realized that Qiao Yan had other motives beneath her advice regarding Sun Ce.
Coincidentally, news from Wu County also reached Changsha.
The report claimed that Sun Ce had successfully attacked Xu Gong with the military provisions he collected, capturing Wu County, while Yan Baihu fled north towards Qu’a and Dan Tu. Xu Gong was killed, and it was expected that the pacification of Wu County was imminent, granting complete control over Wu County.
Madam Wu’s expression suddenly changed as she hurriedly inquired about Wang Sheng’s situation.
Upon learning that Wang Sheng and all the members of his household had been killed, she couldn’t remain seated and immediately stood up to arrange a boat to head east.
“In the heat of battle, casualties are inevitable. Even if Bo Fu shot Wang Gong with an arrow, it’s no big deal. But now that he has won, exterminating his clan brings nothing but unrest in Wu County. It won’t benefit Bo Fu at all.”
She had to make a trip to Wu County to help Sun Ce build some goodwill.
Madam Wu was fortunate enough to arrive at Wu County just in time.
During Sun Ce’s execution of Gao Dai, his killing of Wang Sheng, and the subsequent assault on Xu Gong, the earlier intense emotions had cooled significantly, and Yan Baihu’s panic-stricken escape north instead of south towards Kuaiji County was like digging his own grave.
Thus, Sun Ce chose to eliminate Xu Gong’s remaining followers instead of pursuing Yan Baihu first.
In this hunt, they found one person—the one who had been sheltered by Xu Gong, Xu Jing (Xu Wenxiu).
Sun Ce didn’t think highly of literary types just out to make a name for themselves with monthly critiques, but recalling that the warlord Cao Cao had once received a compliment from Su Shao that “The peaceful are thieves, heroes in chaos,” and Qiao Yan had received one saying “A pure voice in the arena of strategists,” he thought he shouldn’t fall behind too much.
So he brandished his sword and threatened Xu Jing to give him a few comments.
But considering Xu Jing’s relationship with Xu Gong, the likelihood of hearing nice things from him was about as high as him conquering Kuaiji County the next day.
Sure enough, under Sun Ce’s guards, Xu Jing stiffened his neck and shot back, “Valiant but witless, akin to Xiang Yu.”
This statement… enraged Sun Ce so much that he nearly swung his sword at Xu Jing right then.
Madam Wu arrived just in time.
After understanding the situation, she told Sun Ce, “If you truly kill this man, wouldn’t that just fulfill his wishes? I think you’re better off letting him go south. I’ve heard Kuaiji’s Zhou Xin and Yuyao’s Xu Zhao are his friends; ask him if he dares to seek refuge with them!”
“If he doesn’t dare, it means he acknowledges that my Bo Fu can conquer Xu Gong today and take down Xu Zhao and Zhou Xin tomorrow in a snap. What they call valiant yet witless are merely the weak’s words; ‘witless’ isn’t necessarily so, ‘valiant’ is indeed true.”
This advice was infinitely wiser than just demanding Sun Ce let go of Xu Jing outright.
A mother knows her son’s temperament; the son soon realized he shouldn’t have fallen for this provocation and had Xu Jing untied and sent south, even “thoughtfully” preparing travel expenses for him to visit his friends.
Xu Jing’s earlier remark likening him to Xiang Yu could be seen as mere impulse; now, just as Madam Wu said, he didn’t dare linger in Kuaiji but was bolting to Jiaozhou instead.
Whether Xu Jing’s actions would harm his reputation was not a pressing concern for him at that moment.
After all, what were the chances Sun Ce would chase him all the way to Jiaozhou?
Little did he know, Sun Ce couldn’t care less about such characters and dismissed him from his mind as soon as he left.
What really occupied Sun Ce’s thoughts was something else altogether.
Zhou Yu sent him a letter mentioning that during his governance of Jiujiang County, two young heroes, upon hearing about Sun Ce’s exploits against the Lüjiang siege and his control over the three counties of Yang Province, were eager to come serve under him.
The two were named Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai.
In light of Sun Ce gaining two more talented generals, Qiao Yan didn’t think much of it.
Having reminded Madam Wu to keep an eye on Sun Ce to mitigate conflict, she planned to refrain from meddling too much in Jiangdong’s affairs.
She certainly couldn’t expect the eyes and ears in Yang Province to report on every single detail of what Sun Ce was eating today.
So at this moment, she was looking at a piece of chain mail.
Since Mi Zhu sent the craftsman for making chain mail two years ago, by the time of last year’s campaign against Liangzhou, all the generals had already been equipped with this new style of armor.
With the collaboration of the Bingzhou blacksmiths improving the efficiency of crafting armor pieces, from April of last year to June of this year, a total of one hundred and sixty sets of chain mail had been produced.
It wasn’t just the efficiency of armor-making that had improved, but also the smoothness of the armor piece connections, further enhancing their defensive capabilities.
This change in defense could be backed up with real examples.
Earlier, when Liu Yu returned from Liangzhou to Youzhou, aside from sending Zhang Liao and Qu Yan to accompany him, Qiao Yan also provided him with a set of protective gear.
A few days back, a battle report came in from Youzhou.
While Liu Yu governed Youzhou with gentle methods, he displayed considerable toughness against Gongsun Zan, who blatantly seized power.
Ignoring the objections of his son Liu He and Zhang Liao, Liu Yu personally went to confront Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan, who had taken power easily while Liu Yu was absent, showed no shame in facing Liu Yu.
In some sense, Gongsun Zan’s boldness was the mark of a great achiever.
He openly declared when facing Liu Yu—
With Liu Yu’s governing methods, it was only a matter of time before a backlash occurred, and it would be better for him, Gongsun Zan, to replace him as governor of Youzhou.
As for Liu Yu being a loyal minister of the Han and legitimately the governor of Youzhou, it was of no concern to Gongsun Zan.
Now that there were two emperors in the world, which one was Liu Yu loyal to?
Whichever Liu Yu obeyed, Gongsun Zan would serve the other!
What was so disloyal about that?
This twisted reasoning near made Liu Yu choke with rage.
But this was clearly not all Gongsun Zan had to offer; after articulating his stance, he drew his bow and shot Liu Yu down from his horse before making his escape.
Unfortunately for Gongsun Zan, he failed to realize that the seemingly lone Liu Yu, dressed in scholar’s robes, was actually wearing a layer of light chain mail underneath, and the arrow got lodged in the seams of this specially-made armor.
Gongsun Zan fully believed Liu Yu would be dead the moment his attendants rushed in to rescue him, and that night, he launched a sneak attack.
However, what he faced was not a disorganized and aimless force but a cavalry charge led by Zhang Liao.
Gongsun Zan was forced to flee east, and the standoff in Youzhou was pushed back to G County.
This was the chain mail’s contribution to the victory.
However, with an increasing stock of armor pieces, there was a problem emerging.
No matter how many generals Qiao Yan had under her command, it was clear they couldn’t all wear one hundred and sixty sets of chain mail at once.
One person can’t put on five suits…
They couldn’t just keep swapping them around like that.
“Just having these extra sets of chain mail doesn’t really provide a transformative advantage…”
Because chain mail isn’t great against close-range hacks.
“And for outfitting the cavalry, the amount is still far from sufficient; if spread across multiple battlefields, the effectiveness would be significantly diminished.”
Qiao Yan thought for a moment and turned to Guo Jia, “I’m a bit torn on whether to use these as rewards in the merit system or to establish a vanguard unit.”
Although Qu Yi’s heavy infantry had a historical name known as the vanguard battalion, this kind of vanguard was not about being the first to climb the city walls but rather about leading the charge to capture the enemy’s flags.
The heavy infantry’s real utility lay in stabilizing formations during infantry clashes or when infantry faced cavalry, not in besieging tasks, which called for lighter armor that could better defend against arrows.
As for the latter, it was a bit like an incentive-driven rewards system where all kinds of significant items could be mixed in to motivate soldiers in battles and farming tasks.
Guo Jia replied, “Your Highness has many ideas which is good, but the existing rules for merit exchanges—rewarding with food, promotions for capturing heads—these are well-structured and easily understood. Simplifying them makes sense, but complicating it could lead to chaos, so it’s better to establish a vanguard battalion.”
His point was quite valid.
Qiao Yan continued, “Who should head the vanguard unit?”
This position definitely wouldn’t be given to Dian Wei.
Though he occasionally commanded heavy infantry, he wasn’t switching from being Qiao Yan’s personal guard.
Roles like Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Yang, who excelled in cavalry, were also not candidates.
Guo Jia thought for a moment and replied, “Xu Huang, Xu Gongming.”
He explained, “Your Highness has entrusted him with the defense of the Yanshan line to test his loyalty and dedication after defecting. Before the Liangzhou battle, he was appointed to take over as a unit leader, signaling his utilization. I believe his strict military discipline rivals that of Wen Yuan. The former Bai Bo bandits have already been dispersed among the various divisions, removing any need for concern over betrayal. If such a talent is kept in a low position, it might seem as if Your Highness holds a biased view towards him.”
“Also, I don’t know if Your Highness has noticed, Xu Gongming, while stationed at Yanshan, repeatedly led troops to repel the wandering tribes of the Hu people. His bravery showed he understood the balance between authority and camaraderie with his commanding officers.”
“I observe this individual’s character could be summed up with the words frugal and cautious.”
The “cautious” here was quite different from Jia Xu’s earlier reluctance to step forward.
It was more like Xu Huang’s personal humility for his past as a bandit.
“A modest attitude naturally leads to caution.”
But this kind of mindset can be just like Sun Ce’s character flaw; it isn’t always a good thing.
Guo Jia chuckled, “People like this are best pushed to the front. The longer the assessment period, the heavier the current responsibilities. Once a stark contrast is formed, he’ll be more capable of breaking free from these emotional constraints and become an invaluable aide to the lord.”
He added with a bit of sarcasm, “I have a knack for reading people.”
Otherwise, how could he have chosen Qiao Yan for the position of ruler, right?
Qiao Yan was left speechless by his sudden self-praise.
But what Guo Jia said earlier wasn’t wrong.
The “frugality and caution” Xu Huang displayed was so obvious that Qiao Yan was a bit worried about his chemistry with other generals.
Since Qiao Yan could also command troops herself, she didn’t mind her subordinates having personal relationships. Instead, she preferred to let them learn from each other, compete, and didn’t impose a strict “caution in solitude” rule.
Besides, it was indeed time to utilize Xu Huang!
Years ago, she had spent considerable effort to divide the Baibo Bandits, tricking them into descending the mountains to surrender. Especially with a talent like Xu Huang, she had played a tricky game, so she couldn’t just have him standing by the door.
There hadn’t been a particularly suitable position for him before, which is why he had been in a training role.
Now was just the right time!
Qiao Yan responded immediately, “Following what you said, Xu Huang will be the commander of the vanguard camp. Before the battle for Chang’an, whatever chain mail we can produce will be assigned to this unit.”
This was like a heavenly job landing on Xu Huang’s lap.
The casualty rate of the vanguard camp was indeed high, but that also meant Qiao Yan would select the troops with great care.
And such a dangerous job would bring high merit in battle.
“There’s another reason for choosing you as commander of the vanguard,” Qiao Yan said. “I will include some Qiang and Hu people in this vanguard team. You have been stationed at the Yanshan defense line for several years and have dealt with the Hu people quite a bit. It shouldn’t be difficult for you to get them to follow your commands.”
“Moreover, you have experience with heavy crossbows and siege equipment. In the next two months, I want to see you master them.”
She looked into Xu Huang’s eyes and asked seriously, “Can you do that?”
Xu Huang’s eyes lit up.
The more he integrated into the Bingzhou army, the more he felt the unique traits of this force.
He was no longer the elite bandit who had been forced to surrender; he was a commander that Qiao Yan placed great hopes upon.
He replied with certainty, “If I can’t, let my head be presented!”
Now that’s a bit of an overreaction…
Qiao Yan watched the suddenly spirited general in front of her and thought about it—there were probably quite a few internal allies and misled enemies inside Chang’an. The difficulty of this siege war wasn’t too high, making it just right for him to hone his skills.
When the time came in the Central Plains, there would be many opportunities for this vanguard team to engage in battle.
After all, defending a city in the Central Plains was never as crude as in Liangzhou, nor would it always resemble the situations in Bingzhou where battles frequently occurred in mountains and grasslands.
So it was time to prepare ahead of time.
With Xu Huang’s arrangement in place, the various inspection matters in Bingzhou were almost completed.
The battle situation in Yu Province, Yang Province, and Youzhou remained the same, with no opportunities for her to intervene—or necessity for her to do so.
In the cotton field of Shangjun, the seedlings had grown significantly.
This phase of vulnerability to pests had been safely passed, so there wouldn’t be many troubles ahead.
What delighted Qiao Yan even more was that, with Ma Jun’s technical support, the cotton seed separation equipment had been completely finished and was already in production, ensuring direct output for cotton processing after the autumn harvest.
This further ensured that before winter arrived this year, all this cotton could be transformed into winter clothing.
Earlier, when Qiao Yan asked Huang Yueying and Zhuge Liang about their ideas for the tool-pushing system, these two kids had gone off to study the mechanisms themselves and missed out on Ma Jun’s modifications.
But while chatting with them, Qiao Yan sensed they weren’t too regretful about it; instead, they felt that if given another chance, their new knowledge would enable them to perform even better.
Hearing this, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but feel joy.
This was the future of Leping Academy…
As for Cao Pi, who had been sent to the academy by Cao Cao, he was too young and was simply paired with Lu Ji.
The result was—Zheng Xuan was with Lu Ji, and Cai Yong was with Cao Pi.
With this combination, there was no sign of the future Wei Wendi’s flair in Cao Pi. However, his interest and talent in literature were very clear.
If he followed Cai Yong to become a literary genius but ended up lacking emotional intelligence in politics, that was definitely not something Qiao Yan had planned.
It could only be considered a coincidence, yes, a coincidence!
Qiao Yan had no psychological burden as she asked Cai Yong to properly teach the literary genius, then pondered when to return to Liangzhou.
However, at that moment, she welcomed two special visitors.
The Qiao sisters, who had arrived in Bingzhou with a merchant convoy, were waiting outside Leping Academy for Qiao Zhao’s daughter, Qiao Zhen. After she verified their identities, they were introduced to Qiao Yan.
The two sisters had changed out of their disguises and washed off the dirt covering their faces. Although the fatigue in their expressions hadn’t completely faded with just one night’s rest, successfully escaping the fate of potential “gifts” still brightened their eyes.
When they looked at Qiao Yan, a hint of admiration shone through.
Qiao Yan gazed back at them and found it hard not to suspect that these were the later wives of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
However, they didn’t have the names Big Qiao and Little Qiao but were called Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting.
So whether or not they were the famous Two Qiaos wasn’t that important.
The peaks of Lanxi were lush and beautiful, perfectly matching the sisters’ temperament in Qiao Yan’s eyes.
When they recounted how they came to Bingzhou after their father Qiao Rui’s death, choosing to seek her help, Qiao Yan couldn’t help but think that was a good decision.
Though the journey through Yanzhou, with Cao Cao at the helm, wasn’t too chaotic, it still wasn’t an easy trip.
Yet, when they stood before her, they didn’t mention the hardships of the journey at all; they simply asked their hall aunt if they could study at Leping Academy.
“…” Having recognized Cao Ang, who was about the same age, and with Sun Ce being about the same generation, it didn’t seem too strange to suddenly have two four-year-younger nieces.
That said, when she first heard the term “aunt” from the lips of these two beautiful sisters, Qiao Yan’s expression froze for a moment.
Fortunately, as someone who was a governor, she had seen all kinds of situations!
What’s so odd about being called ‘aunt’?
Before the Qiao sisters could sense her unusualness, she responded, “Go ahead and report to the academy; treat this place as your home. If you don’t want to, I won’t disclose your presence here to the Qiao family.”
Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting exchanged glances, seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.
Even though Qiao Yan had only exchanged a few sentences with them since their entry, her tone and attitude conveyed a sense of safety.
Before arriving here, they had worried about needing to demonstrate some skills to stay as part of the Qiao clan.
But it seemed that their hall aunt and lord didn’t really care about that?
“By the way,” Qiao Yan continued, “Once you enter the academy, observe for a few days first and choose your courses afterward.”
Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting nodded in agreement with this advice and withdrew from the study at Qiao Yan’s gesture.
Once the sisters were out of sight, Qiao Yan heard Lu Yuan, who had been waiting outside, say, “It seems the lord is quite pleased with their personalities.”
Qiao Yan smiled, “Decisive, observant, and with ample initiative—daughters of the same clan like those are much better than anyone who brings trouble.”
The two sisters didn’t expect anything special from Qiao Yan as the governor; overall, their arrival was mostly good news.
“That’s right,” Lu Yuan replied, “So I’m planning to take advantage of the lord’s good mood to report back on the candidates you asked me to find earlier.”
These were the candidates who concealed information transmission under the guise of business.
Qiao Yan had given Lu Yuan three months to decide on her candidates, and it wasn’t quite time yet.
But since she chose to report early, it must have been for a reason.
This probably wouldn’t be a hasty decision either.
“Let’s hear it.”
Lu Yuan said, “I have three candidates I want to present to the lord for selection.”
Three?
This took Qiao Yan by surprise.
Lu Yuan continued, “The first candidate is a disciple brought by Zheng Xuan upon his arrival in Leping. However, he didn’t join the team from the start but came to follow after hearing Zheng Xuan was here. His surname is Sun, name is Gan, courtesy name Gongyou, and he is also from Beihai.”
“Sun Gongyou is eloquent and has the talent of a strategist. Since he arrived in Leping half a month ago, I’ve had some exchanges with him and found his memory of names and fragmented events exceptionally sharp. He can recite the names and talents of the three thousand disciples under Zheng Xuan in Beihai. Therefore, every conversation he engages in is filled with substance.”
“I recommend the lord to make good use of this person, even if it’s not necessarily in intelligence matters.”
Qiao Yan nodded and replied, “If what you said is true, he indeed meets the conditions I’m looking for.”
If Liu Bei knew that Sun Gan dodged his previous trajectory to be recommended to the governor by Zheng Xuan only to become his subordinate, he would probably cry.
But compared to losing Zhuge Liang, that might not be such a great loss.
So, Qiao Yan asked quite calmly, “What about the second candidate?”
Lu Yuan replied, “This person is named Guo Daxian. The name is… a bit slapdash, but considering this person comes from the Black Mountain army, it’s not surprising.”
“Compared to General Chu and Zhang Niujiao, his commanding ability may be lacking, but he’s certainly no less than a headman. If given the chance to expand the Black Mountain bandits back then, he could have become a rebel leader.”
“Setting aside that possibility, let’s talk about him personally. His wife and children survived thanks to your shelter of talents in Leping back in the day, so he holds much gratitude towards you. Compared to Sun Gongyou, his loyalty to you is higher.”
“Since the Black Mountain army in Leping no longer needed to rely on yam cultivation for sustenance, he didn’t enlist in the military but started a small business. Thanks to his good appearance and eloquence, he has settled in Jinyang and is renting out large storefronts. In a few years, he might be a big taxpayer.”
Qiao Yan thought to herself that according to Lu Yuan’s description, this person was very suitable as one of her own in developing business across borders.
However, whether he could break free from the influence of his origin and manage intelligence work well seemed a bit uncertain.
Lu Yuan immediately mentioned this concern.
“So my advice for the lord is actually to use the second candidate to open up trade routes, the first to collect and filter information, and the third, no, rather a third group, as the heads of the intelligence system.”
Upon hearing the word “group,” a flash of realization crossed Qiao Yan’s mind.
It became clear why Lu Yuan had visited after the Qiao sisters came to see her.
Lu Yuan then continued, “When the lord’s two nieces arrived yesterday, I spoke with them for a bit and mentioned how they arrived in Bingzhou. The younger one told me they decided to disguise themselves as a merchant convoy; although it was a hasty decision, they thoughtfully considered the choice of goods they carried.”
“If the items chosen weren’t persuasive enough, it would be easy for people to see they were actually two sisters disguised as boys, which would be too dangerous.”
“Among the characteristic products from Suizhou in Liangguo, she thought that the lacquerware made from Tong wood in Shangqiu would be the most suitable for sale in Bingzhou. Because in Bingzhou, prices are fair, and the people are settled; while they don’t lack food, they certainly miss knickknacks.”
“Besides, since you are a lady supporting women to earn household money, they must have some spare cash as well. So they chose lacquer hairpins and lacquer jewelry boxes. These items could be carried over by the two sisters and reasonably explained why they traveled to Bingzhou, surely not raising suspicion from others.”
Qiao Yan thought that it was truly remarkable they could think of all this even during the impromptu decision to escape their home.
Lu Yuan bowed slightly to her, “I should congratulate you, lord. Among these two nieces, the elder one excels in decision-making, and the younger one is good at detailed thinking. Together, they are perfect for handling affairs.”
“They’re more suitable than anyone to be your trusted eyes and ears.”
