Chapter 258

Chapter 258

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 8: Chang’an Discusses Wine, Golden Autumn Brings Change Chapter 258: The Goddess Sends Off the Expedition

Belonging to the book:


Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 258: The Goddess Sends Off the Expedition

Wang Can, Wang Zhongxuan?

When Qiao Yan first heard this name, she breathed a sigh of relief.

If it had been written by Yang Xiu’s friend Ni Heng, or some other eccentric scholar, she might have had some concerns.

But with Wang Can, she felt much more at ease.

She didn’t think there would be any major issues with what he wrote.

After all, Wang Can came from a noble family, and his literary talent was already renowned by the age of fifteen. The education he received and the wide range of books he read in his early years wouldn’t have led him to develop an extreme temperament. It was this early education that allowed him to master the art of writing poetry and prose at a young age.

The only pity is that historically, his official career didn’t flourish in the first half of his life.

His father held the position of Chief Clerk in He Jin’s Grand General’s Mansion. After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, he found himself in a difficult situation. Wang Can himself, after declining an invitation from Chang’an, went to Jing Province to seek refuge with Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province.

Wang Can was neither from a prominent Jing Province family like Cai Mao or Kuai Yue, who could provide Liu Biao with substantial support, nor did he conform to the mainstream aesthetic standards of the Han Dynasty. He was physically weak and not particularly handsome, so Liu Biao didn’t hold him in high regard. However, Liu Biao didn’t want to gain a reputation for mistreating scholars, so he had Wang Can draft official documents for him.

While Chen Lin, under Yuan Shao, wrote things like proclamations against Cao Cao, Wang Can wrote for Liu Biao, denouncing the Prefect of Changsha and urging the Yuan brothers not to kill each other.

Such treatment and his experiences in the late Han Dynasty led to a tone of sorrow and lament in his early poetry, such as in “Seven Sorrows” and “Ascending the Tower,” making Zhongxuan Tower a frequently cited allusion by later poets.

By the age of thirty, he finally saw a turning point.

After Liu Biao’s death, his second son Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao, and Wang Can joined the literary circle of the Seven Scholars of Jian’an. His writing during this period became more passionate and heroic, with poems like “Joining the Army” serving as exemplars.

Whether it was the earlier or later works, they were all grounded in reality. It’s no wonder that Wang Can also wrote works like “Records of Heroes of the Late Han.”

Overall, the leader of the Seven Scholars of Jian’an based his poetry and prose on reality.

Although his current trajectory is slightly different from history, it shouldn’t deviate too much… right?

Eight years ago, when Qiao Yan and Yang Xiu were debating strategies at Dingzhong Temple in Luoyang, Wang Can’s father, Wang Qian, was also there, along with Xu You and Chen Ji, serving in He Jin’s Grand General’s Mansion. Up to that point, the eight-year-old Wang Can’s development was no different from historical records.

During the subsequent chaos caused by Dong Zhuo, Wang Qian was not much affected. After Luoyang was pacified, he followed Yuan Shao to Ye City with Xu You and others.

However, within half a year, Wang Qian passed away due to illness.

Wang Can accompanied his father’s coffin back to their hometown in Shanyang Commandery, residing in Yanzhou.

Perhaps due to news from Chang’an reaching Yanzhou, Wang Can decided to visit Chang’an, coinciding with this special event, and thus penned a poem dedicated to Qiao Yan.

She thought it unlikely that he would change his writing habits. But when she took the manuscript from Cai Zhaoji, hearing her say “decide after reading” and seeing the slightly微妙 expression on her face, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.

She opened the manuscript and saw the title: “The Goddess Sends Off the Expedition.”

Qiao Yan: “…”

Great, we’re diving into a fantasy story.

No wonder Zhaoji had that expression.

Qiao Yan decided to temporarily set aside her preconceptions about the title and read Wang Can’s work first.

The opening indeed didn’t follow the usual套路, focusing not on the goddess or the soldiers, but on himself.

Like Wang Bo’s “Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng,” which explains the reason for his visit with the line “What does a child know, to be present at such a grand feast,” Wang Can also wrote about his reason for coming to Chang’an. But he didn’t write about the splendor of the land or the talents of the people; instead, he wrote about the sorrow of “heaven sending down chaos, no country spared.”

From the哀哀人事 he witnessed traveling from Ji Province to Yanzhou and beyond, he transitioned to his reason for coming to Chang’an:

“I and my friend, from that capital.”

In other words, he came to visit a friend, not specifically to the capital.

It’s just that his timing was a bit fortuitous, coinciding with the opening of Chang’an’s roads to the public, allowing him to witness such a lively scene.

If written by an ordinary person, this would be the point to describe the sights of Chang’an, contrasting with the somber opening. But Wang Can didn’t do that.

He wrote about his travel fatigue, being led by a friend to a guesthouse, and falling asleep.

In the middle of the night, he was awakened by the sound of drums and gongs. Looking out the window, he saw “the heavens and earth transformed, producing pure energy,” and a beautiful deity, embodying nature and transcending the mundane, descending on clouds.

Seeing such a rare sight, he momentarily forgot his fatigue and rushed out of the guesthouse to follow.

The deity’s feathered robe fluttered as she descended, and as she drew closer, her features became clear.

The goddess was “peerless in the world, her radiant face shining.” Though she wore no golden feathers, no night-illuminating pearls, no embroidered silks, no ornate robes, just white clothes and black hair, draped in the moonlight, Wang Can was struck dumb.

At that moment, on the new road of Chang’an’s streets, he saw the source of the noise that had awakened him.

It was a troop of armored soldiers about to set off on an expedition.

If the goddess was the pinnacle of heavenly creation, then the armored soldiers were the crown of earthly warfare, with “flags reaching the sky, drums shaking the earth,” all entering his view.

After this grand first impression came a detailed description, from the straightforward “officers selecting soldiers, swords and crossbows arrayed,” to the final formation, becoming “black helmets shining, rhinoceros armor like a wall,” a startling sight.

But it didn’t end there.

Since it was the goddess sending off the expedition, there must be a connection between her and the soldiers.

The goddess looked down from above, offering a blessing, saying that Chang’an’s army was “in danger, not forgetting to ensure the safety of all, in peace, not forgetting to prepare for war and cultivate music,” hence “from east to west, all come to pay homage,” wishing them a successful expedition and the swift realization of the world’s stability.

In this scene of blessing, as the goddess lightly swept her sleeve, the road beneath the soldiers’ feet turned into a shimmering celestial river, reflecting the moonlight, almost blinding.

It was because of this intense light that Wang Can suddenly woke up.

He realized that he hadn’t actually been awakened by the drums in the middle of the night to witness such a scene, but that his daytime thoughts had led to this divine dream.

With a sense of loss, he went downstairs for breakfast, wondering when he might truly see the scene of the goddess sending off the expedition, or even dream of it again, but…





The boss of the inn mistakenly thought he came to Chang’an missing his hometown, so he secretly slipped half an egg under his soup pancake.

At this point, the entire story ends.

Qiao Yan finished reading the last sentence, raised her eyes, and exchanged glances with Cai Zhaoji.

Did Wang Can spread rumors? It seems not, and it really fits his character to take a realistic route.

He didn’t even attribute the construction of the Chang’an road to the goddess in his poetry. The scenes before coming to Chang’an in the first paragraph and adding half an egg for the outsider in the last paragraph are both very realistic.

The so-called goddess sending off the expedition was all seen in his dream, not something that actually happened.

Is it illegal to write about dreams?

Of course not. And naturally, it can be written in an exaggerated direction.

But what will people think when they see this “Ode to the Goddess Sending Off the Expedition”?

They will probably think that the prelude before the dream and the return to reality at the end are just structural elements in Wang Can’s rhapsody, and what he really wants to express is in the middle part.

The new road in Chang’an was originally mud, but now it has become indestructible, presumably due to the blessing of the goddess.

The invincible ferocity of the troops commanded by Grand Marshal Qiao Yan is also under the protection of heaven.

Because his actions are “pacifying our martial prowess and solidifying our benevolence,” as stated in his rhapsody, he received divine blessings.

The natural adornments in the goddess’s appearance and attire, without unnecessary embellishments, are in line with the simplicity of the new Chang’an road.

As for why it’s a goddess and not a god, who knows if it’s because Qiao Hou is also a woman?

Qiao Yan dares to guarantee that if this rhapsody were thrown to Yang Xiu, he could immediately provide the above reading comprehension.

Objectively speaking, Wang Can’s work, completed in such a short time from yesterday to today, with such quality, is definitely worthy of being showcased in the Leping Monthly Report.

Although he is only seventeen years old, the editors and writers of the Leping Monthly Report are all young, and mixing Wang Can in would be seamless.

But here’s the problem…

Qiao Yan asked Zhaoji, “If we put this in the literary section of the June issue, wouldn’t it seem like we’re bragging too much?”

Although Wang Can clearly states in this rhapsody that he has no relationship with the Chang’an court and only came here to visit friends, he has already expressed his stance in the opening.

He says “from the capital” instead of “from Chang’an,” meaning, regardless of whether his home in Yanzhou belongs to the Chang’an court, in his view, Chang’an is the “capital.”

So putting this directly in the literary section of the monthly report would be like our own special literature.

And the Leping Monthly Report’s audience is no longer just within Bingzhou.

Ever since Qiao Yan sent a collection of the monthly report to Liu Bian as a New Year’s gift in the first year of Jian’an, even her opponents have started paying attention to it.

She originally thought her skin was quite thick, but now she realizes that if she were to publish this manuscript directly in the Leping Monthly Report, regardless of whether Wang Can comes from a prestigious family, she would be suspected of over-promotion.

It seems it can’t be too straightforward.

Hearing Qiao Yan’s question, Cai Zhaoji also nodded.

This really isn’t a matter of confidence.

Since she took charge of editing the Leping Monthly Report, she hasn’t shied away from publishing their progress, including in the literary section.

If they were ashamed to show their confidence in conquering strong enemies, there would be no need to publish Cai Yong’s “Kingfisher Poem” with a different interpretation.

But Wang Can’s situation is really different.

Although he doesn’t like using obscure characters in his rhapsodies, making the often abstruse Han rhapsody show a different style in his hands, which aligns with the overall tone of the Leping Monthly Report, the idea of a goddess sending off an expedition is still too supernatural.

“But if we give up directly, it would be a pity,” Qiao Yan sighed, holding her forehead.

Jia Xu suggested she use spectacular events to further expand publicity, making Jian’an more widely recognized as the era name than Yonghan, isn’t that waiting for the reputation of scholarly support to spread?

Why should they hesitate just because Wang Can’s piece offers such praise!

After some deliberation, she replied, “Zhaoji, do something for me.”

“At the end of the Chang’an road, where green sandalwood paper and mulberry paper are hung, add a thousand sheets each. If anyone wants to display poetry, literature, or paintings, they can come to collect five sheets in person and return them before the wine discussion meeting in ten days. Select the top three.”

“The top three in poetry and literature will have their works recorded in the Leping Monthly Report and distributed to various prefectures for promotion. The required mulberry paper will be supplied by us.”

“The top three in paintings will have their works engraved on steles in Chang’an, also supplied with paper by us.”

“Three days later, hang Wang Zhongxuan’s ‘Ode to the Goddess Sending Off the Expedition’.”

If Wang Can’s piece stands out, she will publish it then.

If not, she will have a clear response to Wang Can’s self-recommendation.

Seeing Zhaoji agree and go to prepare, Qiao Yan read Wang Can’s rhapsody again, thinking that with this, after the ancient version of the military parade, there will be an ancient version of a writing contest.

But isn’t this also a wonderful interlude in the thriving scene of the new Chang’an court?

Qiao Yan thought about it and sent someone to invite Wang Can for a chat.

This talented writer has come to her territory and just produced such a creation, clearly showing goodwill towards the Chang’an court. She can’t wait until ten days later to make arrangements for Wang Can.

If he runs away, wouldn’t that be a great regret?

Since Wang Can wrote this rhapsody and submitted it, he naturally didn’t resist the invitation.

As soon as Qiao Yan’s envoy arrived at his door, he came directly and stood before her.

To Qiao Yan, compared to the handsome and brave Ma Chao and Zhao Yun, Wang Can does look somewhat haggard and thin, no wonder the renowned physician Zhang Zhongjing in Jing Province gave him such advice—if he doesn’t take medicine to treat his illness, his eyebrows will fall out first, then the illness will gradually worsen, and he will die young.

But his eyes are clear, and his demeanor is calm, enough to show the splendid articles in his belly, so there’s no need to judge his ability by appearance.

But when Qiao Yan asked why he thought of submitting to the Leping Monthly Report, his calmness faltered slightly, and his gaze drifted for a moment.

He lowered his eyes and replied, “Years ago, my father brought back a dictation for me to transcribe into a manuscript, which I have never forgotten. I have always wanted to ask Your Majesty to grace it with your calligraphy, so I took the liberty to try.”

Qiao Yan: “…”

Wang Can took out a silk scroll from his sleeve, and she unsurprisingly saw that it was the “Discourse on Feudalism” from the governor years ago.

Qiao Yan fell into silence.

What is this, an ancient version of a fan asking for an autograph… :,w,