“So a strategist can’t ascend the throne?”
Chapter 268: Medical Matters in Chiyang
Ju Shou stated that agricultural books shouldn’t be hastily implemented, given their agricultural system is different from Bingzhou’s; they can’t just jump into a complete overhaul.
Shen Pei added that medical books can only serve as assistance for now, since they lack sufficient resources for transcription and manpower for implementation.
The situation with mules is a bit different.
It’s just about reallocating a batch of horses and donkeys for breeding—no need to worry about how the common folk will execute it, nor should they fret about whether this move would make it look like they’re trying to claim Bingzhou’s development results.
After all, this is merely mimicking practices from the pre-Qin era.
Since mules are still regarded as exotic show animals these days, Yuan Xi explained, “After learning about their load capacity and food intake from Bingzhou, I didn’t just take it at face value. I even took the opportunity while traveling with a caravan to let them pull a heavier load for a while before parting ways. I kept detailed records of the grain consumption and load weight during the journey.”
Yuan Shao frowned.
If anyone else had suggested using “valuable” show animals for military supply transport, he’d have questioned their motives—but since it came from Yuan Xi, his son, he trusted there was no hidden agenda.
He asked, “Are we using a stallion with a jenny to breed mules?”
But Yuan Xi replied, “No, we’re using a jenny and a stallion to breed horse mules.”
“If that’s the case, it seems a tad inappropriate,” Ju Shou interjected, “It’s customary to use jennies to breed foals for military supplies. Changing that would actually reduce the number of available horses for your lordship. Let’s not go there.”
Ju Shou wasn’t entirely avoiding risks for no reason.
Yuan Shao’s regions, Qingzhou and Jizhou, lag far behind Bingzhou and Liangzhou in horse reserves. Though both northern provinces do have ranches, if you compared the horse counts, Qiao Yan in Bingzhou would have a crushing advantage.
This is why Yuan Shao was so wary of the north.
The Taihang Mountains to the west, despite the Eight Passes of Taihang, still felt isolated, particularly obstructing cavalry.
As long as Qiao Yan does not get the chance for a massive invasion of Jizhou from the north, they weren’t yet at the point of direct conflict.
In such a disadvantageous position, to save logistical resources on the march by recklessly turning foals into mules would be akin to shooting oneself in the foot!
Just then, he heard Guo Tu from the other side say, “Actually, it’s not impossible to give it a try. Compared to Bingzhou, we are indeed short on food. If we could reduce losses in military supply transport, it seems safer than making a big fuss about farming techniques. What’s more, lordship doesn’t need to use existing jennies for breeding. Didn’t Gongsun Zan in Youzhou and Ta Dun from the Wuhuan present a batch of Youzhou war horses to the court?”
Gongsun Zan and Ta Dun had little fear or respect for Yuan Shao.
After expelling Liu Yu and forming a standoff with Zhang Liao in Shanggu County, they needed Yuan Shao to curry favor to get their joint efforts against Qiao Yan, rather than the other way around.
So, these Youzhou war horses are hailed as great northern steeds, but in reality, most are hard to tame.
“The original plan of lordship was—if they can’t be tamed, use them for breeding the next generation of warhorses; changing up their purpose now is fine,” Guo Tu seized the opportunity to go against Ju Shou, thinking it was a good angle, “Of course, before that, lordship could test the mule brought back by your second son alongside the mules already in Jizhou to see if mules are really as exceptional as your son claims.”
Are there folks raising mules for fun in Jizhou? Surprisingly, there are.
However, because mules are scarce, and over the past few years Yuan Shao had centralized war horse resources for defense, most mules within Qingzhou and Jizhou are too young to be bred for work.
If he actually followed Guo Tu’s advice to find mules to test, he’d only get results that mirror what Yuan Xi already told him.
But Yuan Shao wasn’t aware of this yet and was a bit uncertain about Guo Tu’s suggestion, planning to go ahead and test the waters.
Yuan Xi then pulled out another sheet of paper.
It depicted a rough sketch, pressed down by a crescent-shaped hoofprint.
Horseshoes?
Yuan Shao quietly observed the item, mentally weighing its potential.
If this thing really can minimize hoof wear and is widely used among Bingzhou cavalry, he’d certainly have to get involved in its production.
Once horse consumption is reduced, it would lighten the pressure he’s under due to scarce war horse resources.
In this case, the batch of Youzhou war horses still requiring manpower for training could very well be put into mule production, even adding in some horses as demand for logistics rises!
This seemed far more feasible than the previous two options.
He knew Yuan Xi was right about one thing; as Chang’an displays its strength to the world, items like horseshoes can no longer be kept a secret, bound to be copied by other states. He’d just be more aware of it and quicker to respond.
But with the added news of logistical mule troops, he’d be way ahead of others!
That’s good stuff.
Of course, while he thought it, all he said aloud was, “Let’s not go into details on this one; let’s discuss the next matter.”
He figured since they got the ball rolling with mules, the next topic should certainly be to his satisfaction.
But little did he expect, this news about mules, which had both pros and cons, would turn out to be the best news he could hear.
In fact, compared to those previous options that were beneficial but hard to execute, this truly felt like a break!
Good stuff, huh?
Seeing it but only getting one bite, of course, is way more despairing than just not being able to see it at all.
Yuan Xi whipped out some soy sauce.
According to him, Qiao Yan secured the official sales rights for drinks from three to even five noble families thanks to this stuff, and somehow didn’t draw their ire.
This flavor is even better than fermented bean paste and makes dishes taste so much better, potentially shaking up the market for officially sold salt.
Yuan Shao’s eyes almost sparkled, and then Yuan Xi blurted out that too bad he didn’t know how Qiao Yan made it.
Yuan Xi pulled out some garlic essence.
He claimed this thing could cure various common ailments, especially those pesky intestinal issues.
But he only knew it was garlic processed and stored in alcohol; he had no clue about the details.
Next came a bottle of high-purity liquor.
This booze was something Guo Jia insisted he bring back as a local specialty from the Sili region.
Thanks to this item, Yuan Xi could even put on a show of igniting the alcohol in front of everyone.
But how in the world did Qiao Yan refine such liquor? Yuan Xi didn’t have a clue.
Yuan Shao couldn’t help but give Yuan Xi a strange look.
Unless he could be sure that Yuan Xi was just a bit sunburned and dressed simply, he would’ve thought Yuan Xi was a spy sent by the enemy.
What was the difference between these items and the papers he knew the benefits of but couldn’t produce?
Aside from undermining his confidence and throwing their morale into disarray, they seemed useless!
Who taught Yuan Xi to gather intelligence like that!
Oh, Tian Feng.
Yuan Shao mentally took note of Tian Feng, realizing the only five things he could consider using were.
The farming tools and pest control items from the Agricultural Books of Bingzhou, medical books, horseshoes, mules, and garlic essence.
Among those, the latter three required manpower and resources from his side for research, while the first two couldn’t be used outright.
“Lord Ming doesn’t need to be so upset,” when he asked Yuan Xi to take a break, leaving Yuan Shao to talk with his strategists, Shen Pei said, “The more things our opponents try to hide in the west, the easier it is for them to overlook something. Yuan Hao has already solidified his foothold there and dug up quite a few secrets; soon those things will be more useful for us.”
“At most, we’ll just need to cover up the shared essence when implementing them, to avoid giving the other side a chance to seize our accomplishments.”
After all, it was their first time being undercover, and the fact that they’d gotten this far was already quite the achievement.
No need to set the bar so high.
But—
“Are you saying the Sili region has really developed to this extent?” On the way back from Yuan Shao, Xin Pi couldn’t help but ask his brother Xin Ping.
Both were from Yingchuan, but since they hadn’t mingled with strategists like Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia, they had been under Yuan Shao’s wing for quite some time. The drastic and unexpected developments from Chang’an felt utterly bewildering to them.
Xin Pi feared not that Yuan Shao would soon face Sili’s iron cavalry, leading to their defeat, but rather that they, the scholarly types who prided themselves on their educational roots, might be cast aside by the flowing currents of this new era.
Would the knowledge they held due to their gentry status become obsolete over time?
Compared to those big-shot scholars diving deep into the classics, Xin Pi and Xin Ping, being practical-minded strategists, had every reason to worry about such a fate.
Xin Ping had previously worked with Guo Tu on research for crossbows, but now they faced a whole heap of dazzling new challenges.
What would they confront next?
Xin Pi’s question didn’t find an answer as the brothers shared a silent glance, filled with words best left unsaid.
Finally, Xin Ping said, “Didn’t you say you wanted to host a birthday banquet for Xian Ying? Let’s go, we’ll drink at your place.”
Not being under the jurisdiction of the Chang’an court, they had no drinking rules to hold them back.
Whether they were celebrating Xin Pi’s daughter turning one or just drinking to drown their sorrows didn’t matter; they had a justifiable excuse to share.
In Ye City, with all the gifts and chaos Yuan Xi had sent, while everyone was deep in thought, Qiao Yan officially met with Zhang Zhongjing.
Zhang Zhongjing was different from Hua Tuo. He was both a physician and an official, which gave off a more grounded vibe of a steady local ruler, rather than that of a free-spirited country doctor.
This attitude was refreshing.
Before Qiao Yan could even say much, she’d already dragged him off to tour the newly designated medical school area.
But perhaps out of habit to get things moving, Zhang Zhongjing surprisingly adapted well to Qiao Yan’s no-nonsense approach.
Since they were setting up both the Painting Institute and the medical school, neither could occupy too much space.
The medical school would likely need to cater to patients with infectious diseases for the most accurate treatment against epidemics, so it couldn’t be placed in Chang’an.
“I’ve decided to place the medical school in Chiyang,” Qiao Yan urged her horse forward, pointing in that direction, “The hills there will be used for planting medicinal herbs, and there’ll be a dedicated water source to prevent mix-ups. How about you, sir?”
Zhang Zhongjing was a bit surprised by the directness of the invitation, but he wasn’t one to hesitate.
He thought Qiao Yan might chat with him about strong liquor and considerations for public healthcare before discussing the job offer. But her straightforward approach of handing him a piece of land to get going felt more sincere than any words.
Doctors hated it when patients or their families tried to meddle, and the same applies to the relationship between superiors and physicians.
The word “trust” was indeed a rare treasure.
He gladly accepted the commission.
Qiao Yan clasped her hands and smiled, “With you on board here, I can confidently have the supplies shipped over from Bingzhou.”
Was it just Zhang Zhongjing’s imagination, or did he feel like these “strange items” might shatter a lot of his preconceived notions?
