“Can strategists really not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 274: The Doctrine of Mandate
This was definitely not a run-of-the-mill task.
Gongsun Du’s territory in Liaodong, by modern geographical standards, was practically in Liaoning Province’s neighborhood. For today’s “Central Plains,” this was undeniably a frontier.
Clearly, this area wasn’t adjacent to where Qiao Yan had any control.
If Zhang Liao were to depart from Shanggu County, guarding Juyong Pass, he’d need to traverse the territories held by Gongsun Zan and the Wuhuan tribes to even reach Gongsun Du’s place.
Under circumstances where roads were obstructed and isolation reigned, convincing Gongsun Du to submit would not be an easy feat.
Gongsun Du was not appointed as the Prefect of Liaodong by Liu Hong or his son; it was Dong Zhuo who conferred that title.
In other words, Gongsun Du had limited benefits from the Han court, and his foothold in Liaodong was solely due to his own tactical prowess.
It was said that Gongsun Du and Xu Rong were fellow townsmen, and that Gongsun Du’s position came through Xu Rong’s recommendation. Therefore, sending Xu Rong to forge a connection might be an underestimation of Gongsun Du’s capabilities.
In this past century, there had been frequent uprisings in Liangzhou, while governors in the Shu region often acted independently. Jiaozhou set the example of autonomy through local gentry, so it was unlikely that places like Liaodong and Xuantu would be exceptions!
The so-called camaraderie of hometown folks was, at most, just a reason to exchange a few pleasantries during conversations.
Convincing Gongsun Du to relinquish readily available benefits would probably be quite the challenge.
With the very thought of that name came the realization of the hurdles ahead; Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang, and even Sima Yi, who just recently arrived in Leping, all became intrigued.
Converting Gongsun Du wasn’t just a challenge; it hinted that—
Qiao Yan’s subsequent plans to reclaim territory might already be starting to show a glimpse of their strategy.
If they could convince Gongsun Du to cooperate, then when Zhang Liao’s forces charged out from Juyong Pass against Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Du, a different branch of the same family as Gongsun Zan, could attack from the east to strike westward.
This surprising pincher maneuver could counterbalance the geographical advantages of advancing from Youzhou, swiftly stabilizing the region before Yuan Shao had time to react.
“That’s true,” Pang Tong murmured, “If we take Ji Province first, Yuan Shao will definitely give some ground to Gongsun Zan, just to ensure he can call on him for help when necessary. With the Taihang Mountains blocking the way, it’s unfavorable for both sides. Thus, the priority for mobilizing between Ji Province and Youzhou must be Youzhou.”
“But the battles in Youzhou absolutely cannot escalate into a head-to-head clash in the east, otherwise Yuan Shao will undoubtedly rush in with cavalry from Hebei, severing our retreat route, and even if we gain the upper hand in Youzhou, we’d end up getting kicked back to square one.”
Thus, contacting Gongsun Du and placing the battlefield of the Youzhou conflict in the central part of Youzhou was an absolute necessity!
This was the overarching direction set by the Lord!
And the discussions surrounding surrender happened to serve as their academic examination topic, clearly indicating that the Lord wanted to test them.
Even if this test was simultaneously handed to her strategists, it meant she didn’t see them merely as students studying here.
Xi Zhicai reminded, “Let’s check this additional condition.”
To reach Liaodong from Youzhou by land, one would have to cross a place—a coastal road where Gongsun Zan defeated Liu Yu, which had now become a heavily fortified area protected by Gongsun Zan’s troops.
Even the route Xu Wushan took to aid Zhang Liao was fortified by Gongsun Zan’s forces.
This was originally set up to protect Gongsun Zan’s family in Lianguang County, and now it just happened to be the barrier preventing them from contacting Gongsun Du.
Even attempting to traverse that road alone would be hard not to alert Gongsun Zan; not to mention if one were to appear before Gongsun Du in such a weak state, he’d have to be a fool to agree to surrender.
Therefore, knowing that there were numerous potential talents under her command, Qiao Yan didn’t plan on having them attempt to breach the geographical barriers.
Gongsun Du simply giving verbal agreement posed significant risks for her.
Zhuge Liang continued examining that assignment paper, until he noticed a line stating they could have two ships for maritime trade, which would be retrofitted by skilled shipbuilders to closely resemble warships, with about five hundred personnel available for allocation.
Of those five hundred, only a hundred would meet the criteria for selecting soldiers from Bingzhou’s army; the other three hundred would merely serve as convoy protection.
Even Lü Bu, a legendary warrior of this era, would struggle with such a task.
What’s more, making such a commotion would be too much.
So they definitely needed to find another way.
However, maritime operations ah…
Sima Yi looked at the paper and saw a determined confidence in Qiao Yan’s handwriting, a spark of brilliance flashed through him.
Ever since he came to Leping, it had been over half a year; after all, he arrived shortly after Qiao Yan seized control of the Guanzhong region.
Initially, he felt that having come from the Sili region, with the legacy of the Sima clan in Henan, he was loaded with knowledge compared to others, and had a clear advantage.
Yet, after arriving in Leping, he found that those things he took pride in didn’t maintain a sense of superiority within the new framework of knowledge; rather, he had to let go of some prior notions to integrate faster.
For instance, the directional tools here had shifted from the traditional south-pointing spoon and south-pointing chariot to magnetic compasses, and smaller, more portable directional devices appeared in the Leping Academy, corresponding to last October’s whimsical experiments on magnetic needles featured in the Leping Monthly Report.
Sima Yi had no doubt that this optimization in directional tools had shifted from standard handheld use on land to applications at sea.
This assuredly provided Qiao Yan with backing for her proposal to cross into Liaodong.
With the emergence of this additional condition, everyone inevitably cast their gazes toward the map in the library.
The Liaodong region, at that sharp corner opposite the Bohai Sea.
According to Qiao Yan, where would this ship staffed by a hundred soldiers and three hundred merchant guards set sail from to reach Liaodong? And where would it land in Liaodong?
How they’d land was also a problem they needed to deliberate.
The coastal areas didn’t belong to Qiao Yan’s direct control, making those two warships both hard won and among the very limited resources they could mobilize.
If they wanted to intimidate Gongsun Du and achieve the goal of surrendering him, the opportunity was singular!
In the silent exchanges among the group, it was clear to everyone what they were feeling.
Currently, Qiao Yan didn’t have the conditions to deploy the ships; they could only launch from a port either in Xuzhou, which fostered trade relations with her, or in Yangzhou, which acknowledged Chang’an as the Imperial capital. But regardless of either, neither was feasible at present.
Building and staffing naval vessels would require time.
So it was no wonder Qiao Yan set the deadline for this assignment at half a year.
What she wanted was a well-prepared plan in every aspect, even accounting for the whole scenario of attacking Youzhou in the future.
This became their end-of-year examination!
Whether they could leave a significant impression on the Lord and, in the near future, become her trusted subordinates rested entirely on this one endeavor!
Up to now, Sima Yi had yet to have a formal meeting with Qiao Yan; he probably cherished this test more than anyone else present.
Due to a debate in Chang’an, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong earned Qiao Yan’s praise, likening them to a phoenix and a dragon, indicating that they had already gained a spot in her eyes; Sima Yi believed he didn’t fall short of those two, but he was not willing to fall behind!
It wasn’t just Sima Yi; anyone personally selected by Qiao Yan for this opportunity wasn’t merely coasting through life, each of them exuded a readiness to take on the challenge.
“So…”
“Sister Lingju, aren’t you supposed to be a general?” Guo Huai glanced at Lu Lingju at the same table and saw her eagerly pulling out her notebook, causing a small bead of cold sweat to roll down his forehead.
Considering military operations comprehensively, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Sima Yi could handle the assignments independently and were permitted to make inquiries about the stationed generals in Bingzhou.
If anyone younger than Zhuge Liang wanted to participate in this event, they had to team up.
This year, Guo Huai and Lu Yi naturally formed a team, but it felt more like they had become a trio.
“I’m just laying the groundwork for future battles,” Lu Lingju declared confidently. “I can’t be like my father, a general with guts but no brains.”
After she said this, she spread her notebook on the table. “The three of us together will definitely surpass the cunning plans of the Dragon of Wu and the Phoenix of Shu. The lord said this is called the wisdom of the crowd.”
Xie Zhicai couldn’t help but find it amusing.
If his memory served him right, Qiao Yan’s reference to “the wisdom of the crowd” was about improvement ideas proposed by various contributors in matters like paper production or farming, not about situations like Lu Lingju’s.
But who knows, sometimes a clumsy person might pull off a surprise, right?
Seeing everyone motivated by this unique test, he shook his head with a smile and decided to leave the space for these youngsters to continue their lively discussions.
He really didn’t need to stick around.
Speaking of which, aside from Li Ru and Jia Xu, who were currently idling at Shangjun, he was perhaps the most free under Qiao Yan’s command.
After all, Bingzhou was Qiao Yan’s stronghold.
Even though there had been transfers of personnel to other positions, like Cheng Yu being reassigned from Bingzhou to become Grand Minister of Agriculture, or Lu Yuan taking over Qiao Yan’s governance in Liangzhou, it hadn’t caused any disorder in Bingzhou.
The people still in place were doing their jobs as usual without any issues.
In fact, with some positions now vacant, those eager to advance felt even more motivated to work.
After Liu Yu ascended the throne, Qiao Yan successfully appointed Zhang Liao as the prefect of Shanggu County, Lü Bu as the middle general in Pingbei, and Qu Yi as the middle general for expedition, effectively streamlining the deployment of troops in Bingzhou, which had relieved quite a bit of his anxieties.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have the time to drop by Leping for a visit like this.
He knew that entrusting this position to him was not only a sign of Qiao Yan’s absolute trust but also a concern for his well-being.
However, this leisurely wandering wouldn’t last too long.
He thought to himself that upon returning to the Bingzhou capital, he would need to select potential successors based on observations over the past six months, and then submit the final list to Qiao Yan for approval, before starting to consider the autumn harvest.
The autumn harvest in Bingzhou included a batch of cotton, which not only involved making cotton clothing and bedding for the winter, but also the processing of medical cotton balls, along with planning the rotation of old and new cotton fields, and further expanding the planting area.
These tasks couldn’t just be completed with a simple delegation; he needed to plan these matters in lieu of Qiao Yan.
Lost in thoughts about this year’s cotton field expansion, he unconsciously neglected his surroundings, and when he turned the corner, he collided head-on with a boy no older than eleven or thirteen.
Fortunately, both of them were walking slowly, so neither fell over.
Only the papers in the boy’s hand scattered all over the ground.
As Xie Zhicai bent down to help him pick them up, he noticed that the boy was not wearing the uniform of Leping Academy.
“You are…”
The boy quietly replied, “I came here on the suggestion of Mr. Bohuai; I’m not a student here. Please forgive me if I have caused any offense.”
Xie Zhicai had spent enough time with Cheng Yu to catch on to the boy’s accent and quickly chimed in, “Just because you’re not a student here now doesn’t mean you won’t be in the future.”
However, to his surprise, the boy shook his head. “My family situation doesn’t allow for long-term travels. I merely heard that Leping has some open-access classics, and there’s a renowned scholar here offering classes for auditing, so I came to stay for a month.”
In the midst of his speech, he finished picking up his papers, bowed to Xie Zhicai, and then walked away.
Xie Zhicai watched his retreating figure, deep in thought.
Bohuai… that refers to Chang Lin from Shangdang Commandery.
It’s common for him to recite news to people while inspecting the local livelihoods, and he would encounter travelers from Yanzhou passing through Shangdang, mentioning Leping Academy, which makes sense.
The geographic separation that prevents the boy from studying here is quite reasonable.
Given such circumstances, Xie Zhicai felt there was no need to pay special attention to this unfamiliar youth.
But when he was helping to gather the scattered papers, he couldn’t help but catch a few sentences.
On the low-cost bamboo paper recently sent to Leping for sale, he found a rather peculiar phrase that didn’t sound like it came from a boy’s mouth—
“Engaging in social activities contrary to the natural order while seeking blessings from unwholesome entities and trying to appease the naive, isn’t that just asking for trouble?”
This roughly meant that if one conducts various social activities against natural times and then seeks divine aid—especially from a malevolent spirit for a good harvest—aren’t they taking completely the wrong path?
Even more interestingly, before the boy had scribbled these words, there appeared to be a blank cover with the words “Chang Yan” inscribed on it.
To name a casual writing in such a manner seems like an act of someone quite proud.
Yet, during their brief exchange earlier, the boy seemed rather bashful.
Such contradictions were quite amusing.
But since the boy had no intention of studying in Leping, it must be that his family действительно limited his movements; he couldn’t just force someone to stay after only a brief encounter.
As Xie Zhicai considered this, he decided not to delve any deeper.
However, when he visited Zheng Xuan and Xun Shuang, he happened to mention the boy’s appearance and learned from someone that the boy’s name was Zhong Changtong, from Shanyang County in Yanzhou, a fellow townsman of Wang Can.
Whether they knew each other or not is another matter; nonetheless, the boy had clearly left a significant impression on both Xun Shuang and Zheng Xuan.
Xun Shuang mentioned that he was quick-witted and quite sharp in his thinking, although his ideas tended to be a bit radical.
Xie Zhicai asked, “What do you mean by radical?”
Xun Shuang took a while to respond, “He doesn’t believe in the concept of destiny.”
Whether Zhong Changtong believed in destiny or not, it could be argued, but Ze Rong in Xuzhou certainly did.
As a Buddhist missionary, he had grown increasingly insufferable with the influx of followers in Guangling, becoming an insatiable figure wrapped in the lies he spun for himself.
If he truly felt entrusted by the Buddha to save lost souls, then receiving their donations would certainly seem like an act of redemption, right?
With several pieces of news arriving, his mindset as a self-proclaimed superior only grew stronger, even leading him to believe he could take over Tao Qian’s position.
One such piece of news was that Yan Baihu’s former subordinates, unable to withstand the siege led by Sun Ce, fled to Xuzhou, directly entering Guangling, thereby effectively surrendering to him.
The combat power of these desperate men needed no embellishing; it added more muscle to his direct forces.
Another was that Zu Lang from Danyang responded to his call and came along. With everyone gathered, what could be hard about negotiating cooperation?
And a third was that after some initial refusal, Mi Zhu finally agreed to come to Guangling to observe the local Buddha bathing event.
Ze Rong was beyond thrilled.
He needed to seize this opportunity to amass the power of the Eastern Sea merchant so he could deliver a fatal blow to that old fox Tao Qian!
