Chapter 286

Chapter 286

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 9: The Calamity of Drought and Locusts, Flying Troops to Liaodong Chapter 286: The Great Wall of Grains

From the perspective of Ren Hong, when she mentioned the change in weather, Qiao Yan’s expression froze for a moment. Even her grip on the cup in her hand tightened suddenly, then slowly loosened, placing it on the table beside her, and instead picked up a stack of bamboo paper in front of her.

Since last May until now, in this year and a half, bamboo paper has undergone at least three optimizations. By now, it has successfully replaced other types of paper due to its cost-effectiveness, becoming the mainstream office paper in Chang’an.

She went through the data comparisons made by Ren Hong one by one, sighing almost imperceptibly.

“Lord Marquis?” Perhaps because she had been silent for a while, Ren Hong couldn’t help but speak up.

In front of those who questioned her ability to be the Grand Historian, she had been quite composed, but in front of Qiao Yan, she always felt somewhat uneasy.

Predicting that the weather might change next year was an extremely risky decision for her.

After all, last year, to secure the position of Grand Historian, she had already predicted a solar eclipse on the first day of the new year.

If she were to say that the weather would change next year, and it came true…

She would probably be considered a practitioner of evil arts from the prophetic texts.

Qiao Yan looked up at her, clearly seeing the fleeting hesitation on her face, and replied, “I believe you. I just suddenly thought of the situation in the sixth year of Guanghe. You’re right, the celestial phenomena this winter are indeed too strange.”

She had crossed over at the beginning of the seventh year of Guanghe, so for the sixth year of Guanghe, she only had scattered memories from the original host.

But droughts and famines had a strong impact even on a sickly girl raised in a boudoir, so in the original Qiao Yan’s memories, the sixth year of Guanghe seemed particularly bleak.

The people rely on the crops from the land and the mercy of the weather.

If heaven does not favor us, and human effort is not enough to make up for the deficit in weather, what should the people do?

“The weather is changing…” Qiao Yan suddenly stood up, “I will inform His Majesty of this matter at tomorrow’s morning meeting.”

“To… tomorrow?” Ren Hong almost bit her tongue.

Although she knew that the Lord Marquis was always swift and decisive, and they, her subordinates, had learned from her, but to bring such a matter directly to tomorrow’s court meeting was truly a shock to Ren Hong.

After all, the last earthquake in Chang’an was in late December.

No matter how much disaster relief experience had been gained from the earthquake in October, and despite the weak tremors, it was already the end of December by the time the damage statistics for each household in Chang’an were completed.

Tomorrow is the first day of the new year, the grand court meeting!

According to the original process, tomorrow should first be the Son of Heaven’s ritual to worship heaven and earth, then return to the Zichen Hall to start the court meeting.

According to the rumors in the capital, the new year should even change the era name to change the atmosphere, and it would be best to avoid mentioning the earthquake, lest the misfortunes of last year continue into this year.

But the Lord Marquis actually said that the matter of the changing weather would also be discussed tomorrow.

Ren Hong had no doubt that, given Qiao Yan’s temperament, since the weather prediction was to be mentioned, the handling of post-earthquake matters would also be discussed.

She was about to ask if they should change the timing when she heard Qiao Yan say, “There is no snow in winter. If there is really a drought, signs will appear in early spring. By then, it might be too late to act. If locusts plague again in the middle of the year, and there is still no rain in autumn, should the people under our rule rely on the stored grain from the past two years to tough it out?”

Ren Hong’s eyes flickered, and she heard Qiao Yan continue, “Some things, even if we know they will face controversy, we must do. Isn’t this the most important meaning of placing oneself in a high position?”

She took a box from the shelf beside her and handed it to Ren Hong, indicating for her to open it.

This was the box used to hold Victory Coins, seen at the beginning of the year.

Perhaps to show a more formal attitude towards the blessings given to subordinates, it had been repackaged.

But the Lord Marquis’s pragmatic attitude really hadn’t changed. Probably last year, when producing the boxes, enough were made to be used again this year.

Ren Hong opened the box and, as expected, saw the Victory Coins that should have been distributed tomorrow.

But when her gaze fell on the pattern of the Victory Coin, her expression changed slightly.

As a native of Bingzhou, she had of course seen Yanshan and the winding Great Wall on it. What appeared before her now was not a mountain, but a “mountain” composed of millet, wheat, rice, sorghum, and beans, with the Great Wall depicted on this special mountain.

Although both the grains and the Great Wall were outlined with extremely simplified strokes for the convenience of coin engraving, it was still easy to see the meaning behind it.

This is…

“Without the common people, without food in hand, there is no Great Wall. This was originally used to celebrate last year’s harvest, but now it can also serve as a warning.”

Qiao Yan said word by word, “The Great Wall was not built on empty words. Now that a crisis is upon us, should we still whitewash the situation?”

She had delayed sending troops to attack Yuan Shao, stored food for several years, and step by step built the trust of the Guanzhong people in the Chang’an court, even in her, precisely to prevent such changes.

“If there is any blame, I will bear it.”

Since she had taken the position of Grand Marshal, she could not allow anyone to interfere with her actions in this matter!

The next day, Chang’an had not yet entered the bustling scene of households rising to celebrate the New Year, but the Zichen Hall was already filled with court officials.

After the customary New Year’s greetings from the Son of Heaven and the courtiers, they entered the stage of planning for the new year.

Since the reconstruction of Guanzhong in the first and second years of Jian’an was almost entirely presided over by Qiao Yan, this task was naturally handed over to her by Liu Yu.

But what the courtiers present did not expect was that Qiao Yan’s first statement roughly meant—

This year there might be a severe drought. To prevent overly serious consequences, the Grand Marshal’s office unanimously decided to inspect and expand the water channels in various places between January and March, and to add reservoirs to ensure sufficient water supply.

As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately jumped out and asked, “How can the Grand Marshal be so certain that there will definitely be such a disaster this year?”

Qiao Yan glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Chunyu Jia, the Grandee Secretary.

This person was selected from the Hongwen Hall and had been in office for nearly two years.

It is said that this person had once been a local official in his early years, but after Dong Zhuo brought disaster to the court, he resigned and lived in seclusion. It was only in the past two years that he came out, so although he was not among the first batch of officials in Chang’an, his seniority was not low.

There was even a saying in Chang’an that if one of the Three Dukes were to step down now, considering the ages of the Grand Herald Chen Ji and the Grand Commandant Zhao Qi, he was very likely to take over the position of the Three Dukes.

No wonder he dared to question Qiao Yan at this time, probably because of the confidence given by this quasi-Three Dukes status.

His first words were indeed quite polite, but before Qiao Yan could present the meteorological evidence to him, Chunyu Jia immediately followed up with a question, “Is the Grand Marshal really worried about the changing weather and the fear of famine…”








The disaster that was not prepared for, or was it deliberately delaying the march?

Qiao Yan’s face suddenly turned cold, “What does the Grand Master of the Palace mean by this?”

“Literally,” Chunyu Jia felt that what he was about to say was reasonable, completely ignoring the dissuading looks from his colleagues around him, thinking that speaking the truth at this moment was truly an act of great courage.

While others might need to give way to the Grand Marshal, who stood above all but one, he insisted on arguing clearly with her.

“In the first year of Jian’an, the government granary in Chang’an stored over eight million dan of grain. In the second year of Jian’an, the population in Guanzhong increased by more than twenty thousand households, and the grain yield per mu also increased. Although the taxes from Yang Province were transferred to Hailing, and the taxes from Yi Province were stored in Hanzhong, with Liang Province and Bing Province each storing grain in their granaries, the total grain stored in Guanzhong, including the taxes from Jing Province, still exceeded fifteen million dan.”

“Yet, since the Grand Marshal led troops to Hanzhong to suppress Zhang Lu and intimidate Liu Yizhou in the first year of Jian’an, nearly two years have passed. With such a large amount of grain, why has there been no movement of troops? Are we waiting for Yuan Benchu to learn all the affairs of our Chang’an court, closing the gap through years of management, and letting him attack first?”

In Chunyu Jia’s view, with fifteen million dan of grain, the number of soldiers that could be recruited would be more than a hundred thousand.

Even if they had to endure casualties to march through the Taihang Mountains, or first station in Chang’an, advance to Luoyang, push into Yanzhou, and then north to Ji Province, or cut into Wei County through River North County, with each soldier spitting once, they could drown Yuan Benchu.

Once the world has only one legitimate authority, how many troubles would there be?

But look at what Qiao Yan has done?

In nearly two years, apart from creating sensational events in Chang’an, she has only been patching up the various disasters that occurred in Chang’an last year, even letting the court in Ye City mock them as a false court abandoned by heaven.

The world says that the current Grand Marshal is a capable and brave warrior, with extraordinary courage. If not, she could not have first fought outside the frontier, then forced Dong Zhuo to flee Luoyang, and successively pacified Liang Province and Guanzhong, welcoming the current Son of Heaven back from Youzhou.

But since Chunyu Jia took office in Chang’an, he has only seen Qiao Yan avoiding battle.

Even the deployment of troops to the Taihang Mountains was only a show of deterrence without any real intent to advance!

Two years, a full granary, isn’t that enough for Qiao Yan to launch an attack on any of Yuan Shao’s territories?

In the second year of Jian’an, the healed and rested Yuan Shu declared that he would defeat Yuan Shao, leaving only one court to issue orders, and thus attacked Chenliu County in Yanzhou.

Although he was defeated by the prepared Cao Cao and was deemed to be only retaliating against the Gao family in Chenliu, at least he took action.

In the same year, Sun Ce of Yang Province completed the recovery of Kuaiji County, and most of Yuzhang County fell into his hands. With the decisive battle this spring, he might be able to kill Huang Zu to avenge his father’s death.

While pacifying the interior of Yang Province, he could also support Zhang Yi in Xuzhou, helping him to establish a foothold north of the Yangtze River and south of the Huai River.

Yet, after nearly two years of silence, Qiao Yan says that this year there might be a drought, and to avoid greater losses, more manpower needs to be invested in building water channels—

What difference is there between this and directly saying, “This year, I also do not plan to send troops”?

If this is really the case, Yuan Shao would probably laugh in his dreams!

Chunyu Jia continued, “If the Grand Marshal feels unsure about attacking Yuan Shao, now that the Chang’an court has been established here for two years, there are many capable and brave generals who can fight. In the past, Wang Zhongxuan wrote a ‘Goddess Sends Off the Expedition’ and gained the Grand Marshal’s favor, entering the court to handle documents, but where is the expedition?”

This last accusation was even more disrespectful to Qiao Yan.

But instead of seeing any anger on Qiao Yan’s face, he only saw her smile, a smile full of mockery, mocking an ignorant person.

“Grand Master of the Palace, I hope you understand the principle of finishing one thing at a time.”

She didn’t even lift her eyelids, speaking calmly, “Preparing for a drought and attacking Yuan Shao are completely different matters. If you think there was a chance to send troops last year, you can discuss it with everyone present now, let me hear how I missed the opportunity, or if you think someone can surpass me in military strategy and arranging military actions, you can have them come and compete with me face to face. Instead of—”

“Showing off what you think here!”

Qiao Yan’s words were not heavy, but they carried a sharpness.

“You say Yuan Benchu will catch up with us in these years of halted military action, but I only see a group of idle people gathering in Ye City, clinging to so-called high family names, satisfied with increasing yields from three to four dan per mu, while our Guanzhong court is thriving. If there are no natural disasters this year, seven dan per mu is not the end.”

“Those in low positions have ways to rise, those in high positions do not forget the common people, merchants gather in Chang’an, farmers have full granaries, and due to cotton clothes, there are few frozen corpses on the roads in winter. Those who left their hometowns live and work in peace here, even asking scribes to write letters to their elders, inviting them to live in Chang’an. This is the current state of Chang’an.”

“If this still makes you think Yuan Benchu will laugh in his dreams, why not roll into his dream!”

After this fierce questioning, she didn’t give Chunyu Jia any more attention, but instead bowed to Liu Yu, “Please, Your Majesty, make a clear decision. Natural disasters do not shift with human will, and virtuous governance and benevolence cannot prevent them. In the current situation, it is better to be cautious, preparing for the drought to await spring plowing.”

Liu Yu replied, “Let it be as the Grand Marshal says.”

With the Son of Heaven, Liu Yu, having spoken, Chunyu Jia could only swallow whatever he wanted to say.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that in the current situation, the Chang’an court was Qiao Yan’s one-man show, and Liu Yu, the Son of Heaven, was just a name for Qiao Yan to issue orders.

Even though Qiao Yan never showed any disrespect to Liu Yu, in the eyes of those who disliked her, this judgment should not be based on what she did, but on the results.

Even this speculated drought was finalized, and preparations were made. Who knows if it would waste manpower, isn’t that enough to prove Qiao Yan’s unique authority in Chang’an?

Chunyu Jia sighed as he exited the Zichen Hall, pondering that he still needed to find another opportunity to speak.

Qiao Yan, however, didn’t take his actions to heart.

Such a person who wasn’t even qualified to be her opponent, why care what he thinks!

Compared to worrying about whether Chunyu Jia would cause trouble, two other matters were clearly more important.

The first was the disaster preparation she had already informed the court about.

Before spring plowing, there were many things they needed to do.

Especially checking and supplementing water storage and transportation.

Fortunately, since the first year of Jian’an, Bi Lan, Fu Shou, and Jia Mu have been working on this, and the construction of water channels in Bing Province and Liang Province was not a recent effort.

The other matter was…

Some students from Leping Academy were brought to Chang’an.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Sima Yi, Lu Lingju, Lu Yi, Guo Huai, and others, the oldest sixteen, the youngest only twelve, appeared before her when she returned to the Grand Marshal’s residence after court.

Young as they were, compared to when she first met them a few years ago, these young people had grown like bamboo shoots, rapidly growing in height, appearance, and temperament, no longer as naive as before.

Like what she did with Ren Hong, she handed each of them the Victory Coin currency of the third year of Jian’an.

Then she looked at each of them, vaguely remembering that Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Xu Shu, and Cai Zhaoji had appeared before her at such an age.

Qiao Yan steadied herself and said, “I have a task for you all.”