Chapter 306

Chapter 306

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 9: The Plague of Drought and Locusts, Flying Troops to Liaodong Chapter 306: Preparations in Luoyang

Since the first year of Guangxi, when Dong Zhuo was driven back to Chang’an after fleeing Luoyang, the Henan Yin and Hongnong Commandery west of Huayin have been in a relatively unmanaged state.

Areas outside the eight passes of Luoyang are also divided among surrounding regions, such as Cao Cao’s Yanzhou, which extends its jurisdiction towards Hulao Pass.

However, most of the capital region cannot be properly controlled unless a force truly occupies Luoyang.

The natural barrier of the Yellow River and the mountain ranges, along with the division caused by the uplift of the Loess Plateau between Hongnong and Hedong, have completely isolated these two commanderies from other areas.

Even though the officials in Hongnong Commandery are mediocre, Sima Fang, the Henan Yin, tends to protect himself, as seen after the upheaval in Yu Province. These two areas have not been directly incorporated into any faction’s control.

To say that neighboring forces have no thoughts about this is not entirely true.

However, Luoyang has been the capital of the Han Dynasty for over a hundred years, representing not only a population of nearly a million households in the capital region but also a unique political status.

Occupying this place—seemingly able to stem the outflow of Luoyang’s population, leveraging the numerical advantage to create a gap with other factions, rather than relying on the division of migrating populations for development.

But anyone who makes such a move without a completely reasonable explanation risks being accused of overstepping.

Perhaps to avoid being attacked by all, or because they indeed lack sufficient military strength to occupy such a large territory, in the past few years, Liu Biao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and Qiao Yan, who are in the surrounding areas, have not made such a risky move.

If we must say, there is also Wang Kuang of Henei Commandery, adjacent to this no-man’s land.

But this man couldn’t even manage the outflow of people from his own territory. When Qiao Yan instructed various families in Hedong Commandery to recruit people from Henei Commandery, Wang Kuang lost at least one-fifth of his population. How could he further occupy Luoyang!

Yuan Shao might be speechless about this outpost and really doesn’t want to fulfill the other party’s intention to resign and ensure safety.

Now, Qiao Yan has a legitimate reason and sufficient strength.

The drought and locust plague in the capital region, with its still high population density, cannot be properly handled by Sima Fang alone. She needs to assist.

Moreover, with the recent upheaval in Yu Province, she needs to oversee the war situation in Yingchuan and curb the expansion of Yanzhou’s forces. She must establish a frontline node between Chang’an and Yu Province/Yanzhou.

Where else is more suitable than Luoyang?

Probably nowhere.

Although nearly five years have passed, many people in Luoyang still remember Qiao Yan leading the Bingzhou army to be the first to enter Luoyang and drive out Dong Zhuo.

They also remember the floating bridge built on the Yellow River between the Henan Yin and Hedong Commandery.

Now, the Grand Marshal of the Chang’an court has come full circle and returned here, giving people a sense of a strange cycle.

Although the once bustling gold and horse markets inside and outside Luoyang have been abandoned for years, along with the decline of various markets in the city, these places still retain some of their former glory.

When Qiao Yan’s temporary office was set up at the former Imperial Academy, it inevitably reminded people of the scene where she was intercepted by Yang Xiu on the streets near the academy.

However, the people of Chang’an have not yet seen Qiao Yan so quickly. The first to arrive are Sima Fang, Zhuge Xuan, and the prefect of Hongnong Commandery.

These three will need to cooperate with Qiao Yan’s work here, so they naturally have to meet their superior first.

Thinking that Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi are currently on a ship to Liaodong, while Zhuge Liang’s uncle and Sima Yi’s father are here to cooperate and assist Qiao Yan in completing the task of reorganizing the other half of the Sili region, Qiao Yan’s face showed a subtle expression when she saw these two arrive one after another at the office.

But when she spoke to them, she did not reveal any clues.

“Now that it’s mid to late May, it’s a bit rushed to expand the scope of well-digging and water channel construction. It’s also too late to make a new batch of fan tools. We can only use the fastest method to utilize all the available water sources in these two commanderies and quickly exterminate the locusts here.”

“I will have the water conservancy team from Guanzhong come here for the former task.”

Fu Shou and Bi Lan are both locals of Luoyang, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to cooperate here.

Earlier, they completed the hydrological statistics of the Wei River in Guanzhong. Now, they are in the basin of the Wei and Luo Rivers. With a complete set of cooperative systems in place, they should be able to quickly start work here.

“The latter task should be no problem for you two. While carrying out the locust extermination, also re-register the population of the Sili region for me.”

As the central area between the two courts of the east and west, despite having Sima Fang as the official, it’s like a pipe dream to expect orderly migration of the local population.

Before the Dong Zhuo rebellion, Luoyang’s population alone was more than five times that of Chang’an, not to mention the capital region, which was even more significant.

At most, the migrating population would have new household registrations locally, but the handover in Luoyang was virtually non-existent.

What can be utilized now—

One is to set up fire sources at intervals in the fields during the locust plague to attract locusts, allowing for a re-survey of the field areas.

The other is to register some relatively impoverished floating populations by exchanging locust eggs and locusts for grain.

These two tasks were originally something Sima Fang lacked the manpower to do, but with Qiao Yan’s troops stationed here, it becomes possible to execute them.

“What was lacking here was not just troops but also the grain needed for the exchange mentioned by the Grand Marshal. Earlier, I thought about asking for more help from Chang’an, but considering the situation in Guanzhong was not easy, I gave up on the idea. Now that the Grand Marshal has directly proposed it, I feel much more at ease.”

Sima Fang’s words made Qiao Yan look at him with a half-smile.

Whether he gave up on the idea out of concern for the consumption in Guanzhong or to maintain a relatively neutral stance, the answer seems not hard to guess.

After all, this man has always been cunning.

But in the current situation, everyone has their own way of survival, and Sima Fang’s approach is not really blameworthy.

Moreover, in terms of superficial work, he has no problems.

With Sima Yi already serving under Qiao Yan, she won’t make things difficult for Sima Fang.

As long as sufficient troops can suppress the forces he has built up in Henan Yin to a state where they dare not act recklessly, Qiao Yan and he can continue to cooperate.








After completing the household registration in Luoyang, it would be the time for her to distribute the “Emergency Edition” here and observe the various performances as a pilot project.

The overall literacy rate of Luoyang’s population should be much better than elsewhere. Since this place was not previously under Qiao Yan’s control, it can provide a suitable group and also test the adaptability of new regions to these development measures.

Having already prepared an office space in the southern part of Luoyang, she was ready to record everything happening here.

Sima Fang asked, “From what I understand from the Grand Marshal, there seems to be no plan for a large-scale recruitment in Luoyang at the moment?”

“Let’s not rush, to avoid causing any disturbances that might be hard to manage later.”

As for whether the disturbance would be due to Luoyang’s people being dissatisfied with the new power stationed here quickly initiating conscription, or because Chang’an felt the increasing pressure from the Grand Marshal’s bold actions in Luoyang, that’s a matter of opinion.

Before they received definite news from Luoyang, they first welcomed Yuan Yao and others who entered the Si Li region from Yu Province and passed through the Xiaohan Road to Chang’an.

Although they had already received news of Yuan Shu’s death and Qiao Yan’s decisive military action, seeing Yuan Shu’s coffin and his son appearing in Chang’an still gave a sense of the changing times.

Yuan Shu’s death, given his behavior, seemed inevitable, yet it still felt like the end of an era.

Accompanying Yuan Yao to Chang’an was not Guo Jia, who was still with Qiao Yan in Luoyang, nor Yuan Huan, who remained in Yingchuan, but Xun Yu.

From Xun Yu’s words, they finally understood the events that had transpired in Yu Province.

Except for some hidden details about the origin of the report from Yu Province when Xun Yu and Qiao Yan were inspecting Hongnong County, other information was allowed by Qiao Yan to be shared with others.

This included how she made decisions after rushing to the rescue of Huanyuan Pass and how she defeated Xiahou Dun with fewer troops by leveraging information asymmetry.

Then, through a risky yet ingenious operation, she delayed until Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong’s troops arrived from Guanzhong and Jing Province to secure Yingchuan.

“Making decisions at critical moments, the Grand Marshal has never disappointed us. But after the changes in Yu Province, Cao Mengde’s power will surely increase, and with him standing on the side of Ye City, will it cause trouble for us?” Chen Ji asked.

Yingchuan not falling into enemy hands was undoubtedly good news for Chen Ji, a scholar from Yingchuan.

Although the unclear boundary between Yingchuan and Runan might worry about Cao’s army breaking the agreement and invading Yingchuan, considering Qiao Yan’s arrangements and her previous victory over Cao’s general Xiahou Dun, there should be no problem.

Moreover, Qiao Yan was still stationed in Luoyang and could support Yingchuan at any time.

Even optimistically, there might be a possibility that she was using Yingchuan to pin down Cao’s main force while she herself cut into Dong Commandery of Yanzhou from another direction.

Dong Commandery of Yanzhou and Wei County of Ji Province are connected in some parts, meaning this place is not far from Ye City, offering a chance for a surprise attack.

Although this possibility is quite small, as stretching the battle line too long and deep into enemy territory can easily break the original advantage due to resistance, but at this age, one still has to hold some hope for such things.

In May, Zhao Qi, who served as the Minister of Ceremonies and the head of the Chang’an Painting Academy, considering his advanced age, chose to retire, only keeping a teaching position at the academy, as everything here was already on track and did not require much effort.

This is the natural law of life and death.

However, while seeing Zhao Qi off from the officialdom, Chen Ji still felt that, despite his age, he wanted to see the world reunified.

And this hope could only be placed on Qiao Yan.

The confrontation in Yu Province made Chen Ji see more clearly Qiao Yan’s ability to handle combat crises.

Indeed, only such a person could ensure a more reliable future for Chang’an.

But he thought this way, while others did not.

As Qiao Yan had guessed, as a court is established for a long time, the unity shown under forced cohesion will develop cracks when there are real conflicts of interest.

What Chen Ji saw as a precarious meeting in Pingyu, others saw as a mere show between Qiao Yan and Cao Cao, given their early friendship, and even Cao Cao’s second son Cao Pi was still at the Leping Academy founded by Qiao Yan.

What Chen Ji saw as necessary stationing of troops in Luoyang, others saw as collusion between Qiao Yan and Cao Cao, allowing her to establish her own small court in Luoyang. Who knows if more audacious actions would follow, even developing to the point of seeking benefits between the Luoyang and Ye City courts.

What Chen Ji saw as a considerate arrangement for Yingchuan and a righteous act towards Yuan Shu, others saw as hypocritical mourning.

A typical representative of these people approached Yuan Yao at this time.

Yuan Yao looked puzzled at Liu Yang appearing before him.

He had heard of him.

After Liu He’s death, Liu Yang, from being an obscure second son of the Governor of Youzhou, became the quasi-successor in the Chang’an court, skyrocketing in status.

However, this person had not truly entered the court, so at most, his name was known, but not for any admirable qualities.

But Liu Yang’s opening words stunned Yuan Yao.

Liu Yang said, “The Grand Marshal’s handling of this matter is truly not generous. Your father, as the legitimate son of the Yuan Clan of Runan, was transported to Chang’an in such a careless manner, and even you had to leave your hometown to come here. If my father had personally ordered, he would have surely recaptured Runan County and let you take the position of Governor of Yu Province.”

“No! I should say, if my father had known about the contention between Yu Province and Yanzhou, he would have assisted in the defense of Yu Province to prevent Yanzhou from taking advantage.”

He sighed, “Ah, I knew early on that the Grand Marshal and Cao Cao had a private relationship, not reminding your father earlier about this matter is… forget it, let’s not talk about this. You’ve just arrived in Chang’an, if there’s anything you lack, just come to me. If I can help, I will definitely lend a hand.”

“I don’t know where my father intends to place you, but it surely won’t be low, it must suit your status.”

Yuan Yao gave an awkward smile: “…”

Wait, some of Prince Yang’s words seem a bit off?

It seems… like he’s badmouthing the Grand Marshal here?

No way, it’s only his second day in Chang’an, how is he already facing such a thrilling situation!