Chapter 472

Chapter 472

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Side Story Side Story Ten (5)

Although Qiao Huan felt she hadn’t done much to be ashamed of, she still thought it best to save face whenever possible.

She said seriously, “Actually, I think Your Majesty should maintain a more mysterious image. There’s no need to attend this event.”

“Have you forgotten? I attend the graduation ceremony of Leping Academy every five years. Unless you graduate early, you will definitely run into me,” Qiao Yan replied. “And… before sending you to Leping Academy, I told you that your situation is different from that of the Han Emperor or Zhuge Liang, who only needed to spend a few years at the academy. Since you are to experience six years of life at the academy, you cannot give up halfway.”

Qiao Huan counted on her fingers.

The founding of Leping Academy dates back to when Her Majesty subdued the Black Mountain Bandits and brought them under her rule for education, which was in the first year of Zhongping. At that time, it was just beginning to take shape.

By the time she graduates, it will be the 30th anniversary of Leping Academy.

So when Qiao Yan says she will definitely go, it’s not an empty promise.

Even if she doesn’t go as a parent, she will go as the Empress of Da Yong to show her absolute importance to Leping Academy as an educational institution.

Or rather, this is to demonstrate her determination to use school construction and universal education to combat the monopoly of noble families.

How could Qiao Huan not understand this?

Although most of the people she interacts with daily still come from noble families, and those with inherent advantages are bound to be at the top of the academy, there are still many talented individuals who are gradually making their mark.

For example, the influence of the Deng family from Xinye has almost disappeared in Deng Ai.

Perhaps his diligence could have allowed him to seize an opportunity to rise, but the existence of Leping Academy undoubtedly accelerated this hope by who knows how many days or years.

Alright, then she’ll go.

But this means she’ll have to ensure that the praise she receives at that time outweighs any complaints.

Qiao Huan secretly made up her mind.

So when the new semester began, those around Qiao Huan noticed that she seemed much more well-behaved than usual.

Jiang Wei and others initially wondered if she had received some bad news during the New Year and if someone needed to subtly probe for information. But before they could act, Qiao Huan had already returned to her lively self.

According to Qiao Huan herself—

What’s there to fear? There are still four and a half years left.

It’s no big deal to be mischievous for another two or three years.

After all, people’s memories aren’t that good.

Right now, it’s only natural for a young person to be a bit wild.

After realizing this, she immediately put her writing plans from last year back on track.

Zhang Niujiao, who was approached by a group of children, was still overseeing agricultural factories.

If you go back a dozen years, he might have regretted not being able to take up a military position like Chu Yan. But now, he is respectfully called “Director Zhang” wherever he goes and can casually drink with friends, so he no longer has such thoughts.

At most, he feels that there’s no need for large-scale military campaigns now, and even if there were, military rations wouldn’t need to come from his factories. It’s mostly just producing agricultural tools, which seems a bit boring.

Now that someone has come to him, it’s not boring anymore, but he never expected that the leading girl would want to create a story based on the Black Mountain Bandits.

Huh? Are people so idle now that they have nothing better to do?

Zhang Niujiao thought this and asked it out loud.

Among Her Majesty’s subordinates, if you rank the most illustrious, he wouldn’t even make the top twenty.

And he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but when he faced Qiao Huan, he felt he could see a bit of Qiao Yan’s shadow in her face.

Perhaps it was because he had seen Qiao Yan when she was young, already showing great talent and the demeanor of a commander, which led to this strange thought when he saw Qiao Huan leading the group.

He heard Qiao Huan reply, “If we seek to write books about generals and officials, although the common people may aspire to it, they know they could never achieve such a day. The top-level political games are also full of hidden meanings that are hard to understand. It’s better to write about your journey from being a bandit to turning over a new leaf, from being a prisoner in Leping to holding an important position.”

Qiao Huan wouldn’t say that she hit a bottleneck in revising the mythological version of the late Han dynasty’s struggle for supremacy and didn’t want to give up its exaggerated descriptions, so she decided to start small, using Zhang Niujiao’s Black Mountain Bandits as a starting point to try and create something closer to everyday life.

But Zhang Niujiao wouldn’t say that he initially chose to submit to Qiao Yan simply because the “prison food” there was quite good.

When Qiao Huan asked why he became Her Majesty’s subordinate instead of joining forces with the thousands of Black Mountain Bandits to rebel and return to the Taihang Mountains to live by plunder, Zhang Niujiao calmly replied, “Because we saw Her Majesty’s potential back then.”

Zhang Niujiao was a smooth talker.

Back then, he could say he didn’t care about settling in Leping by growing yams well while working hard. Now, after so many years in the “director” position, he often boasts about the past to his subordinates with great skill.

“You came from Leping Academy, so you must have seen the Houzhang Peak to the east of the academy. That’s where I was captured.”

“It’s also because Her Majesty was truly impressive. At that time, we thought we could just plunder and leave. After all, the Marquis of Leping was favored by the Emperor, and if there were any shortages, supplies would be sent quickly. But many of our people, especially the elderly, weak, women, and children, might not survive the winter.”

“But Her Majesty, what kind of person is she? She used the protection of the granaries as a reason to unite the military and civilians to work for her, and set up ambushes in the mountains. Just this move—” Zhang Niujiao said confidently, “was enough to show that she not only had early wisdom but also exceptional military command skills.”

“Why did we hide in the mountains? It was because there was no one in Ji Province we could rely on.”

“Seeing such defenses, I, Zhang Niujiao, immediately decided to follow Her Majesty!”

Qiao Huan: “…”

She slowly shifted her gaze from Zhang Niujiao’s face to Sun Luban’s beside her.

The confusion on Sun Luban’s face confirmed that Qiao Huan hadn’t misheard Zhang Niujiao’s words.

But if she remembered correctly, Zhang Niujiao was captured by Dian Wei and Cheng Yu, while Chu Yan was captured by Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun and Dian Wei were both direct generals under the Emperor, and Cheng Yu held a high position in the court. Qiao Huan had interacted with them and occasionally heard them talk about the past, which was completely different from what Zhang Niujiao said.

“Did you really do that?” Qiao Huan couldn’t help but ask.

Zhang Niujiao puffed out his chest, speaking with unwavering confidence, “Think about it, how many men did we have in the Black Mountain Army? And how many defenders and civilians in Leping could join the fight?”

“My brother Chu was excellent at mountain warfare and could enhance our combat abilities. But we still surrendered. This…”

He paused, toning down his voice before continuing, “This was naturally due to Her Majesty’s brilliant command, first disrupting our formation with grain bags, then using a divide-and-conquer strategy to prevent us from calling for reinforcements. But if we had refused to cooperate, what would have happened?”

“We in the Black Mountain Army are not cowards. I, Zhang Niujiao, may not be able to lead my brothers to wealth, but I can shed blood with them. I would never forget why we went into the mountains just because the food in Leping was filling.”

“It was because both I and Brother Chu believed that Her Majesty was the wise ruler we could serve, that we led our people to surrender.”

Zhang Niujiao said mysteriously, “Think about it, the Great Virtuous Teacher of the Yellow Turbans, Zhang Jiao, was dealt with by Her Majesty. I have one more character in my name, Zhang Niujiao, so I must have some ability to predict things. It’s a pity Her Majesty doesn’t believe in such things, or I could tell you how I knew Her Majesty was destined by heaven.”

Qiao Huan was silent for a while, not daring to say that, based on her child’s intuition, the phrase “filling food” in Zhang Niujiao’s words sounded much more sincere than the nonsense that followed.

And, linking Zhang Niujiao’s name to Zhang Jiao, would Zhang Jiao not jump out of his grave to protest!

Qiao Huan asked, “If you really have such extraordinary insight as you say, why are you content with just doing this job?”

Zhang Niujiao stroked his beard and said, “You don’t understand. I was once the leader of the Black Mountain Army, loved by my subordinates. Although Her Majesty is not the type to be suspicious, if I held an important position under her, who knows what trouble I might cause one day.”

“And if I’m just a minor figure in a leisurely position, the thousands of people in the Black Mountain Army would have a chance to rise under Her Majesty.”

“If you ask around the Leping Textile Office, you’ll know that before Brother Chu recommended himself to Her Majesty as an official, he came to me and asked—’General, do you plan to stay like this?’ I replied…”








“I just wanted to be a village chief, but I was persuaded otherwise.”

“Since I have no rebellious intentions, His Majesty dared to claim that it was under my name when Zhang Wen Yuan and Zhang Zhishu attacked the bandits of Yunzhong Mountain.”

“When Guo Fengxiao first came to Leping, it was my exam paper that fell into his hands, letting him know that His Majesty practices education without discrimination, giving even someone like me, who can barely read, the opportunity to receive education. No wonder the refugees from all over can settle and thrive here.”

“Think about it, if I hadn’t had a heart-to-heart with His Majesty, how would he dare to entrust me with the crucial task of preparing military provisions before marching to Liangzhou? This is something that goes into people’s mouths; the slightest mistake could lead to unpredictable consequences!”

Listening to Zhang Niujiao, even Qiao Huan, who knows a bit about the past, finds it hard to discern the truth in his words, let alone Jiang Wei and Deng Ai.

This guy not only affirms His Majesty’s trust in his subordinates but also portrays himself as a genius through various anecdotes.

But looking at him, they can’t see anything outstanding.

Zhang Niujiao adds, “If you still don’t believe me, do you know Tian Feng, Tian Yuanhao?”

How could they not know Tian Feng?

Even before the battle of Ye City ended, Tian Feng was no longer a subordinate of Yuan Shao but had joined Qiao Yan’s side, becoming a sharp weapon against Yuan Shao on the northern front of Ji Province.

After the war, he continued to serve as an official in the Secretariat, assisting the Secretariat Director in handling government affairs.

The fact that Yuan Feng was Tian Feng was fully revealed to everyone after the fall of Ye City.

The revised records in the Leping Monthly Report state that Tian Feng was once driven by Yuan Shao to steal military secrets in Bingzhou but, moved by His Majesty’s policies that allowed the people of Bingzhou, Liangzhou, and Sili to live in peace and prosperity, and his own rise from a commoner to a high position, he decided to confess his identity and pledge loyalty.

Qiao Yan didn’t mind Tian Feng’s deception and instead took the initiative to bring his family back, ensuring he could work under her with peace of mind.

This exposed the fact that Yuan Shao tried to hide during the hostage exchange, creating a tale of a lord and a spy finding mutual respect.

However, Qiao Huan, being Qiao Yan’s daughter and growing up in the Luoyang palace, had many jokesters willing to tell her the actual situation.

Rather than Tian Feng voluntarily surrendering, it was more like he was forced onto the pirate ship.

Wait, if that’s the case—

Zhang Niujiao says, “Tian Yuanhao was discovered by me and sent to Leping Academy to study abacus. Without this, he wouldn’t have had the chance to appear before His Majesty. Do you really think this was just a random act on my part?”

Initially, Zhang Niujiao didn’t know about Tian Feng’s complex identity and genuinely wanted to cultivate him as his right-hand man.

But just look at the result.

Isn’t it because of his actions that Tian Feng took the first step towards rising high?

That’s all that matters.

Since His Majesty doesn’t mind his self-promotion, given his frequent praise of Da Yong’s policies, there’s no harm in telling these young people in this embellished way.

It’s hard to say if Zhang Niujiao’s thought process subtly resonates with Lü Bu’s at this moment.

What’s wrong with exaggerating a bit in storytelling?

Even a factory manager can follow the path of a power fantasy novel!

At most, when Qiao Huan and others later ask him about the specific distribution of the Black Mountain Army in the Taihang Mountains, the situation when yams were planted in Leping and gradually integrated into textile and paper-making, and the recent developments of the Black Mountain Army spreading in all directions, Zhang Niujiao tells the truth.

For example, after the Black Mountain Army settled in Leping, it was the improvement of mulberry bark clothing by three women from the army that marked the beginning of their integration.

For example, in the second year of Zhongping, the most exciting news the Black Mountain Army heard was “one million dan” at the yam harvest.

And for example, the Black Mountain Army no longer calls themselves by their old name but says they are the first group of outsiders to become staunch supporters of His Majesty of Da Yong in Leping.

At this point, Zhang Niujiao points to a lump hanging on the wall and says, “You can’t tell what that is, right? That’s the helmet cake His Majesty distributed to the soldiers during the campaign against Liangzhou, made by me. His Majesty personally tested it with archery to see if it could be used for soldiers’ protection if necessary.”

“I thought it had commemorative value, so I had it dried again to preserve it. Look, you can still see where the arrow pierced it.”

Qiao Huan walks over, touches the marks on this food she’s never eaten, and seems to glimpse the past’s glory.

But when she returns to Leping Academy with a basket full of notes, she feels a bit troubled.

“We didn’t expect Zhang Niujiao to be such a formidable character.”

She ponders, “Originally, this was supposed to be a group portrait story with General Chu as the central figure, but what should we do now?”

Usually, it’s Qiao Huan who tricks others, but this is the first time she’s fallen into someone else’s trap.

But if the book were to glorify Zhang Niujiao, it wouldn’t be Qiao Huan’s style.

Just as Sun Luban suggests, “Should we proceed with dual storylines?” Qiao Huan claps her hands and says, “I know how to handle this!”

“Since it’s about the gathering of the Black Mountain Army and their clash with the old and new dynasties, we need to exaggerate and… build up before the climax.”

“Why not first portray Zhang Niujiao as a rough, unrefined figure, nicknamed King Niu Jiao! And give him a nickname, Useless.”

Jiang Wei, Sun Luban, Deng Ai, and others: “…”

Qiao Huan’s exaggeration is quite similar to the mythological version, both aiming to shock.

But Qiao Huan obviously thinks there’s no problem with her approach and continues, “We don’t need to give him too much positive portrayal in the entire text, just show how a bandit leader clumsily integrates into the new dynasty’s officialdom. Then, at the end, reveal all the groundwork he laid.”

“Wow, what a brilliant contrast, and it might even squeeze some tears from the readers, realizing King Niu Jiao had so much foresight.”

Sensing the odd expressions, Qiao Huan asks, “Do you think this is wrong?”

Jiang Wei: It’s not wrong, but it feels like Qiao Huan is playing with something very new, and the general public might not be into it…

He tentatively says, “Are you planning to submit this to the Leping Monthly Report?”

Qiao Huan replies, “Of course, what other way is there?”

If she stirs up trouble within the academy, her mother might remain unaware for a while, but if she uses other connections to ensure her book gets printed directly, she might… get beaten.

Better to be honest.

“I’m not saying there are other ways,” Jiang Wei sighs, “but have you considered that with the Leping Monthly Report’s format, it can only be published in segments? If Zhang Niujiao’s character is first labeled as useless, subscribers will surely resent him, and any later reversal will just seem like a result of the criticism. If you really want to write it this way, it’s better to do it as a whole book.”

Qiao Huan ponders, “Then the workload of writing it all at once is huge.”

The sunk cost is also significant.

But after some calculation, she really can’t bear to waste the material she’s gathered today.

Never mind, just do it!

But then she thinks, if only Zhang Niujiao and Chu Yan are featured, it won’t fully demonstrate the significance of Zhang Niujiao’s “enduring humiliation” actions. It would be best to come up with thirty, fifty, or even one hundred and eight names to truly capture the impact of a bandit saga.

“Should we ask Zhang Niujiao for more character lists?” Sun Luban has no objection to Qiao Huan’s suggestion and even proposes nominating the three women who improved the mulberry bark clothing.

Qiao Huan thinks and replies, “No, let’s try a different approach this time.”

Letting Zhang Niujiao choose might lead to bias, but having someone who was present but not part of the Black Mountain Army evaluate would be most truthful, showing who truly had the skills.

Don’t they have a ready-made person to ask?

They can even use the excuse of contributing to the literary cause to seek his help!

Thinking this, Qiao Huan immediately approaches Cai Yong.

But hearing about her series of gains from interviewing Zhang Niujiao, Cai Yong scratches his thinning hair and shows a look of existential doubt.

Wait, is Zhang Niujiao really that impressive?

Has he been misunderstanding that guy all these years?

Author’s note:

Zhang Niujiao and Cai Yong might become the most misunderstood figures in later generations (dog head)

See you at 9:30 tomorrow morning.