Chapter 473

Chapter 473

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Extra Story Extra Ten (6)

Cai Yong didn’t know that he himself, having taught Cao Pi and Zhaoji among others, had been labeled a hidden politician by Qiao Huan. Now, hearing her ask about the notable figures among the Black Mountain Bandits, although he still harbored some confusion about whether Zhang Niujiao was misunderstood, he relied on his astonishing memory to recount the names he still remembered.

But when Qiao Huan got hold of this list, she was dumbfounded.

Not to mention the duplicate names, even the surnames overlapped because most of the Black Mountain Bandits came from the same region. These names written in a storybook would have no distinctiveness!

Moreover, the Black Mountain Army at that time didn’t have names as elaborate as today’s; they were as casual as could be when naming, so when written in a storybook, it would probably be like:

Zhang Tieniu shouted, “Hey, Er Gou, don’t you dare run away!”

Something like that.

Qiao Huan was troubled, “Now I understand why the Empress spared no effort in promoting education.”

Although this wasn’t the main reason, in the eyes of the young Qiao Huan, the impact was significant.

Sun Luban suggested, “Since you’ve already renamed Zhang Niujiao to King Niujiao Wu Yong, why not give the others nicknames and names for the storybook? Then, at the end, explain the origins of the prototype characters.”

Jiang Wei sensed trouble upon hearing this, but the young Lady Qiao saw great potential and immediately decided—that’s what we’ll do!

A few days later, Cai Yong, pushing the new-style reading glasses made of crystal on his nose, couldn’t help but ponder, “Do you really think there’s no problem with these names?”

Whose bandit names would be Yan Ling, Qin Song, and even have courtesy names? The most outrageous are these nicknames, like Little Li Guang, Smiling Tiger, and whatnot, xx Immortal, xx Heavenly King…

This isn’t coming to be bandits; it’s probably coming to play house.

Hmm, it does seem like playing house.

In the opening Qiao Huan had written, these bandits didn’t seem like bandits at all; they were like noble children coming up the mountain to play, speaking in classical Chinese.

Cai Yong felt he couldn’t dissuade her, so he simply had the manuscript and character settings sent posthaste to Luoyang.

Not just Cai Yong, even Qiao Yan fell silent upon seeing this.

The fact that Qiao Huan and her little friends went to interview Zhang Niujiao had already been reported to her.

Although she didn’t understand why Qiao Huan was so obsessed with writing such novel creations, Qiao Yan thought it wouldn’t hurt for her to meet all sorts of people.

But the problem was, what she wrote wasn’t a record of the Black Mountain Bandits’ construction.

If anything, it was more like a combination of Journey to the West’s demons and Water Margin, with the bandits’ home decor referencing Dream of the Red Chamber.

It’s bizarre; this thing would hardly have an audience in this era.

If the last deified version of the struggle for hegemony could have readers like Lü Bu, this one is really a bit of a mess.

Perhaps Zhang Niujiao never expected that after boasting, his listener would give him such an unimaginable twist.

Having her finish the entire piece would be a bit of a waste of time, but directly telling her to learn and see more before messing with such things might dampen her enthusiasm…

Qiao Yan pondered for a moment and simply sent three “gifts” to Leping Academy.

The first was that at the end of the 16th year of Yuan Zhao, there would be a series of military lectures, with garrison generals returning to the capital for debriefing and then sending one every ten days to Leping to explain border defense matters.

Around October, there would be a screening test for the lecture qualifications.

Those at Leping Academy would need to have sufficient knowledge reserves to understand these lectures.

It wouldn’t be hard for Qiao Huan to meet these people, but since she wanted to set a good example for her little friends, she couldn’t slack off.

Her extracurricular time was halved.

The second was a large transparent glass window.

Earlier telescope lenses were made of crystal, even requiring transactions with the Donghai Mi Clan to transport crystal from there to Bingzhou for specialized polishing.

But since the founding of the Da Yong Dynasty fifteen years ago, productivity advancements from the textile industry gradually expanded to the iron smelting industry. With Zuo Ci and Yu Ji no longer needing to assist in the Western Regions’ assimilation and returning to the Central Plains to apply their alchemical skills to metallurgy, glass improvement gradually developed.

Glassware from the Warring States period and glass that could be used as window panes in later generations were completely different systems, but by switching from lead-barium to sodium-calcium and relying on furnace heat, a new direction was opened.

And when Qiao Yan, from a future perspective, pointed out that the initial batch of glass appeared green due to iron content, those highly exploratory and creative alchemists naturally found ways to improve and neutralize it.

The embryonic chemistry that expanded from this might take decades to develop into a discipline, but at least now, over a decade of accumulation has led to the appearance of nearly colorless glass, seen as a miracle by people of this era.

This glass changed the disadvantage of existing glassware being only processable into decorations and held promise for reducing costs.

When this milestone product appeared at Leping Academy, the students there received a task, in the form of group work, to brainstorm other uses for this material.

Whether writing storybooks is more important or participating in such practical endeavors is more important, Qiao Huan herself should have some consideration.

And the third “gift” might not really be called a gift, as it was actually three people.

Three people from the Kushan Empire.

Since the border stabilization battle in the Western Regions, the Kushan Empire’s king, Bo Diao, personally went to Chang’an to seek peace and pay homage, and was then dispatched by Qiao Yan with generals for long-term stationing, showing smooth communication between the two sides.








In the past ten years, the King of Kushan has gained much knowledge from Da Yong and has become increasingly aware that this dynasty, which grew rapidly after unifying the Central Plains, is not something he can contend with.

Rather than offending them at some point, it would be better to show his sincerity to the great celestial dynasty after gaining some benefits from the Central Plains.

After the first month of the 16th year of Yuan Zhao, he sent his three children to Qiao Yan, effectively offering them as hostages.

These children were mostly born after the conquest of Fulousha and were specifically taught the language of the Central Plains under Bo Diao’s instructions.

Qiao Yan, in turn, sent them all to Leping Academy.

In the future, Qiao Huan will inevitably deal with these foreign countries, so it’s always good to know what they are like early on.

With these three unexpected additions, Qiao Huan should not easily develop strange ideas… right?

But as it turns out, she still might.

After handing the first draft of her manuscript to Zhang Niujiao, she received a hesitant expression, prompting her to decide to experience mountain life firsthand before continuing her writing.

These sudden three “gifts” also disrupted her plans.

Especially when she learned that Jiang Wei and Deng Ai were vying for lecture spots, Qiao Huan, who considered herself the leader of this small group, decided she couldn’t fall behind.

With her superior conditions, if she couldn’t top the selection, how would she explain it to her mother, the Empress?

She decided to postpone her writing plan for now.

However, after interacting with the three princes and princesses of the Kushan Empire, little Qiao Huan secretly added a new creative plan to her notebook: writing about how small Western countries came to Da Yong to pay tribute and learn advanced techniques.

To make Da Yong seem even more mystical, adding some fabricated legends akin to the “Classic of Mountains and Seas” along the way shouldn’t be too hard to understand, right?

Unfortunately, she not only knew little about the lifestyle of bandits but also had limited understanding of religion. She vaguely knew that her mother, the Empress, suppressed some, utilized others, and valued a few, ultimately making figures from the Taishi Path and other Taoist sects important tools for stabilizing the people. This also led to the creation of glass. Given this, writing something that met her requirements at this stage seemed almost impossible.

While others thought about how to use the new glass material for its durability and resistance to temperature changes, Qiao Huan thought about how to understand and utilize the various forces behind it to prevent them from spiraling out of control.

Once she figured these things out, her book tentatively titled “Journey to the East” should be completed.

No rush, though.

She’s not even ten yet.

——————

In the latter half of the 16th year of Yuan Zhao, Qiao Huan advanced to the third grade.

Since not everyone, like Qiao Huan and Jiang Wei, entered at the minimum age, some students in the third and fourth grades were already starting to grow taller. Thus, in addition to the lower-grade combat courses, the academy also added horsemanship and archery classes.

Although there were separate paths for civil and military officials, in Qiao Yan’s view, everyone should master the Six Arts of a Gentleman, spreading Da Yong’s martial virtues to foreign lands and ensuring these subdued forces would not dare to act recklessly.

This was the necessity of these two courses.

While it would have been fine to delay these courses for two years, as long as they were completed before graduation, Qiao Huan decided to sign up early.

But she knew well that even though the Qiao family of Leping was no longer as sparse in numbers as before, and the fear of having no successor if something happened to the Empress had diminished, it was still not a time to let her guard down.

Her life was far more important than most.

So when the horsemanship class began, the instructor saw a uniquely dressed individual.

Qiao Huan wore a rubber cushioning shell on her head, a helmet, protective gear on her joints, and a bright protective vest—her reasoning was to prevent the horse from running off and others not being able to find her.

Remarkably, despite her outfit, her movements remained agile.

She also paid no attention to the curious glances around her, standing confidently at the front.

Zhang Changpu, sitting outside the riding arena, couldn’t help but laugh at the vivid and lively scene, capturing it with her brush on the canvas.

However, she didn’t expect that six days later, during the next horsemanship class, the instructor brought a box of helmets and distributed them to everyone, stating that the academy had adopted Qiao Huan’s suggestion for enhanced protection. After already selecting gentle horses for practice, they added another layer of safety to ensure no accidents would befall the students.

While such safety measures weren’t unusual in a talent-cultivating institution, Sun Luban, looking around and seeing everyone dressed like Qiao Huan, felt that even she, as slow as she was, had to question Qiao Huan’s identity after so many coincidences.

She approached Qiao Huan and asked, “Tell me honestly—”

Qiao Huan tried not to show any nervousness, lest Sun Luban catch onto something.

But then she heard Sun Luban ask, “Are you from the Donghai Mi Clan?”

Sun Luban pondered how much money they could make by selling these helmets as “Leping Academy Student Specials”…

Author’s Note:

Oh, by the way, historically, Zhang Changpu was Zhong Hui’s mother, from Taiyuan.

Since she’s following Qiao Huan now, she definitely won’t be Zhong Yao’s concubine.

So just assume Zhong Hui is still Zhong Yao’s late-life child, but not entirely the historical figure.

See you at 9 PM~