Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 2: At the Foot of Taihang Mountains, A Small Test of Skill Chapter 51: Three Thousand Households

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Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 51: Three Thousand Households

Qiao Yan couldn’t help but suspect that, in a way, Cai Zhaoji had inherited Cai Yong’s habit of speaking blunt truths.

She replied earnestly, “How can you say that? The essence of Taihang Mountains grows the Polygonatum, though it hasn’t been processed, its quality is just average, but it is still the spirit of the wild. The juice of the mulberry tree has a paste-like effect, making the wax seal more secure to prevent the offerings to His Majesty from spoiling. However, the mulberry bark we use for clothing is just the lowest quality.”

Cai Zhaoji exchanged a glance with her, feeling that Qiao Yan was clearly a master in the art of deception. Even if His Majesty saw the mulberry bark clothing, it would be hard to find any flaws in her twisted logic.

This mulberry bark clothing was then tested by Qiao Yan on a thin county resident.

Having experienced the comfort of cotton and down in later times, Qiao Yan’s evaluation of the mulberry bark clothing was inevitably biased. After all, neither in softness nor warmth could the mulberry bark meet her standards.

But for people of this era, it was different.

In the north, most people used heated beds, a practice dating back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. By the Han dynasty, the design of smoke ducts had become more reasonable. However, even a skilled housewife can’t cook without rice, and the heated bed can’t start a fire on its own.

A household needed about twenty kilograms of firewood a day to keep the bed warm and cook meals. In the long winter, it was impossible to stay indoors for so long.

Once they went out, they had to endure the cold, and going up the mountain was even more dangerous.

The county resident Qiao Yan had found, though skeptical, put on the strange-looking mulberry bark clothing and found that while it didn’t fit as snugly as ordinary clothes, it was remarkably effective at blocking the wind while remaining lightweight.

He couldn’t compare to the cold-resistant martial artists like Zhao Yun and Dian Wei. He had been shivering from the sudden drop in temperature when he arrived, but now, with the wind blocked, he stood straight.

He couldn’t help but marvel at the unremarkable-looking clothing.

“Earlier, I wondered why the Lord had people look for the mulberry tree. The bark is tough and hard to chew, but it turns out to have such a miraculous effect. Luckily, we didn’t eat it last year.”

“…”

“Lord?” He noticed Qiao Yan was momentarily stunned by his response.

But then he saw her calm expression return as she asked, “What do you think of this clothing?”

“It’s great, much more cold-resistant than hemp clothing. With this blocking the wind and a couple more layers, I could even try going up the mountain in winter.” He tugged at the mulberry bark clothing, finding that it inherited the toughness of the bark, so it wouldn’t tear easily.

Because of this toughness, even with some vigorous movements, though it seemed stiff, it didn’t show signs of breaking.

He grew even more fond of it and suddenly heard Qiao Yan say, “Then take this clothing and go.”

He looked at Qiao Yan in disbelief, seeing the serious determination on her face, and happily took the mulberry bark clothing and left.

Qiao Yan watched his much lighter steps as he left, feeling a bit dazed.

If before she had only tried making the mulberry bark clothing to prevent the county’s population from decreasing in winter, now the necessity had to be raised even higher.

Under what circumstances would someone say what he had just said, that luckily the mulberry bark was tough and inedible, leaving it for her to make clothing?

Yet he seemed to treat it as no big deal, saying it so casually.

He didn’t realize how much his words had shaken the County Marquis of Leping.

Qiao Yan tried to push his words aside and returned to making the mulberry bark clothing.

With a finished product, the direction for improvement became clearer.

The method of soaking the stripped bark in a pool, the distribution of bark fibers throughout the clothing, the number of bark layers, and the shape of the clothing all became more optimized as more samples were made.

In this endeavor, the women from the Black Mountain reform team played a particularly important role. Qiao Yan first gave half of the first batch of mulberry bark clothing to them, and the other half to the young men who needed to go up the mountain to gather firewood and more mulberry bark.

The need for cold protection undoubtedly improved their labor efficiency, and within seven days, Qiao Yan saw the second batch of mulberry bark clothing.

This was very close to the paper robes used to reward commoners in later times.

One woman even tried sandwiching a layer of hemp fluff between two layers of mulberry bark during the boiling and hammering process, while another tried adding walnut oil to slightly soften the stiff bark.

Qiao Yan vaguely remembered that wood oil could achieve this effect, but walnut kernels were more accessible.

Since this vegetable oil worked, other oily crops could also be used as materials.

By the time the third batch of mulberry bark clothing was produced, the model of Leping’s terrain in front of her had completely turned into a record of various crops in the mountains.

The Black Mountain Bandits had only occupied the Taihang Mountains for a month, but during their movements, they inevitably noted various landmarks.

Now, marked in red, was the location of the mulberry tree forest. The rest were auxiliary materials like walnut trees.

Xi Zhicai no longer found this map strange.

Using such a finely crafted map model for agricultural records had initially seemed wasteful to him.

But if it could truly record every plant in Leping and sustain the county, then it wasn’t a waste at all.

He even saw Qiao Yan smile knowingly as she looked at the terrain model.

“I want to price the mulberry bark clothing at twenty coins,” Qiao Yan said, leaning on the table and examining the red and green markings. “In Bingzhou, the cheapest hemp clothing costs about a hundred coins. For a family of five, five mulberry bark clothing would cost the same as one hemp clothing.”

“With the autumn harvest over, families should have enough spare money to afford new clothing. Your estimation is not far off,” Xi Zhicai replied.

Xi Zhicai found Qiao Yan quite interesting.

She always maintained a balance—benefiting the county residents while ensuring they didn’t think she could solve everything or provide everything for free.

But this had a more subtle influence than mere charity.

It was more like a special transactional framework.

In this framework, they weren’t just paying for clothing; it was more like paying a small amount to gain something under Qiao Yan’s governance.








The chance to survive.

With Xi Zhicai’s insight, he could clearly see that once this trust accumulated to a certain level, the county residents, already accustomed to it, would inevitably choose to adapt to Qiao Yan’s trading system.

Or, to put it another way, this “paying to survive” could also be seen as paying taxes to Qiao Yan for being on her territory.

However, this kind of tax payment was entirely different from paying taxes to Qiao Yan because she was the County Marquis appointed by the Han Dynasty to this land.

His thoughts swirled, deeply sensing that Qiao Yan had her own methods in pricing, but he continued to ask, “Then, in your opinion, how should we deal with the Black Mountain Bandits?”

“Border county laborers, under the condition that their employers provide food and lodging, are paid 300 coins a month. Their situation is quite similar now, but if we really go by this price, I can’t afford it,” Qiao Yan admitted frankly, acknowledging her current state of poverty.

Even if we price a mulberry bark clothing at twenty coins, in the entire county of Leping, she could only collect about a million coins, which, when divided among the Black Mountain Bandit laborers, would only amount to a little over a hundred coins per person—clearly not matching the market price.

“But I also provide them with clothing and firewood for warmth,” Qiao Yan continued. “Moreover, their food is much better than that of ordinary laborers, and considering they are still half-criminals, let’s set it at thirty coins a month. It’s been a little over two months now, still within manageable limits.”

“The only ones who might receive different treatment are the two who suggested mixing hemp fluff into the mulberry bark and using walnut oil to soften the bark.”

“Marquis Qiao is setting an example,” Xi Zhicai clapped and laughed. “Then I guess they can also regain their status as commoners and be officially registered in Leping County.”

Under the Han Dynasty’s household registration system, to migrate into a place, one needed permission from local officials, but Leping was somewhat special.

Qiao Yan, as the County Marquis, had genuine local control, evidenced by Cheng Li, the Prefect of Leping, following her orders.

Thus, it wouldn’t be difficult to issue the necessary documents for household relocation.

Xi Zhicai had no doubt that those given special treatment would stay after this invitation.

The granary stocks in Leping, Qiao Yan’s tax reduction decisions, and the development of mulberry bark clothing were undoubtedly highly attractive conditions for those who had experienced hunger.

In this environment, where uprisings had been quelled but still felt like a chaotic era, it was especially valuable.

“Not only that, according to Han law, the unified household registration editing time is in August,” Qiao Yan shifted her gaze from the model and looked at Xi Zhicai. “If I set next August as the deadline, with a limit of three thousand, what do you think, sir?”

Selecting three thousand out of nine thousand Black Mountain Bandits to register in August…

As long as she could maintain Leping’s current state, these three thousand registrations would be like bait in front of the Black Mountain Bandits, stirring a competitive wave within the existing benevolent governance.

This undoubtedly proposed a healthy competition.

Brilliant!

However…

“I think Marquis Qiao made one mistake,” Xi Zhicai adjusted his sleeves and suddenly bowed to Qiao Yan. “The quota left by Leping County is not three thousand, but one less.”

At his words, a hint of surprise appeared on Qiao Yan’s face.

Three thousand minus one!

The one missing seemed to have no other answer.

Previously, although Xi Zhicai had devised the strategy to deal with the three prefects and tacitly agreed to help draft the memorial to be sent to Luoyang, he had only offered advice and never mentioned staying.

But now, his statement about registering in Leping undoubtedly showed a clearer sense of belonging than just being willing to serve here.

Admittedly, this registration didn’t mean he would introduce himself as “Xi Zhicai of Leping” when greeting others, and his decision was partly due to his solitary nature and lack of strong local ties.

But the subtext of this decision was—

He was quite optimistic about Qiao Yan’s performance and was willing to bet on her.

Even if he might leave later, at least for now, he was binding himself to Leping as a community of shared interests.

This wasn’t a decision a strategist with vision and talent would make lightly.

At first glance, this sudden decisiveness seemed quite different from his usual leisurely, carefree demeanor.

But to Qiao Yan, there was no conflict.

For any strategist, excessive hesitation in handling matters was a fatal flaw.

Afraid that Xi Zhicai might regret it, Qiao Yan immediately replied, “If you are willing to stay, it would be my fortune and Leping’s fortune.”

“In that case, what would my salary be?”

Having made his decision, Xi Zhicai also showed a bit of laziness, his tone tinged with teasing. “I see Marquis Qiao likes to cite laws. Does the law mention how to pay someone like me who enjoys drinking?”

Since he wasn’t speaking seriously, Qiao Yan also replied in a casual tone, “The law states that the standard wage for artisans is two thousand coins a month. Most artisans only have one skill, but you can strategize and brew wine, so you should be paid double. How about four thousand coins a month?”

The standard wage referred to the government-regulated wage for skilled workers.

Xi Zhicai calculated the current grain prices. According to Qiao Yan, his salary, combined with Leping’s many benefits like food and lodging, would be similar to a six hundred dan salary.

Only slightly lower than Cheng Li’s treatment.

Given the time and contributions since joining her, this arrangement was quite reasonable.

But she didn’t say it in a serious manner, instead quoting “the law,” which somehow had a humorous touch.

In terms of career, Xi Zhicai naturally admired Qiao Yan’s meticulous attitude towards Leping, even to the point of being almost rigorous, as reflected in the model she built.

But as a strategist evaluating a lord, her ability to joke around was clearly more to his taste.

Perhaps his decision was indeed a good one.

However, the next moment he heard Qiao Yan say, “But forgive my bluntness, the standard wage is mostly for strong men. With your current physique, you might fall short.”

“…”

“I can’t bring myself to deduct your salary, so I can only supervise your drinking and diet in my spare time,” Qiao Yan said slowly, watching Xi Zhicai’s expression stiffen. “What do you think, sir?”

What… what do I think?

Xi Zhicai couldn’t help but wonder if it was too late to retract his earlier decision.

Or—

Could he find someone to share the attention?