Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 2: At the Foot of Taihang Mountains, A Small Test of Skill Chapter 63: Shooting the Governor with an Arrow

The book it belongs to:


Can a strategist not ascend the throne?

Chapter 63: Shooting the Governor with an Arrow…

The three regions of Jingzhao, Fengyi, and Fufeng, which had not yet recovered from the previous poor harvest, were now facing the spread of locusts. These locusts, unable to find enough food, would soon spread to the nearby provinces of Sizhou.

During the reign of Liu Hong, the most severe locust plague had spread across seven provinces.

The vast Taihang Mountains might block the invasion of armies, but they could not stop the invasion of locusts.

The vegetation in the mountains could sustain the locusts, and once they crossed the mountains, the wheat fields would become their target, allowing them to spread throughout Bingzhou.

Moreover, it was still summer.

Bingzhou, located north of Sizhou, was not yet cold enough to freeze the locusts to death.

Even in the northern regions of Yunzhong and Yanmen, the climate was still quite pleasant.

Locusts… capable of flying 300 miles in a day!

By the time this news reached the high-ranking officials of Bingzhou, the first wave of locusts from the three regions might have already arrived.

When Governor Zhang Yi received the news, he was startled, and Qiao Yan was no exception.

Although she had already seen the inevitability of a locust plague from various signs, when she actually received the news, she felt not a sense of confirmation but an urgent pressure.

In Leping County, preparations for the locust plague were far more advanced than anywhere else in Bingzhou. Even the ducks raised in the mountain fields were prepared for the locusts.

Leping was Qiao Yan’s base for population resettlement and establishing her career. She had invested too much effort in both industry and agriculture over the past year, and she could not afford any mistakes.

Moreover, this was her first time dealing with a locust plague.

So, it was understandable that she felt anxious about the unknown.

She clutched the letter in her hand and immediately stepped out of her room.

There was something particularly absurd in the report.

Historically, natural disasters often required a scapegoat, especially among the high-ranking officials. The dismissal of such officials was often seen as a way to indicate that the disaster occurred because someone was in an inappropriate position.

But perhaps because the high-ranking officials had already rotated positions countless times, and Liu Hong was not keen on maintaining the idea that celestial phenomena were related to court affairs, he chose to dismiss Huangfu Song, who had been transferred from the position of Governor of Jizhou to General of the Chariots and Cavalry, for his failure to defeat Beigong Bozhu. The new General of the Chariots and Cavalry, Zhang Wen, was sent from the capital to quell the rebellion, accompanied by an acquaintance of Qiao Yan.

It was Bao Hong.

Bao Hong had escorted Qiao Xuan’s remains to Leping and then delivered Qiao Yan’s memorial to the capital. He had gained some favor and, because he had delivered gifts for her, had earned some recognition. Thus, the task of being the deputy general for the expedition to Liangzhou fell to him.

Although he was still a captain, a captain who could accompany the army on an expedition certainly had more power than an ordinary northern army captain.

Bao Hong felt he owed Qiao Yan a favor and, when the locust plague broke out in the capital and Zhang Wen replaced Huangfu Song to deal with the Liangzhou rebellion, he sent a swift messenger to deliver a letter to Leping.

The messenger arrived quickly, so Qiao Yan and Zhang Yi received the news of the locust plague almost simultaneously.

If they had waited for Zhang Yi to notify the counties…

It might have been too late!

Qiao Yan had just rewarded the messenger when Chu Yan, who was patrolling the mountains, reported the unexpected discovery of locusts in the southern mountains.

The flying ability of adult locusts was undeniable. Since some had already reached the mountains, it would take at most a day or two for them to reach Leping.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Yan immediately summoned her subordinates.

The terrain model of Leping was brought out again and put to use.

This time, instead of marking the reclaimed mountain areas and available resources, the model now showed the trenches and the positions of the Dragon Bone Waterwheels in the county’s farmland.

This was a “clumsy method” recorded in the “Treatise on Locust Control,” but it became feasible due to the presence of the Dragon Bone Waterwheels.

“Please, Zhongde, open the county granary and scatter grain in the previously dug trenches, placing it at intervals. Since it’s not yet harvest season, mature millet is more attractive to locusts than crops. Once the number of locusts reaches a certain level, immediately open the water channels under the waterwheels to flood the trenches and bury them alive.”

The phrase “bury them alive” shocked everyone.

At this time, people knew little about locusts. Before the Tang Dynasty, the first thought during a locust plague was divine retribution, not an insect infestation.

“In Shandong, during a major locust plague, the people worshipped and prayed, watching the locusts eat the crops without daring to catch them.”

This was the norm at the time.

In some places, locusts were even revered as gods.

It wasn’t until Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, ate locusts despite his ministers’ warnings of “possible illness” that people even considered catching locusts.

At most, as Qiao Yan had previously written to Zhang Yi, the idea was to weaken the impact of the locust plague, not to catch the locusts as they passed.

But Qiao Yan’s efforts in Leping over the past year had been significant, and she had established enough authority, especially among those who had followed her for a long time, who did not doubt the correctness of her decisions.

As for Cheng Li, whom she had first instructed, he was not one to be overly cautious.

In other words, if anyone might consider locusts as gods, Cheng Li certainly would not.

He nodded and replied, “I will take people to do it immediately. Since there are not many locusts yet, the number that can be lured will be limited. If we use water, it might be wasteful. I will have people locally flood and bury them.”

With him taking the lead, the rest could be arranged.

Qiao Yan turned to the other side, “Yuanzhi, have the ducks from the yam fields distributed and penned around the county, but make sure they do not disturb the crops.”

Xu Fu bowed and accepted the order.

The fact that ducks ate locusts was not a secret. Other animals that ate locusts included frogs, but raising frogs was not as easy as raising ducks.

This was different from directly catching locusts. Qiao Yan wasn’t sure how people of this time explained this phenomenon—perhaps something like the locust god offering sacrifices to the duck god—but it didn’t sound quite right.

In any case, as long as people accepted the food chain of ducks eating locusts and humans eating ducks, it was fine.

Over the past few months, duck eggs had become a source of income for the Black Mountain Army.

But it was probably only now that Xu Fu realized that Qiao Yan had raised these ducks not just for their manure as fertilizer for the yam fields, but also for this very moment.

Seeing Xu Fu leave to carry out the order, she pointed to the next name, “Chu Yan, I previously had the women and children of the Black Mountain Army start making fish nets. You are responsible for collecting them and giving them to Zhang Niujiao and others for protecting the yam fields. Any extras can be sold to the county residents at a low price.”

Fish nets, or fish foils, were used in ancient records of locust control to catch swarms of locusts in the air. However, curved nets were less convenient to use on mountainous terrain, so Qiao Yan had mostly had fish foils made.

If not for catching but for protection, fish foils could also be quite effective.

Moreover, if the locusts did not come, the old fish foils could be used to make mulberry bark paper. Even if Qiao Yan’s prediction was wrong and they had too many, they would not go to waste.

Chu Yan immediately responded with a “Yes.”

“Additionally—”

Qiao Yan paused before continuing, “I intend to use the county’s grain reserves to exchange for locust eggs. After all, there is still over a month until the harvest season. The county office will not lack grain, but if locusts lay eggs in the county’s farmland, the survivors will return next year, causing even more trouble.”

This was a bottom-line method of using incentives.

With these orders given, Qiao Yan’s mind had calmed down somewhat. At least she had prepared a lot, and in the face of this expected surprise, she was not caught off guard.

Moreover, after all these arrangements, in addition to the intercropped legumes already growing in the fields, there was one last trump card.

She had previously purchased a few small plots of land from the county farmers and allowed the county residents who had lost their land to reclaim corresponding areas in the mountains.

These scattered fields outside the county town, under her arrangement, had not been planted with crops but had been set up with thatched huts months ago.

Due to the lack of rain recently, they remained dry.

Before nightfall, she personally inspected the dozen or so thatched huts to ensure that the surrounding weeds had been cleared to prevent any fire from spreading to the nearby fields.

After ensuring everything was in order, she stepped back.

After nightfall, Qiao Yan sat on a stone in the field, resting her chin on her hand and watching the distant thatched huts.

Although the news of the approaching locusts had caused panic among the county residents, the price of candles and lamp oil meant that no one would stay up all night with candles lit.

From the county town to the nearby villages, everything was in complete darkness, and with no moonlight, the night seemed even darker.

The most striking were the scattered fires in the wilderness.

Bonfires were lit inside the thatched huts.

“Marquis Qiao knows a lot about people’s livelihoods and can put it to practical use. It is truly a blessing for Leping,” Xi Zhicai said casually, sitting on the ground.

Qiao Yan looked at the movement in his hand. Even in the dark, it was not hard to see that he had brought a jug of wine.

Since he still had the mood to drink, it seemed he thought the situation was under control.

If it weren’t for the current belief that eating locusts would bring illness due to offending the gods, Qiao Yan would have recommended he try roasted locusts with wine. It probably would have tasted good.

Unfortunately, even catching and killing locusts was already pushing the boundaries. Suggesting eating locusts to eliminate them, especially when it wasn’t a time of extreme famine, would have met with resistance and been more trouble than it was worth, so she dismissed the idea.

“Before my grandfather passed away, he asked me how to be a good county marquis,” Qiao Yan replied, watching the flickering fires in the distance. “This is the answer I gave him.”

This method of killing locusts was also extremely effective.

Xi Zhicai also thought highly of this method because anyone who knew a little about locust behavior would not overlook this fact—

Locusts are strongly phototactic.

This is somewhat similar to moths.

Therefore, these thatched huts with bonfires at night were like “bug traps.”

Even though the number of locusts reaching Leping was still small, it did not affect the fact that some would be attracted to the light and come here at night.

Some of the huts attracted few locusts, so the people watching nearby simply used fish nets to block the doors and windows and caught them with small nets.

But the hut near the mountains—

In just an hour, it had gathered most of the first wave of locusts to reach Leping, and because of the small amount of millet stored inside, they temporarily stayed in the hut.

By the time Qiao Yan arrived, the person in charge of watching the place, who was not very good at counting, had already lost track.

But Qiao Yan did not insist on him counting them all.

She focused on the light coming through the window of the hut and ordered, “Light the fire.”

As soon as she gave the order, someone threw a lit torch at the hut.

The flames from the torch quickly spread, igniting the dry thatch and turning into a roaring fire.

As the hut burned, it quickly collapsed, giving the locusts inside no chance to escape, and they were burned to ashes along with the hut.

Five hundred years later, Qiao Yan could hardly imagine how much resistance Prime Minister Yao Chong of the Tang Dynasty faced when he advocated using fire to kill locusts.

She only knew that in Leping County, due to the winter cold prevention measures and her status as the Marquis of Leping conferred by the Han court, she did not even need to go through the step of overcoming opposition—it was truly unnecessary.





The situation Qiao Yan faced was much easier compared to what Yao Chong had to deal with.

It’s really not fair to blame the ignorant people who regard locusts as the “emperor of insects.” In such difficult and harsh circumstances, no one told them that they could resist natural disasters.

The firelight from the burning thatched cottage reflected in Qiao Yan’s eyes, turning them a deep red. Only after the thatch and wood were completely consumed by the flames did the intense glow in her eyes gradually fade.

She pointed to Zhang Yang, who was watching nearby, and said, “I’ll leave this matter to you. Rebuild the thatched cottages here as soon as possible. Light a bonfire every night. If you see such a large gathering of locusts, just set it on fire. No need to ask for my orders.”

As long as it doesn’t affect the surrounding farmland, it’s fine.

“Marquis Qiao, rest assured, I won’t let you down,” Zhang Yang responded loudly, feeling the weight of the responsibility.

Although his previous enemies were the Hu people from beyond the borders, Zhang Yang thought that dealing with locusts shouldn’t be too difficult.

It’s just a matter of finding their nests and wiping them out in one go, then catching the stragglers.

In terms of destructive power, locusts and the Hu people don’t seem all that different.

As the sky began to lighten, Qiao Yan glanced at Zhang Yang and could see his enthusiastic demeanor, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thinking something strange.

However, the priority now was to contain the locust plague within a controllable range, not to dwell on her subordinates’ increasingly bizarre thought processes.

Even with the light sources attracting the locusts, when dawn finally replaced the night, Qiao Yan still noticed some scattered signs of locust damage while inspecting the yam fields.

It fully demonstrated the locusts’ preference for thick, leafy plants.

Although she didn’t plant the fields herself, the crops were still within her territory, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

But considering that Leping’s preparations were more than sufficient, with soybean seedlings interplanted among the yam seedlings, the situation here was still manageable. It was hard to imagine how much worse the areas hit first by the locust plague, as well as other parts of Bingzhou outside Leping, must be.

Just as Qiao Yan was thinking this, she suddenly saw Lu Yuan leading several county officials, leading horses and fully equipped, walking towards her.

After bowing to her, Lu Yuan said, “Marquis Qiao, with the locust plague upon us, it seems Shangdang won’t be spared. Since you wish to maintain relations with the Guo clan of Yangqu and establish a foothold in Shangdang, as the envoy of Leping, I should naturally go to Changzhi at this time. May I have your permission?”

“Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have sent you today,” Qiao Yan’s tense expression softened slightly. Though she didn’t smile, she couldn’t help but give Lu Yuan a look of approval.

This instinct for diplomatic timing was exactly what Qiao Yan expected from someone in her position.

“Last night, Leping proved that using fire to lure and burn locusts is effective. Be sure to inform them of this method. If…”

“If Governor Guo hesitates to kill the locusts, tell him that by the day after tomorrow at the latest, the order to exterminate them will definitely reach Shangdang.”

Hearing Qiao Yan speak with such certainty, Lu Yuan didn’t ask further questions. She simply bowed again and led her team over the mountains towards Changzhi.

After watching her leave, Qiao Yan made another round of the yam fields near the mountains, confirming that the losses were still within a controllable range, before returning to the county office.

By now, the sky was completely bright.

But after a night of hard work, Qiao Yan still couldn’t rest.

The method of exchanging grain for locust eggs, which she had proposed earlier, was discussed with several elders in Leping who had experienced locust plagues before. After estimating the number of locust eggs, she quickly formulated the exchange rules overnight:

One dou of locusts for one dou of millet, and one dou of locust eggs for three dou of millet.

After personally writing the notice and stamping it with the seals of the Leping Prefect and Marquis of Leping, she handed it to Qin Yu to post. Only then did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Seeing her so busy, even the system, which usually had a lot of questions, didn’t dare to disturb her work.

Although it was still curious why Qiao Yan was so confident that the order would reach Shangdang by the day after tomorrow.

But before it could seize the opportunity to ask, it saw Qiao Yan lie down on the bed and quickly fall asleep.

It began to wonder if it even needed to set an alarm today.

As a responsible atmosphere group, it decided to remain silent.

Qiao Yan slept until evening, finally recovering from the night’s arrangements.

But what no one expected was that the first thing she did after getting up and preparing was to say to Xi Zhicai:

“Please draft a letter of apology for me.”

An apology?

Why apologize?

In Leping, the initial signs of the locust plague had been almost completely suppressed after yesterday’s and last night’s arrangements.

As for the ongoing locust storm—

The yam fields in the mountains were protected by interplanted soybeans, and the Dragon Bone Waterwheel irrigation channels were in place. Now, all other measures to block the locusts’ reproduction and devastation had been implemented. What crime had Leping committed?

Moreover, Qiao Yan was the Marquis of Leping, not the Prefect of Leping. If anyone should apologize for the locust plague, it should be Cheng Li, not Qiao Yan.

In fact, she should be considered meritorious.

After all, if it weren’t for her initiative to purchase peas, which led to the interplanting of peas in the fields of other areas in Shangdang, the first wave of damage to the crops would have been much worse.

Her willingness to share the benefits of the Dragon Bone Waterwheel irrigation system also ensured that the areas under Governor Guo Yun and the Wang clan of Jinyang wouldn’t face such dire circumstances.

But as Xi Zhicai followed Qiao Yan out, he saw her grab a short bow and quiver hanging on the courtyard wall, summon Dian Wei and Chu Yan, along with a group of wandering knight attendants, and head straight to the stables to mount their horses.

Then, they rode out of the county city in one swift motion, without any hesitation.

Before the news of her departure could reach all the officials in the county, she was already outside the city.

The only instruction she left was for Chu Yan to hand over the task of collecting fishing nets to Zhang Niujiao.

That was all.

“Master Xi, why…” Zhao Yun didn’t understand why Qiao Yan hadn’t brought him along this time.

He could clearly see that when Qiao Yan rode off, others might not have understood her intentions, but Xi Zhicai must have figured it out.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had that look of realization on his face.

And if Zhao Yun wasn’t mistaken, behind that look of realization wasn’t worry, but an indescribable sense of admiration and excitement.

“Don’t ask too many questions. Act as if you couldn’t catch up, then turn back and assist Zhongde in exterminating the locusts.”

Xi Zhicai closed his eyes in thought for a moment, and when he opened them again, he had returned to his usual carefree demeanor. “I’ll go write the letter of apology for Marquis Qiao.”

The moment she took up the bow and arrow, Xi Zhicai understood what she meant by her seemingly random statement.

What crime was she apologizing for? The crime of assassinating the Governor!

Or perhaps it shouldn’t be called assassination.

It should be called—

Because the Governor was unworthy of his position and ignored good advice, leading to the disaster in Bingzhou being worse than it could have been, the young Marquis, out of righteous indignation, took extreme measures.

Given Qiao Yan’s sense of propriety, this wouldn’t be a bloody assassination, but the letter of apology was necessary.

Its purpose wasn’t really to apologize.

Just as Qiao Yan’s goal wasn’t to make this disciple of the Yuan clan from Runan disappear from her territory in Bingzhou.

When she led this group of people, who held no official positions in the Leping County Office, to break into the Governor’s mansion, Governor Zhang Yi, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, was about to shout “How dare you!” when he saw the eleven-year-old Marquis raise her hand.

Surrounded by her entourage, Zhang Yi didn’t notice that she was holding a short bow.

The guards in the Governor’s mansion also didn’t expect that the Marquis of Bingzhou would not only barge into the mansion but also bring such a weapon.

The archery skills she had been practicing to build arm strength over the past few months were now put to use.

In two quick steps, she drew the bow and fired an arrow with fluid motion.

At a range of twenty paces, her current archery skills wouldn’t miss, and at such close range, the arrow had no chance of going astray!

The arrow pierced straight through Zhang Yi’s official hat, and the force of the shot even knocked the loosely tied hat off his head!

Zhang Yi’s face turned pale.

But as the sound of the hat hitting the ground echoed, he suddenly realized that he was still alive—he had only narrowly escaped death.

Before he could recover from the heart-pounding fear, he saw Qiao Yan raise her bow again, the cold glint of the second arrow catching his eye.

If Qiao Yan had acted alone in this act of defiance, it might have been one thing—

No, wait, given her status as a Marquis, it wasn’t clear who was above whom. At most, it could be said that she dared to attack a government official, which was against the law.

But she had brought people with her.

None of them wore the official uniforms of Leping County; they looked more like private soldiers she had gathered, exuding a fierce, bandit-like aura.

Led by Dian Wei and Chu Yan, this group’s sheer presence completely overshadowed his own men.

Zhang Yi deeply regretted agreeing to Zhang Liao’s request half a month ago to go to Yanmen to secretly support Qianman and fight against the invading Quidou. If Zhang Liao had been by his side now, the contrast wouldn’t have been so stark.

Especially Dian Wei, who looked like he could take on an army by himself…

Looking around at the officials in the Governor’s mansion, there wasn’t a single one who could match his physical presence!

But among the crowd, the most striking figure was undoubtedly Qiao Yan.

With the bow in her hand and the arrow on the string, along with her sharp gaze, she exuded an intimidating aura.

So much so that even Zhang Yi, who was technically in the right, couldn’t help but shrink back slightly.

But then he suddenly realized—why should he be afraid!

If Qiao Yan only dared to shoot at his hat and not at him, it meant that no matter how bold she was, she only dared to make such threatening gestures.

He immediately straightened up and shouted, “Does the Marquis of Leping intend to kill a government official?”

But as he tried to regain some courage and take back the initiative, he saw no trace of guilt on Qiao Yan’s face. Instead, she slowly lowered the arrow from aiming at his head to aiming at his chest.

In this movement, her imposing presence didn’t diminish; in fact, as her face became more visible, the storm brewing in her eyes became even clearer.

With such an expression, even if her tone remained calm, the tension in her words was unmistakable.

“Earlier, I submitted a memorial to the Governor’s mansion, warning of the drought and the potential for a locust plague. If we had focused on irrigating the dry fields and prepared in advance, it would have been better than being caught off guard.”

“The Governor’s mansion refused.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, the guards around Zhang Yi exchanged glances.

They had thought the Marquis of Leping was acting without cause, but since Zhang Yi didn’t refute her, it seemed that in this comparison, Qiao Yan was the one who seemed more reasonable.

Before Zhang Yi could come up with a rebuttal, Qiao Yan continued, “In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. Now that the locust plague is upon us and the Governor’s mansion is incompetent, I, Qiao Yan, will temporarily take charge. First, I will stabilize the people’s livelihood, and then I will ask for your forgiveness, Governor.”

If he hadn’t been staring down the arrow, Zhang Yi would have cursed. What good would her apology do after such an outrageous act?

But then he saw, under Qiao Yan’s command, these bold individuals swarmed forward, subduing his guards and pinning him to the ground.

The arrow that hadn’t been fired was now pointed at his head.

But this time, the arrow wasn’t on the bowstring. The bowstring had been relaxed, and the arrow was held in her hand, yet its sharpness remained unchanged.

What made Zhang Yi feel even more humiliated was that the official seal from his waist had been taken and handed to Qiao Yan’s right hand.

She gripped the seal tightly and said word by word, “Governor, rest assured. Once the locust plague is under control, I will definitely apologize to the Son of Heaven.”