“Can strategists really not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 70: Living Easy in Leping
Is Leping really that easy?
Don’t even mention Zhang Niujiao, who’s down the mountain with his brothers hauling tree branches, giving a blank and confused look to Cui Lie. Even the notable figures receiving Xi Zhicai’s daily letters outside Leping would probably roll their eyes at what Cui Lie is saying right now.
Just look at that guy, Xi Zhicai!
Since their County Marquis was confined in Leping, he’s definitely been short on things to strategize about.
So while Leping is plodding along with its slow but steady development, his letters are practically dripping with a carefree and health-conscious vibe.
It nearly made He Yong green with envy.
But He Boqiu knew that as the head of discussions in the Three Dukes’ office, he was caught in the swirl of Luoyang, unable to take a step back.
In October of the second year of Zhongping, Minister of Works Yang Ci passed away, and much like Qiao Xuan’s funeral last year, he was sent back to Hongnong for burial with a grand military procession.
In the same month, the Public Granary Officer Xu Xiang was promoted to Minister of Works, taking Yang Ci’s position.
The Grand Minister Xu Ding was then appointed as Minister over the Masses, stepping into Cui Lie’s role.
In November of the second year of Zhongping, General of the Chariots and Cavalry Zhang Wen defeated North Palace’s Bo Yu at Meiyang, achieving some temporary victories against the Liangzhou rebels, but Dong Zhuo and Zhou Shen, in charge of pursuing the Ling Qiang, failed to consolidate the gains.
As Zhongping’s third year rolled around, Zhao Ci from Jiangxia rebelled, and the Nanyang Prefect Qin Jie, who made quite the contributions during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, was killed. October of that year saw Wuling’s Miao people rise in rebellion, and by December, the Xianbei raided Youzhou. Chaos erupted everywhere.
But what was the Son of Heaven doing during all this?
Zhang Wen was finally promoted to Grand Commandant, leaving the position of General of the Chariots and Cavalry vacant. Liu Hong finally had the chance to push the eunuch Zhao Zhong onto the power stage, assigning him to the General of Chariots and Cavalry position.
The former Grand Commandant Zhang Yan saw through the Son of Heaven’s game on the court, yet couldn’t foresee that he’d end up in a situation where he’d be slandered and imprisoned by power-hungry officials, destined to be burned in the fire of Liu Hong’s ambition.
Ministers over the Masses Ding Kong, Minister of Works Xu Xiang, and Grand Commandant Zhang Wen were shaken as discussions at the Three Dukes’ office turned openly to the extermination of the eunuchs.
But Liu Hong, having just tasted what benefits the eunuchs could bring him now that they were in power, wouldn’t let such blatant calls for action take a real turn at this point.
He Yong could only write in his letters to friends—
“Strange things abound, truly bizarre matters indeed.
The people of Luoyang are born with four arms, two on each side, causing quite the stir.”
“Why? Why?
Luckily there’s a general amnesty; perhaps these disasters can be avoided.”
What He Yong was really saying was definitely not that last line about being lucky for a general amnesty to calm these strange happenings. As a scholar caught in this current, if he said too much, the only thing he’d gain is a fate like Zhang Yan’s.
So he just wrote about the oddities.
Compared to that, Xi Zhicai was living too lavishly.
In the winter of the second year of Zhongping, to prevent improper storage of the harvested yams in Leping, Qiao Yan had some county folks turn part of it into yam flour, and sent it off to Jinyang for sale, including a few jars in the letters he wrote to He Yong.
It was said that Qiao Yan had asked Hua Tuo about what herbs could be suitably mixed into the yam flour due to a prior friendship, leading to the contents of this jar.
“Yam, ginseng, and white atractylodes combined, good for weak spleens and stomachs. I know you’re busy, He Boqiu, feeling off and not wanting to eat, so I’m sending this for you to try.”
Thank goodness this letter had less of the usual snarky flavor.
But if Xi Zhicai hadn’t mentioned how the yams from Leping, being cultivated correctly, grew better than the usual mountain yams and hence would be more effective, that would have been even better.
Who’s to blame? This guy wasn’t looking to praise the medicinal properties; instead, he dove straight into discussing all the delicious foods emerging from yams.
He was basically saying, since you’re off your food, I’m doing just fine, and I’m sharing my recipes with you; maybe you should give it a try.
For instance, Xi Zhicai had previously been treated to yam and pork rib soup sent by Qiao Yan when he caught a cold.
This time, it was pork ribs, not lamb. In Bingzhou, north of here, livestock was abundant, so eating lamb was the norm.
But this time, the ribs were pork.
Castrating pigs had been a thing since the Shang and Zhou periods; otherwise, you wouldn’t see references like “the tooth of a castrated pig is auspicious” in the I Ching. By now, the flavor of pork wasn’t all that bad.
However, in the Han dynasty, pigs were one of the Emperor’s offerings, and due to food shortages, raising them wasn’t the easiest, making pork relatively pricier than other meats.
But as County Marquis Qiao Yan, she could definitely afford to eat well.
Moreover, since she was on house arrest, according to Xi Zhicai, given her care for Leping’s livelihood, she even dug out the ancient “Book on Agricultural Practices” from the Former Han and found a segment that said, “Break it for gourds, and nourish the pigs to make them fat.” She built a pigpen in Leping, got the pigs slaughtered, and then fed them gourds.
It was like using the agricultural books of the time as legit proof to raise pigs scientifically.
Thus, in the winter of the third year of Zhongping, Leping was enjoying genuine yam and pork rib soup.
With such reasonable breeding methods, the flavorful pork truly made Xi Zhicai’s gourmet life utterly unrestrained.
He Yong, for two straight months, almost wanted to tear up any letter that came from Xi Zhicai.
This rascal began bragging about how County Marquis Qiao Yan made Dongpo pork using rock sugar for color and flavor, even though Xi Zhicai didn’t know why it was called Dongpo pork; it didn’t stop him from thinking it looked like amber and melted in the mouth, truly a triple enjoyment of color, aroma, and flavor.
Then he went on about the exceptional bacon from Leping with its remarkably low odor and rich texture. Come spring, during outings in the county, grilling pork ribs over an open flame with fine spring wine was simply a heavenly delight.
He Yong stared at this letter, deeply feeling a certain vibe.
A guy who’s a total jerk can’t change his true nature just because he said a few decent things; it’s only a matter of time before he writes something that’ll make you want to cut ties with him.
Yet, He Yong couldn’t do that.
After all, those few points Xi Zhicai said were extremely important.
Indeed, Qiao Yan was under house arrest in Leping, but she made a trip to the state capital every ten days and wasn’t reduced to complete isolation from the rest of Bingzhou.
Though in the second year, Cui Lie, the Bingzhou Governor, had used the excuse of wanting to discuss the “Eastern Examination of Han Records” with Cai Yong to lessen Qiao Yan’s excursions slightly.
However, after the coup and the locust disaster in the second year of Zhongping, she had already established herself within linguistically nuanced situations back in Bingzhou.
It’s come to her that even from Leping, she could still catch the whispers echoing throughout the Bingzhou territory.
For instance, Guo Yun, the Prefect of Yanmen, teamed up with Zhang Liao, the Military Officer from Bingzhou. Together, they managed to gain the upper hand against the Quidou in the Yunzhong area, which ultimately pushed the Xianbei raiders to choose Youzhou for their breakout instead of plundering the regions of You or Bing.
However, Xi Zhicai also mentioned in his letter, “Quidou’s brother Budugen is ambitious and has a flair for leadership; there will surely be a battle at the borders, but who knows how it will unfold?”
Of course, he wasn’t whining to He Yong.
He quickly added, could they discuss with His Majesty to lift the house arrest on our Marquis of Leping? It would ensure plenty of food and warmth for us in Leping, and with all the basic needs met, it could ignite a martial spirit across the Shangdang region.
Apart from the Black Mountain Bandits who had previously surrendered to Leping, many refugees fled the Central Plains due to the locust plague and had passed through Changzhi, forming a militia ready to guard Yanmen at a moment’s notice.
This thought sparked other ideas in He Yong’s mind.
If it were during a relatively peaceful time, and Xi Zhicai shared such information in the letter, He Yong would have definitely reported it, cracking down on her private troop situation.
But the times were different now.
With rebellions erupting everywhere and local officials facing dire fates, having a strong armed force was crucial for self-preservation in the regions.
With eunuch powers growing in the capital, whether Qiao Yan, who wielded actual military capabilities, could become a force worth recruiting became a matter He Yong was keen to evaluate.
She indeed had some acquaintance with Bi Lan; the impressive Dragon Bone Waterwheels built in Leping were his doing. However, unlike those meddling in court politics like Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, he was merely overseeing the construction of Yutang Hall.
As for Qiao Yan herself?
Because of Zhang Yi, Yuan Benchu had some criticisms about her, but ever since she was granted the title of Marquis after her accomplishments during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, she had established a reputation that set her apart from ordinary juniors, and her political views displayed in the discourse on feudalism were deemed balanced and quite visionary.
Having Xu Zijiang—an esteemed figure—praise her made it seem like there was some rapport between her and the scholars.
With this connection, there was potential for negotiations and alliances.
Encouraging her to develop a potential military power would not be a bad thing, really.
Especially since he mentioned Xi Zhicai could act as a bridge for communication, everyone in the council agreed to this idea.
Moreover, Leping’s hidden potential wasn’t limited to just that; Zhang Liao had previously referred to it with this name, and it was indeed Qiao Yan who named it—
Leping Paper.
Starting from Mulberry Bark Clothing to researching Mulberry Bark Paper, substantial progress had been made in the past two years due to the growing maturity of papermaking techniques.
What He Yong didn’t know was that within Leping’s storage warehouses, a significant quantity of Mulberry Bark Paper was being stored using moisture-proof techniques, sufficient to support enlightenment education within Leping County. After all, Qiao Yan merely let Xi Zhicai showcase their papermaking achievements through correspondence.
Then she suggested, due to the paper’s high production cost, that they could only supply a limited amount to friends.
And the supplies weren’t limited to just paper; a handwritten copy of one of Cai Yong’s compilations, “Dongguan Han Ji,” was sent to He Yong as well, inquiring if there were any areas he felt needed revision.
He Yong wasn’t a fool; he could tell this was an attempt to pull him into the history literature circle, but as he felt the durability of this much less fragile paper, he thought it could further reach the scholars’ discussions, so he had no choice but to pinch his nose and include a batch of bamboo slips in his reply.
The underlying message was probably, “I’ve sent you what you wanted; how about sending over more paper?”
Qiao Yan was well aware that she needed to maintain a good relationship with these scholars, after all, they could easily shake someone’s reputation through their criticisms. Thus, she didn’t play any games and promptly ensured He Yong received a shipment of usable Leping Paper within half a month.
Of course, before that, a larger shipment of paper had already reached Liu Hong’s hands.
In the memorial she wrote to Liu Hong, Qiao Yan mentioned that since she had been in solitude contemplating her mistakes, diligently studying and inevitably burdened with heavy writing, she came up with the idea of improving the paper. Now, she had created this new paper from mulberry bark and other materials.
Nevertheless, this paper still had a few cost components that hadn’t been reduced, not as cheap to produce as Cai’s paper, so it couldn’t be mass-produced yet. For now, it could only be supplied to the court and a few friends in Luoyang. Once the costs dropped, she’d present the papermaking secrets to the court.
Let’s not talk about Liu Hong not having the spare thought to send someone to Leping to verify this; even if he really wanted to, Leping had policies that could handle it. This notoriously pleasure-seeking emperor didn’t delve into the matter.
In short, while the reputation of Leping Paper spread out, it predominantly remained within scholarly and bureaucratic circles.
But that was already enough to elevate He Yong and others’ evaluations of Qiao Yan to another level.
Separated by the Taihang Mountains, they had no idea what Leping was up to lately, but after two years of Qiao Yan’s careful setup, it had almost formed a given perception of her rising potential.
Of course, at the same time, another title gained notoriety—the “Culinary Evaluator of Leping” belonging to Xi Zhicai.
In the letter to He Yong, he might have conferred with Qiao Yan and written something else seeking to elevate Leping’s political position, but in letters to friends in Yingchuan, he didn’t need such worries.
This was purely a long-term show, easily named “The Delights of Leping.”
When confined to Leping’s borders, relying on local resources led Qiao Yan to fully unleash her potential.
In Xi Zhicai’s letter, he declared that not only was the pork meat delightful, but the odd varieties of wood and unique plants had their own uses.
For example, a type of plant called the Quercus variabilis, common in the Taihang Mountains, is typically used for charcoal. However, they recently discovered it could also be used for brewing, producing an aromatic liquor.
Another mention was those wild grapes, which were referred to as “ge luo” in the Book of Songs. Xi Zhicai thought if peas could be made into liquor, why not those wild grapes? To their surprise, they really concocted a sweet-sour drink and he mentioned it in his letter.
He then concluded the letter with—
“With pork belly mixed with rice, bean sauce on the side, a plate of wild vegetables, a bowl of rib broth, a flask of clear liquor, sitting to admire the mountain blossoms while watching children with windmills pass by, the windmills made from Leping Paper, eyes towards the fields, where the yams are ready, but alas, today is for feasting, and tomorrow we’ll bake cakes.”
By nominal age, the eighteen-year-old Guo Jia slammed the table, meeting Xun Yu’s gaze, exclaimed, “Xi Zhicai is too much; I’m going to Leping to settle this!”
As for whether it would be settling a score or merely seeing what was there…
We’ll see about that later!
