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“Can strategists not take the throne?”
Chapter 82: “Killing Hu and Ransoming Death”
Qiao Yan was well aware of the flaws in the merit-based rewards system, so she realized that improving the details required a balance based on situations faced in upcoming battles.
For instance, take the extreme example of Dian Wei from a couple of days ago. If one calculated the rewards based on casualties inflicted in a battle, it would inevitably create an imbalance between civil and military salaries.
But clearly, the flaws Guo Jia mentioned were not of this sort; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered coming around to “stir the pot.”
In fact, him saying such things was a sign of how much he valued Qiao Yan.
In this context, his first suggestion was especially crucial since it essentially defined his position within this power faction.
Qiao Yan responded, “Follow me.”
That was obviously not something to say in front of everyone.
Guo Jia accompanied her into the main tent, and they took their seats.
Qiao Yan didn’t ask him how he knew about the implementation of the merit-based rewards system—if it wasn’t Xi Zhicai who told him, there was no other way he could have known.
However, at this moment, that timely information couldn’t be considered a leak; it was more of a catalyst, as Guo Jia was now sitting right in front of her.
After she opened the conversation with “I’d like to hear more,” Guo Jia asked, “Captives can substitute as the main fighters to save their lives and expand Leping’s population. This idea is indeed good. With the conditions of stability in Leping and rewards in battle, it wouldn’t be hard to sway them. But may I ask how you plan to restrain or deal with these captives?”
“Or do you mean to say, how will you ensure they won’t switch sides today to you and tomorrow to someone else? After all, they originally came under your command through martial achievements, and once accepted by you, they immediately become part of the family.”
Unless Qiao Yan could consistently maintain enough advantageous conditions.
But this was easier said than done.
Just like she had previously thought about Cao Cao recruiting the Qingzhou army.
After his defeat at Wancheng, the Qingzhou troops were loose in discipline and even reverted to mischief and pillaging, which became a knife to stab himself with.
As Guo Jia pointed out, if there weren’t any restrictions or initial punishments, capturing them today would mean tomorrow they might take up arms again to slay enemy leaders and claim the thirty stones of grain due for their military achievements.
Population expansion seemed like snowballing, but in reality?
Qiao Yan tapped her fingers on the table, deep in thought, when she heard Guo Jia continue, “Not everyone is like the Black Mountain Bandits; they have been under your command for three years. During these three years, through shared hardships and enjoying the harvest together, moral teachings have led them to shed their Black Mountain identity and regard themselves as Leping citizens.”
“Even as I’ve heard, they didn’t enjoy the current treatment right from the start but began as laborers under captives, gradually earning wages, obtaining Leping household registration, and now, the implementation of this merit-based rewards system.”
This was a gradual process.
But the premise of this gradual transition was that there had to be an environment conducive to it.
As long as the Han dynasty’s power could support it, and Bingzhou hadn’t descended into chaos due to external forces, it could proceed. But what about later?
A rather brainless approach would be to have these people go through what the Black Mountain Bandits had experienced, starting as the lowest-ranked soldiers, undertaking a process of normalization and guidance. But more often than not, only four words could summarize the situation—
“Time waits for no one.”
Soldiers who have engaged in actual combat on the battlefield often have a clearer understanding of the battlefield and are more lethal than ordinary people.
So, in extreme situations lacking combat capability, there was simply no room to develop any three-year training plans; at most, they would just be organized into separate units and sent off to the next battlefield.
As for classifying soldiers into different ranks and demoting the lowest ranks for gradual promotion, while that might seem feasible for the moment, it also harbored significant risks.
The internal hierarchy of disdain in the army, especially between original soldiers and those who had surrendered, must not take form!
If that precedent was set, it would easily lead to oppression and ultimately create rifts within the army.
Such rifts, at best, would be minor issues during cooperation, but at worst, they could be the beginning of external forces exploiting internal discord.
Thus, Qiao Yan calmly and resolutely replied, “The merit-based reward system cannot be solely implemented among certain individuals.”
In light of these issues, this was an unyielding bottom line that had to be strictly enforced.
“Indeed, that is a certainty,” Guo Jia responded, “But using this example, Qiao Hou’s intent on capturing the Baibo Bandits is crucial, hence the previous three battles that didn’t reach their full potential. But if Qiao Hou takes in the Baibo Bandits as captives, turning them into soldiers in your ranks, then—”
“Then judging without assuming the worst about people, it’s likely that in the future bandits will no longer fear opposing you, because once they encounter defeat, they only need to surrender! Not only will they escape execution, but they’ll also enjoy the thirty stones of excellent treatment for military feats based on Leping soldiers’ heads.”
“I’m not trying to spread alarm here.”
He was not wrong.
Why did many warlords in the late Han frequently execute captives and raze cities? One reason was certainly the food shortages, making it impossible to sustain so many people. But another reason was the intimidation factor.
On the opposing side, there might be offers of asylum, while they might also directly execute individuals as warnings to enemies.
Yet, just as Qiao Yan believed the implementation of the merit-based reward system and its supplementary rules must be a steadfast bottom line, the act of razing cities and slaughtering families…
Even if she acknowledged that she had crossed over to such a time, hoping to secure the position of Marquis of Leping, she aimed to first ensure she had enough initiative, embracing ambitions to strive for power without resorting to massacres and wanton killings of captives.
This was another bottom line.
After pondering for a moment, she asked, “What do you think, Fengxiao, would be the right way to restrict these captives?”
She had chosen the word “restrict” instead of “deal with,” making Guo Jia immediately catch onto her inclination.
But obviously, this was not driven by a benevolent hesitation; otherwise, Guo Jia wouldn’t have seen her arrangements regarding Zhao Yun’s actions in the letter she sent to Xi Zhicai, nor would he have witnessed her downright murderous decisiveness during the battle in the River Valley when saving him and Mi Zhu.
Killing for intimidation was clearly not something Qiao Yan considered off-limits.
With the situation as it stood, times were changing.
All she wanted now was to increase her population; what’s the problem with that?
Guo Jia had been busy enjoying the scenery on the way to Pingzhou…
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“Well, I’m not drunk enough for this discussion!”
In my mind, I thought I’d nailed everything I wanted to say while riding on horseback, but turns out, I was merely rehearsing it all in my head.
Listening to Qiao Yan, it seemed she was just interested in hearing more suggestions and not really rejecting my ideas, so Guo Jia let out a sigh of relief.
He looked at Qiao Yan seated above and continued, a bit more confidently, “The threshold.”
Using a threshold to restrict captives.
“Once those who surrender are offered positions by the lord with rewards for their contributions, Qiao Hou should present a suitable threshold for acceptance, rather than blindly treating the troopers taken from the enemy as mere followers.”
When Guo Jia was led into the big camp, he spotted the captives they had caught after earlier skirmishes in the mountains.
Seeing that the guards weren’t being too harsh, Guo Jia could tell some of them seemed quite capable and probably had already been picked for Qiao Yan’s troops.
This was clearly a way to comfort them, showing she had no intention of executing them like regular bandits.
However, Guo Jia thought that to avoid giving other bandits the idea that “Hey, why not just give it a shot? If we lose, we can always surrender,” her approach wasn’t entirely sound.
At the very least, a supplement was needed.
He continued, “Maybe this can be rephrased—rather than calling it a threshold, we should have rewards for accomplishments alongside penalties for failing, but the Han’s penalty for failure is usually measured in gold, silver, and textiles. Qiao Hou should consider alternative methods.”
“Let’s hear it.” The mention of penalties piqued Qiao Yan’s interest.
Guo Jia’s tone suddenly became more serious as he said, “Three days ago, Guyang County in Yunzhong was breached, the city was sacked, and all its wealth plundered. Just before I departed from Leping, Mr. Zhongde received this news. It seems Qiao Hou focused on eliminating the Baibo bandits, so the Governor of Bingzhou sent the message to Leping first. He also asked me to relay this news to Qiao Hou.”
“There were no survivors from the Guyang incident, but who perpetrated this deed? Someone as sharp as Qiao Hou wouldn’t have trouble guessing.”
Upon hearing this news, Qiao Yan was momentarily stunned, quickly suppressing her surprise but instinctively clenched her fists.
Guyang…
During her three years as Prefect of Leping, she had practically memorized the map of Bingzhou.
She couldn’t possibly forget where Guyang was located.
In the late Eastern Han period, the borders of Bingzhou were quite strange.
The northern edge of Xihe Commandery was not far from territories beyond the Han, but it had parts of Wuyuan County and Yunzhong County layered within, and Guyang was right on that line.
In other words, Guyang was sandwiched between the Southern Xiongnu and the Northern Xiongnu beyond.
But the Northern Xiongnu were slowly moving westward now, and north of Guyang was a branch of the Xiongnu, the Xiutuge.
The positions held by Guo Yun, the Prefect at Yanmen, and Zhang Liao, the Military Officer, were aimed at preventing the Xianbei from making a comeback after re-establishing their leader, particularly keeping Quidou and Budugen from causing trouble on the borders.
In this situation, it offered an opportunity for the Xiutuge to strike.
When Qiao Yan uttered those four characters, she received a confirming answer from Guo Jia.
Guo Jia replied, “It was indeed the Xiutuge, but because the local folks in Guyang perished, they came at night and left before dawn, leaving little evidence behind. And currently, the garrison at the Bingzhou border isn’t capable enough to send a large enough troop to pursue those traces, returning the favor in blood!”
“If I were Qiao Hou, once the Baibo bandits are dealt with, I would drive them north, leading with the Baibo bandits and followed by the Heishan Army, letting those who can kill join in. Those killed would be treated as sacrifices, thus punishing them for their banditry.”
“This can be done today, and it can be done tomorrow as well. Qiao Hou is stationed at the border of Bingzhou, isn’t that the perfect place for such punitive measures!”
His words inevitably made Qiao Yan think of certain individuals, particularly those who, after arguing with Zhang Jiao during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, were lucky enough to escape with their lives.
Some of these people were sent to camps under General Duliang, while others were sent to Youzhou. One could say this was a form of penance for them.
Qiao Yan had originally intended to check on Liang Zhongning’s current situation, but due to the pressing matters at Leping and the sudden locust plague in July, after her house arrest ended, she chose to tackle the Baibo bandits first, naturally pushing that thought aside.
But now wasn’t the time to worry about those people; she pulled her thoughts back and focused on the suggestion Guo Jia put forth.
Those who kill can join, and those who are killed must die.
This was undoubtedly a threshold for selecting personnel.
With such a threshold in place, it would definitely make those who join her ranks value their outcomes more.
However…
“But what if the Baibo bandits team up with the Qiang and Hu? Or, if this becomes a regular practice, wouldn’t that just amplify the strength of the border tribes?”
It had indeed happened before in history that the Baibo and Xiongnu collaborated for chaos, and it might even recur in the near future.
Yet Guo Jia seemed a bit puzzled, looking at Qiao Yan and said, “Qiao Hou, that’s precisely the least of your worries. You simply need to always be stronger than the Xiongnu and Xianbei at the borders!”
Qiao Yan’s heart skipped a beat.
She suddenly realized that this was not just a naive thought from Guo Jia due to his youth.
In the face of the repeated incursions of the Xiongnu, had it not been for the events of the fifth year of Zhongping, when the Xiongnu made test recruitment and killed the Governor of Bingzhou, they might not have realized that the Han Dynasty couldn’t retaliate effectively, leading to the entire northern border of Bingzhou turning into a playground for foreign tribes.
Moreover, had it not been for the collaboration between the Baibo bandits and the Xiongnu, they might still be oblivious to the fact that the Han citizens within their territory were actually allies.
Now, with the Five Hu causing chaos yet to occur, the Central Plains had yet to plunge into utter chaos.
This made it entirely feasible for Guo Jia to boldly claim that as long as they were always stronger than the Hu outside the borders, they’d be fine.
The captives in Qiao Yan’s hands would also face such a choice—
Continue opposing her, or take a slightly easier path by participating in the border battles, earning military achievements against the Hu in exchange for a chance to join the esteemed system of contributions in Leping.
There was a clear comparison of difficulty in this.
The Xiongnu’s tendency to forget past confrontations normally seemed to Guo Jia like merely a periodical expenditure of rewards for military supplies, but thanks to Guo Jia’s suggestion, it could very well become a vital link in a chain of replenishing soldiers.
If Guo Jia hadn’t pointed this out from the perspective of someone living in these times, Qiao Yan might have walked right into a trap.
His words were indeed crucial!
