Chapter 103
But no matter how many records of betrayal the other party may be associated with the name Lu Bu, he has to meet the person first.
It has always been a common situation that it is difficult to find brave generals and famous generals.
Even though Qiao Yan now has Dian Wei, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang under her command, she has to suppress the Southern Xiongnu and cut off the connection between the Northern and Southern Xiongnu, be prepared against the Xianbei who often invade the border, control the Taihang Road and build a proper external defense system for Bingzhou, and leave guards around her. The manpower is really not as much as she imagined.
Even for her, what is needed at this moment may not be those top-notch generals who are well-known in history. It would be fine if there were second-rate generals who could take on the responsibility of guarding the border. They could start training from now on and be able to fight in the battlefield when necessary.
Of course we have to meet Lu Bu, and if we can tame him and use him, we have to use him!
It is really not her style to be timid about something that has not happened yet!
Therefore, Qiao Yan only paused for a moment and continued to walk out. Even Xu Fu, who was closest to her, thought that she paused at this moment just to say hello to Guo Jia who was passing by.
She continued walking outside, and saw Lu Bu who was brought in to the outermost courtyard of the provincial government.
It was hard for her not to sigh at the first sight of Lu Bu -
What a great general!
Stature, arm span, and muscles developed through training are enough to serve as the basic conditions for judging a military commander in just one encounter. Qiao Yan himself also practiced martial arts, so it was not difficult for him to see that although Lu Bu was standing in a tense state at this moment, the strength of his fingers, wrists, arms, waist and legs was very consistent and solid.
Judging from this first impression, he is indeed an excellent candidate for a riding and archery general.
Not to mention Lu Bu's figure and appearance, even if he was released, he would be a prominent figure in Bingzhou.
He was between 20 and 30 years old, a fully grown man. If he had not come here unarmed instead of holding a Fang Tian Hua Ji in his hand, anyone who saw him would have thought that his aggressive appearance did not seem like someone who came to the provincial government to recommend himself, but rather someone who came to cause trouble.
Qiao Yan clapped his hands together and said, "Why, if I don't come out, you two are going to fight?"
When she spoke, the two people who were confronting each other immediately took a step back.
The reason why Lu Bu showed such tense muscles was because the person in front of him was none other than Dian Wei.
As soon as Lu Bu entered the room, he and his opponent started staring at each other as if they were evenly matched.
If he hadn't remembered that this was the residence of the new governor of Bingzhou, and not a place where he could casually arrange a fight, he would have really felt a little itchy and wanted to challenge the other party to a fight.
No, that's not okay, at least not now.
He came to recommend himself, so he couldn't just come up and beat up the rumored number one bodyguard of Marquis Leping.
What’s more, now Qiao Yan is not only the Marquis of Leping, but also the Governor of Bingzhou.
The status of a provincial governor is far higher than that of a prefect, and there are only four of them in the world today.
When Qiao Yan returned victorious from his expedition to the frontier as Marquis of Leping, his glory and aura had already attracted Lu Bu, who even resigned from his position as a minor official in the county and resolutely joined him. Not to mention at this moment—
Lu Bu probably couldn't figure out why Qiao Yan became a governor just by going to Luoyang City. But this didn't affect his feeling that this Marquis Qiao had an intimidating mysterious aura, and it also made him feel relieved that he had resigned too quickly and had to wait here for two months.
At this moment, because of Qiao Yan's voice and Dian Wei's retreat, he was able to turn his attention to Qiao Yan who was stepping out.
She was wearing a black dress, so Lu Bu's eyes fell on her waist at first sight.
This is not really a disrespectful act.
People at that time had multiple identity symbols. In this era, there was no system to classify the colors of official uniforms according to rank, so the seal was the most visible symbol.
The most impressive person Lu Bu had ever seen was the governor of Wuyuan County. But that governor only wore a silver seal and a green ribbon. But Qiao Yan was different.
The marquises wore gold seals and purple ribbons, which were truly a rich and noble purple-gold color.
He tried his best to restrain himself and retracted his gaze, turning to look at Qiao Yan's face.
Because the governor of a state had both civil and military power, it was even more difficult to distinguish whether someone like Qiao Yan, who once led troops personally, was a civil or military officer. So she was too lazy to follow the rule that civil officials wore a Jinxian hat and military officials wore a Wubian hat. She just tied up her long hair with a crown and used the vertical beam of the crown to distinguish her identity.
So although this face looks young, or even young, it is indeed not lacking in heroic spirit.
What a great young governor!
Just as Lu Bu once said to his fellow townsmen, and just as Qu Yi said to Han Fu, in martial arts-loving places like Liangzhou and Bingzhou, what Qiao Yan did would only draw praise and admiration from the people in the state, rather than making them look down on the young governor.
This was Lu Bu's thought when he saw Qiao Yan riding a horse through Wuyuan County. Now that he saw her in person at a closer distance, he still had the same thought.
He even felt that Qiao Yan, a governor of a state, showed up so quickly when she heard that someone was coming to surrender. Judging from her achievements in conquering the Black Mountain and Baibo tribes and the Xiu Tugehu, she could truly be said to be respectful to the wise and humble.
He quickly gathered his thoughts, bowed and said in a clear voice: "Wuyuan Lü Bu Lü Fengxian greets you, my Lord."
Lu Bu is that Lu Bu, but Qiao Yan is not Ding Yuan.
She took two steps forward and walked in front of Lu Bu, saying, "It is common sense for warriors to compete for the first place. You chose a beautiful word, but——"
"I heard that you are recommending yourself. If you are recommending yourself, you can't just come up with a nice name. You have to show some real ability."
Upon hearing Qiao Yan say this, Lu Bu immediately straightened his chest.
Apart from anything else, he believed that his strength and riding and archery skills were first-rate, so he would naturally not be afraid when it came to talking about real skills.
"cloth……"
"Wait a minute, let me ask you a question first." Qiao Yan raised his hand to stop him from talking and spoke first.
"Just tell me, my lord."
While Lu Bu was replying, he felt Qiao Yan's unusually sharp gaze sizing him up and down from head to toe.
Under such gazes, even though Lu Bu was much taller than Qiao Yan, who was not yet fourteen years old, he could not notice the difference at this moment.
Then she spoke again, "Ability must match status. This has always been the case here. If Fengxian only wants to seek a position as a minor official, he only needs to lift the stone lock in front of the door. If he wants to be a clerk and supervise the war, this is another way of testing. So, Fengxian, what are you trying to do?"
What is the purpose?
Hearing Qiao Yan's question, Lu Bu was stunned for a moment.
This question seemed a little too direct. At least, he had never heard of such a way of conversation in any of the door-to-door recommendations he had heard of.
But the strange thing is that, perhaps because there was a sense of competition in the way this Marquis Qiao acted, what impressed Lu Bu the most was her high-spirited way of riding a horse. He intuitively felt that this was not a question that needed to be answered modestly.
So what does he want?
During the more than twenty years that he had lived in Wuyuan, Bingzhou, and in the twenty years when the current Majesty was in power alone, he had experienced more than ten invasions by the Hu people. He had personally participated in seven of them, or in other words, there were seven times when the entire population of Bingzhou was mobilized as a soldier. So naturally, he had to be a military officer!
It would be best if we could emulate the military skills of General Wei Huo in the past and win the battle!
But it would be too ambitious to tell Qiao Yan that he wanted to be a general at this time, as the governor could not give him the position of general with his authority.
After some thought, Lu Bu replied: "I am willing to conquer the northern border for you, my lord, and serve you!"
There are only a few military positions, but this is the only one with the word "Wu Meng" in his name!
Lu Bu saw Qiao Yan's gold seal and purple ribbon at first sight, and naturally he took a fancy to the title that seemed the most impressive to him at first sight.
Wu Meng, isn’t this exactly his portrayal!
Qiao Yan studied Lu Bu's expression. It was hard not to feel that what he was thinking was written on his face. He couldn't help but feel amused, but he just opened his mouth and ordered, "Go call Wen Yuan."
Because the news that the governor would replace the provincial governor had already been sent to the border before the ceremonial procession arrived in Jinyang, Zhang Liao was also transferred back in advance and was waiting for Qiao Yan's arrangements.
He thought that he was able to stand out in front of Zhang Yi because of the help provided by Qiao Yan, so he had made preparations in advance. If Qiao Yan had other arrangements for Wu Meng's position, he would have no objection. After all, he had gained a lot in the past two and a half years of leading troops to fight against the barbarians, and had achieved real results.
What he didn't expect was that after Qiao Yan called him over, he heard her say to the man in front of him: "This is the Wu Meng I want. If you want this position, you can, as long as you prove that you are stronger than him."
Lu Bu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately turned his gaze in the direction of Zhang Liao.
In his opinion, this Marquis Qiao was truly an open-minded person, and his style was truly in line with that of the people of Bingzhou.
Want this position? Then just prove that you are stronger than the person in this position!
From what he saw, Zhang Liao was less than twenty years old and was still a young boy. He, Lu Bu, could pull a three-stone strong bow, so how much strength could this boy have?
This is indeed a duel where the outcome can be easily determined.
However, he then heard Qiao Yan say, "But if you want to work for the military, you can't just be military yourself, you need to be able to lead the troops, know how to command troops, how to set up camp, and how to discern the movements of the barbarians. But to be better at these, I can't rashly give you soldiers to lead, this is irresponsible to the lives of the soldiers, so let's change the way, I will give you two 500 white wave bandits each, and we will compete on the parade ground in three days."
"These 1,000 people are the ones who redeemed themselves from their deaths after failing to obtain the heads of the Xiu Tuge Hu people in the previous battle outside the Great Wall. In this fight with wooden sticks, the side that loses 100 people first will be considered the loser."
"Lu Fengxian." Hearing Qiao Yan calling his name, Lu Bu came back to his senses from this unexpected way of proof and responded immediately.
Qiao Yan said, "You don't have to worry about this fight being unfair. The winner will enjoy the same treatment as those who were beheaded and redeemed before. They will never be passive and lazy in order to win. They are not familiar with Wenyuan."
"If so, are you willing to compete with Wenyuan?"
This can be considered as Qiao Yan putting into practice what he had learned just after returning from "further studies" in Luoyang.
Lu Bu thought that if what Qiao Yan said was true, it would indeed be a fair competition.
It is winter now, which is not a suitable time to wage foreign war. We cannot use military force against the northern barbarians regardless of the weather at this time. The most we can do is to defend against their attacks, which is an unexpected event that is difficult to predict.
It seems more appropriate to use the Baibo bandits to fight and give the winner chips.
He also thought that since they were bandits, he could always convince them with his fists. If there were still people on the other side who did not obey his orders, he would have an advantage.
But Lu Bu still felt a little depressed. When it was a battle between bandits, it was natural to fight on foot. However, he was skilled in archery and horsemanship, so it would be better for him to fight on horseback.
But it doesn’t matter! Let's wait until he defeats that kid Zhang Liao first. Then he can use his mighty power as his slogan and ride his horse forward without any rush.
Seeing that Qiao Yan had assigned someone to take him away and settle him down first, Lu Bu bowed to Qiao Yan again.
Although he has a rebellious temper, he should be a little polite to this extremely capable future boss.
Qiao Yan felt that he must have seen it right. Before leaving, this guy glanced at her gold seal and purple ribbon again, and there was no lack of longing in his eyes. This also reminded Qiao Yan that he must be extremely careful when using such a person, and especially be careful not to let go of the rope that tied this person.
So she had to teach this person a lesson first.
As she watched Lü Bu disappear from her sight, she suddenly heard Guo Jia ask, "If there are more people who recommend themselves in this way, will Marquis Qiao also use this method to select and replace them all? If so, I'm afraid there won't be enough Baibo bandits."
"From what Fengxiao has seen, does everyone have the bravery and...straightforwardness of Lu Bu?" Qiao Yan turned his head and looked at him.
The word "frank" with a pause in between almost made Guo Jia laugh out loud, "Marquis Qiao is right."
Qiao Yan added: "But you are right. If people can easily conduct such competitions to replace the original officials, although it will give people a competitive motivation and is also a method of selecting the best, if it really becomes a routine, it will really affect the efficiency of the state government—"
She turned her eyes and landed on the two stone locks at the door that she had mentioned in the conversation with Lu Bu. She added, "Make these two stone locks heavier. Unless you can lift them, don't even think about taking on this challenge."
In addition, someone must be assigned to the position of Da Zhongzheng as soon as possible. If this position responsible for selecting talents is vacant, those who come forward to recommend themselves can only find her.
However, all her subordinates now have practical work to do, and she doesn't know where to find a suitable Da Zhongzheng.
Qiao Yan thought that he could not come up with a conclusion for the time being, so he put it aside for the time being and waved to Guo Jia, "Come with me first."
Originally, it should have been Qin Yu's turn to talk to everyone one by one, but since Guo Jia came to him, he might as well explain everything to him first.
However, he did not need too many instructions. On the way back from Luoyang to Bingzhou, Guo Jia had already guessed the responsibilities he might be assigned. Now he just had to formally go through the formalities.
Although he was still young and was used to being somewhat unbridled and uninhibited, he couldn't help but look serious when he took over Qiao Yan's employment document.
He couldn't help but look at the words "Yunzhong County Official" and "Xihe County Official" again and again.
In terms of calligraphy attainments, Qiao Yan's calligraphy is quite good, but it cannot be compared with those famous calligraphers, especially when compared with a famous calligrapher like Cai Yong at such a close distance.
But the trust and reliance expressed in these few short words made Guo Jia feel greatly honored.
The confrontation with the Baibo bandits, the improvement of the first-merit system, the surprise attack on Xiu Tuge and the step-by-step strategies in Luoyang were enough for Guo Jia to see her ability and potential. However, when it came to the allocation of powers and responsibilities that made the best use of everyone, he saw that she was truly a wise leader.
He put the document into his sleeve and bowed to Qiao Yan again.
Given his temper, he couldn't say something like he was willing to die for Lord Qiao at this moment, but for now this action could be considered his promise.
Although he had just finished his serious talk, he asked again, "May I ask Lord Qiao, can you arrange a good horse for me to travel between these two places?"
Qiao Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "There are many good horses in Xihe County. With your ability, Guo Fengxiao, can't you get one?"
I've told him to do the task of intimidating the Southern Xiongnu, and after that get some war horses back for her. With Guo Jia's intelligence, it shouldn't be impossible to do it.
Guo Jia... did not think it was wrong for Qiao Yan to so openly encourage his subordinates to take initiative.
Thinking about the territory where he could show his talents, Guo Jia, who was still young at the time, had no idea what the sadness of being a social animal was, and happily took up his post.
He was happy and thought about Xi Zhicai's previous actions. He really wanted to imitate him.
Unfortunately, we can’t imitate casually.
Now, in the eyes of Bingzhou, Marquis Qiao's ambitions and actions are somewhat beyond the boundaries. And now she has offended some people because of the Bingzhou Mu issue, and has even embarked on the road of competing with others. So some letters seem a little inappropriate.
Xi Zhicai obviously knew this, so he never wrote another letter after catching this fish, which fully demonstrated what malicious fishing means.
Guo Jia thought about it and realized that this was the time when Qiao Yan was expanding the situation in Leping to the prefectures and counties, so it would be better for him not to cause trouble.
He decided to take revenge on the Huns for this unpleasantness.
What was the name of the Southern Xiongnu noble who was said to have been frightened by Marquis Qiao before?
He first went to discuss with the General of the Guards of the Xiongnu and find a good time to supervise him to see if he had kept a certain "wine glass" properly!
Southern Xiongnu Zuoguli King——
He had already thrown away King Xutu's head!
As soon as he saw this face with eyes open, he couldn't help but think of their previous failed plan and the scene when Qiao Yan pointed a half-broken spear at him, and why he kept this thing to remind himself. He never expected that in just three months, he would have to face a mission executor with a bad taste in deterrence.
What he is more worried about now is the problem of food for the winter.
The Southern Xiongnu settled in the city of Meizhi and gradually learned how to farm, which was the source of most of their rice.
But the modern location of Meizhi City is Nalin Town, Junggar Banner, which is more suitable for grazing than planting.
After that batch was delivered, the right wing, which obeyed the Han people's command, suffered little loss, but the food reserves of the left wing were obviously not enough, unless they were willing to exchange them for the furs of fine horses.
It's not that King Zuoguli hadn't thought about plundering to fill the gap, but the scene when Qiao Yan led his troops and piled up the heads of 3,000 Xiutuguhu people in the square was still fresh in his memory, so he didn't dare to make any rash moves for the time being.
Especially since he had just learned that after Qiao Yan went to the capital to apologize, he was proud for only two days, but then he received the news that the General of the Guards against the Xiongnu came to publicize that the bastard was not only fine, but also became the Governor of Bingzhou, and the troops under his command could be expanded again.
What shall he do with his food? King Zuoguli was unhappy.
But to be honest, Qiao Yan was actually quite worried about food.
Therefore, when she assigned Qin Yu to the position of Bookkeeper, she specifically reminded her to make sure to conduct a detailed inspection of the financial inventory in each county and not to allow any shoddy work.
Others didn't know, but how could she not know? Once something happened in Luoyang, no matter if history changed because of her existence or not, and no matter if it was Liu Bian or Liu Xie who inherited the throne -
The decline of the Han Dynasty and the chaos in the world are almost an unstoppable trend, so Bingzhou will inevitably enter a state of war readiness within two years.
At that time, the grain stored in the government warehouses of each county in a state must be gathered to the central government for allocation, so from that time on, it must be ensured that the registered numbers are correct.
Qin Yu naturally knew the importance of this, and she responded, "Don't worry, Lord Qiao, I know the key. Earlier, Lord Qiao ordered me to take charge of Leping's agricultural affairs, including the matter of mountain field planting and registering. I have a group of people in statistics, so there will be no mistakes. Lord Qiao brought back the abacus equipment from Luoyang this time, and I tried it and found it very useful."
"I think that this time we don't need to just check the grain inventory. We can also send out the provincial governor to check the tax storage and fiscal expenditure of each county."
The decisiveness in her words made Qiao Yan admire her more and more. Judging from her words and actions, he did not seem to be nervous about being promoted to a high position by her.
Perhaps it was because she, as the lord, had set a good example that these subordinates were no longer afraid to display their talents in front of others.
Qiao Yan thought about it, and suddenly smiled and said, "If you send the fake assistant as you said, then you and your son will be working together."
Isn't this also a kind of beautiful story in Bingzhou?
Or perhaps with the travel of the governor's officials this time, it can become a trend.
Seeing Qiao Yan holding his chin and smiling, with a somewhat relaxed look on his face, Qin Yu couldn't help but smile knowingly as well.
After she left, Qiao Yan assigned the Yanmen County official position and other official positions such as gate chief and account supervisor. After all, Cui Lie said he needed to pack his bags, and it would not affect his actions if this official position was assigned first.
Dian Wei was very satisfied with the fact that he had been promoted to a higher position but still only had to take care of Qiao Yan's safety. Of course, Chu Yan was even more satisfied with his position.
The position of Gate Chief may not be as impressive as that of a military officer or a provincial or county officer, but it is precisely the position that can best bring out his strengths.
What made Chu Yan even more delighted was that Qiao Yan obviously did not mind that he had such a geographical advantage and had an official position that could help him recruit subordinates. He would most likely use this opportunity to accumulate a force that belonged to him alone in the mountains.
Just like she didn't mind back then, letting him take those yams that were difficult to store to the Central Plains to exchange for food, and then bring the refugees back to Leping.
Even though he had been working in Leping for three years and had developed a sense of belonging to this place, this trust still seemed too heavy.
Then he must guard this gate for Marquis Qiao and never let anyone have any chance to cross the border without permission!
However, it was not only Chu Yan who felt that Qiao Yan was not particular about details when appointing people because of this incident, but also Xu Huang.
Chu Yan used to be a thief, and Xu Huang used to be a thief, but what about now?
The Black Mountain bandits have been completely integrated into the soldiers under Qiao Yan's command. Although many of the White Wave bandits are still captives, they will probably not be far from being freed from the shackles of this identity. Xu Huang has even received an official position first and even became a member of the court's salary.
Thinking that just four months ago he was still a leader patrolling in the mountains, Xu Huang felt an indescribable sense of dislocation.
He heard Qiao Yan slowly ask at this time: "Are you getting used to being at the foot of the mountain?"
These words didn't sound like he was asking questions to the defeated bandits, but rather to a friend.
Xu Huang quickly replied: "Of course I can adapt. Thank you for your care."
Qiao Yan said: "That's good. After you get used to it for a while, I will hand over a team to you. You are first-rate in building a defense line in the White Wave Valley, so -"
"Do you dare to use the Great Wall on Yinshan Mountain as a support to build a line of defense?"
Xu Huang's eyes were shocked.
Over the years, as the Han Dynasty had little spare energy to deploy on border defense, the defense line of the Outer Great Wall had long been in name only, and even the defense line of the Inner Great Wall was often breached by the Hu people, so he never expected to hear such ambitions from Qiao Yan.
But how encouraging these words are!
Even if you are the lord of the same mountain, there is a huge difference between being a bandit in Taihang Mountain or guarding the border in Yinshan Mountain.
If there were sufficient supplies and troops, and Guanglu Sai was used as a place to settle down, at least from Xu Huang's point of view, this would be a perfect job.
He suppressed his boiling emotions and asked, "But if it is true as Lord Qiao said, wouldn't the pressure on the Bingzhou border defense be too great?"
Qiao Yan waved his hand, "This is exactly what I want."
At least it is the most appropriate result for people to know now.
She said this with such certainty that Xu Huang thought she must have her own plans, so he did not ask any further.
Then he saw that she had stood up from the couch, as if the conversation with him would be the last one of this time. She was about to go out, so Xu Huang handed her the cloak that she had put aside.
Qiao Yan took it and said, "Let's go. Since you are now the supervisor of the sect, you should protect my safety first."
Xu Huang asked, "Where is Lord Qiao going?"
Qiao Yan replied: "I'm going back to Leping to meet someone."
Cui Lie said that he wanted her to go back and stay for two days. In fact, there was no shortage of rooms in the provincial government for her to stay in. However, she was thinking that the duel between Lu Bu and Zhang Liao would begin in three days, and there was nothing she could do here at the moment. In addition, it would be better for her to leave Jinyang temporarily to avoid the peak of the first round of visits. It would not be too late for her to receive Lu Yuan after he came up with a plan. It would be more appropriate for her to leave.
The person she wanted to see was not Cai Yong, but someone else.
When we left Jinyang and headed for Leping, it started snowing halfway through the journey.
Perhaps it was because she had improved her riding skills, or perhaps it was because she had walked this route more than once or twice, the slippery mountain path did not affect her ability to ride slowly at this moment. She even felt a sense of pleasure when she looked towards the hazy white mountains after opening an umbrella.
After passing Beishan and entering Leping, she slowed down her riding pace. What she saw was that the winter wheat in the surrounding fields had already sprouted and it was now the time for tillering.
Fortunately, this winter is not as cold as the previous two years, which greatly improves the survival rate of wheat over the winter.
Qiao Yan confirmed that he was fine, and then he sped up.
When she reached this point, Dian Wei, who was also following beside her, had already guessed where she was going.
As expected, she did not enter Leping County, but went straight to Qiao Xuan's temple.
When she was still some distance away from the temple, she dismounted, gathered her cloak, and headed forward.
When Dian Wei tied up his horse and caught up, he saw that Qiao Yan had not entered the temple. He was just staring at the inscription in front of him in a daze. He slowly reached out his hand and brushed away the fallen snow on the inscription in front of him.
The place touched by her fingertips revealed the words below, which read:
There are all kinds of treasures in front of me, and I know them all.
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