Chapter 176: The Name of the Master
The system has been with Qiao Yan for such a long time, and it feels that as long as it is still functioning normally, it will be able to hear it. Qiao Yan is not the kind of person who will give in.
She said that she didn't want to command an army of wild beasts like the mountain barbarians, nor did she want to raise homing pigeons. She just wanted to know how to raise cattle, sheep, horses and even pigs to be fat and strong.
But she clearly wanted them all.
Regardless of whether it will succeed or not, it is always a good idea to make a long-term plan first.
At most, we can just settle for the next best thing when the time comes.
She asked again, "There should be such a system, right? In the ordinary ancient environment, the kind that trains wild beasts for personal use. In the absence of suitable wild beasts, cattle, sheep and horses should also be able to serve as aids."
When the system saw what she said, it showed a rather yearning expression, and for a moment it didn't know whether it was disliked by the host.
However, before it could think about this for long, it heard Qiao Yan say, "Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Don't think too much."
The system asked: [Then why don’t you ask the livestock system? There is a farming system and of course a livestock system, which are relatively more professional. 】
It always feels that this may not just be Qiao Yan's consideration of "I want it all".
Qiao Yan shook his head: "You are wrong. In the early stage of the transaction, the other party always proposed the bargaining chips. When our advantage is not clear enough, we can only accept the conditions proposed by the other party."
"But think about it, the Jade Seal transaction with the Farming System would be a loss if the conditions or background were changed. We can't expect that every time we find a host, we can give enough time to buffer."
"So from now on, I will only move forward at my own pace. I will never be restricted by any bargaining chips, or have my rhythm disrupted. I don't know what the host of the livestock system is like, but I do know one thing: I don't have any items that I can take out as bargaining chips. Do you understand what I mean?"
What can she give to someone who focuses on breeding?
Bulk feed trading?
Who knows if the other party needs this thing.
What if by chance there was another rebel who wanted to store up grain and raise more pigs and also wanted the jade seal as a good omen for himself? She would have no way to get a second one.
The system seems to understand but not quite.
I don't know if it was its illusion, but with the conquest of Liang Province and the death of Sun Jian, Qiao Yan's qualities as a local lord have become increasingly clearly revealed.
When facing Huangfu Song and Liu Yu, she still behaved like a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, observing the respects of a junior, and most of the time she restrained her aggressiveness.
But when facing subordinates and being alone, it is very different.
While noticing the difference, it asked: [Wait, what bargaining chips can you provide to the host of the Beast Taming System? 】
Qiao Yan replied calmly: "What do you think of professional counselors and generals providing military formation planning for her beast formation?"
[……] The system was silent for a long while.
It is difficult to evaluate what kind of thought process Qiao Yan had to come up with such an idea.
Judging from the way Qiao Yan established Leping Academy, it was even suspected that Qiao Yan would give the questions to his subordinates in the form of test questions in order to get more answers.
But what can I say? If the opponent really traveled back to ancient times and obtained a beast taming system, and could control wild animals in the mountains and forests as his own subordinates, and suddenly heard someone say that he could ask Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, and even Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, etc. to arrange a more offensive formation for her team, and select the most suitable one, it seems really...
It's really tempting.
This is indeed a bargaining chip that will not hinder Qiao Yan's plans at all.
Subordinates who are assessed on this kind of question may be dumbfounded for a while.
Overall...it's not a big problem.
[I'll go and ask.] 】The system was stuck for a long time before it finally got its thoughts back and spoke.
"Don't look so dejected. Show some confidence when negotiating a deal with people and the system." When the system was about to set out to negotiate a deal, Qiao Yan suddenly said again.
The system was secretly complaining, but it couldn't be blamed for its behavior. It was all because Qiao Yan always managed to come up with new ideas.
But it listened to Qiao Yan and said, "Think of something happy. If I gather my advisers together and ask them if I am the best adviser in the world, what will they answer?"
How to answer?
It's probably the same as the lord's plan to launch a beast-taming army. Asking this kind of question without affecting the overall situation is at best just a bit of bad taste.
The system is speechless.
No one should be able to refute this question.
Thinking about it this way, there is indeed hope for its mission goal!
With this idea in mind, the system skillfully found the corresponding beast taming system and reported the results to Qiao Yan a few days later.
According to what it told Qiao Yan, this was the first time that the other party, a beast-taming system with a low-level ancient martial arts background, had been approached for a trade.
After hearing the transaction conditions proposed by Qiao Yan, the system on the other side directly handed the decision-making power to its own host.
[She said that the deal could be done, but the Beast Taming System gave her a high affinity with animals, which was something that could not be traded. All she could trade was the Beast Taming Manual in her hand. 】
[As a condition of exchange, she needs three military formations planning. Corresponding to the different stages of her subsequent development. 】
The system paused, hesitated for a long time before saying: [She said that for the plan of the first transaction, no matter what the final optimal solution is, send Zhao Yun's plan to her as well...]
Qiao Yan was drinking tea when he choked.
What's up? Is this still a fan of Zhao Yun?
But it's good news for her that the deal is done.
All the subordinates in Bingzhou and Liangzhou received a strange question.
Arrange a team composed entirely of animals.
What is the problem?
Although Qiao Yan liked to do some strange operations, and although different animals could be considered as different types of soldiers, even Yang Xiu, who had a relatively rich imagination, felt that he could not understand what a pig weighing 1,500 kilograms could mean and could knock down two trees in one breath.
Is this an alternative term for heavy cavalry or chariot?
But since it was Qiao Yan's order and the time for answering was limited, these people still handed in their answers seriously.
Regardless of how the counselors and generals felt when they were suddenly tested by Qiao Yan on animal formation issues, Qiao Yan was satisfied as long as he got what he needed.
After selecting the answer sheets, she packed the most reliable ones and sent them to the other party in exchange for the breeding manual.
She flipped through it briefly and found that there were quite a lot of things that could be used as reference for her.
Take pig farming as an example. Since pigs are not the mainstream livestock farming today, Qiao Yan could only find the record in Fan Sheng's book that "the pigs are broken into gourds, and the white skin inside is used to feed pigs and make them fat." However, the records in this book are much more detailed.
For example, it is mentioned that you should first choose piglets with short mouths, soft hair and less hair.
For the host of the beast taming system on the other side, this would allow the wild boars she uses to organize the collision to be larger, while for Qiao Yan, it would probably give her the opportunity to set a new record for raising pigs weighing a certain number of kilograms.
Not only pigs, but also cows have to be chosen that run fast.
Whether it is the other party's purpose or Qiao Yan's purpose of needing cattle to plow the fields, it is the same.
The standards are different from those for pigs. For cattle, the ones that need to be selected are those with eyes and horns that are close together, eyes that are large with white tendons, long neck bones, and the length from nose to thigh that is equal to the length from shoulder blade to waist. 1
Then comes diet.
Taking pigs as an example, in addition to the previous feed, you can also mix sesame and salt together, mash them into a paste, and then pour bran on it to form a supplementary meal for fattening.
In addition, there are many records of animal diseases in the breeding manual.
Take cattle as an example. Even if they have been domesticated and become quite obedient, they still have to face problems such as cattle plague, bloating and cattle lice.
After all, you can't just let a fat and strong one fall down and then replace it with a new one, otherwise the cost will be too high.
Qiao Yan pondered over the cinnabar, oil and sake that could be used to treat cattle plague, and confirmed that they were basically materials that he could obtain through normal channels, which made him feel a lot more at ease.
She flipped back again.
It is not only a manual for raising professional animals, but it also does not stop at the dietary disorders of pigs, cattle and sheep.
There are all kinds of information about jackals, tigers, leopards, and even elephants. However, given the current battle situation she needs to face, there is not much feasibility for the time being.
However, there is some room for maneuver for those who are training birds.
For example - carrier pigeons.
In the Han Dynasty, pigeons were not a means of sending messages. It was only because of an incident recorded on a stele that during the Chu-Han contention, Xiang Yu pursued Liu Bang, who took refuge in a well. Because pigeons perched on the well, the pursuers did not suspect that there was someone in the well. Since then, pigeons have been regarded as a symbol of good luck and mostly appear on jade wares as a symbol.
It was not until the Tang Dynasty that pigeons were used as carrier pigeons. 2
It is true that pigeons cannot fly freely between two places, but are often raised in one place and taken out when needed for war preparations. According to their magnetic field memory, they can return to their original place after being released, thus achieving the purpose of transmitting military intelligence.
But one-way transmission does not mean useless.
Messengers on land might be discovered by the enemy, and when carrier pigeons had not yet become the norm, this was a visual blind spot.
Now there is also an instruction manual to guide feeding and treatment of common diseases, which provides Qiao Yan with the conditions to develop this field.
From this point of view, this deal is not too bad.
She immediately sent a letter to Bingzhou, ordering the fortress in Leping Mountain to start training homing pigeons according to this method.
Earlier, the production of indigenous cement was also carried out here.
This is because theoretically, this is the place where Qiao Yan is least likely to have information leaked.
The people who were taken in here were either specially selected by her from the surrendered Black Mountain bandits, or brought back by Chu Yan when she was selling yam during the locust plague in the Central Plains at that time.
Even the students studying in Leping Academy have been separated from the fortress base in the mountains as the enrollment scope expanded.
It is obviously the most suitable place to raise homing pigeons.
Then, she specifically extracted the parts of the breeding manual related to cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, and even hunting dogs, and gave them to the two people in charge of military farming in Wuwei County and Jincheng County respectively.
Zhao Yun and Cheng Yu's personalities meant that they would never question Qiao Yan's order after receiving it. Instead, they would quickly select someone to carry out the matter.
Especially Zhao Yun.
The standard he used to judge Qiao Yan back then was to look at what she did, not what she said.
The reason why he asked Qiao Yan for help in catching the thief and finally followed him wholeheartedly was because Qiao Yan, the Marquis of Leping, had indeed made the people of Leping live in peace.
Now that she has expanded this situation where the people have something to rely on from Bingzhou to Liangzhou, Zhao Yun will no longer question the decision made by Yu Qiaoyan.
He just talked about the situation in Wuwei County where the Lushui Qiang were dispersed as planned and lived together with the Han people.
Qiao Yan thought for a while and said, "We should start with the Han people when implementing this new feeding method. If it works, it will also be an important topic of conversation with the Qiang people, and it can help the Qiang people learn Chinese."
In the face of absolute benefits, what's the difficulty in just learning one more foreign language?
This initiative to enhance their own strength began in November of the second year of Guangxi when the selection of seeds was implemented.
As early as last month, Qiao Yan asked Lu Yuan to inform Sun Ce that the petition for the title had been completed.
When the memorial was submitted to request the appointment of Sun Ce as the General of Suppressing Rebellion and the Prefect of Kuaiji, the person to whom the memorial was sent was naturally Liu Xie who was in Chang'an, rather than Liu Bian who was in Yecheng.
But just as Qiao Yan did not need Dong Zhuo's consent to appoint Bi Lan as the Du Shui Envoy and Yao Chang as the Protector of the Qiang, the same was true for recommending Sun Ce as the governor of Kuaiji.
Rather than informing Liu Xie and hoping for his approval, this seemed more like a message using his own reputation to spread the word to the world.
After receiving this message, Dong Zhuo was so angry that he slammed the table again.
In September, he drank two more cups of wine out of pride over Sun Jian's death.
Sun Jian killed his brother, his favorite general, and even almost caused him to fail to evacuate successfully because he entered Luoyang at the perfect time. As a result, in his opinion, this guy's impression of threat was second only to Qiao Yan and Huangfu Song.
Now Qiao Yan has the upper hand in Liangzhou and Bingzhou. He can't create any trouble for the other side. At most, he can only guard against the other side's attack, so that even if he is in Chang'an, he can hardly think about Chang'an.
Fortunately, the plan in Jingzhou was successful and Sun Jian was killed, which allowed Dong Zhuo to get rid of a major threat.
In addition, according to Jia Xu, letting Zhang Ji return to Guanzhong immediately after completing this cooperation would not be a loss for them, but an opportunity for them.
This one encounter was enough to convince Liu Biao of Jingzhou that they were indeed a potential partner.
Then if Dong Zhuo still wanted to enter Jingzhou from Chang'an, there was a possibility that Liu Biao would be caught off guard.
Unfortunately, the news that arrived in Chang'an at the end of October wiped out Dong Zhuo's good mood.
"We can't let her go on like this." Dong Zhuo realized the seriousness of the matter and paced back and forth in the hall.
Positions like the Du Shui Envoy and the Protector of the Qiang could be considered internal appointments in Liang Province and were not critical positions.
It would have been fine if Qiao Yan had arranged it this way.
But if even the General of Suppressing Rebellion and the Governor of Kuaiji could submit memorials in this way, what was the difference between her and another emperor?
In the document she announced to the world, she said that the emperor she respected had accidentally fallen into the hands of traitors and had closed his eyes and ears. If he could express his opinions, he would certainly agree with her memorial.
Sounds reasonable...
No way!
From Dong Zhuo's point of view, she had only arranged for him to be the governor of Kuaiji today, but he might be the governor of Yangzhou tomorrow.
Even though he knew intellectually that Qiao Yan was incredibly smart and would not do anything that would consume too much of his reputation, Dong Zhuo couldn't help but ask himself why he had to hold on to this emperor!
This seemed to only help his opponent.
He suddenly stopped and walked towards Jia Xu again.
"Sir, that bastard Qiao Yan now holds the military power and is eyeing me covetously. He also used the excuse that I was supporting the emperor as regent to take over his official position. What do you think I should do?"
Before Jia Xu could speak, Dong Zhuo gritted his teeth and said angrily: "She said that I was unjustified and that the Han thieves were in power... Then if I had a legitimate reason, wouldn't it be okay?"
If he declares himself as prime minister and assistant to the government, it is not enough to be considered "orthodox", and he will still be defined as a rebel by Qiao Yan -
He just wanted to straighten himself out a little bit.
In the Han Dynasty, only the assistance of relatives by marriage could be called orthodox, so Dong Zhuo wanted to link himself with the Dong family that raised Liu Xie.
But in essence, the Dong family is not Liu Xie's external family, and the Dong in Dong Zhuo's name is not the same as the other party.
Then...then we can only try another approach.
"Sir, look, your Majesty is already twelve years old. According to the custom of the Han Dynasty, most emperors marry early, so you can get married. My Lord Weiyang is already thirteen years old. Aren't we a perfect match in age?"
Weiyang Jun Dong Bai was the granddaughter of Dong Zhuo. She was also granted a title when Dong Zhuo controlled the government in Luoyang and should have been brought to Luoyang by Dong Zhuo. But when they were halfway there, Dong Zhuo fled westward, so they met up with him in Chang'an.
Dong Zhuo's approach had a standard reference model, named Huo Guang.
It is indeed legitimate for him to assist in government affairs as a relative of the queen.
This sounds a bit quick-witted.
However, Dong Zhuo changed the subject and said, "Good things come in pairs. Why don't you marry my widowed daughter at the same time? Then you can be considered a relative of the young emperor. I wonder how Qiao Yan can say that we are traitors who control the government!"
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this move was feasible, and even his tone became a little more proud, and he asked: "Sir, what do you think?"
Jia Xu, who was being recruited as Dong Zhuo's son-in-law for no reason: "..."
He suddenly considered the possibility of running away.
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