Chapter 179 New Year's Party
The development methods of Dong Zhuo and Han Sui have proved that it is not a difficult thing to gather a group of Qiang people around oneself.
However, this profitable method of winning over others may gain temporary support, but it is by no means conducive to long-term stability.
Therefore, as soon as the other party was forced to come due to the environment, Qiao Yan had to use the current situation of Liangzhou under his jurisdiction to shock them, and then use his own logic to restrain the Qiang people, so as to prevent the situation where the Qiang people surrendered and then rebelled, and then surrendered again during the Han Dynasty's governance of Liangzhou.
This century-long Qiang rebellion resulted in a consequence.
Perhaps in the beginning, the Qiang people's rebellion was because outsiders were in power in the northwest and were wary of the northwestern nobles, which resulted in no mutual benefit between the state capital and the local areas.
As a vulnerable group within the country, the Qiang people not only had to bear labor and military service, but were also used as a punching bag for local powerful families, so they had no choice but to rebel.
But the situation has developed to this point. Anyone who naively thinks that treating them with respect can return them to the state they were in a hundred years ago and believes that "the Qiang people are inherently kind" is truly a fool.
At least we have to wait until their level of civilization becomes higher, and until they have formed a sufficient bond with Qiao Yan, who governs Liangzhou, before we can discuss this issue.
Let them hold the Wuzhu coins first and put them into the routine of legitimate transactions.
If we let some of them learn Chinese and join the more critical and better-paid positions in Liangzhou's construction, it will naturally trigger a trend of learning Chinese.
Qiao Yan did not treat the Qiang people harshly because they only spoke Qiang language.
However, this visible difference in treatment made this group of Qiang people who arrived in Huangzhong temporarily ignore the dilemma of where to eat, and instead went to the Foreign Language Office to apply for seven days of study.
Of course, Qiao Yan is not doing charity.
All food and accommodation expenses during the seven-day attempt will have to be borne by the Qiang people themselves.
Fortunately, because of the military food production system that had been established before the expedition to Liangzhou, and the sheds that had been prepared in advance in the autumn, the expenditure was kept within a very low range.
At least for these Qiang people, this is a sum of money that they can come up with if they grit their teeth.
As a result, when Mi Tang and her companions arrived at the Foreign Languages Office, they saw a long queue of people who had also come to register outside.
But Mi Tang soon discovered that the speed of this team was not slow.
When she came out of the line, she had another sign in her hand, on which was engraved the time she could enter the place to learn Chinese.
Someone else had also recorded her name in the registration book to ensure that the person and the brand corresponded to each other.
Before their turn comes, they can participate in the expansion project of the Foreign Languages Office.
Although this job does not pay, food and accommodation are provided.
"Five days..." Mi Tang calculated the time and looked at the still long queue. She couldn't help but feel that the guide was not making a random remark when he asked them to make a choice as soon as possible and decide on their destination.
If they hesitated a little longer, this time might be extended to seven or eight days.
After receiving this arrangement, she decisively took on the expansion work first.
Building houses in winter is not a comfortable job, but also a hard physical work. Fortunately, the Foreign Languages Office is only a stone's throw away from the library built by Qiao Yan in Liangzhou. It is surrounded by high walls and tall houses, and the enclosed area is relatively sheltered from the wind.
In his spare time at work, Mi Tang would look at the expanded scope and he always felt that the number of people that would be accepted by the Foreign Languages Office would be quite considerable.
So what was this Bingzhou governor thinking?
What she didn't know was that Qiao Yan himself was holding a book and looking at the construction scene from a high place.
Cheng Yu stood beside her and listened to her instructions: "After a while, one of the places will be specially opened up to teach three or four-year-old Qiang children."
These children can speak Qiang dialect but their vocabulary is limited. Putting them into a Chinese-speaking environment to make the transition is obviously more effective than waiting until they are older to carry out this training.
In essence, this is not about asking them to learn the foreign language of Mandarin, but about asking them to "immigrate". However, this distinction does not need to be made clear to the outside world.
"There is one more thing for them to supervise." Qiao Yan pointed to the part that had been put into use and said, "Tell the seven-day trial reading to read louder so that those working on the expansion can hear it."
As more and more Qiang people come to surrender, the waiting time for schooling will inevitably be extended.
Qiao Yan had no way of making an accurate judgment as to whether this would lead to conflicts between the Qiang people who arrived earlier and later, but it was still necessary to take precautions against possible disasters.
Cheng Yu pondered the meaning of her words and asked, "Your Excellency, do you want the Qiang people who are still working to listen to you and feel more confident that they will pass the test when it is their turn?"
This sounds like it gives them more time to prepare, but the final result will depend on their abilities.
Qiao Yan smiled and said, "It's also good to let those who are learning speak more, isn't it?"
She didn't worry much about how to teach the Qiang people to speak Chinese, and other things.
The scholars who came here with Liu Yu would have been willing to use fireflies or chisel holes in the wall to copy books in order to go to the library, let alone teach the Qiang people.
By working together, we can always come up with a good solution.
If even such matters required Qiao Yan to personally take care of them, the trivial matters of the two states would have overwhelmed her long ago.
She closed the scroll in her hand, put it aside, and said to Cheng Yu: "Let's not talk about this for now. Speaking of which, it has been more than half a year since I arrived in Liangzhou. Have I not formally summoned these Liangzhou nobles for a talk?"
It would not be appropriate for her to do such things before she defeated Han Sui, in order to avoid relying too heavily on these northwestern warlords, which would make subsequent handling troublesome.
It was not appropriate to do this when she had just pacified Longxi and Jincheng, otherwise she would be restrained by some personal relationships and would not be able to use the knife.
It would not be appropriate for her to do this before she has this number of naturalized Qiang people in her hands. Who made her only demonstrate the means of armed attack, but not the ability of civil governance?
But now, with the third year of Guangxi approaching, the time is ripe.
Cheng Yu did not answer whether it was feasible, but only asked: "When do you plan to choose?"
Qiao Yan replied: "The third day of the first lunar month."
During the Yongchu period, there was chaos in Xiliang. General Deng Zhi, like Cui Lie had done a few years ago, even proposed to abandon Liangzhou in the court. Yu Xu, who was only a doctor at the time, once proposed a strategy to deal with the Liangzhou nobles.
Qiao Yan did the same thing when dealing with the Southern Xiongnu and the Bingzhou families.
It is called - to encourage and motivate people from the outside to reward their hard work, and to restrain and discipline people from the inside to prevent their evil schemes.
That is to say, on the surface, it seemed that the sons of Liangzhou were rewarded with official positions in return for the merits of their fathers and brothers, but in reality they were being used as hostages to divide and disrupt them in order to prevent them from coming up with evil plans for rebellion.
It is hard to say whether it can play the role of a hostage. After all, the northwest nobles are usually cold to each other. But at least one thing is certain -
The two generations of powerful people should be placed under different promotion systems to divide their power.
Just as Jia Xu proposed to her before going undercover, a role model leader should be selected from among the powerful to gather forces.
This is what Qiao Yan did in his arrangement with the Qu family of Xiping. Now that the time is ripe, he can do the same to other powerful families in Liangzhou.
It just so happens that this is a very appropriate time to contact each party.
The New Year is coming.
Qiao Yan marched into Liangzhou in April last year.
For these powerful people in Liangzhou, this was Qiao Yan’s first New Year in Liangzhou.
But it was also during this short period of less than a year that she had successively completed various actions such as suppressing Ma Teng and Han Sui, opening up military and civilian settlements, and accommodating the Qiang people who surrendered.
These local tyrants clearly realized that she was no longer a whirlwind passing through to attack Dong Zhuo, but a towering tree that had taken root in the territory of Liangzhou and was quickly gaining ground and growing.
Not to mention those who had responded to Han Sui's call for troops and were lucky enough not to be on his list of people seeking help, those who had once had contact with Dong Zhuo also hastily burned the letters from Dong Zhuo in their hands, for fear that Qiao Yan would catch them with something.
With the number of soldiers and Qiang people she now has, it would be extremely easy to wipe them out from the territory of Liangzhou.
Fortunately, Qiao Yan seemed to have focused his efforts on winning over the Qiang people. Even in the dead of winter, he still repeatedly asked about the situation of the five "factories", and it was obvious that he had no extra thoughts about them.
Rather than the land they offered him, Qiao Yan seemed more inclined to cultivate a new piece of land on his own.
This tendency brings more relief.
However, at the end of December, they suddenly received an invitation from the provincial government, saying that since they were in the same Liangzhou area, they might as well celebrate the New Year together and have dinner with them, and the invitation would be scheduled for the third day of the first lunar month.
This made them feel anxious again after just a short while of calming down.
For this reason, some people used Jiang Jiong, who worked under Qiao Yan, as a channel to gather information.
Theoretically, Jiang Jiong had previously escorted Gai Xun to Bingzhou and had a friendship with Gai Xun; according to the affiliation of officials, he was also a subordinate of Hanyang Taishou Zhang; but Qiao Yan initiated the conscription on the grounds that there was a lack of manpower for the construction of Jincheng and Wuwei, so it was not difficult to get Jiang Jiong to work under him.
The still young Jiang Jiong was able to follow Gai Xun to Bingzhou out of his admiration and appreciation for him. Now, he can naturally take on this task with pleasure because of Qiao Yan's actions.
Since autumn turned to winter, he had been assisting Cheng Yu in Jincheng County, and he had a deeper understanding of why when he and Gai Xun came to Bingzhou, they saw such a scene of peaceful and prosperous people's lives.
He was suddenly pulled out from the official documents and asked to answer such questions. He was stunned for a moment, as if he was being taken back to his original world.
The Ren clan, one of the four Hanyang clans who came to him as a representative, thought that Jiang Jiong's behavior was because he had not heard the news before, and asked again: "You think she wouldn't do such a thing to attack us during the New Year?"
Even though there is no such thing as giving up military power over a cup of wine today, they have heard of things like the Hongmen Banquet.
The governor of Jingzhou, Liu Biao, also did the same thing when he tricked the local clan thieves in Jingzhou into being killed.
The news had already spread from the south to the north.
Judging from Qiao Yan's style of doing things, others might say that bleeding during the New Year is unlucky, but she probably wouldn't care about that.
"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Jiong looked at him helplessly.
Even if their positions were reversed, he might still have such a guess. However, after witnessing the change of ownership of Jincheng County and its development under Qiao Yan, Jiang Jiong couldn't help but find such words a bit ridiculous.
He continued, "Do you know what happened in Bingzhou a few days ago? The great scholar Zheng Kangcheng was invited to Bingzhou by the Lord. He was accompanied by his student Cui Jigui and Beihai Guan Youan who was also in Qingzhou. They all arrived at Leping Academy together. The Lord asked me if there were any good students in Liangzhou, so I sent them to listen to the lectures."
"Who do you think has this honor? Is it those Qiang people? Or those people who can't even read a single word?"
The other party was stunned by his string of messages.
Three names appear in this passage.
Zheng Xuan, Cui Yan and Guan Ning.
Among the contemporary famous scholars, they should all be classified as hermits, so it is not easy to be invited.
Just like for Zheng Xuan, Yuan Shao's invitation to rebuild the Imperial College in Yecheng was not very tempting.
On the contrary, it was what Qiao Yan asked Guo Jia to tell him that being able to write books quietly in Leping, a place surrounded by mountains with plenty of paper, was more tempting to him.
The only problem was how to avoid the eyes and ears of Yuan Shao and others and send Zheng Xuan, Cui Yan, Guan Ning and others to Bingzhou.
As Yuan Shao's position with Qiao Yan was almost doomed to be hostile, it was impossible for him to let Zheng Xuan go to Bingzhou so easily. Even if Zheng Xuan directly conveyed such a signal to the outside world, he would have to find a way to tie him up in Yecheng.
This is why Qiao Yan sent Guo Jia out.
Fortunately, Yuan Shao obviously did not expect that Qiao Yan, while being tied up in Liang Province, would be able to spare the extra energy to take care of the court's recruitment of Zheng Xuan.
What he didn't expect was that before Guo Jia found Zheng Xuan, he sent a letter to Mi Zhu, hoping that he would send a caravan to help, and at the same time found Guan Hai who had just been defeated by Yuan Shao.
Qiao Yan knew all the twists and turns in the story from the letter sent back by Guo Jia, but Jiang Jiong only knew the result.
However, these Liangzhou nobles only need to know one result.
The Ren family member quickly recovered from his stunned state, his eyes lit up, "Are you serious?"
When the names of Zheng Xuan, Cai Yong, Guan Ning and Cui Yan are combined together, not to mention that the powerful people in Liangzhou are tempted by the idea of gilding themselves, even if you look at the whole world, it is a real temptation!
Listening to what Jiang Jiong said, he wanted the people of Liangzhou to listen to the lectures rather than participate in enlightenment. With this in mind, the number of people who can receive this honor is very limited.
This is clearly... giving them benefits!
In other words, their behavior of giving away land and people since last year finally got to know Qiao Yan's temper, and they were about to get an important reward.
No wonder we chose to inform them of this at the beginning of the new year.
Jiang Jiong replied: "What good would it be for me to lie to you? If it weren't for you saying that I'm not suitable for further study and would rather improve myself by working in the government, I would have resigned and gone to Bingzhou."
This is not really Jiang Jiong's advertising under Qiao Yan's arrangement, but a reflection of his true thoughts.
That’s Zheng Xuan and Cai Yong!
Even Guan Ning and Cui Yan are not comparable to ordinary celebrities.
When Lu Zhi and Xun Shuang were still trapped in Chang'an City, these people were increasingly regarded as the only remaining scholars.
The wealthy families who received invitations from Qiao Yan were informed of the news in advance. Not to mention being worried, they all entered the gates of the provincial capital with smiling faces.
When they looked at each other, they found that others had also brought many New Year gifts to Qiao Yan, obviously wanting to deepen their relationship.
Even though they saw Qu Yi's cold face as soon as they entered the door, they didn't have any intention of backing down.
So what if this guy treats them badly?
The Qu family of Xiping lived in Huangzhong. In their early years, they had long-term dealings with the Qiang people. In terms of armed force, they were okay, but in terms of cultural level, they were almost like delivering food to people.
That being said, if they really wanted to select people to go to Bingzhou for further studies, the Qu family could have no hope.
In situations where there is a conflict of interest, it is normal for Qu Yi not to be kind to them.
But what they didn't know was that Qu Yi was not in a bad mood because of this.
This year's New Year is celebrated in Liangzhou.
Qiao Yan did not transfer all the personnel left in Bingzhou to Liangzhou to report on any work, but still followed last year's rules and distributed lucky money to his subordinates as a New Year's blessing.
There were several people who could not get the lucky money for the time being, such as Jia Xu who was still in Chang'an City and pretending to be friendly with Dong Zhuo, Xu Rong and Ma Teng who were on a field trip on the Silk Road, and Lu Yuan who was returning to Bingzhou with his men after persuading Lu Kang. The lucky money was kept by Qiao Yan first, and would be replenished when they returned.
People like Qu Yi, Zhao Yun, Cheng Yu and Xu Shu who were nearby took the lucky money directly from Qiao Yan's hands, as a way of celebrating the New Year together.
The situations of a few people here are a little different, such as Qu Yi.
During the New Year's Day last year, he was still a subordinate of General Du Liao, not a subordinate of Qiao Yan, so he had no share of the lucky money.
Not only did he stand before the governor this year, he also incorporated the entire clan into Qiao Yan's territory. Looking back at last year's achievements, he had made a contribution to Marquis Qiao.
He felt very satisfied when he received this symbol of New Year's blessing.
But what he didn't expect was that this year's lucky money was not of the same style as last year.
He watched Zhao Yun take out last year's coin from the brocade bag he carried with him, and after comparing it with this year's coin, put it back into the bag. He couldn't help but cast an envious look at him.
Turning around, he saw Lu Bu holding up his two medals and showing off to Ma Chao.
Qu Yi: ...
Collecting cards has probably been an obsessive compulsive disorder since ancient times.
How could he know that Qiao Yan created this lucky coin with the mark of the third year of Guangxi just to motivate his subordinates.
He just felt a bit unhappy.
So when he saw these powerful families from the northwest who were rushing to come to him as if they were trying to snatch his job, he became even more depressed.
But he also knew that no matter whether the Qu family of Xiping moved here or not, he had already been labeled as a Liangzhou person.
The current situation of the Han Dynasty is unknown. The power under Qiao Yan has grown to such an astonishing extent. Whether she wants to be like Huo Guang who supports the emperor, or like Wei Xiang who rules the northwest, she is in a favorable position and made her fortune in Bingzhou.
What Qu Yi should do is to suppress Qu Yan, the ambitious junior, to maintain his position as the number one in the Qu family, while at the same time being happy about the strengthening of the Liangzhou forces under Qiao Yan.
So when everyone took their seats, the subtle displeasure on his face had been suppressed.
It doesn’t matter if he has one less lucky coin from the second year of Guangxi, as long as he lives longer than others.
He looked towards Qiao Yan who was sitting at the top.
Even though there was a charcoal brazier lit in the room, the first month of the lunar year in Liangzhou still carried a lingering chill at night, so she still wore a black cloak on her shoulders, with a red and black tight-fitting outfit underneath.
These two colors, illuminated by candlelight, exude a blood-quenching murderous aura for no reason.
Qu Yi noticed that she was not wearing the gold seal and purple ribbon that represented her status as Marquis of Leping today, but this did not diminish the formality of the banquet at all. On the contrary, because she had not taken off the blood-red jade bracelet on her fingertips, it made people feel that she still had the murderous aura of defeating the enemy.
Only when she raised the wine glass downwards did her stern temperament soften slightly.
The degree of relaxation is also limited.
It was because the white jade cup in her hand was filled with purple-red wine.
She glanced at the people sitting below who were somehow silent, and said with a smile, "It's freezing cold, so it's OK to transport some food, but it's not easy to send wine. I can only drink with you all with the fine wine offered by the Yan family of Wudu."
Yan Jun, who was named by her, was originally very distressed about this expenditure, but when he heard Qiao Yan openly mention his name, he quickly stood up and replied: "Wuwei County came to you because of your prestige, and you value us and set up farms here. We will do our best for you. But these are just some goods on the Silk Road, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."
His investment in Qiao Yan was not in vain.
The irrigation and water storage projects that were successively launched in Wuwei County were probably due to the prince's idea of returning the favor, and they also took into account the land held by local wealthy families.
Yan Jun is not a fool. At most, he was fooled by Qiao Yan.
He saw this matter very clearly.
The development of water conservancy projects and the promotion of new agricultural tools will definitely mean a good harvest next year, which will also be beneficial to them.
Not to mention that he also heard Qiao Yan say at this time: "Bo Ying, are you willing to send the younger generation of your clan to study under Master Zheng?"
"A few days ago, the great scholar Zheng Kangcheng arrived in Bingzhou and temporarily lived in Leping Academy. I thought that during the Party Persecution Disaster in the past, Master Zheng lived in Beihai and taught hundreds of thousands of students. Now that he is in Bingzhou, the number of students who are eager to learn and ask questions should not be inferior to those in Beihai, so we must add more people."
Yan Jun was startled.
There are many powerful families in Liangzhou who are connected to each other by marriage. In the face of the contempt chain of the Kanto nobles for the Kansai powerful families, they are accustomed to working together. However, this does not mean that the news can be conveyed so quickly.
The four families of Hanyang learned the news from Jiang Jiong and spread it to the surrounding areas, but Yan Jun was kept in the dark.
He looked at the faces of several people present. Those who knew the news showed understanding, while those who didn't know the news were as surprised as he was. But no matter which one they were, they all expressed their envy of him for being invited first.
Yan Jun immediately realized that what he lost was the wine, but what he gained was the treatment that Qiao Yan treated him as one of his own.
So what about the Silk Road purchases that were also rewarding for him?
Will it bring him greater benefits?
However, he did not have so much time to think about these things at the moment. He quickly replied to Qiao Yan: "Not to mention studying under Mr. Zheng, even serving him tea and water is fine."
"That's not necessary." Qiao Yan waved his hand and replied, "Master Zheng taught many disciples, but he himself enjoyed poverty and kept an upright conduct. After Fengxiao took him back, he made it clear that he didn't need anyone to serve him, and only left three or two disciples to copy books with him. But——"
"Master Zheng is old after all. I would feel bad if he had to work hard to teach his disciples. You only need to select three people from your clan and send them here."
Three people?
The family forces gathered by the Northwestern nobles to deal with the unrest are often intertwined and have a complex personnel structure. There are more than thirty or forty young people of school age.
Only three places are definitely not enough.
Yan Jun wanted to say that in fact, a few more people could be sent, just like the teaching courses that Lu Zhi opened in Zhuo County back then, and some people who just made up the numbers could just sit in the corners. After all, it was just a matter of gilding themselves and going through the process.
What's more, if Zheng Xuan couldn't accept many disciples, Guan Ning was only in his thirties, and Cai Yong was still in his prime. I think they could also teach, so it wouldn't matter if a few more of them went.
But now the dominant power is in the hands of Qiao Yan, and it was she who built Leping Academy. He can only seek the possibility of expanding the number of people in the future, and cannot bargain with her for the number of people when all the families gathered here.
If this were really done, Qiao Yan would definitely be unhappy.
Fortunately, he soon heard that Qiao Yan had reserved two to three places for each other family.
There are three of them who helped quell the rebellion, donated land to the people, and donated money and materials, and the others are two.
The difference in quantity is not big, but there is some difference in closeness.
He couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
This is a good thing for him, and naturally for everyone else present as well.
During this somewhat relaxed and pleasant New Year banquet, Qiao Yan spoke in a casual tone about the support provided by various families last year. For a moment, people wondered whether her recent policy of governing by virtue to win over the Qiang people had weakened her own offensiveness a little.
There was even a happy atmosphere among the people.
Perhaps the only thing that makes people feel a little difficult is the food.
Since the wine was provided by Yan's family in Wuwei, the dishes were naturally provided as well.
Following the standard logic that satisfying other families is not as good as satisfying Qiao Yan alone, Yan Jun did not hesitate to make all the dishes sweeter.
But this is Liangzhou in the northwest...
No matter how proud these wealthy families are of their status and that they are different from the common people, they still have the habit of being pretentious and drinking alcohol and eating meat.
I was a little uncomfortable when I suddenly came across such a recipe.
However, these people knew whether eating or political discussions were more important at this banquet, and they did not dwell on it.
They just listened to Qiao Yan's arrangements for each family, and thought about the candidates for their families. At the same time, they listened to Qiao Yan saying, "That's about it. Please pick out the right candidates as soon as possible after you return, and go to Leping with me in ten days. No more than the time limit will be accepted."
As soon as she said this, someone immediately asked, "Your Excellency is leaving Liangzhou?"
Qiao Yan raised his cup and replied, "I am only away for a while. It has been eight months since I sent troops to Bingzhou. Although there are useful people in the state, the late emperor gave me the power of governor of Bingzhou, which means that I am required to supervise Bingzhou and make sure there is no trouble. Even if the big things are okay, I still need to be careful about the small things."
"Besides, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the situation was critical, and I once borrowed the name of Zheng Gong's disciple, which won the trust of the Yellow Turban leader. I apologized to Zheng Gong during the three debates with Zhang Jue, but I still owe him a favor. Now I have to lead so many disciples to trouble him. How can I explain it in a letter? Naturally, I should go back."
What she said made sense.
In today's world where respecting teachers is prevalent, the cause and effect between Qiao Yan and Zheng Xuan cannot be changed just because she is the governor of Bingzhou.
Since you have been entrusted with a task, you should also act like a junior, otherwise you will inevitably be criticized.
She paused, then continued, "You can rest assured, I will not change my determination to attack Dong Zhuo, and I will definitely return within a month. By then it will be too late to sow seeds this year, so it will not delay the important event here. Or -"
"You want me to be away for a longer time so that one of you can cooperate with the thief Dong and make him advance to Liangzhou?"
When she said this, her tone was still gentle, but she placed the wine glass in her hand on the table lightly, making a slight sound.
This noise caused the table to suddenly fall into the silence that had been set during the banquet.
But seeing that Qiao Yan had a relaxed expression on his face and didn't seem to have any intention of bringing up the past, the people present breathed a sigh of relief and after a moment of silence, they all began to deny it.
"What are you talking about?" The head of the Jiang family said after being pointed at by someone. "We are just worried that Liangzhou will be in chaos again after you leave, so we want to follow the example of the Yan family and help you solve your problems. If we old guys have made outstanding contributions and can also be taught by famous scholars, it would be great. Why should we go and join Dong Zhuo?"
This is of course a joke.
Sending the talented young people in the clan to Bingzhou has already handed their weak points to Qiao Yan.
It's just that the Liangzhou nobles had no chance of promotion for many years, so they had some hope of breaking the impasse by bringing the reputation of being a disciple of a great scholar, so they took the bait without hesitation.
But they themselves don't need to.
Qiao Yan is currently maintaining a friendly relationship with them, but no one can be sure whether she will turn against them one day. So while they are trying to be nice to her, they must also hold on to the power they can rely on to prevent her from abandoning them.
It’s not that she doesn’t dare to take action against the powerful families!
Hanyang Yang family is the best example!
They walked out of the place where they were meeting guests, and were blown by the cold wind outside. They saw the attendants of Bingzhou Mu holding swords in their hands.
Even though these servants were standing a little further away, it was difficult to conceal the sharp momentum these people had developed while following Qiao Yan in battle, and it also made people sober up from the drunkenness.
But just when they were still undecided, someone presented them with a tray of lucky money.
"What is this?" The head of the Jiang family asked first.
The man replied, "The Lord said that at the beginning of the new year, we should pray for good luck."
Yan Jun took one of the lucky coins from the tray and saw that it was engraved with auspicious clouds, pine branches and deer, which was indeed a good omen.
The coinage level is obviously not low. The patterns on the entire plate of copper coins are clearly visible, which makes Dong Zhuo's privately made small coins look terrible.
Faced with such an action, they could only convince themselves that in today's world, those with military power naturally hold high positions, and it cannot be said to be impolite, so one person left with a lucky coin.
Qiao Yan looked at the backs of these people as they said goodbye to each other and left, a smile appearing on his face.
In this restraining situation, she returned to Bingzhou for a while. Even if someone really dared to cause chaos at this time, these powerful families would take the initiative to suppress the signs of their rise.
Of course, the civil and military officials she left here would take care of this place for her.
It's just that due to the special terrain of Liangzhou and the inconvenience of support, more eyes are needed to watch every corner for her.
Ten days later, on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, she finished inspecting the waterway planned by Bi Lan from Wuwei County. Seeing that the selected young men from each family had arrived, she led the team, escorted by her attendants, and headed towards Bingzhou.
Thinking of Bingzhou, which he had been away from for eight months, Qiao Yan actually felt like going home.
But she did not show the slightest trace of homesickness on her face. She just rode her horse through the Liangzhou River Valley where the snow was still thick, passed through Ziwuling Mountain, crossed Junxi River and Taiyuan, and went straight to Leping.
The Bingzhou she saw along the way was shrouded in winter chill, but she could still vaguely see some differences from last year.
There were also passers-by who recognized the identity of the leader of this team and greeted her.
Although it was not as exciting as when she returned to Leping from Bingzhou after the locust plague, it was more like the warm and peaceful greeting she felt when she was greeting her family.
It was dusk when we arrived at Leping Academy.
She reined in her horse, handed Zhu Tan to the gatekeeper of the academy, and stepped inside.
Today is a sunny day with no rain or snow, only cold wind blowing through the hall and the setting sun shining through the windows. However, because there are two pear trees planted in front of the academy hall, it does not look lonely, but rather has a lively feel in winter.
She unconsciously slowed down her pace, walked through the tree-lined path in the academy, until she stood in front of Zheng Xuan's study and knocked on the door.
The old man in the room, who looked bookish and still energetic, was playing chess with Cai Yong beside him.
After he gave permission to enter, he turned around and saw the young governor coming in. He bowed and saluted, "Seven years no see, Lord Zheng, how are you?"
He held the chess piece in his hand, in a trance for a moment.
Has it been seven years since they last met?
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